Liz & Richard's 2010 African Adventures

The Flight

Toronto - Paris - Cairo - Khartoum - Nairobi ..... 33 hours in Business Class comfort punctuated by extreme unpleasantness.  Nice pic here over the Alps

When Liz booked the tix using Delta Points the only available Biz Class routing was via Paris/Cairo (with a 5 hour layover in the latter).  No problem - we thought - an opportunity to have dinner with our friend Ahmed - who had been our wonderful travel planner/guide for our Middle East trip in 2008. 

In Cairo the terminal transfer turned into a bureaucratic farce - Ahmed was waiting on "the other side" of security but we were unable to get there. 

Security personnel were so intent on extorting a "tip" from us that twice we walked around the scanners with our 15 pound backpacks - to no one's concern (well...except that we hadn't tipped them).

For a couple of dollars graft you could probably carry aboard 10 pounds of C4, 9 Grenades, 8 M16s and a suicide bomber in a pear tree.

So - only a flurry of texts between us and Ahmed - and we departed Cairo with our gift for his son Mohammed.

(After we finally got our Kenya Airways boarding passes and were allowed out of the bowels of Terminal 2 we sat with a crowd of airport staff and watched an Africa Cup game that Egypt was playing - that was a lot of fun)

Then a 3am touchdown in Khartoum (that was news to us) where security personnel body frisked the cleaning staff.

At last - Nairobi - where they lose our luggage ..... (we're thinking we should have tipped that guy in Cairo)....but after an hour of searching a wonderful man finds our bag and we walk out of arrivals to find Mutua (our pre arranged driver) who has patiently waited for us - all is suddenly much, much better.

A note on Nairobi airport arrivals.  Like the legendary elephants, this is where all luggage goes to die. There are piles and caches and troves of luggage.  Luggage in braids with handles chained to pillars; luggage hidden under stairs; luggage with "collector quality" stickers from PanAm, BOAC, CP Air and Vasco da Gama.  A veritable luggage graveyard (should have taken a photo but we were too busy looking for our luggage).

Mutua is charming - the Holiday Inn is our favourite kind of "bubble hotel" - room, A/C, food, pool, service - in other words no contact with the real world.

We repack our bags down into safari size, check the rest and we’re off to fly to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania…….then we almost miss the plane.

We are coming to dread airports!

Arrival in Tanzania

After the drama in the Nairobi airport we are thrilled to see Felix, and his truck, waiting for us At Kilimanjaro Airport.  He will be our guide, companion, social commentator, translator and all round wonderful human being for the next 10 days.  The truck is important because we will live in it 16 hours a day, bouncing over roads that would challenge an Abrams tank.  There are 6 seats.  A battery powered fridge (stocked with water, juice and beer - GENIUS!!!! says Liz), 3 pop tops for viewing and a suspension system that must be made of titanium.  Note – the Toyota Land Cruiser is the standard here – not the Range Rover which Felix regards as a town car

And they don’t call it “Kilimanjaro Airport” for nuthin……Felix announces that the weather is unusually clear and you can’t always see the behemoth that is looming over us.  We snap a few not well planned photos….

We’re excited.

We have a real guide, in a real safari truck and we really are in Africa!

Off to the Plantation Lodge outside Karatu

We leave the airport for our almost 5 hour drive to Plantation Lodge (would have been shorter but the President was visiting Arusha that day so the main roads were closed – pic below).  The countryside is stunning – reminds us of Tuscany (no kidding).  Intensely cultivated – nice people – safe.

 

Of course the Plantation Lodge is wonderful – it’s a Liz booking.

Liz here – thank you Richard – we are booked at Plantation Lodge for 4 nights, from where we will travel to see Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater as day trips.  It is an unusually long booking – which I’ve intentionally done as we prefer not to move hotels every day and are happy to drive up to 90 minutes to sight see to avoid changing hotels.  But it does have people scratching their heads – from the original travel agent to Felix to the check in staff - “4 nights?” they confirm. It was absolutely the right choice for us as we settled in and really enjoyed the Lodge and its staff. Back to Richard!

They upgraded us to a suite (4 nights!) – there are wonderful flower gardens and a fabulous kitchen garden.  The head gardener Bryson takes us on a tour and we see the vegetables we’ll eat that night being picked.  They also have a flock of free range turkeys – kept hoping for turkey on the menu.  Food and service are very good and it’s our headquarters for the next 4 days from which we’ll visit Lake Manyara, the Crater and a countryside tour.

Reception building, with dining room and great bar

View from bar

Onions hanging to dry in the Kitchen Garden

Pics of our Suite – the Blue Mountain

And lunch on the patio

Lake Manyara

First, the mandatory pic of Liz and Dick in the truck – binoculars and camera ready; beer chilling and Felix doing his magic.  We came to love the truck and have cherished bruises to remember it by

The Manyara reserve is relatively small, notable for its forest elephants, flamingos on the lake, hippo pool and other wildlife (plus lions in trees – which we didn’t see here, but stay tuned)

The elephants do not disappoint.  Almost immediately we encounter a rare 5 legged Tanzanian elephant

Yes, Virginia, this is a male elephant and the 5th leg is what you think it is.  A most spectacular organ.  He can whirl it, twirl it, curl it and tie it in a bow.  It is an aft version of his trunk and reduces mere primates to babbling envy.

After our penis envy display, we get down to the real game drive when Babar comes out of the bush – fast!  Now Dickie has his brand new telephoto lens on his brand new camera so he can capture this moment – wrong.  Babar is moving close – very fast – and Dickie manages to get to get a shot of Babar’s eye

He then brushes the truck and turns to laugh at us

And then takes a casual dust bath…..

There are large troops of Baboons in Manyara.  Raising young, copulating, fighting, eating and drinking.  Feeding them is forbidden so they don’t beg.  Since they are very agile and have 3 inch fangs, having one in the truck with you could be unpleasant

 

A sad incident as we’re driving – a feral dog has had an unfortunate encounter with an African Porcupine.  The quills are a foot long and the diameter of a pencil.  Felix predicts the dog will die in a few days

The Hippo pool is at the edge of the lake – they're like like half submerged U-Boats, waiting for an unsuspecting convoy.  The occasional male hierarchical wrestle provides a break in the torpor…..but then you remind yourself that hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa…..more than crocs or lions or anything except that very tiny, little HIV virus.

 

There are numbers of black faced monkeys by the streams.  They are like miniature humans in really nice fur coats.  Safe within the park, they are losing their fear of humans and sit within feet of the truck.  A lizard on a nearby tree goes uneaten, much to Felix’s surprise – they must be well fed or they would have quickly eaten it.

We’re bird nerds (hey – Liz can tell a Blue Jay from an Bald Eagle).  Africa has a lot of aggressive ground birds – they can fly but basically they’re velociraptors with feathers.  A favourite is the Ground Horn Bill – turkey sized, tough, and now increasingly rare.

The Veld ungulates are also at Manyara – Wildebeest, Zebra, Buffalo, various Antelopes and our favourite – Giraffes.  We love giraffes…..the way they walk, their 11 inch tongues, males neck dueling, their incredibly cute young.  We’ll cover other herd animals later, but following are some Manyara giraffe shots…and a few elephant memories, because we love 4 to 5 tons of potential disaster up very close!

Tomorrow – the Crater!

Ngorongoro Crater! Part 1

Ngorongoro is the largest volcanic caldera on earth – with walls 2,000 feet deep and an area of 102 square miles. It is famous for the richness of animal life.  Richard has wanted to visit here since he was 10.  We made it!

From the rim the crater is an archetype from the “Lost World” saga.  The floor is shrouded in mist.  Strange bird calls echo and everyone speaks a little more softly than they have to.

 

 

We’re 10 minutes into the drive along the Crater Rim (it’s about 20 kilometres to the Sopa Road which descends into the crater itself) when the welcoming committee shows up.  A pride of 9 lions is perched on the side of a road cut.  This means that the ground they are sitting on is at truck window height.  We are not looking down.  We are looking across at 300 pounds of Mom, who has cubs, about 10 feet away – and we’re alone with them.

Following are photos from the first of our many cat encounters

Here’s Mom, at eye level:

 

 

 

And the juvenile male – just starting to grow a mane

And the intensely cute cubs, and we still cannot believe that the Tanzanian government would not let us take one or two home

And our memorable encounter ended when Mom got pissed off…. she considered smacking us, but decided to hustle the pride off into the bush.

