Greetings from Arusha, Tanzania. Here for 4 nights while some of the gang go to the Serengetti... as we were lucky enough to go to the Massai Mara we are just taking it easy... staying in snake park, about 30 minutes outside Arusha, with snakes and crocs - eek!! Not so sure about that... In town for a few minutes to buy dinner for the next 3 nights so took the opportunity to say hi!
Not much to say about Tanzania so far - much more barren and dry then any other Country we have been in so far. A large Massai Community here, like Kenya, which is interesting. Freezing at night and in the am and then a heat wave from about 11am - 4pm so getting used to this!! Spent 2 hours handwashing all our clothes..oh I miss my washing machine! Eoin's turn next..
Chat soon - should be online again in 5-6 days! x
Friday, 29 July 2011
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Back in Nairobi
Hello from Nairobi... just back today for two days before we head off to Tanzania...
Had a great time in Uganda.. Eoin, as I mentioned, went off White Water Rafting and came back with a split lip, bruised and bleeding nose but a massive smile - he loved it. They were Grade 5 rapids (for those of you who know what that means... I think that means they are big and scary so I opted for a read the book on the banks of the Nile day!!)...
After a jet-boat up the Nile (Eoin again..I'm a chicken!) we headed off to Lake Navasha..a lake in Kenya where hippos live. Well it was absolutely amazing. Went out on a boat to go hippo spotting and there were millions...ok, probably about 60 but wowee... incredible..and then, while eating dinner (we take it in turns to cook, 4 in a cook group) beside our tents we see hippos about 100 mtrs away from us (we are protected by an electric fence..thank goodness!);..it was incredible... so we fell asleep to the sound of hippos.
Stopped at Joy Adamson's house (Born Free) for afternoon tea and the Gariffe Santuary.. which was good and now reloading, washing and getting ready to head off on Thursday to Tanzania..
Half the group on our truck are finishing here in Nairobi tomorrow so that is kind of sad... and we will get another 12 new people... but I'm sure they will be as lovely as the last crowd...
Final words... you MUST come to Africa... honestly folks, it is just out of this world and you would all love it!!!
Catch up soon, hope you are all well and sorry for all the important birthdays, anniversaries etc that we have missed.... Miss you all xxxx
Had a great time in Uganda.. Eoin, as I mentioned, went off White Water Rafting and came back with a split lip, bruised and bleeding nose but a massive smile - he loved it. They were Grade 5 rapids (for those of you who know what that means... I think that means they are big and scary so I opted for a read the book on the banks of the Nile day!!)...
After a jet-boat up the Nile (Eoin again..I'm a chicken!) we headed off to Lake Navasha..a lake in Kenya where hippos live. Well it was absolutely amazing. Went out on a boat to go hippo spotting and there were millions...ok, probably about 60 but wowee... incredible..and then, while eating dinner (we take it in turns to cook, 4 in a cook group) beside our tents we see hippos about 100 mtrs away from us (we are protected by an electric fence..thank goodness!);..it was incredible... so we fell asleep to the sound of hippos.
Stopped at Joy Adamson's house (Born Free) for afternoon tea and the Gariffe Santuary.. which was good and now reloading, washing and getting ready to head off on Thursday to Tanzania..
Half the group on our truck are finishing here in Nairobi tomorrow so that is kind of sad... and we will get another 12 new people... but I'm sure they will be as lovely as the last crowd...
Final words... you MUST come to Africa... honestly folks, it is just out of this world and you would all love it!!!
Catch up soon, hope you are all well and sorry for all the important birthdays, anniversaries etc that we have missed.... Miss you all xxxx
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Kampala to Rwanda - arrived Rwanda 15 July. Days 14-17 in Africa
So, had a great time in Kampala - went into the city on a motorbike taxi - hillarious!! and had lunch, pottered around and really enjoyed it. Really friendly city with less people staring at us muzungos (white people) then in other cities, which was much more relaxing. Two of our group nearly got pick-pocketed which is not so good but things can happen like that in any city. There are loads of vultures flying around which is slightly creepy ....
