Our departure from Nairobi was delayed due
to Sebastian (who I have dubbed SeaBass) not showing up. After an hour and
trying to find out where the guy was (rumours ranged from him being a CNN
journalist covering the incident at the Westlake Mall in Nairobi to him simply
not showing up at all), we left Nairobi and drove a couple of hours to the
Tanzanian border and we were relatively quick in getting through despite having
a group of 28 people plus the driver, cook and tour leader.
Nearby was a mountain that we thought was
Mt. Kilimanjaro but was some other mountain that wasn’t quite as tall.
The scenery of Tanzania is a stark contrast
to that we had seen in Kenya and Uganda. Gone were the scenic green tea
plantations and lush green trees and in its place were arid, dry plains with
few trees and a lot of dust and sand.
The drive from the border to our camp took
another 4 -5 hours and we arrived at our camp in the afternoon. The camp was
mixed between a campsite and a snake park where the owners have rescued or
captured snakes.
I went into the snake park the following day
and browsed the snakes, they had a wide variety of snakes from man-eating
Pythons, Egyptian Cobras, Black and Green Mamba’s.
The Black Mamba’s are scary, they are long,
about 4 meters and, of course, one of the deadliest snakes in the world. I do
not want to come across one of those. However the Green Mamba’s are small and
quite a nice looking snake…as far as nice looking snakes go. Aside from snakes
the park had tortoises, crocodiles, lizards and owls, goshawk and a rescued,
female yellow baboon that was in heat and looking pretty affectionate.
I got to hold a sand snake (not poisonous),
a little crocodile and a leopard tortoise. It was a pretty cool place and the
park is the only place that treats snakebites in the area.
The unfairest freakin' animal in the world.
After lunch we packed our tents into 4x4 jeeps and began a 2-and-a-half hour journey towards the Serengeti. We stopped at a really nice camp spot just before the entrance of the Ngorongoro Crater. We had a dinner and got to know the new people on tour before we got into bed.
The next day we got up early and headed
into the Ngorongoro Crater, a naturally formed crater created by mountains over
millions of years. We did a game drive and saw a lot of animals, including a
lot of Wildebeest and surprisingly and lot of Hyenas. I am sure we saw at least
20 Hyenas, whether they were 20 different ones or some of the same is another
matter but before that day I thought they were rare to see.
Unfortunately we saw no Cheetahs or
Leopards but did see some more Lions, but they were basking in the sun or
heading to the lake.
We stopped for lunch at a lake with a lot
of hippos to be seen and two black Kites swooping us, trying to steal our
lunches and sometimes successful. We were also visited by a male, single-tusked
Elephant who walked right past us and around the other side. Pretty cool!
After the Ngorongoro Crater we headed into
the Serengeti and did an afternoon game drive but didn’t get to see a whole lot
aside from a Leopard in the distance in a tree with a kill but even then it was
only possible to see it from the camera.
We camped overnight and woke early in the
morning for a final game drive. It was another disappointing drive with the
driver being completely disorganized and we were stuck at the airstrip for an
hour trying to organize a permit. We stopped for 20-minutes trying to find a
Cheetah at the base of a tree so far away it may as well have been Australia
for all we could see.
The only saving grace of it all was we got
really close to 2 lioness and their 3-cubs who were basking on the rocks and I
also got a few good shots of another Kite and a Fish Eagle.
The drive back to camp was 4 hours and we
inhaled enough dust to bury an elephant in and I felt a bit disappointed for
the whole Serengeti experience. It’s not that we didn’t get to see much because
they are wild animals and it really is hit and miss. I have been lucky enough
to see so many awesome things in the 35 or so game drives I have done in
Africa. It was more the disorganizing of the group we went with and their lack
of communication. As we left to do the morning drive in the Serengeti, the
group behind us (we were split into 3 cars) saw a lion immediately as we left
and we were never told of it so we never got to see it. They have radios in
their car, they could have used it to calls us back.
The driver was also keen to drive as fast
as he could which lead to some dangerous situations. We were only bitumen
rather it was a dirt and, at times, very bumpy road and we would get airborne
over the really hilly parts.
It was just highly disappointing.
We also had an annoying person in our truck
who would yell to her husband in a different car and was incredibly loud.
Though we did make a joke of it later about how demanding she is.
