Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Last updates to come
Well by now we're all home -- I battled two bus rides and four separate plane rides (for a total of 33 hours of travel in three days) and finally made it home yesterday (the 23) around noon. I still owe the blog an update on Rwanda and the Congo before I forget all that happened, and I'm in the process of uploading all my pictures onto a photo sharing website so everyone can check them out. More to come!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Uganda (Rachel)
The bus ride from Nairobi to Kampala (stopping in Jinja) was long and uneventful, over unpaved roads most of the way, passing the most beautiful landscape we'd seen so far on the trip. Western Kenya is beautiful, but I was surprised at how developed Uganda was. We arrived in Jinja in the evening, and after avoiding getting ripped off by a taxi driver who complained about "muzungus" (white tourists) the whole time, we settled in at Nile River Explorers, the backpackers' we stayed at for two nights in Jinja. We ordered some food, had a couple of beers, and went to bed early.\
In the morning, the boys went white water rafting (I can see Andrew's screen and he's writing all about it) while I went to see the source of the Nile river with another traveler in the hostel. On the way, we stopped for the Ugandan street food of choice, the rolex (no clue if that's how you spell it), which is an omlet (eggs with veggies, including avocado if you're lucky) wrapped in chapati (fried bread, like Indian roti). The source of the Nile was ... anticlimactic, especially after we learned that you have to take a boat to actually see it. Luckily, I got some good info about how to get a cheap boat, and I passed that along to Justin and Andrew, who went the next day. After Daniel and I took a boda boda (motorcycle taxi, sorry mom!) back to the hostel, I hopped in a truck to go mountain biking around town while I waited for the boys to be done rafting. As I rode about 20 miles around town, everyone called out "hey muzungu!", and one man asked me to marry him and bring him to America (I said no). After a couple of hours biking, I headed down to see Bujagali falls (which the boys rafted down), then off to the campsite to read a book. The boys got back around 5 and we had dinner before heading back to hang out at the backpackers. That night, Andrew went out with some people from the hostel while Justin and I retired early with our books.
The next day, I went kayaking on the Nile while the boys went to see the source on a boat. The minute I met the instructor, I informed him that I would not be going upside down in the kayak. His response was, "as an instructor, I'm supposed to try to push you to do it even if you're scared," and I said "thanks, but seriously, no." I proceeded to paddle around in circles (somewhat unintentionally) for three hours while he taught other people how to roll over, and I was perfectly happy with that. Later that evening (after I dragged Justin on a boda boda rolex run), we headed off to Kampala on the free shuttle sponsored by the hostel. I sat right in the middle of a group of Christian missionaries heading to Sudan to build a church, and they spent a good part of the trip trying to save me (I knew I was in trouble when one guy asked: "Rachel, let me ask you a question: as a Christian, how do you think you're going to get into heaven?"). When I heard them asking Andrew the same questions, I figured they just do this to everyone. Awkward!
We arrived very very late to Red Chili Hideaway (our backpackers in Kampala) and spent two hours wandering the dark streets of Kampala searching for rolex or something else to eat for dinner. We eventually took boda bodas to a restaurant and ate french fries, but I stopped and got a rolex on the way home (I'm turning one dimensional).
The next morning, we got picked up early for our 8+ hour drive down to Kisoro, our starting off point for our silverback gorilla trek the next day. We have all been very excited about the trek, though it made us sad to reach this point in our trip because it means it's almost over! Our driver picked us up with the fourth member of our group, a Czech man living in Paris named Ivan. We took the long, long drive to Kisoro, arriving at the Traveler's Rest (our hotel, and Dian Fossey's second home while she was studying gorillas and writing Gorillas in the Mist) early in the evening. After dinner and a few drinks by the fire, we turned in.
We woke up early and headed out for our 90-minute drive to the park, then headed in with our group of four trekkers, plus four more. We hiked (mostly downhill) for about two hours when our guide told us that the trackers had found the gorillas. A few minutes later (after walking up a few vertical, muddy slopes and slogging through inches-deep mud that almost took my shoes off), we were standing in a clearing and a silverback walked out of the bush. To say that the 90 minutes that followed were incredible would be an understatement. We saw sixteen gorillas, including two babies, eating leaves, hanging out in trees, beating on their chests, caring for their young, and -- almost -- interacting with us. We took about 500 pictures between the three of us and left completely amazed. The trek back was exhausting, all uphill, all muddy, and we were all drenched in sweat from the incredible humidity, but it was an amazing day. After dinner that night, we crashed early.
The next morning, after heading in town so the boys could get their boots cleaned, we headed out of Kisoro and toward Lake Bunyonyi, a three hour drive through the beautiful green rolling hills of southwest Uganda. We arrived at Bunyonyi Overland Resort and relaxed for the rest of the day, drinking beers on the patio overlooking the lake, when a friend we had met on the bus from Nairobi to Kampala walked up. Bec is an Australian living in London, volunteering at a local school for a month. She sat down with us (hi Bec!) and we hung out all afternoon and through dinner.
This morning, Justin and I went canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi, starting with a paddle out to Punishment Island, a tiny island where Idi Amin used to send unwed pregnant women to die (pleasant, right?). We then headed to an island resort, where -- after some troublesome maneuvering -- we parked our canoe and headed up for drinks and lunch. After lunch, we headed back and ran into Andrew paddling out to see the islands. We came back to the hotel and headed out for dinner at Acadia, a gorgeous new (but empty) hotel with fantastic views of the lake.
We've had a fantastic time in Uganda and we're sad to be leaving tomorrow. The people here are incredibly nice, and the children are adorable (they wave at us and shout "hi muzungu!" as we drive/walk/ride by). We've had some great conversations with some of the people we've encountered, and all the places we've stayed have been fantastic. Tomorrow, we're off to Rwanda (though we have no idea, as of 10 pm, how we're going to get there) for some more adventures, but in a week we'll be on our planes back home! Yikes!
Rachel
In the morning, the boys went white water rafting (I can see Andrew's screen and he's writing all about it) while I went to see the source of the Nile river with another traveler in the hostel. On the way, we stopped for the Ugandan street food of choice, the rolex (no clue if that's how you spell it), which is an omlet (eggs with veggies, including avocado if you're lucky) wrapped in chapati (fried bread, like Indian roti). The source of the Nile was ... anticlimactic, especially after we learned that you have to take a boat to actually see it. Luckily, I got some good info about how to get a cheap boat, and I passed that along to Justin and Andrew, who went the next day. After Daniel and I took a boda boda (motorcycle taxi, sorry mom!) back to the hostel, I hopped in a truck to go mountain biking around town while I waited for the boys to be done rafting. As I rode about 20 miles around town, everyone called out "hey muzungu!", and one man asked me to marry him and bring him to America (I said no). After a couple of hours biking, I headed down to see Bujagali falls (which the boys rafted down), then off to the campsite to read a book. The boys got back around 5 and we had dinner before heading back to hang out at the backpackers. That night, Andrew went out with some people from the hostel while Justin and I retired early with our books.
The next day, I went kayaking on the Nile while the boys went to see the source on a boat. The minute I met the instructor, I informed him that I would not be going upside down in the kayak. His response was, "as an instructor, I'm supposed to try to push you to do it even if you're scared," and I said "thanks, but seriously, no." I proceeded to paddle around in circles (somewhat unintentionally) for three hours while he taught other people how to roll over, and I was perfectly happy with that. Later that evening (after I dragged Justin on a boda boda rolex run), we headed off to Kampala on the free shuttle sponsored by the hostel. I sat right in the middle of a group of Christian missionaries heading to Sudan to build a church, and they spent a good part of the trip trying to save me (I knew I was in trouble when one guy asked: "Rachel, let me ask you a question: as a Christian, how do you think you're going to get into heaven?"). When I heard them asking Andrew the same questions, I figured they just do this to everyone. Awkward!
We arrived very very late to Red Chili Hideaway (our backpackers in Kampala) and spent two hours wandering the dark streets of Kampala searching for rolex or something else to eat for dinner. We eventually took boda bodas to a restaurant and ate french fries, but I stopped and got a rolex on the way home (I'm turning one dimensional).
The next morning, we got picked up early for our 8+ hour drive down to Kisoro, our starting off point for our silverback gorilla trek the next day. We have all been very excited about the trek, though it made us sad to reach this point in our trip because it means it's almost over! Our driver picked us up with the fourth member of our group, a Czech man living in Paris named Ivan. We took the long, long drive to Kisoro, arriving at the Traveler's Rest (our hotel, and Dian Fossey's second home while she was studying gorillas and writing Gorillas in the Mist) early in the evening. After dinner and a few drinks by the fire, we turned in.
We woke up early and headed out for our 90-minute drive to the park, then headed in with our group of four trekkers, plus four more. We hiked (mostly downhill) for about two hours when our guide told us that the trackers had found the gorillas. A few minutes later (after walking up a few vertical, muddy slopes and slogging through inches-deep mud that almost took my shoes off), we were standing in a clearing and a silverback walked out of the bush. To say that the 90 minutes that followed were incredible would be an understatement. We saw sixteen gorillas, including two babies, eating leaves, hanging out in trees, beating on their chests, caring for their young, and -- almost -- interacting with us. We took about 500 pictures between the three of us and left completely amazed. The trek back was exhausting, all uphill, all muddy, and we were all drenched in sweat from the incredible humidity, but it was an amazing day. After dinner that night, we crashed early.
The next morning, after heading in town so the boys could get their boots cleaned, we headed out of Kisoro and toward Lake Bunyonyi, a three hour drive through the beautiful green rolling hills of southwest Uganda. We arrived at Bunyonyi Overland Resort and relaxed for the rest of the day, drinking beers on the patio overlooking the lake, when a friend we had met on the bus from Nairobi to Kampala walked up. Bec is an Australian living in London, volunteering at a local school for a month. She sat down with us (hi Bec!) and we hung out all afternoon and through dinner.
This morning, Justin and I went canoeing on Lake Bunyonyi, starting with a paddle out to Punishment Island, a tiny island where Idi Amin used to send unwed pregnant women to die (pleasant, right?). We then headed to an island resort, where -- after some troublesome maneuvering -- we parked our canoe and headed up for drinks and lunch. After lunch, we headed back and ran into Andrew paddling out to see the islands. We came back to the hotel and headed out for dinner at Acadia, a gorgeous new (but empty) hotel with fantastic views of the lake.
We've had a fantastic time in Uganda and we're sad to be leaving tomorrow. The people here are incredibly nice, and the children are adorable (they wave at us and shout "hi muzungu!" as we drive/walk/ride by). We've had some great conversations with some of the people we've encountered, and all the places we've stayed have been fantastic. Tomorrow, we're off to Rwanda (though we have no idea, as of 10 pm, how we're going to get there) for some more adventures, but in a week we'll be on our planes back home! Yikes!
Rachel
Uganda (Jinja, Gorillas, & Lake Bunyonyi)
Uganda is awesome! For all you nostalgic folk, I'm sorry to say it is nothing like Idi Amin's Uganda. But for any traveller, I think its an absolute amazing destination.
After taking our 12 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Jinja, we settled in at the Nile River Explorers Backpackers. For all you Ugandan geographically ignorant folks, Jinja is located at the ource of the Nile River. Yes that one! The next day, Justin and I went whitewater rafting on the Nile on some of the most challenging rapids (Grade 5) in the world. For all you rafting on the delaware river in the poconos with Camp Chenawanda that's like a category 0.5. George Washington has nothing on us. Anyway, we went through about 12 rapids in all (about 4 category 5s, 4 category 4s, and 4 category 3. Our first big rapid was the 50/50, where apparently 50% of members in the raft typically fall out. That just so happened to be Justin and myself as we went overboard into the fortunately very deep water. I found that experience a little fun, but that's just me. After swimming in the Nile (for some stretches we went 30 minutes without rapids) and surviving a whole host of rapids, we finally came upon "the Bad Place," a category 5 rapid, where a 200 foot stretch of the Nile was all downward sloping gushing white water. Fortunately we exited our rafts before the Bad Place to avoid the even worse place (a category 6 rapid - unnavigable by raft). As soon as we got back in the raft, looking down at the Bad Place, we knew we were fucked. Immediately after Paulo (our Ugandan national rafting star guide) released us from the shore, we flew down the rapid, thrown 180 degrees with the whole raft flipping from right to left. Justin was sent hurdling under the raft gasping for air. After finally getting out from the boat, he was rescued by a kayak, and then summoned to rescuse some other girl from going into the rocks. After someone fell on me I tumbled under water, ingesting the Nile on not one but two occasions, as i got up for air only to be sucked back down by another rapid. After being told to swim to the rocks (like that was happening), a kayaker finally rescued me. I know it sounds scary, but it was awesome!!! I had so much fun. And the important thing is that we all survived and no one was injured.
Rachel hung around town that day exploring all that Jinja has to offer and Lake victoria. The next day Rachel went kayaking on the Nile (see Rachel's post), while Justin and I had some awesome chapati and hired a guide to give us a boatcruise to the source of the Nile. After exploring the source, we stopped at a new and really beautiful restaurant and soon to be guesthouse called Ginger on the Nile (you heard it here first, this will be the place to stay in Jinja in 2 years). We ate lunch, drank a few beers, and just enjoyed the scenery.
