As we put pen to paper for our first African blog, or more correctly finger to keypad, we wonder how to approach the blog over the next 8 weeks without them becoming a bit repetitive. After all, we’re leaving behind the great monuments of Asia, the chaos of the sub-continent and essentially camping for 8 weeks in different parts of Africa as we move from game park to game park. So it is probably best to prepare yourselves for 8 weeks of animal photos interposed with some safari related ramblings.
Entry point for Africa was Nairobi, or Nairobbery as some refer to it on account of the criminal leanings of a small proportion of the local population. With 8 weeks of camping ahead of us, we pumped for the swanky leanings of the Heron Hotel and the promise of a hot shower and a swimming pool. Fair to say the hotel did not live up to expectations and is well overpriced, but it was good to chill out for a couple of days and provided Mat some time to finish off some consultancy work being undertaken to fund shortfall between travel budget and travel funds (happy to report the deficit has now been slashed). The only trip we made out of the hotel was to Carnivores Restaurant, a Nairobi landmark that specialises in an all meat BBQ.
Back in the heyday, this place used to serve wild game ranging from giraffe through to gazelle. Nowadays, regulations limit them to farmed meat, but this still meant we were able to try camel, ostrich and crocodile in amongst the regular and more sedate offerings. The meat is speared with a sword, BBQ’d over a massive pit fire and carved from the sword onto your plate by waiters doing the rounds. The meat keeps coming until you turn down the flag or drown in your own pile of meat sweat. The four of us enjoyed the meal, though our meat holes were certainly not as large as they were prior to travelling.
Back in the heyday, this place used to serve wild game ranging from giraffe through to gazelle. Nowadays, regulations limit them to farmed meat, but this still meant we were able to try camel, ostrich and crocodile in amongst the regular and more sedate offerings. The meat is speared with a sword, BBQ’d over a massive pit fire and carved from the sword onto your plate by waiters doing the rounds. The meat keeps coming until you turn down the flag or drown in your own pile of meat sweat. The four of us enjoyed the meal, though our meat holes were certainly not as large as they were prior to travelling.
After some funky meat dreams, amplified by the daily doxycyclin intake, we arose to meet our fellow travellers, crew and truck for our African adventures. The route we’re taking will see us on the road for 58 days to Capetown on a big truck with room for 28 (though 24 is usually the max capacity). Some will be joining us for the whole trip and others for different segments. For the Kenyan leg, we set out with 9 on board (5 Kiwi, 2 Strayians and 2 dodgy geezers) and picked up a couple more Strayians a few days in. The truck is a pretty good setup with a lower level of storage for tents, bags and cooking equipment, while the top part has bus seats, a good sound system and is elevated for great views. And the first piece of great news was that our safari crew would include an extra person for the first 10 days in the form of Mike the cook!
So having met the crew and been briefed, we made our way north out of Nairobi for our first destination. After several times through the ‘where are you from, what do you do for a living and what’s next’ conversation, we were all well introduced and arrived at the first camp site. The drive into the camp site was a great introduction to what lay in front of us for the next 8 weeks as our driver expertly manoeuvred the truck along a 1km off-road track that was in places narrower than the width of the truck and full of foot deep potholes. It was a track that we’d struggle to get a Hilux down – Crumpy would have been very proud.
On our second day in we made our first game drive. The truck proved to be a fantastic platform to take in the Lake Nakuru action and as predicted by Tito, our guide, we all racked up several hundred photos pretty promptly. Highlights of the first drive were the rhino and lion, though the later raised a few nerves amongst the crew. Having spied 5 lionesses hanging out in some trees, we then came across a solo male lion in a tree a few hundred metres along the path.
While most of us leant out one side of the truck nabbing photos, Geoff looked out the other side and noted a series of tents 150 metres away that looked just like the one’s we’d erected a few hours earlier. Confirmation came from Tito that those were our tents, that we’d have to light a good fire tonight to keep the lion away and that number ones and number twos would have to be kept within the tent for the night unless you were exceedingly brave.
On our second day in we made our first game drive. The truck proved to be a fantastic platform to take in the Lake Nakuru action and as predicted by Tito, our guide, we all racked up several hundred photos pretty promptly. Highlights of the first drive were the rhino and lion, though the later raised a few nerves amongst the crew. Having spied 5 lionesses hanging out in some trees, we then came across a solo male lion in a tree a few hundred metres along the path.
While most of us leant out one side of the truck nabbing photos, Geoff looked out the other side and noted a series of tents 150 metres away that looked just like the one’s we’d erected a few hours earlier. Confirmation came from Tito that those were our tents, that we’d have to light a good fire tonight to keep the lion away and that number ones and number twos would have to be kept within the tent for the night unless you were exceedingly brave.
After our second drive in Nakuru we returned to find a troop of baboons had invaded camp. This made taking down tents a bit more interesting. Thankfully though, Dixon our driver had invested in a slingshot at the Nakuru market and delighted in firing shots into the bigger specimens. Someone asked whether it hurt the baboons to which Dixon replied “no, no - I only use small rocks.”
