Yes we have made it to the Ethiopian border, it was a long trip but good
fun, no really it was!
After leaving our luxury pad at Shaba Game Lodge, breakfast was a great
buffet of all things you could want, we headed across to the Buffalo Springs
NP the other side of the main road. With another set of parks fees paid,
these are the things that really hurt the budget, we set off into the park.
A totally different landscape to that of Shaba NR, very open, very dry, and
plenty of game. The morning was spent meandering west through the park
aiming for the bridge over the Ewaso Ngiro river and north into the Samburu
NP. We heard of a Lion spot from another game vehicle but were not lucky
enough to see any cats ourselves. Plenty of Elephant, Oryx, Gazelle, Zebra
(both Grevy's and Burchell's), Buffalo, Giraffe, and Kirk's Dik Dik. One
heard of Elephant had a very young little chap running around amongst them.
He or she can't have been very old and the legs and trunk were flaying in
all directions with complete lack of control as he ran around in circles
until his mother gathered him up and he fed for a few minutes. Just so funny
to watch! After arriving at the bridge, signing in to Samburu NP and paying
for the campsite for the night we went to find the campsite to see what
delights were on offer. It was a nice spot right next to the river. No-one
in the tents for hire and only one other couple on an organised trip. So we
decided to stop and have lunch. Well it is wild and you expect animals but
the bloody Monkeys and Baboons were a pain in the arse! One Monkey snuck up
and stole our cucumber from the table, just appeared from nowhere from
underneath the truck, and popped up into a tree above us to sit and munch
it. The Baboons were looming and one of them didn't seem to be very afraid
of me, even with my best Baboon scaring face on! It was quite determined to
get as close and as aggressive as possible so with Sue dispatched into
Mufasa I packed up what we had got out keeping an eye on the nasty beast.
When they come at you with teeth bared it is quite alarming. The plan had
been to have lunch and also cook dinner so that we would not have to worry
later. Best laid plans and all that! Anyway, we went off for our afternoon
game drive and put the Baboon incident behind us, but knew we would return
there later. We did however discover more areas of the campsite which were
nicer and not as infested with Baboons, well not then anyway! The afternoon
went well and we saw much more of the same animals we had seen earlier, and
also plenty of Gerenuks (Sue's ET). The bird life was good also and several
new spots were seen. The park was pretty dusty and quite often the dust we
were kicking up would catch up with us and flood into the cab before we had
a chance to wind the windows up. Eventually returning to camp, the new spot
we found not the lunch time Baboon fest, we sorted ourselves out and got
ready for our first real bush camp of the trip. There were plenty of people
wandering back and forth, as you would expect in a game park, as the KWS
Ranger post was right next to the camp and at close of play they were all
wandering back to base for the night from the gate at the bridge just a few
KM away. They seem totally at ease wandering around despite the obvious
animal dangers, and there were plenty of Elephant in the river next to us.
Camp was set and dinner was prepared. Time for a nice quiet evening in the
bush on our own, well plus the guard. Oh, big truck, overland truck, full of
people. Silence shattered! I guess it is nice to have company to make you
feel more secure, but bloody hell!! Hey ho, we ate and retired early and
listened to the Elephants, well when we could here them over the goings on
with the people on the overland truck.
Right, a new day, an early start, and a few hours game drive making our way
east and Archer's Post gate and the start of the haul north. Nice morning,
good game viewing, 'do we really have to leave?'. Yes we did and by just
after 09h00 we were out of the park back to the main road and ready for the
onslaught ahead, 250km of unknown road conditions, other than what you hear
of. How bad was it, well actually not too bad at all. Yes the road is badly
corrugated in places, loose rocky gravel in places, and very dusty, but
apart from it just being long it was OK. I evolved a suitable driving style,
and at around the 60kmh mark you skimmed the surface enough to make the
passage smoothish. Having to slow for donkeys, goats, and people dragged you
back down to a bumpy speed and sometimes it was hard work convincing Mufasa
to grind his way back up to cruising speed again. Bugger, what's that noise?
Doesn't sound good. Puncture, sod it. Right rear had a lump of metal
sticking out of the tread right in the middle. So in the midday hot burning
sun in the middle of nowhere we set about changing the wheel. The one we had
repaired in Nairobi was put on and inflated to pressure. Crossing fingers
that it would hold up we hit the road again. We eventually made good time
and it only took about 5 hours of driving plus stops, so pretty good. Just
as we were approaching Marsabit, the halfway stopover, we came across a GB
plated Land Cruiser, Paul and Lizzie. We stayed at the same camp that night
just on the edge of town, Henry's Rest Camp, a very nice if not a tad windy
spot. Paul and Lizzie had many a tale to tell of their trip from the UK down
the west coast of Africa to SA and then their trip up the east coast. Their
truck had taken quite a beating, especially rolling it on the way to the
Masai Mara! They were lucky to get away with only a couple of scratches and
bruises. They even managed to find a replacement body for the truck in
Nairobi. However they did still have some truck issues, namely a leaking
radiator and a leaking battery. We helped try and patch the radiator using
some epoxy glue I had packed, and made good use of the cheapish beer for
sale in the camp to ease away the trials of the day. They left about an hour
before us the next morning as they could not go as fast as us over the bumps
due to issues with the 'S' word, suspension. We did however catch them up
after we had only been on the road again for a couple of hours. They had
stopped twice to fill the radiator as the repair patch had started leaking.
We made coffee for all of us and had a break from the road. It seemed to
make sense to follow them just in case they had major problems, so we did
that and ate dust all day! By the time we eventually made Turbi, about 100km
to go, the radiator was needing of some more repairs. So lunch was had and
the radiator was removed and more epoxy applied, about the 3rd or 4th lot.
We turned down the offer of a guard to protect us for the rest of the
journey north as we had heard of several people making it with no issues,
and set of. The last 100km was a delight, dusty but mostly smooth gravel and
sand, with the odd bump and hole here and there. The radiator held up, and
we set camp at the KWS camp in town. Paul had to go and check if his visa
was still valid for another night, which the border guards seemed to think
it was and they joined us in camp. Radiator re-patched, will see how it does
today. But they have another problem now, their left rear shock is
knackered, another thing they will need to replace.
So on the whole an eventful 500km stretch of road, but not horrific, and we
have to come back this way. It was good to see the road conditions and if
they had been really bad then the thought of returning would not have been
good, but now we know it is cool. Today we cross the border and enter
Ethiopia. Not sure of telecom connections there so this may be the last blog
for a while until we can find an internet cafe. Not sure of our route but we
need to get the puncture fixed so perhaps towards Addis Ababa, who knows!!
N3'31.111 E39'3.029
Sunday 27 July 2008
Wednesday 23 July 2008
The long hard road north to Ethiopia, starts here!
Well what can I tell you about Hells Gate NP and our bicycle trip? Err,
well, not much actually because it never happened! Our spot on Lake Naivasha
was just too nice and the bird life kept us busy all day. We thought we
might head there the next day but instead we took a short drive west from
camp to the small lake next to Lake Naivasha, which does join the main lake
when the water is high enough but not since the 70's or 80's so we were
told, and took in the sights of all the Greater and Lesser Flamingo
(thousands), White-Breasted Cormorant (hundreds), and Hippo (dozens). Lake
Naivasha is a fresh water lake and does not get any Flamingo, but instead
has huge flocks of Pelican, and I mean huge! Did you know that Pelican's
soar on thermals? No, nor did we until we saw it. They cruise pretty high
up, pick a spot, and land back in one big noisy splash, quite a sight. They
are obviously restless souls as they paddle around back and forth for a
while before flying off to find another spot on the lake. At camp we had the
company of two superb Fish Eagles which was grand, not to mention the
Egyptian Geese, numerous Pied Kingfishers, and many other beautiful birds.
It was such a great day we spent there looking at and identifying the bird
life.
From Naivasha we started on the long route north to Ethiopia. First stop,
the Equator! Sue has been dying to get there and get the good old water
demonstration. Our route was not a busy tourist route but there were two
brothers there with their curio stalls and John kindly, well for Ksh100,
showed us the water test. Yep it goes anti-clockwise down the plug in the
south, clockwise in the north and straight down at the dotted line! Sue was
happy and I am sure will want the scientific test repeated when we come back
down from Ethiopia, just to make sure! Afterwards we passed through
Nyahururu the highest town in Kenya and took a quick glimpse at the
Thomson's Falls the highest in Kenya, and the brownest! The camping there
was too expensive so we made tracks east to Isiolo the start of the long
trek to the border. Instead of staying on the main road and crossing the
Equator south and then north again we went in a straight line on the C76 to
Nanyuki. We were hoping for a good road and despite a few rocky patches is
was pretty good gravel and dirt all the way and it probably saved us a bit
of time too. Our goal for the night was Rangelands Hotel & Camping just
south of Isiolo and we reached it in good time allowing us to set up camp
and eat before it got too dark. The campsite facilities were not operational
so we were given use of one of the bungalows for toilet and shower, and TV!
Only local channels but a chance to get a weather report and to see how wet
and cold it was back in Nairobi!