Then we took a ride to Kampala with some Christian missionaries from Texas. Rachel and Justin fought off attempts to save them and just accepted that they were going to hell. I had a nice heart to heart conversation with a fellow American, where we discussed religion, Nietzsche and the fallacy of global warming. (There really was no point in arguing with him, as he believed that the earth actually cooled over the past decade, but I would not relent). I also naturally had to defend the good name of my hero Al.
The next day we left for SW Uganda, home of the mountain gorillas. The drive to Kisoro, showed the best of what Uganda has to offer. I must say Ugandans are the friendliest people on the planet! Everywhere we went, people would wave to us and say hi or mzungu ("white person wandering without purpose") give me money, but in a nice way. The children are so cute, jumping up and down, flailing their arms, and even chasing the car. As we drove further into SW Uganda, rolling hillsides and lakes appeared everywhere. It was so picturesque, truly the "Switzerland of Africa."
We stayed at Kisoro Travellers Rest, a very nice hotel, where Dian Fossey (one of the original mountain gorilla researchers) used to stay. The next day we went visiting the gorillas! After trekking through a very muddy rainforest for about an hour and a half we were told we were only 20 minutes away. Unfortunately that meant we had to climb up a vertical muddy wall (which I almost fell down). Finally, we came upon the gorillas. First, we encountered the lesser Silverback, who was eating only 10 feet away from us. When we came to check out another path, Safari, the boss silverback, crossed right in front of us out in the open just staring at us for a minute. He was extremely impressive, but not afraid of us at all, and didn't seemed bothered by our presence as he passed only feet from us. He then let us watch him eat for almost half an hour, with us only about 5-10 feet away. His facial features were remarkably human, and his eyes demonstrated similar human emotions and states of thought. After chomping through what seemed like the whole forest, he moved out of the way, allowing us to observe three gorillas hanging out in the trees. We walked a little further, where a large female gorilla descended from the tree, standing only 10 feet from us. It was pretty amazing just staring into her eyes, wondering what would be her next move. Fortunately she waited for us to leave. Since our hour was ending with the gorillas, we moved on, only to spot about 8 gorillas, mothers, juveniles, and infants all hanging out together on the forest floor. The baby was so cute and tiny (He actually looked like Eric as a baby). We watched as the baby, no more than 6 months old, attempted to climb a tree vine with his mother carefully watching below. Finally after an hour and a half (more than we ever imagined we'd be able to have with the gorillas), we exited, only to find 2 more gorillas (a blackback and the lesser silverback) out in the open. All in all we saw 16 of the 18 gorillas in the family. The walk back was extremely tiring, but about 2 hours later we made it to the top. It truly was an incredible experience.
NOTE: If you want to go visit them, go soon! We heard rumors that the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC are planning on increasing the price of the permits from $500 to $1000-$1500. Possibly by next year!
The next day we set off for Lake Bunyonyi, possibly the most beautiful lake in Africa. The lake is scattered with maybe as many as 50 islands, some large enough to serve as homes and hotel resorts.
I wasn't feeling too well yesterday (not sure exactly what it was, could be food poisoning, could be the water (which I've made a point not to drink), but anyway, I felt like poop. I'm feeling better now, but I'm definitely looking forward to coming back home and not worrying about what I'm eating, except for Thai House II in northern Miami Beach or the cinnamon raisin bagels in Jason & Heather's freezer.
Today, we went canoeing around the islands, going out to "Punishment Island", where unmarried pregnant women were dropped off to die under Idi Amin's regime. Fortunately, a lot has changed since then. President Museveni has done a lot of great things reformingUganda, and it is impossible to see any of the scars left by Idi Amin, at least on the surface.
I also had the added pleasure of helping 4 Ugandan children carry large buckets of water up to their home on the hillside. I couldn't believe that these kids (aged 3 to 7) had to lug such heavy buckets every day, and probably multiple times. They thanked me by playing the drums and performing a dance for me, which I joined it. It was extremely cute, and easily my favorite Lake Bunyoni experience.
That's it for now, hope to give another posting before the end of the trip. If not, I look forward to speaking to you all when I return to the States on September 22nd.
-Andrew
After taking our 12 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Jinja, we settled in at the Nile River Explorers Backpackers. For all you Ugandan geographically ignorant folks, Jinja is located at the ource of the Nile River. Yes that one! The next day, Justin and I went whitewater rafting on the Nile on some of the most challenging rapids (Grade 5) in the world. For all you rafting on the delaware river in the poconos with Camp Chenawanda that's like a category 0.5. George Washington has nothing on us. Anyway, we went through about 12 rapids in all (about 4 category 5s, 4 category 4s, and 4 category 3. Our first big rapid was the 50/50, where apparently 50% of members in the raft typically fall out. That just so happened to be Justin and myself as we went overboard into the fortunately very deep water. I found that experience a little fun, but that's just me. After swimming in the Nile (for some stretches we went 30 minutes without rapids) and surviving a whole host of rapids, we finally came upon "the Bad Place," a category 5 rapid, where a 200 foot stretch of the Nile was all downward sloping gushing white water. Fortunately we exited our rafts before the Bad Place to avoid the even worse place (a category 6 rapid - unnavigable by raft). As soon as we got back in the raft, looking down at the Bad Place, we knew we were fucked. Immediately after Paulo (our Ugandan national rafting star guide) released us from the shore, we flew down the rapid, thrown 180 degrees with the whole raft flipping from right to left. Justin was sent hurdling under the raft gasping for air. After finally getting out from the boat, he was rescued by a kayak, and then summoned to rescuse some other girl from going into the rocks. After someone fell on me I tumbled under water, ingesting the Nile on not one but two occasions, as i got up for air only to be sucked back down by another rapid. After being told to swim to the rocks (like that was happening), a kayaker finally rescued me. I know it sounds scary, but it was awesome!!! I had so much fun. And the important thing is that we all survived and no one was injured.
Rachel hung around town that day exploring all that Jinja has to offer and Lake victoria. The next day Rachel went kayaking on the Nile (see Rachel's post), while Justin and I had some awesome chapati and hired a guide to give us a boatcruise to the source of the Nile. After exploring the source, we stopped at a new and really beautiful restaurant and soon to be guesthouse called Ginger on the Nile (you heard it here first, this will be the place to stay in Jinja in 2 years). We ate lunch, drank a few beers, and just enjoyed the scenery.
Then we took a ride to Kampala with some Christian missionaries from Texas. Rachel and Justin fought off attempts to save them and just accepted that they were going to hell. I had a nice heart to heart conversation with a fellow American, where we discussed religion, Nietzsche and the fallacy of global warming. (There really was no point in arguing with him, as he believed that the earth actually cooled over the past decade, but I would not relent). I also naturally had to defend the good name of my hero Al.
The next day we left for SW Uganda, home of the mountain gorillas. The drive to Kisoro, showed the best of what Uganda has to offer. I must say Ugandans are the friendliest people on the planet! Everywhere we went, people would wave to us and say hi or mzungu ("white person wandering without purpose") give me money, but in a nice way. The children are so cute, jumping up and down, flailing their arms, and even chasing the car. As we drove further into SW Uganda, rolling hillsides and lakes appeared everywhere. It was so picturesque, truly the "Switzerland of Africa."
We stayed at Kisoro Travellers Rest, a very nice hotel, where Dian Fossey (one of the original mountain gorilla researchers) used to stay. The next day we went visiting the gorillas! After trekking through a very muddy rainforest for about an hour and a half we were told we were only 20 minutes away. Unfortunately that meant we had to climb up a vertical muddy wall (which I almost fell down). Finally, we came upon the gorillas. First, we encountered the lesser Silverback, who was eating only 10 feet away from us. When we came to check out another path, Safari, the boss silverback, crossed right in front of us out in the open just staring at us for a minute. He was extremely impressive, but not afraid of us at all, and didn't seemed bothered by our presence as he passed only feet from us. He then let us watch him eat for almost half an hour, with us only about 5-10 feet away. His facial features were remarkably human, and his eyes demonstrated similar human emotions and states of thought. After chomping through what seemed like the whole forest, he moved out of the way, allowing us to observe three gorillas hanging out in the trees. We walked a little further, where a large female gorilla descended from the tree, standing only 10 feet from us. It was pretty amazing just staring into her eyes, wondering what would be her next move. Fortunately she waited for us to leave. Since our hour was ending with the gorillas, we moved on, only to spot about 8 gorillas, mothers, juveniles, and infants all hanging out together on the forest floor. The baby was so cute and tiny (He actually looked like Eric as a baby). We watched as the baby, no more than 6 months old, attempted to climb a tree vine with his mother carefully watching below. Finally after an hour and a half (more than we ever imagined we'd be able to have with the gorillas), we exited, only to find 2 more gorillas (a blackback and the lesser silverback) out in the open. All in all we saw 16 of the 18 gorillas in the family. The walk back was extremely tiring, but about 2 hours later we made it to the top. It truly was an incredible experience.
NOTE: If you want to go visit them, go soon! We heard rumors that the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC are planning on increasing the price of the permits from $500 to $1000-$1500. Possibly by next year!
The next day we set off for Lake Bunyonyi, possibly the most beautiful lake in Africa. The lake is scattered with maybe as many as 50 islands, some large enough to serve as homes and hotel resorts.
I wasn't feeling too well yesterday (not sure exactly what it was, could be food poisoning, could be the water (which I've made a point not to drink), but anyway, I felt like poop. I'm feeling better now, but I'm definitely looking forward to coming back home and not worrying about what I'm eating, except for Thai House II in northern Miami Beach or the cinnamon raisin bagels in Jason & Heather's freezer.
Today, we went canoeing around the islands, going out to "Punishment Island", where unmarried pregnant women were dropped off to die under Idi Amin's regime. Fortunately, a lot has changed since then. President Museveni has done a lot of great things reformingUganda, and it is impossible to see any of the scars left by Idi Amin, at least on the surface.
I also had the added pleasure of helping 4 Ugandan children carry large buckets of water up to their home on the hillside. I couldn't believe that these kids (aged 3 to 7) had to lug such heavy buckets every day, and probably multiple times. They thanked me by playing the drums and performing a dance for me, which I joined it. It was extremely cute, and easily my favorite Lake Bunyoni experience.
That's it for now, hope to give another posting before the end of the trip. If not, I look forward to speaking to you all when I return to the States on September 22nd.
-Andrew
Kenya (Rachel)
Well we're back online here in Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda, but more about that after we do a little catching up!
Kenya was amazing. The night after the last blog, we went for some traditional Kenyan nyama choma (bbq, mostly goat) at a place in town. The boys ordered 3 kilos of goat meat to share and I ordered fish and french fries. Three hours (and a few beers later), we headed off to the infamous Florida 2000. This place is a nightclub over a gas station, complete with sketchy tourists, their young Kenyan "girlfriends" (if only for the evening), and more neon lights than the entire town of South Beach put together. We had some beers, danced a bit (Andrew made friends with a group of Chinese tourists and danced with most of them, including one man's wife at his suggestion), then sat down for the "cultural show." Kevin had told us about the show, but every time he said "cultural," he laughed a bit, so we weren't quite sure what we were in for. The show consisted of six Kenyan dancers recreating dances from different areas of the world. It's hard to explain what made it so funny -- Kevin summed it up best when he called it "tasteless but harmless." We were cracking up the whole time, but most of the people were watching the show intently.
After having shown us a good amount of Nairobi, Kevin organized a trip for us to go with a big group of his friends (some from work, some other fellow ex-pats) to Lake Nakuru, a game park famous for its lake populated with thousands of pink flamingos. We left in the morning and caravanned the three hour drive, stopping to pick up some Massai blankets at a shop overlooking the (gorgeous) Great Rift Valley. When we got to Lake Nakuru, we had the first of many encounters with monkeys when we saw some climb into another person's car and steal some fruit. We got to our lodge, the Flamingo Tented Camp, and Justin, Andrew and I were shocked at how much nicer it was than some of the places we've stayed on this trip. We were greeted at the gate with cool towels, given fruit juice, and fed a fantastic buffet lunch that included custom-made naan (delicious!) before we headed out on our first game drive. The boys had been disappointed that we hadn't seen any rhinos in the Serenghetti, but we were spoiled in Lake Nakuru! We saw about two dozen rhinos in the first game drive and we stopped to take pictures of the beautiful flamingos (not too far from a skeptical-looking cape buffalo standing nearby). We brought wine to have "sundowners" (cocktails + sunset = sundowners), so we went to Baboon Cliffs to enjoy our drinks. Enter the baboons. We left the windows open, and the baboons were itching to get in to the car. Ginny, one of the girls we traveled with, stood up to one of the monkeys and was nearly attacked. When Justin had to go into the car to get a wine glass, one of the baboons stood on the windshield, angling to jump in when he opened the door. But the best moment was when one of the girls left her wine glass in a gazebo and a baboon walked up, picked it up (over a lot of vocal -- but no physical -- protest), took a sip and tossed it away. After that, we decided to cut our losses and head back to camp.
That night, we had dinner at the camp, but I wasn't feeling great so I decided to head back to the tent halfway through dinner. The waiter stopped me as I was walking out and asked what was the matter; when I told him I wasn't feeling well, but it wasn't the food, he leaned in and whispered: "I hope you are not starving yourself." I thanked him for his concern, turned down his very kind offer to bring me toast, and headed back to the tent, laughing. When I got back to the tent, I saw that they had left hot water bottles under the sheets to keep the bed warm, and needless to say I didn't make it back out that evening. Everyone else had drinks and hung out on the porch chatting, and we all had a great time. After another game drive in the morning, we headed back to Nairobi.
