Eldoret, Kericho, Masai Mara, Nairobi
Day 183:
Waking up was not as hard as I thought it would be after Raj hosted us in the bar. I did however dread the bill we were bound to face. Our hairy Askari, the Alsatian called Tuff, awaited us at the bottom of the ladder and after abusing the hot and comfortable shower we marched into the office to ask for the bill. Before we left Pretoria six months or so before Catt informed me that she was going to buy Masai blankets regardless of the cost. The shop next to reception stocked them, and they were made in Raj's factory from 100% wool, so I suggested that we get that little shopping spree out of the way as well... while we were in for a shock anyway.
The bill we were presented with made no sense to me at first. It was far lower than both one of us had expected and only on closer inspection we noticed that Raj did not charge us for any of the drinks the night before. I did ask him about it when he walked in and he just waved a hand and said: On me guys... So for three nights, two Masai blankets, some booze, some food and fixing the car, we spent less than $25 a day in Eldoret.
We left the Naiberi by 9am and started heading south on a new tar road. This was a pleasant surprise as we expected much worse! Going was easy and the landscape none impressive. We passed through the obligatory African villages with their dirty markets, sponsored paint from cell phone companies and Matatus (Minibus Taxis) and Boda Boda's, not forgetting the chassis breaking speed bumps at the start and end of every village.
Our destination was the Tea Hotel in Kericho. Once we turned off the main road, the surface became really bad and the speed we were travelling at slowed dramatically. We stopped next to the road to make a cup of tea and within seconds an armed policeman and an armed soldier joined us. They asked where we were heading to and where we were coming from and just as I started to feel a little uneasy they told us that we were not in a safe area to stop. They were there to patrol the road and agreed to watch over us until the brewing was complete. I found this shockingly bizarre! Suddenly it was like being back in South Africa where you needed to know where it was safe to stop and where not. Under the protection of two AK47's we finished our brew and ht the road again.
We reached the tea hotel by mid day after driving though some of Kenya's best known tea plantations. Apparently they were there because of the high humidity, high temperatures and reliable daily thunder storm in the afternoon. I couldn't see it. The skies were perfectly blue. The hotel itself was deliciously out of place in the African country side. It reminded of a proper English Manor house in the midlands and came complete with cottages to sleep in, veranda to take your tea on and walkways through its extensive and beautiful gardens. For us, the camping was expensive and the facilities neglected, but the location was good.
As we finished our lunch in the camp ground it started to rain... reliably. It was if it came out of nowhere and it was heavy, so we ran away to the lounge area to read some and do some things on computers. The heaviness of the rain increased and decreased through the afternoon and eventually subsided around 17:00 when we took the chance to head back to the camp site and pitch our tent and awning. Although there was an overland truck parked next tot he camp site, the travellers seemed to have opted for the hotel instead of camping, so we had exclusivity on the big spongy lawn where Maggie was parked.
The rain returned again after dark, but we were snugly warm and dry under our awning and able to prepare our usual feast for dinner. We were both fairly tired from the previous night's festivities so went to bed early as well. Fortunately the church that was next door finished their loud celebrations for the day, so the night was nice and quiet.
Day 184:
We woke early and were eager to get on the road. The swimming pool's showers provided us with some falling water to wash in and after coffee and breaking up camp we jumped in the car, turned the key... and heard a click. The cranking battery was flat!
My immediate thought was that the solenoid separating the fridge battery and cranking battery decided to fail us, but I connected the solar panel to the main battery and went for a walk around the gardens. Half an hour later we tried again to no avail. We needed some help, so I went in search of. The Hotel had an old station wagon they use for staff transport and the driver was busy washing it as I approached him to explain our dilemma. He agreed to come to our rescue and positioned the old beast in front of Maggie. I pulled out the heavy duty jumper cables and connected the two vehicles. The hardest thing in the world was to try and explain to the driver that he had to keep his engine running and his revs high to give us enough power to start. Every time I turned my back and turned our key, he would kill his engine. Man that was hard work!
