Kenya Episode 2

Monday 18^th June

We had a leisurely start and only left Fig Tree Camp at 9am. We drove S through fields upon fields of sisal to the town of Nakuru and then the Days and the Kargs separated from us as they wanted to go S to the Masai Mara Reserve while the Hardmans and us are heading for the coast. We will all meet up again in about a week’s time. It is not the time for the migration now and the Hardmans are going to go to the Masai Mara in October on their way back down to South Africa, while Dave & I saw no point in going now if there are not too many animals and we will just have something to come back to Kenya for!

We did our normal round of internet, petrol and shopping and then we headed further S towards Lake Naivasha once again, but to a different camp site, called Carnelley’s. It is quite different and is like a huge, green park on the shore of the lake. I have done laundrey and Dave is once again soldering our radiator as it seems to have sprung another small leak – no peace foe the wicked!

We are generally eating very healthily with no snacks, chips and sweeties in between and only 1 or 2 drinks in the evening. There are always plenty of fresh veggies and fruit for sale on the road side and we manage to buy meat and long life milk etc at supermarkets in the towns. Tonight we are having avocado with fresh lake crayfish, tomatoe, onion and grated carrot – I have even got Dave eating pawpaw and normally he is not fond of fruit!

Tuesday 19^th June

This morning the man at reception offered to catch us a fresh water crayfish to show us what they look like – he walked to the lake edge and within minutes he had 2 in his hands – miniature little crayfish in every detail but only a bit bigger than standard prawns! We had been puzzled last night because our ‘fresh water crayfish meat’ had looked just like prawns! But now we understand. We packed up and went another 3 kms around the lake to ‘Elsamere’ the lakeside home of George and Joy Adamson. The entrance fee included a 40 minute documentary, morning tea and a visit to the museum. It was a fascinating morning and we learnt that Joy was not only an amazing conservationalist, but also a talented artist, her flower paintings were used as illustrations in botany books, and her 700 or so paintings of the different tribal people of Kenya in the 1950’s & 60’s are now hung in Kenyan state offices, and of course there are numerous wildlife paintings. The story of Elsa the lioness is a heart rendering one, but we didn’t know that Joy had also reared Pippa, the cheetah and Penny, the leopard. The story of George and Joy is a tragic one, as, Joy was murdered by one of her servants in 1980, and George was murdered by Somali poachers at his Kora National Park in 1989!

We left at 11am and drove S, but in a round about way to avoid the disgusting traffic of Nairobi. It was a scenic drive through rolling hills and fields of tea, coffee and pineapples.

We arrived at Hunters Lodge – a half way stop between Nairobi & Mombasa – quite late, so after setting up camp we decided to eat at their restaurant provided they let us girl’s take our own wine. We had a very pleasant evening, especially after our bottle of local Kenyan pawpaw wine!

Wednesday 20^th June

We were woken up by 100’s of grey herons squabbling and squawking in the trees above us! After a leisurely start, when Ingrid and I caught up with the blog and Dave and Will cooked us breakfast, we were back on the road. This is the best road we have been on since leaving South Africa – it was perfectly tarred with no pot holes, and although it is the main trucking route from Mombasa into central Africa, we were able to pass fairly easily and we maintained 90km per hour – un heard of in the past 3 months! The train line ran parallel to the road a lot of the time and it was good to see a number of trains going in both directions – as the trucks do damage the roads so much. We had 350kms to do to get to Mombasa and there was a gradual drop down to sea level all the time – not like our Fields Hill in Durban.

We arrived in Mombasa at lunch time and followed Shakila’s directions to reach Musti & Shakila Mamujee’s beach house with no problems. Dave & I met Musti & Shakila in Sweden on a Round Table Tour in 1994 and were looking forward to meeting up with them once again. Salimu and Kahindi welcomed us and made us tea and coffee while we relaxed and waited for Musti & Shakila to get back from work at around 5 o’ clock. It was absolutely wonderful to see them again and we had a festive evening with cocktails and samoosas after a walk along the beach, and then a delicious chicken dish with basmati rice and a mango salad! Shakila really did us proud, and we really hope to be able to host them in South Africa soon.

Thursday 21^st June

After breakfast cooked by Salimu and Kahindi, we set off for Mombasa. Dave and I went to Zedco Radiators as recommended by Musti, where we spent the morning while they took out the radiator and repaired it properly for us – it now looks like a new radiator all repainted and hopefully fixed for good. It did take the whole morning but we are heading for very hot territories so it is essential to keep Garfield cool.