The next morning the boys went to hike Hell's Gate gorge, outside of Nairobi, while I ventured into downtown Nairobi to buy our tickets for the bus from Nairobi to Kampala, Uganda, for the next morning. When I was done, I headed to the cute bakery near Kevin's house and read a book while I waited for the boys to get home. When they arrived, we dropped Andrew off at the UN Environmental Program and Justin, Kevin and I headed for lunch at the Riverside Cafe, a gorgeous restaurant with a little lake with cute ducks. The next morning, we headed out early for our 12+ hour bus ride to Uganda.
Kenya was amazing. The night after the last blog, we went for some traditional Kenyan nyama choma (bbq, mostly goat) at a place in town. The boys ordered 3 kilos of goat meat to share and I ordered fish and french fries. Three hours (and a few beers later), we headed off to the infamous Florida 2000. This place is a nightclub over a gas station, complete with sketchy tourists, their young Kenyan "girlfriends" (if only for the evening), and more neon lights than the entire town of South Beach put together. We had some beers, danced a bit (Andrew made friends with a group of Chinese tourists and danced with most of them, including one man's wife at his suggestion), then sat down for the "cultural show." Kevin had told us about the show, but every time he said "cultural," he laughed a bit, so we weren't quite sure what we were in for. The show consisted of six Kenyan dancers recreating dances from different areas of the world. It's hard to explain what made it so funny -- Kevin summed it up best when he called it "tasteless but harmless." We were cracking up the whole time, but most of the people were watching the show intently.
After having shown us a good amount of Nairobi, Kevin organized a trip for us to go with a big group of his friends (some from work, some other fellow ex-pats) to Lake Nakuru, a game park famous for its lake populated with thousands of pink flamingos. We left in the morning and caravanned the three hour drive, stopping to pick up some Massai blankets at a shop overlooking the (gorgeous) Great Rift Valley. When we got to Lake Nakuru, we had the first of many encounters with monkeys when we saw some climb into another person's car and steal some fruit. We got to our lodge, the Flamingo Tented Camp, and Justin, Andrew and I were shocked at how much nicer it was than some of the places we've stayed on this trip. We were greeted at the gate with cool towels, given fruit juice, and fed a fantastic buffet lunch that included custom-made naan (delicious!) before we headed out on our first game drive. The boys had been disappointed that we hadn't seen any rhinos in the Serenghetti, but we were spoiled in Lake Nakuru! We saw about two dozen rhinos in the first game drive and we stopped to take pictures of the beautiful flamingos (not too far from a skeptical-looking cape buffalo standing nearby). We brought wine to have "sundowners" (cocktails + sunset = sundowners), so we went to Baboon Cliffs to enjoy our drinks. Enter the baboons. We left the windows open, and the baboons were itching to get in to the car. Ginny, one of the girls we traveled with, stood up to one of the monkeys and was nearly attacked. When Justin had to go into the car to get a wine glass, one of the baboons stood on the windshield, angling to jump in when he opened the door. But the best moment was when one of the girls left her wine glass in a gazebo and a baboon walked up, picked it up (over a lot of vocal -- but no physical -- protest), took a sip and tossed it away. After that, we decided to cut our losses and head back to camp.
That night, we had dinner at the camp, but I wasn't feeling great so I decided to head back to the tent halfway through dinner. The waiter stopped me as I was walking out and asked what was the matter; when I told him I wasn't feeling well, but it wasn't the food, he leaned in and whispered: "I hope you are not starving yourself." I thanked him for his concern, turned down his very kind offer to bring me toast, and headed back to the tent, laughing. When I got back to the tent, I saw that they had left hot water bottles under the sheets to keep the bed warm, and needless to say I didn't make it back out that evening. Everyone else had drinks and hung out on the porch chatting, and we all had a great time. After another game drive in the morning, we headed back to Nairobi.
The next morning the boys went to hike Hell's Gate gorge, outside of Nairobi, while I ventured into downtown Nairobi to buy our tickets for the bus from Nairobi to Kampala, Uganda, for the next morning. When I was done, I headed to the cute bakery near Kevin's house and read a book while I waited for the boys to get home. When they arrived, we dropped Andrew off at the UN Environmental Program and Justin, Kevin and I headed for lunch at the Riverside Cafe, a gorgeous restaurant with a little lake with cute ducks. The next morning, we headed out early for our 12+ hour bus ride to Uganda.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Nairobi (Rachel)
Man, are we having fun in Nairobi. Let me try to remember everything we've done over the past two days ...
Our last day in Arusha, we went to the Rwanda genocide tribunal (the ICTR) in the morning to watch the proceedings. After an hour-and-a-half delay (during which we went to the library and marveled at all the American law journals collected there), we finally got to hear some testimony. The witnesses are hidden behind a curtain, but we could see the defendant and his American counsel clearly. We heard the witness's testimony about the events of April 7, 1994 (the day the genocide started), and left feeling quite somber and sad after about an hour. We headed back to the Impala Lodge (the nice hotel we stayed in our last night) to catch the shuttle to Nairobi.
The first two hours of the shuttle ride were uneventful as we passed through northern Tanzania toward the Kenyan border. We saw lots of Massai people leading their cows, sheep, and goats across the road and I cowered in horror as our driver came within inches of the animals and their handlers. We got to the border and had an uneventful crossing (contrary to some of the stories we'd been hearing, and much to our relief), then continued driving through Kenya for about 30 minutes before the entire bus was filled with the delightful smell of a burning clutch. We stopped off, but apparently the driver decided to keep going (after he got all the people hurrying to the airport out of our bus and into another one), and we almost made it to Nairobi before we broke down on the side of a dark, dusty, and unpaved road. It wasn't long before the driver got another shuttle, and we were ONLY an hour late meeting Justin's friend, Kevin, at the Silver Springs hotel.
Kevin took us to Mercury Bar, a very nice bar in a cute area of Nairobi. We had lots of appetizers and he introduced us to our new favorite African beer, White Cap. After we were done, we headed to Kevin's beautiful house inside a gated community with about 8 houses (in Nairobi, "gated" means gated, walled, electric-wired, guard-dogged, and with 6 locks on each door to the outside). Kevin's house is huge and beautifully decorated, and Kevin is an incredibly gracious host. We sat on his beautiful back porch in his yard and drank some more beer, then went to bed.
The next morning, Kevin had to work, so he arranged for a driver to take us around Nairobi for the day (told you he was a good host). We started off the morning at -- those of you who know me will know how excited I was about this -- an ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE. It's run by a trust that saves baby elephants orphaned by poachers, and for an hour each weekday visitors are allowed in to watch the baby elephants (there were about 8 of them) play in the water and with each other. The elephants were completely and utterly adorable, but one elephant just stood there, not socializing, trying to eat rocks. I decided his name should be changed to "Dumbo," but I felt like a jerk when the handler told us that he arrived at the orphanage only 4 weeks ago, and he was still grieving the loss of his family, who were killed by poachers. :( There's nothing wrong with this guy, he just had a little trouble standing up once he lay down --
After elephant viewing time was over, we headed out to see the baby rhino and the warthogs (my favorites!) that hang around the elephant sanctuary. We didn't see any rhinos on safari (apparently there are only 16 in the entire Serenghetti and another 20 in the Ngorongoro area), so we were excited to see a couple of them up close (though I felt really sad at the one depressed baby rhino whose mother had recently abandoned him). I petted and hugged a warthog (HIGHLIGHT!) and we headed off.
Next stop: Kitunda glass factory. We drove for about an hour down rocky, dusty, unpaved roads (getting stuck a couple of times) and pulled into the most eccentric place I think I've ever been. There were sculptures everwhere, horses, donkeys, and camels roaming around, and a "beware of Rottweiler: do not run" sign in the entrance. The only way to accurately describe this place is Willy Wonka-esque. We walked around and saw the workers blowing glass, toured the shops, and were amazed by all of the cool stuff at the factory.
We left the factory and headed off to the place Kevin recommended for lunch: Le Rustique. This place was adorable -- a huge outdoor space that was like the restaurant's backyard, with a few little shops in it. We ate some delicious food, had beers (and milkshakes), then headed back to Kevin's for a little rest before going out for dinner. When Kevin came home, we headed out for Ethiopian food with a few of his work friends (it was delicious!), then went to Casablanca, a fun bar in Nairobi, where we sat indian-style and drank beers before heading home to bed.
This morning, we decided to continue our tour de animals at the safari walk, which one of Kevin's friends recommended because -- for the right price -- you could pet a cheetah. We walked around, saw lots of cool animals (including albino zebras and a unicorn ... ok, a deer-like creature who got in a fight, but it was still cool), and Justin told our guide that I had been dreaming of petting a cheetah my whole life (...). He got the handler who unlocked a gate and took us through the back of the cheetah enclosure, then (to my total shock) let the cheetah in a smaller cage and invited us in. The guy was a little pushy, telling us to lie down next to the cheetah, and I had just started petting her when she growled at me! I jumped up in horror but he told me that she was just PURRING. I was petting a purring cheetah. We took lots of pictures, and petted her for a long time (she was like a housecat, she would roll over on her back to get us to scratch her tummy), then headed out (after paying our guides, of course).
After the safari walk, we went to the giraffe sanctuary to continue with the theme of this part of the trip. We got to feed giraffes out of our hands (and mouths -- the guy got us to put pellets between our lips and the giraffes kissed us, I'll try to add a picture) and kiss and hug them. It was a pretty amazing experience.
After the giraffes, we went to see the Blixon (?) house from the movie "Out of Africa", then went to another bead factory that employs 350 women (mostly single mothers) and pays for almost all of their medical expenses. The factory was cool and we hit up the shops (again) and tried to figure out how to order all of our cups and plates from there (FedEx ships things to the US for a mere $100 USD per kilogram) when we grow up.
We headed back to Kevin's house after another delightful lunch (can't remember the name of the restaurant at the moment) at a gorgeous outdoor space with a big green lawn. Now we're at the internet cafe, waiting for him to get done with work, and we're going to go eat traditional Kenyan BBQ and go to a cultural show tonight. Tomorrow, we head to a lake filled with pink flamingoes and stay there for a night before returning to beautiful Nairobi for another few days.
Rach
Our last day in Arusha, we went to the Rwanda genocide tribunal (the ICTR) in the morning to watch the proceedings. After an hour-and-a-half delay (during which we went to the library and marveled at all the American law journals collected there), we finally got to hear some testimony. The witnesses are hidden behind a curtain, but we could see the defendant and his American counsel clearly. We heard the witness's testimony about the events of April 7, 1994 (the day the genocide started), and left feeling quite somber and sad after about an hour. We headed back to the Impala Lodge (the nice hotel we stayed in our last night) to catch the shuttle to Nairobi.
The first two hours of the shuttle ride were uneventful as we passed through northern Tanzania toward the Kenyan border. We saw lots of Massai people leading their cows, sheep, and goats across the road and I cowered in horror as our driver came within inches of the animals and their handlers. We got to the border and had an uneventful crossing (contrary to some of the stories we'd been hearing, and much to our relief), then continued driving through Kenya for about 30 minutes before the entire bus was filled with the delightful smell of a burning clutch. We stopped off, but apparently the driver decided to keep going (after he got all the people hurrying to the airport out of our bus and into another one), and we almost made it to Nairobi before we broke down on the side of a dark, dusty, and unpaved road. It wasn't long before the driver got another shuttle, and we were ONLY an hour late meeting Justin's friend, Kevin, at the Silver Springs hotel.
Kevin took us to Mercury Bar, a very nice bar in a cute area of Nairobi. We had lots of appetizers and he introduced us to our new favorite African beer, White Cap. After we were done, we headed to Kevin's beautiful house inside a gated community with about 8 houses (in Nairobi, "gated" means gated, walled, electric-wired, guard-dogged, and with 6 locks on each door to the outside). Kevin's house is huge and beautifully decorated, and Kevin is an incredibly gracious host. We sat on his beautiful back porch in his yard and drank some more beer, then went to bed.
The next morning, Kevin had to work, so he arranged for a driver to take us around Nairobi for the day (told you he was a good host). We started off the morning at -- those of you who know me will know how excited I was about this -- an ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE. It's run by a trust that saves baby elephants orphaned by poachers, and for an hour each weekday visitors are allowed in to watch the baby elephants (there were about 8 of them) play in the water and with each other. The elephants were completely and utterly adorable, but one elephant just stood there, not socializing, trying to eat rocks. I decided his name should be changed to "Dumbo," but I felt like a jerk when the handler told us that he arrived at the orphanage only 4 weeks ago, and he was still grieving the loss of his family, who were killed by poachers. :( There's nothing wrong with this guy, he just had a little trouble standing up once he lay down --
After elephant viewing time was over, we headed out to see the baby rhino and the warthogs (my favorites!) that hang around the elephant sanctuary. We didn't see any rhinos on safari (apparently there are only 16 in the entire Serenghetti and another 20 in the Ngorongoro area), so we were excited to see a couple of them up close (though I felt really sad at the one depressed baby rhino whose mother had recently abandoned him). I petted and hugged a warthog (HIGHLIGHT!) and we headed off.
