Days 8 & 9 Uganda – Gorilla Trekking

Posted on 21/02/2013 by admin

Just before setting off on our gorilla trekAnother border crossing and we enter Uganda and encounter more stunning scenery as we headed through the hills towards Kisoro. As the Virunga mountains came into view we all knew what that means – Gorilla trekking! With only 800 mountain gorilla’s left in the wild, trekking to see them is an amazing experience and a massive highlight for most. But first we had a day in town, and as Monday is market day, it is bustling! Some of us brave the extremely crowded market, with its many varieties of colourful fruit and vegetables, the market women chatting to each other and calling out to attract customers, and the children playing between the heaving stalls.

Trekking in Uganda looking for GorillaIn the evening we are entertained by children from a nearby orphanage singing, dancing and drumming for us – they were incredibly good! A joke for the entire trip had been that every day was our driver Charles’ birthday – so we surprised him with a card, cake and candle and the children sang him happy birthday – all of us were in fits of laughter!

Next morning we had an early start with the passengers heading up the mountains in the morning mist to go find the gorillas. It took about 2 1/2 hours of rainforest trekking – but so worth it to see these amazing creatures, and everyone was full of praise for the fantastic trekkers and guides. An hour spend with the gorillas is an unforgettable experience, I can’t put into words how amazing it is to share some time with the incredible animals.

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Day 7 Nyakhanazi – Kigali

Posted on 19/02/2013 by admin

We headed out of Tanzania and crossed into Rwanda – one of the most fascinating countries I’ve ever visited. Even the border crossing is scenic with a river and small waterfall which was gushing from the recent rains. In this, the ‘land of a thousand hills’, we make our way towards the capital city, taking in the stunning scenery as we wind up and down dramatic hills!

In Kigali we picked up more passengers and enjoyed making new friends before heading out to dinner in the city. We went to “Republika” which is a great restaurant with an African theme and African food which overlooks the lit up city skyline. Everyone commented how surprised they were by Kigali, it is a clean and organised city with a really chilled out vibe, so very different to many other Africa cities.

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Days 5 & 6 Grumeti-Mwanza-Nyakhanazi

Posted on 19/02/2013 by admin

We left the game parks and headed towards Mwanza. Stopping en-route for a ‘local lunch’ by the roadside allowed us to sample some of the local foods – ugali (maize meal), chips mayai (chips & egg), and goat and fish stew – yum!

We enter the town of Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria. Smooth rocks tower over the bustling hub of the town, giving rise to its name of the “Rock City”. The rocks were formed when the rift valley was created and smoothed by the waters of the lake that once covered them. We camped by the lake shore and enjoyed a stunning sunset!

The next day a really African experience awaited us as we headed well off the “beaten track” to the village of Nyakhanazi. There we stop at a local guest house and had traditional food cooked by the owners wife. We were taken on a village tour by the children. The kids were recycling and make toys out of plastic bottles and are so excited to be given a massive 7 litre bottle by us. The children in the village showed as the real meaning of simple joy as they got so much pleasure from things that to us seemed so insignificant! That night we danced with the locals to the energetic rhythm of Tanzanian music.

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Day 4 Serengeti – Grumeti

Posted on 18/02/2013 by admin

Today we continued our game drive through the Serengeti, whilst some of the passengers opted to go soaring above the ‘endless plains’ on a hot air balloon ride. Their experience included enjoying a champagne breakfast get the ride gave them a real sense of the wide open spaces.

After having lunch at the exit gate of the Serengeti, we headed to our camp on the outskirts if the park in The Grumeti. As the afternoon was so hot, we relaxed in the shade and simply soaking up the beautiful wilderness. This camp is another favourite of mine, it’s a patch of grass cut out of the bush with hot showers heated by firewood – real bush camping!

Later we headed out in a 4×4 to experience the creatures after dark and enjoyed watching bush baby’s jumping between the trees. Back at camp we sat round the fire and listened to the call of hyena’s in the distance. It was our first really clear night and as we turned our eyes away from the fire, the spectacle of the African sky heavy with millions of dazzling stars, was a breath-taking sight.

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Day 3 Ngorongoro – Serengeti

Posted on 18/02/2013 by admin

As if the previous night wasn’t wild enough, as we ate breakfast the next morning kites swooped down and took the toast right from our hands! We were all laughing at sharing our brekkie with the wildlife!

Following breakfast we wound down the crater heading towards the Serengeti. Stunning scenery was dotted with Maasai villages, and we stop at one of the villages to meet the Maasai people and to and learn about their culture. A warrior asked if we had a doctor on board and showed me a huge cut to his hand. He told me (between my limited Swahili and his limited English!) that he had cut it the day before with his spear. I disinfect the wound and apply a bandage – it’s all adventure out there!

