After our very wet visit to the Vic Falls on the Zambian side, we headed to the border to cross into Zimbabwe. For entertainment purposes, we left two of our passengers behind at the craft market side (and no, not my Katie as this was one of the first markets she did not look in – WTF?) and made them run almost to the Zim border. Actually it was punishment for completely neglecting the time limit we had been given on the Zambian side causing the remaining 25 of us to have to wait in the bus in the plus 35 degree heat which was, as you can imagine, very unpleasant.
Once we had regrouped we forked over the 75 dollars (second most expensive visa is for Canadians – what did we do to piss of the Zimbabwe people I wonder???). We arrived at the campsite at a pretty decent time and were immediately subjected to a slide show presentation of all the activities that we were going to be able to do. There were so many to choose from but we had narrowed our choices down to the microlite, lion walk, adrenalin day, booze cruise and the horseback safari. The one thing we had remembered from our first trip to Zimbabwe, despite its struggling economy, was that everything was very very expensive and this was definitely the case for the activities. All of the items we had highlighted as interesting were going to cost us nearly $1000 US for the two of us and that was if we somehow circumvented paying for a second visa when entering back into Zimbabwe. We were originally told by Absolute Africa that we would not be entering Zimbabwe but rather doing all of our activities from the Zambian side. However, because previous sanctions against Zim had just begun to be removed, Absolute Africa made its return back to Zim because the activities would be 2/3 the price. Unfortunately, this was not explained to us in any great detail before the trip started and before entering we were told that if we wished to do any activities on the Zambian side, we could easily go but would have to pay for a $20 day visa. Although, this was true we had not been informed that once leaving on the day visa you would have to pay the full amount to re-enter Zim. There was not even an option for Canadians to buy a multiple entry visa, whereas most of the entries could and could do so cheaply. Again, we must have really pissed them off!!!
So being that it was going to be $95 USD extra to do the microlite from the Zambian side and that there was not going to be any package discount (although we were going to be doing so many extra activities) we decided that we would stick with the Adrenalin Day, the Lion Walk and the Booze Cruise with the group. We would start the Adrenalin day bright and early at six the next morning.
Later that evening we were treated to traditional Zulu dancing by a local group of musicians. The show was great but what made it better was that they dragged about a third of our group (Melissa, Christine and Jemma were our highlights) into the audience to join in. The one great thing about the bus is that we get to see a lot of things and do a lot of things we would not get to see on our own. For example, there are many sample gigs/dances and presentations like the ones we had here that were put on because our group is so large. We have met a lot of overlander trucks on this part of our tour but none have been as big as ours with some only having seven people in total for the entire trip. So...everywhere we go there is always enough of us to draw attention from local business.
I was really surprised when both barmen recognized me from our previous stay. None of us could remember each other's name but everyone definitely remembered each other. It was nice to be remembered and it was definitely not to do with my drinking habits during my previous stay because I had resorted to drinking only cokes during the day and sleeping at night. It reinforced our love of the Zimbabwean people and their friendly and caring nature.
It was good that we had went to bed early the previous night because I needed to be up before Katie so I could rip to town to put together her birthday present. I had decided the night before that I was going to get a photo from Legzira transformed into a painting by one of the local artists. I could not find a good picture of the two of us and it was obvious as to why. We had been the only two on the beach so who was going to take it? It wasn't hard to find some pictures I liked – in fact, I had great difficulty in selecting just one and picked six of my favorites. The next difficult part was to to find an internet shop that was open early enough to do my printing. After that I would just have to drop off the picture and hope that the artist was there so I could explain the details. I was pretty sure I had figured out the logistics but TIA and things can go wrong. Luckily one of the other guys on the trip had hoped to get a surfing picture of his grandfather made into a painting as well so I had company. Everything turned out even better than expected. The internet shop not only had a printer (as they had told me the day earlier) but they had an awesome photo printer and it only took about ten minutes to print off my six pics and Brendan's pic. The only snag was that the painter was not there but after ten minutes of waiting another of his colleagues showed up and so we gave him the instructions and kept our fingers crossed.
We managed to have everything wrapped up with extra time before we were to be picked up to go on our Adrenalin day (Day 47). Katie had been a bit reluctant the previous day about the Adrenalin package but despite her feelings, she had still signed up. When I got back in the morning, she was bouncing with energy and was so excited for what lay ahead. To give the words 'Adrenalin Day' a little more explanation, it is essentially a day jammed with activities over the gorge just downstream of the Vic Falls. I think most of these activities would be a little less exciting had you not been doing them over a 110m drop to the water front that looked like it could quite possibly rip a body in half (the water levels were so high that the river rafting was closed until the water level receded). The activities that we could do included abseiling/rap jumping down a 45m cliff, flying fox (flying over the gorge while suspended to a series of cables – look maa no hands!) over the gorge, ziplining down from the top of the gorge at 160 km/hour (haven't worked out the math, that is just what we were told) and last but definitely not least, the gorge swing (a vertical jump from a cantilevered platform where after 75m of free fall you begin to swing 170m across the gorge ).
We had to split into groups to minimize the time on each event and our group (Rhesa, Tom, Janelle, Fysh, Katie and I) chose the abseiling first so we could get it out of the way. We figured the gorge swing looked like it was going to be the scariest/funnest of all and so we wanted to have it for last. We started with rap jumping and somehow Katie got put as the first person who would repel down the cliff head first. It was surreal watching her hang over an extremely high drop for the second time in the last 4 months but this time she seemed a little more confident (okay...this drop was nothing compared to the one we had faced at Tsitsikama with the bungee jump). The abseiling was not what anyone pictured and was more painful than fun. To top this off, we had to carefully walk along a narrow (and unconstrained path) path before climbing on very sketchy ladders to the top. When this was all said and done,the majority of the group had had enough but Tom and I decided to go one more time...but this time, we repelled down the cliff with our face to the wall and feet first. Although it was not nearly as painful, it was pretty lame as we were unable to control our speed on the descent.
From the abseiling we worked our way over to the highwire (flying fox). The scariest/funnest (depends on who you are) part of the thing is running as fast as you can (not very fast when all strapped and dragging a huge pulley) and jumping off the edge of the platform. Fysh had the best pose with his impression of superman and he managed to hold it for the entire rip across the gorge, continuing it on the way back as well.
The zip line took much less time than the rock climbing and although we were all hungry, we were eager to get the zipline out of the way so we could be left only with that gorge swing for the entire afternoon. Yup we were being a bit greedy but after watching the others jump off it all day, we were pretty excited, even if some of them had screamed the entire way down (the winner is definitely Christine, who started her blood retching scream even before her feet left the platform (while crouched down in the foetal position) – lol...the funniest pics ever!).
We couldn't have been any luckier because there was no groups left to do either of them and because the zipline and the gorge swing were side by side, we were going to get to do them at once. Katie didn't seem to keen on doing the gorge swing first so Fysh and Janelle went first while we did the ziplne. The only two rides you can do tandem are the zipline and the gorge swing so the couples set out to out do each together. Fysh and Janelle bravely stepped up to the platform and after a quick countdown launched off and plummeted quickly out of our view. The look on their faces was priceless and it was funny that Fysh was the screamer...Janelle said her voice was caught in her throat. After they had gone we headed down the zipline. It started pretty exciting because we were tricked into thinking he wasn't going to let us go until we had reached the bottom platform but well before we were into place he just let us go and we started ripping down. It was a lot of fun but was over too soon and then the pain of hanging from a harness across your crotch kicked in and Katie (??) especially was saying stuff you can't say in Canada – haha...this is an inside joke!
Tom was the next in line and he decided to go backwards (Katie thought he was nuts!) – well after his fall, he was still shaking from the experience. Rhesa was next in line to jump and she bravely jumped off facing forwards – Katie was pretty impressed with her especially since she was going solo.
Again we got great reports from Rhesa and so somehow with the help of the tour operators I managed to convince Katie that for our first jump should be done backwards. She was a little upset at first and I was not sure if she would seriously consider it because she honestly looked scared shitless. But with no real pushing from me (the remainder of the push came from the staff – they said it would be brave and cool) Katie decided to go for it. After getting strapped in and getting helped to the edge of the platform we turned backwards. When the countdown came Katie didn't have much time to doubt her decision because once the countdown was finished she had me and a very heavy rope pulling her over the edge. It was a surreal feeling because after arching backwards over the edge we were immediately tumbling uncontrollably end over end...and from our perspective, it looked as if we would crash amongst the rocks. At one point I caught a glimpse of Katie's face and I could swear through the hair strewn across her face I could see tears. The fall lasted only maybe three seconds and when we started to swing (the best part) I found that my eyes had not deceived me...Katie was crying. She told me that her breathe was completely taken away from the fall and so the only other natural thing she thought she could do was cry, so cry she did. She had actually only cried for about ten seconds and then suddenly snapped out of it and was super excited and ready to do it again (but definitely not backwards). Rhesa had said that she knew Katie was crying despite how far away we were. She had been able to tell because of the they way I was comforting Katie (we have it on video!) as we waited to be pulled up.
We pounded down our lunch so that we could be the first ones back to the platform for another gorge swing. After completing everything once we were allowed to repeat any ride as many times as we wanted...hence the name 'Adrenalin Day'. We had been told that the record for the gorge swing was 17 times but we thought why would anyone want to do it 17 times...but that was before we jumped. After we jumped, everyone was keen on the same ride...the gorge swing! We all realized that there was no way the record could ever be matched unless we had been individuals and had spent the entire day jumping. Not everyone wanted a second jump - actually, I think it was only Christine who was still shaking from her experience and decided to watch from the side. Everyone alternated between starting forwards, backwards and in a handstand position. Unfortunately, Katie and I were only able to go twice (limited time) but managed to try a solo handstand in addition to our tandem backwards jump. Surprisingly, the handstand was not really scary at all but maybe that was because you could see everything before you launched off the edge and maybe because they kind of tossed you over the edge after lifting up your feet. The workers decided to play some jokes for the second round as they knew we had the courage to come back for more and so they had to play with our minds. When they held Katie in her handstand position, instead of immediately counting down from 3, they held her there for 30 seconds encouraging her to push off herself...but, knowing my Katie, she would not move. Finally, while upside down, she screamed at them to let her go, which after hearing her voice, they did. When Rhesa was next in line (jumping backwards), they started to let her fall only to hold her back at the last minute. For those of you who have done any kind of bungee jumping, you can understand that this is the cruellest part because it is only the actual jump itself that is the scariest, once that is over the feeling of falling through the air is absolutely 100% amazing. We ended the day an hour later than was originally planned and with eight gigs of jump pictures between all of our cameras.
When Katie and I had been to Zimbabwe three months prior, we had been lucky enough to hear about this neat restaurant called 'The Boma'. We had liked it so much that we thought it would be a great restaurant for the group (didn't hurt that I would be getting out of my cooking duties and Katie getting out of her washing up duties for the night...jk). Even with the group treating our guides (Moses and Robert) to their meal, we managed to get the meal at a better price than we had on our last visit – another perk of having a large group. The evening was great and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. With the exception of the vegetarians (Becky and Niguel) everyone feasted on the different types of wild game meat (Bilsey skipped the appetizers, soups and salads and went straight for the very delicious warthog – a smart man). They would fill up one plate with meat and when it ran out they would go and refill it. The warthog was a favourite just as it had been for us and people still were talking about it days afterward. Everyone liked the place so much that at one point, one of our newer recruits (' English Katie'...and not 'Tom-Katie' who also happens to be English) decided that she would do a hip hip hooray for Katie and I for planning it. She was quickly shut up because we were in a public place, but despite her distance from us, we got the gist of what she was trying to do. I don't think we have ever mentioned that we have THREE Katie's on this trip...which drives my Katie crazy because she never knows when she is being called. She encouraged everyone to call her by her nickname, K-Diggity Dawg, but only Bilsey and Christine seemed to catch on. Jemma, our 'GEM' of the group, calls my Katie 'Canada' which she also quite likes, I think it is because it gives her distinction from 'Katie' . We finished off the supper experience with drumming and dancing which was really good, as expected. Before leaving, we made sure that everyone in our group had dessert, which consisted of the Boma Worm! Jeremy, Fysh and Max went around handing out the worms...complete with the pre filled out certificates of achievement – lol!
After dinner there wasn't much of a party back at the campsite because everyone was so full that they just went straight to bed (again with the exception of the 'youngins' who stayed up and partied all night long).
The next morning (Day 48) was our Lion Walk Experience. It was a bit confusing trying to get everyone together on time to hit up the bus. There was so many people talking and so much shit going on that I missed the conversation about not wearing sandals to go for a walk with the lions (not too sure where Katie was either). I guess my better judgement should have made me change my shoes but I did not. When we got to the lion park there were three of us wearing sandals. I guess I was the only one that was worried. Katie didn't seem the least bit worried but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry (I like my toes) and so I tried to cover my toes with kleenex (Katie laughed the entire time). In my attempt to erase my stupid actions, I managed to just make them worse because the guide said that having kleenex covered toes would be just more of a distraction and would increase my chances that lions would eat my toes.
We split into two groups and headed out to meet our lions (Note: All of these programs use the money they raise from entree fees to pay for the resources needed to raise the number of lions and help to re-introduce them into the wild – It is not just a money making scheme). The group of lions we were to walk with were both 7 months old and were sister and brother. They were chilling out on a rock nearby the camp when we found them. We had already been given the do's and the dont's prior to seeing the lions but while we were with them, a little reminder/refresher would have been nice. Mairie was told to go up and pet the lions and this is where that reminder would have been good. She forgot to put her stick to the side of the lions head and immediately he turned towards her while she was posing for a picture. Fearing her safety the guide quickly shouted to distract the lion and gave Mairie just enough time to get her stick back in place. I don't think the lion would have meant any harm but one swing from these creatures and you would be reeling backwards with a huge open gash – they are after all lions.
I think they feared that some people were worried about the lions and how to approach them when they were sitting down. Imagine approaching your cat when they are laying down. They want to roll over and play with your hand as you try to pet them. Well...now times the size and strength of your cat by ten and then imagine playing with it – it was pretty crazy. So we started to walk with the lions instead. It was quite surreal walking along side the lions occasionally petting their backs. We each took turns leading (well following really) the lions, stopping occasionally to take pictures either when the lions would head into a tree or would stop and pose for a picture. Although these animals are somewhat trained, you still have to watch out for them because they are still wild animals...with real and potentially dangerous teeth and claws! Katie found this out when she ran around a small bush to catch a picture of me with the lions. When she rounded the bush she was startled to see the male lion there half ready to pounce her. The lion had anticipated what she was going to do and he was ready to play but luckily the guide had seen what was happening as well and jumped in just in time (Katie's reaction was priceless). After spending an hour with our group of lions we swapped with the other group who had been placed with two lions that were about 13 months old. It was hard to imagine that in only 6 months they could have nearly doubled in size. After a short walk and some pictures with this new group we were disappointed that the lion walk was over. It was a neat experience to walk with the lions and would have been great to be one of the volunteers who spends the entire day with the lions helping to prepare them for the wild. An added benefit was that I ended the tour with my toes - haha.
We arrived back at the campsite and just spent the remainder of the day relaxing. In the evening a couple of local guys decided to put on another good show for us. Two of the guys came out with kerosene balls on fire and started spinning them over their head to the beat of the drums. It got very intense and you could see that all their practice during the days (we always seen them doing something around the camp) was paying off big time. By the time the show was done most people had already went to bed but there was a couple of people that been drinking pretty hard and were ready to go to the town bar. I decided after a couple of drinks and closing down the camp bar, that I would follow them to town and see what the night life here was like. We headed to a new club called Blue Zulu. It was a pretty hopping and luxurious club and was a lot of fun. What made it more interesting was that Nickhel (one of our group) was pretty smashed and was getting us all into the dancing. Nickhel had never drank alcohol before this trip, so, naturally, he denied he was even the slightest bit drunk. It turned out to be quite a late night and I was glad that I was going to be able to have a sleep in the morning.
Well I though I was going to be able to have a sleep in but Katie had slept early the night before and was ready to shop at 7:30 am (Day 49). I didn't like the look she was giving me when I said I wasn't ready to get up quite yet so I thought how bad could it be if I just got up and went shopping for a little bit. How wrong was I? We ended up shopping for nearly 4 hours at one small market. We had taken a bunch of our belongings that we no longer needed because the local people in Zim are always looking to swap t-shirts, shoes or whatever for their hand crafted souvenirs. Worst part is that everyone there really wants the sale so they don't want to let you move on to the next market so you take a bit of an emotional beating having to say no about ten thousand times to the same person. After four hours I thought I was going to die but we managed to swap out everything we had taken with us and end up with three times as much volume in souvenirs. Even on the way back we managed to make more sales.
