We left the Youth Hostel in Nairobi for Arusha in Tanzania for the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world. The journey took about 6 hours due largely to the terrible condition of the Kenyan roads but it was start of 6 days of having everything planned for us so it was good not to have to worry about where we were going to stay, etc.
The hotel in Arusha was surprisingly decent for what little we’d paid for the whole trip and if you forget about the strange lack of water in the pipes and the fact that I broke the shower when trying to fill the toilet, the room was quite nice.
In the afternoon we tracked down some equipment for the climb since we hadn’t come all the prepared (I did at least have some thick socks!) and in the evening we met up with Craig who we hadn’t seen since Zanzibar.
Our supposed 6:30 am start was delayed by a few minutes while we got ready. The animals are most active just after sunrise. We still had our 2wd Toyota Hiace Minivan (imported from the streets of Japan) to ourselves but we were also joined by a spotter.
Bhav fell asleep a few times during the 7 am – 4 pm safari and at one point uttered the words “you woke me up for some elephants” as if they were a common sight. We did manage to see quite a few other animals including hippos which had eluded us for almost the entire trip.
We’d arranged with our driver Odis, to go to the nearby Masai village to look around and meet the people. After 4 pm we were dropped off and the first thing the Masai that greeted us wanted was money. This we expected, having already asked what we should expect to pay. Odis had said US$10 was fair but they wanted rather a lot more but unlike other things it’s difficult to negotiate with someone’s culture.
The man that took the money left us with our new guide, the chiefs son (what with the entrance fee I was almost expecting a ticket) and we entered the village of 200 people. All the inhabitants were relations due to it being founded by one man, our guides grandfather. That rather strange thought in our heads we were treated to more jumping up and down (dancing) and a tour of their village. After that we were taken down the road to the school, where after a brief tour they asked for more money. Considering that part of the rather large original fee was to go to the school it was fair to feel a little cheated and refuse but it was the kids and their education which I wanted to help.
Hippos on the opposite bank
Lions enjoying the sunset
Continue reading ‘Safari day 2′
We got up early for the first day of the 3 day safari. Bridget, Hasith and Yu-Ching had booked (and paid for as it turned out) for their Masai Mara safari costing them about US$500 whilst we had paid US$285 for only a day less. Before they’d arrived the previous night we’d hoped they would have been able to cancel theirs and come with us but it wasn’t to be. In the end their minivan left with just the 3 of them and ours (we were expecting to have to join a larger group) left with just Bhav and I.
The roads in Kenya are rubbish, so it took us a long time to drive to our camp (situated about 1km from the main gate) and backed directly onto the National Park). We just had a few hours of our game drive that day.
The camp itself was quite nice. We had a twin bed tent to ourselves within 20m of the dining hall and toilets. There was hardly anyone else there too due to it being a short time after the migration which is the real attraction. That’s not to say animals weren’t still crossing from the Serengeti (in Tanzania) to the Masai Mara (in Kenya) across the river but just that they weren’t moving in huge numbers any more.
After a surprisingly good dinner we were treated to a short routine of traditional Masai “dancing” performed by the local Masai that also acted as guards to protect the camp against dangerous animals (I forgot to mention there was no fence either around the camp or the national park). I’d read about Masai dancing and how it was basically just jumping up and down and they were right. Unfortunately with there being only the 2 of us watching them around the camp fire they got us up too.
Home sweet home
The Masai herding their animals
Published on
20th September, 2008 in
Africa.
Tags: Kenya.
Bhav wanted to go shopping and I just wanted to explore Nairobi. We’d seen a lot of the city from the taxi and it looked like quite a big city with some attractive buildings. Nairobi is a very western city with high rise buildings, wide open parks and funky colonial buildings. The city centre was only a short walk from the hostel. We found out about a weekly souvenir market that happened to coincide with our visit so we headed for that. Luckily the EgyptAir office was overlooking the market so we went there first to book our flights to Cairo. After that we headed over to the market but we bumped into a guy called John who wanted to talk to us.
My namesake told us he was a teacher and asked if we would mind telling him about our countries. Feeling suitably flattered and in need of lunch we headed off with him to a nearby cafe. It soon became apparent that he was actually just after money and a free lunch. In the end I gave him 100 shillings (£0.88) so we could escape.
Published on
19th September, 2008 in
Africa.
Tags: Kenya.
We got off the sleeping coach at around 6 am. Buses leave really early in Africa and we’d already missed quite a few but after stumbling to the bank we managed to catch one to Nairobi (without paying the inflated tourist price).
It was a long bus ride (we eventually got to Nairobi after 6 pm) made longer by the appalling state of the Kenyan roads. They seemed to have dug up their entire road network in one go and unlike western countries there was no temporary road surface.
Hasith (Bhav’s friend) had booked a bed at the Nairobi Youth Hostel for the following evening after they arrived so we decided to stay there too. Having not showered since Pemba and being pretty tired we just went to the Chinese restaurant around the corner for dinner.
We only intended to spend 1 night at Swahili Divers but it ended up being 2, what with it being such a difficult island to get off. Raf was heading to the airport to fly to Zanzibar so we hitched a lift. Our only means of leaving the island was to fly (or wait a further 2 days for the ferry). We booked a flight with Coastal and spent the time before the flight on the net in Chake Chake. Where, because it was still Ramadan I had to discreetly eat my “lunch” (plain biscuits were all I could find) in the corner.
