three weeks are now behind me and I am saddened to leave Uganda and Nandish behind. The thought of getting back to Finland, comes into mind by force when sitting in the plane and listening to same flamish instructions as so little time ago, when leaving Brussels. Three weeks may be a short time, but I had time to experience lot. Not enough time to write about everything off course… it is difficult to summarize it all. I definitely learned a lot about Indians, somewhat less about other Ugandans. There are plenty of places I would have wanted to see, but in the given time, I could not. I guess there will be plenty to see for the next time too. I would really like to come back to Uganda and stay for longer, maybe even for a year or more. Then again life was particularly easy as I was on holiday and hosted fantastically by Nandish, next time things might not be so easy. I reckon that Africa left an impression on me, but it is difficult to describe. Some of the effect, I believe, comes from being a muzungu, which sets you apart from the masses. In the villages, on the streets, in the clubs, I was something different from the majority. In Finland, I do not stand out, in Africa I did.
This blog will be in ice until I leave to Venice, where hopefully I will have time and something to write about. However, I will be editing my earlier entries to get place names etc things right and I will be adding the photos, which were just too time consuming to upload with N. internet connection and electricity shortage.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
family drama
while staying at my hosts place during these weeks the atmosphere has been tense. First, I thought that the silence between family member’s was only a cultural difference, but I soon learned that there were unsolved issues between my friend and his parents.
IMHO Indian stance on the parents limiting the choice of partner of their child is not sustainable. I do understand that the (future) welfare of the parents for Indians is at least somewhat dependent on the choice that their children make, and hence they have the interest and even the right to be involved. The ethical problem boils down to the just extent of that involvement. Do children owe their parents so much that maybe the biggest choice of their lives should be done by the parents instead of the person who marries & gets children of his own? IMHO, not. From the biological perspective, love (& further reproduction) is not concern of the parents, but of the children and after the offspring is old enough to survive on its own, the “mission” of the parents is accomplished. no further meddling is required. In the light of western ethics, all people are equal and discrimination against non-indian partners is not an easily defendable position. Indeed, according to my understanding the caste system is crumbling, followed by ever increasing amount of mixed-race marriages. I believe that parents can advise their children on the choice of partner, but the advice should not become an ultimatum or be based on discrimination against skin colour. That said, I do also believe in certain benefits from fixed marriages. For instance, more people are involved in the search for a suitable partner and family connections can be used in bringing people together who otherwise would not have even met or found the courage approach each other. Arranged marriage could also put end to waiting (too long) for the dream prince/princess who might not be attainable in real life and hence allow couples to share life while still young. Summa summarum, the extent of parent’s intervention in traditional Indian culture is too large, but not completely without merits.
As the outcome of this clash of cultures I am stranded here and writing a blog entry. Then again I guess nothing would really prevent me from taking the initiative and bodaboda to town own my own to search for what others fight over.
Mount Elgon - Day 4
Fourth day was quite easy and mostly downhill. It was a pity to leave the excellent camping site behind, but we packed our tents again around 6 and left. This time the Danes left half hour earlier, but we caught them up half way and supplied them with some painkillers. On the way we met some local people who were gathering honey, dry bamboo for construction and bamboo shoots for food. We actually got fresh honey with the combs to eat on the way. The forest education centre at the end of the trail was bit of let down. There was nobody around and the girls like everybody else must have been disappointed as they were counting on getting a taxi from the centre. Instead, we needed to walk further down to Sipi, which I think was actually good decision as there was lot to see on the way, like the Sipi falls. Tom took us to some restaurant, which I guess had some connections with UWA, as it was advertised many times by the guides. I had a beer there and was happy to find that the Danes had not been very far behind us and arrived only slightly after we did. It was time to say goodbye to the porters and guides, as well as to Ben & Carrey who stayed behind to eat at the restaurant. Tom told us to pay the porters some extra, which I guess, I could have reported to the UWA, as they are not supposed to need any bonuses.
