I Love Lucy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Michelle at the National Cafe

We arrived in Addis Ababa very excited not just to see a new country (especially as we'd heard lots of good things about Ethiopia ), but also to see our last country of Africa.  Before we left Kenya we tried to do some online research ahead of time (quite unusual for us) and discovered that internal flights in Ethiopia were quite expensive - more than we were hoping. We will soon be back in England in just two weeks' time, and because we do only have two weeks and the distances are so great (buses take 1 to 2 days to some places!), flying across Ethiopia would be the way to make the most of our time. The Addis Ethiopia Air office was not far from our guesthouse and we decided to see if there were any deals to be had. Well, we were in luck: daily flights around the country are about $40 to $65! But you have to buy tickets from inside the country to get that great price. That would save us some time.  What an uplifting start! We could heave a sigh of relief and now continue to enjoy our first day in Addis.

We even managed to find an amazing local cafe, across from the airline office, that would be our mainstay for our time in Addis.  National Cafe was our introduction to what we would find out was

Eating Bozena Shero with Injera

fabulous local foods.... and plenty of it at that!  I would think that most "Westerners" impression of Ethiopia is that it is a desolate place with major famine and hardly any agriculture.  That is far from the truth, because we found it to be a rather green, crop producing country, the food was delicious, and most times, we couldn't eat all that was served to us - very plentiful.  On our first trip to National Cafe, we basically looked around the restaurant, pointed at plates and asked for those items.  This would be our first taste of a staple food called injera, which is basically a massive pancake with the consistency of tripe, and it is fermented a few days, so that the taste is a little sour.  Not everyone's cup of tea, but I didn't mind it - Michelle, on the other hand was not too fond of the texture or taste.

Many countries in Africa claim to be the "Cradle of Mankind" but the reality is, Ethiopia is where it's at! In 1974, Australapithecus Afarensis, or 'Lucy' as she is more familiarly known ('Lucy in the sky with Diamonds' was playing at the camp when she was found) was one of the first bipedal hominid (upright walking and human-like) fossils to be found. 3.2 million years old and pint-sized at 3 and a bit feet tall, Lucy was one of the major pieces to one of the most important puzzles to mankind - our evolutionary origins.

Michelle and Lucy

The casts of the several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of her skeleton is housed at the National Museum. She is significant because her skeleton shows evidence of small skull capacity similar to apes, and signs of upright walking akin to that of humans, providing evidence supporting the view that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size in human evolution.  We took local transport to the musuem, and were surprised when the lady who showed us which minibus to take, actually paid for our fare.  Little things, but it sure shows the nature of the Ethiopian people.  Lucy was the main attraction, but the rest of the National Museum was interesting, but a lot of reading. 

The former palace of the Emperor Haile Selassie is at the University of Addis Ababa, and is now the site of the Ethnological Museum which we had time to visit. A super interesting and colourful museum, it captures the heritage of the past and traditional art and culture of Ethiopia's many tribes and cultures. It describes the different stages of life viewed and experienced by over 80 language ethnic groups!  It also still houses the Emperor's original bedroom where he slept for 10 years.  Haile Selassie was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. As Emperor he was the head of state and government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power.  He endured the war and occupation by Italy for 5 years from 1935 when Mussolini's Fascist regime was keen to provide a

Emperor Haile Selassie's bedroom

bridge between it's occupation of neighbouring countries, Eritrea and Somaliland, and to avenge its defeat suffered in the First Italo-Abyssinian War (1895 to 1896). Haile Selassie was the heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there apparently back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, better known as the Queen of Sheba.  As his real name is Ras Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah among the Rastafari movement.  The stuff you learn!

The museum was a short walk up the road from the National Museum, and on our walk we shocked to see the amount of beggars along the road.  It seemed like they were all waiting outside the church, as a ceremony was just finishing, and hoping to take advantage of the worshippers good hearts.  Later, we returned to our guesthouse called Wim's Holland House.  It was a funky place with a nice, helpful staff (especially Mimi), and some other friendly Dutch travelers all using different methods to travel Cape Town to Cairo.  * Mush/Stub

The Garbage Dump of Mombasa, Kenya

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Mombasa on the harbour

Dirty, garbage everywhere and scruffy streets - that was our first impression of Mombasa upon our arrival by train, and when we arrived back from Tiwi, the second impression seemed to be more of the same.  Old Mombasa could have some great character, along the lines of Zanzibar, and Lamu (that we never made it to) but the streets are a mess, and even in the main Government Square, an area that the official guided Mombasa walk directs you through, there were piles of garbage, a couple of smelly skips/garbage containers with stray cats eating scraps, and general mess everywhere.  Great impressions for the main tourist trail.  I guess we were seeing the 'real' Mombasa.
Getting in to Mombasa this time was great.  Zoltan gave us a great ride from Tiwi, right in to Mombasa, and we quickly walked to a recommended hotel nearby.  It's nice when it's easy.  So, we had one afternoon, and the next morning to tour Mombasa.  We decided to check out the old town in the afternoon, and leave the Mombasa highlight Fort Jesus for the following morning.

The Tusks - Mombasa

Mombasa occupies an important role on the coast.  It is the largest port in Eastern Africa, and supplies many interior countries with goods from far and wide.  It also has many historical importances.  Holding an important location, it was razed to the ground many times, thus forcing the Portuguese to build a stronghold - Fort Jesus - in 1593.  Then it became even more of a target, and changed hands many times over the centuries.   It was not only Europeans that held Mombasa, but also, after a 33 month siege, the Omani's moved in for than 170 years between 1698 and 1870.  This is where it's Muslim and Swahili culture come from, similar to Lamu in the North.
It appears that the Swahili culture is slowly being fazed out, and after speaking with a few people in the old town, it sounds like the locals are being squeezed out and the new occupants don't really care about traditions or, apparently, the appearance of the old town.  It could be so nice, but is not.  Maybe one day UNESCO will move in??

