Into Ethiopia we go

Sunday 15th July

We got going at 7am as we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Dave and I were in the lead and the day was a full 10 hour trip to Marsabit. We passed through various terrains, from volcanic wastelands to desert sand with camels, saltpans and finally more desert strewn with volcanic rock. The day was fairly uneventful except for us having to do further running repairs on our radiator. There was a pleasant campsite on the edge of Marsabit just outside the gate to the National Park where we spent a quiet evening after dusting our vehicles. The dust is unbelievable and I think this is just the beginning – we have Sudan ahead of us after Ethiopia.
Our thoughts have been with David Johnson all day – Daryl phoned us last night to let us know he had been in a serious car accident – we pray that he has a speedy recovery.

Monday 16th July

Blue Monday or rather a day out of hell is what we have had! We set off at 7am once again, as it was a long haul to get to the border and into Ethiopia. The road was appalling with corrugations like I have never seen before, and Neville set a break neck speed as he was afraid of bandits! Absolutely everything rattled like hell and the noise was ear shattering. Eventually at the first stop we asked him to slow down as things were going to get damaged – already Brian’s fresh water tank and our shower tank are leaking. Our radiator continues to spout leaks on a regular basis and the solder is running out so we are not sure what we are going to do.
After 2 or 3 stops to solder our radiator, our next mishap was our CB radio which stopped working – stop to find that the aerial plug had come out of its socket! A few more kms down the road and we stop to discover that the cover of our roof top tent had almost blown away – unfortunately we are at the back today so there was nobody behind to see this and we had lost our shower cubicle which is stored under the cover! Luckily, we had not lost the cover itself. The shower cubicle is dispensable as we generally shower after it is dark and don’t bother to use it anyway! A bit further down the track, and we hear a knock in the engine – stop and it is the right front shock rubber – we have replaced this before but I suppose these roads are just too rough. Really, Dave and I had a terrible day. Will has also discovered a leak in his one diesel tank so we are not the only ones with damage but we just seemed to have ongoing troubles today. Anyway, we are now through the border and are in Ethiopia. We have booked into a hotel room tonight and we are all going to a restaurant for dinner tonight, after our bath in a bucket of water!! Trust me, when I say ‘hotel’ don’t get excited - these hotels are really just second rate hostel rooms, but at least the bedding is clean – if it isn’t we just hire the room for the ablutions, and then sleep in our roof top tent anyway.
We walked to the hotel down the road to their restaurant and ordered local Ethiopian food. Dave had meat and vegetables, which was a spicy goat meat stew with the odd chilli in it. I had roasted goat meat which came in an earthen ware dish with red hot coals below the meat, very effective. The meals were all served with injera which is a large pancake made from tef which is a nutty tasting grain unique to Ethiopia. The tef dough is fermented for up to 3 days before it is cooked so the ‘pancake’ has a bubbly, spongy texture. You tear a bit of injera off and dip it in your food or sauce and eat it. My roasted meat came with a dish of sauce called kai wat which was red and very hot flavoured with beriberi(peppers), onions and garlic. All in all everyone enjoyed their meals and we look forward to trying some more Ethiopian dishes in another town.

Our costs in Kenya for 36 days were

Border fees R1 001
Camping R2 565
Groceries R1 703
Drinks R1 641
Eating out R 433
Petrol R7 700
Purchases R 993
Firewood R 53
Sightseeing R1 900
Internet R 46
Parking R 14
Vehicle repairs R 178
Bank charges R 27
Guards R 119
Tips R 48
Ferry R 115
Pilli Pipa Cruise R1 295
Medicine R 34
Boat petrol R 149
Cell charger R 96



Tuesday 17th July

We are spending the day here in Moyale to fix all things broken! Brian and us started with getting our water tanks repaired at the welding shop. Then we went and bought more solder, bush rubbers and brake pads to keep as spares. Dave also bought a new shock absorber which he has fitted on the right front hand side. They only had one in stock or else he would have replaced both front shock absorbers. It is not actually the shock that is broken, but rather the thread on the top of the shock mounting that is stripped, and Dave can no longer get a bolt to hold the rubbers and the shock in place.
Ingrid and I walked down the road to the internet café but it was off line! We caught a taxi back up the hill which was fun. Then at 2.30pm Biruk, the local guide that the group has employed, took us to his home for a coffee ceremony. It is really humbling when you see how simply many people in this world live. They rent a very small home, but Shamire, his wife, graciously invited us in – the ladies to sit on a mattress on the floor and the men to sit in the few lounge chairs! Shamire, then proceeded to roast green coffee beans on some open coals right there in this very small lounge – 3x4metres! She roasted the beans till they were perfectly shiny brown in colour – as Dave says, he would have burnt them for sure! Then she lit incense sticks and threw some incense granules on top of the coals, she put a kettle on the coals and then set about grinding the beans in a mortar and pestle. Once that was done, she put the ground coffee into a clay percolator pot with some of the water out of the kettle, and put the percolator on the coals. The entire time there was a very loud Gospel Dvd playing on the TV, against which, we all made conversation! Shamire also kept offering us handfuls of popcorn to snack on. Finally, she set out miniature cups & saucers, into which she added sugar and the first round of coffee. We said grace and then all enjoyed our first cup of black coffee, it was sweet and aromatic – quite delicious. She percolated a further 2 pots of coffee so we all had 3 cups in total – each cup getting a little weaker. Apparently, it is customary to always have the 3 cups of coffee. The coffee ceremony took 2 hours but it was a pleasant experience.
We then went back to camp and out to dinner again, as a meal only costs about R15, and Biruk and his wife were going to join us.
Biruk informed us today, that the government of Ethiopia, has blocked ‘sms’ capability on Ethiopian cell phones – this is a political tactic, as apparently the opposition were using text messages to drum up support and organize themselves. We had not realized yet as we are in Moyale, which is just over the border, and we are in fact still picking up Kenyan signal.


