Well Team…
So, I’ve made it across the border into Tanzania! My last country on
the tour (unless you count Zanzibar, which does give you a stamp and
sorta is its own country but thank God they don’t charge for Visas
because Tanzania charges $100 USD! (of course we charge them much more,
so I guess it’s only fair).
Turns out Americans are traveling to Kenya! So says Rebecca who runs
the Miliani Backpackers in Nairobi. She says there have been many
more Americans than ever before since about April. I asked if it was
about Obama… and it is. His father is from Kenya, and so many
Americans are now aware of a badass country called Kenya and are
coming. This is good since Kenya tourism is SLOOOOWWWWW thanks to the
problems in January and February. Rebecca also told me about how she
and her family survived the riots and people blocking roads, throwing
rocks and burning tires. And racing through the line of people with
horn “hooting” and skidding into their apartment garage as the guard
slammed it shut on the oncoming crowd. Straight out of a movie,
except that it was real. Fortunately Kenya is totally calm, friendly
as ever but hurting for the travelers to come back. I’m so glad I was
able to come as my safari was fantastic with only about 1/4 of the safari
vans as normal. So get your ass to Kenya so you can enjoy the low
crowds and also help out! :)
So for those who don’t know what exactly a safari is, I’ll tell you (as
I didn’t really know exactly before this trip either). You travel in
a safari van (or Land Rover). I was in a van, it holds up to 8 people,
but there were only 3 (and then 4) of us. So we had lots of room.
You drive to the national park with your guide/driver (ours was
Barry…well, until the van broke down and we were sent with another
crew). The roof pops up so you stand up in the van and look out 360
degrees at the scenery and the animals.
And I mean ANIMALS. Rhinos (the endangered black and white ones),
leopards in trees and lions in the grass (mothers, babies of many
sizes, including 2-week-old ones that squeak like birds, can’t see and
even went UNDER the safari van. The mother came over and picked it up
in her mouth and carried it off). Giraffes by the dozens, elephants
by the dozens. Zebras, hyenas, gazelles, hartebeests, warthogs
(Pumba!), a cheetah, a cerval cat, buffalos by the hundreds. Hippos,
crocodiles, bones and carcasses (oh yes). And yes, wildebeests…
THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of wildebeests. One herd was over a mile
long, with maybe 10,000 animals. The ground didn’t rumble like I
expected (but they weren’t running). It was 4 days of viewing,
scenery stretching to the horizon without a power line, cell tower,
paved road or house. Just miles and miles and miles of rolling hills
of grass and escarpments in the background.
We were 1 day at Lake Nakuru, a beautiful lake, (with monkeys!) and 3
at Masai Mara (the Kenyan extension of the great Serengeti Plain).
Sunsets, sunrises and stars galore. I even saw SCORPIO for the first
time that I’m aware.
I was with a very cool couple from Israel, Ifat and Shaked, who were on
their honeymoon. And Mark, an adventuresome pilot for Luftstansa from
Germany. The camp we stayed at had Masai warriors with spears and
clubs and knives that guarded it against animal attacks at night and
wore their traditional clothes (and all had cell phones!).
A grand time.
And the new sport is safari surfing. You stand in the van as it
drives and don’t’ hold onto the edge and try to stay on your feet.
Its’ fun and a good challenge.
Tomorrow I actually go on ANOTHER safari, this one to the amazing
Ngorongoro crater. I had to navigate through the safari tours all
day. It was a lot of work, but the place seems good that I chose.
I’m 3 weeks done, 2 weeks to go. It’s going well. I’m definitely
slipping into the mid-trip blues, though. It always seems to happen at
some point. Where it isn’t quite as fun. When little things become a
bit frustrating rather than amusing. When you stop and think about
how much money is being spent and if you will stay on budget. When
you get a bit lonely and tired of having the same “where are you
from?” conversations. That’s slipping in now. I know it will pass in
a day or two and it’s fine. It’s here. It’s hard to go go go go for
5 weeks straight! :) I’m hoping the 3 people on this safari tomorrow
are cool and that I can relax and still enjoy the adventure. After
all, Kilimanjaro is coming on Friday… 6 days of hiking…
so hope you are all well and living it up. I’m still in search of
Karaoke and in fact going out. It’s Africa and we are always asleep
by like 10pm or so. What the heck? :)
Gotta go, get ready to see more animals. But seriously, come to
Africa. You will be BLOWN AWAY WITH HOW AWESOME IT IS. Awesome.
Just awesome.
Rock on
Craigo
Craig Ouellette is a world traveling, independent filmmaker, and karaoke fiend. He has been to dozens of countries, made dozens of films, and sung more karaoke songs than he can count. He hopes the tales of adventure will entertain.