The Serengeti lived up to its reputation as one of the most famous and amazing National Parks in the world – we saw plenty of elephant, zebra, hippo, impala, kudu, giraffe, and even lion. A special treat was watching a mother leopard with two tiny cubs (about 2 months old) eating a kill in a tree! It really is awe inspiring to see nature like that.

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Day 2 The Ngorongoro Crater

Posted on 18/02/2013 by admin

We were up and ready early and headed straight for one of the highlights of the trip, the Ngorongoro Crater. After winding up the hills in the truck to town, we met up with the 4×4 vehicles that took us down into the crater.

I love the history of this special place. It was created when the volcano erupted and collapsed in on itself. The large caldera that was formed has a constant water supply with the result that it hosts a myriad of wildlife all year round. You can see why this place is known as the ‘Noah’s Ark’ of Africa!

As we made our way up the side of the crater (it is about 610m high, and 2400m above sea level) we saw plenty of Maasai herding cattle. The Maasai are a majestic sight in there colourful clothes and traditional jewellery. Once inside the crater the game viewing began and before long we had seen giraffe, impala, wildebeest, lion and elephant. It was an animal packed day and a great introduction to Africa!

We returned to the rim of the crater, to one of my favourite campsites. The views are amazing and you really feel like you are in the wild of Africa. It gets chilly at that altitude so we lit a big campfire to keep us warm. Not long after everyone had gone to bed, I heard the soft noises of animals close by. A quick peek outside with my head torch revealed a herd of about 30 buffalo grazing nearby! This camp is often visited by animals at night – but the buffalo are a special appearance. I lay back in my sleeping bag, and blissfully dozed off as the buffalo grazed their way right past my tent!

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Day 1 Nairobi – Arusha

Posted on 18/02/2013 by admin

Day one of my next African adventure which is an “East African Encounter”. This tour will take us through Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya and I love it as it’s packed with wildlife in some of the most beautiful game parks in the world. The scenery throughout these countries is amazing.

I met my passengers in Nairobi and picked up a few more in Arusha. I always look forward to meeting new people from all different countries and backgrounds and on this trip we have a fantastic mix or Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Greeks and Americans. After a quick stock-up on supplies we headed to our first stop – The Snake Park in Mtu wa Mbo, “mosquito creek.” This camp is famous, and the owner (affectionately known as Ma), is something of an overlanding legend!

There was time for the new passengers to get a tour of their “Big Yellow Home” and a quick camel ride before we gathered together to prepare dinner. After dinner we retired to the bar to get know each other over a few drinks whilst admiring all the overlanding t-shirts decorating the ceiling and walls.

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Days 26 Arusha – Nairobi

Posted on 01/07/2011 by admin

We say good bye to our friends who are heading back to Nairobi at the end of their safari and greet some new faces who were joining the group for the next part of the trip.

It has been a blast for all involved, we have some awesome memories and Africa has left its mark on the group, as it always does 🙂

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Day 25 Ngorogoro Crater

Posted on 01/07/2011 by admin

We descended into the Ngorongoro Crater in 4 x 4 safari vehicles for our last day of game drives on the Simba Sounds.

It was another amazing day with sightings of elephant, rhino, buffalo, loads of antelope and flamingos.

As the saying goes “all good things must come to an end” however with plans to end on a high we returned to  Misaim Camp, in Arusha for an amazing barbeque.

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Days 23 – 24 Serengeti National Park

Posted on 01/07/2011 by admin

On the plains of the the Serengeti ,  Isaac our driver, did an amazing job of finding us all the animals we could want to see, including the elusive leopard we had been striving to see.   Lucky for us this leopard had recently killed and there was a half-eaten gazelle in the tree beside where it was lolling in the tree.

Isaac wasn’t the only one in our group with eagle eyes, one of the lads spotted something in a tree on the way out of camp, it turned out to be a dead Thompsons gazelle.   Either that gazelle got such a fright that it jumped high into the tree and couldn’t get down and died, or the much more plausible explanation would be that a Leopard took it up there.

We returned to the tree a number of times and searched in  vain for a sighting of the killer.

Next morning we once again returned to the tree  – there was still no leopard to be seen but there was no trace of the gazelle carcass either!

Isaac then showed us a pride of lioness with their cubs, on a wildebeest kill.  We took some time to watch the pride.   Later, once the lions had moved off some cheeky hyenas came and stole the carcass.

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