To break up the haul north from Isiolo we had planned on a one or two night
break at the Shaba NR / Samburu NP / Buffalo Springs NP. They all fall next
to each other and your entry ticket gives you access to all of them too. Our
plan was to have the morning driving around Shaba NR and then cross over to
Buffalo Springs NP and Samburu NP to camp the night before continuing north
the next day. The guy at the gate was quite helpful with advice and we told
him our plan and asked about the camping options in the park. He informed us
of the special campsites (bush camping with no facilities but not cheapest
option) and the public campsite in Samburu. We decided to stick to plan and
see Shaba NR and head over for the night at Samburu public campsite. It all
went nicely to plan. Sort of. It was late morning almost lunch time so we
decided to treat ourselves to a drink at the Savora Shaba Game Lodge, and
very nice it was too if not a tad pricey. That's when the plan kind of went
pear shape! It is amazing what a small quantity of alcohol on an empty
stomach can do to you. We err, cough, ended up talking ourselves into
staying a night! It is amazing how many different reasons one can find to
justify such a decision. Sue's early birthday celebration, a late wedding
anniversary celebration, a 3 years since finishing work celebration, a
crossing the Equator celebration, the list just goes on. So before we could
change our minds and after a quick tour of the rooms we handed over the
credit card, delays the pain, and booked ourselves in for the night, yes
just one night I can assure you! We thought about a junior suite but decided
the saving on just having a standard room would justify the cost of drinks
with dinner, got all angles covered!!
So after the pain of the spend we got down to making the most of our money
starting with lunch and very nice the 4 courses and coffee were too. The
bird life to be seen from the restaurant, which is set up high above the bar
area, was great especially the 'Cuckoo with a hat' as one of the Americans
at the table next to us described the White-Bellied Lourie that passed
through! Suitably filled to bursting we set off for our afternoon game drive
in Mufasa. It was a very good drive and we saw a modest amount of game,
Elephant, Giraffe, Water Buck, Grant's Gazelle, and the silliest looking
animal so far the Gerenuk (Sue thinks it looks like ET), the bird spots were
pretty good too. It was a bit dusty at times, quite rocky in places, and the
odd water crossing or two, but nothing Mufasa couldn't cope with. Then it
was back to the lodge and again time to make the most of our dollars. Hot
baths, you bet! Then drinks, as justified by the saving on the junior suite,
and dinner. Boy we ate well, a buffet no less, full to bursting. Soups and
salads to start, then red snapper fillets, Mongolian stir fry, garlic and
ginger rice, ugali with some spinach thing that I cant remember the name of,
mash potato, all washed down with several different puddings, fruit, and
coffee. Just time to type a few words using the good old electric in the
room, only on between 6pm and midnight, and then time to crash out before an
early start and the 2nd half of the experience in the Samburu and Buffalo
Spring NPs tomorrow. Campsite, no lodge!
Oh, nearly forgot, the long hard road to Ethiopia. Well we had a taster of
it driving from Isiolo to Shaba NP. OH MY GOD! Dusty, badly corrugated,
rocky, you name it, and the worst is yet to come, another 500km or so! Gulp,
if it isn't rattling now it will be by the time we hit the border in a few
days time!
N0'39.839 E37'42.515
well, not much actually because it never happened! Our spot on Lake Naivasha
was just too nice and the bird life kept us busy all day. We thought we
might head there the next day but instead we took a short drive west from
camp to the small lake next to Lake Naivasha, which does join the main lake
when the water is high enough but not since the 70's or 80's so we were
told, and took in the sights of all the Greater and Lesser Flamingo
(thousands), White-Breasted Cormorant (hundreds), and Hippo (dozens). Lake
Naivasha is a fresh water lake and does not get any Flamingo, but instead
has huge flocks of Pelican, and I mean huge! Did you know that Pelican's
soar on thermals? No, nor did we until we saw it. They cruise pretty high
up, pick a spot, and land back in one big noisy splash, quite a sight. They
are obviously restless souls as they paddle around back and forth for a
while before flying off to find another spot on the lake. At camp we had the
company of two superb Fish Eagles which was grand, not to mention the
Egyptian Geese, numerous Pied Kingfishers, and many other beautiful birds.
It was such a great day we spent there looking at and identifying the bird
life.
From Naivasha we started on the long route north to Ethiopia. First stop,
the Equator! Sue has been dying to get there and get the good old water
demonstration. Our route was not a busy tourist route but there were two
brothers there with their curio stalls and John kindly, well for Ksh100,
showed us the water test. Yep it goes anti-clockwise down the plug in the
south, clockwise in the north and straight down at the dotted line! Sue was
happy and I am sure will want the scientific test repeated when we come back
down from Ethiopia, just to make sure! Afterwards we passed through
Nyahururu the highest town in Kenya and took a quick glimpse at the
Thomson's Falls the highest in Kenya, and the brownest! The camping there
was too expensive so we made tracks east to Isiolo the start of the long
trek to the border. Instead of staying on the main road and crossing the
Equator south and then north again we went in a straight line on the C76 to
Nanyuki. We were hoping for a good road and despite a few rocky patches is
was pretty good gravel and dirt all the way and it probably saved us a bit
of time too. Our goal for the night was Rangelands Hotel & Camping just
south of Isiolo and we reached it in good time allowing us to set up camp
and eat before it got too dark. The campsite facilities were not operational
so we were given use of one of the bungalows for toilet and shower, and TV!
Only local channels but a chance to get a weather report and to see how wet
and cold it was back in Nairobi!
To break up the haul north from Isiolo we had planned on a one or two night
break at the Shaba NR / Samburu NP / Buffalo Springs NP. They all fall next
to each other and your entry ticket gives you access to all of them too. Our
plan was to have the morning driving around Shaba NR and then cross over to
Buffalo Springs NP and Samburu NP to camp the night before continuing north
the next day. The guy at the gate was quite helpful with advice and we told
him our plan and asked about the camping options in the park. He informed us
of the special campsites (bush camping with no facilities but not cheapest
option) and the public campsite in Samburu. We decided to stick to plan and
see Shaba NR and head over for the night at Samburu public campsite. It all
went nicely to plan. Sort of. It was late morning almost lunch time so we
decided to treat ourselves to a drink at the Savora Shaba Game Lodge, and
very nice it was too if not a tad pricey. That's when the plan kind of went
pear shape! It is amazing what a small quantity of alcohol on an empty
stomach can do to you. We err, cough, ended up talking ourselves into
staying a night! It is amazing how many different reasons one can find to
justify such a decision. Sue's early birthday celebration, a late wedding
anniversary celebration, a 3 years since finishing work celebration, a
crossing the Equator celebration, the list just goes on. So before we could
change our minds and after a quick tour of the rooms we handed over the
credit card, delays the pain, and booked ourselves in for the night, yes
just one night I can assure you! We thought about a junior suite but decided
the saving on just having a standard room would justify the cost of drinks
with dinner, got all angles covered!!
So after the pain of the spend we got down to making the most of our money
starting with lunch and very nice the 4 courses and coffee were too. The
bird life to be seen from the restaurant, which is set up high above the bar
area, was great especially the 'Cuckoo with a hat' as one of the Americans
at the table next to us described the White-Bellied Lourie that passed
through! Suitably filled to bursting we set off for our afternoon game drive
in Mufasa. It was a very good drive and we saw a modest amount of game,
Elephant, Giraffe, Water Buck, Grant's Gazelle, and the silliest looking
animal so far the Gerenuk (Sue thinks it looks like ET), the bird spots were
pretty good too. It was a bit dusty at times, quite rocky in places, and the
odd water crossing or two, but nothing Mufasa couldn't cope with. Then it
was back to the lodge and again time to make the most of our dollars. Hot
baths, you bet! Then drinks, as justified by the saving on the junior suite,
and dinner. Boy we ate well, a buffet no less, full to bursting. Soups and
salads to start, then red snapper fillets, Mongolian stir fry, garlic and
ginger rice, ugali with some spinach thing that I cant remember the name of,
mash potato, all washed down with several different puddings, fruit, and
coffee. Just time to type a few words using the good old electric in the
room, only on between 6pm and midnight, and then time to crash out before an
early start and the 2nd half of the experience in the Samburu and Buffalo
Spring NPs tomorrow. Campsite, no lodge!
Oh, nearly forgot, the long hard road to Ethiopia. Well we had a taster of
it driving from Isiolo to Shaba NP. OH MY GOD! Dusty, badly corrugated,
rocky, you name it, and the worst is yet to come, another 500km or so! Gulp,
if it isn't rattling now it will be by the time we hit the border in a few
days time!
N0'39.839 E37'42.515
Sunday 20 July 2008
The pit stop is over and the journey continues
Yes we are back on the road again after a few nights in Nairobi.
A very big thank you to our hosts for the last 5 days, Stewart and Linda Henderson. Despite our love for the open road it was great to be based in bricks and mortar for a short while, especially in 7-star luxury! We were extremely well looked after and spoilt silly on meat, back to our veggie diet now! Well except for the meat we bought at the supermarket this morning after being treated to a slap up farewell breakfast!