Afterwards, we went to Fort Jesus and a local guide took us all around and then into the old town and harbour. Fort Jesus was built by the Portuguese in 1593 but taken over by the Arabs in the 1700’s and then the British in 1895 when it was used as a government prison until 1958. It was an interesting tour especially to see how similar the old town of Mombasa is to Zanzibar.

We got back to the house at 4pm and Dave and I had a quick swim in the sea. At 5.30pm Musti and Shakila arrived and we all went for a brisk walk along the beach before having drinks and another delicious evening meal prepared by Shakila. They have contacted Salim & Sugu and we are going down to the south coast to camp on Salim & Sugu’s plot which will be great.

Friday 22^nd June

After breakfast we set off to the supermarket and then a scenic drive around the shore side of Mombasa where the lighthouse and golf course are. Mombasa itself is on an island. There are 2 bridges connecting it to the mainland and the North coast, but to get to the South coast you have to go by ferry. At the ferry we met Patrick, who works for Salim and was going to be our guide to the plot. We arrived at the plot at lunch time, met Edward the caretaker and set up camp. The beach is fine, pure white, talcum like sand full of shells and we took a leisurely stroll down the beach only meeting a few other tourists as it is low season. Afterwards, Dave and I had a hot shower, thanks to Dave Surian, who organized a set up where our shower water circulates through our exhaust system to give us hot water up to a couple of hours after we have stopped traveling – a real treat when we are bush camping.

Saturday 23^rd June

We had a leisurely start, then a long walk along the white beach past some local beach stores where I bought some wrap around sarongs. After a swim and some samoosas(that Shakila made us) for lunch, we made our way to the hotel next door, to watch the SA/All Blacks rugby match. What a pity that we lost in the last quarter! We went back to our camp and made a lovely big camp fire and had a braai with veggies being pot roasted in ‘Baby’ our little potjie pot!

Sunday 24^th June

We decided to pack up early and adventure further down the south coast towards Shimoni which was about 30 kms further S. This little village is on the end of a finger of land out into the sea. Driving through Diani town we stocked up on beers and fresh bread, and then carried on to Shimoni. On entering Shimoni we were mobbed by people trying to ‘sell’ us campsites and snorkeling trips etc. We finally settled on camping in the grounds of a hotel called Shimoni Reef Lodge. Here we met a SA lady, Van, who is working as a dive instructor on Pemba Island at a sister hotel to this one. She is going back to Pemba tomorrow but today she came with us to look at the Shimoni Caves which were used by the Arabs as a holding pen for the 1000’s of slaves that had survived the march from inland, and were waiting for a ship to take them to the markets in Zanzibar. Without food and water and soaked by the high tides these poor souls must have been terrified. We saw rusted pieces of chain and rings where these tortured souls were bound and just to make these damp, dark caves even more chilling there were 100’s of bats squeaking , swooping around or just hanging from the cave roof. We came back to the hotel and set up a lovely camp in their car park under the trees. Tonight we are going to make a communal curried turkey potjie.

Monday 25^th June

At 8.30am we were picked up below our hotel on a small water taxi to be taken to ‘Monsoon’, our dive boat for the day. There were 14 people on board and 7 crew members to look after us. They started off by serving us tea and coffee with biscuits and then we set off around Wasini Island to the Indian Ocean side and the Kisite- Mpunguti Marine reserve. Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated even further with high winds, rain and monstrous swells! Soon Dave was feeling nauseous and I was on the edge of nausea. Eventually we arrived at the dive sight – Dave was feeling too ill to snorkel and Will doesn’t snorkel so Ingrid & I hopped in – I hoped I would feel better in the water. However the waves were big, we had life jackets on and the bobbing was relentless. Ingrid and I soon opted to take up the offer of a guide with an orange life ring who towed us around over the reef! Really lazy but a lot easier! Unfortunately, all the bobbing did nothing for my stomach and I was soon feeding the fishes! The snorkeling was fantastic with beautiful coral formations and tons of marine life – we saw a ray plus a huge puffer fish and 100’s of clown and parrot fish. After an hour or so we got back on board but unfortunately my sea sickness had really taken a hold over me and I was ‘man down’. It was a long journey back to Wasini Island for me and Dave & I have decided that the Kotzes are definitely not sailors! We eventually reached Wasini and dry land and were welcomed by Harm Lutjeboer to his home and a gourmet Swahili lunch where we relaxed until 4pm when it was time to reboard Monsoon for a short trip across the channel to Shimoni once again. While at Pilli Pipa, Harm had offered for us to camp at his home on the mainland in Shimoni, so on our return, we packed up and moved 200metres down the road to Harm and Selina’s house where we set up camp. There are Masai guards and a beautiful swimming pool so we will probably spend 2 nights here as we are still waiting for the Days and the Kargs – Brian has had major car troubles with his front windscreen surround breaking away and his clutch thrust bearing collapsing! So they are in Nairobi doing car maintenance.