The descent down to the crater floor takes us through a series of climates.  We particularly love the heath altitudes.

Once we hit the valley floor we have confirmed what we suspected – Felix has better radar than any modern navy.  Does he see them?  Does he smell them? Does he feel their vibrations through the ground?  Is he the spotting equivalent of Wayne Gretzky – he looks where the animals will be, not where they are?  Who knows, but animals just get served up for our viewing pleasure.

The spectacle opens with two rare black rhinos.   They’re at a distance – in fact we think they’re rocks.  Felix knows better.

In one corner (it’s a circular crater, Dickie) of Ngorongoro Crater is a lovely pool with hippos and – yes – other tourists (there is also a very clean washroom).  But other tourists do not have Felix, who has a picnic table and chairs hidden under the back seat of his truck and he has a “bush breakfast” from Plantation Lodge – and (Liz’s heart flutters) a french press and hot water to make fresh, hot coffee.  We dine in Eden watching the hippos and the birds

Liz discovers a new favourite animal – the warthog.  The Disney people are right – this inherently ugly beast is cute, perky and much fun – especially when they have young

After lunch Felix finds more lions – they’re hiding in some scrub brush, occasionally peaking at some approaching wildebeasts.  It is amazing how these big cats can disappear into cover no more substantial than a suburban garden. They eventually decide that we’re in the way of a successful hunt and leave in a huff.  We saw a lot of lions and they generally looked annoyed by our presence.

 

 

 

More in part 2………….

Ngorongoro Crater – Part 2

A nearby eagle, probably hoping for scraps from a kill, looks equally displeased by our arrival

The lions’ primary food are the herds of wildebeest and zebras – there are thousands of them

 

 

The wildebeest is a strange animal.  It’s not a type of cow; actually an antelope.  It looks like it was made from leftover parts of other creatures.  It’s not particularly fast or smart or fast breeding.  It’s the lions favourite prey, but for some strange menu of criteria it is an evolutionary success.  There are over 2 million of them in Tanzania

But strange as they are, a new born calf can still charm you. He/she is delightful, gambolling in the sun.  Felix points out that the young wildebeest actually look a bit like hyenas (as protection against hyenas) but still there’s a 3 in 5 chance he/she will be lion food in the first year

They can also be very photogenic when prancing in front of the thousands of feeding flamingos

We love the zebras.  They look like they’re dressed for the opera and have a bunch of fun traits.  Note the one on the ground in the following pic.  He is not dead.  He’s just having a rest while the other guys watch.  Their favourite place to flop down appears to be in front of the truck when rolling across the plaine.

They also like to stand neck to neck – this way they can see in 4 directions and one zebra’s tail keeps the flies out of the other’s face.

And of course their young are appropriately cute

There is a lot of other wildlife in Ngorongoro – elephants considerably larger than the forest elephants at Lake Manyara.

Plus Eland and Thompson’s Gazelles, and more warthogs and ostriches

 

 

 

We met an animal we’d see a lot more of later – the spotted hyena.  Here’s one cooling his butt off in a mud hole, only to have a warthog move him off so the hog could have the full spa mud bath treatment

We’ve not yet talked about the African Buffalo.  All animals we’ve met so far turn and leave when man arrives (hence our growing photo collection of wildebeest and zebra butts).  Even the lions walk away – pretending that they’ve other more important things to do.  But two species turn and face you when confronted – elephants and buffalo.

Based on experience and conversations the African Buffalo is up to a ton of extremely grumpy disposition, with a pair of scimitar horns and and armoured skull that would stop an anti-tank round.

The favourite Felix stunt in days to come – when Liz and Dick were getting cocky – was to suggest we see if he could get the buffalo to charge the truck.  The even better one was setting up our safari lunch within range of a buffalo her.  Dickie suggested we eat in the truck.

 

And one of Dickie’s favourite ground hunting raptor-like birds – a bustard

As we’re leaving there was a sad encounter.  An aging male lion, alone, possibly driven from the pride by a younger contender.  Note the wound under his left eye (not very discernable in the photos) – and he had another on his left haunch.  The Lion King redux – long live the king

At the top of the crater Felix decides we need a cold beer and lunch – Felix doesn’t drink – we love Felix.  Marabou Storks arrive (more dinosaurs with feathers).  They are our favourite Serengeti horror movie creatures.  They are big (note the size compared to Liz), delightfully ugly and aggressive.  We seem to be learning how to deal with aggressive storks.

 

And a quickie in closing – the storks that traditionally brought the babies and lived on the chimneys spend the winter in Africa – here they are

A wonderful day at the Crater!

A day of rest (well, sort of!)

We take a day off prior to our road trip to the Serengeti.  But we still go out and about!

We have asked Felix to see two things – a school and a market (local market, not a tourist-y one)

We start at the school, which is actually an orphanage for children whose parents died from AIDS. 

What is there to say?  We have so much.  They have so little.  We took coloured pencils and pads (bought locally) and made a donation to sponsor a uniform and other school requirements for one of the 20 residents.

When we arrive 11 of the 20 kids are away at school – the remaining 9 are kindergarten age.  They are all sitting at a picnic table with their teacher – doing math.  Serious math – way harder than what we perceive our kindergarten age kids do!

The floors are packed earth and they sleep 8 to a room.  They cook on open fires.  It is scrupulously clean.  What does one logically do?  Except the obvious – more!

And the most poignant shot…….

Want to read more or help?  It’s the Watoto Care Orphanage

http://www.homecomfortorphanage.blogspot.com/

After the orphanage we head to the local market – which was absolutely fabulous, but we have no photos.  The vegetables, meats and fruits were amazing but the vendors want to be paid for photos.  Felix urged us not to (that wasn’t difficult to convince Richard of that) so we have our memories! 

We also bought a few pieces there – two of the long, tall people as seen in a Plantation Lodge photo (we fell in love with them) and a Massai club….Felix has shipped it home for us.

And then we say – “a local bar” – that’s what we need!  Felix turns down a street and we find ourselves at the “Skyway Club Bar & Restaurant”.  Not a place we would have chosen unassisted (and we’re sure they don’t get many tourists!) but clean, functional, pleasant service and everything the right bar in the right place should be (beer was really cold, too!)

 

 

And then a very special stop at a piece of land Felix has purchased near Karatu – we were his first visitors and were very touched by that.  He has future plans and dreams for a B&B here – something we know he will achieve!  (Felix, we’re coming to the grand opening!)

View from what will be “our” room!

 

Thank you Felix for a wonderful day – we learned a great deal!

Into the Serengeti

Today we bid goodbye to the Plantation Lodge and set out for the first of our two mobile tented camp experiences (Liz looked longingly at the porcelain toilet in our suite at the Lodge before we left).

Serengeti Safari Camp is located in the Ndutu area of the Serengeti – about a 6 hour drive (but we turned it into a game drive so it was longer than a straight drive).

First up, you have probably figured out that Dickie is fascinated with the ground hunting raptor birds – dinosaurs in feathers.  Here is his favourite at a long distance – the Secretary Bird, named for its splay of writer’s quill-like feathers hanging from the back of its neck

As one of those strange “life list” kind of things that you always wanted to do, we stopped at Olduvai Gorge (or Oldupai as they’re now spelling it).  This is where Leakey discovered the earliest hominid fossils and established that we all did originate in Africa.

Then, as a real surprise, Felix drove us down the Gorge (road? who needs a road?)  It was a journey through history as we traversed the millions of years of strata.

This poor fellow’s last trip………..

Then, staying off road, we drove across a vast sandy area (Felix announced that only a “confident” guide drives in this area – what does that mean??!!) on our way to see the shifting sands.  We are fascinated by dunes – especially barcane dunes.  This one has been traveling across the plane for about 5 years – it has moved a kilometre – it doesn’t look quite as neat in the photo…unfortunately…but it is crawling across the plane like some giant amoeba, flowing with the prevailing winds.

We’ll talk about Felix’s eyes in more detail in a moment, but here’s an early example.  We’re bouncing along in the truck and suddenly Felix stops and tells us to stand up quietly.  At first glance we see nothing

Then we adjust and see

The baby is too young to run away from a predator so the mother has a signal she gives it to freeze – most predators use motion as their signal.  So we could get very close to the baby while it was in freeze mode.