So... left Kampala on 15th to head into Rwanda... What can I say about Rwanda.. the most AMAZING country I have ever ever been in. Honestly, you cross the border (after bargaining with border control so that the Irish and Ozzies only had to pay 12 dollars for a visa instead of 60 - as you do!) and you are met with massive forests, tea fields and people picking tea everywhere, baboons in the trees, fields of crops and such friendly, warm people.. it keeps getting better. Had no mobile/internet for the time in Rwanda nor access to ATMs etc.. it seems they have no international access at all....
arrived in Kigali, Capital of Rwanda to go to the Genocide Museum...absolutely heart-wrenching.. the genocide only took place in 1994 and so many people were murdered, injured etc.. absolutely horrific. The museum is done really tastefully and definitely leaves you thinking about why the International Community sat by and let this happen...it put things into perspective ... During our time in Rwanda we kept seeing people affected by the Genocide and when you think about it, everyone over 20 will remember it...
Spent 3 nights in a fully little hotel in a town called Rhuengehiri (or something like that) where we ate plantains, beans, rice, ground nut and other delicious local food... Upgraded to a posh (in inverted commas) room as I really wanted a nice toilet and a hot shower.. and my wish was granted.. amazing how you get used to cold showers and holes in the ground but every so often one needs a little luxury.... also, I really appreciate washing machines now... after Eoin and I spent 3 hours washing all our clothes... it is really hard work and they still dont look clean...
Tried to break into the Congo while in Rwanda... as you do (are we crazy!!..) but for various reasons we couldn't... a)too dangerous ... b) costs 300$ for a visa c)we'd have to exit Rwanda and pay re-entry visas for both Rwanda and Kenya as we had left East Africa... and so instead 6 of us, with a lovely border guard, walked up to the no-mans land, seperating Rwanda and Congo... the GPS on one of the girl's cameras said Democratic Republic of Congo... so we were happy... looking across at the Congo town of 'Goma' we realised how well off Rwanda is in comparision... the roads just stop as Goma appears... there is rubble, shacks, so many people with absolutely nothing, guys with very large guns, no roads, no sign of infrastructure etc.. really unsettling and a bit scary... again, makes you think a little...
Last thoughts of the day... in Uganda now camping beside the River Nile and will blog more once on a better internet connection.. Eoin currently white-water rafting and Im about to head into Jinga to post some cards... but Africa is an amazing Country, the levels of poverty are frightening, and then on the other hand the wealth, living side by side leaves such a bad taste in your mouth... Churches are everywhere, and are massive and stand out as sore thumbs when placed beside the shacks\slums that some people are living in... there are large guns everywhere... toilets are terrible... mozzies still love me... 15 bites and counting..no matter how much deet I apply...people are lovely and so friendly and somewhat a little crazy!!!
So... left Kampala on 15th to head into Rwanda... What can I say about Rwanda.. the most AMAZING country I have ever ever been in. Honestly, you cross the border (after bargaining with border control so that the Irish and Ozzies only had to pay 12 dollars for a visa instead of 60 - as you do!) and you are met with massive forests, tea fields and people picking tea everywhere, baboons in the trees, fields of crops and such friendly, warm people.. it keeps getting better. Had no mobile/internet for the time in Rwanda nor access to ATMs etc.. it seems they have no international access at all....
arrived in Kigali, Capital of Rwanda to go to the Genocide Museum...absolutely heart-wrenching.. the genocide only took place in 1994 and so many people were murdered, injured etc.. absolutely horrific. The museum is done really tastefully and definitely leaves you thinking about why the International Community sat by and let this happen...it put things into perspective ... During our time in Rwanda we kept seeing people affected by the Genocide and when you think about it, everyone over 20 will remember it...
Spent 3 nights in a fully little hotel in a town called Rhuengehiri (or something like that) where we ate plantains, beans, rice, ground nut and other delicious local food... Upgraded to a posh (in inverted commas) room as I really wanted a nice toilet and a hot shower.. and my wish was granted.. amazing how you get used to cold showers and holes in the ground but every so often one needs a little luxury.... also, I really appreciate washing machines now... after Eoin and I spent 3 hours washing all our clothes... it is really hard work and they still dont look clean...