I know that in our Malawi post Katie mentioned that I am quite the shopper. Well this much is true. BUT! Katie has been appointed by our group as the number one shopper on the trip and I thought it was definitely worth noting. Not that this is a bad thing because it has sparked many others on the bus, myself included, to do more shopping. Therefore, no one will regret not buying that “one special” carving when they get home and is helping to spur the local business.
I could barely think straight after shopping because I was running on only four hours of sleep and the sun was pounding down on us. It was hard to imagine that we were going to be going on a booze cruise in the evening on the Zambezi river because I sure didn't feel like it and from the looks on the faces of the people who had went out the night before, they didn't either. Nevertheless we went and crazy did it turn. The booze cruise or “Sunset Cruise” as it is supposed to be called is essentially a trip down the river where we get to see animals (if lucky), have snacks and drink as much booze as you can in two hours. By the end of the trip we were being threatened to be taken back to the pier because of noise and people were falling all over the place. On the way back to the campsite Tom had a great idea to strip naked and run up and down the bus aisles. I am not sure how the couple of seats at the front didn't realize what was going on. When we arrived at the campsite I went looking for Katie's shoes on the bus and ran into a pile of puke!
That was just the beginning. Before we had dinner two of the girls had puked and passed completely out. Tom had streaked through the camp site grounds. Mairie was nearly out cold sitting down and her camera was found in the bowl of the mens washrooms – WTF??? Luckily one of the local guys had been honest enough to ask around if it was anyone's camera. After swapping the memory card (camera was dead at this point) into a different camera we knew it was Mairie's...but the question still remains - how did it end up in the Men's washroom? My Katie was doing quite well in comparison and was helping the sick ones out by encouraging them to drink copious amounts of water. We both (with the help of others) carried Mairie to her tent and put her to bed and set up shifts to watch her.
Katie then retired to the dance floor where she played match maker with her backgammon buddy Christine and...I think his name was Chris (from SA). Either way, I think Katie was even more excited when they were kissing. They danced all night and Jemma and Katie kept taking video and pictures (stalkers maybe???). They joked with Christine that the night ended with just a kiss because Christine, for some apparent reason kept flashing people her white kiwi bum which scared Chris off - WTF???
Next up was Nickhel (again). Although, he would again later deny that he had gotten drunk, he tried to superman onto a concrete walkway (or something like that) and messed up his shoulder. This made it real difficult when twenty minutes later we had to carry him, passed out, to the tent. We decided that we would put him with Mairie so we could watch them both. By the end of the night there was five people puking with many more seeming close to it. Despite all the drama and the fact that the real party was done by 10:30 pm (most were too drunk and passed out) it was an awesome night and a good way to end for those of the group who were leaving.
In the morning everyone looked like death but we had a lot to do. Those that were leaving had to take out their stuff from the truck and get a ride arranged. We also had to figure out who puked on Anna's gear in her tent. We had put Nickhel in there with Mairie but no one could confirm if it was him who had puked on her gear. Some people even went as far as to examine the puke to determine if there was meat in it or nor (after all, Nickhel is a Vegetarian). Who knows, maybe he even did it on purpose...jk...not!
It was a very sentimental morning (Day 50) as we were saying goodbye to part of the group who had been with us pretty much from the beginning of the trip. There is always a few who you don't mind leaving behind but almost all of them would be certainly missed for the last three weeks of the trip. It is hard because you get to know someone and when you say goodbye, although there is a chance you may see them again, it is likely the last time you will ever see them. I think we may definitely have to head to Australia at some point because we have met so many awesome people (Bilsey and Laura who are the coolest and as Katie would say, “the cutest couple we have ever met') from the 'Land Down Under'.
We left the gates of the campsite singing our favourite theme song, 'JAMBO' and waved goodbye to our Absolute African Friends!
Monday, October 11, 2010
ZAMBIA!!!
By now, we had started to get used to the long drives in the truck...so, it came as no surprise when Moses informed us that we had yet another long day. We packed up and were on the road by 7am. With the exception of a few bathroom stops and a quick grocery run, (where we picked up another newbie named Nickhel) we remained cooped up in the hot-humid truck until 5pm. It then took an additional 1.5 hours to cross the border into Zambia where by we had yet another hour of driving – fun, fun , FUN!!! Chrisitine and I gave everyone a chuckle when we whipped out our backgammon at the border and where playing while we were in cue. The last half hour of the drive turned into a club as we blasted the music and had the entire truck dancing and grooving to its beat (Jambo Bueano, I Just Cant Wait To Be King, London Underground and Bhomeian Rhapsodey).
When we reached our camp at Mama Rula's, we had just enough energy to set up our tents - the days drive had killed us. After supper, which was served at 9pm, Jeremy and I headed straight to bed.
The following morning (Day 38) was yet another early one where we were up, packed and fed by 7am. We drove the 130km to South Luangwa which took just over 5 hours with the African road conditions – TIA (This is Africa)! When we pulled into the Croc Valley Camp, we were very pleased with the facilities – the camp was situated along the Luangwa River where crocs and hippo's infested the water. There was a swimming pool and fantastic bathrooms with proper sit down toilets and hot showers (total luxury). The owner sat the group down and basically scared 50% of the group with stories about what has happened in the past. All that separated the camp from the National Park was the River and he told us that this does not stop the animals from crossing over. On previous experiences, he has had Elephants drinking out of the swimming pool, a baby elephant stuck in the swimming pool (and there are scratches to prove it), hippo's out grazing next to tents, a pride of lions walking around camp and Hyena's scavenging for table scraps. Moses also informed us that it was at this location that a bull elephant had smashed the back of the truck window during the night to access some fruit it had smelt. So, as a result, we had to be very careful and we were not allowed any food in the tent and all fruits and veggies had to be locked up in the fridge.
Majority of the group cooled off in the swimming pool before departing on our afternoon game drive at the South Luangwa National Park. There were 2 4x4 Jeeps that picked the group up and immediately after exiting the camp, our Jeep stumbled across 2 elephants feeding (Momma and her baby). We continued to spot a lot of elephants as we drove throughout the park and we could not help but notice how small these elephants were (tusks included) to the ones that we have seen in the past. Our guide informed us that this was not always the case but because of the heaving poaching which occurred many years ago, the elephants adapted. Because most of the large tusked elephants had been wiped out the only elephants to give birth to new babies were those with small tusks, forever changing the lineage in the park.
When the sun was starting to set, the Jeep pulled over and we had some refreshments and peanuts before beginning the night drive. The highlight of the night drive was that we stumbled into three different leopards (which is VERY uncommon) and all were separate sightings. I accidentally forgot my glasses so I could really only claim to have spotted two...although I did mistake a warthog for a leopard – not sure if that one counts – lol! The first spotting was really cool because he had hidden himself in a bush. When he was ready to leave, we heard a twig snap and that was it, he was gone and we could not believe how fast he had disappeared. When we were dropped back off at camp, Moses and Robert had prepared for us an amazing supper – I think I would be correct when I say that the group inhaled the food because within 5 minutes of being served, all plates were empty. This is my only negative thing I have to say about the over lander...I hate that we eat so late because there is nothing healthy about eating a big meal right before heading to bed. But with this being said, there is nothing we can do to avoid it because we are either always driving or on the go that by the time we have arrived at camp or returned from an excursion, it is already so late in the afternoon.
The next morning (Day 39) Jeremy and I were up and ready for our morning game drive. Majority of the group opted for another game drive although it was an extra expense we had to incur (the first game drive was covered by the group kitty). I was actually on the fence about whether I should go or not but I am so grateful that I did go because nearing the end of our morning drive, Janelle spotted a Leopard!!! Our very old but very cute driver could not spot it so we all showed him where to go. He actually drove off the road and into the bush which Jeremy and I were pretty amazed about. Just as we thought we had lost him, the Leopard darted up out of the grass not more than ten feet from us. He sat there for a few minutes posing which gave every one on the truck ample time at picture taking. As he started to leave, he crouched and in stealth like mode (he was hunting impala's not more than 50 feet from us) crawled across the ground with his prominent shoulder blades sticking high up in the air – so so cool! After he continued towards his kill, our guide starting reversing and had nearly everyone on the truck ready to scream bloody murder. Jeremy and I had been on enough game drives to know that driving off road is a huge offence in a National Park and we just assumed he was scared – I mean, what he just did for us could have cost him his job. When we were back on the road, he apologized and told us it is not encouraged to watch when a Lion or Leopard hunts because our presence could throw the creature off. We accepted this (although we might not have believed it) and then again, he stopped and quite timidly told us not to tell anyone we went off of the road. We were all touched and even the people on the truck that were angry with him before realized just what he had done for us.
The remainder of the day was spent relaxing and lounging in the hot Zambian sun. I relaxed by visiting with Christine, reading and a bit of blog writing (this blog has become a major nuisance but we are sure that in years to come when we look back and reminisce, we will be so appreciative that we wrote our whole journey down) while overlooking the breathtaking view of the river and the hippos below. Actually, at one point in the day, I watched in horror as three locals walked into the river with a canoe – I mean, HELLO...don't they know that the waters are infested with crocs and Hippo's??? Although they did get into the canoe when they reached the mid point of the river, I could not take my eyes off of them and I was sure that at some point, I would hear their screams as they were attacked. Jeremy spent the entire day hanging with the yougins...I say youngins because we have a group of 5 guys that are 18...they have tons of energy and bring tons of energy to the group – we absolutely love them! These are the same guys that stay up drinking at the bar till 3 and 4 in the morning EVERY NIGHT- WTF??? Oh...how to be young again. It was also Willl's 19th Birthday (yes...birthdays = yummy birthday cake!)so the boys made sure that they had Will feeling really good by late afternoon. Jeremy came back to me shirtless and covered in welts from drinking ping pong games that they had been playing all afternoon. After a delicious supper the entire group headed to the bar to celebrate. Will did surprisingly good considering he had consumed loads of beer and had done at least ten shooters before finally succumbing to the 19 year birthday puke (because lets face it, we have all been there and done it...and felt the effects the following day). That night as we crawled into our tents, we fell asleep to the sounds of Hippo's grazing nearby.
The following morning (Day 40) we had the luxury of sleeping in...of course, as it so happened, we were unable to sleep in because as soon as the sun came out, the tents were like convectional ovens. But even with that being said, it was so nice to wake up and kick back and relax and take our own time to eat breakfast before packing up. That day we drove the 130 kms back (5+ hours) to Mama Rula's. When we arrived, Billsy and Laura rallied a decent sized group for a run. Although I was unable to keep up with either of them, Janelle, Rhesa, Christine, Melissa, Anna and I were quite content to hover in the back. The highlight of our run was when a couple of local (extremely adorable) kids joined in our run with us. We were high fiving them and encouraging them to keep up with us. When we were at our half way point, we abruptly stopped and changed directions...this had the kids really confused but they still continued to follow us. I was very impressed because here we were, more than double there size and we were completely exhausted...I cant not even imagine how they were feeling (although they looked completely fine). When we reached back to camp, I got the girls to join in on my boxing circuit. We were told that a German Shepard had just taken a poo right around the area we were at so we all made sure to double check the area of grass we were in and around. I guess Anna had not looked closely enough because on her first sit up that she went down on, she came up screaming with poo smeared all over her shirt – it smelt disgusting (although it was kind of funny!). That night Jeremy's cooking group made the most delicious burgers and rice salad and again, it was completely inhaled. Later on that night, a crowd gathered around Jeremy...or should I say Barber Jeremy as he shaved off all of the hair on Nick, Chris and Trino's hair (he actually left a Mohawk on both Trino's and Nick's hair) and surprisingly, it kept us entertained for the remainder of the night.
The following morning (Day 41) was yet again another early day and we hopped on the truck and were bound for Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We briefly stopped at a Shoprite for supper groceries before making our way to the campsite. The truck ride was uneventful until our truck popped the curb and drove across the meridian onto oncoming traffic. We thought this was very strange but then we saw others around us doing the same and realized it must have been a very common practice in this country...after all...TIA. As we were driving (on the wrong side of the road) we came across another over lander truck called Gecko. We have ran into the Gecko's before at some campsites and I think it is just an unwritten rule that opposing over lander trucks are your 'arch enemy'. It couldn't have worked out any more beautiful then it did because as we crossed back onto the 'right' side of the road, wouldn't you know that we were immediately adjacent to the Gecko's. They smiled at us and started waving...but that was before Nick and Trino starting spraying them with water guns (Gemma earlier that day had purchased some water guns not realizing just how fantastic and useful they would be). They retaliated with their own water bottles and as it worked out, Janelle (an innocent bystander on the truck) was the only one that got wet. So...here we were, 2 overlanders stuck in rush hour traffic having a full force water fight – it was so great.
After we sealed up all the windows one of the young guys thought it would be funny to follow up the water fight with a dance off and before you knew it, we were listening to 'I'm too sexy for my shirt'. So, in minutes the guys were completely shirtless and dancing like I have never seen before. Jeremy and Billsy would probably take the cake for most ingenious dance and I have the whole episode on video! Jeremy at first went down the aisle and after placing his one foot on the bookcase started doing deep lounges. He then placed his other foot on the fridge and was complete off of the floor lounging deeper and deeper (I laughed and told the girls around me that he has been holding out on me – haha!). When traffic finally started to move an hour later, it was not long before we pulled into camp and just as we did, the song, "I Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas starting playing. When Moses came into the truck to give his spiel about the campground and supper etc., he got caught up in the moment and ended up dancing the entire song (again, I have this on video). I assumed he would dance for maybe like 30 seconds and then ask to turn it down...but nope, he danced the whole song and it was completely priceless.
That night we cooked BBQ Chicken and Veggies. I have never eaten pumpkin before as a Veggie until this trip. We have it all the time back home but in baking and not by itself. I had to consult with my Canadian friends, Melissa and Brandon, to confirm if they felt the same way that I did. They did of course but we made an oath to eat it back home as a veggie because it is so delicious and Jeremy and I can not believe what we have been missing out on all of these years. So those of you reading this, trust us...just go out and buy a pumpkin, clean out the seeds and cut it up into pieces – wrap it in tinfoil and barbeque it like you would a baked potatoe – yummy yummy!
The following morning (Day 42) a small group of us went for a morning run. As usual, Laura and Billsy were at the front with Max and Christine. Janelle,Rhesa and I were in the back and as we were running, we joked that we were on a 'Game Run' as we had run across Impala's and Gazelle's (and the night before there was a Zebra spottingin the campsite). We returned back to camp feeling so refreshed and ready to take on another long day on the truck. Half an hour later, Billsy and Max strolled back in. We had just assumed that Christine and Laura were also back and in the bathroom showering. We later found out that they had not returned because they had gotten horribly lost (we joke that it was the blind leading the blind as they are notoriously bad for their directions) and their 40 minute run turned into just under 1 ½ hours. The truck drive was uneventful, with the exception of a blown tire which was fixed in under half an hour thanks to Robert, Moses and my Jeremy. We were bound for Lake Kariba, a days drive away where we would be spending the following three nights on a house boat. We were informed before hand that there were 2 double rooms and bundles of bunks. The couples rolled dice to determine who would get the luxury of the double bed and wouldn't you believe our luck, our number was drawn as well as Billsy and Laura.
We arrived late at night and spent the first twenty minutes transporting the group's food down a very dark and steep hill onto the houseboat. Once this was done, we had to climb back up the hill and transport our own personal belongings and booze to the boat. It was quite the process. Because we arrived at the camp so late, it was yet another late supper (we ate at 9;15pm) and so of course majority of the people were well on their way to being drunk...especially the birthday boy, Trino (I heart birthdays!!! and mine is next in line). For the remainder of night, the group drank and played cards. Just when I was ready to head to bed, the young Jibaltyo boys decided to jump into the freezing cold hot tub and have a quick splash. Similar to the "I too Sexy"dance off on the truck, they started chanting each others name to 'man up'and join them in the tub. Of course, my Jeremy was first in line and I tried to plead with him not to go because he was sick and the water was freezing. But...of course, Jeremy glad;y through off his shirt and headed for the tub. This continued until all the guys were in the tub splashing around like a 2 year old. The boys next started chanting the girls and they made it as far as Aussie Claire and Rhesa before there was literally no more room in the tub. I again have all of this on video – too funny!
The next morning (Day 43) was a great sleep in for all and Jeremy and I were so SO appreciative for the fact that we were not in a tent and rather sleeping on the ground had actual beds. The day was very relaxed and was just spent reading and sleeping. The sun was still not out which was a huge disappointment for all of us. Jeremy, Claire, Mairie and I helped with the prep work for Lasagna for supper (the boat had an oven so we made sure that for every meal we utilized it to its full extent). When 5 o'clockk hit, everyone eagerly went downstairs to prepare for the 'fancy dress party'or what we liked to call, the 'ugly dress party". We had purchased these awful looking dresses and clothes in a local town in Malawi for 500 kwachas ($3 dollars). It was funny to see the locals, after pulling up in our overland truck,come sprinting at us with bags full of these dresses. I was joking with Brandon (our Canadian Friend) that the dresses looked like the clothes you can pick up from Value Village when we both noticed a Value Village price tag – talk about ironic! We all started to get decked out and I was so excited to pull out my never used before make up bag (I had brought it along for Europe). I gave myself the hot 60's style bangs with very gaudy make up. Everyone loved my make up job that I had done so they asked me to do theirs...boys included. I think in the end, I had done almost all of the make up and it was so easy too because even if I screwed up, it added to the uglyniess look. I was especially pleased with Jeremy's make up as I gave him a long curly moustache with my black eye liner! Before the party officially started we all had our own personal portraits taken which are priceless.