Shortly thereafter we stop for lunch….we are officially nowhere.  The only requirement is that it be shady so we’re under the only trees for miles.  Tables and chairs are assembled; food and drink appear and we sit in the middle of nowhere eating a charming lunch (from Plantation Lodge) and being civilized.  This process will repeat itself with great frequency and greater delight over coming days.

Liz digression here – female readers may be wondering about the – ahem – facilities in the middle of nowhere.  As regular readers know, we are not experienced campers so I don’t regularly bound into the bush.  And when you drink as much coffee and beer (not together, of course) as I do – this issue was weighing on my mind.  But my genius friend April solved all that months ago with her present of “Pee Mates” (warning – possibly too much information to follow) – little plasticized tubes that mean you can stand and pee (I’ve always maintained that when women learn to stand and pee we can take over the world). Pee Mates are great – especially when the beer all comes in 1/2 litre bottles!

A Massai herding child appears (remember, we are nowhere) and Felix shares water and a photo opp with him.  The child should be at school but the parents choose to have him herd their cattle and goats.  Big problem for Tanzania and more specifically the Massai

Our “animal du jour” is giraffes.   We still care for lions and zebras and gnus and birds, et al .. (well except for the tse tse flies who have never seen an Off Repellant ad and are therefore unaware that they shouldn’t bite you when you have Off on (neat oxymoron)….but giraffes are the animals of the moment as we come down the from Ngorongoro highlands into the Serengeti plains.  There are a lot of them!

 

But the best part about giraffes is watching them move.  We keep meaning to take a video – will do so at our next opportunity but as we write this we have just returned from a fine lunch at a South African winery who had no giraffe on the menu.

Felix has a dangerous and fearless sense of humour.  We are watching giraffes who are standing digesting while Liz and Dick pontificate on the intestinal processes of African Ungulates.  Felix decides that we – and the giraffes – are getting boring, stops the truck and hops out and chases a large giraffe – resulting in the following series.

 

Time to discuss Felix – he’s not actually a human guide, he’s an acronym for a new Dick Cheney/Haliburton “Hunting System”

Find Every Lion In Xtremis

Felix – while driving the truck over the proverbial “roads to hell”, and answering Liz and Dick’s endless questions about the Tanzanian education system, and avoiding running over a snoozing zebra – is constantly scanning the plain and the sky.  Suddenly an announcement.

That rock on the horizon is actually a hyena and the dot in the sky is a vulture and both of them will converge – THERE!….and we’re off.  The truck leaves the road that isn’t a road and lurches across the plain.  After a bumpy ride we arrive at the first of many post kills.  The following is a video of the hyena and its meal

Following is a composite from various post kill photos.  There is a hierarchy of players – the primary killers (lions, cheetahs and quite often hyenas) the top of the food chain scavengers (hyenas) then at least 3 tiers of vultures (the big nasty brown ones, the intermediary spotted and the smaller browns).  At the bottom of the chair are the jackals and Maribou storks….and inevitably the insects and micro organisms who turn everything back to dirt (except the skulls….they remain). 

We’ve not seen an actual kill, so this phase is missing (we both admit to not regretting seeing Nate the Gnu or Wally the Warthog torn apart) – but hyenas and kill are common.  Their massive jaws can crack bone to eat the marrow,  The sound of cracking bone is the Muzak of the Serengeti

 

More videos to come in a day or so – we’re off to swim with Great White sharks!!!!!!

We interrupt the land based animals for the sea going ones (the ones with a LOT of teeth)

Went Great White Shark hunting today – here are a few pics and a brief video

Drove yesterday from Simon’s Town over to Gansbaai (about 3 hours) …. woke up this morning to grey skies and wind (after thunder and lightning during the night) – not great shark hunting weather.  We arrived at the outfitter at 8am and while the weather was improving (rain stopping/sun coming out) the wind was picking up.

At the outset the operators took a vote (a vote?) amongst the 26 of us to determine whether to go to the area where there were a lot of sharks (but it was very rough) or virtually no sharks (where it was very calm).  Not much of a decision when you’ve traveled a long way to get there. 

About a 15 minute run over to the shark area – we were a rockin’ and a rollin’ on the way there.  Then divers suited up to go in to the shark cage (no air – breath hold)  After watching the first group we decided not to do the cage – it was very rough and people were being bashed around.  We’ve spent a lot of time in the water with sharks (without a cage!) and were happy to view the sharks from up top in the boat (without going into graphic detail – it was rough and some people suffered for the whole time we were out there – fortunately Richard and I do not suffer from motion sickness).

We had some great shark encounters……

 

 

And here’s a very brief video (literally the last shark and the last video before the batteries died)…short but very graphic

 

More from the Serengeti!

The last Serengeti post ended with a hyena with his kill…picking up from there.

Felix uses the truck to separate the hyena from the kill so the buzzards can have a feeding frenzy.  They may be perfectly evolved to do what they do, but it sure isn’t attractive.  As much effort is spent pecking each other as the kill

The speckled vultures waste the most time attacking each other while the smaller brown guys lie low and keep eating

The large brown types are at the top of the vulture food chain and eat first

Lastly the jackals arrive to finish the scraps.  We like this photo for the expression on his face.

It’s another Felix alert!  We see stones – he sees 3 cheetahs.  They are a well known family of 3 brothers.  Because they hunt as a team they can take down wildebeest and not just the smaller Thompson’s Gazelles which are cheetah’s frequent prey .. but no hunting today.  They are beautiful relaxing in the sun

There are exotic birds everywhere – who knew that lovebirds were native to the Serengeti?

And a Francolin – another of the ground hunting species we find so fascinating

Plus what may be the prettiest bird we’ve seen in years =- the Lilac Breasted Roller

And another favourite – Guinea Fowl.  Always in pairs and only two dimensional.  When they turn end on they’re so thin they almost disappear!

Then a family of Hartebeests with calves to close the day – strange looking creatures

 

Soon tents appear on the horizon.  We’re almost at camp…and this is definitely not how I remember camp from Boy Scouts.

Serengeti Camping – Not your Father’s Boy Scout Memories!

Liz booked with Nomad Tanzania primarily due to their reputation as having great guides (their reputation is safe with Felix) and secondarily to stay in two of their mobile camps – Serengeti Safari Camp and Loliondo (more on Loliondo later).

These are not the most luxurious tented camps in the Serengeti (the ones with crystal chandeliers in the tents and 18,000 thread count sheets) but they are designed to be moved every couple of weeks or so – to be close to the migration action.  Each has only 6 tents, for a maximum of 12 guests.

And – they are very comfy!

There was a bar tent – with an attractive single lady in the bar

And a dining tent where we had excellent meals – out of character we took no pictures of our food under canvas – note the kitchen and bunk tents for staff

 

As a special bonus Sarah, the menu consultant for Nomad, was in the camp during our stay (we were the only guests).  She is a native of Kenya where she and her husband run a small hotel.  Formerly she owned a catering business in England – a foodie like us!  Much interesting conversation flowed.

(re the food – very impressive, considering where the kitchen is located!  They bake all their own bread and serve lovely 3 course meals)

Our ‘tent’ was a delight – large, private and all the amenities – we’ve stayed in smaller hotel rooms and places with a lot more unpleasant wildlife in the rooms!  There were fewer bugs than a Muskoka summer

Inside – the tent was divided into three sections – with canvas “doors” that dropped between them for privacy

• the bedroom (with a very comfortable double bed)
• a dressing room with a washstand – (a jug of hot water and cold water were always there plus bottled water for drinking (the basin drained into the plain outside), and clothes storage area
• toilet and shower area

Lighting was by battery powered lamps (love those LEDs) so we didn’t set ourselves on fire….

  

The shower was very neat…and effective.  We’d schedule a shower (or 2).  Staff would heat the water (it was always the perfect temperature) and then hoist a drum of water over our tent and we’d have a real shower that lasted about 10 minutes.  Refills were free :)

The following photo is from our next camp but you can see the bucket hoist for the shower on the left

All the service was accomplished by a series of zip up/down panels in the tent and the “secret door” .  At night we would drop the panels separating the bedroom and dressing area – in the morning we were awakened with hot coffee and biscuits and the staff member would slip in the secret door and leave hot water and fresh drinking water.

As to the “big” question?  The toilet was just fine (called a long drop toilet – basically a toilet seat with a very large bucket placed into a hole in the ground).  Absolutely no odor, comfy, no bugs, immaculately clean and the bucket seemed to be replaced about every 5 minutes (silently – how do they do that?).  You do what you do in the big city, then throw in a couple of scoops of fine Serengeti dirt (from the bucket next to the toilet) and you’re done.  No where near as bad as confronting squat toilets!

Overall very comfy accommodations (especially the surprise hot water bottles in the bed when you retire from the dining room – turn down service in a tent!)  The zebras come up to the tent at night to graze.  You go to sleep to the rhythm of little hooves and munching teeth.  Here’s an early morning pair waiting to say hello

Game Drives

We’ll ignore chronology and describe a series of encounters. 

The animals get up early so we’re up at 6:00am (coffee waiting for Liz on the patio – brilliant) and off by 6:30am (breakfast in the bush – more later).

While getting up early is never Dickie’s favourite experience, the luminescent Serengeti dawns do compensate

 

We’ve mentioned buffalo before.  They’re big, tough and aggressive.  This herd made it clear that they weren’t being intimidated.  Dad (or mom) made it even clearer that we should not come closer

While the large animals are exciting, we love the surprise of seeing the small creatures that stay hidden from view.  Examples follow

• African wildcat – the ancestor of all domestic cats
• appropriately named Bat Eared Foxes – cute, cute, cute

Even Felix was excited when we spotted a Ratel - or Honey Badger – during the day.  They’re usually nocturnal.  Apparently nobody messes with Ratels.  They’ve got wicked claws for digging, a powerful bite, their loose, very thick coat makes it tough to administer a killing strike and – just for good measure – they spray like a skunk!  Formidable

At the other end of the aggressive scale we were surprised to discover that there are a lot of bunnies on the Serengeti.  They hide in holes during the day or simply crouch down.  We are constantly amazed at how even large animals disappear by just lying down in the sparse vegetation

One late afternoon we experience a Serengeti downpour – it doesn’t rain often but when it does it is torrential.  Tent leaks were inconsequential, but fun

Birds and Beasts

There is a shallow alkaline lake near the camp with many flamingos and other wading birds.  They are striking reflected in the mirror calm surface

Wildebeest are strange creatures.  For reasons unknown, one wildebeest will decide he needs to be somewhere else and starts running.  Others follow and soon the whole herd is on the move.  As they move their attendant oxpeckers and cattle egrets follow.  We counted 80 wildebeest a minute passing us.  There were two columns so we estimate over 2,000 animals, at least.  15-20 minutes and it was all over

  

Even the ostriches and their chicks didn’t know why

 

The Marabou Storks watched from a dead tree – never was there an animal more appropriate for a Hieronymus Bosch painting. They are symbols of foreboding and loss

 

And very, very, very tiny antelopes!

Dik Diks are the smallest antelopes - about 2 feet long and 18 inches high.  They are intensely cute with large eyes.  Can't believe Paris Hilton hasn't started carrying one around in her handbag.  They'are also surprisingly common and unafraid of us - surprising since all the predators eat them.  Following are shots of an animal we always stopped for

Elephants!

Now we like elephants – Dumbo, Babar, Horton and my favourite childhood stuffed toy – they were all warm, cuddly creatures.  Real elephants are considerably more aggressive and a lot bigger.

We came head on with this big guy drinking rain water out of the the road ruts.  You could hear him vacuuming  up liquid and then the cascade pouring down his gullet.

He was not happy to see us and since he outweighs and towers over the truck he brushed us off – literally – and gave us a butt shot.  At distances measured in inches, elephants are very intimidating – here’s video (you can hear him slurping)

 

However our single pachyderm meeting paled compared to the confrontation with a herd of 7 who had young.  Of course Liz – always the account person – is attempting to get a precise definition of “mock charge” for the contact report! (turn the volume up to hear my discussion of what constitutes a mock charge – Liz)

 

 

Following are a few stills of Dad letting us know who is boss.  They are magnificent creatures.  Note how protective Dad is and that even the juvenile is not intimidated by us.  They then disappeared into the bush – quietly – which is the most amazing feature of 4 ton creatures moving through the dry brush

 

 

 

Lions – in bushes and in trees!

Felix is an all round guide, but lions are his thing.  We’ve decided he can smell them.  He was certain that there was a pride hiding in some low scrub – but it just looked like brush to us.

His solution?  Drive the truck into the bushes.  Sure enough lions started popping up all around us – turned out they had a bunch of cubs so we left them to play

  

 

And then later………the incredible lioness in the tree!

 

As we were driving back to camp one night Felix quietly announced that there was a lioness in a “nearby” tree.  “Nearby” in Felix terms is this close when shot through a telephoto lens

We bounce across the plain as quietly as you can bounce a 3 ton truck and in classic Felix style end up parked under the lion. Liz and Dick take the wise stance that she is just a 300 pound pussycat and has no interest in dropping into the truck for some Canadian Bacon.

She then moves around the tree.  We move the truck around under her and take a lot of photos – more than any other animal on our safari.  We’re so close we could have performed a gynaecological exam.

Felix assures us that we needn’t worry.  She has blood stains on her jaws so she must have just fed.  She looks a lot to us like a lady waiting for a second helping.

Following – more photos of this magnificent animal.  A little genetic engineering to calm her down and you could add a whole new dimension to going for a walk with the dogs in the park!

 

A Penguin Moment

There are lots of penguins on the beach and rocks at the end of our street in Simon’s Town.  Intensely cute and anthropomorphic

 

Also, there are somewhat amusing signs everywhere as below

We weren’t quite sure if the penguins were stealing auto parts or – in a country where car jacking is the national sport – they just figured that since they couldn’t fly they might as well drive.

But no, penguins really do sit under cards (they like the shade) … so we now do something we never imagined – check for penguins underneath, before starting the car

 

Off to Loliondo

Leaving the Serengeti we moved north to a Nomad Tanzania camp on a private reserve in Loliondo – about a 4 hour drive but we stopped alot.

We’re generally totally alone on the plain, but rarely a truck rumbles by, spewing a contrail of dust.  The amazing part is that in the rainy season the plain develops areas that can best be described as “quick mud” – like quick sand, but gooier.  Trucks sink 3 or 4 feet until they hit the underlying bedrock.  Drivers then spend 2 or 3 days digging their truck out by hand.  That’s why there are 3 drivers in most trucks.  The plain is littered with the open graves where trucks were once buried

 

Along the way there were giraffes (including some beautiful young)

And of course – herds of wildebeest ……….

…and zebras and impalas – could never get a shot of the impala defying gravity with their amazing leaps

And a female warthog with piglets, who adopted a wonderfully prayerful pose while rooting in the soil

Felix knew that Dickie loved reptiles so we stopped for every one.  Never saw a live snake – just a dead puff adder.  A favourite was a large leopard turtle. Beautiful shell pattern – and big.  Worth a lot on the illegal pet market

 

We also stopped for lizards – occasionally following them into abandoned aardvark burrows

 

Our new camp at Loliondo used yurts rather than tents.  Remember yurts from Grade 4 World Geography?

Same wonderful service; very good food; open bar….and the yurts are big and even more luxurious.  Clearly you want to be a boy scout in Mongolia.

(And once again we are the only guest – and Sarah has preceded us to Loliondo so we know the conversation will be great!)

Below our yurt, with sleeping area and washroom

 

At Loliondo, in addition to game drives we would have 4 memorable experiences – a walk in the bush, a night drive, a visit to a Masai village and dinner with the camp staff.

First the walk in the bush.  There were 5 in our merry band – Liz & Dick, Felix, John Lula (the ranger/guard) and a Masai guard.

John is carrying a very big gun…believe it was a .459 calibre – certainly close to a half inch bore.  The bullets were appropriately also very large – about 5 inches long.

The Masai’s spear is not a decoration.  The edge of that long leaf blade is sharp enough to shave with.  And it was really heavy. He mainly walked behind Dickie who was concerned he might be the one clumsy Masai – one stumble and it would be “Dick on a stick”.

