Tanzania

 

DAY NINETEEN – 13th October 2010

Arusha

Happy Birthday Trace!  Up at 6am, we hit the road at 7am.  Trace took some Imodium (brilliant stuff!!, don’t leave home destined for Africa without it!), Mike also decided to have a dose as he felt he was coming down in sympathy with Trace. . . . .

It was a bit of a long and bumpy ride to Arusha after crossing the boarder into Tanzania we arrived at the Snake Park campsite at 4pm.  We went and saw the Snake Park, there were some huge snakes and crocodiles.  In particular a very big python which had previously eaten a human and had photos of the human remains to prove it!!  Unfortunately the glass of the cage was a big too dirty for a photo.

 

That night we all had a few drinks and a birthday dinner and cake.  Trace had to do a “Ma’s Revenge” which tasted terrible, it had tequila, Tabasco sauce, and some other highly toxic spirits in it!  By the end of the night everyone had experienced this shot!  Trace still had squirty bum but didn’t let this hold her back, she fought on with great kiwi spirit . . . . probably benefited the next day as the alcohol went straight through!!

 

DAY TWENTY – 14th October 2010

Serengeti

Today we jumped in four 4WD vehicles and began our drive out to Serengeti National Park, passing through Ngoragora Crater on the way.  We stopped at a view point of the crater and some market shops. At one of the stops we were visited by this guy:

It’s one huge stalk! It sounded like a helicopter when it took off… It definitely wasn’t scared of us as it was chasing people around for their lunch! I think the wing span would be around 2m. Huge!

We game drove to our campsite in the heart of Serengeti National Park, seeing three leopards (YA we have now ticked off the big five!).

     

We also saw giraffes crossing the road, this is one of Trace’s favourite animals.

The campsite has no fence around it and the bathrooms were about 100 metres away from the tents so no bathroom stops tonight, back out came the Imodium, we are telling you never leave home without it!  That night we heard a few noises and were told the next morning it was lions, hyenas and buffalos wandering around eating by the tents. . . . .  nothing like being right in the middle of nature!

 

DAY TWENTY - ONE – 15th October 2010

Serengeti

Early start with breakfast at 6am, then in the 4WD for another game drive.  Today we spotted a female lion, and it seemed like something was in the air as after that we saw fighting giraffes, fighting zebra and leopard kill, although it was a long way away, we saw the leopard’s tail waving, elephants charging and trumpeting – they were so close to the 4WD it was crazy.

  As we headed back to the campsite a Hippo crossed the road in front of us, our driver had to brake otherwise we would have driven right into it!

Quick photo at lunch time

Once back at the campsite we packed up the tent and had some lunch.  On our way out of the park we spotted a cloud of dust and animals running.  We drove over as quickly as possible to witness the last minutes of cheetahs chasing an antelope.  They didn’t quite manage to catch it but they were so exhausted they rested in the shade of a tree 5m from the road so we got some amazing photos of a mother and 3 younger cheetahs!!

   

We made it to “Simba” Campsite at 6pm.  We were going to have a shower but as soon as Trace heard it was only cold water she was out, Mike still went for it though.  It was a cold night, we were all rugged up with our beanies and track pants on.

We had dinner which was cooked for us by our cooks which joined us just for this part of the trip.  After dinner we sat around the camp fire and chatted.

That night was shared with wort hogs munching grass outside our tent and every now and again the campsite dogs would chase them away.

 

DAY TWENTY-TWO – 16th October 2010

Ngorongoro Crater

Up at 6am and off for another game drive, this time in the crater itself.  This started our slow with a few spots of Rhino about 500 metres away.  Then all of a sudden Elle our driver got word on the radio that there were a pack of lions up the far end of the crater taking down a buffalo.  We raced off at lightening speed over the bumpy tracks, holding on for dear life!  Eventually we made it there but were so far away we need binoculars to see anything.  Every now and again we got to see the leg of the buffalo up in the air while the lions feasted on it.

After about half an hour of watching we headed off back into the crater.  On our travels we passed two lionesses and a cub on some burnt out grass that were basking in the sun, some hippos swimming and a cute little baby one.

As we continued our drive we saw a gathering of 4 WDs, so we went to exploring wondering what all the fuss was about.  To our amazement there sat two lions beside the a truck, taking a break in the shade.  As the trucks move so others could get a closer view the lions would move too so they kept in the shade.  Our guide told us to wind up the windows as we got nearer – That’s when you know you are close!

