First of all, apologies for the delay in the update – I know most of you are just sitting around waiting for these insightful ramblings and cant possibly continue your lives without them – so I’m sorry for the delay you have had to endure!
The reason for the lack of communication is down to the number of incredible things I have packed into the last 4 weeks of travel around East Africa and, therefore, the lack of time I have had to hang out in internet cafes writing updates! So, to make up for it, I have written an epic, brace yourself!
Sitting here now I am struggling to know where to start…but the beginning of the trip seems like a logical place!..
I met up with the tour group in Entebbe (a city South of the capital Kampala). It was a large mixed group of 28 people – mostly Aussies and Kiwis – a range of personalities, but on the whole people were cool. Being in such a large group on a big truck (think a four-wheel drive bus) was a such a change from the village – as we drove along it felt like we were in a big fish tank as we peered out and the locals peered in! I always prefer to take local transport when traveling rather than go on tours as the experience is much more ‘real’, but this part of Africa doesn’t have the same public transport network as, say, South America, and it would take a lot longer to get around (and ultimately work out more expensive). So, although I said I would never do a big tour after Peru in 2003, it was the only way I could really pack in as much as I did…plus it meant I had a ready-made group of friends to share the experience with.
The first big experience was to come face to face with the endangered Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda…and what an experience. I remember watching a film (Gorillas in the Mist) as a young boy and being fascinated by it…but the real-life experience was just magical. Words cannot really describe the feeling I had after trekking for 2 hours in dense jungle to suddenly turn a corner into a clearing and catch a glimpse of the silverback for the first time – just his left shoulder and the back of his head – he was huge! I was breathless and my heart was pounding. As we approached closer more adults (females) and a number of babies came into view…just incredible. It’s hard to write down how I felt as I stood, sometimes less than 2 metres away, from these gentle, and yet incredibly powerful, human-like giants – simply awe-inspiring.
After the gorilla encounter we spent a few days traveling back across Uganda to Entebbe, passing the equator point and the classic demonstration of water flowing clockwise down the drain in the Northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the Southern, and straight down the plughole on the equator line – it really does work!! We are also visited a chimp sanctuary and got to watch the chimps feeding (and having sex!) – pretty cool as they are soo human-like (98.6% the same as us!).
Next stop was Jinja – a town North West of Kampala and the adrenalin capital of East Africa. It’s famous for being the source of the Nile river and it was here that I spent an awesome day white-water rafting on the Nile – on the bloody Nile(!) – honestly, sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I am really in these places! The white-water rafting was quality – it’s always great fun, but this was definitely bigger than the rivers I have rafted previously in New Zealand and Ecuador…the last rapid being crazy – the raft flipped and I was under water for what seemed like an eternity (don’t worry mum, I’m here safe and sound!).
After drying off from the water (and a large night out in Jinja!) we crossed the border into Kenya, stopping at a very, very cool campsite (did I mention that pretty much the whole trip is spent camping) – it had a fantastic swimming pool, with a waterfall (think the famous swimming pool scene in Show Girls!) and an amazing bar with pool table, dart board and poker table (all of which we took advantage of!).
A couple of days driving took us to Naivasha and our first game drive. It was incredible to finally see some of the famous African animals up close and in the wild – including rhino, hippo, warthogs, giraffe, empala, flamingos and leapords to name just a few. That night we camped in the park with nothing separating us and the wild animals except a thin piece of canvass – surprisingly I had a very good nights sleep, only getting disturbed by the snoring coming from a neighbouring tent…at least I think it was snoring!
Naivasha was good, don’t get me wrong, but the next couple of days blew me away – we drove and camped in the Masai Mara – the Masai bloody Mara!! Another of those ‘pinch me’ moments in my traveling life! On the way to the park we stopped in a traditional Masai village to learn more about there way of life and watch some dancing (i.e. the jumping - think the trailor on the BBC before the news). It’s obviously quite a commercial enterprise now for this particular group of Masai, and these Masai were not short of some cash (most had mobile phones!!) but it seems they still do follow their traditional way of life, living in mud-huts fenced off from wild animals by a fence of thorny branches. So, even though it was slightly put on for tourists and taking videos/photos felt a bit strange, it was still really cool!
From the Masai village it was a bumpy ride (no change there) into the Masai Mara park itself..and what followed were two incredible days of gazing at animals that previously I had only seen in zoos or on TV… the annual migration of wilderbeast and zebras was in full swing – lines upon lines of animals, they looked like ants - magical – I don’t think words can describe it...we even saw two lions having sex (it only lasted a few seconds though so, boys, next time you are having problems in that department just say you are a lion in bed!!)
From the ‘Mara’ we drove to Nairobi (long, long drive!) and spent a couple of nights recuperating in a campsite and stocking up on meat in an incredible restaurant called ‘carnivore’! We also visited Elephant and Giraffe sanctuaries – both of which were cool in their own right – I even got to kiss a giraffe..!!
Next on the agenda was to cross into Tanzania and head for the game parks of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater – both, again, surpassing my expectations – animal after animal – lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, leapords, cheetahs – you name it we saw it. I can’t describe the feeling of sitting quietly in our small land rover type truck watching a female lion stalk a zebra – just breathless. Camping in both parks again added to the adventure – waking up one morning to see an elephant just 10 metres from the tents in the Ngorongoro crater was a great experience!
And then, after all the long driving, roughing it tents and going without showers for days on end, I arrived in paradise – its called Zanzibar. What a way to finish my trip – I spent 5 nights on this incredible island a few kilometers off the coast of Tanzania. It’s such a contrast to the mainland with a great mix of Arabic, Indian and Swahili culture – the white-washed buildings and winding streets of Stone Town remind me of some Mediterranean countries…but the real selling point are the beaches. We stayed in the North of the island and it was simply beautiful – walking down to the beach to watch the sunset for the first time was yet again a ‘pinch me’ / ‘take my breath away’ moment. It’s the type of place that you really should be sharing with someone special, someone you love, yep this is me talking about love. I learnt about it last year – and there are certain places, certain experiences that, although they are incredible in their own right, can really be enhanced when you share them. A Zanzibar sunset is definitely one of those... Bloody ‘ell, sorry boys, don’t know what came over me there – let me rectify it by saying that the island was full of beautiful women – Italian, Spanish and locals alike – definitely a place for mirrored sunglasses on the beach!!
Today I head back to Bajjo, back home. I can’t wait to get back, I’ve really missed the people and can’t wait to get stuck in with the project. The trip gave me a lot of time to reflect and think about what we are doing as well as providing a greater perspective of what Africa is all about (even if it was through the gold fish bowl of the truck!). I’m so glad I have this experience – to actually develop genuine relationships with local people and try, in our own small way, to make their lives a little bit better. I am a lucky, lucky boy.
P.S. Unable to load photos here but will endeavour to sort through and pick out the best from a huge batch I have taken over the last 4 weeks as soon as I can.
