31/7/18 - Ken-ya believe all the wildlife here!
Jambo! I'm in Nairobi, Kenya! I'm about to spend 10 days travelling around, visiting the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti, but I've got a couple of days to get over my jet lag in Nairobi first. Day one was Sunday...and NOTHING happens on a Sunday in Nairobi. So perfect for sleeping off the long flight, and looking for things to do on Monday.
I had read about the Nairobi National Park, and even though I'm about to head off on safari, I thought it would be interesting to visit as it's small and do-able in around 4 hours. Luckily Rebecca on my trip had also arrived, and was also keen to visit the park, so we were able to split the cost to around NZ$100 each (A tip - I discovered a lot of touristy things in Nairobi are costed by driver/car, so the cost is the same whether there is one or 4 of you, excluding park entry fees). So we got up early Monday morning to be at the park at sunrise, to catch the animals at their most active (a quick 20 min drive from the centre of town).
We entered the gate, drove around the first corner - and there was a giraffe in the centre of the road. Drove a bit further - zebra and warthogs. Radio flared up (all the drivers within the parks radio each other when they see something interesting) - just around the corner some lionesses had made a zebra kill and were sharing with their cubs. We saw rhino and ostriches and crocodiles and monkeys and antelope and buffalo and it was TOTALLY worth it and I would highly recommend anyone to come visit! Our driver was spectacular and super knowledgeable and always seemed to be in the right place for the action! Footnote: this turned out to be the only sighting of rhino our whole trip, so while others on the tour were disappointed, we were ecstatic :).
With our driver we also went to the Elephant Orphanage (touristy and hot with no shelter - don't go if you are heading out to the Maasai Mara) and the Giraffe Centre (TOTALLY go here! Free range giraffes!)
I had read about the Nairobi National Park, and even though I'm about to head off on safari, I thought it would be interesting to visit as it's small and do-able in around 4 hours. Luckily Rebecca on my trip had also arrived, and was also keen to visit the park, so we were able to split the cost to around NZ$100 each (A tip - I discovered a lot of touristy things in Nairobi are costed by driver/car, so the cost is the same whether there is one or 4 of you, excluding park entry fees). So we got up early Monday morning to be at the park at sunrise, to catch the animals at their most active (a quick 20 min drive from the centre of town).
We entered the gate, drove around the first corner - and there was a giraffe in the centre of the road. Drove a bit further - zebra and warthogs. Radio flared up (all the drivers within the parks radio each other when they see something interesting) - just around the corner some lionesses had made a zebra kill and were sharing with their cubs. We saw rhino and ostriches and crocodiles and monkeys and antelope and buffalo and it was TOTALLY worth it and I would highly recommend anyone to come visit! Our driver was spectacular and super knowledgeable and always seemed to be in the right place for the action! Footnote: this turned out to be the only sighting of rhino our whole trip, so while others on the tour were disappointed, we were ecstatic :).
With our driver we also went to the Elephant Orphanage (touristy and hot with no shelter - don't go if you are heading out to the Maasai Mara) and the Giraffe Centre (TOTALLY go here! Free range giraffes!)
4/8/18 - magical Masai Mara
The rest of our tour group arrived, and off we went for two days at the Maasai Mara. I chose to do a tour on this trip, as the only other way to go to the parks is to self-drive, and I REALLY am not confident enough to drive around by myself - doubly confirmed when we reached the park (around 3 hours from Nairobi) as it is just wide open plains. I would be lost for weeks!
The drive there is a bit of an off roading adventure, but we got there! We stayed 2 nights at the edge of the park, next to a Maasai Village, which gave us two sunset drives and one sunrise drive, when the animals are most active - they end to sleep in the heat of the day. I say sunset and sunrise, but they are actually 3-4 hours each. We also visited the Maasai village for a (touristy) introduction to village life... though I have to say I'm very uncomfortable with this style of 'people zoo' tourism.
