Europe and Beyond

After leaving three people on Zanzibar we picked up another two in Dar Es Salaam, a Swiss couple about our age.  They are with us until Victoria Falls. The next three days were basically driving days, though we did do another game drive in Mkumi National Park.  This park is a little strange in that the main highway goes through the middle of it. So on our drive to our overnight stop, we went through the park and saw giraffes, elephants and various antelope.  Next morning we had an 'actual’ game drive and saw the same animals, though much closer. We also saw a 2 ½ to 3 metre Rock python slither across the road. There were lots of monkeys around and they were very interested in keeping an eye on the snake.  They got quite close and kept watch until it had headed off into the bush. The game drive finished around 11:00 (had started at 6:30) when we returned to camp for an early lunch before another 5 hours on the road. Life on the road can be a little tedious - ...

Time for a bit of R&R with a stay at a beach resort on Zanzibar.  I always thought of Zanzibar as a single island, but it is actually made up of 50 individual islands.  The main one is called Unguja and has lots of resorts and also Zanzibar town and Stone Town. The other interesting thing about Zanzibar is that it used to be a separate country, but it has virtually no crops or industry. Tanganyika would supply food and support but eventually withheld all of that until Zanzibar gave up and was annexed.  Tanganyika and Zanzibar then became a single country, called Tanzania. Bizarelly when you arrive on Zanzibar you go through Immigration and have your passport stamped - even though you are technically still in Tanzania. Anyway, a two hour ferry ride brought us to Zanzibar followed by 1 1\2 hour drive to Nungwi Beach. We had one free day here and could have gone snorkelling or on other tours but ultimately decided to simply relax, walk to the local village and then lay...

Up early for a 7:00am departure aboard 'Ella’ our tour truck.  Nomad Adventures has 47 trucks all named after dead musicians - ours Ella Fitzgerald.  The tour has a maximum of 20 and we were expecting that many people, as it is peak migration season.  We were very happy though to see only 8 people on the truck. 6 Australians and 2 from Switzerland. The first day was an eight hour drive to Arusha (including about an hour to cross the border into Tanzania and another hour stop for a cooked lunch).  Arriving in Arusha we had a quick lesson on putting up our tents, before retiring to the bar, where we got to know most of the others. They are mostly Lauren's age but are all very friendly and nice. We also had another (Italian) girl join us at breakfast the next day. Our second day on tour we left the truck (and guide and cook) behind and instead headed to the Serengeti in two Land Cruisers with new guides.  The Serengeti and Maasai Mara are essentially the sam...

We had one full day in Nairobi being starting the 41 day tour and booked a tour run by some ex homeless youth. We met outside The Hilton hotel, walked through the CBD, then into the poorer parts of Nairobi. There were three guides and each walked with one of us and recited their stories.  One had runaway as a 5 year old, another was kicked out at 8 - not sure about the last. From there the stories were similar in that they were all arrested for being homeless, imprisoned and released. They talked about being released, still homeless, and how they survived by scrounging cardboard and scrap metal. Drug use was common as was the progression to  petty theft and armed robbery. Two of the three had been shot during various 'adventures'.  As well as listening to the stories we were walking the streets where they grew up - very very different to Melbourne. We felt quite safe while we were with them though Lauren had some uncomfotable moments with men making suggestive comments to...

We flew to the Maasai Mara on a small 50 seater propeller plane. The flight took 40 minutes and was quite comfortable. On arrival we were met by someone from our camp and immediately taken on a safari.  We found many animals including zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, hyena, impala, warthog, ostrich, topi, vulture and more. All very exciting and done in a typical open topped safari Land Rover. We all spent most of the hour or so standing up. Our accomodation for the next few days is a large semi permanent tent. There are three single beds all next to each other, so quite cosy.  (We get a hot water bottle each night) The main restaurant/bar area has a view over the nearby river. In the river are many hippos and a couple of crocodiles just lazing around opposite our viewing area. Tracy was so engrossed and keen to get photos that she leaned against the electric fence and gave herself quote a shock - and Lauren and I a great belly laugh. Apparently earlier in the day many wildeb...

Melbourne to Nairobi via Dubai took 24 hours including a 4 1/2 hour layover. Another hour to get through customs and 1 1/2 hour drive to our accomodation and we were all pretty tired. We have a two bedroom self contained apartment in a gated secure compound, guards checking the boot of our taxi prior to letting us in.  Every hotel appears to have security and almost every building has high fences, often with barbed wire on top and security staff guarding the gate. Being self contained we needed breakfast things, so we got directions and headed to the nearest supermarket.  We had read various warnings on the Internet about walking at night in Nairobi, but felt quite safe in daylight - although we were 'scanned' before being able to go into the supermarket. We had booked a taxi driver off Tripadvisor for our first full day and had a few plans.   First stop was the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The DSWT look after orphaned elephants and rhinocerous.  It is op...