“PHIL! Did you get the PHOTO!” is what she
would yell to her husband in the other car. Then later when we got to camp:
“PHILLIP, DID YOU FILL THE WATER BOTTLE!”
I had to laugh, but felt sorry for Phil who
was an alright guy.
And SeaBass still hadn’t shown up.
Phil certainly didn't miss out on these guys
The next morning we broke off with 10 of
the others who were only joining us for the Ngorongoro Crater/Serengeti part of
the tour and were heading back to Nairobi. I wasn’t sad to see any of them go,
they weren’t with us long enough to get to know and I found some of them a bit
annoying. I miss the old group. They were so much better.
We departed the Snake Camp around 8.30 in
the morning and made a quick stop at the shopping centre in Arusha to get some
supplies before heading to Korogwe for the night.
The drive was pretty, the arid landscape
changed to mountainous but it was still a decent drive and the long drives are
the ones where you get antsy and a sore ass from sitting so often. We finally
arrived just before sunset, set up our tents and had dinner and pretty much
crashed after we learned they didn’t have WiFi despite being told otherwise.
The gall of this place! Gen Y needs WiFi like a fish needs water. Also we had
to be up at 4.30am to drive to Dar Es Salam.
And SeaBass still hadn’t shown up.
4.30am wake up is surprisingly easier to
get up than any time I needed to wake up to get to work. Funny how that works.
Anyway, we got up and had a quick
breakfast, packed the tents and drove to Dar Es Salam. The drive wasn’t long to
reach the outer city limits, probably 3-hours but Dar Es Salam is the biggest
city in Tanzania and that means traffic. Traffic here is like traffic in the
Middle East. People drive wherever they want, honk the horn every 3 seconds and
red lights are merely a suggestion and not an actual road rule.
The city itself is dirty and busy. It
reminded me a lot of Amman in terms of how much rubbish was everywhere and how
they burn it, as if they think it would make a difference to the amount of
rubbish they have. We managed to weave our way around traffic and the rubbish and
arrive at or campsite at a decent time of the day (around 3.30pm).
And wow, what a campsite. Situated right on
the beachfront, our tents were a stones-throw away from the Indian Ocean. The
warm, blue Indian Ocean.
As you may have guessed, we went for a
swim. It was beautiful and much needed after spending the past couple of weeks
bathing in dust.
We once again had a short night as we had
to get up at 4.30am again to get to Zanzibar.
View of the Ngorongoro Crater
Zanzibar
We awoke the next morning and once again
had a quick breakfast and packed up. Thankfully the truck was to go nowhere as
it is staying in Dar Es Salam while we spent the next 3 nights in Zanzibar.
Once we were ready we were taken to the
first of two ferries where we survived the mad crush and the over-riding smell
of BO (Body Odor) to board the ferry and take a quick 20 minute ride across the
bay to where we would board a second ferry for a 2-hour boat ride to Stone Town
port.
The second ferry was much better than the
first, mainly because it was indoors, the boat was better, we got a seat, and
there was not a whiff of BO to invade our nostrils. It even had a TV and showed
a movie (Real Steel. Has Hugh Jackman, so it’s automatically awesome).
The only negative was they had the
air-conditioning set to absolute zero even though it wasn’t that hot.
Once the boat docked and we went through
customs (because we needed our passports stamped for some reason) we gathered
and drove through Stone Town. From the little I saw, I liked the look of Stone
Town, it wasn’t as dirty as Dar Es Salam and had a rustic feel to it. It is a
basic, small town with simplistic designs from mostly wood and stone. The
streets are narrow as well, for some reason it makes me think of what a small
town in France would be like. While everyone else was dropped off, Danni and I
took a taxi directly from Stone Town to Nungwi (the others are coming up
tomorrow).
The taxi ride took us from the small city
feel of Stone Town to the wild and untamed countryside of Zanzibar. We were
also stopped by the police who, as our driver informed us, are corrupt. They
also didn’t give him back his license, though the driver didn’t seem overly
concerned about this.
At this point, I was too tired to care
anyway. I’d been up for 6-hours already by then.
Finally we reached Nungwi and it is one
sexy beachside resort town. The town itself isn’t much, it’s just wooden huts
and a lot of diving shops but the beach and the ocean are stunning. The ocean
is that crystal blue you see in photos of the Caribbean or resorts in Bora
Bora.