By the fifth attempt I managed to get the message across and the mighty 4.2l diesel roared into life. I checked the alternator current just in case, which was fine and then we set off through the tea plantations again. Through out our trip I rarely took photographs of people as I seriously could not be bothered with the ritual of paying modelling fees to normal people. This morning I really wished I could have more time though. The plantations provided a fantastic back drop and the tea pickers were plenty and waist deep in the green plants. We snapped some photos though the window as we drove, but it would have been nice to make a decent effort.
The road started winding down the hills and into the valleys below. As the altitude dropped the temperature rose and Maggie became happier and happier. We trotted into the town of ........................... where we went in search of an ATM. We followed the signs to the Barclays Bank down a muddy eroded street through the village. At the end of the street we found a modern building with the insignia and managed our money needs without issue. Next was fuel and the first fuel station sufficed. I spent the time outside the vehicle chatting to the pump attendant, as had become my custom. I told him about the size of the tank and the time it would take to fill and after making us some coffee and chatting for a while we acquired a large audience. There were no less than 20 people standing around us, staring at the car, kicking the tyres and asking about the long range tanks. It was fantastic!
With full fuel and wallets we left the dirty outpost and shortly after the tar road. The GPS indicated that we were driving off road on the track linking our road leading to the Masai Mara which was our destination. We joined the main track fairly soon after and also joined the steady line of safari vehicles transporting their poor unsuspecting punters to the park. I have to say that they were much friendlier and much more civil than the Tanzania drivers on their way to the gates.
While considering where to stop for lunch we came across a stationary Land Cruiser and two other vehicles with Mzungus in. We stopped to ask if they needed help, as you do and learnt that their steering was broken. The steering shaft was supposed to be connected to one of the wheels by four 12mm bolts. As far as they could see two of those bolts had vibrated loose and the other two sheered off completely, not being able to deal with the stresses. They had limited tools and no spares, so they were reliably stuck in the heat of the day in the middle of nowhere... with 15 or so Masai kids hanging around to see what was cooking. We on the other hand had many tools and a box full of bolts and in no time we managed to find two bolts that fitted... sort of. We used an old shock absorber bush as a spacer and managed to get the bar back in position in theoretically strong enough to reach the next town, where there was a mechanic.
While I was mechaniking, Catt cut up a papaya for us to eat. This provided much entertainment to the children and I really did feel like we were on the wrong side of the spectator fence. I could just imagine them saying to each other: Look, they almost eat like us and they have the same fruit as we do... Not wanting to waste water on cleaning the plates, I decided to lick the yummy syrup off both plates. While I was doing this circus act, the kids roared with laughter and started rolling around on the floor. I was happy to provide them with that much joy! I was also happy that there wasn't a single one of them who begged or asked for money or food, contrary to what we had been told about the area. I guess your attitude towards local people plays a massive role in how they perceive and treat you.
Our friend Mike, who we had been communicating with for more than a year and never met... (Catt says we "internet date") told us that his daughter was doing some research in the Mara. We had been in contact with Laura and she kindly agreed to put up with her father's internet friends for a few days. We still had to pay our park fees as per usual, but at least we could stay at the research camp for less than the usual $20 a person camping fee. Laura had sent her dad the co-ordinates of the camp but for some unexplainable reason the researchers used a bizarre and unknown grid reference system. Mike tried to convert it before sending to me, admitting that there may be a 100m or so difference to their actual location.
After reaching Talek Gate and paying our dues we punched in the co-ordinates, asked for directions from the ranger and as the two seemed to correspond, we headed in that direction. We were outside the park again and followed the GPS to a nice shady tree with the reminisce of a camp site, next to the Talek river. There was no research camp. We phoned Laura for help, but realized that in order to get directions, you first needed to know where you were...
The road we were on seemed fairly well used, so we crossed the river into the reserve and started asking every person we saw along the way. Most people know about the Hyena camp and told us that it was close, but no one could actually direct us. Eventually though, through perseverance, we found it! It was, obviously, not at the end of a tourist road and it was, obviously, hidden in a way that people couldn't really accidently happen upon it. It had been there for 22 years though.