The Garbage in Government Square

In our brief stop, we did see 'The Tusks'.  An interesting looking sculpture over the road, but on close up viewing, is not a solid sculpture, but a metal frame which looks far better from afar!!  The harbour was quite scenic, but there was lots of construction on the far banks.  The old Fort Jesus did not disappoint however.  Heading in the high walls, the interior definitely had some colour and character.  We enjoyed walking around the ramparts, and even eating breakfast in a corner watchtower, overlooking the sea.  You can walk down the Passage of the Arches, which is an exceptionally deep stairway built from the centre of the courtyard, steeply down towards the sea under the main wall. 
So, a brief stop in Mombasa was all we really needed, and we caught a taxi out to the airport, past the lovely garbage dumps with the flies and little shacks on top, and off to start our journey home.  A few monkeys were running around the airport, which was a surprising treat, and a nice parting gift from Kenya.   *Stub

Fort Jesus, Mombasa

Michelle inside Fort Jesus

Beach Boys and Beach Braais, Watamu and Tiwi Beach, Kenya

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We had to make a decision getting off the train…. do we head North or South along the coast??  We had recommendations for both, and decided we liked the sound of Watamu, as it not only had beach, it also had some ancient sights around. The usual hassles abound, but we shrug them off and are

Tiwi Beach with our tent on the right

Watamu bound.  Upon arrival in Watamu, not only do the heavens open and the rain hammers down on us, but we are approached by many a beach 'boy' offering us places to stay, show us around, the lot.....  Always be leery of these guys, because there is always a hidden agenda.  So, we brushed them off as best we could, sometimes getting a little angry with them and telling them to leave us alone.  They even seem to have a routine here - good beach 'boy', bad beach 'boy' - in which one hassles us, and the other eventually tells him to leave us alone.... only to proceed to follow us as well and then do the same thing to us.  The other thing I haven't mentioned is that the town seemed to be in a state of closure.  Every shop, every hotel, every restaurant seemed to be closed.  Now I know it is low season, but can the town really 'close'???   This one seems to.  So, we hurried into the first open hotel we saw, sopping wet, and trying to get away from the beach boys.  Not only did we have the beach boy hassle (and it truly made us feel unsafe), we also had the issue of where we would eat (because then all the beach boys would follow us ... and in the dark), and what we would do in town, since we seemed to be the only tourists there. 

In the end, the decision was easy, and we got on the next matatu out of town, with the beach boys giving us rude hand gestures, and telling us to get lost because we hadn't trusted them.   Hakuna Matata they say ('no problem') Yeah right.... we are not new to this, and they think we are stupid!!  Best move was to get out of the possibly bad situation, and the only place we could head to before dark was Malindi, about an hour or so North. 

Marco, Martin, Dorette, Guillaume, Hannah having a braai

In Malindi, our tuk-tuk guy took us to the wrong place, but luckily on the way into town, we bumped into Sheila and Micheal from the train.  Unfortunately very bad timing, as Sheila was in a panic as her important bag was missing with passports, money, etc.  Luckily, we heard later that she found it - phew!!  It was a pretty much a nothing night in Malinda.  We walked the coast, out on the jetty, and saw the scrubby beach.  The only thing of note was the large, white monument that Vasco de Gama had built in the 1500's, to help with navigation.

After speaking with Dorette and Guillaume by phone, they recommended we join them at Tiwi Beach as it was really nice.  So, early in the morning, we headed back through Mombasa, across the ferry and eventually to the end of the dirt road to Tiwi.  Guillaume was nice enough to shuttle both of us to the beach on the IDoAfrica piki-piki because he could tell we were frustrated and pissed off.

Our campsite at Tiwi Beach

And we were so glad we came.  We set up our tent on the beautiful white sand beach, looking out to the blue waters of the Indian Ocean once again.  With Dorette and Guillaume who were our awesome beach neighbours, we had some great beach braais, with some delicious home cooked grub.  Day one was sirloin, and day two was prawns!!  Followed up by drinks around the campfire on the beach, and chilling at the waters edge under the stars having some great chats with a bottle of gin and another of rum.
Apparently, this left Guillaume with a pretty bad head the next day (he was babalas).  He had some resume/CV work to do the next day, so I hitched a piki-piki ride with him in to Diani, but I think he struggled to get anything of substance done.  On our ride home, we hit the heavy rains, and I got a taste of piki-piki travel with the elements. 

Silly beach photos with Dorette and Guillaume

It was a quick couple of days, but we really enjoyed their company and wish them the best on the rest of www.idoafrica.com to Egypt.  We were also sad to leave, because we could have stayed for a week, but had booked a flight.  A difference here too, was that although there were beach boys, they were part of an association, and really didn't hassle us much at all.  It was a great last stop.  We took a few silly beach pose photos, and then were off to Mombasa with another camper Zoltan, who happened to be going to the airport to pick up a friend.  Good luck Dorette and Guillaume - we hope you make and your piki-piki make it!!   *Stub

An African Classic - Nairobi to Mombasa Train, Kenya

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Nairobi Railway Station in all it's glory

We've only taken a couple of trains on our travels through Africa, but one that is considered one of the great train journeys of Africa is the Nairobi-Mombasa Train. Nairobi is at 5453ft (1662m) above sea level and travels overnight down to Mombasa at 18ft (5.5m). The British built rail lines through Eastern Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) to open up trade with Central Africa.

Derek was extremely envious of us doing this train journey as he has very fond memories of taking the train himself as a boy with his parents, and now would like to take his own family on the same adventure.  On Derek's recommendation we arrived late afternoon to hang out on the platform and observe the goings-on. The station was busy with commuters, but was also undergoing renovations so was not completely open and up and running, but you could tell that it had once had some class. As we waited, we chatted to some other train travellers, and to a guy, Daniel, selling bits and bobs at a table on the platform. Daniel was very happy showing his collection of coins and money from around Africa. Martin in turn showed him his Zimbabwe 10 trillion dollar note. From his reaction, I think that made Daniel's day!