Our route, which is still under discussion, now weaves its way up to Ethiopia over the next few days. Today we made the short hop to Lake Naivasha and Carnelly's Camp (S0'49.579 E36'20.270). We were stopped at the same police road block as when heading for the Mara but this time the officer seemed to think we needed to pay a fine for not slowing down enough on approaching the road block. Seeing as we are one of the slowest vehicles on the road as we don't speed and knew the road block was there I just laughed at him, well in my mind at least. Seeing that I was not a complete idiot he entered into the 'you are from South Africa?' dialog and then the 'do you have any rands for me?' routine. We scoffed and gave the 'no we don't sorry, diesel is very expensive now and we are very poor!' defense which seemed to work and he wished us a safe journey. I guess we have been lucky so far and this was the first attempt at a bribe we have had to deal with.
Anyway, Lake Naivasha is very nice even if the weather is not. Tomorrow we are planning to visit Hell's Gate NP and hire bikes and cycle thru it, oh and yes there is wildlife there but no predators, or so we have been reliablly informed!
A very big thank you to our hosts for the last 5 days, Stewart and Linda Henderson. Despite our love for the open road it was great to be based in bricks and mortar for a short while, especially in 7-star luxury! We were extremely well looked after and spoilt silly on meat, back to our veggie diet now! Well except for the meat we bought at the supermarket this morning after being treated to a slap up farewell breakfast!
Our route, which is still under discussion, now weaves its way up to Ethiopia over the next few days. Today we made the short hop to Lake Naivasha and Carnelly's Camp (S0'49.579 E36'20.270). We were stopped at the same police road block as when heading for the Mara but this time the officer seemed to think we needed to pay a fine for not slowing down enough on approaching the road block. Seeing as we are one of the slowest vehicles on the road as we don't speed and knew the road block was there I just laughed at him, well in my mind at least. Seeing that I was not a complete idiot he entered into the 'you are from South Africa?' dialog and then the 'do you have any rands for me?' routine. We scoffed and gave the 'no we don't sorry, diesel is very expensive now and we are very poor!' defense which seemed to work and he wished us a safe journey. I guess we have been lucky so far and this was the first attempt at a bribe we have had to deal with.
Anyway, Lake Naivasha is very nice even if the weather is not. Tomorrow we are planning to visit Hell's Gate NP and hire bikes and cycle thru it, oh and yes there is wildlife there but no predators, or so we have been reliablly informed!
Photo time again - part 5
Photo time again - part 2
Photo time again - part 1
Thursday 17 July 2008
The Masai Mara
The original plan did not include a visit to the Mara, but as usual plans
evolve and the Mara we visited. Our hopes had been to stop in the Amboseli
NP on entering Kenya as it is just over the border and you have the
possibility of great views of Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop to the game in
the park. However due to the new smart card system that has been introduced
for the Kenyan parks, where you can only pay for entry and the camping via
this card that you pre-load with USD, we were unable to visit as they only
issue the cards at certain places, Amboseli NP not being one of them,
ridiculous!
It was however good timing to pay the Mara a visit as the migration of the
Wildebeest from the Serengeti was well under way and also the weather in
Nairobi had taken a turn for the worst. The day before we set off we
ventured down the road (a 1.5km walk) from the campsite to the shopping
centre, 'The Junction', to check out the supermarket and also sort out
photocopies of documents that we would need for our Ethiopian visas. Wow! A
sight for sore eyes after 2 months on the road! Sue was positively
drooling!! It was a bit like being back in Johannesburg, with coffee shops,
fast food restaurants, a bookshop, a cinema, and the very well stocked
supermarket. We were window-shopping only as we had enough food for the
weekend at the Mara and we would fill up before leaving Nairobi and heading
north. Our other main objective was to try and source a bird book that
covered East Africa as our Newmans only went as far as northern Mozambique.
We found one, how much? 'Birds of Africa - south of the Sahara', the one we
were after. Boy should we have bought it in SA where it would have not been
cheap but one hell of a lot cheaper than in Nairobi. So in usual fashion
after checking the price and converting it to GBP, Rand, USD, Tanzanian
Shilling, and whatever other currency we could to make the price look better
we decided to think on it and come back later after making a decision. This
we did in the afternoon. Thankfully we had made it to the shopping centre
just before the heavens burst and a thunderstorm of note hit town. After
spending 2 days budget on the bird book that we decided we could not do
without we had to watch and wait to see if the rain and hail would ease to
allow a return to the campsite. After almost an hour of wandering the shops
and reading books the rain eased slightly but the roads looked very wet and
the 1.5km walk back on wet muddy 'pavements' was not very appealing so we
negotiated a rate for a taxi and returned to find a very wet campsite.
Thankfully we had packed the tent up in the morning as we had originally
planed to drive to the Ethiopian Embassy to sort visas. Everyone was in the
house and a nice roaring fire had been lit, bliss!
The next day arrived and we only managed to get away by 10h00 to head for
the Mara. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to head for the night and
knew it would be a long drive and obviously very dependent on the roads.
After a brief stop on the outskirts of the city at a police road block where
the man with his stick and his chum had questioned our Kenyan road tax as
the idiot at the border had not filled out the date we were off and running.
After you leave the main road and head towards Narok you descend down to the
Rift Valley quite a way below. The views were stunning and we stopped for a
coffee to have a good look and take pictures. There are plenty of viewpoints
but most of the early higher ones are full of tourist shops and very dodgy
looking rickety wooden viewing platforms that you would need to be either
insane or just plain stupid to venture out on. We chose a nice quiet spot
where our view had a few trees in the way but it was peaceful, well apart
from all the trucks and buses chugging past on the busy road. The main B2
road to Narok in the valley was interesting shall we say. It will be great
when they finish it but at the moment it is under construction and bumpy and
potholed initially and then a dirt track for the last 40km or so. There is
the odd piece that has been tarred but this is already falling apart so by
the time the whole road is done half of it will need doing again!!
After Narok, where the road in the town is horrendous, we turned towards the
Mara and a better road (C12), well for a while at least. This is where I
made a very silly mistake. As usual we pulled of the road to stop for some
lunch, avocado/cheese/crisp rolls, yum! After we had finished and packed up
we got in the truck, I started the engine, I checked for traffic, and then
pulled off back up the bank to the tarmac. We only made it about a foot as I
had failed to notice a 2-inch high tree stump that took an instant dislike
to the sidewall of the front right tyre and ripped a hole in it! I wont
repeat my initial comments. For the first time, and hopefully the last, we
had to change a wheel. This was done without problems and we were soon on
the way, with a damaged tyre and a dented ego! The rest of the drive was
fine apart from the last 40km where the tarmac stopped and the road was
lumpy bumpy gravel and rocks.
Finally the park and the Sekenani Gate loomed, not before we had already
seen a large group of Giraffe several km on the road earlier. The park staff
are very helpful and friendly, and we paid fees for 2 nights for us
($40pppn) and Mufasa (Ksh800pd). The Masai women at the gate were a
different story trying their best to flog us all sorts of things and they
are quite insistent about it! They even bang on your windows and they aren't
exactly all smiles and seem quite annoyed with your constant refusals.
Anyway we passed the gate and entered the park. It is quite surreal actually
being in the Masai Mara, the park that most people in the world have heard
of and has been the setting for many a wildlife programme and we were in it!
Time was moving on and we made tracks thru the park to the Talek gate and
the campsites that are just outside the gate. The drive was good and we
spotted a large herd of Elephants, some Buffalo, Topi, Zebra, and more which
quite whetted the appetite for the adventure to come. After checking out
camping options we chose on the Aruba Camp that was nice and also had other
people staying there which gives you a better sense of security.
A new day dawned and an early start of 07h00 into the park. We had no real
plans other than to drive and to see what the day would bring. There is
plenty of game in the park and the early morning went well. There was a BBC
crew filming, not sure what for, and we managed to park in their field of
view a couple of times but I doubt if we will feature in their film! The
morning highlight was the lion spot. We were so lucky to have 3 lionesses
wander across the track just in front of us. We followed, no other vehicles
around, and suddenly their cubs popped out of the scrub where they had been
hiding and waiting for their mums. Wow, fantastic! They crossed thru a
thicket and we tracked around to find them again. Then suddenly a
game-viewing vehicle appears, sees we have found sommit, drives off road to
see them, blocks our view, and scares them off. Bloody idiots! As you can
imagine we were quite pissed with them and tried to track around to find the
lions again. The trouble with parks like the Mara and Serengeti is the game
vehicles and their 2-way radios. One spots sommit and they all descend like
vultures and hound the poor creatures. After a while and with the lionesses
scarred off with vehicles following them we were left on our own with two of
the cubs. We made coffee and just sat and enjoyed from a distance. If
another vehicle came past we just pretended to be having coffee so they
would not see the cubs and pass on by. Sounds selfish I know but we do it
for the animals sake not ours, I just hate the way some people hound them
purely to be able to say 'we have seen lions'! Choosing to leave them in
peace and the relative safety of the long grass we moved on. Our sightings
included many a vulture and some great views of them picking over a
Wildebeest carcass, not to mention the huge numbers of Zebra, Grant's
Gazelle, Thomson's Gazelle, Topi, and the odd Wildebeest or two!! We also
had our first real off-road experience in Mufasa crossing a small stream
with a steep bumpy entrance and a very steep rocky climb the other side,
cool!