We were greeted by Moses, the camp manager and intruded to Laura who's father we had never met either. What may have been an awkward moment transformed instantly into a relaxed chat between people with similar interests and we almost didn't even hear the rain arrive. The other two researchers, Stef and Tracy from Michigan University arrived in the late afternoon, soaked to the bone after their walk in the storm. Tracy, being the most senior person there told us that there was no way of driving out of camp that afternoon and the next morning would still be too wet. This wasn't exactly what we had hoped for for our visit in the Mara, but then again, you can't really argue with nature and especially not where black cotton soil is concerned. The up side was that we were able to sleep in one of their permanent tents, have dinner brought to us by Moses and Joseph and sleep in the next morning.
The camp had no electricity and the solar system looked like every researcher has had a go at adding something, changing something or fixing something. The result was that the group of 4 batteries were not strong enough to run more than one light in the kitchen. The camp also did not have a fridge. Many of the researchers, we were told, were vegetarians, so it did not matter, but when we brought out the chicken breasts from our freezer, everyone was very pleased! Stef, who was in deed a vegetarian, was also pleased with the effect it had on the moral of the staff, including Moses and Joseph and although she was not partaking in the chicken feast, she did like the idea of a glass of red wine we served up with dinner.
The night drew to a lazy close with the five of us around a table in the eating area and after being showed to our new accommodations, we fell sound asleep to the soothing sounds of the bush.
Day 185:
Camp rules and black cotton prevented us from driving in the morning. The researchers relished in the rare fact that they didn’t need to get up early, so we were the first people around, apart from Joseph and Moses who already had the boiling water ready by the time we reached the kitchen tent.
We had very little to do, but still loved being in the bush and I was interested (Nosy) about the systems they used in camp. The toilet was a long drop, as could be expected and the privacy was achieved by a few ragged out old tarpaulins around the trees around it. The shower I thought was good. There was a big water drum with a 12V submersible pump and a chimney looking device which got heater with paraffin. The pressure was good and the temperature surprising. Who ever installed it decided to point the shower head parallel to the ground, which was interesting, but it seemed to work for the inhabitants of the camp. The sleeping tents were dotted around in the bushes and quite far away from each other and the library tent seemed to be mission control for one of the solar systems. There was a definite air of nomadism about the place which I found a little strange as it had been there for so long! In the past I had heard people refer to a bachelor pad by saying that “it was in desperate need of a woman’s touch”. This camp, for me, was in desperate need of a man’s touch. It would be fair to say that the people are there to research Hyenas and the not build camps, but surely something like building a simple boma from reeds or sticks around the toilet and showers would take little effort and ad much ambiance. It was not my place to comment.
The researchers spent the day catching up on paperwork and Catt and I spent the day catching up on… well no, actually just chilling in the bush, which was wonderful! We had a very interesting and rewarding chat to Joseph about his Masai culture and the people who shared the land and we brainstormed some very intriguing ideas about introducing concepts of self sustainability in the country to enhance the quality of living of its people. Joseph seemed an unusually well educated man to be in the position that he was in, but he also seemed happy and relaxed about his own life, which we agreed was more important.
In the late afternoon Catt and I decided to risk a drive. Stef agreed that we would be able to leave camp safely without ruining their roads and we agreed that if we were causing damage to it we would immediately return. The snag here was that our battery was flat again! I managed to jump start it from the fridge battery, which was strong. As we were driving out of camp the ground seemed dry and solid and we made it to one of the main park roads with ease. One of the most difficult things in new national parks for us was to know where to drive. In East Africa the safari vehicles make life easy, so we headed west from camp until we spotted them. The first opportunity we had we asked one of the guides about the sightings for the day, which we found to be the best technique to have quality sightings in a short time. The friendly guide (Contrary to what people had told us) said that he heard on his radio about a Cheetah sighting and we could follow him to it.
It took a while to reach the place, but it was well worth it! The female Cheetah was in the prime of her life and looked really fit and healthy. She had a full belly and a happy way about her. She had a tiny little cub which could not have been older than a few months. He still didn’t have defined spots and his face was still flat and funny. He couldn’t quite see over the grass. To follow his mother he had to leap and jump and crash into the back of her every once in a while. We were obviously not the only people in the sighting and the vehicles kept on arriving. We did have a great parking spot and when it was time to move on I turned the key in the ignition and heard that dreaded “click”. MMmm.
We sat for a moment, hands in our hair, trying to formulate a plan to get us going again. One of the guides saw this, drove over and offered help. While two other guides drove between us the wild meat eating animals, I got out with jumper cables in hand, connected us to the safari Land Cruiser and cranked the engine into life. Catt, slightly embarrassed and still with her hands over her face turned a slight shade of red, but at least we had the engine going and could make it back to the Hyena camp. We still had time to drive a few other roads, but neither one of us were too keen on the idea of turning the engine off again, which doesn’t make for the best game driving etiquette.
We found a massive herd of Buffalo straddling the road. They were completely settled and relaxed and we slowly made our way through them, coming within a meter or two of the massive beasts. We also saw Elephants, Giraffe and the expected plains game of Wildebeest, Zebra, Gazelle and Topi. There was another huge storm brewing on the horizon and with the setting sun behind us the sky became that electric blue colour you normally only see in photographs. We could see the storm was beyond the camp and moving away, so we took our time driving back, stopping often to take photos and admire the wildlife, but never turning the car off!
Back at camp we were quizzed about our adventures and mostly about the condition of the tracks and dryness of the bush. We again supplied some meat for a scrumptious meal prepared by Moses and offered some wine for dinner which was all very well received. The decision was made to go on “ops” the next morning which meant that the researchers responsibly went to bed early. We did the same in preparation for the 5am start.
Day 186:
Hyena research day started well before the sun came up. The idea was that the researchers would find the clan by the time they were most active, which was just after sunrise. The territory was about a 45 minute drive away, which meant that we left camp about an hour before sunrise. The research team consisted of 3 people. One was driving, one was spotting and one was transcribing. They had a radio receiver to pick up the collared animals and lead us to the action, which did make life a little easier.
They had their own secret short cuts to drive and Tracy was handling the Land Cruiser like a pro! Catt spotted the first Hyena well before we reached the territory which got everyone in the vehicle well excited! We followed the animal off road and through some bushes without identifying it, but Stef recorded it in the day’s log anyway. I knew it was still early when I saw four hot air balloons still being prepped for take off close by.
The Mara itself was really nice! I found it to be a lot nicer than the Tanzania parks as the familiar wide open spaces were covered in what looked like a kept lawn and the massive skies were brilliant blue in the early morning. The rain from the previous day seemed to clear the air nicely as well and you could literally see for miles! What many people do not realize is that the Masai Mara is split in two by the Mara River. On the eastern side of the river is the Game Reserve and on the western side is a conservancy. They charge the same fees, but the one’s entry ticket does not cover you for entrance to the other one. We were on the Game Reserve side.
We found the Talek clan where the researchers expected them to be and followed them around and off road for a little while. I was fairly surprised and amazed at how fast things were happening and how hard the guys had to work at keeping up with the action. I always though a researcher would just sit and watch and have a quiet life. These guys were driving from group to group and recording actions and interactions as they went. There was constant movement and constant effort to keep up and not a moment to take a breath or relax. I tried to take some photographs as we went, but found that almost impossible to do without interfering with their work. The Hyenas on the other hand had a normal relaxing morning of sorting out disputes and chatting amongst each other while nursing their young.
When the clan started to settle down we drove to their den and met the alpha female and shortly after Tracy pointed the cruiser towards camp and headed back again. About half way back to camp we spotted some vultures on a carcass and decided that using the off road permissions would be acceptable to have a closer look, in case there was a Hyena or two around. There wasn’t, but we got really close to the Vultures! The sad thing for me was that the researchers seemed completely uninterested in any of the other animals around. They drove fast to get to where they wanted to go and the ungulates around scattered to make space for the speeding Cruiser. I would have loved to stop for every sighting to take some photos, but I was not in a position to interfere.