After that excitement we continued on our way and passed some Flamingos and Zebra, a highena eating some fresh kill.  A Rhino was spotted in the far distance.  This is the only one of the big 5 we haven’t managed to get close photo of . . .  maybe next time . . . .

     

We made our way back to Simba campsite and packed up our tent and had lunch.  As we had finished lunch and were heading back to the truck a huge elephant came up from the back of the campsite and feed on the food scraps which were left outside of the main building.  Then after he was satisfied with that he came out from the side of the building and started drinking from the top of the water tank.  This blew us all away, to have such a huge animals within metres of us without any protection was crazy!

Back in the 4WD and off to Arusha.  We arrived back at about 4pm and had a nice cold shower (it was so hot!) it was so nice to get all the dust off ourselves.  Everything we own is now dusty and dirty!!

Trace still had stomach cramps and was not feeling well, Mike was a bit better.  We had roast chicken and chocolate pudding for dinner – yummy!!

DAY TWENTY-THREE – 17th October 2010

Up at 7am, we went on a Masai village walk.  This started with a museum which displayed there houses and items they use for day to day living.  Their diet consists of meat, blood and milk – could you imagine it? It seems to work for them as the oldest man in there village is 98!!

Then we walked to the Masai village which consisted of several houses made of mud.  Some of the local boys did a dance for us, it was very interesting.

We boarded the truck at 10.30am and stopped at the heritage centre for the girls to go Tanzanite shopping (how fun!).  Trace got a 1 carrot tanzanite stone which is so pretty, and no people its not on the left finger (yet!)

After everyone had spent a small fortune we hopped back on the bus and headed for ??? campsite.  This was positioned right on the river . . . . We were told to keep away from the water as there are plenty of crocodiles in there. . . .Just great, Trace thought.  Mike accompanied Trace to the bathroom several times that night, she wasn’t going anywhere by herself!!

 

DAY TWENTY-FOUR – 18th October 2010

Da Salam

Up at 6am (again!) and on our way to Da Salam.  Trace spent the journey on the mattresses down the back of the truck as she was still not feeling well but is now on antibiotics so things should start getting better now!

It took us 5 hours to get to our lunch stop, buffet meal in a local village.

Back on the truck for another two hours, we finally arrived at Sunrise Beach camp at 5ish after catching a vehicle and person ferry across on the river which took about 5 minutes, why not build a bridge? . . . Apparently Africa doesn’t do bridges!

Everyone squashed onto the ferry… It only had to transport us maybe 100m.  We saw one guy miss it and just decide to swim instead! 

The campsite was beautiful and right on the beach – an amazing spot!  We all went straight for a swim and the water temperature was really warm.  That night we packed our bags for Zanzibar as the truck stayed at this campsite while we caught the ferry over.  We were all getting very excited about being on the beach!  We also updated our blog page to let everyone know we are still alive, although Trace a little bit worse for wear!

 

DAY TWENTY-FIVE – 19th October 2010

Zanzibar – Stone Town

Wake up call at 4.45am (we have come to know early mornings like nothing else on this trip!).  Trace misplaced the keys to the locker for a while which added a bit of stress to the packing and getting ready.  She finally found them inside her sleeping bag!

We boarded the 6am ferry back to Da Salam mainland then at 7.15am we boarded the ferry to Zanzibar – bring on the beach!  We arrived in Stone Town at 10am after a 2 hour ferry ride, which was relatively smooth.

That afternoon it was free time to do as we please.  We set off for the shops and bought five paintings and a few t-shirts for Mike.  Our bargaining got better as we went, Mike has even begun to enjoy it!

We took a break at midday and had some yummy Indian for lunch, then it was back out for a bit more shopping.

Mike playing checkers against the local pro. Mike always close but never really in it! They play some interesting rules over here though.

That evening we went to Africa House Bar to watch the sunset with a cocktail and the rest of the group.  Then we all went to the night fish market.  This was crazy, lots of stalls were set up with kebabs of different seafood and all the pushy sales men targeted us.  We tried snapper, lobster and white shark – they were all really fresh (you did have to be a little picky with your selection) and tasted good. 