The park is just so totally different to anything we have seen. It is mostly
very open with waist high yellow grass. It is like driving thru wheat fields
with wildlife. We eventually crossed the Mara River from the east of the
park to the west and were so privileged to be able to view two Cheetahs
stuffing their bellies from their Wildebeest kill. We had seen a group of
vehicles on the west bank of the river all morning from our drive on the
east side. Thankfully a kind game driver stopped and told us what was
happening and where to go. These two Cheetahs were so fat and still eating
much to the annoyance of the waiting vultures. After a circuit of the west
side of the park and the huge numbers of Wildebeest and Zebra there we
crossed back to the east and had a long enjoyable drive ending back at camp.
The bird life was good but quite sparse probably due to the time of year and
also the grassy plain style of the park, but we saw some lovely new spots,
which was nice. A great spot on the way back was a lone Black Rhino, one of
the few in the Mara. We couldn't get very close to him but he was
magnificent none the less! So that was it, the Masai Mara experience,
fantastic. We had a brief drive thru the park the next morning before
leaving on the long drive back to Nairobi and the fun road, thankfully with
no further tyre incidents!
We stayed the night back at Jungle Junction and caught up with the Bushcats
who had arrived the afternoon after we left for the Mara. Their next
destination is Uganda and they are probably well on the way there now. Our
next destination? The lap of luxury thanks to the very kind hospitality of
Stewart and Linda Henderson, old friends of Sue's family, who live in
Nairobi. They have very kindly let us stop over for a few nights to sort
ourselves out before heading off to Ethiopia. We had a productive day on
Tuesday getting Ethiopian visas, filling gas bottles, and getting the tyre
fixed. Yesterday we went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphans'
Project in the Nairobi NP. It is a sanctuary mainly for orphaned baby
Elephants. You can visit between 11 and 12 to see them when they get their
bottles of milk and have a play time. They were amazing and it was great to
get so close to such fantastic animals. They run around and some of the
larger ones charge and barge the spectators. I even got to blow in one of
their trunks, which is apparently how they recognise and remember people.
The Elephants come from various parks where their parents have either been
killed by poachers or have died from natural causes. They eventually return
them to the parks when they are a bit older and independent to live out
hopefully a full and peaceful life.
Today is jobs day. I need to give Mufasa a health check and Sue is sorting
out all our bits and bobs.
evolve and the Mara we visited. Our hopes had been to stop in the Amboseli
NP on entering Kenya as it is just over the border and you have the
possibility of great views of Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop to the game in
the park. However due to the new smart card system that has been introduced
for the Kenyan parks, where you can only pay for entry and the camping via
this card that you pre-load with USD, we were unable to visit as they only
issue the cards at certain places, Amboseli NP not being one of them,
ridiculous!
It was however good timing to pay the Mara a visit as the migration of the
Wildebeest from the Serengeti was well under way and also the weather in
Nairobi had taken a turn for the worst. The day before we set off we
ventured down the road (a 1.5km walk) from the campsite to the shopping
centre, 'The Junction', to check out the supermarket and also sort out
photocopies of documents that we would need for our Ethiopian visas. Wow! A
sight for sore eyes after 2 months on the road! Sue was positively
drooling!! It was a bit like being back in Johannesburg, with coffee shops,
fast food restaurants, a bookshop, a cinema, and the very well stocked
supermarket. We were window-shopping only as we had enough food for the
weekend at the Mara and we would fill up before leaving Nairobi and heading
north. Our other main objective was to try and source a bird book that
covered East Africa as our Newmans only went as far as northern Mozambique.
We found one, how much? 'Birds of Africa - south of the Sahara', the one we
were after. Boy should we have bought it in SA where it would have not been
cheap but one hell of a lot cheaper than in Nairobi. So in usual fashion
after checking the price and converting it to GBP, Rand, USD, Tanzanian
Shilling, and whatever other currency we could to make the price look better
we decided to think on it and come back later after making a decision. This
we did in the afternoon. Thankfully we had made it to the shopping centre
just before the heavens burst and a thunderstorm of note hit town. After
spending 2 days budget on the bird book that we decided we could not do
without we had to watch and wait to see if the rain and hail would ease to
allow a return to the campsite. After almost an hour of wandering the shops
and reading books the rain eased slightly but the roads looked very wet and
the 1.5km walk back on wet muddy 'pavements' was not very appealing so we
negotiated a rate for a taxi and returned to find a very wet campsite.
Thankfully we had packed the tent up in the morning as we had originally
planed to drive to the Ethiopian Embassy to sort visas. Everyone was in the
house and a nice roaring fire had been lit, bliss!
The next day arrived and we only managed to get away by 10h00 to head for
the Mara. We had a rough idea of where we wanted to head for the night and
knew it would be a long drive and obviously very dependent on the roads.
After a brief stop on the outskirts of the city at a police road block where
the man with his stick and his chum had questioned our Kenyan road tax as
the idiot at the border had not filled out the date we were off and running.
After you leave the main road and head towards Narok you descend down to the
Rift Valley quite a way below. The views were stunning and we stopped for a
coffee to have a good look and take pictures. There are plenty of viewpoints
but most of the early higher ones are full of tourist shops and very dodgy
looking rickety wooden viewing platforms that you would need to be either
insane or just plain stupid to venture out on. We chose a nice quiet spot
where our view had a few trees in the way but it was peaceful, well apart
from all the trucks and buses chugging past on the busy road. The main B2
road to Narok in the valley was interesting shall we say. It will be great
when they finish it but at the moment it is under construction and bumpy and
potholed initially and then a dirt track for the last 40km or so. There is
the odd piece that has been tarred but this is already falling apart so by
the time the whole road is done half of it will need doing again!!
After Narok, where the road in the town is horrendous, we turned towards the
Mara and a better road (C12), well for a while at least. This is where I
made a very silly mistake. As usual we pulled of the road to stop for some
lunch, avocado/cheese/crisp rolls, yum! After we had finished and packed up
we got in the truck, I started the engine, I checked for traffic, and then
pulled off back up the bank to the tarmac. We only made it about a foot as I
had failed to notice a 2-inch high tree stump that took an instant dislike
to the sidewall of the front right tyre and ripped a hole in it! I wont
repeat my initial comments. For the first time, and hopefully the last, we
had to change a wheel. This was done without problems and we were soon on
the way, with a damaged tyre and a dented ego! The rest of the drive was
fine apart from the last 40km where the tarmac stopped and the road was
lumpy bumpy gravel and rocks.
Finally the park and the Sekenani Gate loomed, not before we had already
seen a large group of Giraffe several km on the road earlier. The park staff
are very helpful and friendly, and we paid fees for 2 nights for us
($40pppn) and Mufasa (Ksh800pd). The Masai women at the gate were a
different story trying their best to flog us all sorts of things and they
are quite insistent about it! They even bang on your windows and they aren't
exactly all smiles and seem quite annoyed with your constant refusals.
Anyway we passed the gate and entered the park. It is quite surreal actually
being in the Masai Mara, the park that most people in the world have heard
of and has been the setting for many a wildlife programme and we were in it!
Time was moving on and we made tracks thru the park to the Talek gate and
the campsites that are just outside the gate. The drive was good and we
spotted a large herd of Elephants, some Buffalo, Topi, Zebra, and more which
quite whetted the appetite for the adventure to come. After checking out
camping options we chose on the Aruba Camp that was nice and also had other
people staying there which gives you a better sense of security.
A new day dawned and an early start of 07h00 into the park. We had no real
plans other than to drive and to see what the day would bring. There is
plenty of game in the park and the early morning went well. There was a BBC
crew filming, not sure what for, and we managed to park in their field of
view a couple of times but I doubt if we will feature in their film! The
morning highlight was the lion spot. We were so lucky to have 3 lionesses
wander across the track just in front of us. We followed, no other vehicles
around, and suddenly their cubs popped out of the scrub where they had been
hiding and waiting for their mums. Wow, fantastic! They crossed thru a
thicket and we tracked around to find them again. Then suddenly a
game-viewing vehicle appears, sees we have found sommit, drives off road to
see them, blocks our view, and scares them off. Bloody idiots! As you can
imagine we were quite pissed with them and tried to track around to find the
lions again. The trouble with parks like the Mara and Serengeti is the game
vehicles and their 2-way radios. One spots sommit and they all descend like
vultures and hound the poor creatures. After a while and with the lionesses
scarred off with vehicles following them we were left on our own with two of
the cubs. We made coffee and just sat and enjoyed from a distance. If
another vehicle came past we just pretended to be having coffee so they
would not see the cubs and pass on by. Sounds selfish I know but we do it
for the animals sake not ours, I just hate the way some people hound them
purely to be able to say 'we have seen lions'! Choosing to leave them in
peace and the relative safety of the long grass we moved on. Our sightings
included many a vulture and some great views of them picking over a
Wildebeest carcass, not to mention the huge numbers of Zebra, Grant's
Gazelle, Thomson's Gazelle, Topi, and the odd Wildebeest or two!! We also
had our first real off-road experience in Mufasa crossing a small stream
with a steep bumpy entrance and a very steep rocky climb the other side,
cool!
