Helix

This is the last day of our holiday in East Africa. A driver from Tamarind took us safely to the airport. We left very early, 10 o’clock to avoid any rush for our 13.35 departure. We were at the airport 10.50 and checked in without fuss. With 50 kg luggage between us we had to pay overweight to Dar es Salaam. But Tsh 10.000 (ca 50 NOK) was reasonable, we felt. However, we did not see any flights scheduled for 13.35 on the handwritten board just behind the check in counter. Well passed the security checks we discovered our boarding passes did not have the flight number noted on our ticket, PW 731 but simply 452. Shortly after 12 noon flight 452 was called for and we boarded an ATR 72-200, a twin-turboprop with 72 seats. ... read more

Zanzibar has only one town, Zanzibar Town and its old part, Stone Town. Throughout the rest of Zanzibar, or properly Unguja, the largest island of the archipelago comprising Zanzibar, you will only find small villages. Of course we had to go see Stone Town. For USD 50, Rama, the driver of Tamarind Beach Hotel, took us safely the 45 kilometres into town and waited for us to return. Rama drove around the perimeter of Stone Town to give us an idea of where the different attractions were. We decided to be dropped off just outside the House of Wonders which was the palace of Sultan Bargash when it was completed in 1883. We walked along the waterfront to the Old Dispensary, a very beautiful building carefully restored by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture. Next we ... read more

If you are looking for a secluded place with picture perfect beach, then Pongwe Beach Hotel would be a good choice. We rented bikes and it took us about 45 minutes to go from Uroa to Pongwe. We were given a very friendly welcome by Val Preston and his staff. At Pongwe Beach Hotel you are welcome to use their facilities as a “walk-in” guest provided you deposit Tsh 15.000 per person. If you buy food and drinks at the place, then the value of that will be drawn on the deposit. When you leave, you have to pay anything you spent extra. We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Pongwe Beach Hotel. The beach is immaculately groomed, the sea is just as green as you see in the pictures and the palm-trees are majestic. It is ... read more

The view from our bungalow is simply beautiful. Palm trees, the Indian Ocean and the sky. It is so quiet here. The only sound you hear is the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. Oh, yes. I almost forgot: There is a mosque nearby and by 5.30 the imam calls for prayer. A little later the cocks start crowing. But those sounds underline the silence of this place. This is the perfect place to relax. There is absolutely nothing to do here except take it easy. Oh, yes. There are quite a number of fishermen going out between 6 and 7 every morning. The sun rises at 06.25 and I try to be there to get some nice pictures. The light is changing quickly at that time, so it is very interesting for photography. ... read more

Before leaving Ongata Rongai this morning we stopped at the post office on the campus of Kenya Telecom. There we discovered they had a dozen warthogs grazing on their lawns. We don’t know if they just come in or if the keep them on purpose. At any rate, they look so funny when they kneel down to graze. Later we discovered that our postcards mailed from this post-office just outside Nairobi reached our son in Oslo the day after. This must be some postal miracle. The high point of our flight to Zanzibar was the magnificent view of Mount Kilimanjaro. The view was probably much better from the air than from the ground. This time of the year you very typically have a layer of clouds hiding the peak from view. We rode a small aircraft ... read more

The morning was beautiful with blue skies and snow-white clouds as we left Advent Hill in order to go to a Masai church. We left the ECD compound at 09.30. By 11 we had reached Maimahio in the Rift Valley. We were just following the bus with Americans we had met yesterday. They wanted to go to a Masai church nearby. After 90 minutes driving several people realised there was something wrong. There had been a misunderstanding between the local people organizing the Sabbath trip and the leaders of the American group. Apparently the local organizers had wanted to show the Americans the most authentic Masai church possible. At 11 o’clock we still had about 45 minutes to drive in order to reach the church. Several figured that by the time we reached the church the ... read more

This was a quiet day on Advent Hill. We slept long, washed clothes and made some arrangements for the coming week. We went with Philip into Ongata Rongai and did some shopping. They had a well stocked supermarket. Many of the prices were at the same level we are used to from Norway. For many of the poor people it is impossible to buy these things. Outside the supermarket I talked to some of the ladies at the fruit market and bought some mangos and a big avocado for 115 shillings. The sole purpose for buying was to be able to take some pictures and I totally forgot to haggle over the price. We were invited to attend a supper for a group of Americans who had just finished a missionary trip to a village in ... read more

One last game-drive before we had to head back to Nairobi. John wanted to show us the leopard, so we drove as fast as possible in that direction. At seven we saw a couple of lions cross the road in front of us. They walked stealthily. John said they were hunting. More lions followed. Seven of them in all. In total silence they inched forward in the tall grass. Their target: a small herd of wildebeest 100 meters away from us. Six of the lions took their positions in a semicircle around the wildebeest while the seventh lion moved to the opposite side. The wildebeest continued grazing unaware of the threat. Suddenly the herd became aware of the six lions. They turned and fled directly into the jaws of the waiting lion. In a matter of ... read more

Today we had breakfast first and then left on a game drive at 07.30. We were going to have a longer drive, aiming to be back just in time for lunch. John wanted to take us to the hippo pool right on the border to Tanzania and then have ample time to look for other animals. We took the main road down to Keekorok Lodge. Just next to the lodge there is a football field with proper goals (surprise). This morning there seemed to be a match between the impalas and the warthogs. In reality the animals were simply eating the nice green grass on the football field. Along the road we saw hot air balloon tourists having breakfast. It was an impressive arrangement with chairs and tables and a group of cooks in full uniforms. ... read more

We left for our first game drive of the day at 06.30. John wanted to take us to the eastern corner of the reserve to look for a leopard. After a few kilometres along the road towards Keekorok we took off along one of the many tracks. We saw a topi, hartebeest, a large herd of wildebeest and some zebras. John knew there was a leopard with three cubs living in a wooded area ten kilometres east of Keekorok. We crossed a river. It looked rather risky without having a four wheel drive, but John took us safely through. Once we reached the area where the leopard most likely would be, the only thing we saw was a group of people standing on top of the roof of their vehicle. John was rather angry with the ... read more