 

   

We then headed back to out hotel, Karibu Inn (this means welcome) for some sleep.  At 4am Trace woke to bits on her arms and legs, we think it was an ant but he was never found and the bed was drenched in deet!

DAY TWENTY-SIX – 20th October 2010

Zanzibar – Sunset Beach

Up for hotel cooked breakfast, yes eggs were on the menu – again!  We have never eaten so many eggs in our life!

We had time to do a little bit more shopping before we caught a bus to the beach which took us about an hour and half to arrive.  This little spot was paradise, heaven on earth, it blew us away.  Crystal clear water, pure white sand . . . .

 

We checked into our hotel, it has the most amasing bed!  After a tent and mattress a good bed is bliss!!

We spent the afternoon swimming, reading and sunbathing.  Trace got her hair braided which took about two hours with three people working on it for the last hour.  Everyone is now mistaking her for Alesha Keys!   

 

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN – 21st October 2010

Zanzibar – Sunset Beach

We slept in a little then took a long stroll on the beach.  It was so beautiful, a lot of the locals were out fishing with spears and nets.  That afternoon we organised with Jess and Steve (Aussie couple) and Ang (Canadian) to go game fishing.  We set off at 1.30pm with a chilli bin of beers hoping for some big fish.  After a bit of debate it was decided Mike would take the first catch.  An hour in we had action . . .  Mike grabbed the rod and began to reel, after about 15 minutes we had a dolphin fish (Mahi Mahi as we call it in NZ) in the boat.  It weighted about 8kg and was about a metre long, here is the proof . . . .

         

  It changed colour once it was out of the water!

For the next four and a half hours we sat and waited . . . . and waited up and down up and down.  The swells were quite big and Trace was thankful Jess had given her a sea sick tablet!  We caught nothing for the rest of the trip which was a bit disappointing but we all had a good day out on the water and saw a group of huge yellow fin tuna jumping and one massive sail fish jumping too.

We took our catch to the restaurant at the resort and they cooked it for us for dinner, it was delicious!!

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT – 22nd October 2010

Da Salam

Trace woke and went for a stroll on the beach before breakfast it was so beautiful.  We had breaky then caught the bus and ferry back over to Da Salam.  Trace spent the entire journey outside at the back of the boat – it was a rough ride!

Once we had arrived back at camp we went for a swim and did some blog updates.  That evening there was a full moon and a clear sky!

 

DAY TWENTY-NINE – 23rd October 2010

Farmhouse Camp

4.30am wake up! On the road at 6am.  Today was another fun day in the truck!!  We got to farmhouse camp at 6.30pm – 12 hours in the cattle truck!!  We had an amazing dinner provided by the campsite in a 100 year old mud house over candle light, it has great ambience. 

The hot showers were amazing – almost the best we have had on this trip.  There was no electricity here so they used a fired to heat the water.

Kenya – Take Two

 

DAY THIRTEEN – 7th October 2010

Eldoret

Another early start! Up at 6.30am and on the road at 8 after getting some local chapatties for our packed lunch.  Crossing the boarder was an easy task again.  We arrived in Eldoret at about 4ish.  It was another long day of driving!  On the positive side we both haven’t read so many books in our lives!!

 

DAY FOURTEEN – 8th October 2010

Nairobi

Up again at 6.30am (this is no holiday!) and on our way to Nairobi.  It was a long day in the bus.  We arrived at Nairobi campsite at about 4pm.  That night a group of us went to Carnivores restaurant (its just like Wildfire in Auckland and is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world).  We got to try crocodile, and Ostrage, they were both really nice. Everyone ate far to much meat that night!!

Mike getting some Turkey

DAY FIFTEEN – 9th October 2010

Nairobi

We slept in this morning (although a sleep in for us is now about 8am!).  Later that morning we ventured out with a few of the group to the Elephant Orphanage.  They had two groups of about 15 baby elephants ranging from 3 months to 3 years old.  They were so cute, Trace wanted to take one home!

   

We then caught a taxi into Nairobi town which took us about 45 minutes (traffic is far worst than Auckland, believe it or not!).  We were in search of a water proof casing for our camera for our beach stop at Zanzibar.  We asked a few shops and they just laughed at us, there was no way we were going to get anything like this in Nairobi.

