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As expected, my first week in Africa was a great success. I went to a six day safari in Masai Mara, Samburu and Nakuru reserves, and met a lot of nice people.
It started in a long flight, which was tiring and not much eventful. I had to wait a long time in the visa counter, and $50, which someone said later was too much, but how can I know ? I took a taxi, and on the way the driver convinced me to go to Upperhill Campsite, which turned up to be a cool place, with fun people, who most of them stay there for a long time.
On the very next day I booked for a safari in Planet Safari, and early morning in the next day I went to Masai Mara. We were four - Glen, Slava, Roland and me, with Jack the driver, and we picked a crazy English guy named Cameron who works in Mara and seems to be on drugs all the time. The way to Mara is beautiful. We saw zebras and giraffes on the way, and on lunch stop a peculiar thing happened - in the middle of the town a tree broke down and fell, without any provocation. Just fell and almost crashed a few cars. Amazing thing to see. Later that day we got stuck in the road while trying to cross a river. A Landcruiser that passed by got us out of there. So I remind you - when going to safari, remember to insist on a 4WD vehicle. It is good also in the safari itself - you can follow animals into the fields.
The safari itself was wondeful. We saw lions and elephants and impalas and gazelles and hippos and crocodiles and ... almost everything. No rhinos. No cheetahs. No Leopards. The birds are also awesome - The storks and buzzards and especially the Lilac Breasted Roller, which is SOOO beautiful.
The next day I joined another group - Mick, Kate, Lisa, Ted and Fred the guide/driver. Here they has a 4WD, and we were able to see more - many lions in the morning. Then we went to Nakuru. A long drive, and in the end - a five star hotel ( towel, soap, sheet, hot shower, toilet paper ), and we met a rastaman from Ethiopia in the bar, and played pool. He invited us to visit him in his Ganja farm, but we won't go.
The next morning we went to the Nakuru lake. No leopard but more than 20 rhinos, and flamingos pelicans storks everywhere. It was just a morning ride, and soon we left for Samburu. On a shortcut we saw a body of a young man, which seemed like he was raped and murdered - his pants were down, and also his shoes. He was bleeding from the nose. We all fell very bad about it, especially because we didn't stop, and just went through and told some local about it. It was my first time of seeing a body, and the same to all of us.
In the evening we got to Samburu - a flat land with a river in the middle. Main attraction there was seeing the animals going to drink. The elephants were playing in the water and splashing themselves, while the giraffes and antelopes were cautious. Before that we saw a cheetah and waited for her to catch something. Soon a warthog came, and went directly in the cheetahs direction - we were so tensed to see a hunt ... but the cheetah (Duma in Swahili ) decided to let it be, and we missed it.
In the afternoon we went to the swimming pool at the lodge, but they didn't let us in, so we just set at the bar. And later we went to see a leopard, searching the whole park for it, until we found one - quite helpless, surrounded by six "white elephants", i.e. tourist vehicles. After a while he got tired of us and went away. The last day was homecoming. We went back to mount Kenya, and since the group split there, I had to go by taxi to Nairobi. That was a bad experience - three hours in the back seat of a 504 with two more people. Squeezed and sweating. And then having to walk with all my luggage to the office of the safari.
I felt quite pissed of with them, but I was too tired for fights, so I just let it be, but I'm still angry.
See you all. Tomorrow I'm in Lamu.
Love, Moddy.
So it has been a long time since my last letter, and there are lots of things to tell.
I left Nairobi on Wednesday morning, 21-2, with Phil ( English with dreadlocks who wants to be the youngest ever to climb highest picks in Seven continents ), Maria ( Danish with blond dreadlocks, that everybody on the street calls her 'Hey rasta woman' ), and Andrei ( Dutch who reads a lot and talks less ). The train ride was a real experience - a night train with dinner and breakfast. Four of us in the same cabin having fun, although they all smoke, which made me leave the cabin very often. Sleeping was a bit difficult, since every half an hour the train stops in a big Crashhhbooombinnnaaaaachchchboom, and you wake up.
In Mombassa we took the local bus to Malindi, which is a beach town with lots of Italians, and after a long walk with our heavy packs we found a cheap hostel and expensive dinner.