Next stop: Kitunda glass factory. We drove for about an hour down rocky, dusty, unpaved roads (getting stuck a couple of times) and pulled into the most eccentric place I think I've ever been. There were sculptures everwhere, horses, donkeys, and camels roaming around, and a "beware of Rottweiler: do not run" sign in the entrance. The only way to accurately describe this place is Willy Wonka-esque. We walked around and saw the workers blowing glass, toured the shops, and were amazed by all of the cool stuff at the factory.
We left the factory and headed off to the place Kevin recommended for lunch: Le Rustique. This place was adorable -- a huge outdoor space that was like the restaurant's backyard, with a few little shops in it. We ate some delicious food, had beers (and milkshakes), then headed back to Kevin's for a little rest before going out for dinner. When Kevin came home, we headed out for Ethiopian food with a few of his work friends (it was delicious!), then went to Casablanca, a fun bar in Nairobi, where we sat indian-style and drank beers before heading home to bed.
This morning, we decided to continue our tour de animals at the safari walk, which one of Kevin's friends recommended because -- for the right price -- you could pet a cheetah. We walked around, saw lots of cool animals (including albino zebras and a unicorn ... ok, a deer-like creature who got in a fight, but it was still cool), and Justin told our guide that I had been dreaming of petting a cheetah my whole life (...). He got the handler who unlocked a gate and took us through the back of the cheetah enclosure, then (to my total shock) let the cheetah in a smaller cage and invited us in. The guy was a little pushy, telling us to lie down next to the cheetah, and I had just started petting her when she growled at me! I jumped up in horror but he told me that she was just PURRING. I was petting a purring cheetah. We took lots of pictures, and petted her for a long time (she was like a housecat, she would roll over on her back to get us to scratch her tummy), then headed out (after paying our guides, of course).
After the safari walk, we went to the giraffe sanctuary to continue with the theme of this part of the trip. We got to feed giraffes out of our hands (and mouths -- the guy got us to put pellets between our lips and the giraffes kissed us, I'll try to add a picture) and kiss and hug them. It was a pretty amazing experience.
After the giraffes, we went to see the Blixon (?) house from the movie "Out of Africa", then went to another bead factory that employs 350 women (mostly single mothers) and pays for almost all of their medical expenses. The factory was cool and we hit up the shops (again) and tried to figure out how to order all of our cups and plates from there (FedEx ships things to the US for a mere $100 USD per kilogram) when we grow up.
We headed back to Kevin's house after another delightful lunch (can't remember the name of the restaurant at the moment) at a gorgeous outdoor space with a big green lawn. Now we're at the internet cafe, waiting for him to get done with work, and we're going to go eat traditional Kenyan BBQ and go to a cultural show tonight. Tomorrow, we head to a lake filled with pink flamingoes and stay there for a night before returning to beautiful Nairobi for another few days.
Rach
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Lots of updates!
Hey all --
We added updates on Kili and Safari (written by me and Andrew, no guest blogger this time around) ;) and pictures as far back as Cape Town. Enjoy!!
R
We added updates on Kili and Safari (written by me and Andrew, no guest blogger this time around) ;) and pictures as far back as Cape Town. Enjoy!!
R
Safari (Rachel)
(beautiful Serenghetti sunset)Picking up where we left off ...
The morning after we returned from Kili, we headed off on safari with Good Earth, the same company that took us up the mountain. We piled into the 4x4 and headed off for lake Manyara, famous for its tree-climbing lions. We saw four lions in a single tree, plus lots of elephants and other animals, before we headed to our campsite, which was filled with annoying American teenagers talking all night long.
The next morning, we headed off on the 5-hour drive to the Serenghetti to start the next part of our safari. We did a 5 hour game drive, seeing lots of elephants (can you tell what my favorite animal is?) before we headed back to camp for dinner. Later that night, the hyenas that frequent the camp stole our tablecloth (and, we suspect, ate our butter, which vanished). We did another drive in the Serenghetti the next day, and stayed at the same campsite.
The morning after we returned from Kili, we headed off on safari with Good Earth, the same company that took us up the mountain. We piled into the 4x4 and headed off for lake Manyara, famous for its tree-climbing lions. We saw four lions in a single tree, plus lots of elephants and other animals, before we headed to our campsite, which was filled with annoying American teenagers talking all night long.
The next morning, we headed off on the 5-hour drive to the Serenghetti to start the next part of our safari. We did a 5 hour game drive, seeing lots of elephants (can you tell what my favorite animal is?) before we headed back to camp for dinner. Later that night, the hyenas that frequent the camp stole our tablecloth (and, we suspect, ate our butter, which vanished). We did another drive in the Serenghetti the next day, and stayed at the same campsite.
Here are some lions "on honeymoon" as our tour representative so politely put it --
After the Serenghetti, we headed for the Ngorongoro crater, an old volcanic crater that's around 270 square kilometers and is filled with animals. We saw lots of cool stuff, including a group of cape buffalos (part of the "Big Five," which includes elephants, lions, rhinos, and leopards, grouped together as the five hardest-to-kill animals in Africa) chasing a lion, which ran right up to the car in front of us, hiding and panting to catch his breath. We saw hundreds of zebras and wildebeast, and barely missed what we thought would be a certain kill -- six female lions were stalking a group of wildebeast, and one almost pounced until a car full of idiots with a bigger idiot driver broke her line of sight and she gave up (GRR).
This morning, we headed back to Arusha, where we settled in to the Impala Lodge and had dinner at the nice restaurant upstairs. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Rwanda genocide tribunals for the morning, then head to Nairobi on the bus in the afternoon to visit Justin's friend Kevin.
More later!
Rach
Mt. Kilimanjaro (Rachel)
Well here we are again, after two weeks of being off line!
Kilimanjaro was a trying, exhausting, freezing, but rewarding experience. Day 1 we got picked up by our "Olympic Team" in Arusha and driven two hours to the entrance gate of Kilimanjaro. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it up the mountain, or how far I would be able to get at all. I'd heard a lot of different stories about peoples' experiences on the mountain, and I wasn't sure what to expect for myself.
We arrived at the gate at 11:00 am and spent some time registering before we headed up the mountain around 11:30. Almost the entirety of the first day we spent trudging through mud in a rainforest-like environment, filled with low-hanging vines, greenery, and moisture. The walk was a little difficult because of the mud, but we felt good. Our guide, James, met up with us after a couple of hours of our assistant guide, Francis, leading us up the mountain, carrying a huge pack, a bag with our lunches, and a box full of bread. We had our lunch and continued on, hiking for about 6-7 hours that morning before we got to the first camp, which was nice, though small, and had latrines (which we would get used to quickly).
Day two was also fun; we woke up early, had porridge, toast, eggs, and "maji moto" (Swahilli for hot water) before we headed out for another 6-7 hour hike. The scenery was a little different from the first day as we climbed above 10,000 feet, and there was more dust and more prehistoric-looking plants. We had lunch on a big rock overlooking the trail, continued on, and made camp at the next campsite, having a soon-to-be-familiar dinner of starch (white rice, pasta, etc.) with veggie/meat sauce.
Day three was exhausting, at least for me. At this point, we were in the clouds almost the entire day, and the wind was cold and biting. The temperature was around 40-50 degrees fahrenheit, but with a strong wind and the wet pangs of moisture that you get walking through clouds. Within an hour, I was feeling exhausted and frustrated, but we continued on and made it through the long hike, making camp and having our familiar dinner yet again. One notable part of day three was the extra hour we added on to our hike -- in our guide's words, "for exercise", like we weren't getting enough of that as it was -- up above 15,000 feet to acclimatize. We were all fine, and took some great pictures and relaxed before heading down a couple thousand feet to sleep for the night. Here are our tents at the campsite --
Kilimanjaro was a trying, exhausting, freezing, but rewarding experience. Day 1 we got picked up by our "Olympic Team" in Arusha and driven two hours to the entrance gate of Kilimanjaro. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it up the mountain, or how far I would be able to get at all. I'd heard a lot of different stories about peoples' experiences on the mountain, and I wasn't sure what to expect for myself.
We arrived at the gate at 11:00 am and spent some time registering before we headed up the mountain around 11:30. Almost the entirety of the first day we spent trudging through mud in a rainforest-like environment, filled with low-hanging vines, greenery, and moisture. The walk was a little difficult because of the mud, but we felt good. Our guide, James, met up with us after a couple of hours of our assistant guide, Francis, leading us up the mountain, carrying a huge pack, a bag with our lunches, and a box full of bread. We had our lunch and continued on, hiking for about 6-7 hours that morning before we got to the first camp, which was nice, though small, and had latrines (which we would get used to quickly).
Day two was also fun; we woke up early, had porridge, toast, eggs, and "maji moto" (Swahilli for hot water) before we headed out for another 6-7 hour hike. The scenery was a little different from the first day as we climbed above 10,000 feet, and there was more dust and more prehistoric-looking plants. We had lunch on a big rock overlooking the trail, continued on, and made camp at the next campsite, having a soon-to-be-familiar dinner of starch (white rice, pasta, etc.) with veggie/meat sauce.
Day three was exhausting, at least for me. At this point, we were in the clouds almost the entire day, and the wind was cold and biting. The temperature was around 40-50 degrees fahrenheit, but with a strong wind and the wet pangs of moisture that you get walking through clouds. Within an hour, I was feeling exhausted and frustrated, but we continued on and made it through the long hike, making camp and having our familiar dinner yet again. One notable part of day three was the extra hour we added on to our hike -- in our guide's words, "for exercise", like we weren't getting enough of that as it was -- up above 15,000 feet to acclimatize. We were all fine, and took some great pictures and relaxed before heading down a couple thousand feet to sleep for the night. Here are our tents at the campsite --
Days four and five were quite similar, with two short (3-4 hour) hikes in the desolate lunar landscape above 13,000 feet. The walks were relatively straightforward, unlike the hike of day 3 where we were clutching rocks and walking along the edge of a path with a precarious drop for a stumbling hiker. I had learned that I had seriously underestimated the mountain, thinking it would be a semi-steep walk uphill for five days. I found myself panting and, at times, gasping for breath as I did simple things (including walking to and from dinner, the latrines, etc.), and my heart rate monitor told me that my heart was beating at about 70-80% of its max heart rate most of the day.
Day six was, as promised, hell. We were woken up at 10:45 PM (technically, in the evening of day 5), fed a little bit of porridge (not too much, our guide warned us, since we'd likely puke the whole way up the mountain from altitude sicknses), and got dressed for the 6-7 hour hike to the summit. I wore: two pairs of wool socks, long underwear, fleece pants, goretex pants, a tank top, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie, a down jacket, and a goretex jacket, plus gloves. I hit my headlamp and headed off to this nightmare hike.
The first four hours were uneventful, and I kept myself busy by singing to myself (it sounds nerdy, but it's hard to walk uphill at 16,000+ feet in total darkness when it's like 30 degrees outside). I had a few moments of exhaustion, but once it hit 4 am I felt like I was in trouble. The wind started blowing, and it was coming so quickly and so cold that it felt like it was taking the breath right out of my lungs. I had mockingly turned down the "ninja mask" (the hat that covers most of your face) which was a terrible decision. When we reached Shira Point (only about an hour from the summit), I sat down next to our guide, spent, and said "James, I'm so tired," not knowing how I was going to be able to make it the rest of the way up. After another hour (thankfully, it was relatively flat at this point), I saw the sign: "CONGRATULATIONS, you have reached Uhuru Peak". Pretty rewarding!
We headed back down almost immediately as we were developing headaches and the best cure for impending altitude sickness is a rapid descent. I managed to cut the 4-hour descent into an hour and 45 minutes (impressive, eh?), arriving back at camp around 9 am (surprising that you can do so many hours of hiking before most people are awake). We took a little nap and headed down to 10,000 feet (from 19,000+ feet at the summit), where we camped for the night. The next morning, with the stiffest knees and sorest muscles imaginable, we got back to the gate and headed back to Arusha.
I'm proud of myself for not giving up, especially early in the morning of day 6, and I'm glad that I spent the last few months getting in shape for this trip. The first shower after 7 days on the mountain, the first full breath of oxygen at the gate, and sending my clothes to laundry were the highlights of the last day. We had to get things done quickly before SAFARI!
More to come ...
Rach
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Kilimanjaro (Andrew)
So we're finally back! After 7 long days on Kilimanjaro, we are proud to say that we're all healthy and alive. Yay. Its been a pretty grueling experience, but we made it. (PS I've added some new photos throughout, so look for updates).
We started at 6,000 feet from Macheme Gate, along a 5 hour hike through a rainforest at the base of the mountain up to camp at 10,000 feet. The forest was pretty dense with lush vegetation, rather muddy, but unfortunately lacked many animals. After my initial experience with altitude sickness (Scott will vividly remember this on Mt Schilthorn in Switzerland), I was very happy to suffer no ill effects on this initial climb. We all seemed in pretty good shape after the first climb, which was not overly tiring, but a good way to get in shape. Unfortunately the whole area was covered in a dense fog (actually clouds).
It wasn't until the next morning that we could finally see Kilimanjaro. We joked that it didn't exist up until this point, because no one had seen it through layers of clouds. We travelled up to 12,500 feet through a rather cool ascension of rocky paths with large boulders overlooking the clouded rainforest and valleys of senecia trees and bushes below. After about 4-5 hours of uphill trekking we finally settled at Shira camp, which had a beautiful view of Kilimanjaro on one side, and endless layers of clouds below with Mount Meru (the 2nd highest peak in Tanzania) sticking out from the clouds below. I took a picture of our camp at sunset with this exact view. At night we gazed up at the stars, which was one of the most awesome experiences, especially considering that in the US there's too much light obscuring our view of the stars. We could clearly make out the Milky Way, Mars, Venus, the Southern Cross, and almost every star in the sky. It was pretty cool.