The reason for all the firepower is – you guessed it – Elephants and Buffalo (the “E/B Factor”).  No one cares about lions or snakes.

Our briefing was simple – if confronted by an E or B    “Do Not Run”.

After due consideration Liz and Dick decided this was all a ploy.  While we stood our ground, the other 3 would run like hell and leave us as buffalo bait.

Now you’ll see in the following pic that John has his pants tucked in his socks.  Nothing is said about this; but Liz and Dick notice and promptly tuck our pants in our socks to avoid creepy crawlies, snakes, poison ivy, or whatever John our heavily armed guard is trying to avoid.

At the end of the walk we ask John what lethal animal or plant we had so cleverly avoided by following his lead - “Oh” he replied.  “These are new pants and I didn’t want to get wildebeest shit on the cuffs”.  Danger averted.

It’s very different walking on the ground instead of standing 8 feet high through the roof of a 3 ton truck.

It’s much harder to see things.  Trees and brush get in the way.  And the animals move faster than you thought.  They seem more cautious of us than when we’re in the truck.  Predators move on foot, not in vehicles.

But the big difference is that discovery that the savannah floor is full of holes.  Bunny holes – the ideal size to snap an ankle; warthog burrows – suitable for interring a mafia hit; all the way up to aardvark excavations where you could park a Smart Car.  Liz and Dick watch their own feet and the feet of the person ahead.

It’s interesting but definitely not conducive to taking photographs.

Liz decides that if we’re going to stare at the ground we might as well be productive.  She decides to take a picture of each of the myriad of wildflowers that no one notices until they constantly stare at the ground

But stopping and starting with the Masai with the razor sharp spear, a pace behind, does not seem like a great idea.  Sanity prevails.  Flowers wait for another day.

We return to where we had seen a disembowelled zebra kill the afternoon before – that day we waited to see if the lioness would return to her kill but she would not as long as we were there (bad photo below – somewhat gory)

Today – there is not a SPECK of anything where the zebra had lain – just some blood stains on the grass.  The veld cleans itself with frightening rapidity.

We close with a touching experience – a Grant’s gazelle calf, only a few hours old, is lying is the grass.  We almost step on it.  It has no scent at this age and by lying motionless has the best chance to avoid predators.  The cat’s optic wiring is sensitive to movement and they see in black and white. 

The calf is the definition of innocence. Like an allegorical Renaissance painting

 

And Liz – with the gazelle in the background

The walk was an interesting experience – not photo productive, but we learned and laughed.

More Loliondo – a Night Drive and Masai Visit

To start the night drive we drove out to a nearby kopje (great scrabble word – an outcrop popping up from the plain) for a sundowner – drinks while watching the sun go down – basic, simple, good concept!

The kopje is populated with hyrax – marmot like creatures whose claim to fame is that they are the elephant’s genetically closest relative

 

 

 

The night drive is structured with John holding a large searchlight standing (through the roof) in the passenger seat, Felix driving, Liz and Dick standing on the next row and Sarah standing in the back.

We saw a lot of interesting things – much of the hunting happens at night – but even stopping the truck and locking down the camera could not get a clear shot, as shown below

Highlights included two pairs of ratels, a genet (cross between a cat and a weasel that has gorgeous markings) many bunnies, zebras moving like ghosts and of course a multitude of reflected eyes.

You’re left with the feeling that in the animal world, daytime is for relaxing but night is when things happen….often unpleasant things.

 

Visit to Masai Village

(or is it Maasai? See it spelled both ways)

There are a lot of Masai on the savannah.  We see them frequently herding cattle.  But they do not like to have their pictures taken – they will demand money after the fact (post-photum?).  It’s too bad since they are very elegant in their brightly hued cloaks with their spears and short swords and clubs, and the ubiquitous stick that they use to whip their cattle and donkeys.  We like to believe that we inhibit photo taking out of cultural respect, but the spears and swords and clubs may have something to do with it.

So we pay to visit a village (Felix is half masai and speaks the language).  Photos are OK.  Unfortunately the men are away with their herds – the woman and children are there and the headman to greet us.

Theirs is a very different life from ours.  No electricity or running water (the women walk miles daily to get water), no sewage (you take a walk in the bush), housing is mud daubed wattle with an open wood fire for cooking – food is primarily corn meal and meat.

This is the headman’s house – he has two wives – hence two entrances!  Liz went in (as a funny aside – Liz was the tallest person in the village – Masai are known for their height) – there were small chairs and cots but not much room for anything else and the ceiling is very low.

They are a wonderfully proud and beautiful people

The tough part for us was the flies.  Richard hates flies.  The children’s faces are covered in flies – they are drinking from their eyes and the corners of their mouths

Pictures of children covered in flies are a universal fund raising photo for charities in Africa, but this visit revealed something to us – comparatively, these are not impoverished children – they have food, clothing, housing, access to schools – and they have flies .. because they have animals.

The headman was very taken with Richard’s watch and gold rings.  He fondled them frequently.  If I could have figured out how to get it home I’d have traded the watch for the spear - “Canadian man dubbed the spear hijacker”.

Part of the visit is that we buy some of the lovely bead work the ladies make…

Leaving, we gave one of the children a bottle of water and were reminded that as basic as conditions were, there was no litter, no odor (animal or human), clothes were all clean, children well fed.  Biggest problem is that they prefer to have their children tending their herds rather than being in school.

The “Last Supper” in Loliondo and a flight over the Crater

Our great times in both Nomad camps were the result of the kind, efficient and charming staff…many of whom we never saw.  Since we were the only guests in camp we asked Sarah if we could eat dinner with the whole staff – this idea quickly evolved into we would try local cuisine which involved us buying a goat…no, a large goat….they would BBQ it and we’d have a party!

There was a brief – very brief – discussion that Liz and Dick would have the honour of killing the goat.  We managed to avoid even meeting the poor creature.

When we returned from our night drive the crew was assembled, our table was set beautifully under the stars and dinner was ready (we think a little overdone since we were late)

It is notable that it took 18 people to look after the two of us!

The goat and its liver were spit roasted over an open fire

The goat was served with ugali (boiled corn mash), beans, tomato salad and a local green like spinach.

Our only regret is that we and the staff ate at separate tables under the stars.  (they prefer to eat standing up we were told).  There was some suggestion that the guys were offended by Richard drenching tabasco on otherwise perfect goat!

 

We are obligated to comment on the food.  Having lived with Felix for 10 days we learned – much to our surprise – that unlike other tropical regions (Mexico/Caribbean/India/SE Asia) Eastern Africa does not have a taste for hot, highly spiced food.  They love bland.  Ugali is boiled corn meal – very polenta like and rice is served plain.  Vegetables are boiled or raw – beans are really good – after dousing with tabasco.

As for meat – as Felix described it “we love the gristle and the fat and the tough parts”.  They certainly do.

They’re clearly not wrong, but we wouldn’t base a tour of East Africa on the cuisine.  Felix would join us for breakfast and dinner, but when we had lunch in camp he preferred to eat with the staff.  Because there was just Liz and Dick in camp we had a lot of leftovers.  We assumed that they’d get eaten by staff, but Sarah told us that generally the guys didn’t prefer our style of food so it was largely trashed.  We hope to correspond further with Sarah on this issue closest to our hearts and midriffs.

And then, very sadly, a last picture with Felix and “the truck” and off to the airport

And a final wave as we board our single engine prop with its lady pilot, other tourists and a young woman with a medical emergency.  Take off from the gravel strip – so many mixed symbols.  One more view of the Serengeti

As we fly we pass over our alkaline lake with the flamingos, the Ngorongoro rim, crater wall and the road we drove 10 days ago into the Serengeti

 

 

 

 

Now – off to Rwanda and the gorillas – Mount Kilimanjaro  says goodbye

Arrival in Rwanda

Some brief context.  Rwanda is a very small country in Central Africa, bordered on the west by “The Congo” (civil war, marauding war lords, etc) and on the east by Tanzania (quite stable).  It was a German colony for a brief time (lost by Germany after the first world war) and then was a Belgian colony until independence in 1961.  (the second language is French but that is now shifting to English).

In 1994, “the genocide” happened – 800,000 Tutsis and 200,000 Hutus were killed (out of a total population of approximately 8 million at the time) by their neighbours while the UN and the world sat back and held meetings.  Today, everything in Rwanda is viewed through the genocide lens.

