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Published: August 29th 2009
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Luxury camping
If only all tents were like this. This is where we stayed for our first two nights in Nairobi. Well we are not actually in Africa right now. We are currently holed up on a paradise island in Fiji. We are spending our days lounging around by the ocean which is all the shades of blue you would expect to find in paradise. But as we are way behind on filling you in with our trip I will endeavour to catch you up. I’m sure I can manage it between sunbathing, massages and reading books. Firstly I will attempt to put into words how amazing our Africa trip was. First stop Tanzania...
June 9 - June 21 After two nights in our luxury safari tent in Nairobi (a birthday present from Simon’s family) we met up with the 10 other people who were starting the Absolute Africa tour and settled into the big adapted HGV that would be our home. With 28 seats the truck was really spacious and we had the luxury of spreading out and getting comfy. Well as comfy as you can get when travelling over unfinished roads and dusty terrain. The first day was a long drive through Kenya to the Tanzanian border. The border crossing was everything you would expect a third
The truck
This was our home for 33 days. Everything was stored on the truck including all the camping and cooking equipment and a shovel in case anyone needed a number two on a loo stop. Nobody did. world border crossing to be. Touts, black market dealings, lots of dodgy - bordering on insane - people and a hell of a lot of waiting around in the blazing heat and dust.
As we drove across country we saw a completely alien way of life. Villages of homes made from corrugated iron, barefoot children in threadbare clothes, women washing clothes by standing on them in a bowl of water.
It was like stepping back in time or walking into a TV documentary. The children were always very excited to see us pass through and would come running towards the truck waving and smiling and shouting out ‘muzungu’ which is the Bantu word for white person - it was like being famous.
We eventually arrived at our first campsite which was ominously called Snake Park. Thankfully I didn't encounter any of these. After a crash course in putting up the tents it was our turn to pitch up the canvas. The tents are surprisingly easy to put up and take down but the novelty soon wore off - especially on the 4.30am starts!
Luckily for us 12 we didn't have to do any cooking for the
Comfy
There was a lot of space on the truck for the first week when there were just 12 of us. first week or so because we met up with another truck and they did it all for us. But the start of the tour was pretty intense because after the first night we were up at 5.45am to get into our eight-seater jeeps for a three night jaunt into the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
On the way to the Serengeti we drove past the Crater which looked like something out of Jurassic Park. The Crater was formed two or three million years ago when a volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself. Standing looking down into it was like being on top of the world. Truly spectacular.
Our first game drive into the Serengeti was pretty perfect as far as safaris go. Not only did we get to see the Big Five - buffalo, elephant, lion, rhino (ok this one was at a distance) cheetah but we also saw a kill. This is nature in the raw. It was totally like watching a nature programme but a million times better because we were right there, seeing, smelling and hearing it all. We got to see the cheetah stalking the baby zebra (after moving out of the way as
our truck inadvertently pulled up right in the way of the kill) then making the run to grab it. We heard the sound of the zebra as it was attacked and the cries of the other zebras who were so obviously distressed. Talk about goose bumps. The adrenalin was really pumping and I can honestly say it was one of the most thrilling things I have ever seen in my life.
The Serengeti is truly vast and there are just huge open plains as far as the eye can see in
every direction. Strangely there is mobile coverage though… We even got to see part of the migration with hundreds of wildebeest and zebra all in a line heading in the same direction. While in the Serengeti we camped at a site that was not fenced off in any way and were pitched up in long grass which was alive with insects and don't even ask about showers. There weren't any. We were properly roughing it.
The third night was spent at a campsite above the Crater where I was nearly trampled to death by a herd of zebra. Once again this campsite was not fenced off from
any wildlife so we had an elephant come into camp and we watched a mere 10 feet away as it turned on a tap with its trunk and had a drink. When I was walking back from the toilet block in the pitch black I heard a sound so pointed my head torch in that direction only to be confronted by a group of zebra galloping around and neighing. Fearing they were going to gallop in my direction I turned the torch off and made a wide circle through the long grass back to camp. The fear didn't end there though. During the night the zebras were eating right outside the tents. The noise was quite scary when amplified through the silence of darkness and as well as munching grass I also heard growling. Imagining all manner of morbid thoughts - is a lion going to take down a zebra and land on our tent? Will the zebras start running and trample us? What if the elephant walks through the camp and doesn't notice the tents? - I got no sleep and had my mobile in my hand in case I needed to send farewell messages. Simon, of course, was
Freezing cold
It was surprisingly cold in parts of Africa at night oblivious and snoring away which I was convinced was going to attract the animals.
After surviving the night we went on a game drive into the Crater early the next morning where we saw a pride of lions watching zebra and wildebeest near a watering hole. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to stay and see if the lion made a kill. Being on safari is a wonderful experience and even though we saw the same animals on many of our game drives every one was different. You could never get bored.
While in Tanzania we also visited a Maasai village which was interesting especially when Simon was roped into trying out the jumping with the men. It was very staged though and more of a tourist attraction than a genuine village. Obviously they still had the mud huts made with cow dung and it looked like a proper village but the residents were well aware of what the tourists want and we were given the hard sell on colourful bangles and taken to see the children learning the alphabet in the school. Although I’m not sure how authentic it is that the children were in school at
Everyone
Our initial 12 became 27 when we joined with another truck 5.30pm.
After the excitement of seeing all the wildlife we headed to the coast at Dar es Salaam where we camped on a roof overlooking the ocean before catching a ferry to Zanzibar for three nights of relaxing in a proper bed with a warmish shower. We spent one night in Stone Town before heading to the coast. While in Stone Town we went on a spice tour which involved traipsing through ant-infested jungle to find various spice plants and fruits. We got to try fresh coconut (surprisingly sour), and a fruit we’d never heard of which stank like rotting flesh and tasted pretty similar. In the evening we headed to the night market which is on the harbour and has countless stalls cooking up any type of food you can imagine. For less than £10 we feasted on pizza, octopus and lobster. Delicious.
Zanzibar is everything a paradise island should be, surrounded by clear blue ocean and with white sand. The snorkelling is amazing and we even saw dolphins as we headed out to the reef on a traditional sailing dhow. Unfortunately it was rainy season which meant sunbathing was occasionally interrupted by heavy showers.
After
Open road
Most of the roads were unfinished and very dusty. This led to lots of bumpy rides. Zanzibar we joined with the other truck and our original 12 became 27 which meant there wasn't so much space during the long drives and we would have to take our turn at cooking!
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Anu
Anu
The orange sunsets is awesome !! congrats !