It took us an hour to get back to camp in the taxi.  Traffic was horrendous and it also didn’t help that the taxis in Nairobi run on near close to empty (it is said they do this because they don’t know when there next fare will be and also it the car is high jacked they haven't lost a lot in fuel. . . . .)   The taxi driver pulled into the petrol station, we thought great he is going to fill up, but for some reason or another out we pulled with no more petrol in our tank.  We stalled going out of the petrol station and struggled up the hill, we really thought we were not going to make it back to the camp!  Eventually after a slow and bumpy ride we made it.

That night we order pizza for dinner, African’s know how to cook pizza!!

 

DAY SIXTEEN – 10th October 2010

Masa Mara – Knolong Camp

We were up at 7am and on our way to Masi Mara.  Firstly we stopped to pick up another 12 people who were joining our tour.  We then got onto three mini vans and drove 3 1/2 hours.  The first hours drive was great, the road was smooth and the van didn’t sway or bump around as much as the truck.  However our luck soon ran our and we were on the bumpiest, pot holey roads!!  They were so bad in fact that the driver spent more time driving on the dirt beside the road than on the road itself!

We arrived at Knolong Camp at 2pm and had a cooked lunch.  This campsite is a permanently pitched tented camp so there was no putting up tents for us – luxury!  We even got our own en-suite tented toilet and shower – paradise! 

After chilling in our tents for a few hours we then departed on a game drive.  It was raining so we thought the animals would not be out and about but to our delight they were.  We travelled the park in van which wasn’t 4WD but they had pop top roofs, we prayed we wouldn’t get stuck!  After a bit of a journey we saw ahead a circus of white van, they were all gathering around a lion. 

We were told that it was a $10,000 shilling fine if you drove off the tracks in the park, but this didn’t seem to deter the drivers, they surround the lion in every which angle.  We felt a bit like we were in a outdoor zoo, it wasn’t a good feeling but on the positive we did get some amasing shots.

Our first lion -  he was absolutely spectacular!    

 

We arrived back at the camp at 7pm for dinner.  That night we slept well in a bed rather than on a mattress on the floor.

 

Two of the cubs play fighting

DAY SEVENTEEN – 11th October 2010

Masi Mara – Knolong Camp

Wake up call at 6.30am and off for our first early morning game drive in Masi Mara National Park which is 1086 square kilometres.  We saw buffalo, antelope, a sleeping lion, two stunning lions under a tree, elephants, giraffes, vultures and hundreds of thousands of wilderbeast.

  One of the many different types of antelope, it’s hard to remember all the different names.

A vulture preparing for takeoff

These skeleton's are everywhere, the lions aren’t going hungry around here!

 

These two lions were sitting together under a tree, our guide thought that this injury would be from a fight over female lions!  

  

We have almost crossed off the big 5 now Buffalo, Rhino, Lion, and Elephant . . .  just a leopard to go, maybe tomorrow . . . .

We had a picnic lunch just up from the river after spotting crocodiles and hippos.  The boys played a bit of frezbie, keeping a close eye out for lions.  Back in the van we drove back to camp.  On the way we had to wait to elephants to cross the road.  It was an amasing day out in the park.

That night there was a huge thunder and lightening storm!  We chatted to the new people who had joined the tour – ya 3 more kiwis!  And its such a small world, one of them knows Prue Hawkes.

When it rains… It really rains!

DAY EIGHTEEN – 12th October 2010

Nairobi

Up AGAIN at 6am and in the van for another game drive, this time we are hoping to see a Leopard.  Nothing much came of this early morning game drive which was a bit disappointing.   Back to camp for breaky then we hit the road for 3 hours, stopping at a little local restaurant for lunch.  Back on the road for what was meant to be an hour! Our van radiator was playing up.  We stopped twice going up this hill to fill up with water.  Our 2nd stop the guy put some glue or something in it, it did the tick!  We made it back to Nairobi for a supermarket stop to pick up some essential supplies of alcohol for Trace’s birthday.

Dinner at the campsite, yummy coconut curry chicken.

It was then that Trace began to develop stomach cramps which turned into squirty bum – what a great presents – thanks Africa!  She thought the best way to get what was in the system out was to drink as much water as possible, that evening about 4 litres of water was consumed.  This didn’t have the desired effect and Trace was back and forth to the bathroom all night. . . . . what a way to start her 26th Year!