Tried to break into the Congo while in Rwanda... as you do (are we crazy!!..) but for various reasons we couldn't... a)too dangerous ... b) costs 300$ for a visa c)we'd have to exit Rwanda and pay re-entry visas for both Rwanda and Kenya as we had left East Africa... and so instead 6 of us, with a lovely border guard, walked up to the no-mans land, seperating Rwanda and Congo... the GPS on one of the girl's cameras said Democratic Republic of Congo... so we were happy... looking across at the Congo town of 'Goma' we realised how well off Rwanda is in comparision... the roads just stop as Goma appears... there is rubble, shacks, so many people with absolutely nothing, guys with very large guns, no roads, no sign of infrastructure etc.. really unsettling and a bit scary... again, makes you think a little...
Last thoughts of the day... in Uganda now camping beside the River Nile and will blog more once on a better internet connection.. Eoin currently white-water rafting and Im about to head into Jinga to post some cards... but Africa is an amazing Country, the levels of poverty are frightening, and then on the other hand the wealth, living side by side leaves such a bad taste in your mouth... Churches are everywhere, and are massive and stand out as sore thumbs when placed beside the shacks\slums that some people are living in... there are large guns everywhere... toilets are terrible... mozzies still love me... 15 bites and counting..no matter how much deet I apply...people are lovely and so friendly and somewhat a little crazy!!!
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
the journey to Kampala
So I think the last time I was able to update was when we were back in Nairobi..(should have checked before starting to write here - oops!)... anyway... after really enjoying Nairobi we met up with the Overland Truck last Saturday, 9 July in Karen, just outside Nairobi. There are us and 22 other people... all really lovely, from all over the place - NZealand, UK, Australia, Canada and we are waving the Irish Flag!
Just by the way, I have never had so many conversations about toilets in my life... once the truck left Nairobi we seem obsessed... we are mostly met with holes in the ground or toilets which look like they haven't ever been cleaned, with dead insects etc.. yuck! so we all get very excited when we come across a nice clean, tiled bathroom... and it is a bonus if we can also have a shower... and occassionally we find a hot one too!
Left Nairobi and drove over the East Rift Valley to our first campsite, beside Nakuru national park. Everyone was allocated a tent and a cook group (we take it in turns to cook dinner & breakfast) and off we went... Spent the next day in Nakuru National Park where there was fabulous birds, rhinos (black and white), giraffes and of course the Lion - amazing...
Yesterday we drove through Kenya, across the Ugandan border.. the Irish didn't have to pay for a visa - (however for Tanzania we pay twice what everyone else pays!)....and arrived in Kampala at 6ish last night. The landscape has changed dramatically from the dry, barren land of Kenya to a lush, green, forestry Uganda...
We are having a brilliant time, the people on the truck are great, the Africans we are meeting are really friendly and welcoming, the food interesting and the sun shining... (most of the time...occassional tropical type downpours!)...
Having Goat Stew for dinner tonight... we'll let you know how we get on... and then up at 4am, take down the tent and head through Uganda to Kibale where I am on dinner duty - help!!!
Just by the way, I have never had so many conversations about toilets in my life... once the truck left Nairobi we seem obsessed... we are mostly met with holes in the ground or toilets which look like they haven't ever been cleaned, with dead insects etc.. yuck! so we all get very excited when we come across a nice clean, tiled bathroom... and it is a bonus if we can also have a shower... and occassionally we find a hot one too!
Left Nairobi and drove over the East Rift Valley to our first campsite, beside Nakuru national park. Everyone was allocated a tent and a cook group (we take it in turns to cook dinner & breakfast) and off we went... Spent the next day in Nakuru National Park where there was fabulous birds, rhinos (black and white), giraffes and of course the Lion - amazing...
Yesterday we drove through Kenya, across the Ugandan border.. the Irish didn't have to pay for a visa - (however for Tanzania we pay twice what everyone else pays!)....and arrived in Kampala at 6ish last night. The landscape has changed dramatically from the dry, barren land of Kenya to a lush, green, forestry Uganda...
We are having a brilliant time, the people on the truck are great, the Africans we are meeting are really friendly and welcoming, the food interesting and the sun shining... (most of the time...occassional tropical type downpours!)...