So the animal spotting luck continued (we decided we had a lucky van, and Charles our driver totally was!), as we'd barely driven into the park when we saw elephants! And a herd of lionesses! And HIPPOS! And wildebeast and zebra AND A CHEETAH which we were exceptionally lucky to see as the lead cars had driven off ahead but Charles heard something on the radio... and there she was :) We'd also arrived just as the annual migration was starting to move from the Serengeti into the Maasai Mara (I had timed a July trip especially for this - see the map here for a general annual migration route), so there were long lines of wildebeest all trailing each other all over the park. Our van was stopped at one stage when they crossed the road right in front of us!! We didn't see the famous Mara River wildebeest crossing in action at the point of the river we went to - but we did see a LOT of crocodiles and alligators in position ready to nab themselves some dinner...
Do it. Buy a ticket to Kenya, visit the Maasai Mara park. It's incredible. Hakuna matata. :)
The drive there is a bit of an off roading adventure, but we got there! We stayed 2 nights at the edge of the park, next to a Maasai Village, which gave us two sunset drives and one sunrise drive, when the animals are most active - they end to sleep in the heat of the day. I say sunset and sunrise, but they are actually 3-4 hours each. We also visited the Maasai village for a (touristy) introduction to village life... though I have to say I'm very uncomfortable with this style of 'people zoo' tourism.
So the animal spotting luck continued (we decided we had a lucky van, and Charles our driver totally was!), as we'd barely driven into the park when we saw elephants! And a herd of lionesses! And HIPPOS! And wildebeast and zebra AND A CHEETAH which we were exceptionally lucky to see as the lead cars had driven off ahead but Charles heard something on the radio... and there she was :) We'd also arrived just as the annual migration was starting to move from the Serengeti into the Maasai Mara (I had timed a July trip especially for this - see the map here for a general annual migration route), so there were long lines of wildebeest all trailing each other all over the park. Our van was stopped at one stage when they crossed the road right in front of us!! We didn't see the famous Mara River wildebeest crossing in action at the point of the river we went to - but we did see a LOT of crocodiles and alligators in position ready to nab themselves some dinner...
Do it. Buy a ticket to Kenya, visit the Maasai Mara park. It's incredible. Hakuna matata. :)
5/8/18 - a short break in Nairobi
We've circled back to Nairobi to catch our breath/do our laundry before heading to Tanzania and the Serengeti. The Maasai Mara and Serengeti are technically the same park to the Maasai people; the two different names have come from the Kenya/Tanzania border crossing the park. Geopolitics in action...
Sam & Ricel in our van wanted to go to the Giraffe Centre, and Rebecca and I weren't opposed to going back, so we hired another driver/car, and this time we indulged in a bit of giraffe pashing (see the photo below...). Everyone needs to pash a giraffe at least once in their life! (Ok, actually we held rabbit pellets between our lips and the giraffes bent down and licked them out VERY delicately).
Then we went and had a look at the posh part of town which was QUITE different to the centre of town where we were staying! Town is noisy and packed with people and if Auckland thinks they have traffic problems, they ain't got nothing in comparison to Nairobi. But the posh part of town (translation - ex-pats) is full of embassies and gated mansions and private shopping malls where you have to be vetted by security to enter just to find you are almost the only people there. A tale of two cities indeed.
But the real reason for going to the posh mall was that on Thursdays, the Maasai Market is on the rooftop level! So we had a lovely couple of hours browsing the arts and crafts, and I bought a fabulous painting for my lounge. FYI - in town you will have a million people in doorways directing you to the 'Masai Market up the stairs' ... ummm, no... that's not the Maasai Market. Check the link above, as it has a different location on different days of the week - and it's way bigger than would fit in a tiny 2nd floor level in the middle of the city!
We also had dinner at the world famous Carnivore restaurant, where they serve all-you-can-eat game meat on skewers Brazillian churrascaria style. Our specialties of the day included Ostrich meat balls (yummy), Crocodile (not bad but probably wouldn't have again) and Ox balls (no way - and everyone that tried it, regretted it!). It's touristy, but it's fun, and holy moley the BBQ grill is unbelievable!