While waiting at the matatu I talked with a local youth about cultural differences and Ugandan economy. This time the ride was not as eventful, one Indian girl throw up from the window of the matatu, and that was all before Mbale where we took another matatu to Kampala (with a very reasonable price tag of about €4). On the way, it turned out that one of the Danes suffers from similar panic attacks in fast cars as my mother. In Uganda, and especially in that matatu, I can understand it, as the roads were bad and some situations were really horrible with three cars side-by-side. The locals are used to it I guess, but I was trying to avoid watching the road myself and conversing with the other Danes instead.
While waiting at the matatu I talked with a local youth about cultural differences and Ugandan economy. This time the ride was not as eventful, one Indian girl throw up from the window of the matatu, and that was all before Mbale where we took another matatu to Kampala (with a very reasonable price tag of about €4). On the way, it turned out that one of the Danes suffers from similar panic attacks in fast cars as my mother. In Uganda, and especially in that matatu, I can understand it, as the roads were bad and some situations were really horrible with three cars side-by-side. The locals are used to it I guess, but I was trying to avoid watching the road myself and conversing with the other Danes instead.
Mount Elgon - Day 3
Third day started early, at 5.15 when the sun was not yet up. My bowels were growling during the night, so I took some medicine, which turned out to be a good decision. Unfortunately, I put the medicine in my backpack and could not find to take it with me for the walk… this would have consequences later on… also at 6 when we left it was quite cold and I did not realise that I would be needing my sun cream. The sun was up on the mountains for most of the day and hence I burned my ears without noticing until too late as the fresh wind kept my head cool. Can’t really complain though, the weather was gorgeous and rain would have slowed as down and made the day’s walk quite miserably. Despite the The scenery on the way was great, although after 3 hours of walk, I started to feel medicine wear of and wanted to hurry to the next campsite were I could go to loo and turn my back upside down for more medicine. Definitely food related… Around midday we reached a small campsite, I run for the toilet (which had a hefty bee population in it), had packed lunch and changed yet another pair of dry socks on. The terrain although from time to time difficult and wet was not as demanding as the way for the peak had been and we were able to keep a good pace all day. In the end, we arrived at 15, three hours earlier than the danes who left at the same time. The campsite was just awesome. The tents were erected in a large cave, which was topped by small stream that formed a waterfall just at the end of the cave. We all had shower in the waterfall, which was besides refreshingly cold, also more hard hitting than expected, more like a power shower. It really felt good to wash away the dirt from the previous days and I was feeling great. The back of the cave was full of bats, which even during the day kept constant noise of wing clapping and chittering. Unlike, in some nature documentary I’ve seen they did not fly out as single big group when the sun went down, as we would have expected, instead they more like tricklet out of the cave little by little. Also what you don’t experience in nature documentaries is the stench… bats really smell bad (but you get used to it). For the remaining time, we watched the bats and talked about this and that. The Danes would be going back to Kampala on the final day, so I decided I would do that too.
Mount Elgon - Day 2
On the second day we headed for the Wagagai summit. I was not confident that I could make it as I was feeling quite week, but after porridge and some coffee, I decided to try anyway. It would be 4 hours of climbing and 2 hours of descending back to the mude cave camp, so I could always just turn back early if my strength would fail me. Indeed, I found it difficult to keep with the pace of Tom & others and was trailing behind for the first half of the distance. The path itself was not particularly tricky to climb, but my pulse rose rapidly and I was out of breath quickly. Maybe in the end it was the porridge which kept me going, as for the remaining half I was feeling better and kept the pace that Tom set just as well as Ben and Carrey. The view from the top was great and I was extremely happy that I made all 4453 meters of it despite the circumstances!
We descended back to the mude cave back almost four times as fast as we had ascended and met the Danes on our way back. They had left about 20 minutes later than us, but still had more than hour to go for the peak, so I guess that in the end my pace was not so slow after all. We spent the rest of the day gathering strength for the next etape, but my appetite was still gone and I failed to eat most of my tuna pasta, matoke (cooked bananas) or the rice & lentils I got from Ben & Carrey. The Danes had their problems too, as all them had gained blisters from the first day, and the second day summiting naturally worsened the state of the sorry feet. Everybody seemed bit worried about the following day, as we would have to walk 37 km and even as long as 12 hours.