Back at camp we were greeted by the ever friendly Joseph and Moses and offered breakfast… That was novel to us, but much appreciated! We contributed a dozen eggs and soon a fantastic Spanish omelette appeared which we all feasted upon! The researchers went to do what they do in the middle day while Catt and I relaxed in the shade and enjoyed the sounds and smells of the bush. Stef, who only had a couple months left in the camp, had to transfer as much knowledge as she could to the new recruits. This included car inspections and the changing of a wheel. Poor Laura had to man handle the big 4 x 4 rim and tyre weighing probably as much as she did and between the four of us we had to think about a way for her to successfully put it back on the car. The only solution in the end was to slowly and carefully adjust the height of the chassis with the jack until she could just slide the trim into place. There was just no way she was able to lift the wheel. We also chatted about recovery techniques and high lift jacks and I tried to understand their solar system. The problem was that it had been added to and changed so much that the only way to fix it was to pull it all up and start over. I would have loved to do that for them, but I simply did not have the time.
We were visited by a cow from across the river at some point in the afternoon, but that was about as much action as there was. The rain stayed away as well so we went out again around 17:00. This time Stef was behind the wheel and you could see that she was very familiar with the tracks. The idea was to visit another clan which was about an hour’s drive away and she drove determinately to make the time. We stopped briefly at a Bat Eared Fox den which was right by the road and found a Jackal den a little while later, but did not linger long. I saw a sizable herd of safari vehicles by a river and asked if we could investigate that. Part of their job was to record other carnivores as well and with the way the vehicles behaved I was convinced that a carnivore was near by. We muscled our way into the group and saw what the fuss was about. There was a Leopard. He was doing what Leopards do best, which is sleeping in the shade and we could see no more than his head and tail swishing every once in a while, so we did not stay too long. It was still brilliant o see a Leopard though and I did wish that we could stay until he started moving in the early evening.
We passed the mega herds of Wildebeest in the late afternoon sun. That was a sight to behold! There were ominous storm clouds being lit by the setting sun on the opposite horizon and there were wildebeest as far as the eye could see. I would not even try to guess how many individuals there were! We had obviously found the migration. We were however not there for boring Wildebeest, so set off towards the clan’s territory again. This time we found them away from the den and while identifying the specific ones we noticed the built up of a massive storm in the direction of the camp. When it started raining softly where we were, the locals voted to get back to camp as quickly as we could manage in fear of not being able to drive the roads if we delayed.
On the way back, not stopping for anything but a pair of Hyena we noticed the strangest phenomena. Well, for us it was anyway… As we passed the massive black cloud of Wildebeest covering every inch of the savannah we saw cows. The Masai, who apparently wrongly believe that they have grazing rights in the Mara, came out in force! We passed no less than six herds with their blanketed herders and estimated a total of no less than 2 000 heads of cattle. Although this was very bizarre in deed we had a brief discussion in the car and eventually concluded that this had been the way long before the park was formed. The result had to be that the cattle formed a part of the echo system and even though not really the kind of thing we as tourists wanted to see, it had to be accepted and tolerated. That was our theory anyway.
We slipped and slided all the way back to camp but also found that the rain was no where near as heavy as we had thought it was. There was no real cause for concern and we could have stayed out later. However, if the rain was as hard as we though it was, we may not have been able to make it back to camp at all. Some you win… some you loose.
It was our last night with the Hyena gang, so we provided some steak for dinner which was greatly appreciated by all meat lovers. It was a long day for the researchers and Stef and Tracy were planning on leaving for Nairobi the next day, leaving Laura to run the camp solo. Everyone went to bed early.
The night’s sounds kept me interested and awake. I could hear Lions and Hyenas and cattle and goats and the occasional footsteps of the camp’s Askari as he patrolled the area. I could not help but think about the way I would have done things differently, had I had the opportunity.