Tuesday 26^th June

We have had a really relaxing day lounging around the pool at Harm’s house. Harm’s wife, Selina is a local Kenyan, a marine biologist and able to speak 8 different languages! Together, they have built up a dive business, the cruises and the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. We have encountered such hospitality and kindness on our travels it is quite unbelievable. They have a huge swimming pool and I even did 10 lengths!! But apart from that we have done little to nothing. Tonight will be a leisurely braai and then tomorrow we will be on the move again.

Back into Kenya

Monday 11th June

It was Garfield’s day to be serviced – new oil, sparkplugs, fuel filter etc. Dave also bought 2 new Pirelli tyres for the back wheels and when he stripped the R back wheel he found that the rear brake slave cylinder was leaking, so he also replaced that. Garfield is now as good as new!
We had a pleasant evening on Terry & Rita’s veranda chatting and just relaxing.

Tuesday 12th June

After breakfast we said our farewells and Dave and I headed down to Entebbe to see Entebbe itself, and the elusive shoebill at a wildlife sanctuary there. We saw 3 shoebills which was great and then we headed E back to Jinga where we were meeting everyone else at a campsite, called Eden Rock. This campsite was quieter than Nile River Explores, where we had stayed before and was owned by a local black man, David, who was very interesting to talk to. We did go over to NRE to check with Jon Dahl about the road conditions to Sipi Falls and he told us it was a newly surfaced road with no security problems as far as he knew.

Wednesday 13th June

Driving in these African countries is always interesting – today we saw a bicycle with about 6 chickens tied by their feet, hanging down from the front handle bars! The way they load these bicycles never ceases to amaze us! Everywhere we go, we are greeted with hand waves, great big smiles and shouts of ‘Mzungu’ which means ‘European’- at least they are not begging for sweets.
Just before Sipi Falls we came across a sign for Sisiyi Falls, 5kms off the road, so we went to have a look – they were beautiful falls in very well kept, park like gardens – well worth the stop and we had a picnic lunch there before moving on. All around Mount Elgon water pours out in falls and water run offs. We have really learnt that altitude plays a bigger part in temperature than latitude, as we are on or around the equator, and yet it is very cool because of our height. I am sure that once we reach the Kenyan coast we will become much more aware of being on the equator!
We reached Sipi Falls and set up camp at one of the many campsites on offer – just in time because the heavens opened and there was a heavy downpour for about an hour! Then it cleared and the sun came out from about 5pm till 7pm. The Kargs and the Hardmans were energetic and took a walk down to the bottom of Sipi Falls – I felt bad being lazy but when they returned covered in mud, I was glad I hadn’t gone as it was apparently very slippery, and I hate that. Sipi Falls rise on the upper slopes of Mount Elgon(which straddles the Ugandan/Kenyan border) and are made up of a series of 4 falls – we could see 3 of these falls from our campsite. The last fall is a drop of 99m and is the most spectacular.




Thursday 14th June

We left at 8am and continued traveling around Mount Elgon to get to the border post into Kenya. At first the road was tarred and good but it very soon became a dirt road with lots of very muddy sections. The going was slow but it was very scenic although we could not see the peak of Mount Elgon as it was swathed in cloud. We reached the border at Suam at about lunch time and went through with no problems except for a crazy local man who swiped the valve tops off of Brian and Wills tyres and wanted to be paid for their return. Eventually the border officials intervened and sorted him out. Officials in all the countries we have visited, have been nothing but courteous and polite with no corruption evident. After our bad experiences in Mozambique in 2001, Dave and I had been dreading interacting with officials – but we have been pleasantly surprised.
We arrived at Delta campsite near the Kenyan Mount Elgon National Park at about 2.30pm and set up camp.



Our costs in Rwanda for 3 days were
Food R259
Camping R140
Hotel R624
Petrol R820
Drinks R44
Carwash R30
Sightseeing R65
Purchases R247

And in Uganda for 25 days they were
Road Toll R514
Visas R630
Drinks R963
Camping/Accom R2240
Rafting R1330
Petrol R5372
Groceries R1489
Gas cylinder refill R214
Car repairs R3917
National Park Fees R2310
Chimp tracking R980
Gorilla tracking R5320
Sightseeing R635
Internet R43
Rafting DVD R84

We are going to have to try and economize here in Kenya!