Wednesday 18th July

After buying bread and beer, we finally left Moyale, with Biruk in the Karg’s vehicle. The other 3 are going on a 5 day excursion down to the Lower Omo Valley but Dave and I have decided to work our way directly to Addis, as our radiator is not behaving itself and we need to get it pressure tested again and or buy a new one. A little way up the road we stopped at a village called Dublock to see a ‘singing well’ – water is retrieved from a deep well by a row of up to 50 men who sing and chant as they pass buckets from one to the other. Unfortunately, it is not the dry season now, so the water was quite near the top of the well, and the line of men was fairly short, but we still got the idea. We all traveled together as far as Yabello and then the others waved us goodbye.
We filled up with petrol in the local fashion – bucket and funnel – and we think we were ripped off by about 6 litres, but when there is no bowser there is no option. We then headed for Konso. We arrived in Konso at about 3 o’clock and booked into a seedy hotel – the best on offer! I am really sick of these hotels as they have no water or electricity! This one had electricity from 6.30pm till 10pm and a trickle of water from 6pm till 6.30pm which was hardly enough to shower under. On top of this, the car park was unsuitable for us to camp in, so we had to sleep in their grotty bed! At times, this trip is quite taxing.
We did have time to quickly do some laundry, which entailed Dave hauling some water up from a well in an old paint tin!


Thursday 19th July

At 8am Gurasho, a local guide met us to take us to a traditional Konso village. First, we drove 17 kms out of town to Gesergiyo where there is a dry gorge with sculptured sand pinnacles which resemble a row of skyscrapers and the gorge has been nicknamed New York. Local legend is that the chief had his ceremonial drums stolen and enlisted the help of God, who swept away the earth from where the thieves had buried the drums, creating the sand formation when he un earthed the drums. To this day, light-fingered Konso youths are taken to Gesergiyo as a reminder that God doesn’t like thieves, and will uncover their doings!
Then we drove into the hills to the village of Mecheke. It is a traditional village, set on top of a hill and enclosed by a 2m high stone wall. Within this wall, there are lower stick-and-stone walls enclosing each individual family compound. There are leafy moringa trees which they use the leaves of to make a stew with, and then add dumplings made from sorghum flour. The entire village is a labyrinth of narrow, shady alleys. A few families make up a sub-community and they build a large ‘mora’ or community house. This is a sturdy, tall, thatched hut. The downstairs is used as a meeting place while the upstairs platform is used for all men and boys over 12 years to sleep in. This custom meant that the men were easily mobilized during the night, to fight off enemies or fire, and it helped with family planning, as even married men spent a large time in the community house, rather than with their wives!
Konso people also follow the ‘Kata’ generation set, where every 18 years a new generation is initiated. The older generation step down and make beer for the party, while the younger generation (8 – 25 years old) erect a ‘generation pole’ in the villages ceremonial square and take over the leadership of the village. You can calculate the age of a village by counting the number of generation poles and multiplying by 18.
Victory Stones are also erected in this square – tall ones for a victory and short ones for a defeat!
The other identifying feature of the Konso are their carved wooden grave markers called waga, erected for heroes in the community. Unfortunately, these have, to a large extent, been damaged or stolen by foreign collectors!! So now they can only be viewed in the regional tourist office.
We left Konso at lunch time after visiting Gurasho’s home and the local market, and headed N towards Arba Minch N 06 00.316 E 037 33.095 which is set on a hill overlooking 2 scenic lakes. The southerly Lake Chamo is only 10 metres deep and is blue in colour, while Lake Abaya on the north, is 13 metres deep and reddish brown in colour due to ferrous hydroxide in the water. The strip of mountainous land seperating the 2 lakes is called the ‘Bridge of God’. We are camped in the grassy grounds of the Bekele Mola Hotel overlooking these 2 lakes and there is water in the taps all the time- Heaven!! Dave and I washed Garfield and did a whole lot of laundry – it seems to be never ending.

