Cairo to Cape Blog
1 - 16 January 2009
What a busy couple of weeks we have had....Jinja, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Meserani Masai Village and now Zanzibar.
Source Of The Nile
After a bit of a lazy morning on New Years Day and a breakfast to see in 2009 of fried potato, eggs, bacon, toast and fresh pineapple we headed out of Kampala for the short 70km drive to Jinja. 4 glorious nights camped out next to the mighty Nile.
Jinja, on Lake Victoria is where the White Nile starts. Livingstone spent years trying to find the source of the Nile; convinced the source came from Lake Tanganyika he concentrated his efforts all around Lake Victoria pathing the way for Speke to take the title as the explorer who discovered the source of the Nile.
Nonetheless I can sympathise with Livingstone as finding the source can be a little tricky in Jinja!! Over the 4 days we picnicked at the Source of the Nile as brown African Eagles circled overhead; Fred, Linda and Peter decided to explore the local villages on quad bikes, Jenny, Sue and Russ took to the water for some Grad 5 White Water rafting. Fred decided to head into town to explore the local museums, while the rest of us were rather content on sitting overlooking the Nile and catching up on diaries and simply chilling.
While I was in Jinja with half the group, Thiemo took Hans, Sue and Russ across to the other side of Uganda to trek Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas in Uganda's famous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The trekking was tough but all 3 made it to the family and thoroughly enjoyed the once in a lifetime experience.
Is That A Lion I See....
From Jinja we made our way back around Lake Victoria to the Tanzanian side and the Serengeti National Park, the no.1 game park in Tanzania.
There is always something special about entering the Serengeti National Park for the first time. Possibly has something to do with the fact that it takes on average 1 hour to enter the gate as the rangers seem to be in no hurry to fill in the pages of paperwork! Or possibly as it is a Park nearly all of the Western World have heard of and seen countless documentaries.
As we entered the gates the plains opened in front of us with herds of wildebeest and zebra grazing on the sweet green grass. A classic sight from a classic game park. The grass was tall and green; plenty of food and plenty of animals - this was to be an unforgettable couple of days.
The first afternoon we saw everything but elephant and lion - however hyena, jackal, topi, red hartebeest, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, eagles, vultures, hyrax, hippos, giraffe etc etc.... it seemed every corner we turned there was another herd of animals. The Serengeti was on fire and we were in the middle of it.
As the day was ending and we headed to our campsite Thiemo and I were in the last vehicle; 500m from the entrance to camp and there he was sitting tall in the grass, gazing at us, a large male Cheetah. I was so excited I got on the radio and called "leopard!" Yes, I still get excited when I see game; and in my defense for years there was a resident leopard in the area of the campsites which was sited frequently (just not by me) and I thought today was my lucky day!
After calling the other vehicles back I fumbled for the video camera.... Dropped the battery and while I was fumbling around cursing, the Cheetah gently got up from his position less that 10m away and moved under a tree. By this time Sue and Russ had joined us and the others were on their way back.
After a while the Cheetah, clearly was looking hungry, got up and wandered off in the distance to see what was on the menu tonight.
The following day the radios were running hot; lion here, elephant over there, hyenas around this corner, and the migration was impossible to miss with tens of thousands of wildebeest, zebra and buffalo following the lush green grass. By the end of the day there were smiles all round and stories of the days events; particularly from Jenny whose dream was to witness elephant in the wild and the sight of a herd of 60 plus made her day.
As the sun went down and we retired to our tents the hyenas sung in the background. This is the Serengeti; living up to every expectation.
We woke early again and game drove our way out of the park toward Ngorongoro. A couple of kms from the gate we came across a pride of lions sitting by the road side; an old male lion who continued to sleep even as we drove next to him; a young male who kept a watchful eye and a mum and her 2 young cubs played in the grass. The cubs were particularly interested in chasing butterflies while mum ensured they didn't stray too far. The perfect way to end our stay in the Serengeti.
 Driving Through The Serengeti |
 Elephant Wandering Past Hans and Jenny's Tent |
The excitement in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area started even before we entered the crater. We arrived at the campsite just before 4pm in the afternoon; earlier than expected and thankfully we did. As we sat around enjoying a cold beer an old bull elephant wandered into the campsite. A few virgin tourists got rather excited and armed with their cameras ran over to the old fella; the old bull was not impressed with the sudden intrusion of his personal space and showed his displeasure with a step forward and ears flapping. The tourists took the hint and retreated as fast as they had approached. The elephant, satisfied, continued to break branches and munch happily on the sweet bark and leaves.