Squeezing through the tight hallways

No longer a steam train (sorry, Derek), it was still exciting when our engine was finally attached: our departure was getting closer and closer. Finally it was all aboard and we squeezed through the narrow passage-way to our cabin. We had bought first class tickets since mixed genders are not allowed in second class (unless you purchase all four beds) and third class is wooden seating only - which we did not consider as fun for a 15 hour overnight journey! So our two berth compartment was cosy and even had a working washbasin and wardrobe.

The carriage staff had just enough time to introduce themselves when suddenly we were off bang on 7pm! (not like our Mbeya to Dar Es Salaam train which departed more than 24 hours late!). Pulling pole-pole out of the station we left Nairobi behind. Almost immediately, the bell for evening dinner started ringing. Dinner was in a nice old-fashioned dining car almost like a setting out of an Agatha Christie, and I half expected Hercule Poirot to mysteriously enter through the carriage door at any second stroking his moustache. We were treated to quite a colonial experience at the small tables cluttered with their three course meal settings. The mediocre food of rice, meat and veg was even served silver-service style by uniformed waiters. Classy for us!

Our snazzy First Class cabin

We sat for dinner with the fellow travellers that we had briefly met/seen on the platform. Sheila and Micheal were both Canadian, Josh from the UK, and Dorette and Guillaume from South Africa. We shared their 'Konyagi', a toxic spirit (liquor) that was tolerable with Sprite. We swapped travel stories: Sheila and Micheal volunteers at an orphanage, Josh traveling from England, and Dorette and Guillaume travelling from South Africa all the way to Egypt on their piki-piki (Chinese-made motorbike)! As the night wore on, Guillaume got more and more goofy. At one stop, he made us all jump by banging on our outside window - I mean, the train hadn't even stopped yet, so it really surprised us to see him outside.  It was a fun evening though, and it wasn't until 11.30 that we all retired to our cabins.

While we had been at dinner our cabin had been turned down. The cabin staff had made up our beds complete with sheets and blanket. Super cosy. Even though it was exciting to be on such a classic adventure speeding into the night (in relative safety and comfort) across the hills and plains of Kenya, the lilting rhythm of the train was surprisingly smooth and we soon fell asleep.

I awoke just before dawn and lay gazing out the window at the passing red, flat landscape. The

Sheila, Michael, Guillaume, Dorette, Martin and Josh in dining car

commonplace round mud shacks with their grass roofs were scattered across the plains. Once in a while there would be a domed mud structure which was more unusual. As we headed east I saw the occasional white frilly mosque with minaret, and even a homestead with a small herd of camels in the yard - both signs that we were getting closer to our destination on the arabic Swahili coast. It had been a fairly good night's sleep and Martin said he had felt a lot safer in his bunk with webbing to hold him in if necessary - unlike our Mbeya to Dar Es Salaam train which only had low metal bar for him to cling to! On the other side of the train the sun was rising and we rose to watch the soft light warm up the landscape.

Soon after, the train staff walked up and down the corridor dinging the bell, and in various states of sleep and hangover (Guillaume didn't even appear!), the handful of first class passengers headed to

Our View entering Mombasa

the dining car for a not too fancy breakfast. A couple of hours later we were passing larger towns and eventually the views became more and more busy and built-up. We were coming into Mombasa. Forgotten were the open plains as we passed the industrial outskirts with its pungent, toxic dumps. We were horrified to see people actually living on the huge mountains of rubbish in shacks made out of anything they could find! Awful!  And then hundreds of flies invaded our train through the open windows!!  A charming welcome to Mombasa!

The arrival into Mombasa was not a pretty one for sure, but it was 10am and we were on time! I think the Mombasa train may have changed a little since Derek's time, but we found it a charming and eclectic adventure. We were glad we had done this classic journey and had met some great people who we would yet see again. We said our goodbyes and watched Dorette and Guillaume pack up their gear onto the piki-piki, before wandering off into old Mombasa.  * Mush

Guillaume and Dorette packing up the Piki-Piki for IDoAfrica

Mixing with the Maasai in the Maasai Mara, Kenya

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We had been to soooo many other National Parks on this adventure, how could we miss out the amazing Maasai Mara in South-Western Kenya!  Sure, the price would be high, but the thoughts of what we might see overcame the price issue.  Besides, this could theoretically be our last chance at animals and game drives on our trip.  And when would we next be back in Africa? Why not!!!

The Maasai people had first migrated to this part of Africa from the Sudan.  Once the British gazetted the Maasai Mara National Reserve in the 60's, the Maasai people were displaced and over time more and more of their land was lost to the reserve. One of Africa's continuing struggles is juggling the

Topi antelope and some beautiful clouds

needs of the people - land to live off to grow crops and graze cattle, but also to preserve wilderness for endangered wildlife and for them to live in safety.

The Safari group that we joined were mostly made up of Americans: Angela and Kristin from California, Wayne from Texas, and one South Korean 'Gabbi', in a 4WD mini-van driven by our relaxed guide Simon.  Derek was especially jealous of us going to the Mara, as it is one of his favourite parts of Kenya.  Too bad we couldn't visit with them, our new Nairobi 'family'!!

The journey to the Maasai Mara was a bit of an adventure.  We drove down into the Rift Valley (the same way we had gone to Naivasha), past Longonot and Susua volcanoes.  Bumpy dirt roads, and many washed out from recent rains and some areas still flooded out.  We had to tip a couple of local Maasai for digging out a section of road so that we could pass!

Quickly checking in to our permanent tented accommodation, Rhino Camp, we hurried back out to start an evening game drive in the park.  Surprisingly, we had already seen quite a lot of game on the drive to the Mara itself, but nothing was quite like being in the Mara.  After we got our early fix of antelope, zebra, wildebeest, gazelles (for some in our group this was their first safari), we heard on the CB radio about a leopard sighting.  I managed to spot this leopard lying up in a tree, and we

Big buffalo at sunset light in the grasslands

watched for quite sometime, hoping it would do more than just twitch its tail once in awhile!  We convinced the group that this was quite a RARE experience, and to stay longer to watch.  In our many months in this part of Africa, we had only spotted three leopards, and two were not very clear sightings.  This was special for us, and we wanted to experience it for longer!