The driver dropped us off at our hotel –
Doubletree Hilton – and we were greeted with a cold face wash, iced tea and a
cookie. It was the kind of reception a King would get I imagine. Even Kings
love a cookie.
We managed to check-in and admired our view
of the ocean from our room before doing some washing, organizing diving for the
next day, having lunch (which wasn’t very nice) and talking a walk down the
beach to see what is around. There isn’t a whole lot, though there are quite a
few restaurants that we browsed before settling on one called Blue Ocean for
dinner later on.
Also, as like the rest of Africa we were
accosted by people who carry the same stuff trying to sell it to us (necklaces,
beaded bracelets, paintings etc) also, as a strange twist, we were approached
to buy some “good stuff from Kilimanjaro” weed.
Politely declining this request to buy
drugs from a complete strangers, we returned to our hotel and relaxed for a
bit, caught up with the family on Skype and then headed back to our restaurant
of choice.
Spoiled for choice, I reluctantly (ha!)
settled on the large Lobster for $35. Yes, it cost $35 for a big-ass, full
lobster. I wouldn’t even get a lobsters leg for $35 back home. Danni bought a
plate of calamari and octopus.
I can confirm that the seafood here is amazing.
We enjoyed our meal on the beach, watching the sunset. I considered a second
lobster, and perhaps a third but sanity got in the way of greed and we headed
back home to get some sleep, ready for diving tomorrow.
Day 2 of diving was another pleasant day, it was a little cooler and overcast but we still got some good time underwater, logging in 40 and 50-minute dives. There wasn’t much new we saw, but we did see another octopus hiding amongst the corals, changing colours, and a spotted eel that looked very similar to a sea snake. We also found a giant lobster hiding in a cave he was a big boy. Aside from that we saw a lot of nudibranchs and the usual assortment of fish.
It started raining as we surfaced on the
second dive, Danni had a problem with her regulator and had to ascend early,
the divemaster handing me the SMB and I was a divemaster for a little bit
before he returned after making sure Danni was ok.
Aside from that, it wasn’t overly exciting
but still pleasant and the water temperature was good. Zanzibar has some
beautiful dive sites and well worth the visit to dive.
We had dinner at the hotel, a buffet which
was ok, but I seriously missed the lobster I had the other day.
The next morning we were picked up and met
up with the rest of the group and finally got to meet Sebastian, who is
chronically late. He was still in bed while everyone else was ready to go so he
hadn’t endeared himself to many people in his short time with us.
We went home the same route we entered, via
the ferry. The ocean was rough and a lot of people were refunding their lunch,
including a few from our group. I felt perfectly fine which I was quietly proud
of myself for considering I remember my first boat ride in South Africa 2 years
ago where I wanted to hurl. I guess I am used to it now.
The second ferry was the usual mad rush
with everyone in a hurry to get on and then get off, the body odour was still
there and by the time we returned to our camp site in Dar es Salam, I was
relieved to be there.
We set up our tents and had dinner, a
lovely barbeque grilled chicken with potatoes and vegetables before we went to
bed for an early wake up.
I don’t think anyone slept that night. It
was so hot, I almost flooded the tent with sweat and somehow we managed to
spring a leak in the airbed, though I think I have sealed it. It seems to have
come from the patch job when it first got a whole, so hopefully it is all good.
We’ll see tonight.
We were awake at 3.30, although I really
didn’t sleep much at all neither did anyone else in the group due to the heat,
and left at 5 after breakfast. Most people slept on the truck for a good while
and I am thinking most people will be keen for a early night as we headed to
Iringa, still in Tanzania but heading towards Malawi.
The drive to Iringa was long and we drove
through Makuru National Park. It’s a bit weird because the main highway runs
through this park and you don’t have to pay to get in, but you are not allowed
to stop to see the animals.
There weren’t many animals there any way,
we saw some baboons, buffalo, warthogs, zebras and giraffes but very few and
far between along the 50km stretch.
We finally arrived at our camp, it was a
nice place based on a farm and they had hot showers so it automatically rated
highly with me. One of the workers also had a gorgeous 3-month old baby golden
lab that was very playful.
It was already late when we arrived so we
had dinner and pretty much went to bed.
Unfortunately sleep was hard to come by as
the air mattress was officially diagnosed with a puncture so I spent half the
night sleeping on the ground.
We awoke the next morning and begun our
journey towards Malawi.
No comments:
Post a Comment