Our next Kenyan destination was Lake Naivasha where the wildlife spotting would take place from the comfort of a boat. We saw hippos for Africa (excuse the pun, but there were hundreds of them) and also got to see the African fish eagle in action. Having purchased some small perch from a local fisherman, we then stuffed their gobs with some hyacinth bulbs which prevented the fish from getting below the surface. After a whistle to the eagle, we’d drop the fish in the water and then wait for the eagle to swoop on its snack with the cameras set to multi-shot mode. Obviously this is all done for our viewing pleasure and does not exactly replicate wild settings, but as Mat & Geoff agreed, it was bloody good fun and if someone is going to go to the effort to manipulate nature to our advantage, who are we to protest.
Naivasha was also the first place where we had an optional excursion. Of the nine of us on the truck at this time, all but Mat opted for a quiet day around camp. Mat, armed with a map, a dodgy five geared mountain bike without suspension and 2 litres of water, set out and mountain biked through Hells Gate National Park. 42km of undulating off road action at altitude made for a tough slog but it was certainly good to get out and about and stretch the legs.
Mat finished the ride in time to throw back a well earned beer before being joined by the ladies of the truck for high tea at Elsemere, the home of Joy Adamson the author of ‘Born Free’ and, as it turns out, a half dozen further books about orphaned big cats she raised. Before the others arrived, Mat was joined in the garden at Elsemere by a small troop of Colobus monkeys, one of which managed to make it inside Elsemere and get the first crack at high tea before being beaten back with a stick. The high tea was pretty reasonable and provided after a 45 minute documentary about Joy’s adventurous life and a visit to a small museum.
The compass pointed west for our next excursion as we headed into the Masai Mara to visit another game park and a local Masai village. The game drive was in a very different setting to the first with massive rolling hill land and flowing grass. The drive into the Masai Mara was a long one, with the last 100km all off-road and taking 4 plus hours. In the park we got our first shots of wild African elephants and some more encounters with lion (amongst the plethora of gazelle, zebra, buffalo and wildebeest). Again, the cameras went into overdrive and at the end of the drive we could see a pattern emerging. When a new species is seen, 100 or so photos will be taken, no matter how bad the light or how far away they are. Within an hour of the first sighting however, we will find ourselves all but sharing the truck with the animal in question and adding another hundy photos to the initial hundy which will all invariably end up on the cutting room floor.
As we left the Masai Mara, we called on a Masai village which has sold out completely and welcomes tourists with open arms to check out the Masai way of life. Rampant commercialism knows no bounds, but it was a great experience to see the Masai in song and dance, visit their homes and haggle over the price of bracelets. As we took in the jumping dance for which the Masai are famous, we imagined Kevin Bacon in our place recruiting the next NBA star ('The air Up There').
From the Masai Mara, we journeyed back to Nairobi for our last days in Kenya. A visit to an elephant orphanage ensued in which we witnessed a dozen baby elephants feeding, bathing and playing which was both brilliant and rather humorous. The younger of the elephants are pretty unsteady on their feet and gave an appearance of being three sheets to the breeze especially during play time which consists of 12 elephants running round in circles chasing a football and knocking each other off their feet. During this the smallest of the elephants managed to breach the security cordon at one stage (not hard, security consisted of a single rope) which sent a few ructions through the gathered crowd of several dozen 5-8 year old school kids. Julie Mas initially showed good character as she reassured the kids that the elephant wouldn’t cross the rope line as it approached at a modest pace. Once she realised the elephant would cross the rope line, she fled at pace leaving the kids to fend for themselves.
Our final evening in Nairobi saw the full complement of the truck head to Carnivores for dinner. Being our second appearance, we felt we were armed with a good strategy to really push the meat envelope. And thus an 11 person battle for meat supremacy began, with the winner achieving the honour of turning over the carnivores flag and being crowned Meatasaurus Rex. As the battle progressed, the ‘Yes Man’ clause was enacted meaning any offer of meat had to be accepted which saw a few competitors defeated when the Ox balls circled the table. Lauren, a 23 year old twitcher of the highest calibre from Portsmouth was not amused when she heard that ox semen was usually the best complement with ox balls.
The battle invariably came down to two veterans making a second appearance at Carnivores – Geoff & Mat. Bets were placed amongst the others as a flurry of meats began circulating. Geoff made a decisive move and inhaled a slab of pork, slither of ostrich and generous portion of lamb which proved a killer blow. Mat, who at this time was eating at a ‘Ben Fitchett’ pace, placed his well used eating utensils on the plate and offered a handshake. Geoff took the title and spoke graciously to the group as meat sweat rolled from his forehead and on to his cheek resembling the victorious tears of a champion who has worked hard for his victory.
A week on the road in Kenya and a meat feast has seen the eleven of us on the truck become good friends, best typified by the communal prank played on Extreme Rich of Auckland. With a waiter in ear shot, we started all wishing Richard a happy birthday which he found a little uncomfortable, thinking there was mass confusion as his birthday which was several weeks away (we were all well aware of this fact). The waiter took the bait and soon enough from the kitchen, emerged a dozen Kenyan waiters, one with a set of bongo drums and one with a piece of brownie sporting a sparkler, and a splendid Swahili chorus of happy birthday rang out across the restaurant. Extreme Rich took it well and a birthday speech has become a common feature of dinner ever since.
So a week down and all is well in Africa. We cross into Tanzania next where we will rendezvous and amalgamate with another truck of punters who’ve been to Rwanda for some gorilla action. Till then, hope all is well in your respective lives and do drop us a line to let us know what you’re up to. And big birthday shout-outs to Morty, Aunty Jane and Paino. A big thanks to Geoff & Julie for the birthday and baboon shooting photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment