most chilled few days of my life!

I have spent the last 4 nights at Kendwa Beach which is right up in the north of the island. The beach is idylic- white sand, palm trees and the clearest water i have ever swam in (although it was quite cold). I met some lovely people, a mix of nationalities- danish, norwegian, german, american. At first it took some time to relax and accept that i could do nothing but relax- i'm not very good at doing nothing! but i soon occupied my day with sun-bathing, reading, swimming, sleeping etc!

We also went on a snorkelling day trip to Nmemba Island and saw many fish and sea creatures, there was some beautiful coral but nothing very exciting though I really got the hang of diving down and it was fabulous day.

I was only meant to be staying two nights at Kendwa, but i decided to prolong my stay until today because last night there was a famous "Kendwa Rocks Full Moon Party". It didnt live up to Thailand standards but it was a great party nevertheless. There were probably 600 locals and tourists dancing till 5am in the bright moonlight.

So now I'm back in stone town and getting an overnight ferry to Dar tonight. I've decided I probably dont have time to go to Malawi and Zambia and do it properly so I think my next plans may take me back to Kenya although I'm not quite sure what exactly. So watch this space....

Stone Town and Spice Tour

It was so easy to spend a couple of days wandering around the winding dusty alleyways of stone town. Purposefully getting lost and soaking in all the laid back atmosphere of this ancient kingdom Persia. Contradictory to my expectations the town does not seem to be spoilt by the large tourist industry here. There are many tourists but still the people are friendly and its possible to get away from the crowds. Every person greets you with "jambo" (hello) and also "mambo" for which the reply is "poa" or "safi" (meaning how's it going? cool or fresh!!) and thats the atmosphere- relaxed and chilled.

I went on a day trip to the centre of the island to sample some of the spices and fruits. Again it was with 20 other tourists but it didnt seem to matter. We had an exceptionally good guide who told all about the harvesting, myths of use (eg. tumeric and ginger cures bronchitis!), and we were able to smell and eat them all.

YouTube details of Ewan MacGregor video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxgGUNY3fhI
As mentioned in the post about our meeting with Ewan on the Rwanda border crossing you can hear the video by accessing the above. It was taken by an American guy, Keith, one of our fellow 'truckers' on the Dragoman part of our journey, as Ewan talked to Claire and others about his travels.

Flight to Zanzibar

I unexpectedly had to take a flight to Zanzibar this afternoon. My 10 hour bus journey from Arusha was delayed and I only just missed the last ferry to the island. For just $20 over the ferry price I managed to get the remaining seat on a 12 seater light-craft aeroplane. It was so special, we could see the coral reefs from the air and in the setting sunlight it was truely beautiful. I think I am going to enjoy my time here...

Our last day together...

Mum and I have had a lovely final day together in Arusha. We went to visit the village of ng'iresi, 8km from the town on a cultural tour programme. OUr guide was fantastic, we could ask him anything. We walked for 5 hours or so through the villages, plantations, to waterfall etc- learning loads about the local culture as we went.

Then as a final evening together- we went for dinner at a famous street barbeque. This place is a car repair shop by day and the most fantastic meat vendor by night. Chicken, beef, lamb, kebabs, naan, and wonderful spicy salads... the cuisine was a mix between indian, middle eastern and tanzanian.

Finally, to top off a great day- I have just had my first HOT shower in a week!! I'm catching a 6am bus to Dar tomorrow, and should be in Stone Town, Zanzibar by evening all being well...

The Big Five....

We came further south to Lake Navaisha over last weekend and met up with a Uni medic friend of Claire's, then explored Hell's Gate National Park on bikes and foot - so nice to be 'unconfined' among the animals and birds!
Through Nairobi to Arusha (in Tanzania) and some more safari this last few days. In Lake Manyara we saw the last of the Big Five - a leopard basking on a tree branch in the sunshine. We have now seen Lion, Elephant, Rhinocerous, Buffalo and Leopard! (and lots else, besidesof course)
The Ngorongoro Crater was a little disappointing yesterday, partly because it was a cool breezy day and the animals seemed to be hiding away (although we did see three lots of lions!!!) but its appearance is very spectacular, to be sure.
Claire leaves for Zanzibar tomorrow and I return to Nairobi on Sunday to fly home, after an amazing adventure......

finally some photos

We have found by far the fastest connection in the whole of Kenya so far in Nakuru. So we have updated the blog with some photos of the previous weeks. Including the long awaited Ewan McGregor photo infront of the truck!! Also, if you have time to waist on the internet (unlike me) there should be a video being posted on youtube sometime soon by a friend of ours (Keith). The video is of Ewan chatting with us in our truck, (I'm clearly in the background!). You should be able to find it by searching for Ewan, Rwanda border, Dragoman- something along those lines should work. Also if you do find it, will you kindly send me a link at claireferraro@hotmail.co.uk Thanks, xx

Roses, roses and more roses!!

We 'hitched a lift' on our own Dragoman truck as it headed back to Nairobi to pick up some family groups for the next few weeks. They dropped us off in Eldoret and we took a bus to Kitale. The next day we went to visit the Andersen family to whom we had been given an introduction when skiing in St Anton at Easter with friends of theirs.
They grow roses on a massive scale (200,000 of them are sent to Europe every day)!!