We descended back to the mude cave back almost four times as fast as we had ascended and met the Danes on our way back. They had left about 20 minutes later than us, but still had more than hour to go for the peak, so I guess that in the end my pace was not so slow after all. We spent the rest of the day gathering strength for the next etape, but my appetite was still gone and I failed to eat most of my tuna pasta, matoke (cooked bananas) or the rice & lentils I got from Ben & Carrey. The Danes had their problems too, as all them had gained blisters from the first day, and the second day summiting naturally worsened the state of the sorry feet. Everybody seemed bit worried about the following day, as we would have to walk 37 km and even as long as 12 hours.
Mount Elgon - Day 1
The first day started with the early morning breakfast and even earlier inventory of the stuff I’d actually taken with me. I could not fit all in my bag, which made me worry about the weight too, but in the end I did not carry the stuff myself. The porter, i.e. guy who carries stuff, which I thought would only take care of the tent and maybe the sleeping bag actually took all my stuff and I was left with camera and bottle of energy drink & water. Climbing the mountain became suddenly a considerably less challenging task… the day was hot though and there was plenty of kilometres to cover and altitude to gain. Ben was having serious trouble getting up the steeper spots and breathing like a steam engine, while Carrey surprised me by being so fit (it turned out to be due to regular field work and trekking hobby) . The porters were really fit too and almost kept our pace while climbing. Our guide, Tom, seemed to have no trouble climbing either despite his backbag and AK-47.
Most of the morning was spent climbing the farmed slopes of the mountain and we were accompanied by almost a constant song of “howareyou?” from the local kids, even much more common than muzungu (white), which I have now gotten used to. (should probably find that t-shirt, with “you can call me muzungu” on it). Fortunately we reached the canopy before I burned and continued upward, while spotting the blue monkey, kolubus monkey and the baboons.
Around midday we reached the Sasha river camp and had luch, which was the turning point of the day for me. I had taken some stream water from Tom and used the purification tablets given by Carrey, so I was confident that the water was OK, my soup was not out-of-date and I boiled the water, but still somehow I got sick. and badly sick indeed. We left for the mude cave camp site just after finishing lunch and after a while I could feel the salty chicken minestrone soup getting up faster than I was walking up. Getting rid of the soup left me dizzy and weak, but by sheer determination I made it to the camp site, where rest of my guts were turned inside out.
Sitting in a smoky hut with the guides & porters did not help, but fortunately the they were kind enough to set up my tent for me, while I was shaking and feeling like I am going to die. Well, I survived to tell the story, but I will not forget the constant thirst and at same time being unable to keep liquids in my stomach. Do I dare to take one sip of the water or does it lead to vomiting the previous two sips I took half hour ago? That’s the problem I was facing most of the evening. Guides thought it might have been altitude sickness, but me, Ben and Carrey came to a conclusion that it was probably food poisoning instead. Nevertheless, I got sugar & salt solution and sympathy from Carrey to my muscle cramps, which were added pain to the other symptoms.
There were some British gap year students at the campsite too, who had left day earlier than we, but I was in no condition to socialise with them or with the Danes who arrived few hours later than we did. Instead, I stayed in the cold and wet tent, listened rain and thought about drinking. Finally, the shaking stopped and I was able to sleep and around 5 in the morning I did not feel like throwing up again. So it was not bilhartzia either… What a relief!
Most of the morning was spent climbing the farmed slopes of the mountain and we were accompanied by almost a constant song of “howareyou?” from the local kids, even much more common than muzungu (white), which I have now gotten used to. (should probably find that t-shirt, with “you can call me muzungu” on it). Fortunately we reached the canopy before I burned and continued upward, while spotting the blue monkey, kolubus monkey and the baboons.
Around midday we reached the Sasha river camp and had luch, which was the turning point of the day for me. I had taken some stream water from Tom and used the purification tablets given by Carrey, so I was confident that the water was OK, my soup was not out-of-date and I boiled the water, but still somehow I got sick. and badly sick indeed. We left for the mude cave camp site just after finishing lunch and after a while I could feel the salty chicken minestrone soup getting up faster than I was walking up. Getting rid of the soup left me dizzy and weak, but by sheer determination I made it to the camp site, where rest of my guts were turned inside out.
