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Flying into Nairobi promised to be an interesting prospect after fire had destroyed much of the Arrivals terminal several weeks earlier, but after touching down the transition from plane to carpark was surprisingly smooth. The temporary marquees erected to process visas, baggage and currency exchange were all remarkably efficient and we were through customs quicker than we would have been had the terminal still been standing!
Outside we were picked up by our driver-for-the-day and whisked to our hostel to drop off our bags before heading straight out for a tour of the city. Our Nairobi tour had been hastily arranged by the hostel and while we wanted to get a feel for Kenya on our one day in the country, our expectations were not high! Which was just as well... Our 'guide' for the day was nothing more than a glorified taxi driver on a daily rate, ferrying us to a list of destinations scrawled on the back of a fag packet. He barely said a word to us the entire day, instead preferring to spend the time on one of his many phones dealing with whatever shady business interests he had.
In a way though, his chronic lack of interest worked in our favour as we were far too tired to engage in any kind of meaningful conversation! We visited The Cultural Musuem, which was quite interesting; the International Conference Centre to get a 360-degree view of the city from the rooftop helipad; and Uhuru Park, essentially a smaller, less impressive version of London's Hyde Park. After that we stopped at Carnivore, a favourite tourist haunt serving a wide variety of roasted meats in unlimited supply - waiters buzzed around offering skewers of chicken, turkey, beef, ostrich, crocodile and even Ox balls! When we'd eaten our fill of meats, salads, breads, soups and dessert we headed over to our final destination of the day, The Giraffe Sanctuary. There we got to feed and get up close and personal (I got a snog from one!) with Africas favourite lanky wildlife. By 5pm we were back at the hotel, thoroughly exhausted having already been up for 12hrs. The sightseeing tour, though not remotely worth what we paid for it, had actually turned out to be well worth doing. I don't think our guide was particularly happy at not getting a tip but frankly, given his lack of effort, the disappointment on his face was something of a bonus for me! After cold showers and a basic dinner - the hostel was nothing special but more than adequate for one night - we sorted out our packs and crawled into bed.
The next morning was the start of our Nomad overland tour so at 7am we took a taxi to our pickup hotel nearby. The hostel had told us the short journey would cost no more than $10 but it was no real surprise when the driver demanded double that when he dropped us off - he worked for our Nairobi 'tour guide' and I got the impression he was trying to claim his tip by proxy! I made it very clear that $10 was all he was getting - and that he should be grateful for it - and he scurried off without any further fuss. In the carpark there was an overland truck loading up with supplies so we went to check it out. Sure enough it was our tour bus and after saying hello to our Zimbabwean guide and driver, Joel and Lawrence, we climbed aboard.
To say the truck - nicknamed Jimi after Jimi Hendrix - had seen better days is putting it politely and it was a far cry from the type of vehicle Nomad had advertised. The seats were dirty and worn, there were no lockers, there were no sockets to charge electrical devices, the overhead baggage racks were old and creaking and the floor panels bowed on the slightest contact. In short, Jimi was ready for the scrapheap! As the first on board, we settled into the most comfortable seats we could find and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Half an hour later the tour group was complete. We had a total of ten people - a mish mash of Germans(4), Aussies(2), Kiwis (2) and us. And surprisingly we were the youngest!
The ride from Nairobi to Arusha was long and uncomfortable as Jimi rattled along on the bumpy roads. After a brief stop at a supermarket for supplies we reached the Tanzanian border shortly before lunchtime. Visas purchased without a hitch we drove on into Tanzania, reaching Ndoro Lodge around 5pm. After checking in we got a quick briefing about the following days excursion to The Serengeti before grabbing a few cold beers at the bar. Dinners were to be a communal affair so we all pitched in with the preparation while Joel set to work doing most of the cooking. Two huge helpings of spaghetti bolognaise later it was time for the inevitably cringeworthy round of introductions - which hardly seemed necessary as everyone was already getting on fine. That over and done with, we had a briefing about the first half of the trip and then cleared away the dishes before heading to bed. Tomorrow was going to be the first of many early starts!
The next day got off to a fiery start when Joel took our payments for the Serengeti trip. Much to our annoyance everyone else had been able to prepay when they booked their trips (something we were told we weren't allowed to do) and to fuel our grievance they were trying to charge us more than everyone else! One very heated discussion later, things were resolved enough for us to get underway and the group divided into two smaller parties before climbing into the waiting safari jeeps. In our car we had Jo and Kev, the kiwi couple, one of the germans Marco and Jimi's driver Lawrence. Our guide and driver for the next few days called himself Good Luck - though ironically he turned out to be anything but!