Bob's wife, Bea, is also a doctor, and a most amazing Dutch lady who has set up a hospital and a school for the farm workers (900 of them and their families) so Claire and I had a full tour of the various clinics and classrooms, and of the greenhouses (each of them comprises a hectare of the most beautiful rose bushes.) We stayed in their guest house, wallowing in the civilised surroundings for two nights. They had had some torrential rain for several days before our arrival and the approach road was in a terrible state with mud, potholes etc. In fact one of their lorries ended up in the ditch as it was on its way to Nairobi Airport the night before last.

We recharged our personal batteries, so to speak, and then Bea gave us a lift back to Kitale yesterday morning. Two buses later we reached Lake Nakuru, where, this morning we went on an excellent game drive and have now added flamingoes, rhinoceros, hyena, pelicans, to our already long list of animals and birds viewed. For the third time on this trip we came across lions, resting on a large log of a tree very close to the road. We have been so very lucky!

Kigale Memorial to the Genocide

The day after seeing the gorillas we left Ruhengeri for Kigali, capital of Rwanda, a fine modern bustling city which is developing well since the awful experience of the genocide of 13 years ago is receding into the past history of the country. They have built a lovely memorial building with peaceful, landscaped gardens surrounding it high on a hillside opposite the main town. There are several sealed graves with thousands of bodies buried in them, and more are being created as more corpses are still being discovered. Inside the building there was a striking, graphic display, including video footage from survivors, of the horrors of 1994. Very moving indeed. We spent over an hour there, and everyone was in a subdued frame of mind as we left.
There is a big theme in the country these days, encouraged by their president, of Truth and Reconciliation, so we all felt that it is a country moving forward in a very positive way and a wonderful place to visit.

Gorillas in the sunshine!

The alarm clock went off at 4.15 am! You know me and early mornings don't usually mix well, but I am a reformed character on this trip as we have had so many early departures... This one was very special!

I was in a different group to Claire's, heading for the Sabinyo group of gorillas (13 in all, containing the biggest silverback of this National Park!). We drove about 30 minutes from the Visitor Centre, down a truly AWFULLY bumpy road, and then walked just ten minutes across the fields being worked by the local village people on their crops. We were approaching the wall which delineates the park boundary, ready to enter and look for the gorillas, when we saw some climbing over the wall towards us into the field!! They were in search of bamboo shoots growing there.

We watched them for a while, then they climbed back over the wall, and we followed, and tracked them through the forest, which was mainly bamboo, creepers etc. Very soon we came across the silverback, looking after his 'family' and eating loads of thistles, bamboo etc. These adult animals can eat about 30 kg of vegetation per day. Some of the younger family members were playing, chasing each other around trees, and climbing up and sliding down them. We were very close to them all, and two of our party were 'slapped' on the back as they ran past them. I have taken loads of photos and video (with which I am very pleased, considering I have had the camera for only two weeks!) The vegetation was not as dense as Claire's area, and the sun came out, so I think I chose well to do the 'moderate' option!

Visitors are only allowed one hour of tracking/viewing once the group is located, so as not to stress the animals. When we left to climb back over the wall, we were very close to two buffalo. We were back at our hostel by 10.45 am as we had found the group so quickly, but it was a magical few hours of adventure, which I feel very priveleged to have been able to experience.

Toinette

Gorillas in the Forest

First, I (Claire) will give you my account of meeting our long distant relatives, then Mum will tell her part. We were separated into two groups according to how far it was expected to trek to find the gorillas. I went to see the Kwitonda group which had 17 individuals, including a silver back (the boss) and two younger males and many females and little-uns.

We trekked for 1 1/4 hours into the forest, through terrain that was steep and very overgrown. The guide at the front was making a new path through the jungle with his machete.

We arrived at where the gorillas were having their "social time"- eating and playing with each other. We were able to get really close to them, especially when they decided they wanted to walk right past you; there wasn't much you could do but just let them pass. One girl on our trip got stroked by two of them!!

Mothers were carrying the babies in their arms or letting them stand on their heads and climb trees. Our guide told us a fascinating fact... normally Gorillas are complete vegetarians (maybe the odd fly) but if a baby dies at birth or in infancy when it is only a few weeks old, the mother doesnt let it go. She carries the baby for a further few weeks until it starts decomposing and then eats it! The behaviour cannot be explained but maybe shes showing such a strong maternal bond.

We met the Silverback, and were able to again get really close. It sat eating the whole time, whereas the others were more animated and just amazing to watch. The characteristic were so human; the way they inspected their food before they ate it, or had a scratch, or simply looked eye-to-eye with us.

I feel so lucky to have seen these most beautiful animals, and can completely understand why Dian Fossey fell in love with them.

