Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July – the last word

So we had a lazy day on the Friday as our plane wasn’t due to depart until 11.55pm  and we spent it doing very little. We left the hotel at 7pm and caught the free shuttle to the airport. As you arrive at the airport there’s a 10 lane security area where they check the car and its content. So there’s a bit of a queue of cars and people are getting out of the cars and walking over to the right hand side. Thought this was a bit strange but hey its Nairobi!

Anyway it turns out that the security guys don’t like the passengers in the car and our driver got told off. Oh well!

Get to the check in counter and get told the flight is cancelled until 8am Saturday morning and that they will put us up for the night at a Hotel. So we go and get the shuttle for the 40 minute drive and it was standing room only and pretty smelly and sweaty. Get to our hotel and we are told that we will have a 5am pick up. No worries, only 6 hours sleep.

We’re up at 4.15am and ready for the 5am shuttle. 5.15am still waiting. 5.30am please be patient he will be here. 5.55am we finally get on the shuttle. Normally you must be checked in 2 hours prior to the flight and we’ve only just got on the shuttle to get to the airport.

Finally arrive at 6.25am and there’s a line of course, even though we’ve got priority check-in cause we’ve been upgraded to business class.

Anyway got through and spent 200 minutes in the lounge before the flight.

The flight was pretty uneventful until we landed and then sat for 30 minutes extra on the tarmac cause there wasn’t a gate ready for us.

Got off and through customs although Jess got questioned cause he boarding pass showed a different date ie Fridays.

Waited for our bags and got one, then waited and waited and then finally a lady came over and did a check and told us the other two bags were still in Nairobi and wouldn’t be here until Sunday afternoon. Only problem is we head home at 8am Sunday. Filled in some forms and the bags will be forwarded to Sydney once they arrive in Bangkok.

Then it was off to our hotel, finally got into our room at 11.30pm and set the alarm for 4.10am. Woohoo!

Sunday we were up and out ahead of schedule and we’re all checked in and just killing time now. We’ve only got one bag between us and so getting into Sydney shouldn’t be a problem as all our declarable stuff is in one of the wayward bags.

We’re pretty sure nothing else can go wrong, but its international travel so who knows.

Thursday 14 July

We went on a small tour today to a elephant orphanage and then a giraffe manor and then onto Karen Blixons house (of “Out of Africa” fame).

Then back to our hotel for an afternoon relaxing.

So basically a quiet day.

Oh yes, we’ve been upgraded to business class for the trip from Nairobi to Bangkok. Life is so hard sometimes.

Wednesday 13 July

 A 7.30 start and Ozzie our driver came to say goodbye. He got to Arusha last night at 11.30pm, that’s after we started driving at 7am, a big day for him.

We got driven the 2 hours to the border crossing at Namanga and then went through the formalities of exiting Tanzania and entering  Kenya, then we got handed over to our Kenyan driver for the 3 hour trip back to our hotel in Nairobi.

We spent a quiet afternoon / evening doing not much at all really, just relaxing, catching up online and watching a couple of movies.

We’ve booked a half day tour tomorrow to an elephant rehab place and a giraffe house.

 

A couple of observations:

Tanzania is the poor cousin to Kenya but they are trying. Roads, hotels and customer service is slowly improving but you definitely notice the difference.

 

Most Kenyans speak English, most Tanzanians don’t.

 

Both countries have interesting road rules or lack thereof. I think I’ve got additional grey hairs just from watching, and quite a number of times I looked out the side window so I didn’t have to watch what was happening in front.

 

Immigration officials all come from the same mold. Moody and morose. Considering they are the first officialdom people see of a country, they should learn some customer service skills or develop a personality at least.  My guy coming back into Kenya was so engaged in his work he was actually falling asleep while he processed me, but then again maybe that’s a reflection on me.

 

I could get phone service in the middle of the Serengeti but can’t get service in parts of Sydney, work that out.

 

The US dollar is king. They will take it anywhere.

 

Even a Masai, standing in the middle of the Serengeti tending his flock of goats, has an iPhone.

 

You don’t realise how much you take clean water, a hot shower, internet and a decent roof over your head for granted, until you don’t have it.

 

The Masai don’t eat wild animals. They only eat goat, sheep or cattle and cook it up in milk and blood. And they walk everywhere. And they are all thin. Somehow I don’t think the trendies would take to the “Masai Diet” the way they did to the Paleo diet.

 

If a lack of mobile phone etiquette upsets you, don’t travel to Thailand, Kenya or Tanzania. Even being processed out of Tanzania by the immigration official can be delayed when her phone rings and she takes the call.