Friday 20th July

We left Arba Minch and headed N but took a detour up to Chencha, a highland town set at 2 900m, from where we got a spectacular view over the 2 lakes and we also saw the distinctive, tall beehive-shaped dwellings of the local Dorze people. They are renowned cotton weavers and we bought 2 scarves at a road side stall. I was starting to feel nauseous and it worsened as the day progressed. It was a long drive over pot holed roads to Shashemene and then down to Wondo Genet – a hot springs resort – where we spent the night. I was really ‘woman down’ and went straight to bed, leaving Dave to sort himself out. Carmen-Jo let us know the exciting news that she has bought herself a Polo Playa and we are thrilled for her – thank you Derek for all the help. It seems we can receive text messages on our cell phone here in Ethiopia, but we are unable to text out. This is very frustrating and I feel much more cut off from my family and friends. Our satellite phone’s charger is broken and so we are very limited in its use – we are hoping to buy a new sat phone charger in Addis.


Saturday 21st July

I am still feeling very tender so we are taking it very slowly. We went down early and had a swim in the pool at the hot spring and then we packed up, or rather Dave did most of it as I am feeling so weak. Yesterday, we met a Scottish couple on the road, who are driving from Scotland to Cape Town – the exact opposite of us! They told us about a lovely campsite in Awassa run by a German lady, Jana. So although this is 25 kms back down S, we decided to come down here, just to relax for the day.
In Ethiopia, there are not so many bicycles as elsewhere in Africa. The ladies seem to have replaced the bicycle, and everywhere we go we see woman laden like pack horses, bent double under the load. We have been told that they carry 50-60kg on their backs! Nearer the bigger towns, we see donkey carts and horse dawn carts – it is like going back 100 years in time! The national sport seems to be table tennis, and all along the roads, just on the side in the open, are table tennis tables with enthusiastic players.
The campsite in Awassa is run by a German lady and her Ethiopian husband, it is very clean and secure, and we just relaxed all day so that I could recuperate
N 07 04.627 E 038 29.050
Happy 21st to Darren Driemeyer – we have no cell signal so are unable to sms you Darren, but our thoughts are with you – hope you have a wonderful day!


Sunday 22nd July

Well, it was a clean pleasant campsite, but it was terribly noisy – first there was a very noisy, wailing church service, then dogs barking, then the night watchman doing his laundry with running water right next to our tent and then of course the 4am mosques! Anyway, at least I am better this morning – it is wonderful to feel strong again. We left at about 9am and headed N back to Shashemene and then turned E towards the Bale mountains. The 175kms took us 5 hours to do, but it was really scenic. There were wonderful fields of blue and yellow wild flowers splashed with patches of red-hot pokers, all set against a backdrop of craggy peaks.
We have come here to see the Ethiopian wolf and some endemic birds so hopefully tomorrow when we drive around to the Sanetti Plateau at 4 000m altitude, we will be lucky. Tonight we are camped at the campsite near Dinsho on a hill with a panoramic view over the Bale Mountains and it is just Dave and I – so we feel as if we are in the middle of nowhere! The chill is already staring to set in, at 4.30pm it is 12 degrees, so we are looking forward to a camp fire and then snuggling together in our roof top tent – we have hauled out the extra crocheted blankets that my Mom made for us! I also wanted to mention to my girlfriends at home, that I am absolutely delighted with the bird book that I bought with the money you girls gave me – we use it all the time as it covers ALL the birds of Africa.
Our campsite tonight N 07 05.760 E 039 47.548 Altitude 3 235m
We are having a goat meat curry cooked in ‘Baby’ over the coals of our camp fire!


Monday 23rd July

It was a chilly night, going down to 6 degrees, but we were snug and warm. We packed up by 7.30am and our guide arrived who was going to accompany us for the next 2 days into the Sanetti Plateau and back. We set off but not 200m down the track, we had our 1st problem! The left front shock rubber needed replacing. That done, we set off again, a couple of kilometers and water was spraying out our radiator! Dave had a look and said it was bad, on top of that, he said the brakes did not feel right, so we had to make the decision that it was now time to really head straight for Addis – in retrospect, we had made the wrong decision coming to Bale, but we had not realized what bad roads it entailed. Anyway, one is always clever in hindsight. So, as disappointing as it was, we had to drop our guide off, paying him compensation, and start wending our long and tortuous trip back to the main road! The trip was scenic once again, and the wild flowers beautiful, but we had not achieved our goal of getting to the plateau and seeing the Ethiopian wolf. I, especially felt very down in the dumps, and the bad roads, longing for my children and home really got to me- I was ultra depressed and just wanted to give up and come home!
We reached the main road after 3 o’clock and headed further N to Lake Ziway passing Lakes Shala & Abiata on our LHS and Lake Langano on our RHS. These are all Rift Valley lakes that run through Ethiopia.