Some more game on the open plains, but the beauty of the scenery was stunning.  Rolling hills of grasslands, dotted with some acacia, and all in the glowing light of sunset.  We were graced with a close up sighting of three male lions resting in the grasses, and our vehicle was able to drive around them quite close.  They barely raised an eyebrow!  Little did we know at the time, these would be the only lion we would see on our three drives in to the park. Peculiar, as the Mara is well known for it's large lion population.  Because of this late sighting, we were about 20 minutes late leaving the park, and could conceivably be fined, but Simon, quick on his feet, gave a story about getting stuck in mud and having to be towed out……sneaky!

Our fabulous leopard in the tree

We enjoyed a mediocre dinner of the usual local meat and bone stew, rice and decimated bland veg with two other groups of safari-ers.  Good conversation, and good laughs, especially about Kristin, (being away from her baby) having to pump her breast milk.  We all decided that the noise the pump made was identical to a wildebeest's grunt!!!  S2uddenly during dinner Michelle started experiencing stomach pains, then feeling faint, and before I knew it, her eyes rolled back into her head, arms began shaking, and she passed-out briefly.  Not falling to the floor, she was OK, but I had some serious concerns.  Walking her to the tent, she felt much better after lying down, but I feared that she was quite ill, or in the least her following day would be lost.

Thankfully, a miraculous recovery for Michelle, and we were up earlier than expected as the other groups left for a sunrise drive.  Staying in tents, I don't think others realize how much sound travels and easily penetrates mesh!  Michelle felt fine, and we were off on an all-day safari deeper into the park.  Similar animals greeted us at the gate, but we went straight in search of our leopard again.  Sure enough, I spotted him in the neighbouring 'comfy' tree, but this time we were able to get much closer thanks to Simon turning his minivan into a 4x4!  Again we watched for a good length of time, but still no action.  Amazing patterns on his coat though, and we were the only ones there watching in peace.

The storm-a-brewing

In our search for more big cats, we heard on the radio of a possible cheetah sighting.  In technical game-speak the word 'cheetah' is not pluralised.  Once again, I had the eagle-eyes, and found them under a tiny little tree - the only shade around for a long distance.  Two cheetah, just occasionally poking their heads up, and us only being able to see the outline of the heads through the grasses.  Then, just as a couple other vehicles pulled up, Simon gave us a great surprise.  Apparently, he had called one of the head rangers, and had been given permission to drive off-road close to the cheetah.  We excitedly circled within about 20 feet of them, snapping off some photos quickly.  They are so elegant, and sleek looking - beautiful creatures.  I would love to see them run at speed!!  After a quick couple of minutes with the cheetah, we gleefully returned to the road, where we passed the other vehicles who were probably wondering why they had not been allowed to get that close - lucky us indeed!

Not too much wildlife, but stunning vistas greeted us on our way to the Mara River. This is the sight of THE Great Migration, where thousands of wildebeest struggle across the river on their way North or South in search of water and lush food between the Mara and neighbouring Serengeti following the raining seasons.  Many don't survive the perilous journey, dying from various causes, one such being the crocodiles that line the shore awaiting the wildebeests' arrival.  In the river, the hippos seemed to be doing some rafting and frolicking of their own and drifting downstream.

New for us - Bat Eared Foxes

On the drive back through the park, the weather started changing.  It was amazing looking up at the sky and seeing a vertical line separating blue sky, from grey, gloomy rain clouds.  Bizarre skies, and then the rains hit, and hit hard.  Dirt roads turned to rivers, and Simon had to use all his driving skills to keep the van on the road.  As quickly as the storm came, it passed, and we popped up the viewing-top again to continue our game watching.  It's pretty amazing that although we have done so many drives, we still see something new each time.  This time, we found two groups of bat-eared foxes.  Super large ears to go with their small bodies - yet another highlight of the day for Michelle and I.   Plenty of elephants in the park, and lots of tiny little babies hiding behind mums' flanks.  We never get tired of seeing them.  The only animal missing was the rhinoceros - apparently the hardest to find in the Mara.

Martin hanging with the local Maasai men

Back at camp and in the village of Oloolomutia, we saw mostly male Maasai, and they were dressed in their checked shuka (blanket), and carried a ball-ended heavy wooden club.  The Maasai were really nice guys, and some of them had good English. On closer inspection, we noticed that many have elongated ear lobes with the lower bit of cartilage cut out, stretching what's left of the ear lobe over time (sometimes hooking the loop over the top of their ears).  They also have burn mark tattoos on their bodies, which are also considered a form of beautification.  An American traveler at camp - Graysen - actually visited with a local family and got the burn tattoo himself on top of the local mountain.  Graysen was quite a character who was attending UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  He was trying to visit as many tribes as he could in the Kenya/Ethiopia area to learn more about their culture and traditions. The Maasai in particular are known as pastoralists and are dependant on their livestock for many things.  Blood and milk are a mainstay of their diet, and at the age of 14, males become warriors and

Local Maasai men

build a small livestock camp of their own after their circumcision ceremony.  They can live alone for up to 8 years before they return to the village to marry.  They are also very athletic and are famous for their 'jumping', which looks almost effortless, as they reach great heights.  The villages are also built in a circular pattern, and often circled by spiky acacia bushes to keep cattle protected in the middle, and predators out.

On the third day, it was back to Nairobi for us.  Getting dropped off at Dianna and Derek's again, we said goodbye to the crew, and excitedly recounted our trip to the envious Dianna and Derek.  We followed this with a dinner party with a lovely couple they knew, and Dianna had organized tacos and fajitas for dinner.  One more treat for us - Mexican food - and it was delicious!!  *Stub

A Little Too Much Tongue - Naivasha and Karen, Kenya

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Thousands of Flamingoes at Lake Oloiden near Naivasha

Lake Naivasha is about an hour and a half away by car from Nairobi. Thinking that a quick day trip was do-able, we headed out with Dianna on her way to work dropping us off at a matatu (mini-bus) stop bound for the region. Or so we thought! As we discovered, there was no matatu - at least not going from that location! After being advised by various reliable sources, but against our gut feeling, we caught a matatu in to Nairobi proper. At the terminus, our bus conductor who had promised to direct us towards our next leg, promptly forgot and started wandering off. Catching him just in time, he directed us part-way towards an express matatu: a 20 minute walk through Nairobi's unsavoury River St. district. Not long to wait though and finally we really were Naivasha-bound. We managed to walk through Nairobi unscathed - nice!!