Sam & Ricel in our van wanted to go to the Giraffe Centre, and Rebecca and I weren't opposed to going back, so we hired another driver/car, and this time we indulged in a bit of giraffe pashing (see the photo below...). Everyone needs to pash a giraffe at least once in their life! (Ok, actually we held rabbit pellets between our lips and the giraffes bent down and licked them out VERY delicately).
Then we went and had a look at the posh part of town which was QUITE different to the centre of town where we were staying! Town is noisy and packed with people and if Auckland thinks they have traffic problems, they ain't got nothing in comparison to Nairobi. But the posh part of town (translation - ex-pats) is full of embassies and gated mansions and private shopping malls where you have to be vetted by security to enter just to find you are almost the only people there. A tale of two cities indeed.
But the real reason for going to the posh mall was that on Thursdays, the Maasai Market is on the rooftop level! So we had a lovely couple of hours browsing the arts and crafts, and I bought a fabulous painting for my lounge. FYI - in town you will have a million people in doorways directing you to the 'Masai Market up the stairs' ... ummm, no... that's not the Maasai Market. Check the link above, as it has a different location on different days of the week - and it's way bigger than would fit in a tiny 2nd floor level in the middle of the city!
We also had dinner at the world famous Carnivore restaurant, where they serve all-you-can-eat game meat on skewers Brazillian churrascaria style. Our specialties of the day included Ostrich meat balls (yummy), Crocodile (not bad but probably wouldn't have again) and Ox balls (no way - and everyone that tried it, regretted it!). It's touristy, but it's fun, and holy moley the BBQ grill is unbelievable!
6/8/18 - the road to Arusha
Where is Arusha, you may ask? It's in Tanzania, and it's the gateway city to the Serengeti!
Obviously changing countries involves a border crossing, and similar to South America, it's one of the borders where they check all your bags. A bit more high tech as the bags are scanned through an airport bag scanning machine, rather than manually opened, but still plan to be here for a good hour for bags, passport checks, Visas etc. And, probably the only place I have travelled to where you HAVE to have your Yellow Fever certification up to date.
Other than that, just a driving day today, with supermarket restocks once we got to Arusha, before we headed off road for the next couple of days again. I was hoping to see Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, as on a good day you can see all 5895m high of it! But the weather was a bit hazy. I did notice that Tanzania's infrastructure was ahead of Kenya's - it appeared the government had invested heavily in this. Interestingly though, many children are sent to Kenya for the better education opportunities there.
Obviously changing countries involves a border crossing, and similar to South America, it's one of the borders where they check all your bags. A bit more high tech as the bags are scanned through an airport bag scanning machine, rather than manually opened, but still plan to be here for a good hour for bags, passport checks, Visas etc. And, probably the only place I have travelled to where you HAVE to have your Yellow Fever certification up to date.
Other than that, just a driving day today, with supermarket restocks once we got to Arusha, before we headed off road for the next couple of days again. I was hoping to see Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, as on a good day you can see all 5895m high of it! But the weather was a bit hazy. I did notice that Tanzania's infrastructure was ahead of Kenya's - it appeared the government had invested heavily in this. Interestingly though, many children are sent to Kenya for the better education opportunities there.
7/8/18 - getting lucky in the Serengeti
I feel like I'm pretty lucky when I travel. I seem to come across cool things all the time.
And that's how I felt about the Serengeti. The drive to the lodge timed with sunset, so we got the amazing postcard burnt orange views of giraffes in the distance. As in the post below, the accommodation facilities were definitely a step above the Maasai Mara - we stayed in a full on safari lodge inside the park! We could watch baboons from the swimming pool! There were lions outside in the night!
So with the luck on our side, we started jokingly requesting animals to see the next day, and increasingly specific requests i.e. "We haven't seen a leopard yet, can we see a leopard"... "Can we see some male lions please?"... Our tour guide would just shake his head with pity at us, and laugh at us silly tourists, thinking animals could be summoned on demand... but I'll let the photos tell the story...
