THE CATERPILLAR ON THE NILE

So you may be wondering why the weird title..well the Nile part is pretty self explanatory as you read on but the caterpillar??? 

WELL let me tell you a story about a hairy caterpillar……now the hairy caterpillars you find over here are a little poisoness in that their hair has little bits of poison on them to deter predators…….whilst sat minding my own business a hairy caterpillar decided to make my hair his home…..i was non the wiser until I let me hair down and BAM!!!!!!!! I looked and felt like I rolled around in a nest of stinging nettles…..i have since learned my lesson…..if you brush you hair more frequently it wont look like a cozy home for little poisoness creatures!

Anyway since I last wrote, we have collected all the new expectant passengers and ventured out of Nairobi and headed to Nakuru National Park for our first day of adventure. First, we stopped 50km’s outside of the city to take in the phenomenal view over the Great Rift Valley. When we arrived in Nakuru there was just time for a quick road side lunch (ate in harmony with the growing number of monkey spectators) before heading off on our first game drive. 

Although the clouds were collecting above us in grey abundance promising rain, we had a fabulous drive…lioness’ right next to us on the side of the road too lazy to move out of the rain, and we were graced with 2 rhino sittings, along with zebra, buffalo and an enormous amount of different birds. The following day we headed to Eldoret to stay at Naiberri Riverside Camp. We got there early in order for everyone to watch the Rugby world Cup and after a day of celebrating (we have A LOT of Kiwi’s on board) we settled down for dinner (I proved 1 passenger wrong that you CAN bake lasagna without a stove)

The next day we crossed the boarder into Uganda and headed to the town of Jinja where we stay at the amazing Nile River explorers campsite, right next to the source of the longest river in the world. The River Nile. We stay here for 3 nights during which time there are heaps of activities to get involved with such as rafting the frothy Nile rapids, mountain biking or even horse riding!! Most of the peeps decided on a day of rafting but a few decided to stay behind, relax and take in the stunning view the campsite offers over the river. It also turns out that we bought some nice weather with us…Uganda has 2 seasons…the wet season and the not so wet season. It has apparently rained here every day for 3 weeks…..over the 3 days we have been here it has been beautiful sunshine!

Our last day at NRE in Jinja was spent volunteering for Soft Power….a charity that builds and maintains schools and focuses on educating local communities. Everyone returned covered in paint apart from 1 passenger……who as it turns out found him self in the class room teaching the children about the solar system!!!!

Tomorrow we head into Kampala Uganda’s capital where we spend one night and pick up 2 extra passengers before heading into this tropical country.

TO UGANDA

We have just had 8 days ‘off’ in Nairobi getting our truck back up to scratch to take us into Uganda!! She’s polished, clean inside and out and stocked to the rafters with food (and some seriously awesome neon coloured Tupperware……our breakfast table is going to be THE prettiest on the road!!!)

Tonight was pre departure, so a whole new bunch of people brand new to Africa have been loaded full of information and are now hopefully ready and willing to jet set around Uganda..(jet set??? We can all dream J )

Tomorrow will be an early morning as my self, TJ and truck say goodbye to Nairobi and head to Nakuru for our first game drive in Nakuru national park, and the passengers first night of camp life…and guess what?! It’s rainy season, but hey a bit of rain never hurt anyone ;) …..I will keep you posted on all the shenanigans!!!!

Will write soon to let you know what goes on during the first few as we say goodbye to Kenya and hello Gorilla Country – UGANDA

THE END OF AN ERA

We spend one night at the famous Snake Park with Ma and BJ before heading out to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. 8am on Sunday morning we’re all packed and ready to head off on our 2-day game drive. Lunch is spent huddling together at a picnic spot on the chilly Crater rim as we try and stay out of dodge of the Back Kites that do everything in their power to prey on your afternoon feast!.....Most of us were lucky….one person lost their chicken. Having gathered our selves together and stayed out of the way of the Bush Pig we were on our way again and began our descent into the Serengeti. The views you get driving into thepark are totally breath taking and unmistakably worthy of their name: “The Endless Plane”…it looks like the planes stretch all around the world and back! Our drive to our campsite was fruitful with hyenas, giraffe, elephant and gazelle all close by, but it seemed the following day was to offer more than any one could have hoped for.