He slowly made his way toward our camp; keeping a watchful eye on us as he moved slowly alongside our camp. Everyone was in awe; what a magnificent creature gracefully making his way through the campsite. He was later joined by a second elephant. A herd of about 15 elephants were heading toward the camp from the other direction. Russ let out a warning call to me (as I was cooking) that we might have a few extras for dinner! The herd moved around us casually. Shortly after the rangers came to the camp to point out 3 hyenas moving to our left less than 10m away.
As the sun dropped so did the temperature, so a campfire was in order before the cold night air saw everyone retreat to their warm beds.
WAWA
Into the base of the crater was the plan for the morning. A few hours exploring and animal watching before heading to Meserani, a Masai village 20kms from Arusha. After breakfast Hans and Jenny were the first to leave the campsite, followed by the rest of the group. Thiemo and I planned to have a couple more cups of coffee, enjoy the view from the campsite before slowly packing up and driving to meet the rest the group at the main gate.
The group arrived at the entrance to the crater only to be told they were not allowed to enter in foreign vehicles! Another WAWA - we had all the correct paperwork and permits but now it seemed we were not allowed to. A few phone calls later and a chat to the Head of Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the vehicles entered the Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater was alive with animals but the highlight was when a cruiser stopped to watch a pride of lions; the lions decided to move under the cruiser into the shade much to amazement of the passengers!
 Warriors Join Forces |
 Game Park, Tanzania |
Happy Birthday Jenny!
We arrived at Meserani, an institution for anyone who has spent time overlanding in East Africa. Ma and BJ, the owners, are loved by all who have the pleasure to meet. An older couple originally from South Africa they have the biggest hearts of anyone we know. Over the past 15 years they have lived in this area and they have been instrumental in setting up the Snake Park, campsite, local clinic, 3 schools, Masai cultural centre, Masai market, have trained countless local village people in everything from mechanics (including the only Masai female mechanic in Tanzania) to tailoring. Meserani, for us, is like a home away from home.
It worked out perfectly that Jenny would be celebrating her 62nd birthday at Meserani; and hopefully it will be one to remember. There were flowers, Masai dancers and singers, camel rides, tour of the local Masai village, snake feeding, birthday cake and of course Springbok shooters!
Off To The Beach
From Arusha we started the 2 day drive to the coast. After the hot, dusty Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater we were all in need of a bit of beach time. A quick stop in Arusha to stock up on supplies saw us delayed somewhat after Sue and Russ had their camera, computer and passports stolen from the landie while several security guards were "watching" their vehicle. Australian passports.... Bugger what a mission to replace. So while Sue and Russ flew to Dar to get travel papers from the Canadian Embassy so they could travel to Kenya to the only Australian Embassy in the area the rest of us drove to Dar.
We arrived in Dar in good time and now time to tackle the traffic chaos. Luckily it was not too bad and even the little ferry we had to take across the bay was relatively quick; only an hour or so waiting....
Thiemo and I darted into town to pick up our ferry tickets to Zanzibar while Francis took the rest of the group to Mikadi Beach, a wonderful campsite with beach bandas, swimming pool and bar/restaurant. The cool breeze was a welcome relief from Dar city - very hot and very humid.
Ingrid, Han's sister from Germany has joined us for the remainder of the expedition; she will be traveling with Fred.
That night some traditional dancers strutted there stuff by the pool including one performer who thought putting a snake down his parts was pretty cool! The jury is still out on that one. The night was hot and sticky but at least a breeze made its way through the campsite - unless you are Peter and Linda who parked their car to create a wind break....
The ferry to Zanzibar was pretty uneventful; although I had told the group that the way over was generally calm....but coming back was a different story. Murphy wins again; and it was pretty rough (so much so sick bags were handed out to all who looked a little green!). We arrived in Stone town and boarded the aircon mini van for another 45 minutes to the beachside village of Nungwi.
All Reunited
Last night Sue and Russ rejoined us with tales of their adventures with Embassy's, random people they met along the way but most importantly Emergency Passports with enough pages and time to get them to Cape Town. We all enjoyed a seafood dinner before retiring relatively early to bed.
We still have a couple more days on the island; time to do some diving, admire the traditional boat builders, take a spice tour and simply relax by the ocean. This is Zanzibar....
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