Sitting in a smoky hut with the guides & porters did not help, but fortunately the they were kind enough to set up my tent for me, while I was shaking and feeling like I am going to die. Well, I survived to tell the story, but I will not forget the constant thirst and at same time being unable to keep liquids in my stomach. Do I dare to take one sip of the water or does it lead to vomiting the previous two sips I took half hour ago? That’s the problem I was facing most of the evening. Guides thought it might have been altitude sickness, but me, Ben and Carrey came to a conclusion that it was probably food poisoning instead. Nevertheless, I got sugar & salt solution and sympathy from Carrey to my muscle cramps, which were added pain to the other symptoms.
There were some British gap year students at the campsite too, who had left day earlier than we, but I was in no condition to socialise with them or with the Danes who arrived few hours later than we did. Instead, I stayed in the cold and wet tent, listened rain and thought about drinking. Finally, the shaking stopped and I was able to sleep and around 5 in the morning I did not feel like throwing up again. So it was not bilhartzia either… What a relief!
Mount Elgon -Preparations
Four days full of experiences behind me. It’s a pity that I did not have a pen and paper to record the adventure on situ. Besides pen and paper I forgot to take many other things with me, like toilet paper or a mattress (just to mention few). That happens when you have to pack in a hurry and three people are waiting for you to get ready. Well, despite being the worst prepared trekking trip I ever heard of, I’ve made it to the peak of the 8th highest mountain in Africa. I have to thank few people for that. First of all Nandish, who made it possible in the first place, took me to Mbale and even came back to bring the tent I forgot in the car. Also I am very glad of company and help of Ben and Carrey (Scottish couple working in Oxford) whom I met in the Uganda Wildlife Authority office and who formed our little expedition with our guide Tom. Without you I would not have made it to the Wagagai, which is the highest of the caldera peaks of Mount Elgon. Naturally, thanks for Tom for showing the way & animals on it and for helping out with the tent.
So after lots of hustle with the food and packing we jumped to matatu (the minivan come taxi) and while sitting there with 10 other people, crowded as usual, I realize that I forgot to take the tent. Fortunately, we had not left the “station” yet and I jumped out the car before it took off, or tried to take off, as the engine did not start without people pushing the car and while that operation was underway N. came back to bring me the tent. So I made it to the same matatu with Ben and Carrie and we were on our way to Budadiri, where the Sassha trekking trail starts… and hell of a ride it was, roads were bad, engine was weak, fuel was supplied to it by a canister inside the passenger space, the fuel run out, we had a puncture and everytime the engine was stopped we had to push the car to get it going! but it was fun and we made it to the Rose’s Last Resort, where beer tasted really good after the petroleum fumes and pushing. The service was really good, but came with a miscalculated price tag in the end, which I did not bother to complain at the time. The place itself is nothing fancy, but the atmosphere was great with expectation of a great trekking trip and late arrival of three danes (Nina, Lisa, Sina). The girls were having a break from voluntary work in an orphanage in Kampala and were going to take the same four-day route.
When shopping for some vegetable and fruit, me, Ben and Carrey were cursed by some local shamanistic lunatic, who followed us after being chased away by rock and stick holding shop owner. Maybe the curse worked only on me, as I definitely had my share of misfortunes on the trip…
So after lots of hustle with the food and packing we jumped to matatu (the minivan come taxi) and while sitting there with 10 other people, crowded as usual, I realize that I forgot to take the tent. Fortunately, we had not left the “station” yet and I jumped out the car before it took off, or tried to take off, as the engine did not start without people pushing the car and while that operation was underway N. came back to bring me the tent. So I made it to the same matatu with Ben and Carrie and we were on our way to Budadiri, where the Sassha trekking trail starts… and hell of a ride it was, roads were bad, engine was weak, fuel was supplied to it by a canister inside the passenger space, the fuel run out, we had a puncture and everytime the engine was stopped we had to push the car to get it going! but it was fun and we made it to the Rose’s Last Resort, where beer tasted really good after the petroleum fumes and pushing. The service was really good, but came with a miscalculated price tag in the end, which I did not bother to complain at the time. The place itself is nothing fancy, but the atmosphere was great with expectation of a great trekking trip and late arrival of three danes (Nina, Lisa, Sina). The girls were having a break from voluntary work in an orphanage in Kampala and were going to take the same four-day route.