Having Goat Stew for dinner tonight... we'll let you know how we get on... and then up at 4am, take down the tent and head through Uganda to Kibale where I am on dinner duty - help!!!
Friday, 8 July 2011
Masai Mara
Well what can I say about the Massai Mara - it is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen... a 6 hour drive on TERRIBLE roads, through Kenya to the Massai Mara...a nature/game reserve where Elephants, Lions, Hippos, Giraffes, Black Rhinos, Zebra etc have made their home...
Let me start at the beginning. We headed to the Massai Mara on Monday morning after stocking up on essentials - water, toilet roll and snacks!! 6 hours later, after meeting up with 6 other people, the 8 of us were driving through the Massai Mara, surrounded by Wilderbeast - who have just started their migration from Tanzania... We were staying in a campsite, beside a Masai village, with Baboons running around everywhere. Apparently they are 'theives' so we had to keep our passports etc. close to hand!
Africa gets very dark, very quick... and by 6.30pm we needed our night-lights/torches and the mozzie spray (only 5 bites so far.. not too bad)...
Day 2 - up at 6.30am and off we went (with sandwiches... because we are avoiding uncooked food we are living on banana / jam sandwiches for lunch...!) - after seeing Lions, lioness with 5 cubs, vultures etc.. our truck (an 1982 French Army truck) got wedged into the mud... so the 8 of us got out of the truck and for 3 hours Eoin, Ken (another guy), the driver and our Masai 'animal tracker' were digging out mud. Our job was to 'watch out for something that looks like a cat but much much bigger... if you see one run into the truck and let us know'! Three hours later, our driver's ego completely bruised... we were rescued by another tour truck...and our driver had to come back with a tracker to pull the truck out...
Day 3 - up at 6am and off again, spend the morning and evening in the Masai Mara and went off to a Masai village in the afternoon... was very interesting to chat with Masai people - did you know they have many wives and 1 wife is worth 7 cows!!!!! and then.. the new wife has to build her own house... man oh man!!! However, apart from the small chat it was really a money-making racket for tourists.. felt quite false and then there was sell, sell, sell, they were trying to get us to buy everything.. from a lion's claw to plates to stools... I understand they have such little money and so need to be a 'tourist' attraction... but it still leaves a sour taste...
Day 4 - up at 6am for a final game drive. Saw 4 out of the Big Five - Elephants, Black Rhino, Buffalo, Lion - didn't see the Leopard... but we did see the Wilderbeast migration and wow oh wow.... ! Then 6 hours back on the truck back to Nairobi...
An amazing experience, fantastic people, beautiful animals, amazing sun-rises/sun-sets and worth every penny and bump in the road!
Joining up with the truck tomorrow (sat) to head towards Kampala (Uganda) so will be in touch from there... (around 12-13 July) if I can...
Let me start at the beginning. We headed to the Massai Mara on Monday morning after stocking up on essentials - water, toilet roll and snacks!! 6 hours later, after meeting up with 6 other people, the 8 of us were driving through the Massai Mara, surrounded by Wilderbeast - who have just started their migration from Tanzania... We were staying in a campsite, beside a Masai village, with Baboons running around everywhere. Apparently they are 'theives' so we had to keep our passports etc. close to hand!
Africa gets very dark, very quick... and by 6.30pm we needed our night-lights/torches and the mozzie spray (only 5 bites so far.. not too bad)...
Day 2 - up at 6.30am and off we went (with sandwiches... because we are avoiding uncooked food we are living on banana / jam sandwiches for lunch...!) - after seeing Lions, lioness with 5 cubs, vultures etc.. our truck (an 1982 French Army truck) got wedged into the mud... so the 8 of us got out of the truck and for 3 hours Eoin, Ken (another guy), the driver and our Masai 'animal tracker' were digging out mud. Our job was to 'watch out for something that looks like a cat but much much bigger... if you see one run into the truck and let us know'! Three hours later, our driver's ego completely bruised... we were rescued by another tour truck...and our driver had to come back with a tracker to pull the truck out...