The park is just so totally different to anything we have seen. It is mostly
very open with waist high yellow grass. It is like driving thru wheat fields
with wildlife. We eventually crossed the Mara River from the east of the
park to the west and were so privileged to be able to view two Cheetahs
stuffing their bellies from their Wildebeest kill. We had seen a group of
vehicles on the west bank of the river all morning from our drive on the
east side. Thankfully a kind game driver stopped and told us what was
happening and where to go. These two Cheetahs were so fat and still eating
much to the annoyance of the waiting vultures. After a circuit of the west
side of the park and the huge numbers of Wildebeest and Zebra there we
crossed back to the east and had a long enjoyable drive ending back at camp.
The bird life was good but quite sparse probably due to the time of year and
also the grassy plain style of the park, but we saw some lovely new spots,
which was nice. A great spot on the way back was a lone Black Rhino, one of
the few in the Mara. We couldn't get very close to him but he was
magnificent none the less! So that was it, the Masai Mara experience,
fantastic. We had a brief drive thru the park the next morning before
leaving on the long drive back to Nairobi and the fun road, thankfully with
no further tyre incidents!
We stayed the night back at Jungle Junction and caught up with the Bushcats
who had arrived the afternoon after we left for the Mara. Their next
destination is Uganda and they are probably well on the way there now. Our
next destination? The lap of luxury thanks to the very kind hospitality of
Stewart and Linda Henderson, old friends of Sue's family, who live in
Nairobi. They have very kindly let us stop over for a few nights to sort
ourselves out before heading off to Ethiopia. We had a productive day on
Tuesday getting Ethiopian visas, filling gas bottles, and getting the tyre
fixed. Yesterday we went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphans'
Project in the Nairobi NP. It is a sanctuary mainly for orphaned baby
Elephants. You can visit between 11 and 12 to see them when they get their
bottles of milk and have a play time. They were amazing and it was great to
get so close to such fantastic animals. They run around and some of the
larger ones charge and barge the spectators. I even got to blow in one of
their trunks, which is apparently how they recognise and remember people.
The Elephants come from various parks where their parents have either been
killed by poachers or have died from natural causes. They eventually return
them to the parks when they are a bit older and independent to live out
hopefully a full and peaceful life.
Today is jobs day. I need to give Mufasa a health check and Sue is sorting
out all our bits and bobs.
Monday 14 July 2008
Into Kenya and the Jungle
Our stay in Tanzania kind of fizzled out in the end. We had a brief wander around downtown Moshi and coffee before heading out of town and stumbled across the Commonwealth War Graveyard there that covers both wars. There are 3 seperate graveyards, one for black Africans with no gate, a British and other white commonwealth with a gate that locks, and a monument for Hindus (I think). It was very interesting indeed and totally unexpected.
After Moshi we passed thru Arusha, very busy and chaotic, and spent a night at the Maserani Snake park (S03'24.593 E36'29.0). Interesting place and full of big overland trucks, 7 of them, and the mass throng of their passengers some of whom made quite a drunken racket until the early hours.
So the next day we made a hasty exit and sped to the Kenyan border at Namanga. The crossing was easy enough except for having to stump up additional dollars for Tanz road tax that we apparently should have been sold when we entered the country! With passports and carnet stamped and vehicle duties for Kenya paid we leapt into the 3rd country on our journey, and the 3rd rate road up to Nairobi. They are in the process of rebuilding most of it so there where many bumpy off road diversions and plenty of stretches of busy crumbling tarmac.
Nairobi was chaos when we eventually arrived and it took an age to fight our way across town to Jungle Junction (S01'17.339 E36'45.618) a campsite in the gardens of a house in western Nairobi. It is run by a German, Christophe, and is well known stopping place for independent overlanders. We stopped there for a couple of nights before heading off for a weekend in the bush down at the Masai Mara. It gave us a chance to visit a local shopping centre and gawp at the fantastic food stuffs available, we will stock up before heading up to Ethiopia!
We are back from the Masai Mara now but my fingers are tired so you will have wait!
After Moshi we passed thru Arusha, very busy and chaotic, and spent a night at the Maserani Snake park (S03'24.593 E36'29.0). Interesting place and full of big overland trucks, 7 of them, and the mass throng of their passengers some of whom made quite a drunken racket until the early hours.
So the next day we made a hasty exit and sped to the Kenyan border at Namanga. The crossing was easy enough except for having to stump up additional dollars for Tanz road tax that we apparently should have been sold when we entered the country! With passports and carnet stamped and vehicle duties for Kenya paid we leapt into the 3rd country on our journey, and the 3rd rate road up to Nairobi. They are in the process of rebuilding most of it so there where many bumpy off road diversions and plenty of stretches of busy crumbling tarmac.
Nairobi was chaos when we eventually arrived and it took an age to fight our way across town to Jungle Junction (S01'17.339 E36'45.618) a campsite in the gardens of a house in western Nairobi. It is run by a German, Christophe, and is well known stopping place for independent overlanders. We stopped there for a couple of nights before heading off for a weekend in the bush down at the Masai Mara. It gave us a chance to visit a local shopping centre and gawp at the fantastic food stuffs available, we will stock up before heading up to Ethiopia!
We are back from the Masai Mara now but my fingers are tired so you will have wait!
Wednesday 9 July 2008
Life on the farm? Not much sign of any!
I can see why farmers have a long hard life, eating all the delicious goods they produce takes some doing!
What a great change of scenery and pace of life. Four extremely pleasant days were passed up in the West Usambara mountains at Irente Farm. We did our best to try as many of the farm's goods on offer but I think we would have needed a few more nights to have hit the 100% mark.
It all started with some plain cheese on the first afternoon and proceeded to freshly baked rye bread, passion fruit jam, quark mit herbs, chilli cheese, a large block of butter, and bottle of passion fruit juice that a young German couple we met could not finish! No we didnt scavenge it. They were just 2 of the many people who hike up to the farm for a picnic lunch and they offered it to us after we had made them some fresh coffee as we chatted after lunch.
We did manage to extricate ourselves from our four day feast on a couple of occasions. A short stroll across to the amazing viewpoint out over the plain below one morning, and a longer hike around the area the following day to another better viewpoint and other sights accompanied by our guide Joseph, a 14 year old from the village who speaks excellent English and takes tourists on hikes in order to help pay for his school books.
The climate in the hills is pretty cool although the sun was still very hot when out, but the evenings were very chilly and our cold weather clothes that we had packed just in case justified their existence. Anyone who has the misguided idea that Africa even in the winter is scorching hot needs to reconsider! Thankfully hot showers were on offer, well sort of. Our man at the farm would on request heat up buckets of water on a fire and fill up the shower's hot water tank with them! It was however an art using both a hot water shower and a seperate cold water shower at the same time in order not to get scolded!
We managed to escape our mountain retreat today but not before securing 2 more rye bread loaves, quark, and cheese to keep us going for a couple of days! The market at Lushoto on the way down to the plain assisted in filling up our depleted stores. Fruit and veg is just so cheap. The princely sum of just Tsh4000 secured us; tomatoes, potatos, onions, cabbage, carrots, oranges, passion fruit, bananas, and avocados! Oh thats just a mere £1.70! We also decided to buy a small Jiko stove to ease the burden on our gas supplies. It can be used with charcoal or wood and is an hour glass shaped metal case with a ceramic insulator in the top half that holds the fire, and has supports for your pot or pan on top. The idea is that more heat from a smaller fire can be used to cook with and thus reduce the amount of fuel used and thus the amount of trees cut down to produce it. We shall see!
So yesterday we have progressed from the beautiful Usambaras to the majestic Mt Kilimanjaro, and there is not a cloud anywhere near it so our view of it as we approached from over 100km away to the camp tonight at Moshi was stunning and quite unusual! Oh and before you ask, no we are not climbing it, not this time anyway.
From here we pop along to Arusha and perhaps a tour of the Serengeti depending on how much they want to fleece us for one, and then north to Kenya and beyond!
S03'21.097 E37'23.031
What a great change of scenery and pace of life. Four extremely pleasant days were passed up in the West Usambara mountains at Irente Farm. We did our best to try as many of the farm's goods on offer but I think we would have needed a few more nights to have hit the 100% mark.
It all started with some plain cheese on the first afternoon and proceeded to freshly baked rye bread, passion fruit jam, quark mit herbs, chilli cheese, a large block of butter, and bottle of passion fruit juice that a young German couple we met could not finish! No we didnt scavenge it. They were just 2 of the many people who hike up to the farm for a picnic lunch and they offered it to us after we had made them some fresh coffee as we chatted after lunch.
We did manage to extricate ourselves from our four day feast on a couple of occasions. A short stroll across to the amazing viewpoint out over the plain below one morning, and a longer hike around the area the following day to another better viewpoint and other sights accompanied by our guide Joseph, a 14 year old from the village who speaks excellent English and takes tourists on hikes in order to help pay for his school books.