Tuesday 24th July

We got going early and went down to a causeway on Lake Ziway where we looked at birds for a while which was very enjoyable and then we headed W towards Butajira and then on up N towards Addis Ababa. We stopped at a small village, Tiya, to see some stelae – mysterious engraved gravestones up to 2m high that mark the mass graves of people between 18 and 30 years old that were buried in the foetal position about 700 years ago. It was very cold as we walked around and this added to the eerie feeling of the sight.
We then traveled a further 40kms before stopping to see Adadi Maryam, our first rock-hewn church and the southernmost one in Ethiopia. It was 19x16m and entirely carved out of solid rock, below ground level! It had 24 windows and 10 doors and remains in active use today. The church is dated somewhere between the 12th and 14th centuries and was really interesting to see.
Then it was straight to Addis where we found the Itegue Taitu Hotel N 09 01.812 E 038 44.234. This was the first hotel established in Addis named after the Empress Taitu(wife of Menelik II) and completed in 1907. It is amazing with high ceilings, creaky wooden floors and steeped in ancient character. We have a large room with a lounge area and there is a very big secure parking area for Garfield (within our sight) and there is a 24 hour internet café within the hotel! So I am a happy chicken. The staff are very helpful and within an hour or two, a mechanic came here and removed Garfield’s radiator to take it for testing – this is a great bonus as Addis is impossible to drive around. So for Birr138 per night, which is about R120, we are happy and will be here for a few days.

Kenya Episode 4

Wednesday 4th July

We left Ocean Sports at 9am and headed N. About 15 minutes into the journey our red warning light on ‘T-Belt’ came on and our hearts sank. We ground to a halt and Dave jumped out to look in Garfield’s bonnet – to find nothing. We then realized, with Will’s help, that we had just clocked over 400 000 and it was just a standard warning – nothing wrong. So we gave Garfield a pat and proceeded on our way! We drove past salt pan after salt pan – this area is the salt capital of Kenya for sure.
We were actually entering an area that was considered not entirely safe due to ‘shifters’ from Somalia, so at one of the several police stops, they insisted that we take 2 armed guards with us. I duly took up my seat in the middle isle on a lugbox and the guard took my seat – we did feel a lot safer with an armed guard in the car. We reached the ferry point to Lamu at about 3pm and very reluctantly left our vehicles in an un fenced area but supposedly under a guard’s care. A 20 minute ferry ride had us on Lamu Island and about 50 years back in time! The island only has one vehicle and a couple of scooters and 3 wheelers – otherwise it is just narrow alleyways and donkey transport! We were mobbed by tour operators wanting to sell us various packages and accommodation and finally over a beer it was all sorted out. There are only 2 places in the Lamu Old Town that sell beer, as it is Muslim country, but of course the guys had found one of them within minutes of us landing! We walked down the beach road, avoiding the donkey droppings, turned up an alleyway and arrived at Bahari Hotel – adequate accommodation but certainly nothing fancy. After settling in we took a walk around the old town which is an un commercialised version of Zanzibar.

Thursday 5th July

After breakfast we set off on a guided walking tour of Lamu Town. Our first stop was at a furniture factory where we saw the carpenter hand carving an arched door and frame – the work is really beautiful and if you could get the stuff back home to SA I would love to build with it. We then moved on to a covered area where they were building a dhow. The dhow we looked at was going to take 1 year to complete with about 4 dhow builders working on it, and was costing 3 million shillings which is about R300 000 which the new owner was paying in installments. Apparently, a dhow builder takes 7 years to learn the trade and they use all hand tools – no power driven tools! Mangrove wood is used for the bent bow ridges, thorn tree wood for the straight skeleton and mahogany for the planks to fill in between.
Lamu Town consists of the Arabic section – buildings of coral stone and limestone - and the Swahili section – buildings of mud and coconut leaf roofs. There are 33 mosques in Lamu, about half in each section as both groups of people are Muslim. There were 3 Arabic tribes in the old days and the approximately 40 families in each tribe lived in houses all connected by upstairs passageways so that the women could visit each other without going down onto the streets. The Arabic houses also have outside porticos to entertain men guests without them having to go inside where the women are.
After our tour, we wandered around through the market, the alleyways etc just looking at the general population and how the donkeys are used – we were pleased to see a ‘Donkey Sanctuary’ for sick or injured donkeys. Ingrid found a tailor who whipped up a dress for her, so I also paid him a visit!


Friday 6th July

Well, it was my birthday – a very quiet one as there were no kids jumping into our bed! I opened my present from my Mom – she gave me a silver pendant of Africa which was very appropriate, and I had some sandals that Dave had bought for me the day before. Then at 9am we set off for our dhow day trip to Manda Island. I received lots of sms’s from family and friends and my brother, Trevor phoned me, so it was still a special day. We stopped to fish for a bit on the way and then Captain Bobo took us to the beach where we could snorkel, swim and relax while he and his assistant cooked us a delicious traditional Swahili lunch. It was altogether a magical day and the most peaceful birthday I have ever had! But, once is certainly enough, next year I hope to be surrounded by my family and friends.
We got back to Lamu town at 4pm and the Hardmans and us hopped on a speed boat back to the mainland and our waiting ‘homes’ – we had missed Garfield! Despite, our stressing, everything was in order and we set off to seek permission to camp in the Kenyan Wildlife Headquarters grounds, which they kindly allowed us to do as their guests. Ingrid and I had a few glasses of wine to finish off my birthday.