Chris (the fun and hard core party animal) was in charge of making the punch which meant that it was very very strong. So, again, similar to last night, most people were feeling pretty good even before the supper was served. We spent the entire night dancing our hearts out (I totally felt like I was back in my University days and dancing the night away with my girls). Jemma had purchased some outrageously large sunglasses which made for some really funny pics. Jeremy was enjoying his time with the young boys and Tom (who quite possibility had the gayest outfit next to Brandon) in very inappropriate but hilarious poses.
At one point during the night, I was so sweaty that I needed a quick breather. I leaned against a column next to Aussie Claire and then Jemma who just randomly had some Saran wrap wrapped us together. We laughed and thought it was all fine (as we were having a great heart to heart conversation) until Trino, grinning ear to ear held up a large garbage sized container filled with the cool hot tub water. I warned him and told him countless times that if he did what I think he was going to do, that I would personally kick his ass. He hesitated then apparently went for it after Jeremy leaned in his ear and said go for it (I found this out later otherwise Jeremy would have also been a dead man). After being completely drenched from head to toe, Claire and I looked at each other in shock and, like lunatic savages, ripped off our Saran wrap and tackled Trino. We had him pinned to the ground and were successfully ripping his clothed off when Jeremy tackled me in attempt to save him. Thanks to Jeremy';s extra effort, Trino managed to make a run for his bedroom. I had also snuck away at was chasing after him when Jeremy, a second time, tackled me and we both flew into the counter of the bar. We sat there laughing and regaining our breath before Claire and I again went for Trino. By this point, he was safely locked behind his bedroom door. We realized just how scared he truly was and of course we did not want him to spend the remainder of the night locked in his room so we promised him that we would call a truce. He timidly came out of his room and we all had a truce hug but ever since that moment, he has been scared shitless of both Claire and I. When we came back to the dance floor, Billsy was laughing his ass off and showed us his pictures of what just happened. We laughed so hard (I guess we all did minus Trino) when he started narrating the story as an animal documentary and calling us girls "the hyena's" and Trino as the "wounded prey". All in all, it was a FANTASTIC night and memories and pictures that we will treasure forever.
The following morning (Day 44), some of us were starting to get up while others (the young ones) were just heading to bed. Again, the sun still did not shine which made a lot of people very angry, myself included especially when we have had 95% perfect weather while on this trip. I was reading on the top deck when some guys came up for a swim. Lake Karibu is infested with crocodiles but because we were in the middle of the lake, the captain informed us that it was safe out here. I still thought, "HELL NO" would you ever catch me dead jumping into that water. Well...can you imagine who was the first to go in???? Of course it had to be Jeremy!!! Even some of the girls went swimming which was pretty impressive considering they jumped off of the third floor deck - crazy – crazy – crazy people!!!
Jeremy went fishing with Tom on a small motor boat but sadly caught nothing. I relaxed on the top deck with Billsy, Laura, Christine and Gemma. We gossiped, read and played game after game of Backgammon (Christine is my Backgammon Buddy) and I even convinced Gemma to give me a pedicure – my lucky day! When the sun set, we could not believe how fast the day went...especially because the following day the house boating would be over and we would be back to our uncomfy tents. That night after supper, most people chilled out except for Brandon and Mel who had much to celebrate as they had just been informed that Brandon had finished 3rd out of his class of 100 in law – go Canada!
Early the next morning (Day 45) we got up and had to scramble to pack our disaster of a room back into our bags and be off the boat by 8:30. Once we managed to get everything off the boat we were taken on a tour of the croc farm. It was a large farm that takes trouble crocs from the surrounding villages and keeps them in captivity so they don't harm any one us or some local doesn't take things into his own hands. There is thousands of crocs on the farm and as we pulled up to the pool of crocs it was amazing to see them all sitting together not trying to kill eachother...okay well some of them were.
We were on an open jeep and were all a bit timid when they drove us right into an area which had a large pool with thousands of several meter sized crocs. Some of them were sitting no more than a meter off the road and when we stopped beside them everyone leaned farther into the truck to stay as far away as we could. At one point we pulled up to the water and the guide told us to get out of the truck. He had a large stick which he said could be used to poke to the nose of the most curious crocs that ventured up to us. After feeding the crocs and watching them jump over eachother to try and get the food we sat watching them. At one point one of the crocs tried to slyly climb up closer to the guide. He seemed very sure of himself and tried to poke the nose of the croc with his long stick. It did not have the effect he had explained and the croc kept getting closer. This was a bit worrisome but what really scared everyone was when all of a sudden all of the crocs became spooked and started to stir and move quickly around. Luckily they must have been a little scared of us because they all ran back into the water.
After our croc tour we hopped back on the truck and headed for Livingstone. Because all of us had amassed a huge collection of wooden figurines over the last week, we were to stop at a post office and post all of our souvenirs back to Canada. Maira had sent back some of her stuff at our last destination and paid an arm and a leg to do so. Therefore, we were a bit apprehensive of how much our 50 kilograms would cost us so we thought we better look into how much we could take on the plane. We had originally thought we were able to take two bags each at a weight of 32kg per bag but after my mother had talked to the airline we were not certain we could do so. Unfortunately, most of the internet networks in town were down (it is not uncommon for an entire city to lose internet at once). We finally managed to find one and to our horror our bag limit was much less than we had originally thought. Therefore, we quickly ran back to the truck grabbed one of our oddly shaped items and began scrambling to pack it. We managed to finish the packing quickly and luckily had to pay only $150 to send it back home. We still have one more box to pick up in South Africa to repack and take with us. We can't afford to get there and have to pay another $150 per bag because we are already going to be pretty tight on room and weight.
After the post we headed to Victoria falls to see it on the Zambian side of the river before heading to the other side. Many of the people had gotten off the truck and figured that when Moses said we will get wet, that he was exaggerating. We had been to the other side and informed people that what he was saying was true. However, we never realized that it would be so different. The initial lookouts rained down a fine mist but when we went to cross the bridge there was actually a river flowing down it. At this point it was just Katie and I and we struggled to make it up the bridge without following over. At first it didn't seem like it would be worth it but when we were crossing the bridge we passed the most spectacular circular rainbow. When we reached the other side we found Chris wearing his normal attire (corduroy pants and dress shirt) but now he was dripping wet. He had figured it wouldn't be too bad but now realized he had been wrong. It didn't matter because it was so hot out that he was nearly dry by the time we had finished visiting the falls and gotten free laundry service.
We spent an hour and a half at the falls and managed to get great pictures with the two of us and the rest of the group. However, now we can personally say that the view from the Zimbabwean side is much nicer and you managed to stay a little dryer.
When we reached our camp at Mama Rula's, we had just enough energy to set up our tents - the days drive had killed us. After supper, which was served at 9pm, Jeremy and I headed straight to bed.
The following morning (Day 38) was yet another early one where we were up, packed and fed by 7am. We drove the 130km to South Luangwa which took just over 5 hours with the African road conditions – TIA (This is Africa)! When we pulled into the Croc Valley Camp, we were very pleased with the facilities – the camp was situated along the Luangwa River where crocs and hippo's infested the water. There was a swimming pool and fantastic bathrooms with proper sit down toilets and hot showers (total luxury). The owner sat the group down and basically scared 50% of the group with stories about what has happened in the past. All that separated the camp from the National Park was the River and he told us that this does not stop the animals from crossing over. On previous experiences, he has had Elephants drinking out of the swimming pool, a baby elephant stuck in the swimming pool (and there are scratches to prove it), hippo's out grazing next to tents, a pride of lions walking around camp and Hyena's scavenging for table scraps. Moses also informed us that it was at this location that a bull elephant had smashed the back of the truck window during the night to access some fruit it had smelt. So, as a result, we had to be very careful and we were not allowed any food in the tent and all fruits and veggies had to be locked up in the fridge.
Majority of the group cooled off in the swimming pool before departing on our afternoon game drive at the South Luangwa National Park. There were 2 4x4 Jeeps that picked the group up and immediately after exiting the camp, our Jeep stumbled across 2 elephants feeding (Momma and her baby). We continued to spot a lot of elephants as we drove throughout the park and we could not help but notice how small these elephants were (tusks included) to the ones that we have seen in the past. Our guide informed us that this was not always the case but because of the heaving poaching which occurred many years ago, the elephants adapted. Because most of the large tusked elephants had been wiped out the only elephants to give birth to new babies were those with small tusks, forever changing the lineage in the park.
When the sun was starting to set, the Jeep pulled over and we had some refreshments and peanuts before beginning the night drive. The highlight of the night drive was that we stumbled into three different leopards (which is VERY uncommon) and all were separate sightings. I accidentally forgot my glasses so I could really only claim to have spotted two...although I did mistake a warthog for a leopard – not sure if that one counts – lol! The first spotting was really cool because he had hidden himself in a bush. When he was ready to leave, we heard a twig snap and that was it, he was gone and we could not believe how fast he had disappeared. When we were dropped back off at camp, Moses and Robert had prepared for us an amazing supper – I think I would be correct when I say that the group inhaled the food because within 5 minutes of being served, all plates were empty. This is my only negative thing I have to say about the over lander...I hate that we eat so late because there is nothing healthy about eating a big meal right before heading to bed. But with this being said, there is nothing we can do to avoid it because we are either always driving or on the go that by the time we have arrived at camp or returned from an excursion, it is already so late in the afternoon.
The next morning (Day 39) Jeremy and I were up and ready for our morning game drive. Majority of the group opted for another game drive although it was an extra expense we had to incur (the first game drive was covered by the group kitty). I was actually on the fence about whether I should go or not but I am so grateful that I did go because nearing the end of our morning drive, Janelle spotted a Leopard!!! Our very old but very cute driver could not spot it so we all showed him where to go. He actually drove off the road and into the bush which Jeremy and I were pretty amazed about. Just as we thought we had lost him, the Leopard darted up out of the grass not more than ten feet from us. He sat there for a few minutes posing which gave every one on the truck ample time at picture taking. As he started to leave, he crouched and in stealth like mode (he was hunting impala's not more than 50 feet from us) crawled across the ground with his prominent shoulder blades sticking high up in the air – so so cool! After he continued towards his kill, our guide starting reversing and had nearly everyone on the truck ready to scream bloody murder. Jeremy and I had been on enough game drives to know that driving off road is a huge offence in a National Park and we just assumed he was scared – I mean, what he just did for us could have cost him his job. When we were back on the road, he apologized and told us it is not encouraged to watch when a Lion or Leopard hunts because our presence could throw the creature off. We accepted this (although we might not have believed it) and then again, he stopped and quite timidly told us not to tell anyone we went off of the road. We were all touched and even the people on the truck that were angry with him before realized just what he had done for us.
The remainder of the day was spent relaxing and lounging in the hot Zambian sun. I relaxed by visiting with Christine, reading and a bit of blog writing (this blog has become a major nuisance but we are sure that in years to come when we look back and reminisce, we will be so appreciative that we wrote our whole journey down) while overlooking the breathtaking view of the river and the hippos below. Actually, at one point in the day, I watched in horror as three locals walked into the river with a canoe – I mean, HELLO...don't they know that the waters are infested with crocs and Hippo's??? Although they did get into the canoe when they reached the mid point of the river, I could not take my eyes off of them and I was sure that at some point, I would hear their screams as they were attacked. Jeremy spent the entire day hanging with the yougins...I say youngins because we have a group of 5 guys that are 18...they have tons of energy and bring tons of energy to the group – we absolutely love them! These are the same guys that stay up drinking at the bar till 3 and 4 in the morning EVERY NIGHT- WTF??? Oh...how to be young again. It was also Willl's 19th Birthday (yes...birthdays = yummy birthday cake!)so the boys made sure that they had Will feeling really good by late afternoon. Jeremy came back to me shirtless and covered in welts from drinking ping pong games that they had been playing all afternoon. After a delicious supper the entire group headed to the bar to celebrate. Will did surprisingly good considering he had consumed loads of beer and had done at least ten shooters before finally succumbing to the 19 year birthday puke (because lets face it, we have all been there and done it...and felt the effects the following day). That night as we crawled into our tents, we fell asleep to the sounds of Hippo's grazing nearby.
The following morning (Day 40) we had the luxury of sleeping in...of course, as it so happened, we were unable to sleep in because as soon as the sun came out, the tents were like convectional ovens. But even with that being said, it was so nice to wake up and kick back and relax and take our own time to eat breakfast before packing up. That day we drove the 130 kms back (5+ hours) to Mama Rula's. When we arrived, Billsy and Laura rallied a decent sized group for a run. Although I was unable to keep up with either of them, Janelle, Rhesa, Christine, Melissa, Anna and I were quite content to hover in the back. The highlight of our run was when a couple of local (extremely adorable) kids joined in our run with us. We were high fiving them and encouraging them to keep up with us. When we were at our half way point, we abruptly stopped and changed directions...this had the kids really confused but they still continued to follow us. I was very impressed because here we were, more than double there size and we were completely exhausted...I cant not even imagine how they were feeling (although they looked completely fine). When we reached back to camp, I got the girls to join in on my boxing circuit. We were told that a German Shepard had just taken a poo right around the area we were at so we all made sure to double check the area of grass we were in and around. I guess Anna had not looked closely enough because on her first sit up that she went down on, she came up screaming with poo smeared all over her shirt – it smelt disgusting (although it was kind of funny!). That night Jeremy's cooking group made the most delicious burgers and rice salad and again, it was completely inhaled. Later on that night, a crowd gathered around Jeremy...or should I say Barber Jeremy as he shaved off all of the hair on Nick, Chris and Trino's hair (he actually left a Mohawk on both Trino's and Nick's hair) and surprisingly, it kept us entertained for the remainder of the night.
The following morning (Day 41) was yet again another early day and we hopped on the truck and were bound for Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We briefly stopped at a Shoprite for supper groceries before making our way to the campsite. The truck ride was uneventful until our truck popped the curb and drove across the meridian onto oncoming traffic. We thought this was very strange but then we saw others around us doing the same and realized it must have been a very common practice in this country...after all...TIA. As we were driving (on the wrong side of the road) we came across another over lander truck called Gecko. We have ran into the Gecko's before at some campsites and I think it is just an unwritten rule that opposing over lander trucks are your 'arch enemy'. It couldn't have worked out any more beautiful then it did because as we crossed back onto the 'right' side of the road, wouldn't you know that we were immediately adjacent to the Gecko's. They smiled at us and started waving...but that was before Nick and Trino starting spraying them with water guns (Gemma earlier that day had purchased some water guns not realizing just how fantastic and useful they would be). They retaliated with their own water bottles and as it worked out, Janelle (an innocent bystander on the truck) was the only one that got wet. So...here we were, 2 overlanders stuck in rush hour traffic having a full force water fight – it was so great.
After we sealed up all the windows one of the young guys thought it would be funny to follow up the water fight with a dance off and before you knew it, we were listening to 'I'm too sexy for my shirt'. So, in minutes the guys were completely shirtless and dancing like I have never seen before. Jeremy and Billsy would probably take the cake for most ingenious dance and I have the whole episode on video! Jeremy at first went down the aisle and after placing his one foot on the bookcase started doing deep lounges. He then placed his other foot on the fridge and was complete off of the floor lounging deeper and deeper (I laughed and told the girls around me that he has been holding out on me – haha!). When traffic finally started to move an hour later, it was not long before we pulled into camp and just as we did, the song, "I Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas starting playing. When Moses came into the truck to give his spiel about the campground and supper etc., he got caught up in the moment and ended up dancing the entire song (again, I have this on video). I assumed he would dance for maybe like 30 seconds and then ask to turn it down...but nope, he danced the whole song and it was completely priceless.
That night we cooked BBQ Chicken and Veggies. I have never eaten pumpkin before as a Veggie until this trip. We have it all the time back home but in baking and not by itself. I had to consult with my Canadian friends, Melissa and Brandon, to confirm if they felt the same way that I did. They did of course but we made an oath to eat it back home as a veggie because it is so delicious and Jeremy and I can not believe what we have been missing out on all of these years. So those of you reading this, trust us...just go out and buy a pumpkin, clean out the seeds and cut it up into pieces – wrap it in tinfoil and barbeque it like you would a baked potatoe – yummy yummy!
The following morning (Day 42) a small group of us went for a morning run. As usual, Laura and Billsy were at the front with Max and Christine. Janelle,Rhesa and I were in the back and as we were running, we joked that we were on a 'Game Run' as we had run across Impala's and Gazelle's (and the night before there was a Zebra spottingin the campsite). We returned back to camp feeling so refreshed and ready to take on another long day on the truck. Half an hour later, Billsy and Max strolled back in. We had just assumed that Christine and Laura were also back and in the bathroom showering. We later found out that they had not returned because they had gotten horribly lost (we joke that it was the blind leading the blind as they are notoriously bad for their directions) and their 40 minute run turned into just under 1 ½ hours. The truck drive was uneventful, with the exception of a blown tire which was fixed in under half an hour thanks to Robert, Moses and my Jeremy. We were bound for Lake Kariba, a days drive away where we would be spending the following three nights on a house boat. We were informed before hand that there were 2 double rooms and bundles of bunks. The couples rolled dice to determine who would get the luxury of the double bed and wouldn't you believe our luck, our number was drawn as well as Billsy and Laura.
We arrived late at night and spent the first twenty minutes transporting the group's food down a very dark and steep hill onto the houseboat. Once this was done, we had to climb back up the hill and transport our own personal belongings and booze to the boat. It was quite the process. Because we arrived at the camp so late, it was yet another late supper (we ate at 9;15pm) and so of course majority of the people were well on their way to being drunk...especially the birthday boy, Trino (I heart birthdays!!! and mine is next in line). For the remainder of night, the group drank and played cards. Just when I was ready to head to bed, the young Jibaltyo boys decided to jump into the freezing cold hot tub and have a quick splash. Similar to the "I too Sexy"dance off on the truck, they started chanting each others name to 'man up'and join them in the tub. Of course, my Jeremy was first in line and I tried to plead with him not to go because he was sick and the water was freezing. But...of course, Jeremy glad;y through off his shirt and headed for the tub. This continued until all the guys were in the tub splashing around like a 2 year old. The boys next started chanting the girls and they made it as far as Aussie Claire and Rhesa before there was literally no more room in the tub. I again have all of this on video – too funny!
The next morning (Day 43) was a great sleep in for all and Jeremy and I were so SO appreciative for the fact that we were not in a tent and rather sleeping on the ground had actual beds. The day was very relaxed and was just spent reading and sleeping. The sun was still not out which was a huge disappointment for all of us. Jeremy, Claire, Mairie and I helped with the prep work for Lasagna for supper (the boat had an oven so we made sure that for every meal we utilized it to its full extent). When 5 o'clockk hit, everyone eagerly went downstairs to prepare for the 'fancy dress party'or what we liked to call, the 'ugly dress party". We had purchased these awful looking dresses and clothes in a local town in Malawi for 500 kwachas ($3 dollars). It was funny to see the locals, after pulling up in our overland truck,come sprinting at us with bags full of these dresses. I was joking with Brandon (our Canadian Friend) that the dresses looked like the clothes you can pick up from Value Village when we both noticed a Value Village price tag – talk about ironic! We all started to get decked out and I was so excited to pull out my never used before make up bag (I had brought it along for Europe). I gave myself the hot 60's style bangs with very gaudy make up. Everyone loved my make up job that I had done so they asked me to do theirs...boys included. I think in the end, I had done almost all of the make up and it was so easy too because even if I screwed up, it added to the uglyniess look. I was especially pleased with Jeremy's make up as I gave him a long curly moustache with my black eye liner! Before the party officially started we all had our own personal portraits taken which are priceless.
Chris (the fun and hard core party animal) was in charge of making the punch which meant that it was very very strong. So, again, similar to last night, most people were feeling pretty good even before the supper was served. We spent the entire night dancing our hearts out (I totally felt like I was back in my University days and dancing the night away with my girls). Jemma had purchased some outrageously large sunglasses which made for some really funny pics. Jeremy was enjoying his time with the young boys and Tom (who quite possibility had the gayest outfit next to Brandon) in very inappropriate but hilarious poses.
At one point during the night, I was so sweaty that I needed a quick breather. I leaned against a column next to Aussie Claire and then Jemma who just randomly had some Saran wrap wrapped us together. We laughed and thought it was all fine (as we were having a great heart to heart conversation) until Trino, grinning ear to ear held up a large garbage sized container filled with the cool hot tub water. I warned him and told him countless times that if he did what I think he was going to do, that I would personally kick his ass. He hesitated then apparently went for it after Jeremy leaned in his ear and said go for it (I found this out later otherwise Jeremy would have also been a dead man). After being completely drenched from head to toe, Claire and I looked at each other in shock and, like lunatic savages, ripped off our Saran wrap and tackled Trino. We had him pinned to the ground and were successfully ripping his clothed off when Jeremy tackled me in attempt to save him. Thanks to Jeremy';s extra effort, Trino managed to make a run for his bedroom. I had also snuck away at was chasing after him when Jeremy, a second time, tackled me and we both flew into the counter of the bar. We sat there laughing and regaining our breath before Claire and I again went for Trino. By this point, he was safely locked behind his bedroom door. We realized just how scared he truly was and of course we did not want him to spend the remainder of the night locked in his room so we promised him that we would call a truce. He timidly came out of his room and we all had a truce hug but ever since that moment, he has been scared shitless of both Claire and I. When we came back to the dance floor, Billsy was laughing his ass off and showed us his pictures of what just happened. We laughed so hard (I guess we all did minus Trino) when he started narrating the story as an animal documentary and calling us girls "the hyena's" and Trino as the "wounded prey". All in all, it was a FANTASTIC night and memories and pictures that we will treasure forever.
The following morning (Day 44), some of us were starting to get up while others (the young ones) were just heading to bed. Again, the sun still did not shine which made a lot of people very angry, myself included especially when we have had 95% perfect weather while on this trip. I was reading on the top deck when some guys came up for a swim. Lake Karibu is infested with crocodiles but because we were in the middle of the lake, the captain informed us that it was safe out here. I still thought, "HELL NO" would you ever catch me dead jumping into that water. Well...can you imagine who was the first to go in???? Of course it had to be Jeremy!!! Even some of the girls went swimming which was pretty impressive considering they jumped off of the third floor deck - crazy – crazy – crazy people!!!
Jeremy went fishing with Tom on a small motor boat but sadly caught nothing. I relaxed on the top deck with Billsy, Laura, Christine and Gemma. We gossiped, read and played game after game of Backgammon (Christine is my Backgammon Buddy) and I even convinced Gemma to give me a pedicure – my lucky day! When the sun set, we could not believe how fast the day went...especially because the following day the house boating would be over and we would be back to our uncomfy tents. That night after supper, most people chilled out except for Brandon and Mel who had much to celebrate as they had just been informed that Brandon had finished 3rd out of his class of 100 in law – go Canada!
Early the next morning (Day 45) we got up and had to scramble to pack our disaster of a room back into our bags and be off the boat by 8:30. Once we managed to get everything off the boat we were taken on a tour of the croc farm. It was a large farm that takes trouble crocs from the surrounding villages and keeps them in captivity so they don't harm any one us or some local doesn't take things into his own hands. There is thousands of crocs on the farm and as we pulled up to the pool of crocs it was amazing to see them all sitting together not trying to kill eachother...okay well some of them were.
We were on an open jeep and were all a bit timid when they drove us right into an area which had a large pool with thousands of several meter sized crocs. Some of them were sitting no more than a meter off the road and when we stopped beside them everyone leaned farther into the truck to stay as far away as we could. At one point we pulled up to the water and the guide told us to get out of the truck. He had a large stick which he said could be used to poke to the nose of the most curious crocs that ventured up to us. After feeding the crocs and watching them jump over eachother to try and get the food we sat watching them. At one point one of the crocs tried to slyly climb up closer to the guide. He seemed very sure of himself and tried to poke the nose of the croc with his long stick. It did not have the effect he had explained and the croc kept getting closer. This was a bit worrisome but what really scared everyone was when all of a sudden all of the crocs became spooked and started to stir and move quickly around. Luckily they must have been a little scared of us because they all ran back into the water.
After our croc tour we hopped back on the truck and headed for Livingstone. Because all of us had amassed a huge collection of wooden figurines over the last week, we were to stop at a post office and post all of our souvenirs back to Canada. Maira had sent back some of her stuff at our last destination and paid an arm and a leg to do so. Therefore, we were a bit apprehensive of how much our 50 kilograms would cost us so we thought we better look into how much we could take on the plane. We had originally thought we were able to take two bags each at a weight of 32kg per bag but after my mother had talked to the airline we were not certain we could do so. Unfortunately, most of the internet networks in town were down (it is not uncommon for an entire city to lose internet at once). We finally managed to find one and to our horror our bag limit was much less than we had originally thought. Therefore, we quickly ran back to the truck grabbed one of our oddly shaped items and began scrambling to pack it. We managed to finish the packing quickly and luckily had to pay only $150 to send it back home. We still have one more box to pick up in South Africa to repack and take with us. We can't afford to get there and have to pay another $150 per bag because we are already going to be pretty tight on room and weight.
After the post we headed to Victoria falls to see it on the Zambian side of the river before heading to the other side. Many of the people had gotten off the truck and figured that when Moses said we will get wet, that he was exaggerating. We had been to the other side and informed people that what he was saying was true. However, we never realized that it would be so different. The initial lookouts rained down a fine mist but when we went to cross the bridge there was actually a river flowing down it. At this point it was just Katie and I and we struggled to make it up the bridge without following over. At first it didn't seem like it would be worth it but when we were crossing the bridge we passed the most spectacular circular rainbow. When we reached the other side we found Chris wearing his normal attire (corduroy pants and dress shirt) but now he was dripping wet. He had figured it wouldn't be too bad but now realized he had been wrong. It didn't matter because it was so hot out that he was nearly dry by the time we had finished visiting the falls and gotten free laundry service.
We spent an hour and a half at the falls and managed to get great pictures with the two of us and the rest of the group. However, now we can personally say that the view from the Zimbabwean side is much nicer and you managed to stay a little dryer.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
For those of you still reading...
Hi Guys!!!
Sorry for the delayed postings - we have had great difficulty finding internet in Eastern Africa. Now that we are heading into Southern regions, we hope things will improve...so keep you fingers crossed!
3 Weeks and we are Stoon Town Bound :)
xoxoxox
Katie and Jeremy
Sorry for the delayed postings - we have had great difficulty finding internet in Eastern Africa. Now that we are heading into Southern regions, we hope things will improve...so keep you fingers crossed!
3 Weeks and we are Stoon Town Bound :)
xoxoxox
Katie and Jeremy
MALAWI!!!
Jeremy and I had no expectations for Malawi...we actually had no idea what we were scheduled to do. So, you can imagine our surprise when Moses, the night before entering, informed the group that Malawi was a "Shoppers Haven". I was ecstatic, Jeremy...not so much – lol :)
We crossed over into Malawi in the late afternoon of Day 34. Because we were leaving the Eastern region and heading into the Southern region, we gained an hour...yep, another hour to shop-shop-shop! Crossing over into thr Southern region also meant no more squat toilets and no more cold showers...or so we were told.
When we finally pulled up to our lake front camp-site at Kande Beach, everyone on the truck was glued to the windows. We had just passed shops upon shops of beautifully carved wood...and right outside the gates of our camp-site. I must have been the first one off of the truck as I was a girl on a mission. I knew that once our tent was set-up, we were free (neither Jeremy nor I had any chores to do that day). The sun was starting to set, so I grabbed Jeremy and our headlights and we headed to the shops. The others were not too far behind us. Just like any other souq or market shop, you hear the old familiar phrases, "Madam...come look for free...no charge" or another favourite, "Sir...I have made no sales today, be my first sale and it will bring us both good luck". Jeremy stumbled across a beautifully carved table that not only had checkers/chess game on it, but on the reverse side it had the Backgammon board. He was so pumped (Backgammon has become our new favourite game while in Africa) that he came running over to me to show me (and he thinks he is not a shopper). I was sold and I knew the two Malawi chairs I was looking at would be perfect as a trio. We briefly talked to the seller and told him we were very interested but wanted to come back early in the morning. He then told us that he had a Funeral to go to and would not be back at his store. We told him, sorry, tough loss and that we would have to buy from another seller. His story then changed and he said the funeral was very early in the morning and that there was a good chance it would be over before we departed. We casually started talking about prices and he, as expected, started his price at a extremely ridiculous offer of $350 for all three. We laughed at him and he then immediately dropped his price to $150. We told him it was too late to negotiate and we wanted to wait till the morning where we could get a good look in the natural light. He was very nervous about this and basically made us promise we would come back to him and his stall. It is so sad to see but all of the sellers compete against each other - they are very very ruthless!
After supper we headed to the bar for a quick drink. I phoned my family out at the lake as it was my brother Adam's 28th Birthday. It was an emotional time for me as it was the first year that I was not present to 'open up' the cabins for the lake season with my family. It was also a first time for Baby Jaxson and Nadia's mom, Delaney, to be introduced to the lake.
The next morning (Day 35) Jeremy and I were up and shopping by 6am as promised. We had asked about the funeral and he had said that he had already gone – it is one thing to lie, but a totally different thing to lie about death...and somehow, we took offence to this. We still dealt with our guy and we could not believe when he told us that he slept on it and was willing to offer us $450 for the one table and two chairs. We told him that the day before he started at $350 and that there was no way we were going to pay that price. He then proceeded to ask us what his lowest offer was to us (I guess they even get confused when they throw out such ridiculous prices). After some negotiating and much deliberation, we settled on $100US for the table and chairs and a set if salad spoons and coasters – trust me, this is a GREAT deal when you see how intricately carved the chairs are. He then asked if we had anything to donate to him and was especially eyeing up Jeremy's T-shirt that his cousin Shea had given him the past Christmas (created specifically for our travelling trip). Jeremy gave him his T-shirt and he immediately threw it on...everyone had a good chuckle when they saw this local wearing Jeremy's stinky and worn out shirt.
I continued to shop around and was in complete heaven. I purchased some beautiful wood work while Jeremy visited with the locals and helped locate the pieces for our chess and backgammon board. Jeremy had to then help prepare for breakfast as it was his day to cook. I waited in the long que to have our stuff packaged up in preparation for shipping. Surprisingly enough, we made it out of the camp-site on time, which is an impressive feat when you consider the amount of souvenirs that we had all purchased. When we were pulling away, we couldn't help but watch out the window our guy who was running alongside the truck with the, "I Love Canadian Accountants" t-shirt on.
Driving through the countryside was a beautiful experience. The lake was to the left of us and multiple people kept mistaking it for the ocean. Had we not known that Malawi was inland, we would have been one of those numb nuts who made fools of themselves (Jeremy and I are slowly improving our limited geographical knowledge – and trust us...we need all of the help we can get). One of the highlights on the drive was coming across four pigs 'thrown' on the back of a semi carrying a load. I use the word 'thrown' because there was nothing holding them in and they had absolutely no space to move...if they moved around, they would simply fall off. As a result of this, the semi was going very very slow. It took us some time before we were able to pass the semi and when we did, we were all glued to the left hand side of the truck. Actually, you would not believe the things we have seen while driving. It comes as no surprise that vehicle accidents are the number one killer in Africa. Just the other day, we came across a truck pulled over along the side of the road, its load of bails was scattered all across the highway – loads are not properly strapped down and speed is always a factor here in Africa. We also drove across a bridge that had everyone on the truck nervous, boys included. The structural members of the bridge were constructed out of steel (thank goodness), but the top deck was laid out with timber, which over time had rotted...and the river below was a fair distance away. Luckily, we made it across no problem but these are the little things that really make you appreciate the wonderful roads we have back at home and at no point in my life in Canada have I crossed a bridge fearing for my life.
On route to our next camp site we were informed that we would be passing through yet another market :) but prior to arriving at the market, we stopped in town to purchase our 'fancy dress' for our house boat. We were limited to one hour so we made a beeline for the start and hurried through all shops. There were a couple of items that caught our eye but we promised ourselves to look at all of the shops before we made any 'rash' decisions. Jeremy spotted this beautiful hand carved table that I immediately fell in love with. Unfortunately for us, it was already sold to a Over land truck driver who was stopping by the following day to pick it up. We informed him where we were staying (60 km away) and that if anything happened, we would buy it in a heart beat. Since we couldn't get our hands on the table, I was really wanting to buy this Fisherman that had caught my eye. I showed Jeremy and he agreed that he was pretty cool. The only thing that caused doubt in my mind was his weight...he was going to cost a fortune to ship home. In the end, we purchased him for what we thought was a fair deal to both parties. I was so excited that I hugged the carver and told him I would cherish it forever (seriously...he is so damn cool!). He was really touched and told me he was honoured that I appreciated his work. He then told me that because of this sale, he could feed his family. Can you imagine living day to day on so little income that making that one sale could mean the difference of being able to put food on your families table for supper that night - ??? Again, we are so lucky and fortunate to be living where we do and for Jeremy and I, it took us travelling across the world to realize this. Will we forget this when we get back, definitely not...travelling has opened our eyes and given us so much insight.
When we pulled into our camp-site, again, for the second night in a row, the sun was starting to set. We had quickly set up our tent in what little light we had left and then both went our separate ways. Jeremy was on cooking duty so he went to prepare supper while I literally headed to the washing up sink where I carried a garbage bag full of laundry. We had not done laundry since before the Gorilla trekking in Rwanda. Since we had left Rwanda, we had stayed at every camp-site for one night only which made it impossible to do laundry. Then, when the group went off to Zanzibar for the 4 days, we headed to Kili. So, you can imagine just how much laundry there was to do. I washed and scrubbed for a solid two hours, which coincidentally was perfect timing as when I finished, supper was just being served (Mexican night...yummy!). After supper, Jeremy took over for me (as I was on dish duty) and hung the clothes on our 200 foot line...the line was completely filled which gave everyone in our group quite the chuckle.
The following day (Day 36) Jeremy and I awoke bright and early to clouds and overcast (not ideal for our clothes). I had just said goodbye to the group of girls that had opted to go on a beach horse ride when Jeremy came running back to me grinning ear to ear. He informed me that he was heading out with 'the boys' to go and collect our pig for supper. As a treat, the group had decided to buy a pig and have a traditional pig roast for supper – this made all of the other overland groups in our camp-site very jealous of us. When the boys finally returned, 2 hours later, they were proudly carrying their pig on a stick. I was quite horrified to see it there but was even more horrified when I found out that Max, one of the young-ins in our group, had fatally stabbed the pig in the heart. I felt really bad for Becky, who was the only vegetarian in our group. I still could not seee Jeremy and I asked one of the guys where he was. Turns out, my little social butterfly was in town with the locals, learning how to play a new board game called boa. When he returned, he told me he had purchased a game which was being hand carved at the moment and would be finished that eveing (and again, I say he thinks he is not a shopper).
The remainder of the day was spent just chilling out. Jeremy tackled the job of washing our towels and our zip ups and I caught up on some reading and blog writing. Rhesa, Clair and Anna went into the village and all had their hair braided. This followed with all of the boys heading into town to get their hair 'twirled'. The locals apparently tried on Jeremy's hair too but sadly for him, it was just too short. Rhesa came back beaming with excitement as she was swarmed with the local kids. One of the ladies let her hold her three month old baby girl and Rhesa was sold...she wanted to keep her. The locals had a great sense of humour too as they then started calling her 'Madonna'- lol!
As I was relaxing on a hammock, Grace came over and informed me that there was a man with a table looking for me. I could not believe our luck, I raced across the camp-site and when I saw him, I went straight in for the hug. It turned out that the owner had informed the truck driver earlier that day how much we had wanted the table. The local truck driver graciously told him to give it to us and have a new one ready for him the following month when he would be passing through. And then...this amazing man hopped on the local bus with the table in arms and travelled 60 km (one way) to see us – we were so grateful and appreciative that we tipped him for his efforts.
Towards the end of the day, Jeremy and I cooled off by having a swim in the lake...and we made sure we did the 'Heisler Plunge' when entering! We joined in on a volley ball game and watched the sun set over the beach. When we all headed back to camp, we checked on the pig. Moses had been tenderly watching over it the entire day and believe it or not...the pig was ready to be eaten. We all gathered around the table like school children as Moses and Robert began to carve. The crackling (which is the skin of the pig and apparently very popular everywhere in the world besides Canada) was a huge hit and everyone was savagely munching on it as the grease spilled down their chin – kind of gross. Jeremy and I tried it and both of us were not that impressed with it...which was good for the others as they fought over our portions. Actually, the pig was not what I was expecting and I was quite disappointed. Jeremy would disagree with me on this one as he easily finished his massively sized portion given to him by Robert. Poor Becky stayed at the bar and chose not to partake in our festivities...I don't blame her. All in all, the pig was a great way to get the group together and celebrate our much too short time together in Malawi (I say short because I could have shopped for many more days on end!).
The following morning (Day 37) we packed up our still not dry laundry and jumped in the truck for yet anther long day of driving, where by the end of it, we would be in yet another new country called ZAMBIA!
We crossed over into Malawi in the late afternoon of Day 34. Because we were leaving the Eastern region and heading into the Southern region, we gained an hour...yep, another hour to shop-shop-shop! Crossing over into thr Southern region also meant no more squat toilets and no more cold showers...or so we were told.
When we finally pulled up to our lake front camp-site at Kande Beach, everyone on the truck was glued to the windows. We had just passed shops upon shops of beautifully carved wood...and right outside the gates of our camp-site. I must have been the first one off of the truck as I was a girl on a mission. I knew that once our tent was set-up, we were free (neither Jeremy nor I had any chores to do that day). The sun was starting to set, so I grabbed Jeremy and our headlights and we headed to the shops. The others were not too far behind us. Just like any other souq or market shop, you hear the old familiar phrases, "Madam...come look for free...no charge" or another favourite, "Sir...I have made no sales today, be my first sale and it will bring us both good luck". Jeremy stumbled across a beautifully carved table that not only had checkers/chess game on it, but on the reverse side it had the Backgammon board. He was so pumped (Backgammon has become our new favourite game while in Africa) that he came running over to me to show me (and he thinks he is not a shopper). I was sold and I knew the two Malawi chairs I was looking at would be perfect as a trio. We briefly talked to the seller and told him we were very interested but wanted to come back early in the morning. He then told us that he had a Funeral to go to and would not be back at his store. We told him, sorry, tough loss and that we would have to buy from another seller. His story then changed and he said the funeral was very early in the morning and that there was a good chance it would be over before we departed. We casually started talking about prices and he, as expected, started his price at a extremely ridiculous offer of $350 for all three. We laughed at him and he then immediately dropped his price to $150. We told him it was too late to negotiate and we wanted to wait till the morning where we could get a good look in the natural light. He was very nervous about this and basically made us promise we would come back to him and his stall. It is so sad to see but all of the sellers compete against each other - they are very very ruthless!
After supper we headed to the bar for a quick drink. I phoned my family out at the lake as it was my brother Adam's 28th Birthday. It was an emotional time for me as it was the first year that I was not present to 'open up' the cabins for the lake season with my family. It was also a first time for Baby Jaxson and Nadia's mom, Delaney, to be introduced to the lake.
The next morning (Day 35) Jeremy and I were up and shopping by 6am as promised. We had asked about the funeral and he had said that he had already gone – it is one thing to lie, but a totally different thing to lie about death...and somehow, we took offence to this. We still dealt with our guy and we could not believe when he told us that he slept on it and was willing to offer us $450 for the one table and two chairs. We told him that the day before he started at $350 and that there was no way we were going to pay that price. He then proceeded to ask us what his lowest offer was to us (I guess they even get confused when they throw out such ridiculous prices). After some negotiating and much deliberation, we settled on $100US for the table and chairs and a set if salad spoons and coasters – trust me, this is a GREAT deal when you see how intricately carved the chairs are. He then asked if we had anything to donate to him and was especially eyeing up Jeremy's T-shirt that his cousin Shea had given him the past Christmas (created specifically for our travelling trip). Jeremy gave him his T-shirt and he immediately threw it on...everyone had a good chuckle when they saw this local wearing Jeremy's stinky and worn out shirt.
I continued to shop around and was in complete heaven. I purchased some beautiful wood work while Jeremy visited with the locals and helped locate the pieces for our chess and backgammon board. Jeremy had to then help prepare for breakfast as it was his day to cook. I waited in the long que to have our stuff packaged up in preparation for shipping. Surprisingly enough, we made it out of the camp-site on time, which is an impressive feat when you consider the amount of souvenirs that we had all purchased. When we were pulling away, we couldn't help but watch out the window our guy who was running alongside the truck with the, "I Love Canadian Accountants" t-shirt on.
Driving through the countryside was a beautiful experience. The lake was to the left of us and multiple people kept mistaking it for the ocean. Had we not known that Malawi was inland, we would have been one of those numb nuts who made fools of themselves (Jeremy and I are slowly improving our limited geographical knowledge – and trust us...we need all of the help we can get). One of the highlights on the drive was coming across four pigs 'thrown' on the back of a semi carrying a load. I use the word 'thrown' because there was nothing holding them in and they had absolutely no space to move...if they moved around, they would simply fall off. As a result of this, the semi was going very very slow. It took us some time before we were able to pass the semi and when we did, we were all glued to the left hand side of the truck. Actually, you would not believe the things we have seen while driving. It comes as no surprise that vehicle accidents are the number one killer in Africa. Just the other day, we came across a truck pulled over along the side of the road, its load of bails was scattered all across the highway – loads are not properly strapped down and speed is always a factor here in Africa. We also drove across a bridge that had everyone on the truck nervous, boys included. The structural members of the bridge were constructed out of steel (thank goodness), but the top deck was laid out with timber, which over time had rotted...and the river below was a fair distance away. Luckily, we made it across no problem but these are the little things that really make you appreciate the wonderful roads we have back at home and at no point in my life in Canada have I crossed a bridge fearing for my life.
On route to our next camp site we were informed that we would be passing through yet another market :) but prior to arriving at the market, we stopped in town to purchase our 'fancy dress' for our house boat. We were limited to one hour so we made a beeline for the start and hurried through all shops. There were a couple of items that caught our eye but we promised ourselves to look at all of the shops before we made any 'rash' decisions. Jeremy spotted this beautiful hand carved table that I immediately fell in love with. Unfortunately for us, it was already sold to a Over land truck driver who was stopping by the following day to pick it up. We informed him where we were staying (60 km away) and that if anything happened, we would buy it in a heart beat. Since we couldn't get our hands on the table, I was really wanting to buy this Fisherman that had caught my eye. I showed Jeremy and he agreed that he was pretty cool. The only thing that caused doubt in my mind was his weight...he was going to cost a fortune to ship home. In the end, we purchased him for what we thought was a fair deal to both parties. I was so excited that I hugged the carver and told him I would cherish it forever (seriously...he is so damn cool!). He was really touched and told me he was honoured that I appreciated his work. He then told me that because of this sale, he could feed his family. Can you imagine living day to day on so little income that making that one sale could mean the difference of being able to put food on your families table for supper that night - ??? Again, we are so lucky and fortunate to be living where we do and for Jeremy and I, it took us travelling across the world to realize this. Will we forget this when we get back, definitely not...travelling has opened our eyes and given us so much insight.
When we pulled into our camp-site, again, for the second night in a row, the sun was starting to set. We had quickly set up our tent in what little light we had left and then both went our separate ways. Jeremy was on cooking duty so he went to prepare supper while I literally headed to the washing up sink where I carried a garbage bag full of laundry. We had not done laundry since before the Gorilla trekking in Rwanda. Since we had left Rwanda, we had stayed at every camp-site for one night only which made it impossible to do laundry. Then, when the group went off to Zanzibar for the 4 days, we headed to Kili. So, you can imagine just how much laundry there was to do. I washed and scrubbed for a solid two hours, which coincidentally was perfect timing as when I finished, supper was just being served (Mexican night...yummy!). After supper, Jeremy took over for me (as I was on dish duty) and hung the clothes on our 200 foot line...the line was completely filled which gave everyone in our group quite the chuckle.
The following day (Day 36) Jeremy and I awoke bright and early to clouds and overcast (not ideal for our clothes). I had just said goodbye to the group of girls that had opted to go on a beach horse ride when Jeremy came running back to me grinning ear to ear. He informed me that he was heading out with 'the boys' to go and collect our pig for supper. As a treat, the group had decided to buy a pig and have a traditional pig roast for supper – this made all of the other overland groups in our camp-site very jealous of us. When the boys finally returned, 2 hours later, they were proudly carrying their pig on a stick. I was quite horrified to see it there but was even more horrified when I found out that Max, one of the young-ins in our group, had fatally stabbed the pig in the heart. I felt really bad for Becky, who was the only vegetarian in our group. I still could not seee Jeremy and I asked one of the guys where he was. Turns out, my little social butterfly was in town with the locals, learning how to play a new board game called boa. When he returned, he told me he had purchased a game which was being hand carved at the moment and would be finished that eveing (and again, I say he thinks he is not a shopper).
The remainder of the day was spent just chilling out. Jeremy tackled the job of washing our towels and our zip ups and I caught up on some reading and blog writing. Rhesa, Clair and Anna went into the village and all had their hair braided. This followed with all of the boys heading into town to get their hair 'twirled'. The locals apparently tried on Jeremy's hair too but sadly for him, it was just too short. Rhesa came back beaming with excitement as she was swarmed with the local kids. One of the ladies let her hold her three month old baby girl and Rhesa was sold...she wanted to keep her. The locals had a great sense of humour too as they then started calling her 'Madonna'- lol!
As I was relaxing on a hammock, Grace came over and informed me that there was a man with a table looking for me. I could not believe our luck, I raced across the camp-site and when I saw him, I went straight in for the hug. It turned out that the owner had informed the truck driver earlier that day how much we had wanted the table. The local truck driver graciously told him to give it to us and have a new one ready for him the following month when he would be passing through. And then...this amazing man hopped on the local bus with the table in arms and travelled 60 km (one way) to see us – we were so grateful and appreciative that we tipped him for his efforts.
Towards the end of the day, Jeremy and I cooled off by having a swim in the lake...and we made sure we did the 'Heisler Plunge' when entering! We joined in on a volley ball game and watched the sun set over the beach. When we all headed back to camp, we checked on the pig. Moses had been tenderly watching over it the entire day and believe it or not...the pig was ready to be eaten. We all gathered around the table like school children as Moses and Robert began to carve. The crackling (which is the skin of the pig and apparently very popular everywhere in the world besides Canada) was a huge hit and everyone was savagely munching on it as the grease spilled down their chin – kind of gross. Jeremy and I tried it and both of us were not that impressed with it...which was good for the others as they fought over our portions. Actually, the pig was not what I was expecting and I was quite disappointed. Jeremy would disagree with me on this one as he easily finished his massively sized portion given to him by Robert. Poor Becky stayed at the bar and chose not to partake in our festivities...I don't blame her. All in all, the pig was a great way to get the group together and celebrate our much too short time together in Malawi (I say short because I could have shopped for many more days on end!).
The following morning (Day 37) we packed up our still not dry laundry and jumped in the truck for yet anther long day of driving, where by the end of it, we would be in yet another new country called ZAMBIA!
Mount KILIMANJARO
After Abraham picked us up he escorted us to the bank first thing...I guess he was a little anxious to get his money. We then headed to the hotel where he tried to squeeze more money out of us for rentals and all sorts of shit. He even tried to change the exchange rate so that he could take more money from Glen and Rihannon. We had to fight to make sure that he didn't and when he left for the evening we were pretty pissed off and all very nervous. Kate and I both felt really bad too because we had talked Abraham up so much to Glen and Rihannon and then he goes and pulls the shit he did and acts like a complete crooked stranger to us.
The morning was worse because we still really had no idea what to expect because Abraham didn't really seem to have a clue about our climb and what we should expect...this became a lot more evident once we had left Arusha and were preparing for our climb. At breakfast Abraham almost destroyed our last string of respect when he found a random person in the lobby who wanted to come along with us. Instead of coming to talk to us he sent the newbie over to ask if it was okay . As you can imagine, it would have been very difficult to have said no to him. Katie made sure to ask him the price he was paying before he left and it turned out he was paying a small amount higher than us but he also had more equipment rental – WTF??? I think everyone was ready to kill Abraham and when we had the chance we pulled him over and reamed him out and demanded a discount. It was like pulling teeth and after getting told off by both Katie and myself (neither of us knew the other had said something). He agreed to pay for our transport costs to Dar es Salaam but Katie insisted on more. He then told us he would take off 50,000 Tsh from our fee only (which is ~$40 US). Katie argued with him until he relented and agreed to pay back the money to Glen and Rihannon as well. We couldn't waste any more time as we had already waited for Glen and Rihannon to reorganize their bags for about the fourth time in 24 hours and needed to get on our way.
The guides were super nice and the other 8 guys that were in our 'bus' were friendly to us too. We were still a little confused about what was going on and were even more confused as we continued to pick up more people on the side of the road as we headed towards Machame, the starting point of our climb. More often than not, when we picked up people along the road, we would barely slow down and the bus door would just open and someone would jump in. After a few stops for groceries and the passing of half an hour we had 4 times more people in the truck than there was of us...this definitely added to the confusion!! We later learnt that this was our team of cooks, porters and guides.