When the plane arrived Bhav and I were the only people waiting. The plane was a 13 seater Cessna but any hopes of having it all to ourselves were dashed when we walked closer and saw 3 others inside. The reason for the odd numbered 13th seat was due to their being no co-pilot. Unfortunately the best seat in the house was already occupied but we could at least get the 1st row. The flight to Tanga was quite short at about 20 minutes but we certainly enjoyed the view.
The luxury of the plane wasn’t matched by the next form of transport, another overnight bus this time to Mombasa in Kenya. Our taxi driver from the airport suggested we should get a bus in the day time due to “banditry” but we didn’t want to waste more time and money.
It took about 2 hours before we arrived at the border, where Bhav got into Kenya for free whilst I was charged US$50 for the privilege. We arrived in Mombasa after midnight and slept on a coach.
Our escape route from Pemba
Welcome to Tanga
We’d booked 3 morning dives and having been sized up for all the required bits of kit the day before, all we had to do eat breakfast and walk through the breakers to the speedboat. The last time I’d dived in the sea (in Australia), breakfast and diving didn’t work well together but thankfully it was quite calm on the water.
There were 8 people on the boat split up into 2 groups. My buddy was Bhav and we had Raf, the company owner as our guide. The first dive was an underwater mountain listed in the guide book as one of the diving highlights in the country and it certainly didn’t disappoint. There was a profusion of life everywhere requiring you to almost prioritise what you looked at.
After a 1 hour 30 min surface interval spent on a nearby white sandy beach we went for a second dive which was a wall dive. I didn’t enjoy the second dive as much as the first but that could have been partly due to the unfamiliar equipment (gear listed psi instead of bar).
It was also cool to be out diving with Bhav who I’d met exactly a year previously (in Australia).
We must have arrived at Pemba around 5 am, any attempt to continue to sleep while the boat docked and people started to disembark was pointless. The five hours I had slept for were actually pretty good. After getting off we squeezed onto a bus heading to the capital of the island, Chake Chake to where we thought Swahili Divers was based. Upon arriving we discovered that they had moved to the top of the island over 60 km away near a place called Konde. After the daladala to Konde we had to hitch the remaining 12km. Luckily a tour group soon appeared and Bhav and I again squeezed into the boot of a 4×4 along with 2 other people and everyone’s bags. The tour consisted of 4 Norwegians going to look at a remnant of rainforest. After the forest it was just us and the driver for the final 4 km. We’d set ourselves up for a fall by not negotiating a price before getting in as we normally do but it still came as a surprise when the guy asked for TSH 10,000 shillings each (about £5.20). Strangely he drove off without us giving him anything in the end.
The new location of Swahili Divers (we found they’d been there a year but my Rough Guide was old) is right on the coast in the middle-of-no-where surrounded by farmland. Unfortunately with us being essentially a captive audience in the wilderness we had to pay rather a lot more than we’d been accustomed to. In the end though we were just glad to get anything and the luxury was a welcome bonus.
Bhav and I were too tired to do much that afternoon but we went out for a sunset kayak with an American guy which was cool.
Our room
Sunset
Bhav was getting a little restless and had decided to leave to try and head north to Kenya, while I was still to decide if I wanted to stay on. One thing we could both agree on was heading to Pemba (the second and smaller island of Zanzibar) in search of unspoilt beaches, hardly any tourists and some amazing diving. The only problem was that we couldn’t get through to the dive shop on the phone and we didn’t want to take a 4 hour ferry only to discover that there was a problem and no easy way to get back. In the end we decided not to bother and to head to the east coast to a place called Bwejuu.
We had heard from a few people that the beaches to the east were quicker to get to and not too developed. The beach was definitely worth the ride in the daladala and it was good to get away from the pushy souvenir sellers!
When we got back to Stone Town we tracked Craig down to a hotel not far from ours. He got a bit of a surprise when we just walked into his hotel room (which he’d already managed to furnish with 2 young and blond German girls).
Bhav and I had bought tickets for the overnight ferry to Dar but after talking to Craig about the diving in Pemba (he’s now totally in love with diving) we decided to try and change our tickets so we could take the overnight ferry to Pemba instead.
First class accommodation on the MV Maendeleio was far better than the last few times we’d travelled overnight. Aircon, almost comfy seats and reasonable peace and quiet made up for the worst toilet I’ve ever seen. I was glad I went before we left the harbour, it wouldn’t have been pleasant in the open sea!
Daladala
Italian speaking kids on the beach in Bwejuu
The beach at Bwejuu
Beach at Bwejuu
We spent the day touring the other sites of Stone Town. Whilst it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (like Edinburgh’s Old Town) the attractions and indeed most buildings had suffered over the years from neglect. Many places such as the Forodhani Gardens and the Cultural Centre were undergoing renovation. We still managed to visit the Persian Baths (sadly without the water), the Omani fort and the House of Wonders (one of the largest buildings in town and one designed by a Scottish marine architect) which contains a museum.
Omani Fort, Stone Town, Zanzibar
Dhow off Zanzibar
The narrow streets of Stone Town