The next day we went to Lamu by bus & ferry. Lamu is a small fishermen's' island with nice beaches and small hostels. I didn't like it very much because it was too dirty and nothing much to do. The reason I went there was to meet the Africa caravan, which is a rainbow group that goes to the gathering in June. I knew that Bill and Pascal were supposed to be there on Feb 23, but I didn't know how I was supposed to find them. It turned out very easy. The moment we landed in Lamu, we set in a restaurant to rest, and a guy came to our table, saying "Hello, I'm Pascal". Pascal (Belgian with black dreadlocks, who juggles diablo and a tennis racket ) met another guy ( Raphaelo, German yogist who's into Hinduism ), and we met Bill the next day - he came to me asking "Do you go to the donkey hospital ?", and I said "Are you Bill ?". It turns out that the donkey hospital was a key word for meeting rainbow, though I didn't know it.
The donkey hospital seems to be doing well, since the donkeys in Lamu look very healthy.
There wasn't much more in Lamu. Mostly we set in the "Hapa Hapa" restaurant, playing bau ( a nice game with seed and holes ) and talking to Satan ( that's the guy's name ). One day we went to eat with Ali Hippy ( aka 'Ali yummy good for tummy' ), who's a man that for the last 30 years invites people to his home and cooks for them for a reasonable price ( so if you meet him in Lamu, go for it ), and plays music. One day we cooked for ourselves, with an Aussie couple - Josh and Janis, who also gave us a map to Mt. Kenya.
Another day we sailed a dawa ( a boat ), and I got totally burned - but that's really nothing. Maria, Andrey and Phil left us, and the other four, which became the official africacaravan, went to Nairobi. On the way we spent the night in Malindi, but this time in Silver Sands camp site, which was a cool place with a nice beach and the only place so far that women were bathing topless. Bill rushed to them and invited them to join the caravan, but they didn't.
Back to Nairobi. First night we went to Mama Roche's campsite, but it was boring there - we were alone, so we moved to Upperhill the following day ( that was Friday ). In Upperhill we arranged the expedition to Mt. Kenya. The idea was to have a full moon party on the top, and spend some days walking there. Four people joined us - Phil, Conor ( Texan and ex boys-scout, who knows all about cooking in nature and trekking, and is a big fan of Radiohead ), Lisa ( American blond, from Yakima, Washington state. Though we called her 'bitch' she's very nice and saved my life on the mountain by giving me a hat and feet warmers ), and Tess ( the cutest girl I ever met. Fucking amazing Swede who plays volleyball and afraid from everything.)
On Friday I also met Grace (who disappeared the day after without saying hello), and Gregory and Magi from Washington state, who are islanders and rainbow people, and gave me gloves and sold me their stove (worked perfectly! ). Since we got a stove and pots, we went on Saturday morning to buy food. This was a big job, with lots of arguments and eventually we bought too much food - too heavy for us to carry, and probably unneeded. Tess got upset about it (and we all told her that she's cute.)
Anyway, Sunday morning we packed, and went to Chogoria - this was a big story, since we wanted to go by bus, and take a taxi to the bus station, but the taxi driver refused to take us and demanded more money. In the end, we took a matatu (that is, a van) to Chogoria, which cost a bit more. From Chogoria to the park entrance, and we built our first camp. We found out that we brought one extra tent. It wasn't that bad, since we used this tent for storage, and slept in the other four.
So - Monday was a not-very-hard-walk, that ended in a wonderful place by a small stream with falls and vegetation, and we cooked lunch and dinner and bread ( hurray to Conor ) and porridge ( hurray to Tess ). Tuesday was hard walk, with Lisa almost collapsing and ended in a more wonderful place, called Tarns Hall, where there are many ponds and a deep gorge and awesome views of mountains to all sides. In the evening Conor failed to replace the gas canister, and managed to freeze his fingers and to burn himself simultaneously, but he's OK now. Wednesday we stayed in Tarns Hall to acclimatize. We had short walks around, and then it started raining and hailing and snowing, and we all stayed in the tents for shelter. That was actually the most amazing part of the day, because the flames of the cigarette lighters were green and blue instead of red and yellow. We still don't know how it happened. I said "all" before, but that was "all besides Bill", who went into the gorge and had a great time and didn't even get very wet, but before he came we didn't know where he was, and wondered how tired and wet he'll come, if he comes. But he came, and everything's fine.