The climate in the hills is pretty cool although the sun was still very hot when out, but the evenings were very chilly and our cold weather clothes that we had packed just in case justified their existence. Anyone who has the misguided idea that Africa even in the winter is scorching hot needs to reconsider! Thankfully hot showers were on offer, well sort of. Our man at the farm would on request heat up buckets of water on a fire and fill up the shower's hot water tank with them! It was however an art using both a hot water shower and a seperate cold water shower at the same time in order not to get scolded!
We managed to escape our mountain retreat today but not before securing 2 more rye bread loaves, quark, and cheese to keep us going for a couple of days! The market at Lushoto on the way down to the plain assisted in filling up our depleted stores. Fruit and veg is just so cheap. The princely sum of just Tsh4000 secured us; tomatoes, potatos, onions, cabbage, carrots, oranges, passion fruit, bananas, and avocados! Oh thats just a mere £1.70! We also decided to buy a small Jiko stove to ease the burden on our gas supplies. It can be used with charcoal or wood and is an hour glass shaped metal case with a ceramic insulator in the top half that holds the fire, and has supports for your pot or pan on top. The idea is that more heat from a smaller fire can be used to cook with and thus reduce the amount of fuel used and thus the amount of trees cut down to produce it. We shall see!
So yesterday we have progressed from the beautiful Usambaras to the majestic Mt Kilimanjaro, and there is not a cloud anywhere near it so our view of it as we approached from over 100km away to the camp tonight at Moshi was stunning and quite unusual! Oh and before you ask, no we are not climbing it, not this time anyway.
From here we pop along to Arusha and perhaps a tour of the Serengeti depending on how much they want to fleece us for one, and then north to Kenya and beyond!
S03'21.097 E37'23.031
Friday 4 July 2008
And then there were two!
Well it had to happen sooner or later, the Woolies and the Bushcats have gone in parted company!
We left the Sunrise campsite south of Dar on Monday, very early. We had Mufasa booked in for an oil change with a German mechanic, Frank, in Dar at 08h00 so we had to run the gauntlet of the ferry to Dar as early as possible. Thankfully we only had a 30 minute wait and arrived at the garage on time and just before Frank. Half an hour later and with fresh oil filling Mufasa's sump we were on our way, did some shopping, and then hit the road north aiming for Pangani on the coast. The drive was good despite the constant onslaught of buses in both directions flying at silly speeds, and we arrived at Peponi Beach Resort early afternoon (S05'17.210 E39'03.998). It was a very nice spot indeed and we stayed for 4 nights. The Bushcats joined us the day after we arrived, and the day before we left Chris and Janet, the English couple we met at Sunrise, arrived on their way back from Arusha. On our second day there we went out on a snorkeling trip aboard the resorts dhow which was great!
This morning we set off again and this time without the Bushcats. They are heading up the coast into Kenya and we have gone north west into the mountains towards Arusha. We are not sure when our paths will cross again or even if they will as our route has evolved differently to theirs. We will enter Kenya, goto Nairobi to get visas, and then head straight to Ethiopia. Our plan is then to see Kenya on the way back before going west to Uganda, Rwanda, and back into Tanzania.
So, tonight we are at Irente Farm up in the Usambara Mountain Reserve not far from Lushoto. We almost have the place to ourselves and the views are great. The weather didnt look too great on the way here but after a bit of rain early on we arrived with glorious sunshine and it was quite warm despite the height we are at. This evening it has cooled down quite a bit, but it is nice to be able to cover up against the mozzies without sweating buckets! There are several hiking options from the farm, and they sell a range of their own organic cheeses, jams, muesli, ryebread, butter, cream, fruit juices, and quark!
S04'47.635 E38'15.898
We left the Sunrise campsite south of Dar on Monday, very early. We had Mufasa booked in for an oil change with a German mechanic, Frank, in Dar at 08h00 so we had to run the gauntlet of the ferry to Dar as early as possible. Thankfully we only had a 30 minute wait and arrived at the garage on time and just before Frank. Half an hour later and with fresh oil filling Mufasa's sump we were on our way, did some shopping, and then hit the road north aiming for Pangani on the coast. The drive was good despite the constant onslaught of buses in both directions flying at silly speeds, and we arrived at Peponi Beach Resort early afternoon (S05'17.210 E39'03.998). It was a very nice spot indeed and we stayed for 4 nights. The Bushcats joined us the day after we arrived, and the day before we left Chris and Janet, the English couple we met at Sunrise, arrived on their way back from Arusha. On our second day there we went out on a snorkeling trip aboard the resorts dhow which was great!
This morning we set off again and this time without the Bushcats. They are heading up the coast into Kenya and we have gone north west into the mountains towards Arusha. We are not sure when our paths will cross again or even if they will as our route has evolved differently to theirs. We will enter Kenya, goto Nairobi to get visas, and then head straight to Ethiopia. Our plan is then to see Kenya on the way back before going west to Uganda, Rwanda, and back into Tanzania.
So, tonight we are at Irente Farm up in the Usambara Mountain Reserve not far from Lushoto. We almost have the place to ourselves and the views are great. The weather didnt look too great on the way here but after a bit of rain early on we arrived with glorious sunshine and it was quite warm despite the height we are at. This evening it has cooled down quite a bit, but it is nice to be able to cover up against the mozzies without sweating buckets! There are several hiking options from the farm, and they sell a range of their own organic cheeses, jams, muesli, ryebread, butter, cream, fruit juices, and quark!
S04'47.635 E38'15.898
Thursday 3 July 2008
How to eat your way around Zanzibar in 3 days
Yes we made it! It was fab! Its was tiring and thirsty work!
It was a long trip to get there, and thankfully the first step of the taxi
up to get the ferry across to Dar, Rich and his truck, was cheap and
efficient! Then the hop across on the packed ferry to Dar and the quick
march west to the Zanzibar ferry dock, about 20 mins quick stepping. That's
when the fun started. You kind of get route marched into an office to buy
your tickets, and negotiate the price. Thankfully we knew it was $35 per
person and when we were initially asked for $40 we just scoffed and said
nope! They then tried it on with demanding an additional $10 each for port
charges, err we said no way, and they gave up. The ferry was due to leave at
09h30, we thought the next one was as 10h00. The clock was already showing
09h25 so they told us to hurry and get through customs etc and board the
ferry. After a quick bag search, presumably for illegal stashes of clean
folded clothes, we went to sit down with the many people already waiting in
the 'departure lounge'. We thought it strange that we were being told to
hurry but no one else was looking the slightest bit rushed. It was then that
we realised that this bunch were waiting for the slow ferry and not our fast
boat that was about to depart. So we chose to make a move, and one kind
local confirmed our thoughts, so we made fast tracks out to the awaiting
ferry and were ushered on board. Well 30 mins later, at 10h00, we were on
our way! The crossing was bumpy but not too bad, and there was a choice of
reading, sleeping, or watching the in-flight movie (Casino Royale with very
bad English subtitles). So after some greasy and expensive crisps that they
were selling, I chose sleep and Sue chose reading and sleep. Stone Town
arrived quite quickly, about 2hrs real time, or 2-3 mins for me asleep!
Ah, immigration. Yep, being stubborn and not wanting to really be a part of
the mainland they have to process you through immigration to get your feet
on dry land, not that you are processed out from Dar, that's Africa! We knew
this and made sure we got off the boat quick sharp to be first in the long
slow queue to fill out forms, have passports stamped, and our photos taken.
Customs didn't seem interested in us on that side, I guess we no longer had
any stashes of clean folded clothes thanks to the previous search on the
mainland.
The guide books warn you of the Papasi (ticks) that hover outside the port
waiting to latch on to you and not let go. We looked purposeful in our
actions and with a few polite 'no thanks' and 'very kind of you to ask' we
escaped and made haste to our chosen hotel, Garden Lodge. It was a nice
place, old and tired, but comfy beds with mosquito nets, and a private
bathroom. Not cheap though at $40 for a double room per night, but nothing
on Zanzibar is cheap, it is really only a holiday destination these days and
not much more, so they charge what they like. By this time it was gone 13h00
so we thought, food. The Archipelago restaurant had been recommended to us
by the Tanzanian lady we met at Selous, so with no other thought we wandered
that way and enjoyed some very tasty and reasonably priced dishes for lunch,
not to mention the coffee and cake for dessert, cappuccinos to accompany
passion fruit tart and a slice of orange and almond cake. The only snag,
they don't serve alcohol, so our next job was to hunt down a bar and see how
many limbs they would charge us for the privilege. At our Dar base, Sunrise
Beach Resort, we were paying Tsh1500 for a 500ml local beer. On Zanzibar the
prices ranged from Tsh4000 at the very expensive hotels, to Tsh3000 at the
beach bar/restaurants. Hmmm, but when in Rome. Suitably recharged we had our
first of several meanders around the back streets of the town. As you would
expect it is mainly quite scruffy, and there are tourist shops every metre
or two flogging every imaginable African artefact and painting you could
think of. Oh, and they almost but not quite drag you into it to inspect the
range of 'delights' on offer. So our 'no thanks' and 'thank you for asking'
talents were put to good use again! In fact the only time we ventured into
one of the shops was a day or two later to buy Rich a birthday present from
a local artist who was actually busy at work, and not selling genuine Masai
paintings!!