Friday 15th June

The campsite is very pleasant and green with lots of resident birds and a troop of beautiful black & white colobus. We really had time to observe the colobus and admire their beauty. We have had a real clean out today with Dave and I reorganizing all the lug boxes and doing laundry-Sputnik(our washing machine) is back in action after Dave fixed her broken handle for me! Dave had been craving pancakes, so I had time to muster them up for him, and we had banana pancakes with cinnamon, lemon and sugar for lunch which was a real treat.

Saturday 16th June

Today we took a joy ride N up through the Cherangani Hills to a town called Signor, and then turned around to travel S down the other side of the Cherangani Hills. On the way down, the Great Rift Valley was on our left hand side and the scenery was spectacular. It was an action packed day with lots of mud and towing of stuck vehicles- our groups and a local bus which we helped get un stuck! The local people were very interesting, especially the women who wore very ornate jewelry.
We had planned to get all the way down to Lake Borgoria, but with all the muddy sections, going was slow, and once again at 5pm we were faced with looking for a bush camp. Will & Ingrid were in the lead today so they took a side road up onto the hills towards a church. At first there seemed to be nobody to ask permission from but then we saw 2 elderly ladies higher up the hill, and Lorraine went up to them, with her Swahili dictionary and her humble African approach, and secured their permission for us to camp here next to the church. Of course, within minutes we had a group of spectators, but they are not troublesome and they all disappear as soon as it gets dark. We will have leave at ‘sparrow’ tomorrow as it is Sunday and the worshippers will be here for church.




Sunday 17th June

We woke up at 6.15am to a colourful sunrise over the Rift Valley and were gone by before 7am! We stopped for breakfast along the way and then carried on S through the Kerio Valley until we hit the main road and we then turned E towards the town of Marigat and Lake Bogoria. Of course we were at the bottom of the Rift Valley and we had to climb out of this valley – it was a spectacular drive with 1000’s upon 1000’s of hills all around us. We reached Lake Bogoria at about lunch time and took the scenic drive down the lakeside. Lake Bogoria is a soda lake bordered on the E by the Siracho Escarpment, it is about 30kms long and only 9metres deep, and it is grass green in colour due to its high algae content. About half way down there was an area on the western shoreline with about 6 hot springs and geysers where we stopped for lunch. The water was almost boiling and in fact, Nev & Lorraine boiled 2 eggs in the water! We then carried on down to the southern tip, along a green, canopied road to Fig Tree Camp – a tranquil camp full of giant fig trees with a babbling stream running through it. We think it is glorious but so do a whole troop of baboons! So we have to watch our belongings. We had planned to talk to our children this evening, but unfortunately there is no cell signal, so we will have to wait until tomorrow evening- sorry my chickens!
We had a braai around a lovely camp fire – life is really good on this trip. We have never seen so many fire flies – the camp looked to be dotted with dancing fairy lights – it was too beautiful. Once we went to bed it poured with rain but luckily we were snug in our beds! During the night the hyena were howling right next to our camp – I think they were complaining that we were in their territory – my potty is very useful as there is no way I am coming down that ladder in the dark of night!
We woke up early Monday morning and walked down to the lake edge where there are more smaller steam jets and bubbling hot springs. We walked up to a vantage point and took lovely photos looking back to the western shore and the main geysers.
Yesterday Neville replaced his front prop shaft universal, a repair that Brian has also had to do in Dar es Salaam although his was the rear one. These vehicles certainly keep us busy!