(one of the many fascinating things we learned was that the Tutsis and the Hutus are not two different tribes – its origin is more a class/economic descriptor – the Tutsis had more money/cattle/etc… so you could become a Tutsis by dint of your economic status.)

Rwanda also has most of the surviving Mountain Gorillas in the world (approximately 700 out of 1,000) – the rest are in Congo (war torn) and Uganda (stable).

There are numerous other bits of data that we’ll try to cover about this fascinating country.

For starters – it is physically gorgeous.  Very mountainous and intensely cultivated

 

 

They also have some unusual laws – when you enter the airport there are signs announcing that “plastic bags are illegal”.  No kidding.  We’re having trouble enough with angst paying a nickel a bag at Loblaws – they just banned them outright.

But best of all, on the last Saturday of each month they have “umuganda” which means “contribution”.  From 7am to 1pm people sweep the streets, upgrade schools, paint homes, etc.  Everybody.  Everywhere.  You cannot drive a car during this time and as we left on such a Saturday our guide had to get a permit to take us to the airport.  We now know how the president feels driving through town…alone. (following is a pic Liz found on the internet – we had packed away the cameras not realizing what a surreal experience the drive to the airport would be)

One very last neat feature – the police are not corrupt and it is very safe.  How safe?  Well, we went directly from the airport to the Genocide Museum – all our bags (including cameras and computer) were sitting in the back of the truck and the windows were all open.  We assumed that meant Martin was staying with the truck as we toured the museum.  As he strolled with us, we kept looking back at the truck – finally asking him if it was safe.  “Of course” he said.  (having just left Nairobi – called Now-I-Rob-You – that was a leap of faith for us)

We loved our guide Martin – bright, intelligent, articulate and ready to talk openly about the incredible events of the last decades.  He survived because his family had been exiled to Uganda (because of a mixed Tutsi/Hutu marriage) prior to the genocide.  His father was polygamous (x3).  First person we ever met with firsthand knowledge. Fascinating.  Martin’s pithy observation is that “multiple divorces” is just polygamy on a different time frame.  He and his father (but only 1 wife – Martin’s mother) returned in 1996.

Martin picks us up at the airport and then an unfortunately short visit to the Genocide Museum – which is a very sophisticated history of events.  We planned to return on Saturday morning before going to the airport, but with Umuganda it was closed (everything is closed!)  We are committed to read/learn more.

Off up country to the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge in Volcano National Park. The road is an epic piece of construction; unfortunately with numerous pot holes (actually more like cauldron holes).  Vistas as we wind up the mountains are stunning.  People are tall and lithe – Martin tells us that basketball is a favourite sport – no kidding.  They also wear very beautiful colourful fabrics – but the locals don’t like their pictures taken.  The mythology is that tourists take their pictures, publish expensive coffee table books and make lots of money off their images.  Martin asks us not to take pictures (other than from a distance) and the few times we even aim a camera in someone’s direction, justifies his concern.  We do take some through the windshield from a distance (hence the blur)

We love the roadside egg sellers with their unique packaging (30 eggs per bundle).  Took this shot (no people) before the owner came rushing out suggesting he be paid

The hillside fields are rarely terraced and in some places are almost vertical.  Rain can be torrential here so soil erosion must be a problem

While the country is very mountainous, much of the local traffic is on bicycles. They must have incredible thighs

 

You know that perpetual motion is impossible but the Rwandans are trying to achieve an agricultural version.  The following photo is of a fish farm growing Tilapia in the pools.  The little sheds are for rabbits.  The Tilapia live on the rabbit shit.  Now, if we could just feed the rabbits the tilapia guts….agricultural perpetual motion!

Most of the homes have no running water.  The roads are thick with people (mostly women) carrying home 20-30 pound carboys of water.  But it appears that for washing clothes it’s more efficient to bring the clothes to the water.  Many roadside streams have drying clothes blossoming on the grass.

 

The fields are worked mostly by hand (womens’ hands) – they are impressionist paintings with their bright clothes and ebon features punctuating the rich green fields.  Many of our conversations with locals suggest that while the women work, Dad is downtown converting that work to rounds of beer.  The day parthenogenesis becomes reality, the males of this world better watch out

  

We noted that the genocide is a constant background shadow in Rwanda.  Reconciliation trials are still going on (in Tanzania).  for many of the convicted lower level perpetrators it means 2 to 5 years in a work gang fixing roads/building houses/painting schools etc…with time off for good behaviour.  We do like many aspects of the new Rwanda.  Don’t waste resources with guys rotting in jail – get them out doing something worthwhile.

As we drive along we note strange things in trees.  They look like rolls of carpet.  Turns out they are wild beehives.  The farmer puts one in a tree, waits for it to be occupied and honey stored…then removes the hives, smokes out the bees and harvests the honey.  But these are African Bees, not docile domesticated honey bees.  Climbing a tree to steal a hive could be very unpleasant!

 

Liz and Dick love food markets.  Martin took us to a big one.  Interesting food, friendly people, very safe – we shot a number of photos from the hip..although market people didn’t seem as concerned about the camera.

Following are a number of photos – we loved the colour and vitality of the market and Rwanda in general.

 

There is, however, one issue we have with African cuisine – red meat.  The beef is like shoe leather and the lamb a candidate for a new synthetic polymer.  As we write this we are in Cape Town where we ate at our favourite restaurant last night.  After days of salivating over perfect prawns, delectable fish of infinite variety and the best calamari every – Dickie tried the lamb.  We actually sent it back.  Restaurant was charming – much friendly discussion, tastings by kitchen staff.  All agreed that it is a cultural difference.  What they think is “firm and flavourful” we find “tough and inedible”.  They did cancel the bill – the foregoing tirade was prompted by the following shot from the Rwanda market …. apologies ….PS the pork is great!

Next post – the gorillas!

Rwanda – Gorillas #1

On the drive into the park we see the Sabyinyo Mountain – which means “old man’s teeth” as you can see in the profile!

 

 

Arrival at the office at 7:30am – waiting to find out which family we will hike to…..this guy looks good to Liz – nice and close (and docile)

 

 

There are 7 families of gorillas – 8 tourists will be allowed to approach each family (tough to base a tourist industry on 56 people/day). Trackers are following the families – they can be anywhere from 1-3 hours of hiking away, and are on the move.

Check back to that photo above – we are about to climb a mountain. Covered in jungle.  To sit with a 450 pound, very protective male AND take pictures of his wives – makes sense to us.

This hike has loomed large for months now – it can be a tough trek and (obviously) we are worried about Richard’s back.  We have this conversation with Martin on the drive up and he assured us he would speak to the rangers and attempt to get us with the group visiting the closest family.  Of course “closest” could mean anything!

Martin returns from the office and announces success – we are to visit the Sabyinyo family – which is about an hour away through the bamboo forest.  That’s very exciting because the Sabyinyo family has the largest silverback gorilla in Rwanda at its head – Guhonda.

Liz and especially Dick are the oldest members of our group (thanks Richard). Regrets about not training more for this challenge are fretted over.  Our team is assembled – Liz, Dick, “D” (the head guide – whose real name is Diogenes – in green), Richard, Job (Liz’s porter) Simon(Richard’s porter).  Remember these characters – they will appear in starring roles later in this drama.

There are 6 others in the group (4 x 35 year old males and a nice couple from San Francisco) and porters – and of course a guard with an AK47.  It’s the buffalo factor again (and we did step over a lot of dung so they are there)

We set off like some “Tolkeinesque” Fellowship of the Gorilla

The first hour is easy.  A walk through the tilled fields, then we climb over the stone wall that defines the park boundary and then into the bamboo forest.  Other than the fact that everyone walks under overhanging bows that whack Liz in the forehead, it’s a walk in the park.

Then we get close and life comes partially unglued for Dickie.  We’re moving up a 45 degree slope covered in thick brush and vines (we’re also at 7,000 feet and oxygen is a little thin).  His snow boards disguised as orthopedic shoes (with their flat bottoms) aren’t working (should have brought the hiking boots – too late).  Then 140 pound Simon starts hauling 200 pound Dickie up the slope.  We make it to the final resting stop where everything except cameras are left with the porters. The “D” grabs Richard (who he is calling “Silverback”) and literally propels him up the last climb up the mountain.  And we’re there – 10 feet from the last surviving mountain gorillas – it is magic.

