Saturday 21 June 2014

Gorillas in the mist, Mzungus in the mud

Rwandan Gorillas & a Ugandan Orphanage



This last fortnight has been an absolute ripper. As I mentioned in my last blog we were a day late in leaving Arusha as our driver got malaria and we had to find a replacement. Our replacement, Gareth, arrived at about 1 in the morning and then had the pleasure of driving two 16 hour days in a row, starting at 4:30 in the morning both days so we could get to our Gorilla trek on time. Our 2nd day included the crossing into Rwanda and we eventually arrived at Ruhengeri at about 9 in the evening.

Guhonda, the silverback of the group






Our trek with the gorillas was well worth the £500 price tag. It rained all the way up the mountain but that just made the walk more entertaining, traipsing through the mud like the little mzungus we were. The hike up took 3½ hours, through mud, thick jungle and very steep hills. We knew the location of the gorillas as some of the guides had left a few hours before us to locate them and radio in their position. Once we got near we had to divert off the main paths and they were literally cutting their way through the jungle with machetes as we went. We were walking on top of pressed down trees and undergrowth and when you put your walking stick on the ground it would sink in another 4ft below where your feet were. With the fun of the walk behind us we got to where the gorillas were feeding and spent the next hour sitting amongst these massive beasts. We had the pleasure of tracking the Sabyinyo group and the alpha silverback was the biggest in Rwanda at 250kg. Whenever he moved to feed, hit his chest, chased another silverback or simply blinked we had to all crouch down into the submission position just to let him know that he was still the boss. And he was the boss.



I month old baby, new addition to the group


Us amongst the Sabyinyo group


Leaving Ruhengeri and the gorillas behind we transited through Kigali, stopping briefly to visit the Genocide Museum. I'm sure you're all vaguely aware of what transpired in Rwanda in 1994 but here we were able to get the full story. It was weird to think that anyone over the age of 20 had lived through the genocide and if you looked closely there are still people with scars and injuries from machetes and clubs. The country has come leaps and bounds however and it is now extremely safe to travel and the people are as friendly as anywhere. The people have worked hard to create a new Rwandan national identity rather than being 2 separate people, the Hutu and the Tutsis.


Lake Bunyonyi



Children in class at the school we visited

and dancing with the kids




From Kigali we crossed into Uganda and just over the border we stopped at Kabale. Here we were able to do a day trip to an island on Lake Bunyonyi and visit a school which has been set up for children with 1 or no parents, an orphanage of sorts. Oasis Overland has a close relationship with this school and most of its trucks will stop here to visit and donate what they can. So far Oasis have provided the land and enough money for the school to be built. They are now working on creating some accommodation so the school can be self sufficient leading into the future. We said our hello to the kids in the classroom, had a look around the grounds and were then lead to a grassed area where all the children had gathered with massive grins on their faces and excitement in the air. They started singing and dancing for us and before long we were all dancing as well....... for 3 hours. These kids did not know the meaning of "please, no more" and if you weren't dancing you were carrying 2 of them on your back, letting them play with your camera, or when you were exhausted you could just sit on the grass and 12 of them would come and sit around you. When Keera brought out her bubble kit the kids went insane and would chase floating bubbles around the yard, oblivious to other children and the steep hillside next to us. Although they wore us out we all had a great time and a few people from our group have already expressed interest in doing some volunteer work there or just going back to visit.

One of the 15 dances we got to partake in

Lauren having a quick timeout

Ol' Father Daz, the kids favourite throughout our trip




Luke with his entourage


Uganda was also the country where we crossed the equator for the 2nd time, making our way back into the Northern Hemisphere where the toilets flush backwards, birds fly upside down and the people are just a little bit "funny". I will remain in this backwards hemisphere until I cross back into safety in Indonesia near the end of the year.


After a couple of nights in the capital Kampala we ventured into Jinga on the shores of Lake Victoria, the biggest lake in Africa and famous for being the source of the river Nile. On the same evening we arrived we took ourselves on a "sunset cruise" along the Nile, ladies and gentlemen boarded the boat at 5 o'clock but I'm not sure what you would call us when we got off 2 hours later. Some strong drinks led to Helen losing 1 of her hearing aids, M losing her phone, 3 or 4 people losing sunglasses and 2 or 3 lost flip flops including my own. After helping put the birthday boy, Nick to bed on his 30th at 9:30 I soon learned that Helen, Keera, Denis and Bec had also been put to bed after most of what they drunk on the boat came back up. It was definitely the biggest night we've had since Chris' pre birthday drinks in Morocco.