The third day was a lot harder than we expected. From our initial hike, the trees and bushes gave way to much rockier terrain with only scatterred shrubs, almost no animals, and extremely harsh winds. Although starting at 12,500 feet, we eventually made it up to 15,300 feet at Lava Tower (a huge foot shaped igneous rock formation - Gabrielle you definitely know this, you Earth Science whiz!) Apparently from there it was only a 4 hour hike to the top. While tempted, we heard 10 Americans died going up that way about 15 years ago, and decided not to repeat their error. Instead we moved on to camp at 12,850 feet. Our legs were very tired, but our resolve remained strong.
On Day 4 we conducted our most technically challenging climb of the week, scaling the Baranco Wall, which Justin and I seemed to enjoy the most, but Rachel was a little less happy about. Although we could easily have slipped and fallen to our demise, the views of the glacial river valley below were awesome, as they were filled with 3 waterfalls, and neat rock formations. We hiked for about 3 hours that day, going down a moderately treacherous valley and coming up it to reach our campsite at 13,300 feet. As with the past couple of nights, they all were Freezing! We all wore most of our layers to sleep, huddled up in our sleeping bags, not wanting to venture out of our tents but for food and climbing.
Day 5 saw all signs of vegetation vanish, as we ascended the mountain to find a martian like terrain covered with rocks, more rocks, and rocks that oddly looked like broken pottery. The only thing that was missing was the red soil. We reached Barafu camp at about 2pm, at 14,910 feet, nearly 4,500 feet short of Uhuru Peak, the top of Kilimanjaro. Unfortuantely, we had to go to sleep by 5:30 as we would be waking up at 10:45pm to ascend Kilimanjaro!! Granted I don't normally go to sleep until 12-1am anyway, this was pretty challenging.
We woke up, working on 3 1/2 hours of sleep, starting our climb at midnight. Covered in about 5 layers of clothes, we marched our way up the mountain. I though 6 and a half hours might pass by pretty quickly, but was I wrong. Walking through the dark with only headlamps, we used every ounce of energy we had to reach our goal. I was so tired from lack of sleep that I tried to eat anything to give me some energy boost, but they were often fleeting. The air, steadily getting colder, gave me brain freeze, which I was afraid might be an early sign of altitude sickness. About 4 hours into the climb, we were almost completely out of energy. With 2 and a half hours remaining, and much more climbing left to go we relied on sheer willpower to move us forward. I knew that once we reached Stella's Point (about 18,600 feet) and about 45 minutes from Uhuru Peak, I'd be able to make it on adrenaline alone. At 5:45am we reached Stella's Point to much joy. Walking on with the light finally revealing a now relatively flat rocky surface with little snow, but ice formations shaped liked shark teeth littering the ground. To our left lay a massive glacier (although apparently receding). Finally at 6:30am we saw the sign for Uhuru Peak, the tallest point in all of Africa at 19,340 feet. We finally made it! We jumped for joy, took photos, and congratualted each other.
After 20 minutes on the top, and soon developing a headache, we made our way down, and as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we needed to descend over 9,000 feet (about a 7 hour hike on top of our already 6 1/2 hour hike). This made for some extraordinarily sore knees, causing our muscles to tighten and our speed to grind to snail like pace. Finally at 5pm we reached camp at 10,000 feet, exhausted and ready to get off the mountain, but first sleep.
The next day we walked down the rainforest again, this time a little muddier. By 11:30am we reached Mweka gate and our long journey was over.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Arusha and Kilimanjaro
I'm sitting in the (very nice) office of Good Earth Tours, the company that is taking us up Kili and on safari in the Serenghetti and the Ngorongoro crater. Here's our Kili itinerary again --
August 22: pick up gear (including many layers of fleece, apparently it gets down to -23 centigrade at the top of the mountain and it's pretty chilly most of the way up), head to Machame gate, register, and hike 9,900 feet (which should take 5-6 hours). We've been advised to have a "strong breakfast."
August 23: hike to Shira, 12,600 ft, which should take 5-6 hours.
August 24: hike to Baranco, 12,850 ft, which should take 5-7 hours.
August 25: hike to Karanga Valley, 13,300 ft, which should take 2-3 hours (this is our added acclimatization day).
August 26: hike to 14,910 ft, which should take 2-3 hours.
August 27: Hell Day. Wake up at midnight and hike 6-7 hours up to the summit, at 19,340 ft, spend an hour there, then turn around and spend 5-7 hours descending to Mweka (10,010 ft) and camp.
August 28: hike to Mweka gate (3-4 hours), then head back to our hotel and crash.
After we get back, we'll shower and wash our clothes, then head out for a 5-day safari through the Serenghetti. More on that to come!
As for now, we're excited and apprehensive about the climb (or maybe I'm just speaking for myself). Machame (the route we're taking) is known for its gradual assent and not-too-terrible last day (compared to the other routes), and we're taking lots and lots of layers (and lots of Diamox, our altitude sickness medicine) so we'll definitely make it up. Think of us on the 27!!
Rach
August 22: pick up gear (including many layers of fleece, apparently it gets down to -23 centigrade at the top of the mountain and it's pretty chilly most of the way up), head to Machame gate, register, and hike 9,900 feet (which should take 5-6 hours). We've been advised to have a "strong breakfast."
August 23: hike to Shira, 12,600 ft, which should take 5-6 hours.
August 24: hike to Baranco, 12,850 ft, which should take 5-7 hours.
August 25: hike to Karanga Valley, 13,300 ft, which should take 2-3 hours (this is our added acclimatization day).
August 26: hike to 14,910 ft, which should take 2-3 hours.
August 27: Hell Day. Wake up at midnight and hike 6-7 hours up to the summit, at 19,340 ft, spend an hour there, then turn around and spend 5-7 hours descending to Mweka (10,010 ft) and camp.
August 28: hike to Mweka gate (3-4 hours), then head back to our hotel and crash.
After we get back, we'll shower and wash our clothes, then head out for a 5-day safari through the Serenghetti. More on that to come!
As for now, we're excited and apprehensive about the climb (or maybe I'm just speaking for myself). Machame (the route we're taking) is known for its gradual assent and not-too-terrible last day (compared to the other routes), and we're taking lots and lots of layers (and lots of Diamox, our altitude sickness medicine) so we'll definitely make it up. Think of us on the 27!!
Rach
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Dar-es Salaam and Zanzibar (Rachel)
Well we've been in Zanzibar for a few days and Dar before that (Andrew posted about Dar, but I'm going to add some too), getting ready to head back to the ferry, but more on that in a bit.
Like Andrew mentioned, Dar wasn't the cleanest, or most easygoing, or most exciting city we've visited so far, but we were only there for a night. Jambo Inn wasn't exactly the Ritz, either. We did manage to find a great restaurant called Chef's Pride, which we loved, and we're heading back for dinner there tonight. Walking around Dar was strange for me, probably because I've never been to a Muslim country before. The women were all covered up, and the call to prayer came out on the loudspeakers from the mosque a few times a day (including a little before 5 am, which was jarring). The same is true in Zanzibar, and I have to admit that it makes me a little uncomfortable to see 5 year old girls (and even an infant girl at one point) fully covered. It may just take some getting used to.
Dar was a little dirty -- I stubbed my toe on the street and talked nonstop for three days about how I was going to lose it (I'm sure the boys loved that) ;) Per Sarah's advice (DeCamp, my fantastic friend who has been to all of these cities before and has been giving me fantastic advice), I covered it with Bacitracin and I think I'll live. We were walking down the street when I heard Andrew yell "DON'T LOOK DOWN!" so, of course, I did, and I saw a dead rat bigger than Zena in the middle of the sidewalk. Ick!
As Andrew said, we picked up ferry tickets. We got on the ferry early in the morning (after our heartbreaking departure from Jambo Inn -- but don't worry, we're staying there again tonight) and headed off to Zanzibar. It took about an hour and a half, and I had a guy sitting so close next to me that he was practically in my lap with his armpit on my shoulder (I think Andrew mentioned the personal space issue ...) for an hour or so. We got off the ferry, went through immigration, and headed to Stone Town.
Stone Town is absolutely gorgeous. The beaches in Zanzibar are beautiful, with green water filled with dhows (African sail/fishing boats). After we got a room at the Garden Lodge (with three queen sized beds that had mosquito nets), we got lunch at a place with fantastic seafood overlooking the water, then headed into the market for a little shopping. Andrew got some good stuff, and I picked up a floor-length skirt (I was looking like a hussie, by Zanzibar standards, in my knee-length shorts and t-shirt). We headed to the Africa House (a very nice hotel) for dinner and drinks overlooking the water.
The next morning, we headed out on a spice tour. We drove about 45 minutes up the coast, then spent a couple of hours walking around a spice plantation, seeing vanilla, cloves, and tons of other spices growing. The "spice boys" followed us around, making us hats, jewelry, and neck ties out of leaves. After the tour, we went to a village for a delicious lunch of rice, spinach, and veggies, then we headed off to the north of the island for a couple of days on the beach. One driver dropped us on the side of the road in the village, and we waited about 45 minutes for another driver to come pick us up. Andrew made some friends and practiced his swahilli while Justin and I walked around.
We arrived in Nungwi (a beach town on the north side of the island) and quickly got a room in a bungalow near the beach (for $15 each per night, thanks to my feminine wiles and superior negotiation skills), then went to the beach to swim (Justin tried to drown me!) and then headed in to a bar right on the water to have some Kilimanjaro beers and wait for Justin's friend Katelin, who came to Zanzibar to meet up with us. Katelin somehow found us at the restaurant, and we spent the rest of the night drinking far too many beers and falling asleep on the beach.
Like Andrew mentioned, Dar wasn't the cleanest, or most easygoing, or most exciting city we've visited so far, but we were only there for a night. Jambo Inn wasn't exactly the Ritz, either. We did manage to find a great restaurant called Chef's Pride, which we loved, and we're heading back for dinner there tonight. Walking around Dar was strange for me, probably because I've never been to a Muslim country before. The women were all covered up, and the call to prayer came out on the loudspeakers from the mosque a few times a day (including a little before 5 am, which was jarring). The same is true in Zanzibar, and I have to admit that it makes me a little uncomfortable to see 5 year old girls (and even an infant girl at one point) fully covered. It may just take some getting used to.
Dar was a little dirty -- I stubbed my toe on the street and talked nonstop for three days about how I was going to lose it (I'm sure the boys loved that) ;) Per Sarah's advice (DeCamp, my fantastic friend who has been to all of these cities before and has been giving me fantastic advice), I covered it with Bacitracin and I think I'll live. We were walking down the street when I heard Andrew yell "DON'T LOOK DOWN!" so, of course, I did, and I saw a dead rat bigger than Zena in the middle of the sidewalk. Ick!
As Andrew said, we picked up ferry tickets. We got on the ferry early in the morning (after our heartbreaking departure from Jambo Inn -- but don't worry, we're staying there again tonight) and headed off to Zanzibar. It took about an hour and a half, and I had a guy sitting so close next to me that he was practically in my lap with his armpit on my shoulder (I think Andrew mentioned the personal space issue ...) for an hour or so. We got off the ferry, went through immigration, and headed to Stone Town.
Stone Town is absolutely gorgeous. The beaches in Zanzibar are beautiful, with green water filled with dhows (African sail/fishing boats). After we got a room at the Garden Lodge (with three queen sized beds that had mosquito nets), we got lunch at a place with fantastic seafood overlooking the water, then headed into the market for a little shopping. Andrew got some good stuff, and I picked up a floor-length skirt (I was looking like a hussie, by Zanzibar standards, in my knee-length shorts and t-shirt). We headed to the Africa House (a very nice hotel) for dinner and drinks overlooking the water.
The next morning, we headed out on a spice tour. We drove about 45 minutes up the coast, then spent a couple of hours walking around a spice plantation, seeing vanilla, cloves, and tons of other spices growing. The "spice boys" followed us around, making us hats, jewelry, and neck ties out of leaves. After the tour, we went to a village for a delicious lunch of rice, spinach, and veggies, then we headed off to the north of the island for a couple of days on the beach. One driver dropped us on the side of the road in the village, and we waited about 45 minutes for another driver to come pick us up. Andrew made some friends and practiced his swahilli while Justin and I walked around.
We arrived in Nungwi (a beach town on the north side of the island) and quickly got a room in a bungalow near the beach (for $15 each per night, thanks to my feminine wiles and superior negotiation skills), then went to the beach to swim (Justin tried to drown me!) and then headed in to a bar right on the water to have some Kilimanjaro beers and wait for Justin's friend Katelin, who came to Zanzibar to meet up with us. Katelin somehow found us at the restaurant, and we spent the rest of the night drinking far too many beers and falling asleep on the beach.
