Back to Nairobi

Up at 5:30 and out of the campground by 7 - maybe staying up late wasn't such a great idea! We spent the whole day driving down the bumpy roads, swerving around construction areas, getting back to Nairobi at 2:30. We had no problems crossing the border back to Kenya, but of course, I had to get the unusual questions again. It was really loud in the room we were in and the guy was behind glass, so it took me a bit to understand what he was trying to ask. This time it was, "What's the secret?" (me, huh?) "Why do Canadians live so long?" I figured I'd go with "I don't know", got my passport stamped, and got out of there before he started to ask anything else.

I had my own room in the hotel in Nairobi, and it felt great to take a warm shower and be able to stay clean after I got out. A group of us (including one vegetarian) met in the lobby around 5 and headed out to Carnivore Restaurant - an all you can eat meat extravaganza! The restaurant doesn't serve any wild game anymore (they used to serve giraffe, wildebeest, etc.), but we were able to try crocodile (a cross between scallops and chicken), ostrich (very good, we got seconds of that one), and I even ate part of an ox ball (tasted like liver, really chewy, with a tough "skin"). All the meat is roasted over a pit in the centre of the restaurant, then delivered to the table on giant forks or swords, and carved with a machete onto your plate. There is a stand with various salads and dipping sauces in the middle of the table, and a flag on top of the stand. When you're done with the meat, you tip over the flag and they bring a desert menu. I had a delicious piece of chocolate cake for desert, then we finished off the evening with drinks near the pool at the hotel.

Most people had early flights the next day (or were planning to tour around the city), so while everyone else went to be, I went to use the internet for a while. Back at the hotel, we had met up again with our guide from the Masai village in Loita Hills, who also happens to be a trip leader for Intrepid (the company I used for this half of the trip). We had drinks with him and our trip leader, then I saw him again while emailing home - the 100 cows offer was still standing! I didn't think my dad would go for it (he emailed later that if it had been 125, he would have had a deal ... thanks, dad), made a lame excuse, and headed off to bed.

Ngorongoro Crater

Today we explored inside the Ngorongoro Crater! The place is amazing - a volcanic crater with steep sides and a salt-water lake at the bottom, filled with animals. There was no way our truck could get down the crater, so we did our game drive in 4x4 vehicles with the roof taken off ... so of course, I spent the whole trip standing up so that I could have a good view and came back with an awesome dirt tan!

We saw lots of elephants (including a big old bull who was "happy" to see us), hippos, waterbuffalos, wildebeests, and zebras. Unfortunately we weren't able to find any black rhinos.

We ate our lunch along the lake shore at the bottom of the crater. I stayed in the vehicle while I ate, but some of the others wanted to sit outside with their food. The were back in the vehicle pretty quickly after a bird attacked and stole one of the sandwiches!

The drive up was tons of fun - standing up, hanging on to the frame, racing up the steep and windy road to the top of the crater. And of course, we got a flat tire at the top, where we were shown an easy way to jack up a truck - drive the flat tire up onto a rock, then place the jack under the truck! Way easier than having to lift the vehicle with the jack!

We met back up with our overland truck at yet another souvenir shop ("local interaction" according to our trip leader). We spent the night at a dusty and crowded (every overland company was there) campground/snake park, so after setting up the tents, we went to check out the snakes, crocodiles and turtles.

We had a barbecue dinner at the campground restaurant, had to say a few speeches about the trip, then hung out, chatting until late into the evening.

Oldupai Gorge

We game drove our way out of the park, stopping for lunch at the park exit. We then continued down a really rutted and bumpy road to the Oldupai Gorge (we were told several times that it should be spelt with a "p" and not a "v"). We walked around the small museum, then listened to a dull lecture about the geology of the gorge - I thought they would talk a bit more about the footprints and bones they found in their digs, not the type of rocks they found.

After the lecture (and the use of the toilets that seemed to hang over the edge of the cliff), we loaded back into the truck for the rest of the bumpy road to the Ngorongoro Crater. We stopped at the edge of the rim to take some pictures, then made our way to the campsite a bit farther along the rim - the camp had a great view! After setting up our tents, placing them to try and avoid the large amounts of animal droppings, we set off to find some plugs to recharge camera batteries. With a crazy combination of extension cords and adapters, everyone managed to get their stuff partly charged.

While we were eating supper around the campfire, two dogs decided to come and visit with us. As we were eating, we heard some rustling in the bushes behind us and the dogs suddenly stood up and looked alert. When we saw the two large elephants making there way around the campground, our leader suddenly jumped up, yelled "Take care!" and started to chase the dogs away. His yell caused all of us to jump up, camp chairs flying everywhere, all wondering what was about to happen! It turns out that the elephants themselves aren't too dangerous (as long as you leave them alone), but the dogs sometimes start to bark and scare the elephants, which makes them charge. After the excitement of the elephants, we sat around listening to the leaders tell stories from other trips - some good, some bad, some downright scary!