At the base of the mountain our guide Issa told us to gather what we needed to have on us in a small bag and give our big bag to our porter. Well this is where we first started to realize how poorly Abraham had misinformed us. He had told us that our porter would be with us the entire hike and so we could give him our day to day stuff and therefore, we left our two knapsacks behind. Not to mention we would not have anyone to carry our water and it turns out the only water they would have for us would have to be boiled at night. We had bought some water bottles when we had stopped but that was supposed to be for the drive not to be our bottles for the next week!! So now we had no knapsack and not enough water and we were seriously second guessing why we came to this mountain. Issa managed to find somebody to loan us a knapsack but they wouldn't do so unless we bought it for a ridiculous price or rented it for the price of a new one in town.
After realizing that there wasn't much we could do, we grabbed our rented knapsack and headed on our way – it was now 1:30pm (Day 26) and Katie was really starting to panic about the late hour and the six hours of climbing that lay ahead. After registering with the park Issa told us to get climbing and that they would be right behind us after they loaded up all of the stuff. As we were climbing, majority of the men from our bus started passing us carrying the largest loads on either their head, back or neck. Although, it was impressive, we didn't really think twice about it because the climb itself was fairly easy with nice defined paths and smooth terrain.
It was nice to see Rhiannon so excited because we had figured that she wasn't really that excited to come and was just doing so for Glen's sake. We did the first part of the days journey in under half the time we should have. Once Issa had caught us he purposely slowed us because he said that if we did not we would be tired the next day. This was the first of many times that we were told to go 'Pole Pole' (slowly slowly in Swahili) and the first of many times that we would hear it. We started to ask Issa a million questions about the trek. This is where we really started to realize how many lies Abraham had told us. First of all rather than hiking for 6, 5, 3 and 2 hours to make it to the top of the mountain as promised by Abraham we were going to be hiking for 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7 and 6.5 hours respectively – WTF??? Not only would be hiking for about four times the amount of hours that we had been told but the last day 7 and 6.5 hours would be within an 18 hour time period. Secondly there would be no showers so the whole idea to leave behind our knapsacks in exchange for shampoo, conditioner and towels was stupid. And last but certainly not least, there would be no fires allowed on the mountain to warm ourselves which is what Abraham had told us. When we asked Issa about the fire and how we could keep warm, he laughed nervously and then said... “tent” - we were in for a real treat!
The first days trek was through a thick jungle type area and at the end of the day of hiking we had reached the clouds – it was both beautiful and stunning scenery! When we reached camp, it was surprisingly very cold and so we decided that to keep warm during the night, it would be better to sleep with both couples in the same tent (in a three man tent). Unfortunately for the straggler Simon, he would have to bunk it on his own. Luckily, he had borrowed a sleeping bag from Abraham which was much better than our own personal ones we had brought along with us so although he was cold, he managed to get through the night. Our last disappointment of the day was that at the end of the hike, we went to change into warmer clothes only to find out that our porters carrying our personal bags had not reached camp yet. So...Katie, Glen and Rihannon huddled close in a tent having what I can only presume as a major bitch session while I visited with the porters and cooks.
Once we had changed into warmer clothes our spirits perked up a bit. Then was supper and it was almost identical to the setup we had received while doing the safari with Abraham months before. After a little popcorn and hot drinks we were all a little more impressed and although we still hated Abraham for his lack of information, it was hard not to love the cooks, guides and porter...they were fantastic and it is sad to think that it is them who get screwed out of the deal when they do all of the work while Abraham, who lies and steals, makes all of the profit.
With the exception of Katie (who encouraged me to bring one of my own books) the remainder of us soon realized that when you are climbing a mountain you should bring books! So much of our time was spent in the tent trying to stay out of the cold when we were not climbing. Not only do you get cold, but after a good hike you just need somewhere to lie down and rest your sore aching body. The first day hadn't been too bad but it wasn't warm enough outside for us to hang out there so we headed to bed. Although it was a little tight in the tent with all four of us sleeping, it got nice and warm quite quickly. We all had a pretty good sleep the first night even though we were sleeping on thin little mats rather than the nice mats which we had been promised by our lovely friend Abraham.
On the morning of the second day (Day 27) of our hike we awoke to clear skies. The temperature was still cold but all that changed when the sun came out. Once the sun came over the peak of Mt Kili, things got hot...and quick. We all could not help but comment on how close the Mountain looked. We were laughed and mocked by the guides who were probably thinking “stupid mzungu's”. Days and hours of climbing later, we looked back at hat moment and laughed at our naivety.
After another delicious meal we headed out for the days climb. Before we left we glanced at the size of our team – five climbers and 15 support staff (guides, cooks and porters). Until then, we hadn't really grasped the enormity of our group. As we ventured onwards, we noticed that the slope of the terrain had increased quite a bit from the previous day. The scenery was just as beautiful as before only now we were climbing throughout the clouds. It was really hard to complain about the difficulty after seeing all of the guides, cooks, and porters, walk with us or run ahead of us carrying at least 25 kg each. Some were carrying bags with their own belongings and our bags at the same time. Some people, who worked for the park, were passing us carrying parts of buildings. They would pass us then come back empty handed and twenty minutes later they would pass again carrying another section of the building.
Rihannon and Glen were still in great spirits along with the rest of the group all throughout the hike. We made it to our next camp in 4.5 hours and by the time we had got there had picked up another straggler, this time an American girl named Becky. We were so grateful to have Glen and Rihannon with us because they were great company on a hike that could have been monotonous when the beautiful views were covered by the clouds. We jokingly called ourselves the 'Mzungu's in the Mist' after the movie, 'Gorilla's in the Mist'.
Our second camp was much warmer although we were now nearly a thousand meters higher than what we had been the day before (4000m vs 3100m ASL). It was quite cloudy when we reached our second camp but within twenty minutes the temperature and skies had changed 4 times with it remaining quite sunny in the end. Issa figured it would be good for all of us if we hiked for an hour and a half in a slightly upward direction before dinner to help us acclimatize. We all agreed quite readily but were a little concerned about our decision once the American's guide said she was not allowed to tag along with us in case it started to rain. There was also another trio of American tourists who we had ran into along the way who were interested in coming with us as well. They also were told that they could not come with us??? The hike turned out to be fine with sunny conditions all the way.
We spent the rest of the evening before dinner outside of the tent enjoying the sun, the view and not sitting in a cramped space eating. After dinner we once again tried to fit all four of us in the tent but this time we were not successful. Glen had originally fallen asleep in five minutes after jumping in the tent but when one of us awoke to go the bathroom he decided that he was not comfy and stormed out of the tent to go sleep in the other one. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about it because he told Rihannon that he did not want her to come so I volunteered to go. It was an unwise decision because Glen was probably the only one with a really good sleeping bag. The loss of me in the girls tent made them cold and being in the other tent with only Glen and I made me cold.
I did manage to fall asleep but it was obviously not enough sleep when we awoke in the morning. Katie told me she tossed and turned and finally at 4:30, started to read. The morning (Day 28) was bright, clear and beautiful and again, we had a great view of our Mountain.
We had been told that the third day was going to be easier but longer than the previous day. It was definitely a longer hike and we felt it didn't seem much easier. It was on this day that we ran into the Scottish man named Steven. When we first met him he seemed okay but when we ran into him later in the day he wasn't feeling too hot. Halfway through the hike the American girl, who was now part of our extended group, also began to get quite ill. At about 4200 meters both of them started to get ill. Steven was losing his lunch on the slopes as we hiked and had lost all of his energy but was determined to keep going. We soon lost him because he had to walk at a turtle's pace. When we were nearing the end of the day, Issa guided us on to a higher route than what was necessary to help with the acclimatization Becky had to sit this one out as she got really ill and had to take the shortcut. The hike we took wasn't much more difficult but after a long days hike and the changing altitude you could see things were going to keep getting worse.
We managed to make it to our camp without any sickness in our group. However, after a quick biscuit and hot drink, Katie began to get sick. Issa made up a hot cup of lemon and tea and gave her some pills for her head. After about thirty minutes Katie was feeling better, but still not her perky happy self.
We were now are the hardest leg of our trek and it was obviously so as there was no straight paths to be seen. Jimmy, who was one of the porters and could speak only very little English, was always filling us in on what we had done and what we were to do. He had described the last couple of hikes as quite tame slopes but when we mentioned the next morning's hike his arm went vertical and he laughed. We were now becoming a bit weary again about what was in store for us and why we chose this over retutrnng to the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar.
That night, although best we tried, we could not convince Glen that four to a tent would be a good idea. But, because Katie was not feeling great, they offered to swap one of their really good sleeping bags (down filled) for one of ours (definitely not down filled). Although we had had another horrible and cold sleep, we were both grateful and appreciative for their gesture of kindness.
I think I had begun to feel the altitude sickness but in a different way. When I would fall asleep it was as though I would begin to suffocate. I would jolt awake and try and catch my breath back. This greatly affected my sleeping pattern and as a result, I would never get more than an hour of solid uninterrupted sleep. This only added to the exhaustion and fatigue that I was already feeling from the climb.
The next morning (Day 29) we found out that both Becky and Steven had spent the remainder of their day and night puking. But, sick or not, there was nothing keeping them from reaching that mountain top and so they started hiking with us in the morning. Just as Jimmy had mentioned, we were walking, or should I say scaling, straight up the face of the mountain. It was steep but not too physically demanding because of our 'Pole Pole' pace. In some areas it didn't seem that the porters should be able to make it so easily but without sticks or help they would leap up spots that we would need help on.
After seven hours of climbing, we finally reached camp. It was hard to imagine that we were going to rest for only eight hours before we would start on the last leg of the trip, the mountain, and then start hiking again at midnight – WTF were we thinking doing this??? Although, Katie had felt okay during the day shortly after tea she began to get ill. This time the medicine and lemon did nothing to soothe her stomach and it was not long before she was puking. I managed to get her to bed but was taken from dinner a couple of times to help her out of the tent. In total, she had puked 6 times in a 4 hour time frame...which meant she got no sleep before the summit– poor girl!
Needless to say we didn't need much food before we started (now the morning of Day 30). Although, I hadn't thrown up I felt like I had. It was pitch black when we started hiking and this time we only had our one additional friend Becky with us (Steven was too ill and would wait until morning to start the climb). The hike started off good and it was almost comical how slow we were walking. However, even at this really slow pace we had managed to lap the American trio yet again (this made Katie feel really good – haha!)
At 5200m, things started to change and no longer was the majority of the group fine. Actually the only ones who didn't feel bad were Rihannon and Simon (our fifth member). Every time we walked it felt like I was going to puke and Glen said he felt the same. Katie felt like someone was scrunching up her stomach. It didn't feel like I was going to be able to make it and at around 5600 meters I had to bend over and just empty my stomach. At one point our guide had to give Katie and I a gentle push, literally, because we didn't think we could force ourselves to go on. It just never seemed to end. We would meet one check point and then we would be told there was another hour and a half and then once we got to the next one it would seem the same way. However, despite our cries and pain we finally made it. At roughly 6:30 am we made it to the top. It could not have been any more of a perfect day. Issa had told us that during the rainy season it was never certain to have a cloud free day...but here we were, at the top of Kili, above the clouds, watching the sun rise into a beautiful and brilliant clear sky.
The view of the other mountain tops, surrounding glaciers and constantly changing colors was breathtaking. Everyone snapped as many pictures as possible as we knew we had a 20 minute time frame before our guides (Issa and Henry) insisted that we head back down to more normal altitudes. We made sure to also get a couple of phone calls in to both of our mom's saying WE DID IT!!! However, the climb down wasn't going to be that easy as we would have to hike for 3.5, take a 2 hour rest and get ready for 3.5 more hours of fun! By the end of the day I think we were all ready to cry or at least collapse and when we finally reached our camp for the day we all passed out by about 8 pm or earlier (we calculated that in a 27 hour window frame, we climbed for 19 hours of it – crazy-crazy-crazy!!!). Our last day was much easier but we were so tired that it felt like it was never going to end.
Once we managed to reach the bottom and hiked to our car (Day 31) we were so happy. It wasn't just us whom were happy as most of the porters were happy to be off the mountain. In town it was almost impossible to think straight and it was almost painful trying to figure out how much we were going to tip all 16 members of the group. To give us a bit of time we stopped and bought the guys all a beer. When we did finally give everyone their tip they applauded for each other. When all was done they sang for us a local Kili song, although, it could have been about how these stupid Mzungu want to climb high mountains...well at least we were thinking we had been pretty stupid to do it. I think they were all just very happy that we had made it to the top and honestly we couldn't have and wouldn't have wanted to do it without all of them!
Katie and I can both honestly say that climbing Kili was one of the hardest things we have ever done in our lives. It was not that it was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done but it was also mentally exhausting and I have never tried so hard not to puke while doing something physical for a period of about 8 hours. I think everyone felt the same about the climb and felt the same about the shower...best ever!!! That night we managed to find an awesome Indo-Italiono restaurant where we gorged on good food and liquor to try and repair some damage.
The next day (Day 32) was perfect because we got a lot of rest on the bus ride from Moshi to Dar es Salaam. It was by far the nicest bus we have been on so far in Africa with free beverages and really comfy seats. The only thing that didn't make sense was how the bus drivers would just take the garbage bin and dump it outside the truck whenever we stopped for a bush toilet.
We arrived painlessly in the evening to a great welcome from the entire group that we had left behind 7 days earlier. Not only did we get a great welcome back, but within a minute they were all singing Happy Birthday to me. It was great to be back not to mention the cake that had been prepared for me. Katie had also managed to sneak in a few minutes along our travels in Moshi and got me a Birthday present...an awesome water bottle with Kili on it and a coffee cup. She somehow also managed to sneak in a birthday cake under my nose as well. I think everyone had had a little too much fun on Zanzibar because almost everyone was asleep by 10 oclock despite wanting to have a Birthday celebration for me. I am so glad because all I wanted to do was go to sleep – I wonder...is this a sign of maturing or a sign of growing old???
The next morning (Day 33) we were up and gone way too early for everyone but we had to leave early because we had a hell of driving day ahead of us. It was probably okay that everyone was so tired because most people slept away the morning of the drive. By noon we had covered 6 hours of our drive but were still no where near we were supposed to be. It was getting hot and people were restless. When we stopped in the valley of the Baobob trees barely anyone even got out of the truck to take pictures. At roughly six in the evening we arrived at the camp at Iringa. Again we had climbed into the mountains and the humidity we had felt the night before was gone. Although, most people had thought it was cold, to me it felt warm after having to sleep on Kili and I had another great sleep. Iringa was a nice campsite with some of the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted. I will be bringing this recipe home to share with all the folks of cold Saskatchewan.
The next morning (Day 34) was a painful one for everyone. I think most people were still reeling from too many hard days of partying on Zanzibar. Katie and I couldn't wait for the next day to be over so we would have some time to do our 70 L bag of laundry so we could have a shower and change into something clean!! Goodbye Tanzania and thank god that we were able to make it to the top of Mt. Kili...but better yet thank god it is over!!!!
The morning was worse because we still really had no idea what to expect because Abraham didn't really seem to have a clue about our climb and what we should expect...this became a lot more evident once we had left Arusha and were preparing for our climb. At breakfast Abraham almost destroyed our last string of respect when he found a random person in the lobby who wanted to come along with us. Instead of coming to talk to us he sent the newbie over to ask if it was okay . As you can imagine, it would have been very difficult to have said no to him. Katie made sure to ask him the price he was paying before he left and it turned out he was paying a small amount higher than us but he also had more equipment rental – WTF??? I think everyone was ready to kill Abraham and when we had the chance we pulled him over and reamed him out and demanded a discount. It was like pulling teeth and after getting told off by both Katie and myself (neither of us knew the other had said something). He agreed to pay for our transport costs to Dar es Salaam but Katie insisted on more. He then told us he would take off 50,000 Tsh from our fee only (which is ~$40 US). Katie argued with him until he relented and agreed to pay back the money to Glen and Rihannon as well. We couldn't waste any more time as we had already waited for Glen and Rihannon to reorganize their bags for about the fourth time in 24 hours and needed to get on our way.
The guides were super nice and the other 8 guys that were in our 'bus' were friendly to us too. We were still a little confused about what was going on and were even more confused as we continued to pick up more people on the side of the road as we headed towards Machame, the starting point of our climb. More often than not, when we picked up people along the road, we would barely slow down and the bus door would just open and someone would jump in. After a few stops for groceries and the passing of half an hour we had 4 times more people in the truck than there was of us...this definitely added to the confusion!! We later learnt that this was our team of cooks, porters and guides.
At the base of the mountain our guide Issa told us to gather what we needed to have on us in a small bag and give our big bag to our porter. Well this is where we first started to realize how poorly Abraham had misinformed us. He had told us that our porter would be with us the entire hike and so we could give him our day to day stuff and therefore, we left our two knapsacks behind. Not to mention we would not have anyone to carry our water and it turns out the only water they would have for us would have to be boiled at night. We had bought some water bottles when we had stopped but that was supposed to be for the drive not to be our bottles for the next week!! So now we had no knapsack and not enough water and we were seriously second guessing why we came to this mountain. Issa managed to find somebody to loan us a knapsack but they wouldn't do so unless we bought it for a ridiculous price or rented it for the price of a new one in town.