As well as our old friends the elephants and lions and giraffes and wildebeest and zebra and warthogs, we also saw jackals and hyenas and dik diks (tiny antelope) and topi and impala and mongoose and marabou storks and ROCK HYRAXES which I totally fell in love with. Being July, most animals were well on their way to the Maasai Mara, so it was fairly sparse between sightings, but I definitely left here after a couple of days just buzzing :)
And that's how I felt about the Serengeti. The drive to the lodge timed with sunset, so we got the amazing postcard burnt orange views of giraffes in the distance. As in the post below, the accommodation facilities were definitely a step above the Maasai Mara - we stayed in a full on safari lodge inside the park! We could watch baboons from the swimming pool! There were lions outside in the night!
So with the luck on our side, we started jokingly requesting animals to see the next day, and increasingly specific requests i.e. "We haven't seen a leopard yet, can we see a leopard"... "Can we see some male lions please?"... Our tour guide would just shake his head with pity at us, and laugh at us silly tourists, thinking animals could be summoned on demand... but I'll let the photos tell the story...
As well as our old friends the elephants and lions and giraffes and wildebeest and zebra and warthogs, we also saw jackals and hyenas and dik diks (tiny antelope) and topi and impala and mongoose and marabou storks and ROCK HYRAXES which I totally fell in love with. Being July, most animals were well on their way to the Maasai Mara, so it was fairly sparse between sightings, but I definitely left here after a couple of days just buzzing :)
This is a rock hyrax. It's super cute, about the size of a house cat, with a smiley face (kinda of like an Australian quokka), and likes hanging out on rocks in the sun all day with all his (her?) hyrax mates.
Super cute - until it gets angry! Then it's all fangs, and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a bite! Maybe don't approach one for a cuddle.
But the strangest thing about the hyrax, is that of all animals, it's the closest living relative of... the elephant! Evolution. It's just so weird!
Super cute - until it gets angry! Then it's all fangs, and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a bite! Maybe don't approach one for a cuddle.
But the strangest thing about the hyrax, is that of all animals, it's the closest living relative of... the elephant! Evolution. It's just so weird!
The leopards were so amazing they deserve their own section for photos. Our guide with 20 years experience in the Serengeti, and driver with 30 years experience, said it was the best leopard sighting they had ever seen! There were two leopards - a mother was teaching it's cub to hunt - and we saw the cub stalking and chasing prey (It JUST missed - all the van drivers and guides were cheering it on!). OMG the leopard cub STOOD UP to search for the impala it was hunting!!!
A quick lesson in Swahili, courtesy of The Lion King
Bet ya didn't know The Lion King movie was teaching you Swahili... well, courtesy of Disney, you actually know a few words!
SIMBA = lion
MUFASA = king/chief
RAFIKI = friend
NALA = gift
PUMBA = silly - but is the slang name Kenyans and Tanzanians call warthogs
HAKUNA MATATA = no worries (the song is literally true!)
Plus a couple of other words I picked up...
JAMBO = hello
TAFADHALI = please
ASANTE = thank you
ASANTE SANA = thank you very much
SAWA = OK
CHUI = leopard
DUMA = cheetah
SAFARI = travel/journey
You're welcome :)
SIMBA = lion
MUFASA = king/chief
RAFIKI = friend
NALA = gift
PUMBA = silly - but is the slang name Kenyans and Tanzanians call warthogs
HAKUNA MATATA = no worries (the song is literally true!)
Plus a couple of other words I picked up...
JAMBO = hello
TAFADHALI = please
ASANTE = thank you
ASANTE SANA = thank you very much
SAWA = OK
CHUI = leopard
DUMA = cheetah
SAFARI = travel/journey
You're welcome :)
9/8/18 - a very large crater
On the way back to Arusha from the Serengeti, we stopped for a night at Ngorongoro Crater. Once again, we got lucky with our accommodation and stayed at a FABULOUS resort on the very edge of the crater, so we could watch all the (very tiny!) wildebeest gathering at the waterhole in the evening.