As fun as the night was I will remember Jinga much more vividly for the river boarding I did along the grade 5 rapids of the Nile with Daz, Denis and Stan. While most of our group made the wise decision to tackle the river in a raft we decided to jump in with a bodyboard and a guide and make our way down. The very first wave I was torn from my board and dumped along the rest of the rapid, coming up coughing and spluttering and wondering what the hell I had got myself in for. Some of the waves on this river were massive and I can honestly say that quite a few times I felt more than a little uncomfortable. I gained my composure however and was able to stay on my board for the most part for the rest of the day.

Ripped from the net but pretty much what we were doing

We have now crossed into Kenya and despite all the attention it has been getting regarding bombings etc, the country seems calm and safe. While the rest of the group went on another game drive I took the time to have a day off and just check out the town of Nakuru where we were staying. We have now gone down to Hells Gate National Park to see even more animals (I have seen more than enough wild animals in Africa) and within a couple of days I will be in Nairobbery.



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Thursday 12 June 2014

Return of the Mosquito

Disaster strikes the Oasis crew again



After 3 days in Nungwi at the north of Zanzibar we headed back down south to Stonetown. On the way a few of us decided to do a Spice Tour which ended up being a lot more interesting than I predicted. All growing amongst each other we tasted/smelt pepper, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cumin, cardamom, lemon grass, and plenty more. At one point we had a local climb a 25-30m tall palm tree to grab us some coconuts which he had obviously done a thousand times before. With OH&S being a focus in Africa our climber was smart enough to take a safety rope which he tied around his feet which were wrapped around the tree, guaranteeing his wellbeing from any kind of accident. Afterwards we sat down to taste some of the locally grown fruit which included banana, passionfruit, mango, jackfruit, cassava, bribe fruit and the less than savoury smelling durian.


Crazy monkey man climbing the 25m palm tree

Some local kids on the spice tour

Fresh coconut milk
 

Catching the ferry from Zanzibar we landed back on mainland Africa in Dar Es Salaam and drove up to Arusha over the next couple of days. The driving in Tanzania has been incredibly slow as it has been living up to its name "The land of the speed bump" very well. Going through a standard village you will go over 8-10 speed bumps over 1km and with villages being located very close together and our truck having to slow to a crawl it made for a fairly leisurely drive. Our journey to Arusha took us right past the base of Mt Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free standing mountain in the world at 5895m. 3 members of our group had actually flown from Zanzibar directly to the base and had already started climbing when we were driving past. They all managed to make it to the top a few days later which is a stellar effort but unfortunately it was too cloudy to see as we drove past so no pictures and no wave of encouragement.

Yep, more animal photos


Billy the Kid roaming the plains





Upon arrival to Arusha we made our way to Snake Park, a favourite amongst overlanders. Not only is Snake Park a pit stop for overland trucks but its also a free snake bite clinic for locals and even people from neighbouring countries. All the money from drinks at the bar goes towards supporting the clinic and I am very proud to say I saved many lives over my 6 nights here. We also had the pleasure to view a feeding session where all the snakes were fed baby chicks, much to the girls disgust. It was here the group parted ways when a bit over half the truck went into the Serengeti on a 3 night safari and a few of us stayed behind. I was one that chose to stay back for a couple of reasons; the extortionate cost of Serengeti and the fact that I have already done 4 game parks along my travels down the west coast. I didn't miss out completely however as I did do a day game drive into Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera which used to be part of Serengeti but has now been removed into a separate park. The wildlife here was by far the most dense I've seen throughout my whole trip. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebra and water buffalo roamed the plain and there were plenty of hyena, hippos, baboons and millions of flamingos on the lake. It was a great day and we saw 4 out of 5 of the Big 5 all within just a few hours, the only animal I've not seen yet is the evasive Leopard.


Wildebeest tussling it out

Flamingos in the crater


Sunbaking Hyenas

Woken from their slumber

Ngorongoro Crater from the ridge


On the evening on the 4th June our truck was reunited. Those that we had left behind in Zimbabwe had re-joined, those that stayed behind in Zanzibar returned, the Kilimanjaro climbers reappeared and the Serengeti safari crew came back tired and dirty. We had a bit of a party that evening to celebrate our reunion and also the departure of Carolyn and Lottie. We said our goodbyes the next morning but that same morning bought the sudden exodus of our driver Nick. After losing our tour leader Ishy just a month prior we have been travelling along with just the one crew member. When he started to get sick at Snake Park we thought it might just be a cold but the minute another overland driver in Arusha got a look at him he was straight off to hospital where he was very quickly diagnosed with Malaria. Our truck seems to have been a bit of a curse for crew with our last driver getting a relapse of malaria and our tour leader Typhoid. Emergency plans activated, the Oasis HQ very promptly organised for a new driver to be flown down from Uganda where he arrived just past midnight, ready to start driving us at 4 in the morning as we had a deadline to keep with our Gorilla trekking in Rwanda.

6 different overland trucks at Snake Park

Farewelling Lottie and Carolyn

Christina & Hanna crawling under all 6 overland trucks




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