Saturday 7th July

We packed up and during the process Dave came across a bird on the ground which we think had flown into something and was stunned. We identified it as a Black-crowned Tchagra and put it somewhere quiet to hopefully recover. We then waited for the Kargs and Days to join us before setting off at 9.30am back towards Garsen and then N to Garissa. It was a long, hot day of traveling but it was good to be heading north. We reached Garissa near to 5pm and camped in the grounds of a guest house. Dave had to do further repairs to Garfield’s radiator as it is leaking once again! Luckily, Will has a nifty little soldering iron that works off the car battery and Dave is getting pretty good at soldering the holes that the radiator keeps springing. Our repair at Zedco Radiators in Mombasa has obviously not been successful.
Unfortunately, it was Saturday night and this guest house turned out to be the local hang out, so it was a pretty noisy night. And then, at 4am the mosques start calling! It is really weird to come across so much Muslim influence in Africa – because we are in tents we are really subjected to the loudness of the calling. Somehow in Turkey, for example, where there were 1000’s of mosques; we didn’t feel as invaded as here, where we are woken up at 4am and again at 5am! Maureen has threatened to construct some loud speakers for the top of her tent to blast out some loud Christian music in retaliation!




Sunday 8th July

We left at 8.30am and headed W towards Thika to do a big shop to stock up for the North and Ethiopia. The road was really good and we made good progress despite sharing the tar with cattle, donkeys and camels! I got on with my tapestry and am managing to keep up with Garfield in his travels – that is I am busy doing Kenya and Ethiopia on the canvas.
By 3 o’clock we had finished our shopping and we decided to set off up towards Mount Kenya – on a dual carriage highway with no potholes!! Further up the road we heard a klang klang in the engine – emergency stop – but it was just the air conditioner fan belt that had broken. Our air con packed up a long time ago so Dave just removed the belt and all was well. We arrived at a campsite 30kms from the summit just as the sun was setting, but caught a glimpse of the mighty mount just before it got dark.
Tomorrow we are going to cross the equator for the 5th and final time so we decided to have an Equator Party – there we were, huddled around a fire drinking gluwein!! Unbelievable, as we are on the Equator but because we are at 2000m, we realized once again that altitude is more important than latitude when it comes to temperature.
Ingrid and I are both battling with a terribly itchy raised rash that we think is from sand fly bites that we think we got in the mangroves on Manda Island. We have experienced the horrors of mopane flies, tsetse flies, putsi flies and now sand flies – we hope we have now met all the flies in Africa!


Monday 9th July

We had a very leisurely start and took a stroll over to the Naro Moru River Lodge in whose grounds we had camped. Dave bought himself some very colourful shorts from their shop and then we walked back through the golf course to the camp ground. Around 11 o’clock we were all ready to roll and about 20kms along the road, just before the town of Nanyuki, we crossed the Equator. If my husband even attempts to take me south again I have threatened to take the first flight home!
We had all been wondering how to check out the coriolis effect on the Equator but we need not have worried, as there under the Equator sign, was a local man armed with water, a jug and a dish with a hole in it! For the sum of R20 he proceeded to give us a demonstration of the coriolis effect and we were all totally impressed – just 20 steps into the Northern Hemisphere and the water runs out of the plug in a clockwise direction, and 20 steps into the Southern Hemisphere and it runs out anti-clockwise! On the Equator the water runs straight down the plug hole with no swirling at all. He used a couple of matchsticks on top of the water to illustrate the effect and the demonstration was really impressive.
We then headed further north up towards Sambaru Nature Reserve and went in there for 24 hours – that is all we can afford at the Kenyan rates! Anyway, we had a very pleasant time game viewing, seeing some animals that are endemic to this park only, that is gerenuks, reticulated giraffe and Grevy’s zebra.



Tuesday 10th July

We all met up at 4pm at the West gate out of Sambaru and headed for Wamba where we were able to camp in the grounds of the Catholic Mission. Along the way, we have been seeing the most amazing Sambaru people- the women are so colourfully dressed and have 100’s of beads around their necks. The young men are also very ornate with beads crossed over their chests, red ochre in their hair and elaborate head gear. The men are more like the Masaai with colourful skirts and shawls and always carry a spear and a little wooden stool that doubles up as a stool and a pillow!
We decided to have an early start in the morning to make our way to Lake Turkana.


Wednesday 11th July

Six o’clock on the dot the church bells were chimed! As we were camped directly next to the huge brass bell, we were all instantly awake and we had an earlier than expected departure! We headed for Maralal to fill up with petrol and make last minute purchases and then we were on the road to Turkana. The scenery was magnificent with us climbing up onto a plateau at 2 500m and then dropping down into the Rift Valley. At first it was very green but then the dust began and soon everything was covered in dust. However, the sheer vastness and remoteness was breath taking. We traveled until 5pm and then set up camp on the edge of a huge dry river bed. Or course, within minutes we had company, and Lorraine(with the help of her Swahili dictionary) negotiated for us to pay 2 locals to be our guards for the night – as they were armed, it was better to have them in our camp than out!
Garfield’s radiator continues to plague us and Dave had to solder up yet another hole today on route. It seems that the core of the radiator is inferior and just keeps popping. On top of this, the extra temperature gauge that Dave had installed to measure the water temperature on the top of the engine head, as an early warning system, has packed up! So we just have to keep a very vigilant eye on the original gauge.