The main road coming down into Naivasha town was super-scenic with views over Africa's 8 million year old Great Rift Valley - the one and the same rift valley that we'd been in and out of in Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Malawi. The valley stretched as far as the eye could see (of course) and was beautiful with grassy plains, ochre soil and jagged peaks of the volcanic craters of Hell's Gate and Mt. Longonot National Parks. Just one more matatu to catch amongst the madness of Naivasha town, and we arrived at Camp Carnelly's situated at the lake's edge - approximately 6 hours after leaving the house that morning! All was good though: we had arrived gratefully safe. A good job that we had come prepared for an overnight stay though!

Ethan and Martin with a curious little trunk

The shores of fresh water lake Naivasha fringed with papyrus and yellow barked acacias play host to many protected species including hippo, fish eagles, many aquatic birds, and antelope. Unfortunately, for the Masai tribe it also attracted many early colonial settlers. Historically the area was big on beef cattle, and fruit and veg production irrigated by the waters of the lake. Today, the $400 million-a-year flower industry is blooming and booming. Flowers picked here early morning are in Europe's auctions the same day! The downside of this success, of course, is the impact on the local environment - threatening the very survival of the source of the industry's creation - the lake. Pesticides and fertilizers seep into the lake reeking havoc on its ecosystem. Drawing water for irrigation also means the lake is receding too, to only 170 sq km. How well the 1995 conservation effort to protect the lake and it's wildlife is not clear.

What we do know is that Lake Oloiden, a small crater lake snug up against Naivasha's southwest shore, is now home to Lesser Flamingos.  Pretty cool, yes, but concerning, as it is probably an indication that its freshwater habitat is changing providing the right environment for the flamingos food source - Spirulina, a blue-green algae that grow only in very alkaline lakes. The algae's photosynthetic pigments give the birds their pink colour.

The baby elephants leaving the feeding zone

Riding both on the back of a single moto-taxi, we arrived at Oloiden lake. We didn't even need to take an expensive boat ride out to see the flamingos - they were right there wading in the shallows.  It was like watching National Geographic channel but waaaaay better: triggering our senses with the stunning sea of pale pink rimming the edge, hearing loud squawking chatter, and, boy, not to mention the stench! Their plumage is pinkish white, some more pink than others and with wing coverts flecked with red. Compared to Greater Flamingos, they are smaller, more pink have more black on their filtering bills. They also eat shrimp. I found out that these birds live to 60 - 70 years old in captivity.

We were held mesmerized by the flamingos for at least a couple of hours until the rains came down. An Australian / Kenyan couple rescued us from the downpour in their car dropping us off further down the road where we enjoyed good food at our neighbouring camp. Just before dark we headed to our own camp, and hung out all evening in the pretty cool bar/hang out areas. It was a pretty chilly evening chilling at Carnelly's, but we enjoyed the unique funky construction and chill-out areas choc-full with  monster-sized comfy cushions. At bed time three hippo were lined up by the barb fence at the water's edge serenely chewing away.

Getting some giraffe love from a Rothschild Giraffe

Up before the sunrise, we had to be back in Nairobi by 10am to meet Dianna, Derek and the kids. On our way out, sitting in the bar were two white local Kenyans having coffee before heading out, themselves back to Nairobi. A quick hello and chat and we'd got ourselves a ride. Nice! What a blessing not to have to do those matatus at this time of day! And we had a sweet ride in the back of Grant's monster flatbed army truck! It was if anything, an unconventional ride, and a mode of transport we had not yet taken! We loved every minute sitting in our folding canvas chairs with sweeping views back at Mt. Longonot and the rift valley as we headed back up the escarpment and into Nairobi's suburbs.  That was, until the final corner, where Grant took it with a little too much speed and we went flying sideways, smashing one of the chairs!

We met Dianna and Derek in the suburb of Karen (named after Karen Blixen famous for being the author of "Out of Africa"). Being a Saturday we were looking forward to spending some time with them and our first stop was the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage where babies abandoned by

Too much tongue for Derek in this encounter

dead or poached parents are rescued. They feed off baby formula milk and twice day it's very cute to watch them entwine their trunks around the big plastic bottles. They also enjoyed playing in the mud, slipping and sliding and pushing each other around. We learned that elephants can live between 50 and 70 years old. A lengthy process, these ones will be re-habituated back into the wild, and then if the elephant is happy and is accepted into its new herd it will make decide to stay.  It was really cool watching the kids interact with the baby elephants, and we thoroughly enjoyed their little trunks curiously reaching out to us, inviting us to stroke them!

The Langata Giraffe Centre is a refuge for endangered Rothschild's giraffes and the main attraction here is that you can feed them.  You get a real up close and personal look at the size of their heads, their beautiful eyes, and the interesting furry horns on top of their heads.  If you're like Martin and Derek, you can get some love too - they'll kiss you for their nubbins of grub. The Rothschild's are a pretty giraffe with an ivy-leaf coat pattern, quite different from other giraffe we had seen throughout Africa (there are about 7 species of giraffe). What made us laugh is their huge grey tongues and the boys certainly got some very sloppy kisses with far too much tongue!  Eeeeww! * Mush

Spoilt By Dianna and Derek in Nairobi, Kenya

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As happens with all good plans and ideas - our plan to take the night bus from Sipi to Nairobi was knocked on the head as the bus was fully booked, even though we had been told there would be plenty of space. We piece-mealed our way to the border and were  surprised to have our farewell out of Uganda just as pleasant as our welcome with another jolly official at the immigration office.