DRC & Rwanda

Wednesday 6th June

We woke up yet again at 5.30am and started the whole procedure once more. We arrived at the guides base camp at 9am and hooray – they were waiting for us! After a short delay we set off into the thick jungle with our jeans tucked into our socks, as protection against the safari ants, and jackets on to protect us from rain and nettles. It was a 1 ¾ hour walk – quite steep at first – and then leveling off with ankle deep muddy pools! We were over 2500 metres altitude so we were sucking air but our adrenaline was pumping and keeping us going. The jungle was quite thick, sometimes the undergrowth was taller than us, and other times there was bamboo. It was very still except for the sounds of birds twittering and our foot falls. Buffalo droppings were abundant but we didn’t spot any. As we walked past various plants we got peppery and “khakibos” smells. We reached the gorillas at 11am – quite suddenly we were in the middle of the group – they were quiet – unlike the chimps, and just made gentle “clearing of the throat” grunts. The guides “spoke” back to them and moved closer. The group consisted of 12 gorillas, Mapuwa the alpha silver back male, 5 females, 2 juveniles and 4 babies. They seemed completely unperturbed by our presence and just continued with their daily rituals – Mapuwa munched on leaves and looked at us every now and then with his gentle big brown eyes while the dominant female stayed near his side with her baby, Dunia. Dunia clung to her mother but also looked at us with open curiosity. We were only about 3 to 4 metres from these gorillas! It was quite an experience. After our first adrenaline rush, we started to become more aware of our surrounds, and we were literally surrounded by the gorillas – the younger ones were up in the trees, swinging and rangling with each other and there were 4 other females in the bush around us. We were all single file on a narrow path and the next minute Ingrid, who was at the back, realized one was coming up behind her! The guide motioned us to just stay calm and move slightly to the side, and the juvenile gorilla calmly walked right past us! Another time, 2 babies playing in the branches above us, let go and landed plum in the middle of a soft bush, like landing on a trampoline!
The magical 1 ¼ hours spent with these gentle giants did not come cheaply - $760 for the 2 of us – but the mystical sense of recognition in the mountain gorilla’s soft brown eyes as they stared at us was spine tingling. These massive wild animals are up to 3 times as bulky as the average man with shaggy black coats except for the alpha male who is bald on his chest and has a balding silvery back. The babies are just adorable and look so cuddly! It was one of the most awesome times we have had on this trip.
We got back to the campsite in Uganda at about 4pm and all started our relevant chores – Dave decided to check out our radiator as it had been giving us trouble, only to discover that it had sprung a real leak, so there were him and Will working until 10pm trying to repair this leak! Luckily they were successful on their 3rd attempt at soldering the hole up.
Lorraine and Neville have been infested with putsi flies- these flies lay their eggs on damp laundry(in their case it was their sheets) and then when you are sleeping the eggs hatch and bury themselves under your skin, forming “boils” which eventually hatch a grub after 8 days! Thank goodness we have not been infected and I am going to make extra certain that all my laundry is crisp dry before I take it in, as this is a preventative.
I forgot to mention, but a couple of days ago when we stopped on the road for a coffee stop, Dave found an old East African 10c coin dated 1928! It was quite a find and we are keeping it as a memento of our trip.

Thursday 7th June

Bright and early, we were packed and ready to go. Brian & Maureen left a couple of days ago to return to Kampala. Ingrid & Will are heading back to Kampala today while the Karg’s and us are going down to Rwanda for a few days. We drove the 10kms to the border and did the customs part of the border proceedings but then, typical African style, we waited for 45 minutes as the Immigration Officer had still not reported for work! He rolled in at 8.30am instead of 7.00am but this is Africa. We crossed the border and exactly half way through the “no mans land” the tar began – Rwanda has many more tarred roads than Uganda, and of course we had to swop to the right hand side of the road!
Soon after entering Rwanda we stopped at Lake Burera for breakfast and then headed SW for Lake Kivu and down to a town called Kibuye. On the way we saw lots of cabbages and sorghum being grown as well as fields of tea. The combi taxis in Uganda all have a blue checkered stripe around them and here in Rwanda it is the same but green instead of blue. The drive was really scenic and very hilly with us going up and down and round – basically following the contour lines around the hills. Along the way we saw people making bricks right on the road side with the mud in the ditches. The people here are certainly industrious.
We took an extra scenic detour back down towards the lake and so the afternoon was gone before we knew it and we were still a long way from Kibuye and it was getting dark. We took a side road up towards a church hoping to find somewhere to camp, and right there we came across a white couple! Bernard and Beatrice are Germans, a doctor and a social worker, respectively, who come out for 1 month every year to help Father Patrick with his work with handicapped children at his parish. Father Patrick gave us permission to camp so we quickly set up as it was getting dark. After supper we went down to their house and spent a pleasant evening drinking beer and chatting about Rwanda, Germany and South Africa.