Thursday 12th July

We set off on the last leg to Lake Turkana, formerly known as Lake Rudolf. The roads were now thick with sand and the terrain was dry and brown but it still had a stark beauty. As we approached the Lake the area was littered with volcanic rocks of all shapes and sizes. Many of them glistened in the sun as they had been ‘sand blasted’ in the wind and were shiny and smooth. Finally we came over a crest and there was the turgoise water of Lake Turkana cutting through the parched volcanic outcrops. The Lake is 56kms wide and 250kms long, one of the largest desert lakes and one of the largest alkaline lakes in the world. There are volcanic islands in the lake and they host some 22 000 crocodiles so we will have to swim with extra caution! We were elated to have reached the lake and we had a team photo with the lake behind us. Nick, who we had met at Ocean Sports Hotel in Watamu, had told us to travel about 15-20kms S down the lakeside until we found some ‘fingers’ of land and that that was a good place to camp and fish, so off we set at times having to forge our own road over the volcanic rocks. Finally, we reached a place we thought to be suitable – on the waters edge but with a rocky outcrop behind us to try and protect us from the howling wind! We had been warned about the wind, but nobody could have prepared us for this constant gale force wind – you have to experience it to believe it – obviously because there is a huge cool mass of water in the middle of a desert, there is a constant wind. As soon as we set up, we were joined by a local fisherman, Peter, whom we employed to be our camp guard. The men set about assembling the rubber duck and a bit later in the afternoon Will & Brian went fishing for Nile Perch. An hour later, shouting with glee, they arrived back with a 20kg Nile Perch! This was a real achievement as they didn’t have a gaff and it was a challenge to land the fish on the rubber duck without capsizing or puncturing the pontoon of the boat. Of course there were the normal fisherman’s stories of the other 2 that they lost, but honestly we couldn’t have coped with any more fish. After it was filleted, all 9 of us ate dinner and we each have 4 fillets in our freezers! It was the most succulent, tender, tasty fish I have ever tasted, and the harsh, arid conditions all seemed worth while.
The sunset was phenomenal with orange & pink rays going up over the South Island in the Lake and once it got really dark we studied the night skies as things are starting to look different now that we are in the northern hemisphere. The temperature when we went to bed was still 29 degrees and the wind was still howling, so much so, that we could not put up our roof top tents and we all had to sleep in our vehicles. This was a first for us and I had to sleep curled around the fridge, while Dave had to sleep half under a cupboard!
Our Lake Turkana campsite N 02 31.158 E 036 41.747


Friday 13th July

Well, we survived the night and woke up to 24 degrees and howling wind! Today is a day of general repairs and maintenance. Neville is doing an oil change, Will fixing tyre punctures and putting on his 4th set of bushes, Brian is changing oil and fuel filters and Dave is repairing his radiator(another leak has appeared) and fixing the cupboard under our fresh water tank as the weight of the water and the rough roads has broken it. There is always something to keep us busy. The girls are ‘skoffeling’- our term for cleaning all the dust and generally getting all the lugboxes tidied and in order – of course for the next few days we can’t find anything!
The water temperature is 26 degrees and we keep popping in to cool down. The water itself is so alkaline that it feels quite slippery. Brian caught a Nile Perch and so did Neville but not as big as Will’s one. Dave and Will went out this evening and Dave apparently hooked the biggest one yet, reeled it right in, but just a few metres from the boat, it raised its head and shook the lure out! So although Dave had fun, he didn’t actually catch one – maybe next time?
The sunset was once again beautiful and the fried fish absolutely delicious but I am afraid the howling wind is driving us crazy and we have decided to move on in the morning.



Saturday 14th July

We left at 9am as we had to pack up the rubber duck. The wind was still howling – these are real harsh conditions and it is unbelievable that people live here, but we have seen women around and men herding goats and of course fishing. It took us just over the hour to wend our way the 13kms back up the lake and then we headed a further 20kms up the lakeside to Loyangalani N 02 45.373 E 036 43.271
We are going to spend the night here and then leave at 6am for Marsabit which is east of us but apparently will take the whole day. Then on Monday we go north to Moyale and into Ethiopia.