Better still, we walked across the border into Kenya to find another  nice, relaxed official there too. As the entry process continued the official got more and more chatty, but instead of exchanging pleasantries, the conversation turned to cancer (sparked by the professional information written on my entry card). He was particularly interested in prostate cancer and asked about symptoms and getting checked etc. I skirted around the issue a little, but there was no way of avoiding, of course, the easiest way to check for prostate cancer (apart from blood tests) - an enlarged prostate! It was probably our most entertaining border conversation yet!

Dianna and Derek's Lovely House

Being almost dark at this point we planned to look for a place to stay, but curious, we asked the official if there were buses to Nairobi at this time. He made a call, and yes there was a night bus; better yet, his friend would greet us. 500m down the road, sure enough, his friend did greet us and directed us to the right ticket office. Nice!
With an hour before the bus would leave at 8pm, there was just enough time for some quick, and surprisingly delicious, chicken and chips. The thankfully uneventful bus journey was supposed to plonk us at Nairobi 's main bus station early in the morning in the dark. Extremely reluctant to arrive at the notoriously treacherous and shady bus station, plus at such a dodgy time of day, we opted to get off the bus early and land ourselves in the relative safety of the suburbs - close to Westlands where Martin's friend Dianna Kopansky and her family lived. Once the sun came up we took a taxi to her house and landed on them in full swing of breakfast and readying for work and school. Normalcy. It was great! * Mush

With Dianna Kopansky

Back in High School, myself, and great friends Sacha and Colin worked at a Collegiate Sports Store in our local mall.  The owner Ozzie, was married to Nancy, whose sister Dianna, did some work at the store at times, even though she didn't live in the area.  We got to know Dianna, and it turned out that we both went to Queen's University, although Dianna started a year after me.  We had some great times at university, but we had not seen each other since.  Good old Facebook got us back in touch, and I found out she was in Nairobi, and has been for about 11 years.  She moved to Nairobi to work with the United Nations, and while there met her now husband Derek.  Even without seeing each other in so long, she welcomed us to her house with open arms, and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with her, and meeting her family.  It was a great time staying with them, as we got along exceptionally well with Derek, and the kids were a treat to be around.

Rose, Michelle and Jane, with Ethan and Tessa

So, what did we do in Nairobi, not much really - just relaxed and did some chores.  We had the help of Jane, their lovely housekeeper, who took care of us well.  We organized our immediate future by getting a drive into town by their driver Peter, who took us to the train station to buy our tickets to Mombasa, then took us to the hostels to organize a safari to the Maasai Mara.  I tell you though, heading in to downtown Nairobi is an experience, and not for the best reasons.  I have to say that I think the traffic in Nairobi is about the worst in all of Africa - nobody obeys any rules, and you have to just drive aggressive and shove your nose ahead of others.  Put that together with the absolute worst roads of any big city we have seen in Africa, and it's a recipe for disaster, if not exceptionally long travel times.  I mean, we drove down roads with car swallowing potholes, filled with water probably because the hole was so deep it hit the underground water table!!!  And add to this the knowledge that Nairobi is nicknamed 'Nai-Robbery' by the locals, it made for an uncomfortable experience.  Lock the doors and close all the windows tight as there are people everywhere.  Our driver even told us that if you hit a person on the road (even though you travel so slowly), there will be a mob around your car and they will rob you blind.  People even jump in front of the car on purpose!!  No wonder most of the expats stay out in the suburbs!!

Derek with Tessa, Dianna with Ethan, Mush with Elephants

We did have a lot of fun around the house, especially with the kids.  They had a trampoline out back, and I exhausted myself jumping around with them.  Turns out I was the first to complete a front flip on their tramp!!   One other very cool experience in the back yard, was feeding the local bird of prey (Kite) flying around in the vicinity.  They call him George, and we would throw pieces of meat up in the air and watch the incredible agility he had, changing direction and swooping in to catch the meat in mid air!!  WOW!!

Dinner parties, fantastic food, Smirnoff Ice's, watching sports with Derek, movies with Dianna and the kids, shopping at really nice grocery stores with items we haven't seen in many months, and being well taken care of by everyone.  We have fond memories of our time with 'family' in Nairobi!!!   *Stub

Soggy Sipi - Sipi Falls, Uganda

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View of all 3 of Sipi Falls

We have enjoyed traveling around by the Posta Bus, so hoped there was one leaving from Jinja in the morning.  As luck would have it, there was, but this time we boarded and it was quite full, so the only free seats were at the back.  Well, this turned out to be a problem since the road was so atrociously bumpy up to Mbale, that we constantly would bounce out of our seats, and then come down for a crash landing on the less than soft remainder of a cushion!  It was a difficult ride for sure, and we were happy to disembark in Mbale where we quickly found a share taxi for the rest of the journey up to Sipi Falls in the foothills of the extinct volcano Mount Elgon, a massif that spans across the border to Kenya and to a lofty height of 4321m - making it the second highest in Uganda, and the 8th highest in Africa.  Apparently, the surface area of the extinct volcano is actually one of the largest expanses in the world.

Upper Sipi Falls

On the taxi, I shared the front seat (or he sat straddling the gear shift), with a guy named Robert, who actually worked at our intended destination - the Crow's Nest.  He does climbing and abseiling (rappelling) down the 100m Sipi Falls.  He had been trained by some Italians, and I would trust him fully, but my fear of heights would surely kick in, and cause me some angst.  Would be a stunning descent though.
The view from the community run Crow's Nest was wonderful.  You actually could see up to all three sets of cascades or falls that are called Sipi Falls.  I think the upper 2 sets of falls were in the 60 - 70m range, and the very picturesque bottom falls is 95m.  Also, the views down to the flat lands below seem endless.  A pretty great location indeed, even with all the rain.
For dinner, we had some visitors in the name of a handful of friendly dogs that seem to be either

Standing on top of the Middle Falls

owned by the Crow's Nest, or just like to hang out there.  I miss having the company of friendly dogs!!
We arranged with a guide, who was a veteran of 14 years, to take us on the obligatory walk to all three falls.  Backson was a kind, and friendly guide, who walked us up through all the little paths around the area, past local houses and through local villages.  A good blast from the upper falls provided me with a much needed shower, but the river quickly disappeared underground, only to appear further downstream before the second cascade.  You could stand in the river at the top of the second falls, overlooking the drop below.  You could also go behind this set of falls, and see a local cave slowly being dug for the salty soils, which locals feed to the cattle.
Of course, the highlight was a close-up view of the big falls.  A beautiful twin falls, over  orange

