Six tough weeks in a truck - with no regrets


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Africa » Kenya » Nairobi Province » Nairobi
August 25th 2008
Published: August 25th 2008
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Jambo is the Swahili word for hello.

I made it all the way from Cape Town to Nairobi in 40 days, almost 6 weeks and I travelled about 11 000 km. I visited seven countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. It's been a real adventure, a tough adventure and with no regrets.

I'm here in my hotel in Nairobi feeling really satisfied with my accomplishment, although I couldn't have done this without my driver, Errol and the guide / cooks, Janet for the first half and Elbie for the second half. Without them I'd still be in Cape Town. There have been so many great things seen and done. But it's hard to say what we're the top three things or events. Perhaps this short list will suffice. I really liked the 1) dunes in Namibia, 2) the sunset cruise in Chobe National Park, Botswana, 3) Victoria Falls, 4) the leopard in Zambia 5) the beach in Zanzibar, 6) the lions in Ngorongoro and the 7) cheetahs in Serengeti.

However, one of the most memorable events and sightings happened on one of our last days when we were camping on the Ngorongoro Crater Rim.
Olive baboon babyOlive baboon babyOlive baboon baby

On the Ngorongoro Crater Rim, Tanzania
The altitude is 2600 m, so it was cold and cloudy. We were putting away our dinner and food and storing this in the jeeps we had taken when a wild and hungry lone bull elephant crashed through our camp. From nowhere the elephant was standing near our camp site and tents. We had a look and then he started to wander over toward us, so in a mild state of panic we backed up toward the other group of tents. The elephant walked over to the jeep and had a sniff, but since we hadn't finished packing the door was still open. Elephants are not the most graceful animal around jeeps and so he smashed the window and dented the door trying to get to our food. He also put his foot on top of the bonnet (hood for you North Americans), and swung his truck over to the other side. Too big for the jeep, he walked over to our rubbish bin and smashed it to pieces. He made a mess of our camp. Finally the locals came and threw rocks at him to scare him away. This was absolutely thrilling, my heart rate was somewhat elevated.
Rock hyraxRock hyraxRock hyrax

The closest mammalian relative to the elephant! Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

The Serengeti was so dry and dusty, and the landscape changed so abruptely. Near the volcano, there is a lush forest and jungle. A few kilometers away it is barren without a tree in sight. Then a little further on, you are surrounded again by flat topped acacia trees and giraffes brousing. Our morning game drive in the Serengeti we desperately searched for cheetahs but didn't see any. We did see gazelles, a family of hyena including the babies, buffalo, hyrax - a kind of rodent, warthhogs, lions, vervet monkeys, hertebeast, and zebras. But no cheetah. We returned to camp to take down the tents, have lunch then move on to the Ngorongoro Crater. Driving back through the Serengeti we finally saw the cheetah. But since everyone else wanted to see it, there was a jeep traffic jam so we didn't get a great look. But a little further on, our driver got a tip from another that there were more cheetahs elsewhere. We set off in that direction and we saw two adult male brothers resting meters from the jeep and because few others got the information, we were there with only one other jeep. These cats are absolutely
CheetahCheetahCheetah

This boy we were lucky to see, few other people saw him. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
gorgeous.

That night we camped on the Ngorongoro Crater rim and met the elephant. The next morning we drove down into the crater. We had to leave our large truck behind near Arusha and hire smaller jeeps. The descent down into the crater is slow and steep, a 600 meter drop. It was more barren than I had imagined, but this is the dry season. But inside the crater is a huge variety of animals. We met a pride of lions walking along the road. Two males, a few females and a couple of cubs. They walked right past the jeeps so close you could reach out and stroke that beautiful mane (and lose a hand in the process). One of the lions ripped of the tyre cover to the spare tyre and started playing with it. The adult male curious (as all cats are) came over and quickly lost interest because he knew immediately it wasn't food. The young found it most enjoyable.

There are thousands of zebra. Everytime a zebra crossed the road the English would yell "Zebra crossing" leaving the North Americans scratching their heads. I liked the joke, anyway. We also saw wilderbeast, cape
Safari Traffic JamSafari Traffic JamSafari Traffic Jam

Look over there, a lion!
buffalo, hippoes and flamingoes from far away on the soda lake. Unfortunately, we were not allowed withing one kilometer of the lake so my photos of flamingoes are only pink dots. The star attraction which created another traffic jam was the buffalo kill. The female lion was near her kill guarding and preventing the scavengers from getting any leftovers. This carcass stank really badly, but some jeeps refused to move on preventing many from getting a look and creating an rather angry traffic jam: jeeps coming and going trying to get their clients the best view.

My trip is mostly over, I just have to fly back to Vancouver. I have many photos to process, and many memories to re - live. I completely missed the Olympics. Who's Michael Phelps? What's Russia doing in Georgia? It's back to reality and my easy life. But I don't expect things will ever be the same as they were before I left. Perhaps cliche but I'll say it anyway: you can take the man out of Africa but you cannot take Africa out of the man; (I'll be cleaning Serengeti dust from my body for weeks. )


Additional photos below
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Zebra CrossingZebra Crossing
Zebra Crossing

The Serengeti, Tanzania
Following the leaderFollowing the leader
Following the leader

Zebra have the eyes and wilderbeast have the nose, united they stand and divided they're eaten
The soda lake, NgorongoroThe soda lake, Ngorongoro
The soda lake, Ngorongoro

Far away is the lake with thousands of flamingoes, all I see are pink dots!
The king of the beastsThe king of the beasts
The king of the beasts

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania


26th June 2012
Rock hyrax

Use of photo
Would it be possible to use this photo in a book I'm writing for my grandchildren? We lived in Kenya for 14 years, so all the stories in the book are African Tribal stories teaching moral truths. I'd love to use the photo to show what these small creatures look like. Please let me know! thanks!

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