The area is famous for some of the earliest human fossil finds on earth. Also it used to be a HUGE volcano, perhaps even the size of the nearly 6km high Mt Kilimanjaro! But at some time it erupted, and then collapsed in on itself, and now it's a massive crater over 600m deep and 250 square km. The sides are really really steep, so it has become a fantastic ecosystem for a huge variety of animals, including lions, rhinos, elephants, warthogs etc etc - but not giraffes, as the crater edges are apparently too steep for them to walk down! (The edges are actually scary steep - I did shut my eyes at times driving down, and also driving back up!).
We only had a couple of animals left on our wishlist, so put our requests in again the night before driving down into the crater... "Can we see a yawning hippo please?"... "What about a serval cat, we'd love to see one of those"... and here you go :)
The area is famous for some of the earliest human fossil finds on earth. Also it used to be a HUGE volcano, perhaps even the size of the nearly 6km high Mt Kilimanjaro! But at some time it erupted, and then collapsed in on itself, and now it's a massive crater over 600m deep and 250 square km. The sides are really really steep, so it has become a fantastic ecosystem for a huge variety of animals, including lions, rhinos, elephants, warthogs etc etc - but not giraffes, as the crater edges are apparently too steep for them to walk down! (The edges are actually scary steep - I did shut my eyes at times driving down, and also driving back up!).
We only had a couple of animals left on our wishlist, so put our requests in again the night before driving down into the crater... "Can we see a yawning hippo please?"... "What about a serval cat, we'd love to see one of those"... and here you go :)
14/8/18 - Zanzibar life
The last part of the tour included a flight to Zanzibar and a few days at the beaches at Kendwa in the north of the island. ONCE AGAIN we lucked out, as the regular hotel was full, so we ended up at (once again) a much better resort - the lovely Sunset Kendwa Hotel, with beach side cabins, white sand as far as the eye can see, clear warm water, snorkeling, hammocks, and beach bars with dawa cocktails (which btw are delicious and should be on everybody's must drink menu!). We stayed about 100m along the beach from the famous Kendwa Rocks hotel - similar to Montanita in Ecuador, you want to be sleeping near, but slightly away, from the tourist party hotspot, especially when it's full moon party night! So a very, very relaxing end to the group part of the trip.
On my pre-trip research I heard of a restaurant called The Rock, and luckily all our van wanted to go, so we booked an evening trip there. What's so special about it? It is literally built on a rock! If the tide is out you can walk out to it (as it was for us)... if the tide is in, they send a rowboat out for you. It's in a remote part of the island but you can book a driver there and back (around 90 minutes each way from the northern beaches) and have a very enjoyable drink and meal there!
I liked the idea of staying on in Zanzibar, so had booked an extra few nights there after the tour ended. So we all headed back to Stone Town (the main city on Zanzibar) and said our goodbyes, and then I spent a few days wandering all the alleyways looking at art and shops and going to the night markets and eating way too much (Zanzibar pizza! Ginger ice cream! Insanely good shwarmas!). And also visiting the monkey forest, because Zanzibar is the only home of the very striking Zanzibar red colobus monkey; and a boat trip put to Changuu (Prison Island) to visit the tortoises there.
People asked me if I felt safe there by myself - as always, ask 'the rules' when you get to a hotel in a new place. Here, it was fine to wander round by yourself in the daytime... not such a good idea in the evening. But I had booked a hotel a couple of minutes walk from the night markets (splashed out with the thought of an REALLY LONG flight home coming up, and treated myself to the Best Western Plus - great idea, with the air conditioning and rooftop to hang out with my evening post-market dawa drink!), so there were plenty of people around and I was fine. Everyone was super friendly and I even made friends with a touring reggae band playing at a festival over the weekend! I highly recommend coming to Zanzibar :)
Note - you will probably be 'stalked' by the guy trying to sell you a copy of 'best African music' CD. Honestly, I must have run into him 3 times a day!! I did buy a copy in the end, and he never talked to me again!