When shopping for some vegetable and fruit, me, Ben and Carrey were cursed by some local shamanistic lunatic, who followed us after being chased away by rock and stick holding shop owner. Maybe the curse worked only on me, as I definitely had my share of misfortunes on the trip…
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Safari 7
Kenya, land of safari. on our way to Busia, the Uganda-Kenya border. I’ve seen quite a bit of Kenya, although the most popular destinations for Finns probably lie eastward of the regions I’ve seen. Maybe my next time to Africa will take me to Nairobi and Mombasa, so I’ll see the rest. So what did I gather from Kenya. It’s Africa so it’s different from Finland. People or the places do not look the same or act the same. The landscapes were beautiful, probably the best part of the trip, then there were the animals, which were nice, but not as breath-taking as I would have expected. Inevitably there was too little time, and probably too little information on the animals. the guide we had did not seem to know much about the animals and I would have appreciated the ecological information and that would have increased by appreciation of seeing the animals
Safari 6
off from masai mara. all my attempts to persuade Nandish to take us trough the reserve on our way back to Uganda failed and after early morning ride with the guide around the park, we set off to narok and I ended up only seeing less than half of the reserve. FYI, if you want to see all of the masai mara reserve, you need to stay in two distinct park jurisdictions, which means separate tickets for the north & south halves of the park. also staying in a single lodge will limit the area you can see to that what you can cover in about 1.5 hours (in case you do not want to have packet lunch in hot car). I would have definitely wanted to have more time observing the animals in the park. Somehow, the lone cheetah observing the savannah from top of a rock left me longing for solitary work with the animals. Finnish steppenwolf.
on our way to narok I was really tired from the early morning and the landscape dotted with zebras and masai cattle succumbed me into a semi-unconscious state despite N. driving like rally driver along the dirt roads. on the tarmac we gained speed and after several police road blocks reached the city of Kisumu. We would have needed to reach the border in 2 hours and had not clue on the condition of the road, so we decided to stay in Kisumu. Unfortunately, the lonely planet Kenya 2003 edition was quite out of date for the city and there was nothing really to see or do in the town and the prices for accommodation were also up. As N. was tired after driving all day I ventured to the non-existing Thursday nightlife of the town own my own. Besides these problems, lack of streetlight coverage, street kids, huge pits on the streets and general lack of English speaking people and attitude towards white (mzungu, mzungu!!!) gnawed my determination of finding a lively club. Once I remembered that I would need to take the anti-malaria medication I went back to hotel and did not find the courage in me to exit the hotel again. this bothers me as thinking always about risks does not lead to very exciting life in general.
on our way to narok I was really tired from the early morning and the landscape dotted with zebras and masai cattle succumbed me into a semi-unconscious state despite N. driving like rally driver along the dirt roads. on the tarmac we gained speed and after several police road blocks reached the city of Kisumu. We would have needed to reach the border in 2 hours and had not clue on the condition of the road, so we decided to stay in Kisumu. Unfortunately, the lonely planet Kenya 2003 edition was quite out of date for the city and there was nothing really to see or do in the town and the prices for accommodation were also up. As N. was tired after driving all day I ventured to the non-existing Thursday nightlife of the town own my own. Besides these problems, lack of streetlight coverage, street kids, huge pits on the streets and general lack of English speaking people and attitude towards white (mzungu, mzungu!!!) gnawed my determination of finding a lively club. Once I remembered that I would need to take the anti-malaria medication I went back to hotel and did not find the courage in me to exit the hotel again. this bothers me as thinking always about risks does not lead to very exciting life in general.