Along with a supply vehicle, the two jeeps set off for The Serengeti. Along the way we stopped at a Snake Park where we learnt about the many dangerous snakes in the African bush - notably the deadly Black Mamba - before taking the opportunity to hold a non-poisonous snake and a baby crocodile. We then had a short but interesting tour of a Masai Museum, briefed by a local as we went about the indigenous Masai culture.
After a quick stop for lunch we drove on through Ngorogoro National Park and into The Serengeti. We were due to have a game-drive that afternoon but by now it was getting late so instead Good Luck put his foot down to ensure we made it to our camp before dark. Arriving just before sunset we were surprised at just how different the camp was compared to those in Kruger Park. It was a bush-camp, so aside from 3 basic buildings - the kitchen, the dining hall and the ablutions block - everything was out in the open. Our tents were right at the far side of the camp and backed onto an endless expanse of wilderness - no fence, no armed guard, just us and the wild animals! Accordingly, after dinner, the briefing was short and to the point - don't leave the tents at night, it's too dangerous! Lions had killed a buffalo right next to the camp and packs of hyenas were hanging around scavenging the kill. Sure enough, as we headed back to our tents we saw dozens of them surrounding our camp, hiding in the darkness - the light from our torches reflecting off their cold piercing eyes. Its fair to say there was little danger of any of us getting up in the night to take the long walk to the bathrooms!
By the time we got up at 6am, everyone was desperate for the toilet! In a stand off that had lasted most of the night, lions had been growling and hyenas laughing as they fought over the what was left of the buffalo carcass. For some sleep had been hard to come by but I'd somehow convinced myself the noises were merely harmless hippos and managed to get some much needed shut-eye! After a quick coffee we headed to the trucks for an early morning game-drive. Our jeep had a flat tyre, and after Good Luck changed it he realised the replacement tyre was also flat...only he couldn't be bothered to change it again! So, we set off on three good tyres in search of the wildlife that had terrorised us the night before.
It turned out to be a morning of big cats and over the next four hours we had fantastic sightings of lions, leopards and cheetahs, coming away with hundreds of photos (most if which we would later delete!). Returning to camp around 11am, we had brunch and showers before relaxing in the sun for the afternoon. By the time the next game-drive came around I was getting restless so it was with some relief that we set out for a sunset-drive just after 4pm. This time we saw plenty of giraffe, elephants and baboons. Before we headed back to camp Good Luck finally conceded that the flat replacement tyre had to be changed and with our help, the second replacement was on in minutes - not that we got any thanks! After another hearty dinner a bunch of us sat around a makeshift campfire (actually a mosquito candle!) outside our tents before heading to bed at the relatively late hour of 9.30!
Around 4am I was woken by Kate. With my earplugs in I had been oblivious to the commotion going on outside but on hearing someone outside shout "Stay in your tents! Stay in your tents! There's lions in the camp!", Kate had decided it was time to wake me from my slumber! Un-phased and half-asleep I assured her it was probably just those darn hippos again and went straight back to sleep. A couple of hours later at breakfast we heard that there actually had been lions in the camp! Several had ventured into the toilet block in search of water and some cubs had been playing with one of tents, inadvertently slicing open the canvas as two women slept inside! Eventually the lions were chased off by a couple of the safari jeeps. So much for those hippos...
Lions appeared to be very much the order of the day and on the mornings game drive we stumbled across an injured lioness laying next a tree by the side of the road. She had just given birth. Two males basked in the sun on other side of the road completely ignoring her. Next to the lioness was a stillborn cub and tucked in underneath her back leg was a second cub attempting to suckle. Badly injured and barely able to move the lioness eventually dragged herself under the shade of the tree, leaving her newborn cub to fend for itself. We watched, willing the cub to follow or for the lioness to go back for it. But as the minutes passed it became apparent the lioness was dying and had apparently decided to leave her cubs to fend for themselves - and likely die too. We could see the grass moving on the other side of the tree and could make out at least 2 more cubs that had been left behind. Each of them were struggling to move and calling for their mother but too weak to make any progress and not yet able to open their eyes, they stood no chance. It was sad but there was nothing we could do to help and eventually, with the jackals circling, we drove off unable to do anything except allow nature to take it's course.