The Lower and Most Impressive Falls

coloured cliff, with a cave created from erosion at the bottom. The local farms and shacks create a nice colour differential, compared to the cliff below.  We stopped at the perfectly located Lacam Lodge for a pack lunch with a view over the falls.  Apparently, the Lacam Lodge almost burned to the ground recently, when a fire swept up the trees from below.  The neighbouring lodge was completely lost.
We did not attempt to hike down to the base, as the paths had been exceptionally slippery all day, as the recent rains have made everything so muddy!  We were lucky to get around where we did.
We had planned to spend a second night at Crow's Nest, but Robert had informed us of a bus leaving in the afternoon, travelling all night all the way to Nairobi.  What a score, since we had planned to get there as soon as possible.  So, we quickly packed up and rushed down to Mbale, only to find out that there were no seats left on the bus!!  Everyone had told us that we should have no problem getting seats, although, now we DID have a problem…. where would we get to tonight????  We started heading to the border as soon as possible, and figured we would just get across into Kenya, and probably stay there for the night.  Our days are numbered now though, so we didn't want to waste a day.   Stay tuned for the continuation of this journey.   *Stub

Backson and Michelle enjoying lunch at Sipi Falls

Banging the Hub at Hairy Lemon, Nazigo, Uganda

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Banging the Hub to Call the Boat

Leaving Kampala after seeing the crazy traffic, a few major sights, and having some deliciously cheap pizza, we almost missed our morning Posta Bus because the guy told us the wrong departure time.  We arrived at 7:30AM for the 8AM departure, but the bus was leaving as we arrived - Phew!!!  This bus dropped us off in Jinja, about 1 hour up the road towards Kenya, and famous for being the main source of the Nile River.

As so often happens with us, our plans changed during the bus ride.  We decided to skip a night's stay in Jinja, and opted to attempt to get to the excellently named 'Hairy Lemon' Lodge on the Nile River.  We had trouble getting in touch with anyone at Hairy Lemon, so were unsure if the place still existed, or was open at this slow time of the year.  Finally, it was confirmed that thing's up there were still running, so we quickly made our way there, even through the rain on our boda boda (motorbike taxi).

Upon arrival, you have to bang on a car hub hanging in a tree with a metal peg, to get the attention of the boatman on the island.  Then, out of the bushes comes the boat, across some minor rapids of the Nile River.  Our river taxi had arrived and within minutes we were on the island in the middle of the

Watching the boat taxi arrive from Hairy Lemon

Nile, chilling out with our first family meal - a much needed lunch!!

We set up tent on the banks of the Nile, with views towards the sunset side of the river.   It also provided us with some misty morning wake-up views over the river.  This place looked pretty cool, with plenty of chill-out areas around - something we had rarely seen in Africa.  Hammocks, big comfy pillows in roofed lounges overlooking the Nile.  Very relaxing, and we immediately felt we would get stuck here.

Paul, the South African owner was pretty chilled out himself.  I guess you get that way living on an island, isolated from many places.  One thing I really enjoyed with him was playing Frisbee Golf, on his ghetto course he had organized

The view of the Nile from our Tent

around the island.  It was quite addictive, and I kept playing with friends Jeff and Nicole, even by myself, to try to beat my personal best.  The course record used to be held by Paul at 21, but a guest beat it at 20, and that will probably stand for some time.  My personal best was a respectable 25, so I was happy with that performance.  It was great, because on hole number 3, you could take a quick swim break at his dammed swimming hole on the Nile.  The water would start off very low in the morning, and by the end of the day, would have raised by about 0.7m.  More water flowing out of the dams upstream, for more Ugandan electricity.

Red Tail Monkey at Hairy Lemon

As with so many places in Africa, the camp was often invaded by monkeys.  These ones though, didn't seem too comfortable around people, which is nice - meaning they don't get fed and they are not scrounging.  The group of red tail monkeys are eternally stuck on the small group of islands, but they don't seem to mind as their natural food is plentiful there.  It is fun to have them swinging around while chilling out anywhere on the property or beaches.  Also, there were plenty of birds all around the river and we often woke up to the noisiness of the weaver birds, building more and more nests.

The food was quite good, and all meals were served family style.  Anita, the manager, and her staff set out the food and it was buffet style for all the guests at once.  It was a good way to meet others,

Owner Paul, and Manager Anita at Hairy Lemon Bar

and we met a group of Dutch/Norwegian girls living in Jinja.  This was a lucky meeting for us, as not only were they a good laugh, but we ended up staying in an empty room in their house in Jinja.
We finally left after four days, but earlier in the day than the girls.  We wanted to see a little of Jinja before we left.  And that's pretty much what we saw, very little.  We did walk past what is considered the main source of the Nile River, beginning it's over 6000km through Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and into the Mediterranean.  It's pretty nondescript, but is apparently where the river first exited Lake Victoria, before the big dams were built.  Now it just looks like a slow flowing river, or extension of an inlet.  Still, we've now been to two of the claimed 'Sources' of the Nile, both of them not very impressive.  The river was on the other side of a golf course, and there was a funny sight of about 8 or so massive marabou storks on the green looking

Beers with Josh and Glen in Jinja

like they were just ready to putt.  One even dug into the hole under the flag like he was looking for a ball, and tried to pull out the flag.

After our brief tour, we arrived back at the restaurant Flavours, where we had been hanging out.  Having trouble organizing to meet the girls, we were 'saved' by a couple of patrons, Josh from the US, and Glen from Ireland.  They 'saved' us by buying us a few beers to have with them, while we passed the time until the girls met up with us for dinner.  It was a good laugh hanging out with them, but I'm sure it ended up with a bad head the next day for one of them!!  Thanks for 'Saving' Us!!   *Stub

Matatu Mania in Kampala, Uganda

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Mengo Palace

From our last fly-by a couple of days before, we learnt that Kampala is a busy city and this time we booked our accommodation ahead of time. Coming from Sesse Islands the ferry was busy and we moved to first class (not much different from second class), but made for more space and a more pleasant journey.  We were able to catch a matatu directly to Kampala right from the dock. Nice!! A 20 minute walk through the modern-ish and crazy-busy city centre to our hotel.

