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.

Giraffe sheltering from the mid day sun

Hippos on the opposite bank

Lions enjoying the sunset

Leopard and cubs

Zebra and Wildebeest migrating back to the Serengeti

A lion enjoying lunch

Bhav and I with the Masai

Masai “dancing”

Masai village

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

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.

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.

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