Monday morning we leave our Serengeti camp at 7 and shorty into the drive we came across 11 8 month old lion cubs chowing down on a giraffe right on the side of the road, shortly after this we had our first cheetah siting of the day – 1 female with 2 cubs, later we would see 2 more cheetah females with cubs, and then just before lunch “She” graced us with her presence…possibly the most aloof animal in the plane, we saw a Leopard, who jumped from her perch and walked along side our vehicle for a few meter’s before heading back into the thick bush. People come here time and time again just to get a glimpse of her spots and many come away disappointed so we were super lucky!!!!

Monday night was spent on the Ngorongoro crater rim and due to the altitude it was FREEZING!!!!!! However completely worth it as we woke with enough time to catch sunrise over the world’s largest unbroken caldera. After breakfast on Tuesday morning we drove into the Crater for our morning game drive. Despite the close proximity of the Serengeti the views you get here are so different. The 260sqkm floor of the crater offers everything from thick jungle like forests to wide open lakes and planes. The morning was a complete success with 2 big male lions sunning them selves in the middle of our path, black rhino and an abundance of colourful birdlife.

Tuesday afternoon saw us heading back to Snake Park camp for 2 nights. I feel I just need to mention a bit about Snake Park and what it’s all about. It’s a camp site ran by possibly the most selfless people on the continent Ma and BJ. Just outside the gates of the camp is their clinic, one of the best places in East Africa to be treated for snake bites and is funded completely by them…..and us, 100% of the camping and 25% of the bar tabs go towards the clinic and the local community. They have an array of different snakes, reptiles and a few injured birds all expertly taken care of by Deon, and together the 3 of them (Ma BJ and Deon) run a place you can easily call home! So “home” is where we spent the next 2 nights….our final 2 nights of tour. The final days were taken up by a masai walk which includes visiting one of the local masai villages and the masai museum, and what would a trip to Tanzania be without looking at the local “gem”….Tanzanite. Tanzanite is a precious stone of purple blue in colour and is mined only around the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

Spice up your life!!!

Since I last wrote we left behind the lake (still think it looks more like the ocean) and made our way to coffee country: Tanzania. Our first night was spent just outside the small town of Iringa and we were all pleased with the cooler weather and subsequent good night sleep thanks to the 2200m altitude. The following day saw us up at 4 to prepare breakfast for 5 and leave (1/2 hour earlier than planned) at 5.30. To Dar Es Salaam. The House of Peace. Now to those of you who have ever visited ‘Dar’ you’ll know that calling it The House of Peace is some what misleading. Apparently New York is the city that never sleeps, well if that’s true then Dar is a very close second. The house of noise, of the house of traffic and at various points through out the year the house of serious unforgiving humidity would be a closer fit but House of Peace it is. But what ever your opinion of the city, the electricity you fell whilst there is undeniable. We set up camp on the beach at Mikardi Beach Camp and organized our selves for the following day. The day that every one has been waiting for….ZANZIBAR! Another early morning topped off with negotiating the streets of the city and we were on the ferry to Stone Town. All though we no longer had to weave the streets of Dar we now had to worm through the ally ways of Stone Town which just invite you to get lost…Great fun though!!!! Stone Town, home of all things spicy, the old slave trade and the worlds shortest war – the Anglo Zanzibar war which lasted exactly 38 minutes. Everyone spent the day on a spice tour, visiting one of the many spice plantations in the area and then visiting the old slave market and museum. Thankfully back in time for sundowners on the balcony of Africa House looking over the crystal Indian Ocean, then onto the night market for a serious feed. With Stone Town now behind us we head up to Kendwa beach where we stay at the amazing Sunset Bungalows for 2 nights. The 2 days spent here were taken up mainly by lying on the beach ……Wonderful!!!

After our 3 nights were over (all too soon) we headed back to The House of (apparent) Peace for one more night before starting our 2 day journey to Arusha, the path to the breath taking endless plain….The Serengeti!