The next morning we all woke up a bit hungover (and I had about 400 mosquito bites), and Andrew headed out for a day trip snorkeling at the beach while Justin, Katelin and I focused on getting out of bed :) We eventually managed, and spent some time lying on the beach and walking around exploring the island. Andrew came back, and we hung out a bit on the beach before we headed to dinner at a table on the water. My favorite little stray cat, who we named Trio (she only has three legs), sat under the table while we ate freshly caught kingfish that was incredibly delicious. Here's our table --
Now, we're in town, spending a little time on the internet before our two days of traveling start. In about half an hour, we're hopping on a public bus to head back to Stone Town (and save about 40,000 shillings over taking a taxi, thanks to savvy Katelin), then getting on the 4:00 ferry back to Dar. Once we arrive there, we're going to the bus company to get our tickets for the 8-hour bus ride to Arusha (the base of Kilimanjaro), then heading back to our favorite restaurant in Dar for dinner. Tomorrow morning, we're bussing to Arusha, starting our altitude sickness medication, and getting mentally prepared for our 8-day trek up (and back down) Kilimanjaro. We'll be out of contact for a while because after Kili, we're going on a 5-day safari through the Serenghetti, including the Ngorongoro crater, which is supposed to be really incredible.
Hope everyone is well!
Rach
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Dar Es Salaam
We arrived yesterday in the most beautiful city in all of Africa, Dar Es Salaam. Actually, that's a lie. No offense Dar, but I think I may have found my least favorite city in the world. (Oh yeah, in case you couldn't tell from the biting sarcasm, its Andrew again). Rachel likely shares the same sentiments as me, while Justin finds Dar a little more tolerable from his Peace Corps experience. There is a lot less personal space in Dar Es Salaam, and many places in Africa, which I think both Rachel and I are taking some time to get used to.
As soon as we exited the airport we were swarmed by about 10 taxi drivers, all offering us really bad deals. We eventually accepted a less bad deal. We entered our palace, the grandiose Jambo Inn. I would say that our hotel room was a complete shithole, but I believed that's reserved for the bathroom.
We walked to the ferry station to get tickets to Zanzibar (alas, we would have to wait a day). After brushing aside some fake ferry ticket sellers, we purchased tickets, which Justin and I both were highly skeptical of their validity. We then ventured off to dinner, which was excellent, and really cheap (About $4 per person). We soon found Dar was an even more boring town than expected, because there are so few places to drink (largely because it is a muslim city, where religious folk do not drink). We finally found an oasis in the middle of the city at a Dutch Hotel, where we enjoyed Kilimanjaro beers and a lovely enclosed lawn that could fit 4 wiffleball fields.
One saving grace of Dar Es Salaam is that it has a lovely shop right next to the Jambo Inn, where I ate 3 ice cream bars, and Rachel bought a Yorkie chocolate bar, much to Nestle's chagrin, who write on the label, "It's NOT for Girls." Only in Dar Es Salaam, and maybe Riyadh, Cairo, Khartoum, Yemen, Oman, Wajiristan, Sadr City, Gaza...
As soon as we exited the airport we were swarmed by about 10 taxi drivers, all offering us really bad deals. We eventually accepted a less bad deal. We entered our palace, the grandiose Jambo Inn. I would say that our hotel room was a complete shithole, but I believed that's reserved for the bathroom.
We walked to the ferry station to get tickets to Zanzibar (alas, we would have to wait a day). After brushing aside some fake ferry ticket sellers, we purchased tickets, which Justin and I both were highly skeptical of their validity. We then ventured off to dinner, which was excellent, and really cheap (About $4 per person). We soon found Dar was an even more boring town than expected, because there are so few places to drink (largely because it is a muslim city, where religious folk do not drink). We finally found an oasis in the middle of the city at a Dutch Hotel, where we enjoyed Kilimanjaro beers and a lovely enclosed lawn that could fit 4 wiffleball fields.
One saving grace of Dar Es Salaam is that it has a lovely shop right next to the Jambo Inn, where I ate 3 ice cream bars, and Rachel bought a Yorkie chocolate bar, much to Nestle's chagrin, who write on the label, "It's NOT for Girls." Only in Dar Es Salaam, and maybe Riyadh, Cairo, Khartoum, Yemen, Oman, Wajiristan, Sadr City, Gaza...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Traveling and Johannesburg
We've hit a transition point in our journey -- we left Zambia this morning and flew to Johannesburg, got in this afternoon and came straight to our hostel, Brown Sugar Backpackers (awkward name!)
The driver picked us up at the airport, took us most of the way to the hostel, and stopped for "take away," leaving us in the unlocked, open-windowed car for about 15 minutes, returning with no food. Iiiinteresting ;) Our hostel is in an ex-mafia mansion, it's huge and gorgeous, and we're staying in little timber huts behind the house. Tonight, we had a delicious home-cooked meal and some Amarula (delicious African liqueur) on the rocks, and now we're frantically trying to book a place in Dar Es Salaam (our next step) so we're not sleeping in the streets :) Kidding, mom!
More to come -- next up is Dar Es for a night, then we're off to Zanzibar and then back to Dar Es before we head to Arusha and then to KILI!!
Rach
The driver picked us up at the airport, took us most of the way to the hostel, and stopped for "take away," leaving us in the unlocked, open-windowed car for about 15 minutes, returning with no food. Iiiinteresting ;) Our hostel is in an ex-mafia mansion, it's huge and gorgeous, and we're staying in little timber huts behind the house. Tonight, we had a delicious home-cooked meal and some Amarula (delicious African liqueur) on the rocks, and now we're frantically trying to book a place in Dar Es Salaam (our next step) so we're not sleeping in the streets :) Kidding, mom!
More to come -- next up is Dar Es for a night, then we're off to Zanzibar and then back to Dar Es before we head to Arusha and then to KILI!!
Rach
Botswana (aka Zambia day 3)
Botswana was not originally on the itinerary or the grand conception of the trip, but yesterday we found ourselves running after a mini-bus leaving the Jolly Boys hostel in downtown Livingstone because we were seven minutes late (African time, quoi?). An hour later we were driving through dry, dusty savanna on our way to Chobe National Park for a one day safari (apparently the best one day trek on the great continent).
For the first three hours we trailed an elephant forty feet from the truck; stopped ten feet from the closed eyes of a hippo lying under the baking sun in dried mud; spotted several giraffes feeding from a nearby tree; waited for fifty baboons to cross a poorly maintained dirt road; listened to baboon calls from the middle of myriad kudu and impala; photographed an African fish eagle perched stoically in a dead tree; admired a family of elephants (and two babies) bathing in the river. The next few hours we proceeded by boat that amounted to nothing less than a hippo and elephant safari. Wine and beers in hand, we chatted with our new traveling companions about the absurdity of this 125 USD price tag.
We have concentrated a lot of adventure and many countries into a few days: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa (and tomorrow Tanzania). We traversed the rapids of the Zambezi to stare over the thundering rush of water from Vic Falls at sunset. We day trekked in Botswana. We walked with lions in Zimbabwe. I cannot articulately describe how comfortable it feels to be embraced by the warmth of Africa and the adventures she offers. Cape Town and the East Cape felt like a four star hotel in Italy and not much like anything I experienced in West Africa. Although beautiful -- and a gold standard of economic development for the rest of the region -- it lacked the challenges that motivated this trip. The proof could easily be found in the faces of Rachel and Andrew as we finally drove through Livingstone: the dirt, the colors, the sun. We finally found the adventure we originally sought.
-JTD
Zimbabwe (aka Zambia, day 2)
Yet another megaupdate post!
On day two in Zambia we decided to head to Zimbabwe for a lion walk. An organization called ALERT takes baby lions from their mothers when they are 3 weeks old and raises them around humans, taking them on walks and getting them used to their environments. They involve tourists in this process by charging fees, most of which go to supporting the lions, and then allowing the visitors to walk with the lions and PET THEM. Wonder where the appeal comes from!
We took a short drive to the border, paid our $30 visa fee, then got into Zimbabwe, a country none of us expected to visit because of its political and economic strife. After we crossed the border (filled with Zimbabweans heading to Zambia to buy things like rice and cornmeal -- food is in short supply in Zimbabwe because of how weak the economy is), we were picked up by the lion walk people, who took us to the park.
An aside: we saw two videos advertising the lion walk, both of which showed people rubbing the tummies of 20-30 lb TINY BABY LIONS, so naturally we thought this is what we were in for. When we pulled in and saw 300 lb monsters in the park, we thought these were the parents or something. Wrong. These were the 15-month old lions that we were going to walk with, pet, and cuddle (or so I thought). Apparently there are 9-month old lions, too, but they were kept off limits for reasons I'll mention in a bit.
On day two in Zambia we decided to head to Zimbabwe for a lion walk. An organization called ALERT takes baby lions from their mothers when they are 3 weeks old and raises them around humans, taking them on walks and getting them used to their environments. They involve tourists in this process by charging fees, most of which go to supporting the lions, and then allowing the visitors to walk with the lions and PET THEM. Wonder where the appeal comes from!
We took a short drive to the border, paid our $30 visa fee, then got into Zimbabwe, a country none of us expected to visit because of its political and economic strife. After we crossed the border (filled with Zimbabweans heading to Zambia to buy things like rice and cornmeal -- food is in short supply in Zimbabwe because of how weak the economy is), we were picked up by the lion walk people, who took us to the park.
An aside: we saw two videos advertising the lion walk, both of which showed people rubbing the tummies of 20-30 lb TINY BABY LIONS, so naturally we thought this is what we were in for. When we pulled in and saw 300 lb monsters in the park, we thought these were the parents or something. Wrong. These were the 15-month old lions that we were going to walk with, pet, and cuddle (or so I thought). Apparently there are 9-month old lions, too, but they were kept off limits for reasons I'll mention in a bit.
We learned how to avoid getting our faces bitten off in a short presentation, then headed out to walk with the lions which, in spite of being pretty scary, was really awesome. We were just walking with them, then when they stopped to lay down (lions can sleep up to 20 hours a day), we would crouch behind them, pet them, and take pictures with them (we'll post them when we get a better internet connection). It was pretty amazing to be so close to such huge animals!
On the way home, we decided to stop at the Zimbabwe side of Vic falls for a comparison. It was pretty spectacular, and if we hadn't had such amazing access to the water on the Zambia side, the Zim side would've been a clear winner. There was much more water, and there was so much mist that everyone walking by us was soaking wet! We walked up and down, stopped to take some pictures, then headed back over the border and "home" to Zambia.
When we got back, we decided we'd send our laundry out through the hostel's service. Turns out it would've been like $70 USD to get all of our laundry done, vs. $1 for the laundry detergent so that we could do it ourselves at the hostel. It was pretty entertaining to watch (I'm sure) the three of us scrubbing our khakis in huge tubs (though Justin was a pro, having washed all his own laundry in the Peace Corps). We laid it out to dry, then chilled around the hostel before heading to dinner.
All in all, it was another fantastic day in Zambia (slash Zimbabwe) ;)
Rach
Zambia, day 1 (Victoria Falls)
(Vic falls, not our picture)First day in Zambia, we got in late in the morning and headed out to see Victoria Falls in the afternoon after we checked in at our hostel, Jolly Boys (Justin and I were convinced that Andrew had booked us in a gay backpackers', but we were wrong). We caught a taxi there and walked around -- it's amazing! No wonder it's one of the seven wonders of the world!
We walked around and took tons of pictures around the falls, then found a little path where we got up to the pool of water that runs over the falls. There was a four inch wide cement beam in the water that you could walk across, and when we started and immediately chickened out, a guy came out and told us "make a chain, I'll take you." SMART.
We walked across the beam (luckily, there was a shallow pool with lots of rocks sticking out, so maybe certain death isn't guaranteed if you slip, but it's a little close for comfort), then realized we had a hell of a way more to go to get to the edge of the falls. 40 minutes later, we were regretting our decision to head out when we saw that the sun had completely set. We reached the edge of the falls after a harrowing walk through rushing water and I had a mini freakout about the possibility of walking back in the dark, but LUCKILY Derek (our local "guide", more like a freelancer or, as some might say, an "opportunist") took us on a shortcut through the part of the water he originally told us was too deep and dangerous to cross. We made it back before it was totally dark, and Derek walked us out of the park (after we paid the handsome fee he requested).
We hopped in a minibus (the locals preferred mode of transportation, much cheaper than taxis at 2500 kwacha, the not-so-strong local currency that goes 3500 for a dollar) and headed home, and were shocked to see ELEPHANTS on the side of the road in the middle of Livingstone, a big town in Zambia! There were about five of them, and it was fanastic.
That night, we went to Ngoma Zanga, a great local restaurant serving authentic Zambian food. Lots of great veggies, including pumpkin greens with groundnuts and sweet potato greens. It was fantastic, and we got to eat with our hands and enjoy some Mosi (the local Zambian beer) and listen to some great live music. We headed home at the end of a totally fanatastic and amazing day.
Rach
Stellenbosch and Franschoek
On this day (seems like a while ago now, but we have some catching up to do on this blog!), we went on a wine tour in Stellenbosch. We woke up early, got picked up by our unenthusiastic host, and headed off to the hostel where the tour would start out. We went to four different wineries during the day, got a little drunk, and forgot all about what happened (I'm updating this on 9/2 ... forgive me!) Later that night, Justin and I headed to Le Quartier Francais, a great little french restaurant in the adorable town of Franschoek. Dinner was fantastic (though expensive), and we spent a lot of time admiring the art on the walls and thinking about how lucky we were to get the last table (even after we'd tried -- and failed -- to make a reservation earlier).
We got a room in an adorable guesthouse, Roland's Huitspan, where the proprietor Harriet made us feel right at home (and Justin and I convinced Andrew that her name was "Sally"). "Sally" cooked us a lovely breakfast the next morning before we headed off!