Tuesday 13 July

What a day! It was supposed to be a game drive through the Serengeti  and Ngorongoro Crater and then about 2 hours  on the road to Arusha,  but just after leaving camp Ozzie got a phone call to say the other company truck had broken down and they had 4 stranded passengers, and could we help. So after 2 hours game driving where we saw a pride of 8 lions, and we went back to see the gazelle in the tree from yesterday and it was still there so the Leopard hadn’t been back, we arrived at the Serengeti Airport.

Ozzie spoke to several other drivers and found Pious who was driving back to Arusha solo and could take us. So we left the airport at 10.30 and just down the road 3 lions walked out in front of us and crossed the road. We could have lent out the window and touched them. And just as they appeared they then disappeared into the long grass. 30 seconds earlier or later and we would have missed them entirely.

After 2 hours of driving on corrugated dirt road we finally left the endless plains at 1pm, to begin the climb up to the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. Then it was a drive along the rim before dropping down the other side, and then it was the main road into Arusha.

We left this morning at 7am and we got into Arusha at 5pm, and only 2 hours of it sealed road. There was about 2 hours of standing around waiting for paperwork at the various National Parks as well.

 Monday 11 July

 A bit of a later start today and in the car at 8.30am and into the park. Almost straight away we saw hundreds of Zebra and heaps of Girafe.

Shortly after we visited a almost dry water hole that was filled with Hippo’s.

Then onto game driving and passed a wounded male Lion who was limping badly. We then saw a Hyena sleeping under a tree and then two Leopards in a tree with a half eaten gazelle stored alongside them.

More driving and we came across the body of a gazelle high up in a tree. It had been put there by a Leopard and we waited for 40 minutes for him to come back but he didn’t show so we moved on.

Not as good a viewing as yesterday but still not bad.

 Sunday 10 July

 WOW!!!

What a day in the Serengeti! This is why we do safari’s.

Started out with a 7am start and a 2 hour drive to the gates of Serengeti National Park. Within minutes we were watching 3 lions, a female and two males, and the female took off to hunt down some Hartebeest. Unfortunately her patience lasts longer than ours and after an hour of watching we moved on.

Serengeti means ‘endless plains’ and it was absolutely huge, stretching off into the distance was grasslands with animals dotted across them.

Throughout the day we came across 3 different Leopards, 2 in trees’ and one on a rock formation. It’s really rare to see so many, so we were very privileged.

Another set of three lions and then a group of 7 lions having a sleep under a tree. They really don’t care about the trucks being there, unless they get too close.

Of course there were also the usual giraffes, elephants, all manner of gazelle and antelopes spread over the plains.

To finish the day we sat and watched a Cheetah as she lounged around and watched us.

Brilliant day and we get to do it again tomorrow.

We’ve been teasing our driver, Ozzie, about showing us Rhino’s. They are extremely shy, so are very hard to find but he told us that the Serengeti had 10 but 2 were killed by poachers and now the guides aren’t allowed to take tourists there until they repopulate or better protect the ones they have. We saw that group of 5 at Lake Nakuru so we’re not too disappointed.

Our lodge for the night was 20 minutes outside the park and was undergoing renovations but was comfortable. There were no fences so throughout the night we could hear Wildebests grazing outside our hut.

Saturday 9 July

# Whats really sad is we have fallen into the safari routine on early nights and early mornings. If the lights still on at 9pm then we are having a late night!

Most days we are in the car by 7am or 7.30am #

Had a bit of a lie in today with an 8.30am start. 20 minute drive got us to the gates of Ngorongoro Crater conservation area and there was a bit of a queue as its the gateway not only to Ngorongoro but also the Serengeti, as the two parks flow into each other.

Finally on our way and up to the edge of the crater and then a long road down to the crater floor. From there it was miles and miles of open grasslands and we saw tons of animals including two lots of lions, elephants, jackals, hyena’s, as well as the usual wildebeest and impala’s. It really was an action packed morning and before we knew it, it was lunch at 1pm.

More of a drive after lunch including a sighting of two Rhino’s a long way in the distance. That means we have seen the Top 4 today and the only one missing is the illusive Leopard.

We then  headed up a very steep road with switch backs to our lodge for the night which is perched on the top of the rim. Hot hot showers and wood stoves in all the rooms and we are settling in for an evening in front of the fire.

Tomorrow we head into the Serengeti for the next two days and we are really excited about that.

Friday 8 July

Another early start and into Lake Manyara National Park. We got there at 9 and drove to the end where we arrived about lunchtime and had lunch and then drove back. The first hour was pretty quiet on the animal front with just a couple of groups of baboons. They were pretty interesting to watch especially as there were quite a few little ones.

But after that we saw a hippo out of the water, several groups of giraffes and some close encounters with elephants.

Got to our next lodge around 3.30pm and the girls went for a swim.

 Thursday 7 July

 Another early start and on the road at 7am for a game drive through the park to the far exit gate. Was a quiet morning as far as animals were concerned.