For dinner that night we hit the street food. We ate Zanzibar pizzas and
beef kebabs with naan bread. The pizza is a local speciality, honest! It is
a kind of pancake filled with tomato, onion, minced beef, cheese, mayo,
chilli all mixed together with an egg. They seal them up in a square parcel
and cook them on a hot plate over a charcoal fire. Bloody delicious!! Sue
had a single (Tsh1000) and I made short work of a double (Tsh2000). You just
park off on the benches scattered around and munch away with the many locals
and tourists also dining out. With a small gap to still fill we chose some
beef kebabs and naan bread to finish the meal. If you so desired there were
all sorts of other kebabs on offer from various fish and shellfish (all
looked a bit dodgy) and even banana and chocolate pizzas. Instead we rolled
back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.
The next morning we 'enjoyed' the hotel's roof top restaurant and the
continental style breakfast of juice, fruit, and bread roll with omelette.
The tea and coffee was average, and the milk was horrible. Then we made it
downstairs and departed on our outing to visit the spice farms. It was a
fascinating trip and we discovered how many of the spices are grown like
cloves, cardamom, vanilla, pepper, to mention just a few. After the spice
farms we were dished up a basic but tasty lunch of rice with a spicy sauce,
cooked spinach, and chapattis. There was a brief detour on the way back via
some old slave caves that were used to hide illegally used slaves after the
abolishment of slavery, and then a short rest on a beach nearby.
Back in Stone Town, we made ready for the next event. Well dinner of course,
what else! After wandering some more of the streets, and getting lost now
and again, we had to decide on a plan of action. We chose to try out the
Radha Food House, an Indian restaurant. From the outside it looked
condemned! But we both ate very well and very cheaply, and it was delicious
too. The main plus side, beer at Tsh2000, the cheapest in town! Still with
time to kill before we collapsed into bed again we filled any remaining gaps
in our stomachs with more of the Archipelago's delights, sticky date pudding
with caramel sauce and a frangipani tart both washed down with more
cappuccinos!
Saturday was our main wandering the streets day and a long day it was. I
think we must have walked the town flat. We managed to pass some buildings
several times, not by design, just lack of a sense of direction and a good
map! The market was very busy, especially the fish market, oh and a trifle
smelly too. We had bought some great snacks for lunch first thing from a
bakery just a few steps from the hotel. Some small potato balls flavoured
with chilli or lemon, and a couple of meat pies. We sat on the beach to have
our picnic at lunchtime, well it was nearly 11h00, and watched the many
moored dhows and other boats bob in the lapping waves. The camera battery
decided to flash empty so we strolled back to the hotel to charge it up
before heading off for another stroll and some very poor 'Italian' ice
cream. We also managed to find an Internet cafe that had a 'quick'
connection and thus were able to upload some pictures to the blog. By this
time our early lunch had been walked off, so we hit the Radha Food house
again mid afternoon and snacked on some samosas and dal balls and some more
cheapish beer.
We wandered a bit more to complete our tour of the sights of the town and
returned to the hotel to prepare for our final night in the town. Sundowners
at the Livingston bar, not sure he actually ever went there, and then no
other serious option apart from dinner back at the Archipelago. Pilli Pilli
Perch Wholefish and chips for me and BBQ Cobia and chips for Sue, did I
mention they did great coffee and cakes?
We had booked our return ferry Saturday morning so there was not much to do
Sunday before our 13h00 departure except some final wandering, buying of
food for the ferry trip, and hunting down a place to have one final coffee.
Everywhere seemed closed or slow to open being Sunday morning. Archipelago
was not an option, bugger, and the Buni Cafe was uninspiring. So our only
option was the Mercury Restaurant and bar not far from the ferry port, named
after one Freddy Mercury who was born on the island, just in case you didn't
know. He must be turning in his grave, the place was a dive, and the
'coffee' was horrible! With some time still to kill we went and sat at the
ferry terminal and passed the final 1h30 reading. The trip back was a tad
bumpier than the outward journey, and you know things are not going to be
good when they hand out sick bags just minutes after leaving dock. We had
popped some motion sickness tabs earlier and despite the vomiting sounds
from behind us for 2 hours we made it through with no problems. Then a quick
romp to the Dar / South Beach ferry, a trip aboard the reasonably priced
Rich's taxi, and we were safely home with Mufasa.
It was a long trip to get there, and thankfully the first step of the taxi
up to get the ferry across to Dar, Rich and his truck, was cheap and
efficient! Then the hop across on the packed ferry to Dar and the quick
march west to the Zanzibar ferry dock, about 20 mins quick stepping. That's
when the fun started. You kind of get route marched into an office to buy
your tickets, and negotiate the price. Thankfully we knew it was $35 per
person and when we were initially asked for $40 we just scoffed and said
nope! They then tried it on with demanding an additional $10 each for port
charges, err we said no way, and they gave up. The ferry was due to leave at
09h30, we thought the next one was as 10h00. The clock was already showing
09h25 so they told us to hurry and get through customs etc and board the
ferry. After a quick bag search, presumably for illegal stashes of clean
folded clothes, we went to sit down with the many people already waiting in
the 'departure lounge'. We thought it strange that we were being told to
hurry but no one else was looking the slightest bit rushed. It was then that
we realised that this bunch were waiting for the slow ferry and not our fast
boat that was about to depart. So we chose to make a move, and one kind
local confirmed our thoughts, so we made fast tracks out to the awaiting
ferry and were ushered on board. Well 30 mins later, at 10h00, we were on
our way! The crossing was bumpy but not too bad, and there was a choice of
reading, sleeping, or watching the in-flight movie (Casino Royale with very
bad English subtitles). So after some greasy and expensive crisps that they
were selling, I chose sleep and Sue chose reading and sleep. Stone Town
arrived quite quickly, about 2hrs real time, or 2-3 mins for me asleep!
Ah, immigration. Yep, being stubborn and not wanting to really be a part of
the mainland they have to process you through immigration to get your feet
on dry land, not that you are processed out from Dar, that's Africa! We knew
this and made sure we got off the boat quick sharp to be first in the long
slow queue to fill out forms, have passports stamped, and our photos taken.
Customs didn't seem interested in us on that side, I guess we no longer had
any stashes of clean folded clothes thanks to the previous search on the
mainland.
The guide books warn you of the Papasi (ticks) that hover outside the port
waiting to latch on to you and not let go. We looked purposeful in our
actions and with a few polite 'no thanks' and 'very kind of you to ask' we
escaped and made haste to our chosen hotel, Garden Lodge. It was a nice
place, old and tired, but comfy beds with mosquito nets, and a private
bathroom. Not cheap though at $40 for a double room per night, but nothing
on Zanzibar is cheap, it is really only a holiday destination these days and
not much more, so they charge what they like. By this time it was gone 13h00
so we thought, food. The Archipelago restaurant had been recommended to us
by the Tanzanian lady we met at Selous, so with no other thought we wandered
that way and enjoyed some very tasty and reasonably priced dishes for lunch,
not to mention the coffee and cake for dessert, cappuccinos to accompany
passion fruit tart and a slice of orange and almond cake. The only snag,
they don't serve alcohol, so our next job was to hunt down a bar and see how
many limbs they would charge us for the privilege. At our Dar base, Sunrise
Beach Resort, we were paying Tsh1500 for a 500ml local beer. On Zanzibar the
prices ranged from Tsh4000 at the very expensive hotels, to Tsh3000 at the
beach bar/restaurants. Hmmm, but when in Rome. Suitably recharged we had our
first of several meanders around the back streets of the town. As you would
expect it is mainly quite scruffy, and there are tourist shops every metre
or two flogging every imaginable African artefact and painting you could
think of. Oh, and they almost but not quite drag you into it to inspect the
range of 'delights' on offer. So our 'no thanks' and 'thank you for asking'
talents were put to good use again! In fact the only time we ventured into
one of the shops was a day or two later to buy Rich a birthday present from
a local artist who was actually busy at work, and not selling genuine Masai
paintings!!
For dinner that night we hit the street food. We ate Zanzibar pizzas and
beef kebabs with naan bread. The pizza is a local speciality, honest! It is
a kind of pancake filled with tomato, onion, minced beef, cheese, mayo,
chilli all mixed together with an egg. They seal them up in a square parcel
and cook them on a hot plate over a charcoal fire. Bloody delicious!! Sue
had a single (Tsh1000) and I made short work of a double (Tsh2000). You just
park off on the benches scattered around and munch away with the many locals
and tourists also dining out. With a small gap to still fill we chose some
beef kebabs and naan bread to finish the meal. If you so desired there were
all sorts of other kebabs on offer from various fish and shellfish (all
looked a bit dodgy) and even banana and chocolate pizzas. Instead we rolled
back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.
The next morning we 'enjoyed' the hotel's roof top restaurant and the
continental style breakfast of juice, fruit, and bread roll with omelette.