As we made our way back to our tents for the night, we had a few more animal sightings - a herd of zebras near some of the tents, a hyena near the bathroom, and a bush pig running along the bushes. There were a lot of animal noises that night and I think the herd of zebras ran past our tent shortly after we got in there. Based on the amount of animal droppings outside our tent in the morning, there was a lot of activity going on! It was a cold night, but I slept great and again I was thankful that I took my nice warm sleeping bag along!

Serengeti Sightings

We started the day with an early morning game drive then went back to our campsite for lunch and a few hours of rest in the shade before heading back into the park for another game drive later in the afternoon. The main difference that I noticed between the Serengeti and Masai Mara was that the Masai Mara had more herds of grazing animals (and therefore seemed really full) whereas the Serengeti seemed emptier, but we got to see lots of cats and elephants!

The highlight of the day was seeing a cheetah chase down and capture a gazelle! It was quite a ways away from our vehicle so I couldn't see all the gory details, only a cloud of dust as he made the kill, but it was amazing to see him sprint across the hill in front of us (they run at 120 km/hour). It's one thing to know they go fast and to see it on TV, but to see it in real life was awesome!

We saw some more lions along the side of the road (causing a massive traffic jam), a few leopards sleeping in trees, a serval (another type of cat), and lots of elephants, including a baby.

We had a fire that evening, and it was fun to sit around, telling riddles ... especially when someone tells the riddle and then can't remember the answer! Unfortunately, I didn't feel well that night (why here?), so had to wake up my tent-mate and collect our group leader to walk with us to the bathroom - it was only 25 m from the tents, but we were glad we took him with us. Between us and the bathrooms, we met a large hyena - the top of his head was probably the height of my chest and he was big! (I never realized how big and scary looking they are until then.) We shone our lights in his face and our group leader threw some stones at him, and off he ran.

Into the Serengeti

After packing up our tents (and showing all the newbies how to pack up theirs) we headed to the market in Musoma so that our cook could buy the food we needed for the next few days. Then it was off to the Serengeti!

We had lunch just outside the park gate, with a group of baboons watching our every move, waiting for us to leave (surprisingly ... we were expecting an attack) before coming to search for any scraps we may have left. We then headed into the park, game driving our way to our campsite IN the park! Of course, about 5 minutes down the road we got a flat tire. The guys quickly changed the tire while those of us in the truck kept a good lookout for lions or anything else that might want to make a snack of them. As for animals, we added to our list a leopard up in a tree (which made a mad dash for the bushes as we stopped beside it) and two male lions sleeping in the shade of another tree.

Our campsite was simple with flush-squat toilets and cold showers. There were no fences and no guards to protect us during the night, only a sign at the entrance saying "Do not leave the campsite, animals can attack." We ate supper in the dark - head lamps are awesome!

My tent-mate was always worried about being eaten at night, so when we saw a set of eyes behind our tent (obviously a small animal because the eyes were close together and low to the ground), she ran for our group leader to identify the animal. Turns out I was right and it was a jackal! He ended up walking along with us and our bus driver to the bathroom and half way there said "There's a leopard!" We assumed he was joking with us until he and the driver both shone their flashlights on the same area and we saw him making his way through the tall grass. Not something you want to see just before climbing into your tent!

That night I just HAD to pee (why does this always happen to me?) so had to wake up my tent mate so she could be on the lookout for animals while I marked my territory beside the tent. Later on that night, something walked between out tent and our neighbours' ... a hyena?

Country #20 - Tanzania!

Our first stop of the day was a a stone carving cooperative just outside Kisii - here we were shown how the soapstone was carved, polished, and painted before being shipped off to Ten Thousand Villages stores in North America. (I've been to the store, so it was neat to see the people who actually made the stuff!) I bought a stone elephant which they carefully wrapped up for me (and it actually made it all the way back to Canada in one piece!). The next stop was at the border with Tanzania. We left most of our stuff on the truck, and walked with our passports to the Kenyan customs office to exit the country. The officer I talked to only seemed interested in knowing if I (or anyone else in the group I was with) was from Nunavut! Then we walked across the border into Tanzania and went into the customs office there. I had bought my visa in Canada so didn't have to buy one there, but the few people in our group who needed a visa didn't have any hassles getting one. Then it was back on the truck and off to the shores of Lake Victoria where we spent the rest of the day. After lunch, some of the group did a bicycle trip through the neighbouring town, but I decided that I'd seen enough African markets, so didn't feel like paying someone to go see another one. Instead, I found a comfy spot to sit and relax while reading my book and listening to the waves lap against the beach. (There's nasty things in the water, so no swimming) The others got back form there bike ride at sunset, which also happened to be the same time a massive thunderstorm rolled in. We all made our way to the bar at the end of the beach, and sat around chatting in the dark (the power went out) for at least an hour. Then it was back to the cook shelter where we all squeezed in around the massive wood boiler for supper. We then had a hot shower and were in our tents by 9:30.