After realizing that there wasn't much we could do, we grabbed our rented knapsack and headed on our way – it was now 1:30pm (Day 26) and Katie was really starting to panic about the late hour and the six hours of climbing that lay ahead. After registering with the park Issa told us to get climbing and that they would be right behind us after they loaded up all of the stuff. As we were climbing, majority of the men from our bus started passing us carrying the largest loads on either their head, back or neck. Although, it was impressive, we didn't really think twice about it because the climb itself was fairly easy with nice defined paths and smooth terrain.
It was nice to see Rhiannon so excited because we had figured that she wasn't really that excited to come and was just doing so for Glen's sake. We did the first part of the days journey in under half the time we should have. Once Issa had caught us he purposely slowed us because he said that if we did not we would be tired the next day. This was the first of many times that we were told to go 'Pole Pole' (slowly slowly in Swahili) and the first of many times that we would hear it. We started to ask Issa a million questions about the trek. This is where we really started to realize how many lies Abraham had told us. First of all rather than hiking for 6, 5, 3 and 2 hours to make it to the top of the mountain as promised by Abraham we were going to be hiking for 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7 and 6.5 hours respectively – WTF??? Not only would be hiking for about four times the amount of hours that we had been told but the last day 7 and 6.5 hours would be within an 18 hour time period. Secondly there would be no showers so the whole idea to leave behind our knapsacks in exchange for shampoo, conditioner and towels was stupid. And last but certainly not least, there would be no fires allowed on the mountain to warm ourselves which is what Abraham had told us. When we asked Issa about the fire and how we could keep warm, he laughed nervously and then said... “tent” - we were in for a real treat!
The first days trek was through a thick jungle type area and at the end of the day of hiking we had reached the clouds – it was both beautiful and stunning scenery! When we reached camp, it was surprisingly very cold and so we decided that to keep warm during the night, it would be better to sleep with both couples in the same tent (in a three man tent). Unfortunately for the straggler Simon, he would have to bunk it on his own. Luckily, he had borrowed a sleeping bag from Abraham which was much better than our own personal ones we had brought along with us so although he was cold, he managed to get through the night. Our last disappointment of the day was that at the end of the hike, we went to change into warmer clothes only to find out that our porters carrying our personal bags had not reached camp yet. So...Katie, Glen and Rihannon huddled close in a tent having what I can only presume as a major bitch session while I visited with the porters and cooks.
Once we had changed into warmer clothes our spirits perked up a bit. Then was supper and it was almost identical to the setup we had received while doing the safari with Abraham months before. After a little popcorn and hot drinks we were all a little more impressed and although we still hated Abraham for his lack of information, it was hard not to love the cooks, guides and porter...they were fantastic and it is sad to think that it is them who get screwed out of the deal when they do all of the work while Abraham, who lies and steals, makes all of the profit.
With the exception of Katie (who encouraged me to bring one of my own books) the remainder of us soon realized that when you are climbing a mountain you should bring books! So much of our time was spent in the tent trying to stay out of the cold when we were not climbing. Not only do you get cold, but after a good hike you just need somewhere to lie down and rest your sore aching body. The first day hadn't been too bad but it wasn't warm enough outside for us to hang out there so we headed to bed. Although it was a little tight in the tent with all four of us sleeping, it got nice and warm quite quickly. We all had a pretty good sleep the first night even though we were sleeping on thin little mats rather than the nice mats which we had been promised by our lovely friend Abraham.
On the morning of the second day (Day 27) of our hike we awoke to clear skies. The temperature was still cold but all that changed when the sun came out. Once the sun came over the peak of Mt Kili, things got hot...and quick. We all could not help but comment on how close the Mountain looked. We were laughed and mocked by the guides who were probably thinking “stupid mzungu's”. Days and hours of climbing later, we looked back at hat moment and laughed at our naivety.
After another delicious meal we headed out for the days climb. Before we left we glanced at the size of our team – five climbers and 15 support staff (guides, cooks and porters). Until then, we hadn't really grasped the enormity of our group. As we ventured onwards, we noticed that the slope of the terrain had increased quite a bit from the previous day. The scenery was just as beautiful as before only now we were climbing throughout the clouds. It was really hard to complain about the difficulty after seeing all of the guides, cooks, and porters, walk with us or run ahead of us carrying at least 25 kg each. Some were carrying bags with their own belongings and our bags at the same time. Some people, who worked for the park, were passing us carrying parts of buildings. They would pass us then come back empty handed and twenty minutes later they would pass again carrying another section of the building.
Rihannon and Glen were still in great spirits along with the rest of the group all throughout the hike. We made it to our next camp in 4.5 hours and by the time we had got there had picked up another straggler, this time an American girl named Becky. We were so grateful to have Glen and Rihannon with us because they were great company on a hike that could have been monotonous when the beautiful views were covered by the clouds. We jokingly called ourselves the 'Mzungu's in the Mist' after the movie, 'Gorilla's in the Mist'.
Our second camp was much warmer although we were now nearly a thousand meters higher than what we had been the day before (4000m vs 3100m ASL). It was quite cloudy when we reached our second camp but within twenty minutes the temperature and skies had changed 4 times with it remaining quite sunny in the end. Issa figured it would be good for all of us if we hiked for an hour and a half in a slightly upward direction before dinner to help us acclimatize. We all agreed quite readily but were a little concerned about our decision once the American's guide said she was not allowed to tag along with us in case it started to rain. There was also another trio of American tourists who we had ran into along the way who were interested in coming with us as well. They also were told that they could not come with us??? The hike turned out to be fine with sunny conditions all the way.
We spent the rest of the evening before dinner outside of the tent enjoying the sun, the view and not sitting in a cramped space eating. After dinner we once again tried to fit all four of us in the tent but this time we were not successful. Glen had originally fallen asleep in five minutes after jumping in the tent but when one of us awoke to go the bathroom he decided that he was not comfy and stormed out of the tent to go sleep in the other one. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about it because he told Rihannon that he did not want her to come so I volunteered to go. It was an unwise decision because Glen was probably the only one with a really good sleeping bag. The loss of me in the girls tent made them cold and being in the other tent with only Glen and I made me cold.
I did manage to fall asleep but it was obviously not enough sleep when we awoke in the morning. Katie told me she tossed and turned and finally at 4:30, started to read. The morning (Day 28) was bright, clear and beautiful and again, we had a great view of our Mountain.
We had been told that the third day was going to be easier but longer than the previous day. It was definitely a longer hike and we felt it didn't seem much easier. It was on this day that we ran into the Scottish man named Steven. When we first met him he seemed okay but when we ran into him later in the day he wasn't feeling too hot. Halfway through the hike the American girl, who was now part of our extended group, also began to get quite ill. At about 4200 meters both of them started to get ill. Steven was losing his lunch on the slopes as we hiked and had lost all of his energy but was determined to keep going. We soon lost him because he had to walk at a turtle's pace. When we were nearing the end of the day, Issa guided us on to a higher route than what was necessary to help with the acclimatization Becky had to sit this one out as she got really ill and had to take the shortcut. The hike we took wasn't much more difficult but after a long days hike and the changing altitude you could see things were going to keep getting worse.
We managed to make it to our camp without any sickness in our group. However, after a quick biscuit and hot drink, Katie began to get sick. Issa made up a hot cup of lemon and tea and gave her some pills for her head. After about thirty minutes Katie was feeling better, but still not her perky happy self.
We were now are the hardest leg of our trek and it was obviously so as there was no straight paths to be seen. Jimmy, who was one of the porters and could speak only very little English, was always filling us in on what we had done and what we were to do. He had described the last couple of hikes as quite tame slopes but when we mentioned the next morning's hike his arm went vertical and he laughed. We were now becoming a bit weary again about what was in store for us and why we chose this over retutrnng to the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar.
That night, although best we tried, we could not convince Glen that four to a tent would be a good idea. But, because Katie was not feeling great, they offered to swap one of their really good sleeping bags (down filled) for one of ours (definitely not down filled). Although we had had another horrible and cold sleep, we were both grateful and appreciative for their gesture of kindness.
I think I had begun to feel the altitude sickness but in a different way. When I would fall asleep it was as though I would begin to suffocate. I would jolt awake and try and catch my breath back. This greatly affected my sleeping pattern and as a result, I would never get more than an hour of solid uninterrupted sleep. This only added to the exhaustion and fatigue that I was already feeling from the climb.
The next morning (Day 29) we found out that both Becky and Steven had spent the remainder of their day and night puking. But, sick or not, there was nothing keeping them from reaching that mountain top and so they started hiking with us in the morning. Just as Jimmy had mentioned, we were walking, or should I say scaling, straight up the face of the mountain. It was steep but not too physically demanding because of our 'Pole Pole' pace. In some areas it didn't seem that the porters should be able to make it so easily but without sticks or help they would leap up spots that we would need help on.
After seven hours of climbing, we finally reached camp. It was hard to imagine that we were going to rest for only eight hours before we would start on the last leg of the trip, the mountain, and then start hiking again at midnight – WTF were we thinking doing this??? Although, Katie had felt okay during the day shortly after tea she began to get ill. This time the medicine and lemon did nothing to soothe her stomach and it was not long before she was puking. I managed to get her to bed but was taken from dinner a couple of times to help her out of the tent. In total, she had puked 6 times in a 4 hour time frame...which meant she got no sleep before the summit– poor girl!
Needless to say we didn't need much food before we started (now the morning of Day 30). Although, I hadn't thrown up I felt like I had. It was pitch black when we started hiking and this time we only had our one additional friend Becky with us (Steven was too ill and would wait until morning to start the climb). The hike started off good and it was almost comical how slow we were walking. However, even at this really slow pace we had managed to lap the American trio yet again (this made Katie feel really good – haha!)
At 5200m, things started to change and no longer was the majority of the group fine. Actually the only ones who didn't feel bad were Rihannon and Simon (our fifth member). Every time we walked it felt like I was going to puke and Glen said he felt the same. Katie felt like someone was scrunching up her stomach. It didn't feel like I was going to be able to make it and at around 5600 meters I had to bend over and just empty my stomach. At one point our guide had to give Katie and I a gentle push, literally, because we didn't think we could force ourselves to go on. It just never seemed to end. We would meet one check point and then we would be told there was another hour and a half and then once we got to the next one it would seem the same way. However, despite our cries and pain we finally made it. At roughly 6:30 am we made it to the top. It could not have been any more of a perfect day. Issa had told us that during the rainy season it was never certain to have a cloud free day...but here we were, at the top of Kili, above the clouds, watching the sun rise into a beautiful and brilliant clear sky.
The view of the other mountain tops, surrounding glaciers and constantly changing colors was breathtaking. Everyone snapped as many pictures as possible as we knew we had a 20 minute time frame before our guides (Issa and Henry) insisted that we head back down to more normal altitudes. We made sure to also get a couple of phone calls in to both of our mom's saying WE DID IT!!! However, the climb down wasn't going to be that easy as we would have to hike for 3.5, take a 2 hour rest and get ready for 3.5 more hours of fun! By the end of the day I think we were all ready to cry or at least collapse and when we finally reached our camp for the day we all passed out by about 8 pm or earlier (we calculated that in a 27 hour window frame, we climbed for 19 hours of it – crazy-crazy-crazy!!!). Our last day was much easier but we were so tired that it felt like it was never going to end.
Once we managed to reach the bottom and hiked to our car (Day 31) we were so happy. It wasn't just us whom were happy as most of the porters were happy to be off the mountain. In town it was almost impossible to think straight and it was almost painful trying to figure out how much we were going to tip all 16 members of the group. To give us a bit of time we stopped and bought the guys all a beer. When we did finally give everyone their tip they applauded for each other. When all was done they sang for us a local Kili song, although, it could have been about how these stupid Mzungu want to climb high mountains...well at least we were thinking we had been pretty stupid to do it. I think they were all just very happy that we had made it to the top and honestly we couldn't have and wouldn't have wanted to do it without all of them!
Katie and I can both honestly say that climbing Kili was one of the hardest things we have ever done in our lives. It was not that it was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done but it was also mentally exhausting and I have never tried so hard not to puke while doing something physical for a period of about 8 hours. I think everyone felt the same about the climb and felt the same about the shower...best ever!!! That night we managed to find an awesome Indo-Italiono restaurant where we gorged on good food and liquor to try and repair some damage.
The next day (Day 32) was perfect because we got a lot of rest on the bus ride from Moshi to Dar es Salaam. It was by far the nicest bus we have been on so far in Africa with free beverages and really comfy seats. The only thing that didn't make sense was how the bus drivers would just take the garbage bin and dump it outside the truck whenever we stopped for a bush toilet.
We arrived painlessly in the evening to a great welcome from the entire group that we had left behind 7 days earlier. Not only did we get a great welcome back, but within a minute they were all singing Happy Birthday to me. It was great to be back not to mention the cake that had been prepared for me. Katie had also managed to sneak in a few minutes along our travels in Moshi and got me a Birthday present...an awesome water bottle with Kili on it and a coffee cup. She somehow also managed to sneak in a birthday cake under my nose as well. I think everyone had had a little too much fun on Zanzibar because almost everyone was asleep by 10 oclock despite wanting to have a Birthday celebration for me. I am so glad because all I wanted to do was go to sleep – I wonder...is this a sign of maturing or a sign of growing old???
The next morning (Day 33) we were up and gone way too early for everyone but we had to leave early because we had a hell of driving day ahead of us. It was probably okay that everyone was so tired because most people slept away the morning of the drive. By noon we had covered 6 hours of our drive but were still no where near we were supposed to be. It was getting hot and people were restless. When we stopped in the valley of the Baobob trees barely anyone even got out of the truck to take pictures. At roughly six in the evening we arrived at the camp at Iringa. Again we had climbed into the mountains and the humidity we had felt the night before was gone. Although, most people had thought it was cold, to me it felt warm after having to sleep on Kili and I had another great sleep. Iringa was a nice campsite with some of the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted. I will be bringing this recipe home to share with all the folks of cold Saskatchewan.
The next morning (Day 34) was a painful one for everyone. I think most people were still reeling from too many hard days of partying on Zanzibar. Katie and I couldn't wait for the next day to be over so we would have some time to do our 70 L bag of laundry so we could have a shower and change into something clean!! Goodbye Tanzania and thank god that we were able to make it to the top of Mt. Kili...but better yet thank god it is over!!!!
TANZANIA!!!
Our first day (Day 20) in Tanzania was spent as guinea pigs for Absolute Africa. Normally Absolute Africa would take a different route when crossing the border into Tanzania but they had decided that rather than to enter further South they would try enter in the Northern part of Tanzania – they did this for two reasons. One was to bypass the wet and boggy roads and the second was to try and catch some of the migration from the Serengeti into the Massai Mara in Kenya.
We left very early from Rwanda on our last day because we were explained by our guide that it was crucial that we crossed in Tanzania during the day and made it to our campsite hopefully before nightfall. He said that it wasn't really anything that we should be worried about but there had been some security issues at the border between the two countries and we just didn't want to take any chances that could be involved. After an uneventful yet long day of travelling we arrived in Tanzania in a place called Nyagikinazi. We were all pretty happy that we were there and what made it better was that no one had to cook dinner that night...it was being cooked by the campsite. The campsite was also in an area that was a possible security risk but was owned by a local policeman. Because we were rich 'Mzungu's' and we were generating a lot of money for the local area, we were guarded by some of the off duty policemen.
One of the officers took us to town and gave us a tour. The place that we were in was much smaller than most of the other towns we had previously stayed in so a large group of tourists walking down the one and only main street was quite a sight for the locals. Not only did hundreds of little children swarm to the roads to watch us and talk with us but so did the older crowd. When we got back to the campsite, there were so many children hovering around the gates that someone decided that it would be good if we played games with them.
It was a little hard to explain frisbee to a group of small kids that spoke very little English but after a couple of seconds of throwing the frisbee, most of them had it down pat. A large group of us played with the kids just outside the camp gates. The group continued to constantly grow and soon we had two to three large groups playing. Rhesa had a group of the kids laughing hysterically as they tried to mimic her dance moves. They were even more pleased to watch themselves after from Claire's video camera (2 cool Aussie newbies that joined us in Rwanda).
As more and more kids joined in on the frisbee circle, things inevitably got a little messy. Some of the kids had not been shown yet how to throw it – so this meant that some of them would use all of their force to throw it to the person one foot next to them.