Rach
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sorry no updates!
Sorry we've been out of touch, we left Cape Town and arrived in Zambia, which has less contact with the outside world than we thought it would. Big updates coming tomorrow!!
Rach
Rach
Friday, August 8, 2008
Impressions of Cape Town
Even though we've left Cape Town for the time being, I was thinking today about posting a blog where we could record our impressions of the city, since most of our blog posts are filled with details about our activities.
Here we are --
The Weather
Rachel: it's colder than I expected, and windier, too. I didn't bring many long-sleeved shirts or long pants, so I'm finding myself shivering and wearing my jacket more than I thought. Guess I should've remembered that the seasons are opposite in the southern hemishphere!
The People
Rachel: all in all, they're very nice, but I haven't had a sense that they're super overly friendly and thrilled to see us. We haven't seen a lot of poverty (South Africa is the most well-developed nation in Africa, but there's still a lot of it) except for the Townships we drove by, though Justin had a run-in with a child beggar which lasted a little longer than expected (until Andrew had to pull out his phone and threaten to call the police, which was a sight in and of itself).
I'm sure Andrew will add more when he edits the blog, and I'll add some later, too.
Here we are --
The Weather
Rachel: it's colder than I expected, and windier, too. I didn't bring many long-sleeved shirts or long pants, so I'm finding myself shivering and wearing my jacket more than I thought. Guess I should've remembered that the seasons are opposite in the southern hemishphere!
The People
Rachel: all in all, they're very nice, but I haven't had a sense that they're super overly friendly and thrilled to see us. We haven't seen a lot of poverty (South Africa is the most well-developed nation in Africa, but there's still a lot of it) except for the Townships we drove by, though Justin had a run-in with a child beggar which lasted a little longer than expected (until Andrew had to pull out his phone and threaten to call the police, which was a sight in and of itself).
I'm sure Andrew will add more when he edits the blog, and I'll add some later, too.
Hermanus
Rachel again!
Today we let ourselves sleep in, packed up and checked out of Ashanti Lodge (the adorable hostel we stayed at in Cape Town) and ventured into town for breakfast after we picked up laundry and Advil (we're still hurting from the Devil's Peak hike ...). We had a great breakfast and picked up some chocolate baklava for desert. We hopped in the car for a longish drive down the coast to Hermanus, a coastal resort town for Cape Tonians.
The drive down the coast was beautiful -- maybe even more beautiful than yesterday's drive to Simon's Town and the Cape. The rocks were red and orange, and the waves were crashing on the shore with such force that we could see rainbows in the spray. We pulled over and took some pictures before finishing up the drive through the adorable, tiny coastal towns until we got to Hermanus.
Hermanus was much more built up than we had expected -- we all remarked that we haven't seen a vacation community this nice anywhere in the states. We checked in at our hostel (Hermanus Backpackers, which is adorable) and headed down to the cliff path for some whale watching while we walked to lunch. Hermanus is known as one of the best whale watching points in South Africa, and it certainly delivered! Justin was the first to spot the whales on the walk down to lunch, but once we sat down at the restaurant, we started seeing whales everywhere -- we saw about ten whales breaching straight out of the water! It was fantastic, and I sat with my camera pointed at the ocean for almost the entire duration of lunch.
After lunch, we headed back down to the cliff path for dramatic views of the red rocks that ended at the ocean. We stopped at a few places to sit and take pictures, and climbed down to the water at one point when we saw a tidal pool. The view was breathtaking, and we saw more whale fins and tails.
As sunset approached, Justin found a great spot on the rocks out near the ocean, and we sat for about an hour while we watched whales swim in the ocean, flicking their tails and fins out of the water and blowing air out of their blowholes. All in all, it was a spectacular day.
We're back at the hostel now, about to go get a beer in the "honesty bar", where you take beer from the cooler and they trust you to record exactly what you took. Wonder if that would work in the US? ;)
Tomorrow, we're off for a wine tour in Stellenbosch. More to come!
Rach
Today we let ourselves sleep in, packed up and checked out of Ashanti Lodge (the adorable hostel we stayed at in Cape Town) and ventured into town for breakfast after we picked up laundry and Advil (we're still hurting from the Devil's Peak hike ...). We had a great breakfast and picked up some chocolate baklava for desert. We hopped in the car for a longish drive down the coast to Hermanus, a coastal resort town for Cape Tonians.
The drive down the coast was beautiful -- maybe even more beautiful than yesterday's drive to Simon's Town and the Cape. The rocks were red and orange, and the waves were crashing on the shore with such force that we could see rainbows in the spray. We pulled over and took some pictures before finishing up the drive through the adorable, tiny coastal towns until we got to Hermanus.
Hermanus was much more built up than we had expected -- we all remarked that we haven't seen a vacation community this nice anywhere in the states. We checked in at our hostel (Hermanus Backpackers, which is adorable) and headed down to the cliff path for some whale watching while we walked to lunch. Hermanus is known as one of the best whale watching points in South Africa, and it certainly delivered! Justin was the first to spot the whales on the walk down to lunch, but once we sat down at the restaurant, we started seeing whales everywhere -- we saw about ten whales breaching straight out of the water! It was fantastic, and I sat with my camera pointed at the ocean for almost the entire duration of lunch.
After lunch, we headed back down to the cliff path for dramatic views of the red rocks that ended at the ocean. We stopped at a few places to sit and take pictures, and climbed down to the water at one point when we saw a tidal pool. The view was breathtaking, and we saw more whale fins and tails.
As sunset approached, Justin found a great spot on the rocks out near the ocean, and we sat for about an hour while we watched whales swim in the ocean, flicking their tails and fins out of the water and blowing air out of their blowholes. All in all, it was a spectacular day.
We're back at the hostel now, about to go get a beer in the "honesty bar", where you take beer from the cooler and they trust you to record exactly what you took. Wonder if that would work in the US? ;)
Tomorrow, we're off for a wine tour in Stellenbosch. More to come!
Rach
Cape of Good Hope, part II
It sure was glorious chilling with the little penguins (no pun intended). Whereupon the completion thereof, we ventured down to the Cape of Good Hope, the most Southwesterly awesome point in all of Africa. Entering Table Mountain National Park, which extends from Cape Town down to the Cape of Good Hope, we nearly drove into a pack of ostriches and their little ostrich babies. They were so cute! After Rachel accidentally backed over one, the parents squaked at us, but put up a poor fight against our Toyota Corolla. (just kidding).
We traversed past the ostrich carcasses to the top of Cape Point, which is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world. Straddling the chilly waters of the Atlantic and the temperate waters of the Indian Oceans, tempests have been known to arise in a matter of minutes, almost swallowing Vasco Da Gama and his crew whole. Cape Point was breathtaking, with at least 400 foot cliffs descending into the Ocean, and tall waves crashing into the mountainside. Needless to say, none of us walked out past the cozy confines of the lighthouse area.
After summiting Cape Point, we drove down to the coastal road below to watch the sunset. We climbed up onto the large boulders as the waves crashed in the background. With the sunset in the background, it sure was lovely. Realizing that the park closed 20 minutes earlier, we hopped into the car, and raced for the exit, only to discover we were locked in for the night!!! With only a smattering of peanut butter, some jelly, and Justin's body warmth, I knew we'd be safe...at least until the baboons came. But then out of nowhere, we drove up to the gate, and through the magic of modern technology, the stop gate opened, providing our escape. With the sky darkening, we soon found ourselves driving up the western coast of Africa and increasingly lost. Fortunately, due to Rachel's driving prowess and handling of the left side of the road, she and Justin navigated us to safety.
After arriving home, we grabbed a slice of pizza at St Elmo's, the La Piazza of South African pizza joints. Actually, the pizza was positively awful. The crust was like flexible matzah, the sauce tepid, and the cheese flavorless at best. We tried to mask it with salt, hot sauce, eating only the topping covered portions, but ultimately not eating it was the best option. There truly is nothing better than New York Pizza. (And will one of you commenters out there please tell Justin and Rachel that New York Pizza is so good because of NY water, which is even imported from other pizza parlors nationally. If you can provide a link to a site, explaining this, it would be most helpful.)
Tomorrow, off we go to Hermanus and whale watching!
-Andrew
After arriving home, we grabbed a slice of pizza at St Elmo's, the La Piazza of South African pizza joints. Actually, the pizza was positively awful. The crust was like flexible matzah, the sauce tepid, and the cheese flavorless at best. We tried to mask it with salt, hot sauce, eating only the topping covered portions, but ultimately not eating it was the best option. There truly is nothing better than New York Pizza. (And will one of you commenters out there please tell Justin and Rachel that New York Pizza is so good because of NY water, which is even imported from other pizza parlors nationally. If you can provide a link to a site, explaining this, it would be most helpful.)
Tomorrow, off we go to Hermanus and whale watching!
-Andrew
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cape of Good Hope, part I
Here we are again!This morning, we woke up ... late. Justin and I left the hostel early to drop off some laundry after yesterday's hike, and (of course) got lost along the way. While we were out, Andrew was dealing with the rental car company, switching our manual transmission car for an automatic (at an added price of nearly $10 a day -- oops). We came back and headed off down to Cape Point (the southwesterliest point in all of Africa -- maybe not the most impressive credential, but it's a fun drive). For the last two years (since my last visit to Cape Town) I've been going on and on about Simon's Town (a suburb of Cape Town) and how much I want to live there, so Justin was ready to see this fabled place. Tiny hitch -- in Cape Town, they drive on the left-hand side of the road. Guess who bit that bullet?
I took the wheel and daftly maneuvered us down the coast. We stopped in Kaulk Bay to go to Olympia Bakery, which (though recommended highly) wasn't the best bakery any of us had ever been to. We took our carrot cake and shortbread cookies out onto the dock and ate while we looked at the beautiful shoreline. Afterwards, we headed up to the real attraction -- Simon's Town.
After we paid 55 Rand each to get in, I was disappointed to see that the beach we had picked allowed us to walk on a long wooden deck and look at the penguins, but not touch them or poke them with sticks. We ooh'd and aah'd at the penguins for an hour and a half or so (Justin was thrilled), then headed down to the municipal beach to get a closer look. We ended up taking hundreds of pictures, but the real fun was getting to go in the water and get close to the little penguins. Andrew also got a great video of two penguins hopping down the stairs to get to the beach -- they are so adorable!
After the penguins, we continued down the coast to the Cape of Good Hope ... and I'll leave this one for Andrew to describe ...
Still to come --
Justin, me, and Andrew at the Cape Point lighthouse R
Devil's Peak
Hello all -- especially my parents, who probably think I'm dead!
I got in two mornings ago, as Andrew mentioned in his last post. My first day we walked around Cape Town, heading from the hostel to the Waterfront and hanging out there. The next day we planned to climb Table Mountain, Cape Town's signature topographic signpost, the huge plateau that serves as the backdrop for the city bowl. We got directions from the travel guide at the hostel, picked up bread, fruit, PB & J at a local grocery store, and headed up the mountain. We walked up an extremely steep road from our hostel (just to say we walked all the way up the mountain from sea level to the top!) to get to the Table Mountain cable car. We walked another half an hour or so till we got to the base of the path, then headed up "Table Mountain." Scare quotes, you ask? Yeah.
We took a wrong turn about 10 minutes into the hike and headed up Devil's Peak (a fact we wouldn't discover until much later in the day). Turns out Devil's Peak isn't quite the tourist-friendly path we were expecting. After hiking up rocks in the hot sun for a couple of hours, we stopped for an apple-and-peanut-butter break (delicious) and kept going, ending up at an extremely steep and very narrow path that was almost entirely obscured with vegetation. The path got so steep at times that we were crawling up the mountain on our hands and knees (and those of you who know me will know how totally thrilled I was about this -- I have referred in my life a number of times to my "Darwinian sense of caution" and this wasn't exactly the leisurely hike I was expecting). Just about the time I was considering screaming at the boys for taking me up this godforsaken path when I looked down and saw a lone hiker climbing the mountain by himself. We chatted with him for a bit and he decided to come up the mountain with us -- his name was Lance and he was hiking alone. About half an hour later, we summitted Devil's Peak (I'll try to add some pictures when I'm done with this blog) and I was feeling really proud of myself. It hadn't been much time before one of the other guys on the mountain looked out over the looming clouds and told us not to wait around much longer. We took a few pictures and started back down, thinking that our trip down would be easier than the trip up. WRONG! It took us a long time to get down and it was quite difficult on our old knees.
Justin and Lance ran off ahead and Andrew kindly and patiently waited with me while I struggled down the mountain (half the time doing the crabwalk, scooting down the rocks on my butt to keep from tumbling down into the clouds -- sorry mom!), but it was actually a lot of fun. When we ran out of water, we filled up our bottles at a clear stream (then somehow managed to convince Andrew that we saw another hiker peeing at the top of the stream -- he believed us for a few minutes but didn't seem to care) ;) and continued the rest of the way down, stopping for PB&J on the way. It was pretty cold hiking through the clouds, and I had given Justin my hoodie (hysterically funny pictures to follow) to protect his delicate little skin from the sun, but we managed to make it all the way down. That night, we went out to a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant in Cape Town, Shogan. We had a great time, and headed out to the bars that night where Lance met up with us and told us lots of stories of all the girls he'd met in Cape Town (most of them while climbing Table Mountain ...). Justin and I left early and the boys went out and had a great time -- until 3 am ;) More to come about today's adventures heading down the cape!