Friday 8th June

We packed up and left at 7am and reached Kibuye without further delay. Our first stop was a large Catholic cathedral set on a hill in Kibuye overlooking Lake Kivu. On the 17th April 1994 there were 11 400 people hiding in this church when rebels, drunk on banana beer, threw petrol bombs through the windows and then proceeded to slaughter the whole 11 400 people with machetes! This genocide that happened only 13 years ago, here in Rwanda, is impossible to understand, especially as all the people we meet are so friendly and peaceful looking.
Neville & Lorraine had received information from their daughter on how to treat their putsi so we stopped for them to do this as they were being driven crazy by these grubs! They covered each ‘boil’ with Vaseline – Neville has about 10 and Lorraine about 23 – for 1 hour and then were able to squeeze these ‘maggots’ out! Apparently, the larvae cannot survive for more than 48 hours on dry laundry, so we will definitely not be wearing anything that has been washed less than 2 days ago.
We then had breakfast. The locals here speak French and it is quite amusing to have a black man walking past saying ‘Bonjour, Bon Apatite!’ The Kargs wanted to go further S and we wanted to head for Kigale, so we said farewell and made plans to keep in touch via sms.
We drove around Kibuye which is set on the shore of Lake Kivu. Rwanda is called the land of a 1000 hills and so this lake is dotted with islands which are the tops of the hills sticking out of the flooded valley, although the lake is as deep as 475 metres in places. Imagine an un developed Knysna and this is what the town of Kibuye looks like – a paradise in the middle of Africa.
A local man told us that there are 18 000 DRC refugees in a camp just outside Kibuye although we did not see this.
We reached Kigale at about 2 pm and looked for a place to stay as there is no camping facility. The city of Kigale is really clean and quite picturesque spread over a couple of hills. With the help of Agatha(our GPS), a printed map and me navigating, Dave did really well, as don’t forget, we are driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road! Traffic circles and robots are the trickiest! We found a reasonable hotel called ‘One Hill Motel’ in the suburbs which had secure parking for Garfield. We had lovely hot showers, changed into ‘town clothes’ and went walk about. We changed some money and then went to a pub for a drink where we met a New Zealander, Alistair Cook, who works for the UN wfp, and we had a really interesting couple of hours. He is here to investigate Lake Kivu as it is one of 3 lakes in the world that is ‘under threat’ – it has about 5 billion cubic metres of methane gas dissolved in it, and if there were to be any volcanic activity beneath the lake, which is a real possibility in this area, then the chemical reactions would result in a layer of carbon dioxide covering the lake, effectively strangling life in and around the lake. We also chatted extensively about rugby, as he is an avid rugby fan – we thought of you, Sean. After our pre dinner drinks we walked to an Italian Pizza Restaurant, and had a romantic candle lit dinner – so things are looking up!!

Saturday 9th June

After a delicious breakfast (omlette and fresh fruit including pomegranate) and a couple of cups of filter coffee, we headed S for 30kms to the church at Nyamata where 10 000 people were slaughtered on the 11 April 1994. This church is a memorial to the genocide and houses all the clothing, belongings and the bones of the victims. When we saw racks upon racks of skulls and heaps of bones it really brought the genocide home to us. We then drove back into Kigale to the Genocide Museum/Memorial to try and get a better understanding of this genocide. The museum was very well laid out and had 3 sections – the build up to and the actual genocide in Rwanda where 1 million people were killed in 3 months – genocides the world over – the children killed in the Rwandan genocide. We still don’t know if we can understand such hatred and brutality but you certainly walk away emotionally upset and determined that the world must never allow another atrocity like this to ever occur again!
At 2pm we walked back to the pub to watch the SA/Somoa rugby match, and we bumped into Alistair again. He was meeting two local Rwandans as he is also working on setting up trucking clinics along the Mombasa/Uganda/Rwanda trucking corridor as the Dept of Foreign Affairs UK have given him a budget of 1-2 million $ to do this. So we met Theodore, the Secretary General of the Rwandan Truck Drivers Association and Emanuel, a local truck driver. Once again we have had a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon, watching rugby, drinking beer and meeting locals.

I don’t have much to say at the best of times and Beryl does cover our daily activities so well. Not forgetting my poor spelling, makes it much easier for Beryl to just get along with the daily log. The last few days have been an eye opener for me in many ways, I will try to explain. To see the mass killings of the genocide and what one human can do to another, no different from himself in any way, is scary. What provokes any one to do to another human what these people did to their fellow countryman is beyond explanation? It makes your skin crawl and you want to weep, hearing stories of individuals telling their horror stories.
Having also spent an afternoon with Alistair from the WFP and Theo, a local Rwandan, I believe that we, as white South Africans with our fellow blacks need to take a huge lesson from these people. They are a proud nation; their city is the cleanest, prettiest capital city in Africa. As much as we white SA need to talk to and mix with our fellow blacks, the blacks need to stop feeling a lesser person than us and to stand up proud for who they are and stand along side us to work together to make SA the best country in Africa. These last few days I have felt humbled and elated at the same time. I have a renewed intention to change the way I see, and interact with my fellow Black South Africans. Also, many of us overlook the precious gift we have, that of our families. Imagine having all you parents and five brothers and sisters wiped out (in front of you, watching them being maimed, raped and eventually killed) and you are all that is left behind! So, look after your family, love them for what they are, know that you have them to turn to, because they are there for you. To my children, parents and all my friends, I pray that none of us ever have to go through what these people have had to. To my children Carmen-Jo, Daryl and Rayanne I love you and look forward to getting back home to you all. Man, this place can get to you.