The same day Raphaelo hurt his leg, and couldn't go on Thursday, and therefore we split - me, Conor, Tess and Lisa went up, while the rest stayed and would go the next day. This was a beautiful day - clear views of the mountains, and not very hard walk, and light weight, since we left most of the food with the others. We went to Austrian Hut via Tooth Col. When we got to Tooth Col, we found out that Tess has fear from heights, and she refused to go on, blaming us for taking her to a dangerous place, where we don't know where we are and don't even have a map, and the fog comes and we lose our way ... Sounds bad, but since she's so cute we just calmed her down and eventually got to the hut with no much problem.
The hut is just next to the mountain, and it takes less than an hour to get to Point Lenana, which is the third-most-high-pick of Mt. Kenya, and the only one you can walk to. There are superb views of all three picks, and a wonderful glacier that is between them. The glacier has caves with ice formations and water pouring from them, and I hope my photos are good enough to show how beautiful it all is. We were alone in the hut, and it was very nice, since we could leave the packs and wander around.
Then the troubles began. I got mountain sickness and tried to rest in the sleeping bag. Reading all about the symptoms in the book wasn't very helpful, because it just scared me ( remember "three men in a boat "? ), and I was very cold. The rest tried to cook dinner, but just before the water boiled, we ran out of gas. So we had cold soup with half-made noodles, and felt very miserable. Worse part was knowing that we won't have coffee in the morning.
So in the morning we woke up at 5. My sickness was over, and we took all our clothes to climb up the mountain ( 4900m above sea ), to see the sunrise. We got there right on time. It was damn cold, but beautiful. We couldn't see Kilimanjaro, though, since this part was cloudy. The rise was wonderful - red light on the mountains. At the same time, the full moon went down.
My original plan was to stay on the mountain and wait or the others, but since I had no gas, and therefore no food, I joined the others on the way down. So, after we didn't drink coffee, we started the big descent through Naro Meru route. Conor said it's a 16 km. day in an easy downhill slope, but it turned up to be a 30 km. day, with steep downhill, a few uphills, and a vertical bog, which was worse of all - trying to find your way through tussocks and mud and streams, while always searching for the next sign that tells you where to go. The signs are arranged there in a way that you can't see the next sign if you're next to one of them. Fairly stupid.
So after a long walk we finished the first 12 km., and got to Met Station. There, instead of walking the extra distance, we took a ride ($40) to the youth hostel, where we spent the night comfortably, happy, and breathing normally.
In the Austrian Hut there are many graffitis - mostly the names of people who's been there. One captured our eyes. It said "NO MORE MOUNTAINS".
And that's how I feel today - it was good. Wonderful experience, but "NO MORE MOUNTAINS"
So, the other four haven't returned yet, and I stay in Nairobi at least until they come, since they have my stove. After that I plan to go to Uganda, but first maybe Naivasha or Turkana. We shell see.
My love and good wishes is sent to you from this part of the world. May you all have peace and happiness.
-Moddy.
We went by night bus to Mombassa, and then to Diani beach, which is a nice white sandy beach south of Mombassa, very hot, and, since it's a bit off season, not much tourists. We got two hot bandas, one kitchen and a washroom, so we could cook for ourselves whatever the monkeys didn't grab ( they got a loaf of bread and a few bananas, and were a real menace ). We rested on the beach, and then my problems began. I had a very attractive woman in my room, and ( absurdly as it seems ) she didn't want me. Apparently she had a boyfriend, though he didn't call in a while and didn't answer her letter. ( Kim is a very talented writer ). Linda tried to help me a little by being a good listener and advisor ( Thanks, Linda! ).
The second day we went snorkeling. It was quite fun, though more dull than Sinai (or even Eilat). However, you had time to follow the fishes around. We all got burned, and Kim still didn't want me (imagine that!). In the evening we went shopping, where everything went wrong - we forgot some money in the bandas, and the ATM didn't work, and the supermarket closed early, and Kim still didn't get an answer from her man.