The tea and coffee was average, and the milk was horrible. Then we made it
downstairs and departed on our outing to visit the spice farms. It was a
fascinating trip and we discovered how many of the spices are grown like
cloves, cardamom, vanilla, pepper, to mention just a few. After the spice
farms we were dished up a basic but tasty lunch of rice with a spicy sauce,
cooked spinach, and chapattis. There was a brief detour on the way back via
some old slave caves that were used to hide illegally used slaves after the
abolishment of slavery, and then a short rest on a beach nearby.
Back in Stone Town, we made ready for the next event. Well dinner of course,
what else! After wandering some more of the streets, and getting lost now
and again, we had to decide on a plan of action. We chose to try out the
Radha Food House, an Indian restaurant. From the outside it looked
condemned! But we both ate very well and very cheaply, and it was delicious
too. The main plus side, beer at Tsh2000, the cheapest in town! Still with
time to kill before we collapsed into bed again we filled any remaining gaps
in our stomachs with more of the Archipelago's delights, sticky date pudding
with caramel sauce and a frangipani tart both washed down with more
cappuccinos!
Saturday was our main wandering the streets day and a long day it was. I
think we must have walked the town flat. We managed to pass some buildings
several times, not by design, just lack of a sense of direction and a good
map! The market was very busy, especially the fish market, oh and a trifle
smelly too. We had bought some great snacks for lunch first thing from a
bakery just a few steps from the hotel. Some small potato balls flavoured
with chilli or lemon, and a couple of meat pies. We sat on the beach to have
our picnic at lunchtime, well it was nearly 11h00, and watched the many
moored dhows and other boats bob in the lapping waves. The camera battery
decided to flash empty so we strolled back to the hotel to charge it up
before heading off for another stroll and some very poor 'Italian' ice
cream. We also managed to find an Internet cafe that had a 'quick'
connection and thus were able to upload some pictures to the blog. By this
time our early lunch had been walked off, so we hit the Radha Food house
again mid afternoon and snacked on some samosas and dal balls and some more
cheapish beer.
We wandered a bit more to complete our tour of the sights of the town and
returned to the hotel to prepare for our final night in the town. Sundowners
at the Livingston bar, not sure he actually ever went there, and then no
other serious option apart from dinner back at the Archipelago. Pilli Pilli
Perch Wholefish and chips for me and BBQ Cobia and chips for Sue, did I
mention they did great coffee and cakes?
We had booked our return ferry Saturday morning so there was not much to do
Sunday before our 13h00 departure except some final wandering, buying of
food for the ferry trip, and hunting down a place to have one final coffee.
Everywhere seemed closed or slow to open being Sunday morning. Archipelago
was not an option, bugger, and the Buni Cafe was uninspiring. So our only
option was the Mercury Restaurant and bar not far from the ferry port, named
after one Freddy Mercury who was born on the island, just in case you didn't
know. He must be turning in his grave, the place was a dive, and the
'coffee' was horrible! With some time still to kill we went and sat at the
ferry terminal and passed the final 1h30 reading. The trip back was a tad
bumpier than the outward journey, and you know things are not going to be
good when they hand out sick bags just minutes after leaving dock. We had
popped some motion sickness tabs earlier and despite the vomiting sounds
from behind us for 2 hours we made it through with no problems. Then a quick
romp to the Dar / South Beach ferry, a trip aboard the reasonably priced
Rich's taxi, and we were safely home with Mufasa.
Driving Miss Suzy - tales from the passenger seat...
Thought it was about time I added my views and experiences on the trip so
far. It will all be done from memory as my journal, a leather bound book
with handmade paper containing about 500 pages, has 3 pages with writing on.
I am too busy to find the time to write a journal. Although saying that I
have managed to keep a diary of the important stuff - what we've had for
dinner every night. I'll fill you in on our 'life on the road' to answer
some of the questions out there.
far. It will all be done from memory as my journal, a leather bound book
with handmade paper containing about 500 pages, has 3 pages with writing on.
I am too busy to find the time to write a journal. Although saying that I
have managed to keep a diary of the important stuff - what we've had for
dinner every night. I'll fill you in on our 'life on the road' to answer
some of the questions out there.
Sleeping - Nights in the rooftop tent are really comfortable. There has been
the odd beast that has managed to get in and we've had to splat it -
spiders, mozzies, ants, some sort of cockroaches. The smell in the tent may
be keeping most bugs away - not smell from us but from the mozzie coils that
we burn up there every night. It kept the ellies away. We've mastered the
art of packing the tent up and the duvet and pillows stay up there which is
a great help. I'm always complaining that the tent feels damp but I guess it
is to be expected when you are pitched a couple of metres away from the sea.
One downside of rooftop tent is you have to leave it to make tea and to go
to the loo in the middle of the night, although I try and avoid that on all
occasions. Won't have anything to drink close to sleep time.
Since we've been in Tanzania we've managed to have later nights, for some
reason we were retiring around 8.00pm while in Moz, probably because we were
getting up so early - 6.00am.
Ablutions - I'm know that Carolyn and Sally will be really interested in
this. We started off with absolute luxury at Kruger Tsendze camp. Outdoor
and indoor showers, hot and cold running water and flushing loos. Things
could only go downhill from there. Our night in the Limpopo National park
was slightly different - one loo with a door that didn't close which was
used by all the builders, 2 cold water showers used by all the builders.
Accessories in the shower consisted of a hook made from a wire coat hanger
to hang a towel on. We then had a mixture of hot showers, cold showers,
grubby loos, hole in the ground Turkish loos or no showers if we were
staying at restaurant type places. At the beach campsite with the oil drum
shower they had a really different loo. Matt had said the loos were normal
and I went to check. It looked like a Turkish loo with a loo seat and lid. I
checked it out and it was just a loo seat and lid lying on the sand, that
reed enclosure wasn't in use. In Zanzibar we had an added extra in the
shower - one morning I got electric shocks when I touched the taps - I had
tingling sensations in my hands and arms and had to ask Matt to touch the
taps to see if it was just me or the great plumbing.
Budget - we did have a daily budget that we were going to be sticking to but
I think that has been blown out of the water. Although Matt tells me that if
we look at our Africa budget - from 1 December to now then we aren't
overspending. Thanks to Chez Bobo and Prince's Paradise. By the way, the
budget doesn't include Mufasa!
Now the most important subject - Food. It's what my holidays are made of. I
think it's safe to say that we are now vegetarians. Although we do slip a
bit when the opportunity arises. We haven't bought any meat since we left SA
(Matt says - we did buy bacon once!). We took supplies with us but we
finished ours in Kruger and Kaz & Rich's supply lasted us 2 weeks into Moz.
Since then we have had the occasional meal out when camping at restaurants -
chicken & chips, steak(?) and chips. We did have fish a couple of times
which was really good. I know it would have been better if we had caught it
ourselves but we didn't have permits (that's our excuse Oz!). Although one
day we will really try and catch our dinner, Matt was practicing the knots
that Oz taught him, so we know the fish won't get away when we do hook it.
We buy all our fruit and veg along the road and at markets. Sometimes they
try and rip us off but generally it's fine. We can only assume that
everything we buy is organic as they don't have huge quantities of things.
Apart from oranges, which are piled along the roadside. They seem to be a
favourite food of Tanzanians as they sold everywhere from carts, the vendors
cut off the peel and leave the pith on and then chop them in half when
selling them. But we haven't seen any orange trees anywhere!
Rice, pasta and potatoes are our staple meals along with tins bought in SA
or at the supermarket in Dar Es Salaam (very pricey).
I've taken to drinking beer now so Matt only gets to consume half the amount
he used to, although sometimes I save him a few slurps.
Zanzibar was heaven for food as we had a choice of restaurants and
everything we ate was delicious. Matt can give you that info in his next
blog.
Thoughts on places we've been to - Mozambique was interesting, I wasn't
expecting it to be as run down as it was. I expected towns to be more modern
and developed so that was quite a surprise. I thought all Africans lived in
mud huts, proved wrong again, they mostly lived in reed huts. Very tropical
and loads of coconuts palms. Not as much seafood as I expected and we didn't
get to try all the local food, although the Portuguese rolls were heaven and
almost our staple diet. Some stunning beaches and some awful roads. Locals
all very friendly.
Tanzania so far - Selous was good although I'm not sure about having
elephants walking through the camp, but I guess that's better than locals
with pangas. Ants with one helluva bite that had us jumping and dashing from
washing line to safety, could have done without them. Beaches have been
great. South beach near Dar was fantastic, like a cheap Mauritius. We are
now in the sisal area and it is so green. Still feels very tropical. Haven't
been hit by falling coconuts yet and hope it stays that way.
I haven't been lazing about the whole trip although Matt does do nearly all
the driving. I have taken the wheel on a few occasions but mainly on tar
roads. I was driving when the fuel tank bracket sheared off but that had
NOTHING to do with my driving.
It's been good being back on the road again although we do miss everyone so
keep us up to date with what's going on in your lives and keep the comments
and emails coming. Time to go and sort some lunch out, I might try and make
chapattis!
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