After leaving the park we had about 50km’s of dirt road to the Namonga border crossing. We always get a bit nervous at border crossings, but this one was okay with no problems.

We then said goodbye to David our driver and hello to Saba who was taking us the 100km’s into Arusha the capital of Tanzania to meet Ozzie (short for Oswald) our guide for the next 6 days.

We had lunch in town and then drove out to Lake Manyara. We did a 2 hour drive through the park which was nice but no stand out animal encounters. I think the photo count will be well down today.

After leaving the park we went to our overnight stay which is a permanent tent on the banks of the Lake. We are not allowed to walk between our tent and the restaurant alone after dark as animals quite frequently walk through the camp, as there’s no fences between us and the national park.

 

Wednesday 6 July

An early start and a long drive from Lake Nakuru in the north of Kenya, through Nairobi and traffic congestion to Ambroseli at the very bottom of Kenya, took about 61/2 hours, very tiring.

Then into the national park for a game drive where we saw lots of elephants as well as other animals.

Ambroseli is very dry and flat compared to the other two parks we’ve been to.

Then to our lodge for long hot showers and finally some reasonable internet so I was able to update the blog with words and photo’s.

Tomorrow we cross into Tanzania.

 Driving in Kenya

I don’t know whether its a talent, or a lack of talent, that these guys manage to traverse the road system with few collisions (well, that we’ve seen anyway).

The highways are generally 1 lane each way which is fair enough, but if its a wide lane then its perfectly acceptable to go alongside another car making 2 lanes, especially if its part of an overtaking, or undertaking, manoeuvre.

Overtaking is when you go into the oncoming traffic lane, it doesn’t matter if there’s anyone coming, and you slowly pass the vehicle. If a truck is coming towards you when you’re out there then you somehow manage to squeeze your 2metre long vehicle into a 30cm gap in the cars to pull back in.

Travelling up hill, overtaking into on coming traffic,c on a bend, as you crest the hill – easy!

The Cities is where a normal person just can’t look anymore. Pedestrians, scooters, cars, trucks and taxi’s all seem to be going exactly where they want to go regardless of any road signage markings or warnings. I close my eyes at roundabouts and I’m pretty sure all the motorists have as well. And it doesn’t matter what side of the street or even the footpath you use or direction you take cause you just keep going.

Add to that the local bus service which consists of minivans which operate on a hail and ride system up the main roads as well and these guys are ducking and weaving to pick up the next customer, regardless of what other traffic is around them.

It’s a scarey business and I’m glad that I don’t have to do it and I marvel at Dave’s abilities to get us through unscathed.

Tuesday 5 July

A long day on the road retracing our way from Sunday and taking 2 ½ hours to get off the dirt road and then another 3 ½   on the main road to get to Lake Nakuru National Park. Its only a small park but within a few minutes we bumped into a group of 5 Rhino. Now most people are grateful to see one, let alone 2 and we see a group of 5. After about 200 photo’s they slowly moved off into the bush. If we had been 5 minutes later we would have missed them altogether.

And then just down the road we met up with a group of 5 or 6 of the most photogenic Rothschilds giraffes. The father decided he wanted the leaves of the tree directly above our car and so he stood barely 5 feet from in front of us.  It actually was quite hard to get him to move when we had to continue on.

There were lots of other animals as well so all in all it was a great afternoons drive.

To get to our accommodation we had to drive through a major town and OMG the people here are crazy. Scooters, pedestrians and cars, trucks and Taxi’s and I spent most of the time looking out the side window cause it was too scary looking out the front.

Got to our lodge and found we were the only guests in a conference centre and are outnumbered by staff by about 3 to 1.

 Monday 4 July

Well it wasn’t the start to the day that we were expecting. We were up and ready for our 4.15am pick up and it didn’t happen. Thought it may have been a bit of “Fiji time” so we waited, and waited, and waited and finally at 5.20am the truck raced into camp. He had had starting issues.  We picked up another three and then drove for over an hour to the launch site.

Our balloon got inflated, we jumped into the gondola and we were off. Fran and I weren’t too keen originally, but we were so wrong. It was bloody brilliant. We had some great vision of all of the Masai Mara and put it all in perspective. The HUGE numbers of animals, the way they follow each other as part of the migration, it was great.

We saw lions and a bunch of Hyena’s from the air as well.

Touch down was ok with only a few bounces and then a very short drive and we were at the champagne breakfast which had white table cloths and full service buffet. They even had a swish port  a loo.

Then we did a great game drive till lunch time when we hooked up with our driver and continued on until we finally got back to camp at 5.30pm.