Of course, when one mentions Uganda, the very first thing people think of is the barbaric dictator of the 1970s, Idi Amin. His reign of terror started in '71 when he staged a coup overthrowing President Obote. Anyone suspected of opposing his regime (mostly southerners who supported the Bugandan King) were basically tortured and shot. Mengo Palace happens to be the city residence

Entrance to Idi Amin's Torture Chamber behind Mengo Palace

used by previous Bugandan Kings, and where Idi Amin built his torture chambers! The palace built on one of the seven hills of Kampala, looked stately and fairly modern and is being restored by the current King. On the property secluded down a hill is an open high-walled corridor leading to a large, eerie, concrete bunker with five elevated rooms set side by side. Smeared with blood and graffiti there were inscriptions written on the walls the corridor and chambers from prisoners kept there. Cold and damp, it gave us the shivers just to think of what went on here all those years ago. Over the next eight years 300,000 Ugandans lost their lives through Amin's violence and torture. A large man-made lake also on the property is where prisoners' bodies were dumped. As you can imagine, Uganda went into turmoil during these years: their economy, infrastructure and tourism crashed, refugees flooded out of the country. Thankfully for Uganda, Amin fled the country in 1979, but only after he caused more bloodshed picking a fight with, and subsequently becoming defeated by, neighbouring Tanzania. He

Crazy Old Taxi Rank

died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003. It's worth mentioning that other leaders following in Idi Amin's wake were not much better! Of course! This is Africa after all! Milton Obote came back for a second run at things and like Amin, he supported certain tribes over others. Eventually it came out that he too was responsible for organising violence and committing atrocities himself. Thankfully for Uganda, he was overthrown once more, but only after five years of his violence. The dubious and somewhat-diplomatic President Museveni has been in power since '86. I suppose all I can say, is at least Uganda is in a phase of relative stability and internal peace for the moment!

Kampala is a busy, crazy, traffic-filled city and getting around to see the 'sites' was not easy - at all! - primarily because the taxi-parks, of which there are two, were absolutely, 100%, nuts! I swear, there must be about a bazillion matatus (minivans) in Kampala, and we must have seen about a million of

View of Old and New Taxi Rank from the National Mosque

these just jammed up one against the other waiting in rows and blocks in both the taxi parks! Of course, because it wasn't clear which taxi park we needed, we went to both crazy places. Walking through madness trying to find a matatu was not fun. There seemed to be no organization to us, but there clearly must have been: the chaos must work somehow! As with all cities, and especially around bus stations etc, we are always careful of our belongings. And we had been warned. Sure enough, down one of the streets I felt a tug on my day pack and realized that someone was trying to unzip a pocket! Immediately, I checked my bag. Even though nothing had been stolen, I chased the obvious culprit down the street shouting in his wake about stealing etc and just trying to bring public attention to him. I felt it important to not let him get away with even just an attempt at pick pocketing.  The locals all looked on curiously, wondering what the crazy mzungu was doing.

After an hour or so of the delights of the taxi-park, we eventually found transport to the Kasubi tombs. Trumpeted as the largest thatched roof mausoleum (or even biggest thatched structure in Africa, for that matter) we wanted to check out the site of the Royal Family Burial Ground. This is a sacred place to Bugandans (southern Uganda people) and has been classed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. To our horror and disappointment we discovered that the building had been burnt down about two years ago! Buried far underground, the tombs were untouched, but the beautiful roof structure was destroyed. I don't know why our hotel failed to tell us this! Anyway, how terrible… and a little bit of a waste of time! There wasn't much to see apart from the small round thatched homes of

Qaddafi National Mosque

the wives of the current king, homes of relatives of previous kings' wives, and some older royal graves on the hillside overlooking the city.

Something that was very much worth the time, was the Gaddafi National Mosque: an absolutely beautiful, striking white structure with golden-topped domes towering over the city set upon another of Kampala's hills. Recently finished in 2006, and controversially, partially-funded by Libya's Gaddafi, it can hold up to 12,000 worshippers. (I say 'controversially' because Libya apparently doesn't have anything quite as large or even like it). Probably to encourage new worshippers and more converts to Islam, not to mention, bring in a bit of money, the mosque allows non-muslim

Interior of Qaddafi National Mosque

visitors. This was all-important to us as we'd never been permitted to enter a mosque before, even on our travels. After we were greeted by a guide at the gate, I was taken to an office to be dressed. I came out shrouded from head to foot in large pieces of fabric - as is expected of muslim women here. Aisha, our guide was lovely and directed us up the steps and into the main hall. Wow. It was huge! Up to 5,000 people can fit in the main area and of those, 1,000 - the women pray up in the gallery above the main pray area. It was covered in a beautiful thick carpet brought in from Libya. The chandeliers were from Ethiopia and weigh up to 2000kg each, the walls were designed with the sculpturing of arabic buildings we'd seen in Morocco. As if this wasn't cool enough to see, the highlight of our visit was the minaret towering over the mosque and amazing views over the city, right over to Lake Victoria! We laughed at the

Roof and Chandelier of the Qaddafi National Mosque

taxi-parks; even from this far above they were still impressive and daunting!

Despite the troubles and its unrest with bordering countries of Congo and Rwanda, Uganda seems to have weathered its past well and as a whole has been an interesting and great place to visit.  Trying to catch up with family we found WiFi in a shopping mall and then befriended a group of locals. Very intelligent, savvy and super friendly, Younis was thrilled to hear our story and we spent an afternoon swapping stories. Finally, we felt that we could safely say that the people of Uganda are nice and friendly, and were not to be based on the characters of the bus and matatu world! * Mush