(Liz would like to report that she bounded up the 45 degree part like a gazelle – however Job was a great help and a lovely gentleman from Kenya was very gallant in those last few metres – sorry about clawing your hand to pieces, William!)

Sucked up a lot of O2 and recovered quickly – then we went on to have one of the most memorable times of our lives.  Following are some photos (mainly of Gohunda the silverback) and 3 videos (the videos are pixelating and I don’t know why so not trying to fix them now and hope someone can help – Robin! – when I get home/Liz) – we’re uploading this the night before we leave for Namibia so will likely add more photos to another posting when we get home.

 

We watched him climb down to greet us (see video below)

 

Walked over and then sat down – that was pretty much it!  (“D” kept saying - “he wants jiggy jiggy” – of course we all know what that means.  But in the end, the most action was the farting! – I think you can hear it in some of the videos!

 

 

 

 

Adolescents and black back males hung around…..

   

 

Here is a really bad photo of Richard and Liz (but quite good of Guhonda!  considering D grabbed our camera and we were 10 feet away we think it’s beautiful!)

 

And here are a few videos (repeating my problem once again with the pixelating – hoping to fix it later)

 

First….Guhonda coming down to greet us – you will hear Diogenes calling to him – apparently to assure him we are not a threat (well, that’s what he said he was saying – perhaps he was saying “it’s your turn to take care of these bloody tourists)

 

 

And here is Liz and Guhonda……

 

 

And here is a baby – doing its Cirque de Soleil audition!

 

 

More gorilla commentary later – including hotel and how we booked/etc – but now we’re off to Namibia – probably not many postings until we’re home mid March

Off to Namibia in the morning – probably not too many posts until our return to Toronto

We’re not expecting much internet connection – considering several of our lodges don’t have power.

If we can do a brief updates we will – otherwise catch up with us upon our return to Toronto mid March – thanks for reading!

 

Liz and Richard

Namibia!

Namibia is remarkably beautiful - climbed dunes yesterday before dawn and sat and watched the sunrise - have hundreds of photos - hope to upload one or two in the next couple of days.....

A few sand dunes pics

From our visit to Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei -

 

We climbed up one of the dunes to watch the sunrise – you can see our foot steps in the pic below – it was breathtakingly beautiful! (two reasons to go for sunrise – the views are beautiful and it’s cool – that afternoon it was 42 degrees C!

 

 

Sun rising over Deadvlei

 

Bye Bye Namibia - Hello Botswana!

After 10 days in the bush (that's how we talk here, dontchanow) we have resurfaced in Botswana (Kasane, to be exact - near Chobe National Park)

Namibia was wonderful - blogs postings are stacked up like cordwood - all ready to post except for an internet connection that will handles several gigs of photos and videos! 

Here for 3 days, then to Victoria Falls and home in about 5 days - check back!

Best to all

Liz and Richard

The Namibian Dunes – Part 1 - Sunrise

We’re out of sequence, but the dunes are top of mind.

Liz has booked Sossus Dune Lodge inside the Seriem park.  It’s exotic – very functional, good food, friendly staff and it’s 42C – making the pool a delight…everything one would expect from a Liz selection.  More about the lodge later and the delights about a world where the hot and cold water taps don’t matter.

 

Up at 4am the next day.  Dawn itself is just getting out of bed and the last star has yet to turn in.  Randy, our guide, picks us up and we’re off through the desert.  Saw an oryx staggering home from a late night oryx bar – we do love oryx!

So here we are – Liz and Dick – straddling the crest of a red sand dune, 120 feet in the air, waiting for the sun to come up

 

Randy is meanwhile employing full body choreography to explain the evolution of these pink sand moving mountains.  It is a perfect travel moment

The sun erupts over the horizon and the world changes

As the sun ascends, the dunes perform a chromatic ballet…purples becomes pinks, grey turns golden

For some strange reason we have become fascinated with dunes over the years.  A perfect barchan dune is a particular favourite

All around us the intense blue sky and the wedges of luminate and dark sand compose momentary abstract paintings

One starts feeling artsy.  Everything is lovely.  The inevitable photos of sand ripples start to appear

   

Against the pink sand, in the early morning light, even our footprints look good

But then a lizard’s paw marks…and their actual owner…jolt us from reverie to reptilian

       

A brief backtrack.  The advantage of Sossus Dune Lodge is that we’re the only lodge inside the park the lodge is very near the park gates), which means we can be on the furthest dunes prior to sunrise, and avoid the crowds. (note from Liz – the campers inside the park can leave the gate about 5:30am and the gates open to other lodges at about 6:15am)

Randy drove us out in darkness (we left the lodge at 4:30am) … yes there were oryx wandering home … and we climbed the flank of the “Big Daddy” dune in grey dawn, with Deadvlei behind us.

As you’ll note in the shot below (taken as we left hours later) there are a lot more people later in the day.  The 3 figures on the dune ridge are where we watched the sun come up

Back to real time! As the sun rose we moved down from the apex of the dune to Deadvlei – a dead lake.  Randy has some magical way of walking on th3e sand without sinking in – Dickie staggers and Liz is becoming a sand ballerina

  

Liz’s technique does have one drawback in that it requires regular dumping of sand ballast..but then, she never tips over

The Vlei is a dead lake bed, strangled by the advancing dunes.  From a distance it appears innoculously boring (a bunch of dead trees).  Up close it is photogenic comparable to the Grand Canyon at sunset

See part 2 for LOTS of photos of Deadvlei!

The Namibian Dunes – Part 2 - Deadvlei

The long dead trees are 600 years old.  The floor is a salt pan, fractalated by the burning sun evaporating the rare rains.  The result is a set design from a Tim Burton movie.  As the dawn migrates across the lake bed it is stunningly beautiful – the trees, the shadows, the tessellated floor, the ancient wood

                

  

  

As the sun rises we move out of the vlei.  A young lady – retracing our route – is silhouetted against the dunes.  The heat is turning the salt pan into a frying pan

 

While walking out we are accosted by a small bird.  It is an experience from our time in Galapagos.  We stop and put down a capful of water and the bird drinks.  Thirst trumps fear

Across the dune valley recently arrived tourists are climbing Big Momma.  The heat is becoming intense. We are glad to have done our dune climbing in the pre dawn cool

Into the truck and a short drive to one of Randy’s favourite spots where we have a bush breakfast.

Again, the small birds come begging for water – we, of course, comply

 

As we leave the park we stop at the famous “Dune 45”.  It’s the most accessible dune from the entrance gate, especially for those wanting to see the sunrise. But Randy thinks it’s too crowded!

 

The drive out in daylight reveals vistas we missed in the morning darkness, including a massive wall of dancing crimson sand

And at last we get a photo of an oryx – not a very good one, though!  We are falling in love with oryx.  They prance across the scaling hot sand, have gorgeous colour and straight black horns.  As we write this we are in northern Namibia, have seen dozens of oryx and still don’t have a great shot (this one is blown up from a telephoto through the windshield)

And then Randy pointed out the Namibian crop circles.  On one side of the valley are circles 5 to 6 feet in diameter that are biologically dead.  Randy told us no one knew why.  We – with hubris – said we would find out.  Internet searching proved that “no one knows why”.  Points to Randy. We continue to search.

Next – Sossus Dune Lodge

The Namibian Dunes – Sossus Dune Lodge

Liz here – I think I looked at every lodge within striking distance of the Sesriem gates – twice!  There are some lovely choices, but I kept coming back to Sossus Dune Lodge due to its position within the park.  It is run by Namibian Wildlife Resorts (NWR) which is government owned and runs lodges/campsights in Namibia parks.  It’s less than 2 years old and there weren’t many reviews but ultimately its proximity won me over.  NWR is certainly taking advantage of its position as we had a full 2 hour advantage over people staying outside the park gates (we left the lodge at 4:30am for Deadvlei; the gates don’t open until approx 6:30am for those staying outside – and at 5:30 for the campers staying in the park - and there can be a line up to get in at that hour).  As you’ll read, we were very happy with our choice and highly recommend it. OK Richard – back to you.

