Blogs from Coast Province, Kenya, Africa - page 36

We had arranged a two night trip to Tsavo East and West National Parks. Every one was excited about seeing African wildlife. I just wanted too see the place where the man eating lions went on their killing spree from the film The Ghost And The Darkness. We had a bit of a hiccup on the first morning. Even though everything was booked for the weekend the way we wanted it, the contact at the tour company thought it was the following day that we started. We quickly made alternative transport arrangements and off we went… 8 Hours Later we entered Tsavo East National Park already for a safari. At first every one did the classic ‘Oh look every one! There’s an elephant.” Pointing to a spot on the horizon and “What’s that? It’s an impala” ... read more

So yesterday was definetly a busy and adventurous day. The morning I just ran a few errands, one of which was making reservations at a hotel for when my parents come! =) Only 11 more days.. can't wait! A little after 11 I went to the post office and grabbed a Matatu to the ferry. I was going to Shika Adabu (on mainland Mombasa) where Lia was staying to go to a wedding yesterday and today. The matatu ride was only about 10-15 min. Getting on the ferry was really easy, but I felt kind of awkward. I was the only white and got lots and lots of stares. I also heard "Ona, Mzungu!" "look, a white!" quite a bit. Lia met me on the other side and after buying some water we grabbed a Matatu ... read more

Yesterday was a fabulous day! We woke up early and headed off to Chumbe Island at 8am. We caught our boat and headed out to the island. It was amazing. Chumbe Island isn't too far off the Island of Zanzibar and is the location of Chumbe National Marine Park. There's a beautiful coral reef off the shores of Chumbe. When we got there we were all astounded again by the beauty here. The ocean had some amazing colors. Nobody lives on the island (there's just a small tourist resort). We had about 2 hours worth of lecture about the island and the conservation effort and the importance of eco-tourism. It was pretty interested, but not what we all wanted to do with a lot of sun and a white beach near by. After the lecture we ... read more

The coach trip was uneventful until Tanga right in the North East of Tanzania. After a break for food and other things we set of. I had been warned that the road was bumpy. What people forgot to mention that it’s not actually a road like we know it. It wasn’t tarmaced. I was asleep until this point. The road was so bumpy it was like receiving a spine shattering massage, for two hours straight. Then at the Kenyan border I started to feel the effects of dehydration sickness kick in. As I was looking for water the bus decided t leave without me and I think I found myself running the fastest I had ever run shouting the loudest I have ever shouted. Fortunately I wasn’t the only one and the bus stopped 100 meters ... read more

Sun. morning I woke up early said goodbye to my family grabbed my bag and headed off to the office to meet the group. We ended up leaving late 'cause one of the safari vans was late, but nothing here is on time, so it wasn't out of the ordinary. When it came we all climbed in eager to get on the way to Tsavo National Park. The drive up there took several hours. The road for most of the way was paved, but very bad. The vans we were in luckily had good shock absorbers, but it still felt like we were off roading most of the time. The drive was slow and very bumpy. Around noon we finally arrived at the park and had lunch at a resort just outside of the park. It ... read more