Day 3 - up at 6am and off again, spend the morning and evening in the Masai Mara and went off to a Masai village in the afternoon... was very interesting to chat with Masai people - did you know they have many wives and 1 wife is worth 7 cows!!!!! and then.. the new wife has to build her own house... man oh man!!! However, apart from the small chat it was really a money-making racket for tourists.. felt quite false and then there was sell, sell, sell, they were trying to get us to buy everything.. from a lion's claw to plates to stools... I understand they have such little money and so need to be a 'tourist' attraction... but it still leaves a sour taste...
Day 4 - up at 6am for a final game drive. Saw 4 out of the Big Five - Elephants, Black Rhino, Buffalo, Lion - didn't see the Leopard... but we did see the Wilderbeast migration and wow oh wow.... ! Then 6 hours back on the truck back to Nairobi...
An amazing experience, fantastic people, beautiful animals, amazing sun-rises/sun-sets and worth every penny and bump in the road!
Joining up with the truck tomorrow (sat) to head towards Kampala (Uganda) so will be in touch from there... (around 12-13 July) if I can...
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Africa is Hot!
Hot! Hot! Hot!! that is how we are both feeling at the moment... very hot!
SO, rumours that Nairobi is 'nairobbery' seem unfair and untrue. We spent the day in the city centre, having walked the 40 minutes from the backpackers. Friendly people, lots of music and fun... Sunday is very religious - woke up to sounds of 'happy clappy' music from the 4 churches surrounding us.. nice and cheerful... went into town into the markets.. bought some little bits - Eoin was a whiz at bargaining... (we think..though we still got ripped off... ) all part of the experience.. Walked through a massive park off the main street - Kenyatta avenue - full of kids with their face painted and bouncing castles.. it was our turn to be stared at - little kids couldn't get over the fact that we were white and their little heads were turning with huge eyes, staring at us.
Off on the Massai Mara tomorrow until Thursday evening so wlll be back in touch then ...
SO, rumours that Nairobi is 'nairobbery' seem unfair and untrue. We spent the day in the city centre, having walked the 40 minutes from the backpackers. Friendly people, lots of music and fun... Sunday is very religious - woke up to sounds of 'happy clappy' music from the 4 churches surrounding us.. nice and cheerful... went into town into the markets.. bought some little bits - Eoin was a whiz at bargaining... (we think..though we still got ripped off... ) all part of the experience.. Walked through a massive park off the main street - Kenyatta avenue - full of kids with their face painted and bouncing castles.. it was our turn to be stared at - little kids couldn't get over the fact that we were white and their little heads were turning with huge eyes, staring at us.
Off on the Massai Mara tomorrow until Thursday evening so wlll be back in touch then ...
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Arrival in Nairobi - 1 July
Hi there, updating you all from the Wilderbeast Backpackers in Nairobi, Kenya...
We had a great adventure getting here... up at 3.30am to Dublin airport where we were seated in the emergency exit seats (nice for legs!!) and then, from Heathrow to Nairobi we were in 'middle/business' class - what is going on?!?!?!?!?!? We are not complaining though felt a little like fraudsters.. but we could get used to it... (well, Eoin was lapping it up!!)..
Arrived in Nairobi at 9pm local time (7pm in Ireland) and had to go through immigration. So...two hours later ... we got to the top of the queue and got our stamps...and to our relief our wonderful taxi driver, Livingstone, was waiting for us...
So day 1 - we got here, we haven't even seen a mozzie... though there is a tortoise wandering around the garden..we have sampled the local beer and are now off exploring...
We had a great adventure getting here... up at 3.30am to Dublin airport where we were seated in the emergency exit seats (nice for legs!!) and then, from Heathrow to Nairobi we were in 'middle/business' class - what is going on?!?!?!?!?!? We are not complaining though felt a little like fraudsters.. but we could get used to it... (well, Eoin was lapping it up!!)..
Arrived in Nairobi at 9pm local time (7pm in Ireland) and had to go through immigration. So...two hours later ... we got to the top of the queue and got our stamps...and to our relief our wonderful taxi driver, Livingstone, was waiting for us...
So day 1 - we got here, we haven't even seen a mozzie... though there is a tortoise wandering around the garden..we have sampled the local beer and are now off exploring...
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