Long Way Down (at the Rwandan border)

Our journey to the Rwqndqn Border wqs quite eventful. We were delqyed becquse we got stuck behind q lorry thqt hqd sheqd its loqd on q U=bend. We were driving through amazing sccenqry with cultivqted steep hills qll qround. Eventuqlly ze got to the border qs it zqs closing qt 6pm. Just qs we were ushered through tzo guys on BMW notorbikes rode up qnd took off their helmets= Ewan McGreggor qnd Charlie Boorman on their overlqnd documentqry from John=o=groqts to Cqpe Town. Cqn you believe it? we couldnt it was sooooo exxciting. On the Rwandan side of the border we hqd to stop to chqnge money and so the celebrities cqught up zith us. We introduced ourselves qnd took Ewan onto our truck to show him qround. They seemed genuinely pleqsed to meet us qnd shqre experience of the roqd conditions, locqls, qnd overturned trucks. I reqd their book "the long wqy round" before doing my silk route trqvels so it wqs reqlly exciting to be qlmost pqrt of "the long way down" zhich will be on BBC2 in October. Their cqmerq mqn= claude, wqs tqking footage of the meeting so zho knows we might actuqlly feqture on their documentqry. And if you dont believe us... there's photo evidence to follow when q internet connection qllows.

Rwanda....

We have a free day today but 8 of us decided to do q locql trip to see the pygmies in the qreq qnd to visit an orphqnqge: We first went to the mqrket to buy some oil, maize, beqns, cqrrots, soqp qnd potqtoes to tqke to them. It was an eye=opening experience; the pygmies welcomed us with songs qnd dqnce, qnd showed us their house mqde of bqmboo sticks qnd eucalyptus leqves. Four of us filled the spqce in there, yet the chieftqin, his wife qnd eight children LIVE in it, including cooking qnd eqting qnd sleeping.......
The orphqnqge wqs down q very bumpy roqd, q further 45 minutes away, = we are used to bumpy roqds by now although the mqin roqds in Rwanda are tarmqcced in complete contrqst to the mqjority of roqds in Kenyq qnd Ugqndq; the children number 28, dressed in rqgged clothes, looked qfter by one lovely womqn who cooks for them in q brickbuilt house; they hqd virtuqlly nothing in qny of the rooms, just bqnqnq leqves on the floor for them qll to sleep on, girls in one room qnd boys in qnother; the children sqng for us but hqd very sqd eyes, qnd were very silent most of the time; they hqd hqlf q dozen books in q bqsket, but no toys qpqrt from q footbqll which we kicked qround q bit: we sqng songs for them such qs 'heqds qnd shoulders knees qnd toes' qnd 'five little ducks went swimming one dqy'... qnd we did the hokey cokey outside in the yqrd. their fqces lit up q bit qt qll this fun, they just hqve so little stimulqtion most of the time, it wqs very sqd, but qt leqst they qre in sqfe hqnds with the lqdy looking qfter them.
Rwanda seems a much more prosperous plqce, with q lovely looking lqrge hospitql in this relqtively smqll town where we qre stqying for three nights. Tomorrow we qre trekking gorillqs in the neqrby volcqnic forested qreqs, which should be interesting: Claire hqs hqd q cold but seems to be recovered enough to be qllowed to go (you qre not qble to go neqar them if you qre unwell),
If you qre hqving difficulty reqding this messqge it is becquse I am using q french keyboqrd qnd everything is in q different plqce. Sorry qbout qll the q's, just substitute a's qnd it should mqke more sense......
Toinette.
P;S; you'lll hqve to wqit till next week for qny photos;

Internet connections

in deepest Uganda are VERY SLOW, so there is no hope of photos being uploaded until we return to Kampala next Monday/Tuesday. We are having some excitement e.g. Hippo and Lion in the headlights of the truck as we passed through Queen Elizabeth National Park after dark (after 13 hours on the road), amazing birdlife and hippos very close etc. tracking chimpanzees in a forested gorge (successfully!), getting the truck stuck in the mud for three hours after a night of torrential rain. Very disappointed with the weather which is really cloudy and cool. No chance of sunburn at all! Heading for the Rwandan border crossing in an hour or so from now, and gorilla tracking on Saturday, but Claire has a terrible cold at present which we hope will abate by then or she will not be allowed to go near them. That's all for now. Toinette and Claire

photos

We are currently in a very swanky air conditioned shopping centre in Kampala- quite unexpectedly. I had an absolutely awesome day white water rafting yesterday. The White Nile is meant to be one of the two top rivers in the world along with the Zambesi. We certainly had our fill of adrenaline, and were tipped out of the boat twice, with quite a long time under the water being buffeted around before you came up!

Hopefully photos of the last few days will successfully upload. Thank you for all your comments, it's great to hear from you. Stay in touch.

computer too slow!

to load photos today, will edit the last entry at the next internet cafe opportunity. Sorry, you will have to be patient...Toinette

Across the equator and into Uganda

we left Kenya the day after the awesome Masai Mara safari (12 hours in the park), crossed the equator and the border to Uganda, where we are now staying in Jinja for a 3-night stop. Claire went quad biking yesterday and is white water rafting today today, hence this is Toinette's choice of pictures and I only hope the posting is successful! Yesterday we also went to a local community project supported by Soft Power (via Dragoman) and helped to paint the walls of a school in pink and green! Uganda seems more prosperous than Kenya and the people do not hassle you all the time to buy things from them, which is a relief.