An hour later we stopped for lunch at the entrance to the Serengeti National Park. As I was munching on a stale muffin, a cheeky starling flew in and stole a chunk of cake from my hand. I didn't much fancy the rest after that so I threw it way from the table for the birds to eat. The second it hit the floor the driver of our other jeep, Limo, glared at me and demanded I pay him a $50 fine for littering and feeding the birds! At first I thought he was joking but it soon became clear he was deadly serious. What business it was of his and quite why he thought he should have the money is anyone's guess but after an angry exchange he finally backed down. His sheer nerve continued to rile me though and I thought it best I avoid him for the rest of the trip!
After lunch we went to visit a Masai Village. We were dubious as to how authentic it would be, unable to escape the feeling it would be something of a tourist trap, but either way it promised to be interesting. The Masai danced for us on our arrival, before we were split into our couples and each taken by a villager for a tour of their home and then the rest of the village. Interesting though it was to see the houses they lived in, it was very much a 'divide and conquer' manoeuvre and every opportunity was taken to give us the hard sell! While it was hard not to feel for the sad-faced kids at the 'nursery school' or the poverty stricken vendors at the markets, it was impossible to to escape the feeling that we were seen as nothing more than a meal ticket. Walking wallets from the West expected to contribute by purchasing vast amounts of overpriced crap using the endless supply of money that simply falls out of our arse! And when we failed to spend enough, looks of expectation would turn to disgust! It was unfortunately a feeling that was to be all too present for our entire stay in Africa. That said, Kate is a little more forgiving in these situations and we came away with a 'lovely' couple of homemade bracelets, haggling them down to a price no higher than we were prepared to pay!
'Authentic' village tour over we drove on to our camp for the night in The Ngorogoro Crater. After a quick shower we took photos of the herds of zebra grazing around our tents before enjoying a slap-up dinner. We'd requested a campfire for the evening but according to the camp ranger a resident bull elephant was guarding the firewood so we were s*** out of luck! Heading to bed around 9 we threw on every item of clothing we had with us - it was a good 15 degrees colder in the Crater than The Serengeti - and settled into our tents. Several hours later I woke up bursting for the loo and despite advice to the contrary, left the supposed safety of the tent. The ablutions block was over 100metres away but I got no further than ten paces before I opted for a bush toilet - standing there in the pitch black without my contact lenses and with just a feeble beam of light from my torch for company, I was convinced that any moment a lion would suddenly appear and drag me off never to be seen agin! Back in the tent I managed a few hours sleep before waking up around 2am convinced something was shuffling around next to our tent. We'd been warned about animals trying to get into the tents and the howling winds were playing havoc with my imagination! Freezing cold and paranoid, I spent the rest of the night expecting the tent to be crushed by rampaging elephants!
Having survived the imaginary horrors conjured up by my overactive mind, we rose at 6am for breakfast before hitting the road an hour later to embark on a game-drive in the crater. As well as lions and hyenas we saw lots of wildebeest and zebra. It was the season of the great Wildebeest migration from Serengeti to Masai Mara (in Kenya) and it was fascinating to watch they lined up in their hundreds, filing across the plains like long lines of ants. We then spent an hour chasing a black rhino - the one thing to elude us so far in all our safaris - but the closest we got was several hundred metres away. Zooming in as far as we could with our cameras we could just about make out the outline of the Rhino's horn but it was so far away I'm not sure I can really count it! On the way out of the park we had to change the tyre yet again (this time borrowing a spare from the other jeep!) but by now we were seasoned pros and had it done in no time - Formula One eat your heart out!
We arrived back at Ndoro Lodge around 4.30pm and said our goodbyes to Good Luck who, much to his annoyance, we'd renamed Flat Tyre . His surly, know-it-all attitude had won him few friends in our jeep and we'd grown tired of his tendency to drive off before we'd finished taking photos - convinced as we were that he'd robbed us of some award-winning wildlife shots! The feeling may have been mutual as he seemed surprised when I gave him a (small) tip - maybe I should have stuck with my initial inclination of giving him b***** all!
Joel welcomed us back with a fantastic dinner and after a couple of relaxing beers we all headed for our rooms, exhausted by the exploits of the last few days. There was to be no respite from the early starts though and at 6.15 we were up again for a 7-hour drive to Leshoto. The early start was worth it though and arriving just after 3 at our hotel up in the mountains we had the chance to enjoy the afternoon sunshine, kicking back with a few beers and catching up with the world using the free, albeit woefully slow, wifi. Another hearty meal and another early night followed as we prepared for a 4.30am start and the long drive to Dar Es Saleem.
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