The third day we went to Wazini island, where there's a natural reserve, and was our original destination. We were supposed to get early and get there, but ... I can either blame the girls or destiny. Linda still needed money from the bank; Tom's sandals ( which were bought the day before ) got torn, and needed replace; I had to buy sunscreen; Kim phoned her man and sorted things out with him. The last bit made me unexpectedly very happy.
It wasn't just happiness. I was glowing with joy. I felt so good about myself and the world that I still can't believe it. I'm still happy. I feel enlightened, in the Buddhist notion. Linda tried to explain why ( she's a psychologist ), but I don't care much. I'm happy and that's it.
The rest of the day was fun. I was happy; Linda was happy since she had coffee; Kim was happy since she got her friend back; Tom was happy to go snorkeling. Again, It took us three hours, three matatus and one hitchhike to get to Wazini. We got there by 3pm, tired, thirsty and poor ( since Kim lost $50 ) - but happy. We decided to stay the night at Masood Abdullah's place, though we had no night equipment with us. We had excellent dinner, bad night ( so hot we couldn't sleep ),and fine snorkeling the next day. Got even more burned.
And that's about it. Now I'm back in Nairobi after the night bus from Mombassa Tired but still very happy.
One last thing - in Masood's restaurant I was so happy that I had fish. Don't ask me why. I'm not sure I'm vegetarian anymore.
Take good care of yourself.
Love, Moddy.
And I've seen them ! only three days ago - but let's start from the beginning.
After failing to find bicycles in Nairobi ( too expensive or too old ), we took the day bus to Kampala, Uganda. The road was fairly nice - we saw flamingos on the way, in lake Elementala The border crossing was much easier than we thought. Just paying, stamping, and that's all. One problem is that there's no money change point there, so you need to rely on black market. The best deal was on the bus - 1KSh to 23USh. It is a bit difficult to get good rates in Uganda - they screw you if you use T.C. and there's only one place you can get cash for credit card.
Uganda is beautiful and green. Kampala itself is quite nice, and moreover, safe. You can go there at night with no fear of robbery. The people are nice there, too. If someone talks to you on the street, it's because he wants to talk, not because he wants to get money of you.
We went to backpackers hostel, which is supposed to be the most popular in town, though romours said the manager is "an asshole". I didn't see him as such. He's an Aussie named John, and is OK. The place is also nice - a big garden and nice cooking spot and we met nice people there.
The next day we found a group of 9 truckers who came all the way from England, and managed to get a lift with them to lake Bonyonyi, and from there to Bwindi impenetrable national park. The road took two days, with beautiful scenery and the lake was amazing, and could've been great, but us and the English didn't get along so well. It quite depressed me, since it's been a while since I've last been with people who don't like me. Maybe since high school And it's a really unpleasant feeling.
So we finally got rid of them in Bwindi - they went to see gorillas on Monday, and we went on Tuesday. It costs $250 (gorilla permit ) + $15 (park entry fee ) + $20 ( transport to/from the closest village ).
The track itself was inside a rain forest - that is, you can't see the sky and everything's dark and you here animals but can't see them. Our group included me, Bill, two other Americans, a guide, two rangers, soldiers, and altogether 8 Ugandans. And after a long walk we got OUT of the park in the other end, and on a hill without much trees, we saw the gorillas.
There were babies, mothers, toddlers, young gorillas, and two silverbacks. Silverbacks are 15 year old or more, and their backs are silver-gray, and they're BIG. They can sit wherever they like. They tear down trees, and they're dangerous - the most important thing there is not to piss them off, and not come too close, and never be between them and their family.
What I loved best was the young ones climbing trees. I didn't know they can, and they actually can't, since they're too heavy, and a few times we saw them break a branch and fall.
And now we're back in Kampala, with no particular place to go. Murchison falls is an option, and so is Sesse Islands, and Fort Portal. After that I'll probably go back to Nairobi, and then Zanzibar.
Hope everything is fine for you.
Love, Moddy.
I went there with Stefan, a Dutch who'll probably come to the rainbow. Left Bill in Kampala, trying to reach lake Tanganyika for a bit of an adventure. We saw not-so-many chimps, and they were a bit far and didn't do much. Just eating. But still, they are very cute, and the babies - oh, baby! The way to find them is by listening - they make a lot of noise, especially when they hunt - that was my big surprise, to know they're omnivorous, and eat colobus monkeys. The colobuses are quite nice, too.
