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Published: October 3rd 2010
Doha, Qatar (2nd - 8th August 2010)
Our plan was to fly from Jordan to Kenya, via Qatar. By chance, Duncan’s brother Jason had recently moved to live and work in Qatar, so the plan was to stay with him between flight connections. We ended up taking advantage of Jason’s hospitality for a week, in order to avoid arriving in Kenya on the day of their referendum (which had provoked violence and unrest in the past).
It was great to catch up with Jason and staying at his plush Doha apartment was a welcome relief from weeks on the road. A comfy bed, a decent shower and even a washing machine were all enormously appreciated. The temperature in Qatar stayed above 40 degrees all week, so it felt like being permanently in a sauna. Taxis were the order of the day even for the shortest journeys.
The highlight of our stay was definitely a dune-bashing trip into the desert. We assumed a leisurely drive up and down the dunes in a 4x4 and a trip to see the inland sea. Wrong. Until then I didn’t think it was possible to drive sideways down the face of a 100ft high sand
dune at a seemingly impossible angle without the car rolling over. Luckily it is and, once we realised that the driver was totally in control, the two hour roller-coaster ride was awesome.
Nairobi, Kenya (9th August 2010)
Our visit to Nairobi was a passing one. We stayed one night in a camp just outside the centre of Nairobi and, having heard generally quite negative things about the city, decided to move on the next day.
Lake Naivasha, Kenya (10th-11th August 2010)
We got to experience our first Matatu (local minibus), on the journey between Nairobi and Naivasha. We were somewhat apprehensive when we realised how many people they intended to fit in it, but the roads and the driving were nothing like the horror stories we had heard from others. We jumped on a connection down to the lake itself and pitched tent, our first time on the trip, at Fisherman’s Camp. It really made us realise we were now in Africa as monkeys ran around in the trees and we later went out on a boat on the lake at sunset to search for hippos.
The next day we hired mountain bikes and cycled into
the Hells Gate National Park, some 5km away. It was amazing to be able to tour the national park under our own steam for a change, rather than being forced into a vehicle. The zebras, warthogs and impala did not seem in the slightest bit bothered by us and walked right past us as we cycled around. After an hour-long “walk” (i.e. climb) into the Hells Gate gorge with our guide Moses, and after 20km of cycling (by far the most exercise we had done in months) our legs turned to jelly and we collapsed back at the camp for a glass of wine looking out over the lake.
Nakuru, Kenya (12th-13th August 2010)
We checked into the budget Carnation Hotel in the centre of Nakuru. Unfortunately, the Lonely Planet failed to mention that was the type of establishment where rooms could be rented by the hour. Earplugs were certainly the order of the day.
We used the town as a base to see the nearby Lake Nakuru National Park the following day. The views over the Lake were incredible, including thousands of Pink Flamingos for as far as the eye could see. We were also lucky enough
to get close to buffalo, impala, monkeys, baboons, giraffes and even some white rhino. Sadly no lions this time, but we knew we had more safari time ahead.
Jinja, Uganda (14th-15th August 2010)
We travelled nine hours on a bus across the border and into Uganda, where we stopped for a couple of nights at Jinja. The Nile River begins its journey to the Med out of Lake Victoria at Jinja. We chilled out in a backpackers place right on the river itself and our permanent tent gave us great views over the rapids below. We braved a dip in the Nile one day, but a combination of ridiculous currents and scare stories of parasites meant that it was a very quick one.
Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda (18th-20th August 2010)
After a brief stop in Kampala (the capital), we headed towards the South West of Uganda. The bus from to Kabale was 7 hours of pot-hole hell, but the views across Lake Bunyonyi were worth every minute of that journey. Our permanent tent was in the most incredible location, on stilts looking out across the lake itself.
We chilled out here for three days, making the most
of the beautiful surroundings. After throwing ourselves off diving boards of varying heights (and stability) into the lake, we decided to rent a dugout canoe and paddle ourselves out onto the lake itself, perhaps visiting some of the islands. We proceeded to spend most of the next hour doing the ‘mzungu (local slang for white person) corkscrew’, meaning we got ourselves about 20 metres from the shore then spent the next hour going round in circles, much to the amusement of the local onlookers. Obviously, we blamed the canoe and felt much better when we spied other mzungus doing the same later that afternoon.
Musanze, Rwanda (21st - 23rd August 2010)
We headed from Lake Bunyoni towards the border with Rwanda. Our hopes were raised when the first part of the journey consisted of a brand new tarmac road. Unfortunately, about 2 hours in, this stopped abruptly, to be replaced by a mountain road with dirt track so dusty that you couldn’t see anything if you got stuck behind another vehicle. The driver obviously had his sights set on F1, and Dave’s initial polite requests to ‘please stay on your own side of the road when you can’t
see round the corner’ were soon replaced by some slightly sterner instructions.
The Rwandan border was so quiet that it would probably have been possible to just walk across without anyone noticing. After we had convinced the Ugandan official that we didn’t need to pay for another visa, as we were leaving his country rather than entering it, we got through quite easily.