During our drive we had a number of highlights, 3 lions walking around our truck, probably saw half of the 4 million wildebeest that are migrating at present, hippo’s and croc’s near the Mara River crossing that we’ve all seen on TV (although they weren’t crossing there when we were at that crossing) we did see the wildebeests crossing a river, elephants, zebra’s, the list is pretty endless.

Back at camp we all showered and charged camera batteries ready for tomorrow when we head north to Lake Nakuru.

 Sunday 3 July

Up early and packed, had breakfast and were ready for David our driver/guide at 7am.

We first had to cross Nairobi and there was some interesting driving going on. I don’t know whether because it was a Sunday that you didn’t have to worry about red lights but everyone just seemed to go through.

Then it was out into the country and our top speed was about 80kph with a few short bursts to 100kph. After 2 ½ hours we fuelled up and turned onto a secondary road which had a number of deep potholes. It turns out that was the good part because about 20km’s into it and it turned into dirt and was rutted and pot holed as well, I’m talking 4 wheel drive type ruts and holes, but we aren’t in a 4wd. It made for some slow going in places. And then throw in people walking along the road herding goats or cattle. It was certainly interesting and our driver Dave did a superb job.

David then turned off that onto a shortcut which was even narrower. We had to cross private land and the enterprising locals block the road and for a small fee you can continue.

We made it into Ol Moran tented camp about 1pm and had a leisurely lunch before a bit of a relax and off to the Masai village to meet the locals.

Firstly we were welcomed with a song and dance including some jumping and then the chief took us for a tour of the village and the huts. Then we went for a walk to see their local school.

Back to our camp for dinner and an early night as we have to get up around 4am to go ballooning before we spend the rest of the day on a game drive.

Saturday 2 July

The lights came on at 4.15am and a really nice breakfast followed soon after.

We were ahead of schedule by close to an hour so it was a bit rushed. Out of the plane and a bit of a delay at immigration with people who hadn’t bothered to get a visa prior to the flight taking up a bit of time in front of us. After standing in line for 30 or 40 minutes we realised that there was a empty line at the priority lane, which as business class we could have taken. Oh well you live and learn.

The system for being picked up is quite unique. Usually you walk out into a large area and there are tour operators waiting with your name on a sign and you meet up. Similar system in Nairobi, except they are across the other side of a pedestrian crossing on the main road for every vehicle leaving the airport.

What makes things worse is you’ve got Fran & I who both wear glasses, peering across a busy pedestrian crossing trying to read small signs in the pre dawn light. And then to make matters worse the lights auto shut off because the sun is slowly coming up.

Couldn’t see our name anywhere, so after half an hour we dug out the mobile number and made a call. Turns out there are another exit to the building and our guy was waiting there.

Managed to get together and its all good. We met David, our guide for the first week and introduced to our van in the ride down to the Eka Hotel, where we are staying.

Got into our room and all of us crashed.  All this travelling makes you weary.

A very lazy day.  Frans got a head cold from the aircon on the planes etc so a quiet day was just what we needed before we head off tomorrow at 7am for the Masai Mara and the start of our safari.

Friday 1 July

A relaxing start to the day and down stairs for a buffet breakfast. We then caught a taxi into Bangkok City and did some shopping at MBK which is a huge shopping mall. It actually felt like 7 floors of Parklea Markets so not that interesting and we weren’t really looking at anything in particular anyway.

Got a taxi back and then had a swim before watching a movie.

Time for dinner and then a final pack and we headed to the airport about 10.00pm for our flight thats due to depart at 1.30am Bangkok and arrive at 6am in Nairobi.

One advantage of business class is that you get priority check in and immigration and so we cleared the formalities in record time.

A wander through the duty free shops and then onto the AirFrance Lounge (another perk of business class) for free drinks and food while we waited for the flight.

Finally boarded the plane and took off and we all pretty much pushed the buttons to turn our large lounge chairs into fairly large flat beds and we slept.

 

Thursday 30 June

 Up and out early from the Ibis Hotel near Sydney Airport and off to check in. Fran & Jess did some duty free shopping while I read my book and then we boarded the Thai flight. We departed about 30 minutes late at 10.30am but arrived in Bangkok on time at 4.20pm (9 hour flight).

We caught a shuttle service to the Novotel Airport Hotel but it was only a 300m walk which probably would have been quicker than the drive. The hotel is pretty swish and we got upgraded to a deluxe room. It’s got a massive bed, so big that we don’t really need the extra bed for Jess, as we would all fit easily.

Got onto the internet to check emails and we found we had been successful in an upgrade to business class for the flight to Nairobi.

Kenya Airways does a ballot system where you can put in a bid for an upgrade. They let you know if you are successful 24 hours before the flight. Considering we depart at 1.25am, having a large recliner rather than cattle class, means we might get some sleep before arriving in Nairobi at 6am.

Less than 24 hours into our trip and we’ve been upgraded twice, what a start!