The whole Kibale Forest is a beauty - green with birds and butterflies. The guide ( Aston ) knows all the birds by the sound, and whistle their calls very accurately. We had a morning track, and for $10 more, we had an evening track, in which we waited for an hour to hear something, and when we heard, we began to run after them, but they were faster so we didn't catch them. A bit of a waste. Our evening guide was Bibi, who's also a scrabble cheater - he uses words like 'repile' and 'regraft', and they're not in the dictionary.
After that I came back to Kampala. The road was tough - crowded in a matatu with too many people, and the driver tried to stick too many things to the cargo place, and close the door. The result was that he broke my toothbrush.
Anyway, I'm back in Kampala. I met Roy ( Canada ) and Jaenine ( Holland - Hamersfoort! ), and I plan the rest of my journey. So - Tomorrow I take the night bus to Nairobi. Stay there for a few days, and then to Tanzania. I want to go tracking in the area of the Lushoto, which I don't remember the name right now, but it's suppose to be a great place - so said John, who is an American and travels here for almost a year, and knows everything - he even gave me some details of a guy in Durban who operates a boat to Madagascar !!! So I might go there if I can find him ( his name is Mad Brad, and he runs a backpackers in Gingindlovu, I hope ).
Anyway, whoever wants to join me, just say ME, and I'll meet you somewhere.
Love, Moddy.
I arranged with Roy that we go together to Nairobi and therefore I bought a ticket to the same bus he took - the Thursday night bus. The rest of the day was attempt to get Jaenine's visa card, which she lost in Malawi and was supposed to be sent to DHL in Kampala, but it wasn't there. It turns out that the Kampala branch of Barclays Bank lost it. Good news. So, I left Jaenine there, and met Briton. Briton is the most unlucky guy you'd ever meet. He lost his passport and many other things in Malawi. Got stuck in Lusaka for 4 months. Got ripped off or robbed numerous times. He got his glasses stolen from him off his face! And he also shared the bus with us. Well, almost, since when I got to the bus, it turned out there were two night buses to Nairobi, and I was on the other one. Fine.
So we got to Nairobi early in the morning, and went to Upperhill, but Briton said he stays in town to do some things and will join us in the afternoon. We never heard from him again.
Now, the reason I came to Nairobi on Friday was the Passover dinner, which I guessed will take place there, since so many Israelis will meet, and so it was. There were 13 of us for the Seder with Benny and Michal, and thanks to Yehudit from the embassy, and Oren who arranged the whole thing. It was a great evening. Good food and actually the first time I spent time with Israeli people. It seems that I quite missed the Hebrew and Israeli jokes ( e.g. Gashashit).
After that, I meant to go directly to Tanzania, but I also wanted to wait for Budgie and Ela, and also my clothes didn't dry, so accepted John's suggestion, and went for a few days to Naivasha with a couple of Dutch girls - Myrthe and Helen. Both charming and medical students. They came to Kenya to do research on Malaria and had a few days until they start. So off to Naivasha and fisherman camp. Our tour there was guided by advice from Maria, another Dutch med student, who's been there a few days earlier. She said we get a banda (hut) with char coal stove and pots and pans and have a great time, so we don't need anything with us. However, the camp was mostly occupied by British army, so no banda. No stove. No clean beds but wet mattress. We couldn't cook and slept badly, and it cost us just as much as a banda! Too bad.
The day after we woke up tired, and took bikes to hell's gate national park. Beautiful. It was great to bike next to the animals, and not inside a vehicle. We so Twigas ( giraffe) and zebras and warthogs and impalas and thomies. Hell's gate is very small, has a valley with steep cliffs, a gorge, and geothermal area which is occupied by power project and looks awful. Very recommended. When we came back we were stunned to see that they didn't find a banda for us, so we left.
Hitchhiked to Naivasha with a Kenya-born white guy who lives in Zambia, which was much better than a matatu ride. The ride from Naivasha to Nairobi was bad as usual, with fast driver and we saw a wreck of another matatu near the road. Scary.
So here I'm in Nairobi. I met Budgie and Ela from the rainbow, and we plan the next step. Time passes happily. Salama Sana.
Love, Moddy.
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