Safari 5
things can go wrong and still be fun. got up at 6 to go for the early morning safari ride. first it turns out that the guide we had earlier did not appear to take as anywhere(as I expected as N. did confirm his arrival) then the plan b of following other safari tour vehichles back-fires as N. takes the long call just as other leave, and I spot that we have a puncture. wish that could have spotted that already yesterday, but did not despite of walking past the car. changing the tyre takes ages, first there is difficulties with one of the bolts of the wheel, and the jack refuses to cooperate and we need to find somebody to help us. turns out that we just had wrong spot with the jack, but by the time the tire is changed, the best period for checking out the savanna has passed and we go for a breakfast instead. after breakfast we head for the sekenani village/gate for the repair of the tire as N. is not willing to have safari without the spare. in the sekenani village we get the tyre fixed, while the masai pester me with requests of trinket sales and donations from 1000 shillings to a pen. once the tyre is fixed we head for another of the lodges for diesel and finally after lunch head for the safari of our. this turns out to be fantastic idea, as we first encounter elephants, which scare N to flee, until I manage convince him that the elephants are not serious threat to his baby, toyota prado. this very close encounter leaves me in good mood and the herd of buffaloes we encountered lifts my spririts further. this time the buffalos are not just idling, but also running about and great sight to watch. We head for the Takenani gates, but on the way encounter few girafs and take a detour for them, which ultimately leaves as stranded in a middle of a muddy ditch. The 2 ton 4wheel drive car is stuck in mud in the middle of a national park, where getting out of the car is forbidded and we are do not know exactly where we are located. We are close to bush, so leopard could jump on us anytime. then what do you do??? well I have a go and try to push as out, but the right front wheel just digs in deeper…we are somewhat of the main road and during the middle of the day, many cars do not pass by. N. tries to wave to us by standing on the hood, but no avail. We manage to get a call through to the N’s cousin and ask for the park service to get as out. Another car passes by and I decide stand on the top of the car and wave at the white rag given by N. and finally we are noticed, about 10 kenian guys come to out help and with lot pushing, pulling and twigs we are able to get the car out of the mud. Victory!!!!!!!
the afternoon safari is not as nice as we only see the same elephants and buffaloes we saw earlier and a single bachelor lion. However, back at the lodge crocodiles are feeding on fish and the scraps tempt several cats to close distance from the crock. Eventually, the inevitable happens and one the cats is eaten by one of the crocodiles. You would not see that in Finland!
the afternoon safari is not as nice as we only see the same elephants and buffaloes we saw earlier and a single bachelor lion. However, back at the lodge crocodiles are feeding on fish and the scraps tempt several cats to close distance from the crock. Eventually, the inevitable happens and one the cats is eaten by one of the crocodiles. You would not see that in Finland!
Safari 4
Hello Africa! We skipped the morning safari today as Nandish was too tired after yesterday’s driving to be bothered to wake up at 6. While Nandish is sleeping I am writing, as my sleep was interrupted by a porter telling that our guide would be waiting. We should have told him not to come today, as now he is probably very pissed off, I know I would be getting out of bed at 5 for nothing. do Indians believe in bad karma? I can only wonder how “hotel death” can be avoided here, as there is practically nothing to do after breakfast and even the few people who inhabit this hotel will be most likely recovering in their rooms from the morning safaris. maybe planning the trekking trip to the mountains in Uganda will keep me busy.
few hours later and after breakfast N. is sleeping again and I have read more than enough of Mount Elgon (mount shaped like a breast in masai). However, without more up-to-date information on equipment and the tracks it is difficult to plan much more in advance. Anyway, after so many days of planning and travelling for the Mara, I am actually just sitting in my hotel room with nothing to see or do, but to write my travel log. Planning in advance does not always pay off, because just like today it is impossible to predicts everything, like Nandish’s headache. If Mr. N does not get well I will need to arrange a safari ride myself. This brings me to another topic of the safari, which has been nagging me for couple of days. I am somewhat regretting taking the easy way out with the planning as I lost possibilities to affect the places that I see and learned only here that I would not see the whole park (if lonely planet is right, I will actually miss the best bits). In the end it would probably have paid of to call the campsites in the park myself and persuade N. to drive through the park, instead of staying in the left most corner of it for three nights. Well, these kinds of thoughts come to mind when there is nothing to do on an expensive trip…but I am better off to do something about it than staying here and whining…
jambo, jambo, jambo… staff, birds, river, hippoes… time passes on very slowly. Nandish has been in bed for most of the day, and I am starting to get slightly worried. I am also bored and while I am able to picture myself missing even this very moment, I also wish that life would be much more exciting. instead I am stranded in a hotel, which is nearly empty and currently there is no escape. once the rain stopped the day turned out sunny and hot and even the brown river with hippoes and crocodiles seems tempting. I cannot say for sure why I am so restless, it might be because there would be so much to see in Africa and I have so little time, or it might be that I would just need a girl to keep me company…in any case I do envy the marabou who just took of the tree nearby probably to circle the skies of masai mara in search for fresh carcass...