Devil's Peak -- the mountain we accidentally climbed
Me and Justin on the mountain
The three JDs at the summit of Devil's Peak!
The three JDs with our new friend Lance at the bottom of the mountainTuesday, August 5, 2008
Cape Town Days 1 & 2
Gday mate! That's South Afrikaan for Hello! Actually, its Australian, but I wanted to see how gullible you were. Anywhoo, so Justin and I arrived in Cape Town early on Monday morning, after a short 8 hour layover in London. After failing to find each other in Heathrow's terminal 3, I ventured off to discover London, where I drank a brew with the locals and played with giant lion statues in Trafalgar square.
Our Hostel in Cape Town (Ashanti Lodge) is located with a view of Table Mountain in the background (then again everything in cape town has Table Mountain in the background).
On Aug. 4, Justin and I went off to the Harbor, which was pretty sweet. After being swindled away from a pancake joint into an Indian restaurant, we set sail for Robben Island, home of Nelson Mandela for 20 years. Unfortunately, it was formerly a jail for political prisoners. A former political prisoner gave us a tour. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but I was about to pass out after getting 4 hours of sleep over the past 2 days. Maybe Justin can tell you more about it. I do remember that the island was covered with Rabbits who looked just like Loki!!! There were literally thousands of them (along with penguins).
Today, Rachel joined us for an exciting stroll around cape town. Justin had eggs, bacon, and I think toast for breakfast. We all visited a couple of museums around town, the South African Museum (natural history), and the National Gallery (art). Justin enjoyed the National Gallery more, Rachel and I enjoyed the South African Museum more...a theme of affinity for animals that would continue throughout the day, when Rachel and I were enamored (and Justin for a little less time) with some pretty awesome fur seals that hopped up on the docks to play with us. Ok, they just hopped up on the decks, which we watched from above.
We also walked around some botanical gardens, which were just lovely. For dinner, we ate at a very nice African place, where I had three species of antelope. They bring out three antelope on a skewer, let you take a bit of each, and then serve you your favorite, sans the hoofs, etc.
Tomorrow we're off to climb Table Mountain (you can google it to find out more). Its pretty sweet, about 3000 feet high, and has a flat top, where you can overlook all of Cape Town.
Hope everyone is doing wonderfully in the states.
-Andrew
P.S. For all of you brothers of mine out there emailing me about the newly found 125,000 eastern lowland gorillas, that's glorious, but we're visiting mountain gorillas, and we could really use 125,000 more of them, cause there's only about 600 left in the world. See what you can do. Thanks.
P.P.S Feel free to post any comments to our postings. We'd love to hear from you.
Our Hostel in Cape Town (Ashanti Lodge) is located with a view of Table Mountain in the background (then again everything in cape town has Table Mountain in the background).
On Aug. 4, Justin and I went off to the Harbor, which was pretty sweet. After being swindled away from a pancake joint into an Indian restaurant, we set sail for Robben Island, home of Nelson Mandela for 20 years. Unfortunately, it was formerly a jail for political prisoners. A former political prisoner gave us a tour. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but I was about to pass out after getting 4 hours of sleep over the past 2 days. Maybe Justin can tell you more about it. I do remember that the island was covered with Rabbits who looked just like Loki!!! There were literally thousands of them (along with penguins).
Today, Rachel joined us for an exciting stroll around cape town. Justin had eggs, bacon, and I think toast for breakfast. We all visited a couple of museums around town, the South African Museum (natural history), and the National Gallery (art). Justin enjoyed the National Gallery more, Rachel and I enjoyed the South African Museum more...a theme of affinity for animals that would continue throughout the day, when Rachel and I were enamored (and Justin for a little less time) with some pretty awesome fur seals that hopped up on the docks to play with us. Ok, they just hopped up on the decks, which we watched from above.
We also walked around some botanical gardens, which were just lovely. For dinner, we ate at a very nice African place, where I had three species of antelope. They bring out three antelope on a skewer, let you take a bit of each, and then serve you your favorite, sans the hoofs, etc.
Tomorrow we're off to climb Table Mountain (you can google it to find out more). Its pretty sweet, about 3000 feet high, and has a flat top, where you can overlook all of Cape Town.
Hope everyone is doing wonderfully in the states.
-Andrew
P.S. For all of you brothers of mine out there emailing me about the newly found 125,000 eastern lowland gorillas, that's glorious, but we're visiting mountain gorillas, and we could really use 125,000 more of them, cause there's only about 600 left in the world. See what you can do. Thanks.
P.P.S Feel free to post any comments to our postings. We'd love to hear from you.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Three Tours: Kili, Safari, Gorillas
Kilimanjaro & Safari Info
Good Earth Tours, Inc.
27553 Cashford Circle, Suite #101,
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544, USA.
Tel: 813-973-4494
Fax: 813-925-4142
Toll free: 877-265-9003
Mon~Fri: 8:30am~5:00pm, EST
http://www.goodearthtours.com
August 21st, 2008: Arrival in Arusha on own; Good Earth to pay for a night in Arusha at mid level hotel, Jacaranda Hotel
Aug 22: Hit the mountain to Machame gate, after registration process start the hike to Machame Camp, 9,900ft, (5~6hrs)Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 23: Shira, 12,600ft, (5~6hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 24: Baranco, 12,850ft (5~7hrs) Camping, B,L,D
Aug 25: Karanga Valley, 13,300ft (2~3hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 26: Barafu, 14,910ft (2~3hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 27: Summit, 19,340ft (6~7hrs), then descend to Mweka 10,010ft (5~7hrs), Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 28: Mweka gate (3~4hrs), transfer to Arusha (1hr), Jacaranda Hotel, B,L.
Aug 29: Arusha/Lake Manyara
Leave Arusha for Lake Manyara ; game drives in Lake Manyara . The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, CAMPING at Twiga Campsite
Estimated driving distance: 2.5hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, L,D.
Aug 30: Lake Manyara/ Serengeti:
After breakfast, we drive to Serengeti. Afternoon game drive in Serengeti, in search of large predators and the gentle herbivores on which they feed, CAMPING at Seronera Campsite.
Estimated driving distance: 4hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Aug 31: Serengeti:
More game drives in Serengeti
Estimated driving distance: 0hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Sep 1: Serengeti / Ngorongoro
After breakfast, we will have another game drive in Serengeti, then drive to Ngorongoro, with optional ($50/group) visit of Masai Village , and optional ($3/person) visit to Olduvai Gorge , CAMPING at Simba Campsite.
Estimated driving distance: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Sep 2: Ngorongoro / Arusha
Descend into Ngorongoro crater for game drives in the crater exploring the short-grass plains of the crater floor. This extinct volcano embraces 100sq miles alive with lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo, and many more games, then drive to Arusha.
Estimated driving distance: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Jacaranda Hotel, B,L
Sep 3: End of Tour after breakfast, B
Gorilla Tours Info
Gorilla Tours Ltd is :
Member of the Association of Ugandan Tour Operators (AUTO)
Certificate of Incorporation No. 47760
Trading License No. M 0013071
P.O Box 29333 Kampala, Uganda.
Victoria Loop, National Housing Lubowa Estate Plot No 934.
Tel: + 256 - 414 575789. call between 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Mobiles: +256 - 772 445805, + 256 - 772 370263. these are 24 hours
Fax: +256 - 414 200221
Website: - www.gorillatours.com
Good Earth Tours, Inc.
27553 Cashford Circle, Suite #101,
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544, USA.
Tel: 813-973-4494
Fax: 813-925-4142
Toll free: 877-265-9003
Mon~Fri: 8:30am~5:00pm, EST
http://www.goodearthtours.com
August 21st, 2008: Arrival in Arusha on own; Good Earth to pay for a night in Arusha at mid level hotel, Jacaranda Hotel
Aug 22: Hit the mountain to Machame gate, after registration process start the hike to Machame Camp, 9,900ft, (5~6hrs)Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 23: Shira, 12,600ft, (5~6hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 24: Baranco, 12,850ft (5~7hrs) Camping, B,L,D
Aug 25: Karanga Valley, 13,300ft (2~3hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 26: Barafu, 14,910ft (2~3hrs) Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 27: Summit, 19,340ft (6~7hrs), then descend to Mweka 10,010ft (5~7hrs), Camping, B,L,D.
Aug 28: Mweka gate (3~4hrs), transfer to Arusha (1hr), Jacaranda Hotel, B,L.
Aug 29: Arusha/Lake Manyara
Leave Arusha for Lake Manyara ; game drives in Lake Manyara . The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, CAMPING at Twiga Campsite
Estimated driving distance: 2.5hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, L,D.
Aug 30: Lake Manyara/ Serengeti:
After breakfast, we drive to Serengeti. Afternoon game drive in Serengeti, in search of large predators and the gentle herbivores on which they feed, CAMPING at Seronera Campsite.
Estimated driving distance: 4hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Aug 31: Serengeti:
More game drives in Serengeti
Estimated driving distance: 0hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Sep 1: Serengeti / Ngorongoro
After breakfast, we will have another game drive in Serengeti, then drive to Ngorongoro, with optional ($50/group) visit of Masai Village , and optional ($3/person) visit to Olduvai Gorge , CAMPING at Simba Campsite.
Estimated driving distance: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: CAMPING, B,L,D
Sep 2: Ngorongoro / Arusha
Descend into Ngorongoro crater for game drives in the crater exploring the short-grass plains of the crater floor. This extinct volcano embraces 100sq miles alive with lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo, and many more games, then drive to Arusha.
Estimated driving distance: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Jacaranda Hotel, B,L
Sep 3: End of Tour after breakfast, B
Gorilla Tours Info
Gorilla Tours Ltd is :
Member of the Association of Ugandan Tour Operators (AUTO)
Certificate of Incorporation No. 47760
Trading License No. M 0013071
P.O Box 29333 Kampala, Uganda.
Victoria Loop, National Housing Lubowa Estate Plot No 934.
Tel: + 256 - 414 575789. call between 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Mobiles: +256 - 772 445805, + 256 - 772 370263. these are 24 hours
Fax: +256 - 414 200221
Website: - www.gorillatours.com
Itinerary
Here's the itinerary, see next blog for more details
8/4 - 8/7 - Cape Town
Ashanti Lodge
11 Hof Street
Gardens
Cape Town
p. +27 21 423 8721
f. +27 21 423 8790
e. ashanti@iafrica.com
8/8 – Hermanus, South Africa
8/9 – Stellenbosch, South Africa (Winelands)
8/10 – Winelands & Cape Town
8/11 – 8/14 – Victoria Falls (Zambia)
Jollyboys Backpackers
34 Kanyanta Road
PO Box 61088
Livingstone
p. +260 213 324 229
e. jollybs@zamnet.zm
8/14 – Johannesburg, South Africa
8/15 – Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
8/16 – 8/19 – Zanzibar, Tanzania
8/20 – 8/21 – Arusha, Tanzania
8/22 – 8/28 – Kilimanjaro (see below for more info)
8/29 – 9/2 – Safari (Tanzania)
9/3 – 9/10 – Kenya
9/11 – Travel to Uganda
9/12 – 9/14 – Gorilla Trekking (Tours (SW Uganda)
9/15 – 9/16 - Lake Bunyoni, Uganda
9/17 – 9/21 - Chimpanzee Trekking, Murchison Falls, White water rafting on the Nile,
9/22 – Return Home
8/4 - 8/7 - Cape Town
Ashanti Lodge
11 Hof Street
Gardens
Cape Town
p. +27 21 423 8721
f. +27 21 423 8790
e. ashanti@iafrica.com
8/8 – Hermanus, South Africa
8/9 – Stellenbosch, South Africa (Winelands)
8/10 – Winelands & Cape Town
8/11 – 8/14 – Victoria Falls (Zambia)
Jollyboys Backpackers
34 Kanyanta Road
PO Box 61088
Livingstone
p. +260 213 324 229
e. jollybs@zamnet.zm
8/14 – Johannesburg, South Africa
8/15 – Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
8/16 – 8/19 – Zanzibar, Tanzania
8/20 – 8/21 – Arusha, Tanzania
8/22 – 8/28 – Kilimanjaro (see below for more info)
8/29 – 9/2 – Safari (Tanzania)
9/3 – 9/10 – Kenya
9/11 – Travel to Uganda
9/12 – 9/14 – Gorilla Trekking (Tours (SW Uganda)
9/15 – 9/16 - Lake Bunyoni, Uganda
9/17 – 9/21 - Chimpanzee Trekking, Murchison Falls, White water rafting on the Nile,
9/22 – Return Home
Friday, August 1, 2008
Welcome!
Hello everyone!
This is Andrew, Rachel and Justin's blog for our two month adventure in Africa. We've finally finished the dreaded bar exam and we're all packed up and ready to go. I'll be heading off to Scotland for a few days first, then I'll be meeting the boys in Cape Town.
We'll try to update the blog once a week with pictures and lots and lots of stories of our adventures in Africa.
Rachel
This is Andrew, Rachel and Justin's blog for our two month adventure in Africa. We've finally finished the dreaded bar exam and we're all packed up and ready to go. I'll be heading off to Scotland for a few days first, then I'll be meeting the boys in Cape Town.
We'll try to update the blog once a week with pictures and lots and lots of stories of our adventures in Africa.
Rachel
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