Kenya Episode 3

Wednesday 27th June

We left at 8am in heavy grey skies but luckily we were planning a day of traveling. Before leaving Shimoni we went to the fish market to buy a fresh snapper for dinner. Then, we went to Fikirini Caves, 3 giant caves just about 5kms from Shimoni as the crow flies although we had to go 6kms and then 8kms to get to them. Local people mobbed us – about 30 of them – but finally we settled on 3 guides to show us the caves. They were quite extensive and one had a fresh water spring in it. Apparently, in years gone by, the local villagers would hide in the caves in times of war. After our guided tour where once again, we saw 1000’s of fruit bats, we had toast and coffee for breakfast and then headed back on the road up north towards Mombasa. A short way up the road, we turned down to the coast again to see Funzi Island. A very enthusiastic local on a bicycle roared ahead of us down the road determined to be our guide. Every now and then he would disappear only to re appear again having taken a short cut! We reached the shore and he was there eagerly offering to take us to Funzi by dhow although we had told him in the beginning that we were only going to look at it from the mainland. To appease him, we said we wanted to buy mangrove crabs so that was his next mission – he jumped on his bicycle and lead us back to the village where he beaconed for Ingrid & I to follow him. We marched off through the huts until we came across one which he proclaimed to be the fisherman’s – sure enough, out came the fisherman with a sack of huge mangrove crabs alive and kicking! We duly bought 3 monsters for R25 and headed back to our waiting husbands with our crabs in a paper sugar bag to be stored at my feet! Our guide abandoned his bicycle and requested a lift back to his office (the roadside hut where we had turned off), so he jumped on to the running board on Dave’s side and off we went.

We got back to Diani town and bought bread and beers and visited the internet café to update our web. Then we made our way to Tiwi Beach and Twiga Campsite – what a beautiful beach with waves breaking out on the backline and grassed camp sites right on the beach – paradise. We set up camp with our awnings just touching, Will filleted the snapper for our dinner and Dave & I boiled the crabs – what a mission to get the crab meat out! It’s far easier to order seafood chowder in a restaurant! Anyway, it’s all part of the adventure. We were just sitting down to have a drink when a young American, Benjamin, came up to us, explaining that he and his 2 friends had food but no pots and no cooking apparatus! So could they please join us for dinner? A fun evening with Ben, Julie and Terra followed with lots of chatting and laughter and we only went to bed close to 11pm.


Thursday 28th June

A long walk along the beach from one end to the other and then a gourmet breakfast started off the most idyllic day. Then it was time to do a big laundry session – sheets, duvet covers, towels and dish cloths – we even took out our mattress and aired it! It is spring tides at the moment so when we had walked earlier, the tide was far out and we had walked right out to the coral reef, now it was high tide and there was deep water right on our door step, so I had a lovely, long swim bobbing in the waves – I really missed you, Rayanne! In fact I have been a little homesick again today – my thoughts are with my Mom, who is flying overseas tonight – you will go right over us, Mom, so blow us a kiss ok? I miss talking to my kids SO much, like yesterday with Carmen-Jo, sms messages are just not the same. Family and friends certainly make life meaningful and we are missing you all a ton!
Dave is very busy now making our sea food chowder – boiling the snapper bones to get the fish stock, chopping ginger & garlic, onions & tomatoe, then he will add the crab meat, prawns and mussels – dinner will be good tonight! Another fellow camper, Yehuda Elmalia, has joined us, he is a Dutchman but born a Moroccan Jew! Once more we chat and exchange ideas. He has given us his contact details in Netherlands so Dave & I might see him in November.
We had planned to move to a beach north of Mombasa tomorrow but we have just had a sms from the Kargs to say that they and the Days will meet us here tomorrow, so we will spend another day here – it is so beautiful that we don’t mind.


Friday 29th June

We got up, had coffee and packed up. Yehuda also packed up his tent as we were going to give him a lift to Diani after he had shown us the bottle store where he bought his wine, which we had slotted last night! In Diani we bought wine and bread, bade farewell to Uda and visited the internet café before coming back to our campsite to wait for our fellow travelers. They arrived at lunch time and told us all their woes – Brian had had to replace his whole clutch, power steering pump, bearing on his fan belt tensioner and his alternator plus his windscreen surround had cracked and had had to be reinforced! Neville’s rear prop shaft universal had to be replaced. So that is why we had such a long wait for them! Anyway, we are relaxed and tanned and hopefully we can move on tomorrow. The weather is sunny although a bit windy and we are loving swimming in the sea. Tonight we are having prawns for starters then fresh fish and chips – we bought a 6kg fish this morning and Dave & Will filleted it so it should be delicious.


Saturday 30th June

The others need to recharge their batteries so we are spending one more day here at Tiwi Beach, but it is such an idyllic spot that we don’t mind. After early morning coffee, Dave and I took a long walk along the beach to Diani Beach and back again – it is spring low tide so it goes right out. Then we came back for yogurt and toast before relaxing on the beach. There is a traveling fruit & veg man on a bicycle, called Mr Mango Man, and he pays us a daily visit to see what we need, and there are fish salesmen who also visit us daily to sell us fresh fish and prawns! Really, we could stay here for a month!! Tonight the Hardmans and us are going to make chicken & prawn curry. In the afternoon the tide comes in, and there is really lovely swimming right in front of our camp.
We have just had Eddie, the man who sells us coconuts, give us an a-z demonstration of coconut milk production – he started by climbing a 25 metre high coconut palm to pick them, de-pulped them, cracked them with a panga, grated them on a grating stool and then washed the fresh pulp with water through a reed sieve. Carmen-Jo, you would have loved it – we are going to buy you a grating stool – no more tinned coconut milk for your cooking!