About the research and its methods I knew very little and I have no training in research. It did however struck me that the presence of the vehicle and the aggressive way it was driven had a real and tangible influence on the immediate behaviours of the animals. They documented when the animals got up and walked around, so this had to influence the data in a very real way. I honestly though they were unnecessarily driving off the tracks at times and the way someone had explained bush driving to these guys meant that they caused massive track pollution in muddy areas and actually did a noticeable amount of damage to their environment. The camp itself seemed neglected and barely functional. With a total of six solar panels and twelve solar batteries they were unable to keep lights working and charge computers. There was clearly something very wrong in that system. The last thing that surprised me was the geographical footprint of the camp. It was spread out through a big area of dense bush, creating an unnecessary network of muddy tracks between the tents and communal places. It would have been easy to compact the camp into an area a quarter of that size. The researchers also indiscriminately walked around after dark in a park famous for the amount of predators. They were either naïve, lucky or much braver than I was. I had to concede that because of their high turnover in staff that only stayed for 10 months at a time and had very little practical training or experience in camp life, the challenge of creating and maintaining a system that worked was formidable. I would have loved to have had the opportunity and time to try, but at $120 a day for Catt and I to stay in the park, it simply wasn’t going to happen.
Day 187:
We woke up early and packed up quickly. Laura had decided not to risk driving after the rains of the previous evening, so she was not around yet. The other two were also packing up and by 7am we all set off after I had to jump start Maggie again, concluding that our cranking battery had died. Game driving wasn’t much fun as we couldn’t turn the car off, but we had some nice and interesting ungulate sightings before leaving the park at the Sekenani Gate and heading towards the capitol. The road was in a terrible state with sharp, rubber eating rocks everywhere, so the going was slow.
At some point the surface changed to something that may have been tar some time ago, but was then pot holes joined by slithers of black stuff. We eventually reached a reasonable tar road around the town of Narok and picked up the pace. The road took us over some rolling hills and though some valleys and eventually up the steep side of the Great Rift Valley before dumping us into the traffic on Nairobi.
We had been warned about Nairobi and its madness and I was not particularly looking forward to that part of our journey. I was however pleasantly surprised to find it less busy and much less intimidating than Kampala or Dar es Salaam. We didn’t go into the city itself and with the help if the pink line on the GPS stopped at Jungle Junction shortly after mid day.
Jungle Junction was one of those rare places that no self respecting overlanders would miss. It was generally regarded as a half way point between the north and south and a pleasant and convenient place to stop for a few days. Chris, the owner refuses to advertise and word of mouth had made his business incredibly successful. He had a name for fair prices, fast reliable wifi internet which was free and the best motorcycle mechanic in East Africa. We only needed a new cranking batter for the car, but our new friends Robert and Clary from Double Dutch Safari was there, which meant the inevitable party.
We also met up with a couple of Australians who had come across our website some months before and visited the Richtersveld National Park because of our writings about it. The big wide world was truly small after all. Robert introduced us to another couple from the UK, sporting a shiny, massive, but broken Unimog. They had been there for a few weeks awaiting parts. Adam and Chloe were doctors who had taken a sabbatical to tour through Africa. They were supposed to meet up with friends in Johannesburg two weeks later, but Africa and their Unimog got in the way of time schedules. Their plan was to fly to Johannesburg, spend some time with the friends, and fly back to get the vehicle to continue their travels.
While Robert’s truck was being serviced the mechanic found some play in the front wheels and after investigations saw that one of the hub locks had been broken by another mechanic in Dar es Salaam. The pain was that the specifications of his truck was different to anything else in Africa, so even though it would have been a quick and easy fix, there was no way of getting the part without importing it, and getting stuck like Adam and Chloe. He had a tighter time frame, so decided to brave the rest of Africa with very limited. 4 wheel drive capability and getting it fixed in Europe. Brave man I though.