sunset & led zeppelin improve my mood considerably. one day has passed and while it was not the one of the best I had, it was not among the worse either. I could imagine writing a book in these surroundings instead of the travel log. Then again I would need to gather my thoughts into something more than just whining… Stairway to heaven approaches its finale and I guess it is time to go and wake up Mr. N.
few hours later and after breakfast N. is sleeping again and I have read more than enough of Mount Elgon (mount shaped like a breast in masai). However, without more up-to-date information on equipment and the tracks it is difficult to plan much more in advance. Anyway, after so many days of planning and travelling for the Mara, I am actually just sitting in my hotel room with nothing to see or do, but to write my travel log. Planning in advance does not always pay off, because just like today it is impossible to predicts everything, like Nandish’s headache. If Mr. N does not get well I will need to arrange a safari ride myself. This brings me to another topic of the safari, which has been nagging me for couple of days. I am somewhat regretting taking the easy way out with the planning as I lost possibilities to affect the places that I see and learned only here that I would not see the whole park (if lonely planet is right, I will actually miss the best bits). In the end it would probably have paid of to call the campsites in the park myself and persuade N. to drive through the park, instead of staying in the left most corner of it for three nights. Well, these kinds of thoughts come to mind when there is nothing to do on an expensive trip…but I am better off to do something about it than staying here and whining…
jambo, jambo, jambo… staff, birds, river, hippoes… time passes on very slowly. Nandish has been in bed for most of the day, and I am starting to get slightly worried. I am also bored and while I am able to picture myself missing even this very moment, I also wish that life would be much more exciting. instead I am stranded in a hotel, which is nearly empty and currently there is no escape. once the rain stopped the day turned out sunny and hot and even the brown river with hippoes and crocodiles seems tempting. I cannot say for sure why I am so restless, it might be because there would be so much to see in Africa and I have so little time, or it might be that I would just need a girl to keep me company…in any case I do envy the marabou who just took of the tree nearby probably to circle the skies of masai mara in search for fresh carcass...
sunset & led zeppelin improve my mood considerably. one day has passed and while it was not the one of the best I had, it was not among the worse either. I could imagine writing a book in these surroundings instead of the travel log. Then again I would need to gather my thoughts into something more than just whining… Stairway to heaven approaches its finale and I guess it is time to go and wake up Mr. N.
Safari 3
Kate Winslet, Titanic. Janne Helin, Toyota Prado. standing on the seat and holding on to the racks on top of the car to avoid collision with the hatch. the scenes in Mara are awesome and although the day started with little sleep, no breakfast and a grumpy driver, it turned out to be worth the effort and money to get here. during the day I was not yet quite so sure about it. the swimming pool of the otherwise posh hotel, Mara Simba, was closed and the early morning magic of masai region had dissolved into midday boredom. on our way there were many masai with cattle, but we saw also wildebeest, zebras, antelopes and a jackal being chased by Sheppard dogs.
At the hotel hippoes cheered me up a bit while we were drinking some tea and having late breakfast thanks to the flexible staff. However, our attempt at getting fuel and seeing some animals at same trip turned sour, as we took a road leading away from the park. Instead we saw some of the masai and turned back to hotel shortly after. At 15.00 (after a good lunch) we set off to the reserve, and this time, with the help of the hired guide we, saw plenty of animals like the local elephants (quite small species), antelopes, buffalos and lions. There were 4-5 orphaned lion cubs, whose mother might have been killed by a buffalo or by a riffle, depending on which explanation one finds more likely. We were also lucky to see a leopard, which is something that everybody visiting the reserve might not see. Due to the leopard, there were loads of other tourists on the same path in the white safari taxies. The white line of cars was quite funny sigh in its own right and quite different of what you would expect on the basis of our own, nearly empty hotel. clearly the “greatest game on earth” is not happening in Marai Simba. Now I will go to bed and hopefully have happy dreams by listening to the sound of Mara river rushing by and frogs and birds chirping.