After dinner Brian was walking between our campsites and he saw something in the grass! Well, that started the night game hunting – there we were with the torch hunting in the bushes – and we found white bellied hedgehogs, cute little things that are apparently quite common in Tiwi Beach according to the night watchman, and lots of coconut crabs attacking the left over coconut from us. Ingrid, Will and I had attempted a night hunt at Harm’s house in Shimoni as he had told us that there were elephant shrews, but on that occasion we were not successful. But now we have decided that night hunts are fun.

My brother, Trevor, is plotting our trip and I promised to give him GPS co ordinates, so from now on I will periodically give them. Tiwi Beach S 04”14.465’ E 039”36.172’


Sunday 1st July

We left at 8.30am and headed N – I am so excited as from now on we will be going N and that means I will be getting nearer home! We crossed with the ferry onto Mombasa and the city was much quieter as it was a Sunday. After stocking up at the supermarket we headed up the north coast and up to Kilifi which is a beautiful coastal town on a river estuary. There is absolutely no camping available and we are once again camped in a hotel parking lot using one room as an ablution.


Monday 2nd July

After drawing money at the ATM we went to look at the Mnarani Ruins on a steep cliff on the southern bank of the Kilifi Creek. It is not known for definite but it is speculated that the Swahili founded this site in the early 13th century and there was a settlement here until the late 16th century. The Great Mosque is interesting in that it’s Mihrab, which always faces Mecca, has multiple arches and is full of Arabic inscriptions. In Kenya, we are still faced with this annoying custom of charging foreign visitors 5x and more, the price that they charge locals, to enter points of interest. Dave, Will & I refused to pay to go in because of this, but after I stood chatting to the curator, he sent me in at no charge, with my own private guide as he wanted me to write about his site on our blogspot – perhaps we should always tell the people we are running a web page! From the Mnarani site there was a spectacular view of the Kilifi Creek and the Kilifi Bridge which was completed in 1984.
We then left Kilifi and traveled up to Watamu. Once again we battled to find a campsite but eventually we met a very friendly Brit, Helen, who allowed us to camp on the volley ball court at Ocean Sports Hotel, as they are actually closed to hotel guests at the moment as they are doing major renovations. It is a super campsite, lawned and right on the beach & she has given us the use of one room for a shower and toilet. Best of all, she informed us this afternoon, that there is a wireless access to the internet in the bar area. So we are going to brave the painters and carpenters etc to go and sit amongst them and connect to the internet.
Dave stopped taking Doxycycline, the anti malarial, about 10 days ago, as his skin was becoming ultra sensitive so he is taking extra care to apply mosquito repellant. Otherwise we are both exceedingly well!


Tuesday 3rd July

The wind blew all night last night and we have woken up to rain and grey skies – hopefully it will clear soon. It did clear at about 9am and so we took a long walk in a northerly direction up the beach. The bay we are in is called Turtle Bay and with these monsoon winds it is full of sea weed. We walked around to Blue Bay which is sheltered and the beach is completely clear of seaweed. The rock formations and islands sticking out of the sea are amazing. On our return we visited the fishing tackle shop at the hotel – it is not really open – he was taking stock – but he was very happy for us to look around. His stock is amazing and you would have loved to go wild in there Daryl, although everything is marked in US dollars! Willy did say that the prices were not over the top though.
The weather has deteriorated once again and we have all made the decision to move on tomorrow – I am thrilled as we have been going very slowly lately. Daryl suggested that we go on Skype tonight, so we are looking forward to that before we head off north.

Well, before and after dinner we sat glued to our computer talking to our kids on Skype – we could hear them talking but we had to type to them, as we never had a microphone headset. At first they were hesitant talking to a computer that wasn’t talking back, but soon they gabbled on and I typed as fast as my little fingers could go. It was wonderful to chat to them all – Mike & Dono too, so we were really spoilt! Dave also set it up for Ingrid, and CJ invited Ian (their son) around to our house and Ingrid & Will chatted to Ian and their other son, Gareth in London. Ingrid and I are very happy Moms now! Eventually, Dave got tired and came back to the campsite to clear up and then he had to come and haul me away from the computer at bed time. Thank you, Daryl for suggesting it – I feel so happy that I have been able to connect with you all. We love you all so much – you are the core of our existence.

Watamu S 03”21.629’ E 040”00.525’

Tomorrow we plan to travel up to the mainland near Lamu Island and then go over to Lamu for a day or two. It is very likely that we will not have cell signal there but I am hoping that we will.
Chatting to our kids last night, they asked for more photos, so seeing as we have this wireless connection we are dumping more photos to the web this time and they are full size. We have also been compiling an album called, ‘Bicycles of Africa’ so we thought this would be of interest as our kids are doing lots of cycling at the moment. We are sure they are not utilizing their bikes to the fullest though!!!