Sunday 10th June

We left Kigale at 6.30am and headed N towards Kampala. Dave had been concerned for a couple of days as there was a shudder on the steering wheel, and this seemed to be getting worse. He decided it was the back wheel on the driver’s side so we stopped for him to change it. Finally, he had found the problem – the tread was splitting away from the tyre! Luckily, Dave is proactive or else we would have had a blow out.
We made good progress, although it was a long day of driving, and we finally reached Kampala at 5pm – 520kms and a border crossing!

Uganda episode 2

Tuesday 29^th May

We packed up and headed into Fort Portal to go to the internet café and to get petrol before heading out to Kibale Forest. At 2 o’clock we set off with Johnson our guide to track the chimpanzees in the jungle. Dave was wearing underpants, long pants, socks AND shoes – he really felt restrained! We headed off through narrow paths under the heavy canopy of trees, unfortunately under heavy skies with the threat of rain, which is not good for tracking. However, after about an hour the skies had cleared and we heard from somewhere deep in the forest an excited hooting rising in volume, tempo and pitch before fading away. Johnson listened carefully to where the sound was coming from – told us it was a call to say they were on the move – and then we headed down another path to intercept them. We came across one male first and stepped up our pace to follow him – and there in a clearing we came across the group of chimps resting after lunch. Some were in the trees but about 12 to 15 were on the ground which was very lucky. The alpha male was totally relaxed, lying on his back just enjoying the view, with about 4 body guards around him. It was absolutely amazing to be within 5 or 6 meters of some wild animals and to be able to observe them. This group are habituated and used to tourists, but still. The alpha male, called Mbutu, just looked at us through heavy eyes, and casually scratched himself every now and then. Then his right eye began to bother him and he sucked his finger and very meticulously cleaned his eye! A female, who was in oestrus, came down a vine in search of a male, or so Johnson told us, but before we could focus our cameras, the deed was done! It was the quickest “quickie” we had all seen. Apparently, because we are taller than the chimps, they perceive us as more powerful, and that is why they do not challenge us, although a big male can pick up 4x his body weight! For this reason, children under 12, are not allowed to track the chimps. Well, before we knew it, our hour with the chimps was up, and we had to say our farewells and start our trek out of the jungle again – thank goodness for Johnson, as we came out on a completely different path! It was a very special afternoon and we feel very privileged to have been able to spend an afternoon tracking chimpanzee in a Ugandan Forest in the middle of Africa.

Wednesday 30^th May

We left and drove SW towards the Ruwenzori Mountains – this range runs for almost 120kms along the Congo/Uganda border and is the highest mountain range in Africa. Mount Stanley is the 3^rd highest mountain after Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, and is made up of 2 peaks, Margherita(5109m) and Alexandra(5083m). Our going was really slow as Willie is overheating and the conclusion is that he has a possible crack in his cylinder head! On one of the stops we checked our radiator and found that it needed a whole lot of water as it had developed a leak. Luckily, Dave had a bottle of sealant that he poured into the radiator and this seemed to solve the problem. Then, to top it all, poor Willie got a puncture, so they have not had a good day! Anyway, we reached the Ruwenzori campsite and set up camp. The highest peak, Mount Stanley was covered in mist, but by the evening it had cleared and with binoculars, we could see ice and snow on the top.

Thursday 31^st May

During the night it began to pour with rain and when we woke up it was still pouring. Eventually we all decided that we had to get up and pack up – just then the rain slowed down and almost stopped – we packed up and an hour later we were all on the road and the heavens opened again! We have really been incredibly lucky with the weather all in all. Locals walking along the road were using banana leaves as umbrellas! The banana is an integral part of Africa. In Uganda it is the main subsistence crop for 40% of the population. We couldn’t imagine eating bananas as a staple diet, until we discovered more – there are 4 types of banana – matoke which are green and are boiled, gonja which are roasted, mbide which are distilled into wine or beer and menvu which are the sweet fruit ones which are eaten raw. You need to know which ones to buy in the market, or else what looks to be a juicy sweet banana will in fact be foul and floury until it is cooked. We have boiled the matoke bananas and they taste almost exactly like boiled potatoes!

We arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Hardmans and us headed straight for the camp as our top mounting bolt had come off our front shock absorber. Dave fixed that fairly quickly but we just stayed in the campsite as there were hippo, waterbuck and an abundance of birds right here in the campsite. We have had a few laughs – Brian chasing a warthog away when in fact he was walking backwards and being chased by the warthog himself! And, Dave running to chase a marabou stork when we realized it was about to snatch our fillet steak thawing on the bonnet! But generally, it has been a difficult day for me – I get SO homesick – today I had to cover up the picture of my three kids as otherwise I just couldn’t stop crying! Ingrid tried to console me, but she also gets homesick, so that just had 2 of us crying! We seem to be the only 2 suffering from this malaise.

Friday 1^st June

Will has ordered a head gasket which Brian is going to collect for him from a town 25kms away, and they are going to replace that today, here in the campsite. We spent the whole day at the campsite catching up on laundry etc while the 3 men stripped Will’s entire engine to replace the head gasket – luckily it was just a blown gasket and not a cracked head which was also a possibility. At 4pm all was done and we headed off from Mweya campsite on a game drive to meet up at campsite 2.

Saturday 2^nd June

We left early and headed SW to the bottom of Queen Elizabeth to Ishasha River campsite. The road was slow going but we saw a bateleur, a whole bunch of vultures feeding on a buffalo and best of all, Dave spotted a leopard crossing the road in front of us – he went into the grass and observed us for a few seconds before disappearing into the thicket! Unfortunately, we did not even have time to photograph him, but we were still delighted.

We camped at campsite 2 on Ishasha River – right on the river bank with hippos all around us and a troop of red tailed monkeys as well as resident baboon! It was a noisy night with hyena cackling, hippo snorting and Neville snoring! Anyway, we slept well as we had full bellies – our cooked matoke bananas and mince – they taste just like boiled potatoes when cooked.

Sunday 3^rd June

A lazy day with a game drive along the northern circuit to the papyrus lined edge of Lake Edward, and then a leisurely braai with a camp fire. At night we see lots of fire-flies – something I have not seen since a child, and I don’t think our children have ever seen! It was only when we saw them here higher up in Africa that we all commented how we realized that we had not seen them for years – I suppose they are casualties of all the insecticide sprays used at home.

This time traveling through Africa has given Dave and I time to think a lot of things through. We both agree that this is still something we want to achieve and we are happy taking this year out as a gap year. However we have decided that we do not have gypsy spirits and we do not want to do such an extended holiday again. Home is actually where our hearts lie and we miss our children, parents, friends and pets! So, we won’t be traveling back down the west coast of Africa in a year or so – 2 or 3 month holidays are our absolute limit and then we need our home base to feed our souls.

Monday 4^th June

Today we traveled 160kms S to Kisoro. The journey took us 7 hours and our average speed was 29km per hour. However it was one of the most scenic drives we have done. The entire day we drove through hundreds of “Valley of 1 000 hills” – and virtually every steep slope was cultivated by the locals with maize, potatoes, bananas, forestry and vegetables. It was quite a sight to see and the hills looked like huge patch work quilts of crops. At the end we arrived at Kisoro which has the Virunga mountains as a backdrop. The Virungas are a chain of 8 freestanding volcanic cones strung along a fault line associated with the same geological process that formed the Rift Valley. They straddle the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC and they all exceed 3 000 metres in height. Two are still active volcanoes and the last eruption was on 17 January 2002. Mountain gorillas inhabit the 6 dormant volcanoes and tomorrow we are going to track one of the habituated groups which we are all looking forward to.

Tuesday 5^th June

What a day we have had! We woke up at 5.30am to be bundled into a taxi – all 6 of us in a corolla! It was a 10km drive to the Uganda/DRC border where we were met by Daniel, our tour operator. We walked through to the DRC and to his office where our gorilla tracking permits were to be issued. But this is Africa at its best – the “professional tour group” had no pen!! Luckily Ingrid had one, so there we all were using 1 pen, the tour operator included. Finally we were loaded into a Landcruiser along with 2 armed guards and the driver to make the 1&1/2 hour journey to where we would track the gorillas. When we arrived the driver disappeared and we all just waited – with our 2 armed guards and a whole gaggle of interested local children! An hour later, he returned to tell us in broken English, that the guide was no where to be found and we must all get back in and head back to Daniel at the border! Another 1 ½ hours of bumping along, then drawn out stories and discussions, meetings with chief immigration officials to organize visas at no cost for tomorrow, back through the border and the 10km taxi ride back all cramped into a corolla!! So, 3pm, we are back in Kisoro and tomorrow we have a 5.30am wake up call to start the whole procedure again! Sometimes you have to be very patient in Africa – luckily we are not on a strict time schedule.