We had underestimated how long it might take us to secure gorilla trekking permits in the Parc Nationals des Volcans, where Dian Fossey of ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ fame spent her time working with the mountain gorillas. They only let 64 people track the gorillas per day and demand for permits is much, much higher. Thankfully after plenty of desperate pleas by email, we managed to secure two cancellations. Lucky, by all accounts.
To say that seeing these mountain gorillas in the wild was one of the best things we have ever done would be no lie. After trekking through some fairly impenetrable rainforest for about two hours and climbing some 600 metres, we came across the ‘trackers’. One of them told us to ditch our bags and sticks and follow him for a further 10 minutes
through some thick jungle. Having done this, we turned a corner and there they were. Most of the gorillas were relaxing or eating and did not pay too much attention to us. However, one of the more curious baby gorillas decided that she wanted to come and say hello. This seemed pretty cool, that was, until the silverback male followed her and decided to show us who was boss. ‘Don’t run’, the guides instructed us, just back away very slowly or stand perfectly still and you’ll be fine. Easier said than done when a 200 kilo adult male charges you, beating its chest and making an almighty growl. Thankfully he was just warning us of his superior strength (in case we were in any doubt) and he changed direction at the last minute, before bulldozing though a huge a section of jungle. We then changed our pants and spent the next hour watching the gorillas chill out, eat and play. I don’t think we’ll forget the experience as long as we live.
Kigali, Rwanda (24th August 2010)
A visit to the Rwandan Genocide Museum in Kigali was a harrowing experience, but we felt that we couldn’t come to
Kigali without learning more about the history behind the 1994 atrocities. Seeing Rwanda now and how much it has moved on, it is almost impossible to believe that those events could have taken place so recently.
Later that evening we went for a drink at the luxurious Hotel Des Milles Collines, better known internationally as Hotel Rwanda. The hotel has been restored to its former glory and now serves as a luxury stop off for all kinds of visitors to Rwanda. It was strange to think about the terrifying (and heroic) events that had taken place there only 16 years before, whilst having a drink by the poolside and watching the local musicians perform.
Kahama and Singida, Tanzania (25th - 26th August 2010)
The journey from hell. For some reason a lot of the bus routes from Rwanda to Arusha (in Tanzania) go all the way back through Uganda and Kenya, around the North shore of Lake Victoria. Why bother doing that, we thought, when it’s much more direct to cross straight into Tanzania, south of the Lake, then get a bus through to Arusha?
How wrong we were. The trip took us three days and cost us
a fortune. After taking 3 minibuses and walking up a ridiculous hill with all our bags to cross the Tanzanian border, we finally made it to a town of some size and booked onto a bus which would apparently take us much of the way towards Arusha. After a night in a hotel where we’re not sure if the staff had ever seen foreigners and where in the restaurant staff dissolved into fits of giggles at everything we said, we boarded the bus at 6am the next morning. Half an hour into the 9 hour journey, having realised that the bus was refitted to take a ridiculous number of extra passengers and that the driver, if not drunk, was insane, we promptly bailed off the bus. We were now on the side of the road in a small village in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Very quickly a crowd of locals had gathered around the strange mzungus to see what it was that we were doing. Eventually we managed to convince a local taxi driver to drive us to the next big town, where we holed up for the night then found another taxi driver to get us
the rest of the way to Arusha (all along sandy, dusty unmade roads, causing his taxi to break down at least 3 times). Needless to say, we were somewhat relieved when we finally made it to L’Oasis Lodge in Arusha, where we promptly hit the bar!
Arusha, Tanzania (27th August - 3rd September 2010)
We stayed at L’Oasis Lodge for a week while we both tried to shift head colds which delayed the start of our trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. Most of the week was spent relaxing and trying our best to eat our way out of our colds, but once it became clear that we couldn’t start the trek for a good few days we decided to book ourselves onto a two-day safari to visit Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater.
Our day at Lake Manyara turned out to be Elephant Day. They were everywhere and happily walked around our vehicle to let us get up close. The Ngorongoro crater was just incredible. In the end we were glad that we’d been forced to delay our trek, so that we had the chance to see it. Not only did we see four of the Big Five including
Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino and Lion, but we were also amazed by the stunning landscape, encompassed in the caldera of an ancient collapsed volcano.
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (4th - 10th September 2010)
Having managed to delay the start of our climb up the tallest mountain in Africa by almost a week it was now time to finally begin. We were driven, at break-neck speed, to the Machame Gat, meaning we had already felt the need to use the Swahili phrase ‘Pole Pole’ (meaning slowly slowly) before we even left the truck. We came to hear the phrase a lot more over the following week.
Upon arrival at Machame Gate we soon realised that we weren’t the only people who were going to start climbing Kili that day. There must have been a good hundred or so people waiting at the start to begin their treks plus at least twice that many porters. All of them seemed to be dressed more appropriately than us, but we told ourselves this must have been because they had all flown in just for the climb itself, as opposed to us who have been carrying thermals and hiking boots through the Middle East and
40 degree heat.