In the late afternoon the rain came down… It was instantly established that it was our fault as no one there had seen any rain before we arrived to tell them about our fun in the mud. Jungle Junction had a fantastic lounge and dining room area where we sought refuge until there was less water falling on us and before making our dinner. It was still raining while we ate it and still raining when we went to bed. We were not the most popular campers because of it…
Day 188:
The sun was shining and the night had been much more peaceful than I had expected in the city. We had all intentions to do very little that day and we got stuck straight into it! Besides, we had the perfect excuse of a busted battery, so we couldn’t go anywhere any way.
We had plugged our fridge into the mains power and had enough supplies for a while. The only things we lacked were coffee, milk and eggs and at some time in the afternoon I managed to get a lift on a motorbike with the mechanic. I ran though the shop and completed the list and made it back to camp within half an hour of leaving. Nairobi clearly had nothing on Dar as far as traffic was concerned! I walked to the corner of the road and bought some fresh fruit and vegetables for nearly no money at all and smiled at the ease Africa often lets you do things.
We were seriously reprimanded for not staying up later and partying with the rest of the mad bunch the night before, so to make up for it we baked a cake in the Cobb and invited the people we deemed worthy for a feast. For some, including us, this was after dinner, but for others (Adam and Chloe) it served as a starter. The group consisted of the two of us, Robert and Clary, Adam and Chloe and a lone biker, John who had reached Nairobi in 26 days from Johannesburg. I did not envy him at all!
We sat around a table like old friends sharing our cake and stories and laughing so much we almost fell off our chairs. We were successfully integrated into the Jungle Junction family and forgiven for the bad weather and early night. This time it was the Dutch who faded first with the plan of an early start, heading towards Ethiopia the next day.
Day 189:
So Robert and Clary did not leave early at all. It was after 8am when we got out of bed, barely escaping the inevitable hang over. Chris, the owner wanted to check one last thing on their truck before they set off and by 9:30 they hit the road. Just before leaving Robert told me how much they were charged for the work on their vehicle and I was astonished how cheap it was.
Adam, who had exactly the same problem as I did with remembering names was still in bed and refused to move before his towel had dried in the sun. We obviously adopted the same theories on time and travel at that junction in our journeys. When he eventually surfaced we started discussing the people outside of our new little group and Adam described them like this:
In the corner we had the Veggies, a couple from New South Wales with many vehicle problems and no love for meat or bombastic English doctors on a sabbatical. Then we had the Oldies, a couple from Mozambique, in their early 80’s touring East Africa in a bizarre looking 4 x 4 camper thing and talking more than your average auctioneer. Lastly we had Herman the German on a shiny looking bike with tatty clothes and a suspected habit of early morning dope smoking. To his horror The Duchies (Robert and Clary) had left us with Yankee Doodle (John) but he was sad to see them go. He also liked Mick and co, the Aussie blokes next to the Veggies. They drank enough beer to earn his respect. I could see that… what’s his name and I were going to get along like a house on fire as soon as he stopped showing Catt very impressive and very expensive Apple Mac toys she instantly wanted to buy!
We offered a Banana cake for those with sweet teeth and Chloe offered to cook dinner for the cool kids. That was us, of course, them, and Yankee Doodle John. As we sat down in a circle around the mighty Unimog it started to rain again and all eyes were on us. We did have the bigger awning, so the fantastic five moved the ten meters across the camp site to our vehicle and continued the hilarious and useless philosophising and chatting we had started earlier in the day.
Hours before bed time Catt and I made perfect peace with the fact that we were unlikely to move anywhere the next day. It was simply too easy and too much fun to stay in the big garden in the big city in Africa.
If I had to do it over again:
It probably would have been a good idea to replace the battery before we went to the Mara. Then again, I really thought that the problem lay with the split charging system and not the battery.
Although the Hyena camp was a really nice experience and we saved on accommodation cost after paying the normal park fees, I would have liked to visit the Conservancy side of the Mara instead of the Game Park side. Perhaps we will still do that, if we ever leave Jungle Junction.
The rest of the week was fantastic and we both feel pretty refreshed and happy to have met such incredible people we have been having so much fun with!
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