At the hotel hippoes cheered me up a bit while we were drinking some tea and having late breakfast thanks to the flexible staff. However, our attempt at getting fuel and seeing some animals at same trip turned sour, as we took a road leading away from the park. Instead we saw some of the masai and turned back to hotel shortly after. At 15.00 (after a good lunch) we set off to the reserve, and this time, with the help of the hired guide we, saw plenty of animals like the local elephants (quite small species), antelopes, buffalos and lions. There were 4-5 orphaned lion cubs, whose mother might have been killed by a buffalo or by a riffle, depending on which explanation one finds more likely. We were also lucky to see a leopard, which is something that everybody visiting the reserve might not see. Due to the leopard, there were loads of other tourists on the same path in the white safari taxies. The white line of cars was quite funny sigh in its own right and quite different of what you would expect on the basis of our own, nearly empty hotel. clearly the “greatest game on earth” is not happening in Marai Simba. Now I will go to bed and hopefully have happy dreams by listening to the sound of Mara river rushing by and frogs and birds chirping.
Safari 2
rhinos, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, zebras, baboons, lion and we nearly hit cow. most of the day has been spent in a car looking at the scenenary, animals and people. For anyone visiting Kenya I can recommend the baboon cliff camp site in the Lake Nakuru national park. The park itself was not very big, but the lake and surrounding cliffs provided nice surroundings for my first safari experience. I wish we had spent more time around the lake Nakuru, but then again as we already on our way to Masai Mara, I cannot be disappointed. Hopefully we’ll do also end up somewhere where we can stay the night as the schedule is bit tight and Nandish speeding 140 km/h on the not so good African roads… just passing a cattle truck with “in god we trust” written to the back kind of emphasises the point. however, we are not likely to reach our destination in time and maybe I finish writing this entry in the car instead of a posh lodge where we are heading (without knowing if they have rooms, as we are one day early).
never made it to the posh place, after several attempts of getting to the right road, and then turning back because Nandish thought NO WAY MAN, we ended up in Narok. The hotel, Shield & Spear, was pretty crap with no toilet seats, toilet paper nor breakfast. Maybe it was worth the $10 as the rains during the night were quite heavy and sleeping over the night in the car would have been quite impossible.
never made it to the posh place, after several attempts of getting to the right road, and then turning back because Nandish thought NO WAY MAN, we ended up in Narok. The hotel, Shield & Spear, was pretty crap with no toilet seats, toilet paper nor breakfast. Maybe it was worth the $10 as the rains during the night were quite heavy and sleeping over the night in the car would have been quite impossible.
Safari 1
fucking ants (or whatever insects). at least the insects are having good time in my room…they do not seem to mind that we are in a hindu temple, but then again I guess Kamasutra suited the religion too. Nandish claims that we drove at least 700 kilometers today and he just might be right. we woke up at 6 and finally arrived the destination, Nakuru, at around 18.30. African roads are not quite up to the Finnish standards, but nevertheless we survived a speeding truck, which overtook another car and forced us half-way off the road. The border formalities of Uganda-Kenya border were much worse than for example the Russian-Finnish border and a pesky Kenyan guy was asking money all the time for “help in getting on with the border” On the Kenyan side of the border the scenery along the road was great and the traffic control was entirely on a different level when compared to Uganda, or to Finland, for that matter. We passed 6 police patrols with nail carpets on our way. We also met Nandish’s cousins, family, who runs few textile mills and are diversifying into tourism and real estate. The new resort was situated along river ??? and although it was not finished yet, it seemed as a very nice place to stay on the way to safari destinations. These Indians seem to have keen instincts for running business. I am writing this in a guest house of a hindi temple, so to conclude the day, I think I have once more had new perspectives on the Indian culture.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