We had expected to be outnumbered by our own entourage but when Seraphinie, our guide, informed us that we would be accompanied by nine (yes 9) others we were slightly shocked. Without wishing to sound suspicious this may have been something to do with the fact that tips are expected per person. We had a guide, assistant guide, cook, waiter (yes, not really a necessity given that we would be camping for the next 6 nights) and five porters. Considering we only took one rucksack between us, we were bound to be eating A LOT of food during the week.
The first day was spent trekking from 1800m up to 3000m and the Machame Hut. We camped for all six nights of our trek, having opted for an extra day to help acclimatisation, but always slept overnight at a site with toilets*.
*Toilets would be glamming them up too much in all honesty. Wooden huts placed around holes in the ground, always stinking and often spray-painted by a previous occupant, would be more accurate. The warnings we had been given by other friends who had experienced them started to ring true.
The daily walks ranged from 3
to 6 hours in duration and in most cases were not at all difficult. Our legs would often ache the next morning but that was to be expected. We had our own sleeping tent which was big enough for three people, so there was plenty of room for us and our rucksacks. I dread to think how bad the smell was by the end of the week though, as there were no opportunities to wash beyond a quick splash of water from a bowl, supplemented by wet-wipes and hand gel, all covered-over by some deodorant. It’s amazing how much you can dream about having a bath.
We had experienced dull headaches due to altitude from about day three onwards as we got over about 3600m or so. They were worst as we camped at 4600m before our attempt on the summit, but they never lasted for too long. Nat managed to borrow a sleeping bag so that she had two, plus a liner, so she just about managed to stay warm enough at night to be able to get some sleep.
Nat’s worst moment of the trip and my funniest moment came as I followed her up the trail on
day four and noticed she had something on her boot. She didn’t find it as funny as the guide and I to realise that she had stepped in another trekker’s number two stop. Merciless teasing and toilet humour ensued for the remainder of the trek.
For the final ascent on the summit you go to bed at about 6pm the night before and try and get some sleep before getting up again at 11pm for some hot drinks and biscuits, or pieces of cardboard in our case. We joined the queue up the first steep climb just after midnight, wrapped up in most of our clothes to shield us from the cold night. It was bizarre seeing so many head-torches ahead of and behind us as we walked. We started off slowly but surely and I think we both felt pretty comfortable for the first 3 hours or so. I was slightly worried as my heart seemed to be beating faster than it ever had before but once Nat assured me that deep breaths and pacing myself would make me feel okay I seemed to adjust. Nat felt okay for the majority of the walk, making sure to pace herself
(‘pole pole’ was the guide’s mantra) and follow in the guide’s footsteps. We seemed to be passing most of the groups ahead of us and before long realised that there didn’t appear to be any more lights ahead of us. Seraphin certainly seemed intent on getting us to the top of the mountain ahead of everyone else. We reached Stellar Peak (5745m) at 5.10am and the guides celebrated with us. We’re not sure why they do this as it’s still another 150m climb up to Uhuru Peak. Nat got a big giddy thinking that it was only 5 more minutes or so and suffered a bit psychologically when we found out it was a good 45 minutes trek. But we both soldiered on and got to Uhuru Peak just after 6am to see the sun rising. It was damn cold, so cold that we had to take photos quickly between short moments of taking our gloves off. However, the views of glaciers and the nearby Mount Meru to one side and the sunrise to the other were just incredible, and after such a tiring ascent to the summit, many people (including Nat) were pretty emotional when they got to the
top. Certainly another experience that we’ll never forget.
As we descended back down the way we had come we tried to encourage other people we had met over the previous few days to keep going. The walk down was almost more tiring, as you had achieved something special and really just wanted to stop walking and have a rest! No such thing though as we walked back to our camp of the previous night for some food, before another few hours walking down to Mweka Camp at 3000m. Twelve hours of walking after next-to-no sleep was incredibly tiring. We could hardly believe we had actually done it and made it to the top of the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, but we had and it felt great.
Jambiani, Zanzibar, Tanzania (11th - 16th September 2010)
A well-earned rest was in order by the time we had finished our Kili trek. We got the bus from Arusha to Dar es Salaam and then the fast boat out to Zanzibar the following day. Our destination was Jambiani beach on the South-East coast of the island and the Sea View Lodge which had been recommended to us by fellow travellers. Our bungalow
was great and looked right out onto the white sand beach in front. We spent our time sunbathing, swimming, reading and catching up on decent sleep. Oh, and we also washed, meaning that we were finally clean. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Nat’s backpack, which has not quite recovered from being carried up Mount Kilimanjaro for 7 days by a porter with body odour issue. Nat is scouring Tanzania for Febreze.
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James Bates
non-member comment
Wow!
Hey Guys! What an awesome part of the trip. I am extremely jealous about the "Gorillas in the mist" experience. This has been on my travel wish list for ages! Killi also looks amazing. Congratulations on completing the climb. I can't imagine Moose taking "slowly slowly" on board very well....Zanzibar was a good call afterwards.