Note - you will probably be 'stalked' by the guy trying to sell you a copy of 'best African music' CD. Honestly, I must have run into him 3 times a day!! I did buy a copy in the end, and he never talked to me again!
16/8/18 - 18 hours in Doha, Qatar
My route home went through Doha, and I'd never been there before, so I figured I may as well take the airline stopover option and have a look!
I arrived around 6am, and it was hot already (over 30 degrees). Headed to the stopover hotel - I booked to stay in Souq Waqif, at the edge of the markets (souq = market) planning ahead for evening shopping! - and had my first shower. Booked a driver tour for the morning and went to the Museum of Islamic Art (amazing!) and around the various sectors of town (beach, Little Spain, Little Italy etc) before jet lag got me and I crashed around noon. Which actually turned out just fine as the temperature was over 40 degrees by then, heading towards 45 degrees... so I slept to around 5pm, and then alternated wandering around Souq Waqif and coming back to the hotel for a shower every couple for hours (it was still around 40 degrees!!). I had a lovely evening up and down the alleyways until it was time to go back to the airport - though I was a bit disturbed in the taxidermy shops, having come straight from safari - and the gold/jewellery market has to be seen to be believed!
Do women need to wear headscarves? I'm not sure - Muslim women definitely, but I did see Western tourists not. I just feel it's respectful to follow dress codes in countries - if I don't agree with the customs, I won't be going to those countries - so here I kept my legs and arms covered, and wore a headscarf. Don't be the tourist wandering around Muslim countries in short shorts and singlets - it's not cool (men or women). This applies to the non-beach areas of Zanzibar as well.
Again, is it safe? Is it ever! Probable the safest feeling country I have ever ever been to. Everyone was really friendly, and the rosewater ice cream is the BEST! Also, while everything looks old, it's actually quite new, as the Emir (Qatar's leader) had everything old knocked down and rebuilt. He didn't like the dirty old buildings :)
I arrived around 6am, and it was hot already (over 30 degrees). Headed to the stopover hotel - I booked to stay in Souq Waqif, at the edge of the markets (souq = market) planning ahead for evening shopping! - and had my first shower. Booked a driver tour for the morning and went to the Museum of Islamic Art (amazing!) and around the various sectors of town (beach, Little Spain, Little Italy etc) before jet lag got me and I crashed around noon. Which actually turned out just fine as the temperature was over 40 degrees by then, heading towards 45 degrees... so I slept to around 5pm, and then alternated wandering around Souq Waqif and coming back to the hotel for a shower every couple for hours (it was still around 40 degrees!!). I had a lovely evening up and down the alleyways until it was time to go back to the airport - though I was a bit disturbed in the taxidermy shops, having come straight from safari - and the gold/jewellery market has to be seen to be believed!
Do women need to wear headscarves? I'm not sure - Muslim women definitely, but I did see Western tourists not. I just feel it's respectful to follow dress codes in countries - if I don't agree with the customs, I won't be going to those countries - so here I kept my legs and arms covered, and wore a headscarf. Don't be the tourist wandering around Muslim countries in short shorts and singlets - it's not cool (men or women). This applies to the non-beach areas of Zanzibar as well.
Again, is it safe? Is it ever! Probable the safest feeling country I have ever ever been to. Everyone was really friendly, and the rosewater ice cream is the BEST! Also, while everything looks old, it's actually quite new, as the Emir (Qatar's leader) had everything old knocked down and rebuilt. He didn't like the dirty old buildings :)
I was wandering around the Falcon Souq around dusk, just as they were winding down for the day. Some of the men inside one of the markets saw me and invited me to join them for tea and dates, and let me hold one of their falcons, which is a super privilege, as falcons are so revered in Qatar! Once again - very, very lucky :) I also think it was because I was covered up and wearing a headscarf...
A great end to a great trip! :)
A great end to a great trip! :)