 

Some notes on the lodge – great place, wonderful staff, good food – a definite must do experience.

The lodge is a series of individual pods joined by elevated walkways with a central pool/dining room/bar complex…at the base of a mountain.  The little rectangles below are the individual pods

 

The central unit crouches beneath the mountain – our pod is the first on the left…closest to the pool and bar) Lucky #13~

Franz runs a good bar, there’s a comfy lounge and at 42C you love the pool, plus good food (not French 3 star but the equivalent of a Toronto neighbourhood restaurant – except the beef and lamb – we’re still having a problem with African red meat)

The best part was the view.  We dined overlooking the desert and mountains.  Mornings and evenings were a symphony of colour changes with the rising and setting sun.  Our photography is a failure here.  It looks grey and boring – reality is far better

Our room was unique and charming.  The mosquito net was unnecessary, but the jet turbine scale fan was essential in the heat

One delightful feature – they had set up an artificial waterhole in front of our room with a night light (it’s hidden in the bushy thing upper right).  The springboks and numerous birds were frequent visitors.  Apparently everyone else saw an Oryx, but they continued to elude us

So what is it like to live in 42 degrees celcius?

• since the water (pumped from 300 feet down) is stored in above ground tanks all water is hot water.  We came to believe that the hot water was actually cooler and made for a more tolerable shower – but Liz just jumped in the pool
• depending on windows and locations, sitting on a toilet seat can be an interesting experience.
• we had to put the i-pod in the fridge as it overheated – has not been quite the same since that day
• you do not walk barefoot anywhere
• Liz was concerned her contact lens solution would melt her contact lenses

There was a lovely symbolic moment as we left.  A rainbow appeared over the lodge.  It had been a golden time for us….note that the rain was evaporating before it hit the ground

Liz and Dick go Duneriding!

We take obnoxious pride un having ridden on or in everything – hot air balloons, the Concorde, tanks, hydrofoils, camels, cave rafting, etc.  Quad biking on the Namibian dunes was a must try (we have deleted sky diving and bungee jumping from our “must try” list, however!)

The day started badly with a Gilles Duceppe moment (only Canadians will understand) – Liz and Dick in hairnets – apparently concern about baldness germs infecting an otherwise hirsute gene pool

We then mounted our bikes and our trusty guide Ernst (who was wonderful) set off across the dunes. 

Liz’s machine bore the scars of a previous rider

How were we to know?  Duneriding is incredibly fun.  Can’t take too many photos on the way but it is just too much fun

But it gets better.  Ernst – being no fool – asks what we’re interested in.  We explain we like reptiles – snakes? Yes! – off we go.

Suddenly Ernst leaps off his bike and starts digging by hand into a dune,.  He finally unearths (unsands?) a semi transparent gecko who was literally swimming through the sand.  The creature is magical – huge eyes, semi transparent skin, obliviously unafraid; what does it eat?  Drink?  The dunes are as sterile as an OR … or so we thought

 

The process repeats itself.  This time Ernest disappears into a large hole in the dunes to recover a shovel nosed lizard,  How he sees these creatures at this distance is a mystery, let alone catching them.  We are enchanted

Our enthusiasm for the two lizards is a challenge to Ernst.  What else would we like to see>  Snakes? Sidewinders? Yes, yes, yes!

3 sidewinders are quickly found in the sparse vegetation.  They are small – 8”-9” – but venomous.  Ernst describes a bite as painful, but not debilitating. We take his word for the experience

 

Best of all, they move across the sand with the classic sidewinder movement – see following video

 

 

On the way back we passed the horse graveyard.   In the very early 1900’s, when the Germans were colonizing Namibia, they used a lot of horses.  Those that didn’t survive the desert ended up here

On a cheerier note, we had much fun.  It you ever want to do Namibian Dune Riding – find Ernst at Outback Orange in Swakopmund.

A flight over the Dunes and the Skeleton Coast

Liz loves small planes, so it was off to see the dunes and the coast from the air.  We shared the plane with a charming frenchman and his two children.  The kids alternated between sleeping and throwing up

(Liz here – I would just like to comment at this point in the blog that moneybelts around your waist do terrible things for pictures)

The amazing feature is the scale of the dune field – they go on to the horizon

 

They are sculptural when seen from the air

We fly over the badlands we drove through on the previous day – some of the roughest land imaginable.  Somewhere down there is the road we survived.

In this strange land many of the rivers flow underground.  You can trace them by the lines of trees, but there is no open water

The desert is littered with old mining camps (generally diamonds) from the last century

 

Even in the most remote parts of the desert there are tire marks from prospectors and adventurers

Our flight takes us over Deadvlei – where we had walked just days before

Then out to the coast – it’s called the Skeleton Coast because the frequent fog and the shifting sand bars made it a mariners’ grave yard.  Wrecks are covered and then exposed by the marching sand.  The Edward Bohlen sank in 1909

The coast is dotted with seal colonies, until you reach “the wall” where the dunes meet the South Atlantic

One fun part (and possibly why the children were throwing up) is our pilot likes to fly low, really low.  We are at 250 feet above the beach or the right altitude for flying inside the nearby 300 foot high sand dune!

 

The large salt evaporating ponds look like a water colour paint box

Approaching Swakopmund we pass over the street grids for more vacation homes.  The owners will primarily be Germans or Namibians from Windhoek.  The place is changing very fast

And closing in stark contrast to the luxury vacation homes, a less well planned street grid – the shanty towns that blight most African cities.

Canadians have fun with seals = Oxymoron!

Cape Cross Namibia has the world’s largest population of fur seals – over 150,000 at the breeding season.  As Canadians we felt we had a cultural obligation to do our part.  Clubs in hand we set out to proclaim the true north, strong and free.  Unfortunately the cubs are black, not white, which meant the blood didn’t show, which ruined the fun so we took pictures instead

Liz, as always, found us a wonderful hotel overlooking the sea (Cape Cross Lodge) with an absolutely wonderful staff.  Following are pictures of our room, view and facilities.  Note it’s interesting and welcoming, but a very barren part of the world

(comment from Liz – if you are traveling from Swakopmund to Damaraland it really makes sense to stay here one night – it’s less than two hours from Swakop and makes the drive easier the next day – plus you get to see the seals)

 

The seals are fascinating – fighting, brawling, young searching for mothers, diving into the water, and others surging ashore….but it is the cacophony of sound that defines the experience, as hopefully the following video shows

 

 

(some would also say it is the smell that defines the experience!)

The scale of the colony is best seen from across the bay

Following some pics from the far too many we shot

 

And then into the Namibian interior - Damaraland

Bonjour Paris!

We made it!  Some concerning moments along the way.  The CBC with wings lost one of our bags (they left it in Montreal, actually) and we arrived at our 4th floor (5th in North American terms) apartment to discover our traditionally French elevator was on strike. 

But by 6pm the elevator was fixed, the errant suitcase delivered and we were perched in a nearby brasserie wherre there was still a waft of Ilsa's perfume from her last meeting with Rick.  Dined on authentic duck confit and braised pork cheeks (hog jowls for our southern readers).  Appears that we, too, will always have Paris.

 

 

The apartment, like all Liz rentals, is perfect.  Built in the 1700s to house Royal courtiers (soon to bow to Madame Guilotine) it retains the original ornate moldings and grillwork, integrated with a fully erquipped modern kitchen and two equally modern bathrooms, plus stereo, plasma TV, wi-fi, free LD, much art and a charming balcony that overlooks our busy rue des Petits Champs, with its many shops, markets and restaurants that we'll assault tomorrow.

In moments of boredom we can admire the owner's Emmy award for reporting on the war in Bosnia which graces the well stocked bookshelf.

Experience says we'll settle in quickly, develop a favourite portfolio of markets, butchers, cheese merchants et al - start cooking and Richard may even remember how to speak French!

(the following is an addition to the blog this year - wherever we reference a restaurant meal we will include name/address/approximate meal cost)

Aux Bon Crus

7, Rue des Petits-Champs, 75001 Paris

Tél : 01 42 60 06 45

7, Rue des Petits-Champs, 75001 Paris

Tél : 01 42 60 06 45

7 rue des Petits Champs

Paris 75001 - First Arr

Web link

Lunch - main plate each with beer/wine - 47 E