We played until it was dark with the group continuing to grow. It ended when the children's mothers came to collect their kids but not before one of the mothers roused them all into singing some songs for us. They sang one in English and then sang for us 'God Bless Africa' although there was no hand gestures in the second one. The songs got ended abruptly by one of the police officers as he told us politely but sternly we had to head back to the campsite because it was too dark. The policeman then proceeded to get really drunk and got into a fight with a local right next to us while we were eating – crazy, crazy, crazy!
The local woman did an excellent job of cooking our supper. We had the freshest chicken imaginable. When we were on our way to town, we passed by 3 locals all carrying two live chickens in each of their hands. We thought nothing of them until we were waiting to be fed and our stomach's were grumbling...you know the old familiar saying, “What is taking so long...are they killing the cows or chickens in there???” Well, yes, in this case they were and after they killed the chickens, they had to pluck and prepare the chickens. So although it did take a bit of time, we understood why. What really amazes me about the African woman are the way they bend. As we sat back to let our food digest, I couldn't help but notice the way they were washing up. They had a perfectly good and empty table in front of them but yet they still continued to wash and clean all of the dishes from the ground. And they do not bend they way we North American's would bend (basically kneeling on the ground hunched over in pain). No, their legs are perfectly straight, their butts are protruding outwards and their upper half is bent at a 45 degree angle. We continue to see this all of Africa and it never ceases to amaze me.
Our meal was great and shortly after we all headed to bed...well that was until Tom and Katie (not my Katie) found a condom in their bed. The place had looked a bit sketchy but I don't think anyone had thought it was that bad. Shortly after Katie (my Katie) searched our room and what do you know...she found a condom as well, now what are those odds??? Ours wasn't nearly as bad as the other because our condom was only opened and not yet unravelled. It was kind of ironical because when we showed up at the hotel there was a briefcase in our room and Katie asked the staff if it had been used – probably should have asked if it had been cleaned!
We decided that it would be funny to play a practical joke on a couple of the other newbies and some of those who were a little less liked (with the exclusion of Michael) and after getting them to open the door we hid a condom in their room. The prank didn't work very well but it was funny watching them check every inch of their room. Glen had them convinced that Katie and I had found our condom inside the pillow case so they were literally ripping their entire room apart. The last finding was a well used container of petroleum jelly right beside Glen's bed – what was this place???
We left pretty early in the morning (Day 21) to get to Mwanza by a decent time. Mwanza was a fairly dodgy looking campsite on the side of Lake Victoria. It was quite tempting to go and jump in the water by the time we had our tents setup but Kanyo shied us away from doing so by telling us that the lake is known for its crocodiles. It seemed weird that we were setting up our tents so close to the water if there was the possibility that a crocodile could jump out of the water and take one of us! I think maybe he was having a piss with us because he didn't seem to concerned or maybe he was angry at some of the lazy people and was hoping they got dragged away...jk. That night we also celebrated the one year marriage of our new Canadian Friends Mel and Brendan...they popped open a couple bottles of champagne purchased by the kitty and we all drank and toasted to them.
The next morning (Day 22) we decided to go for a run with Laura, Bilsey and Tom. I am not sure it was a great idea considering it was six in the morning but I think I always feel that way before a run (and actually, Katie had to drag me out of the tent). We had some trouble keeping up with the marathon runners and Tom and Billsey were actually running down the hills we had just come up so they could sprint up them again – crazy, crazy, crazy!
We headed from Mwanza to Ikama Camp in the ____ game reserve. Like usual, we arrived in the game reserve later than we were supposed to so we had to rush to set up our tents before nightfall. Kanyo had arranged for us to have a game walk with a couple of local guides. I am sure that everyone else was a little surprised when the guide showed up with two other people and no weapons. Well that is not exactly true, they had weapons but nothing more than a couple of clubs and bows and arrows. I am sure they were pretty experienced and knew what they were doing but I sure wouldn't have wanted to run into a pride of lions without any armed guards.
Our first stop on the game walk – which was literally a trek through the tall plains of grass – was to a tree that, “despite it looking dead was actually alive and only pretending”. This really cracked Micheal up and after that everything that looked dead was only pretending to be alive. The walk was too late in the day and I think everyone wanted it to be over once it started. That being said, our guide did manage to find a black Mambo (also known as a 'five stepper' because of their highly poisonous venom) hiding out in a small rodent hole. We tried to get above it to take pictures but once the guide told us that it was quite the jumper we were a bit timid, with the exception of Will who put his camera two inches from the hole. We also spotted some massive Safari Ant colonies and some extremely creepy looking spiders. We were surprised that the spider didn't get pissed off and try to bite somebody as four or five us tried non stop to take pictures of it from point blank range. Probably one of the highlights was shooting the security man's bow and arrow. The guide shot it first and then about six of us tried to see if we could match him. Jeremy did an amazing job (as usual) and beat out all of the other members ten fold. The guides could not believe that this was Jeremy's first time shooting a bow – all the girls were jealous of me...I was so proud. Jeremy, my hunter/gather fiancé! The game walk ended perfectly as the sun was setting with rainbows in the background.
Kanyo treated us to a traditional Kenyan meal of Ugali, beef stew and spinach (Katie was extremely lucky as it was her cooking night). I am not sure why it was such a funny night but I think Michael made it funny because he refused the traditional spinach (anything green and healthy was disgusting in his eyes) and when Rihannon put some on his plate he nearly lost it. His supper experience was then topped off when he got to the end of the line and there was no meat left (keep in mind that he was responsible for dishing out the meat servings...so, when he dished out the last of the meat, warning bells should have been going off in his head as he knew he had not yet been served - ???). Although we probably shouldn't have laughed at it him, it was hard not to. Sadly enough, this has happened on more than one occasion. When everyone goes to eat he is usually hanging back being lazy so when he finally gets there the food is gone or people are on having seconds. The worst case was one morning when he was too lazy to get food. By the time he mentally prepared to get up, the dishes were nearly done and the remainder of the food was thrown out – he got into a pissy mood that he was going to starve and that no one announced breakfast was over. I guess he did not hear the 1st or 2nd 'last chance' for food calls that the cooks do every meal. Yep...this was our Fitsy...but despite all this, we absolutely loved him!
After an uneventful night with no animal sounds we awoke (Day 23) and made our way (ten minutes) to the Serengeti National Park. We spent the full day driving around the park. In the afternoon we spotted a carcass out in the open sahara where shortly after we spotted the lions who had taken it down. It looked to be a Wildebeest but the lions were not eating...must have been either too tired, too full, too hot, or just didn't want us crowding around watching it eat. We stayed as long as we could but they barely popped out their heads and only did so when we pulled away. We headed further down the road and spotted hyena, jackal and a bunch of other smaller animals and then turned around to see if the lions were going to be more daring and show themselves. When we got back one of the lions was feeding but was staying very low to the ground so we couldn't see all that much. After giving up and making it maybe a half kilometer down the road the truck got stuck in some super deep mud...this seems to happen pretty often. Because of the angle of the truck (it looked like it was going to tip) we got out and tried to help rock it. After pushing from several angles, lots of digging from Robert and Kanyo, and some people getting seriously covered in mud, we managed to get lose. I have been stuck plenty of times in my life but never have I had to get out and push and at the same time watch out for animals that could munch on me for supper.
Our evening was a bit more eventful staying in the Serengeti park. We stayed at the Serenora camp site which was originally named camp six. I say this because at one point they changed the name of the campground because safari guides would come early and pay the park officials (bribe) so as not to have to stay in that camp. Supposedly, there is two different prides of lions that call that surrounding area home and at night tend to get very close and snarl at eachother...Kanyo once had 16 lions roaming around the tents.
After dinner and just as it started getting dark, Kanyo gave us the low down on politics in most of the Eastern African countries that we had visited. It is easy to see how perfect Kanyo is for this job after spending this much time with him. He can speak eight languages (most fluently), knows quite a few details regarding the traditions of quite a number of tribes, knows a lot about the politics in each country, knows the names and habits of most of the animals in the park, can name the vegetation and to top it off is an excellent cook (seriously...an excellent cook). The great thing about his talks is that they are not boring and they keep everyone around the fire interested the entire time (which very few of us can do). After about an hour of Kanyo talking we were interrupted by lights darting towards the bathroom. We all jumped up just in time to spot either a water buffalo or something of similar size walking around just in the bushes adjacent to us. This frightened a lot of our members and so every one worked together and cleaned up the campsite for the night. Kanyo ensured us that it was safe to come back to the fire once we were done. There was but a small few that were daring enough to settle back around the fire despite the sounds of the lions roaring in the distance. Because of the volume, it didn't seem possible but Kanyo reassured us that they were miles away. However, throughout the talk the lions continued to get closer and closer and started coming from both sides of the camp. Katie had not been feeling great and had went to bed a little earlier than myself but I stayed a little later listening to stories around the fire. When I finally went to bed I had intended to do some typing on the computer. I remained diligent for about twenty minutes but when I began to hear the sounds of lions through my headphones I figured it would be a good idea to turn off my lights. I didn't want to be that one stupid guy that gets talked about later... “so we had this one guy that was typing on his computer when a lion came and”.... you get my point.
You could tell that everyone was a little more fearful at this campsite because in the middle of the night it seemed that people were waking up because they had to pee but just waiting for others to do the same. When we woke up we heard a couple of others talking and figured it was Rihannon and Glen. We turned our lights on and it was immediately followed by the others. We were like a pack of Impala's because we all watched intently and shined our lights looking for the slightest danger while we were going pee. Unlike how slow we had been to actually get out to go pee, we were back in tents seconds afterwards we were finished.
Our morning game drive (Day 24) was cut short because shortly after we started we ran into another overlander truck stuck in the mud (go figure!). After getting them free from the mud we ourselves were then stuck in the mud and spent an hour and a half trying to get free. The men went to work at first and there was a wall of us rocking and pushing the truck. We laughed as we looked over our shoulders and watched as all of the girls sat there, laughing and taking pictures (with the exception of my Katie, who was feet deep in the mud with all of us). We were very squished for room and at one point, Alberto (newbie from Chile who did not like to get dirty) started to push on the back of my head. So...here I was, in my groove, rocking the truck to my own rhythm when all of a sudden, I feel this force from behind. I think he actually was more of a detriment to me then a help but he sure did give the entire group a great belly hurting laugh. Once we got free, we changed directions so as not to get stuck again and besides some lions in the distance and a very long line of zebras crossing the road we never managed to see many animals. We are always learning new info and found out that Zebras and Wildebeest are good friends because the zebra can see well and is complimented by the good sense of smell of the Wildebeest. However, the Wildebeest is one of the stupidest animals followed closely by the warthog. They both will run into danger and escape only to forget about the danger five minutes later and walk right back to where they came from...easy food as Kanyo would like to say.
Our next stop was the Ngorogoro crater where Katie and I had had our best animal sightings thus far. Katie and I were a little scared about the temperature at night because the last time we had been there it had been very cold and now it was officially winter here in East Africa. It was nothing less than we expected and five minutes after getting there everyone was wearing their long gear, long underwear, hats and mitts...and that is a bit strange for Africa. Katie was one of the first to go and shower and she was hoping she would have a hot shower but sadly for her, it was freezing cold! For those of you who know Katie, she is a complete 'freeze chicken' and apparently she was screaming to Jemma (in the shower next to here) as the water was hitting here. I had the luxury of having a hot shower as there was another set of showers on the opposite end of the camp that Katie was unaware of. I think she was ready to kill everyone when they were complaining about how hot their shower was. Our biggest concern and highlight was getting the fire started until Glen and Rihannon let us know that they were going to be coming along to climb Mount Kili with us. We had been working on them for so long and had only got a yes out of Glen. We were practically jumping around with excitement and immediately called Abraham about our new recruits. We hadn't been worried about the short notice of one day because it meant more business for him and we definitely knew he would find a way to make it happen.
After a cold night we awoke at 4:30 in the morning (Day 25) to even worse conditions than what we had had during the night – fog obscured all of our view. The conditions upon the top of the crater didn't seem to matter because as we descended into the crater in our small safari jeeps, we passed through the fog. The crater was by far the best game viewing we had done while on the overland tour. We got a great look at a cheetah lying in the grass no more than twenty feet from the truck, we witnessed Wildebeest's having sex, hyenas running past us with a bird and close spottings of lots of other animals. By 11:30 we left the crater and were all happy to do so because we were super tired from our early morning. Our jeeps met up with the overland truck and after a quick lunch we were on our away to Arusha to look at some Tanzanite. I don't think Katie and I had been seriously considering buying any Tanzanite but after a speal by the dealer and a look at the stone we were sold. Supposedly the only place in the world where this blue Tanzanite has been uncovered is in Tanzania and only near the city of Arusha. Also it is of limited supply so in less than twenty years they predict it will be gone and the price will rise higher than that of diamonds. Katie and I decided that it would be nice to have it put in her engagement ring as it would always be reminder of our amazing and life changing trip (and engagement) while in Africa.
When we arrived at the campsite we met up with the new truck that we would joining for the rest of our journey to Cape Town and our new guide...but Robert, our driver, would still be with us. We didn't have much time to enjoy meeting the new recruits our learning about the new truck. All of our stuff had to be located, organized (had to arrange what we needed for Kili and what would be kept in the new truck) and be ready to be picked up by Abraham, who was picking us up a couple of hours later. Although, it was painful, we managed to finish with an hour left to relax. Because of the short notice of the climb, we had not been able to organize warm clothes on our own – I mean...this is Africa! Luckily, everyone on our trip were super helpful and donated socks, long underwear, sweaters, toques, mitts and anything warm they had. After a delicious BBQ, we had to say “see you later” to majority of the group members and our “goodbye's” to a special few that we would not be travelling with again such as Michael and Kanyo.
We left very early from Rwanda on our last day because we were explained by our guide that it was crucial that we crossed in Tanzania during the day and made it to our campsite hopefully before nightfall. He said that it wasn't really anything that we should be worried about but there had been some security issues at the border between the two countries and we just didn't want to take any chances that could be involved. After an uneventful yet long day of travelling we arrived in Tanzania in a place called Nyagikinazi. We were all pretty happy that we were there and what made it better was that no one had to cook dinner that night...it was being cooked by the campsite. The campsite was also in an area that was a possible security risk but was owned by a local policeman. Because we were rich 'Mzungu's' and we were generating a lot of money for the local area, we were guarded by some of the off duty policemen.
One of the officers took us to town and gave us a tour. The place that we were in was much smaller than most of the other towns we had previously stayed in so a large group of tourists walking down the one and only main street was quite a sight for the locals. Not only did hundreds of little children swarm to the roads to watch us and talk with us but so did the older crowd. When we got back to the campsite, there were so many children hovering around the gates that someone decided that it would be good if we played games with them.
It was a little hard to explain frisbee to a group of small kids that spoke very little English but after a couple of seconds of throwing the frisbee, most of them had it down pat. A large group of us played with the kids just outside the camp gates. The group continued to constantly grow and soon we had two to three large groups playing. Rhesa had a group of the kids laughing hysterically as they tried to mimic her dance moves. They were even more pleased to watch themselves after from Claire's video camera (2 cool Aussie newbies that joined us in Rwanda).
As more and more kids joined in on the frisbee circle, things inevitably got a little messy. Some of the kids had not been shown yet how to throw it – so this meant that some of them would use all of their force to throw it to the person one foot next to them.
We played until it was dark with the group continuing to grow. It ended when the children's mothers came to collect their kids but not before one of the mothers roused them all into singing some songs for us. They sang one in English and then sang for us 'God Bless Africa' although there was no hand gestures in the second one. The songs got ended abruptly by one of the police officers as he told us politely but sternly we had to head back to the campsite because it was too dark. The policeman then proceeded to get really drunk and got into a fight with a local right next to us while we were eating – crazy, crazy, crazy!
The local woman did an excellent job of cooking our supper. We had the freshest chicken imaginable. When we were on our way to town, we passed by 3 locals all carrying two live chickens in each of their hands. We thought nothing of them until we were waiting to be fed and our stomach's were grumbling...you know the old familiar saying, “What is taking so long...are they killing the cows or chickens in there???” Well, yes, in this case they were and after they killed the chickens, they had to pluck and prepare the chickens. So although it did take a bit of time, we understood why. What really amazes me about the African woman are the way they bend. As we sat back to let our food digest, I couldn't help but notice the way they were washing up. They had a perfectly good and empty table in front of them but yet they still continued to wash and clean all of the dishes from the ground. And they do not bend they way we North American's would bend (basically kneeling on the ground hunched over in pain). No, their legs are perfectly straight, their butts are protruding outwards and their upper half is bent at a 45 degree angle. We continue to see this all of Africa and it never ceases to amaze me.
Our meal was great and shortly after we all headed to bed...well that was until Tom and Katie (not my Katie) found a condom in their bed. The place had looked a bit sketchy but I don't think anyone had thought it was that bad. Shortly after Katie (my Katie) searched our room and what do you know...she found a condom as well, now what are those odds??? Ours wasn't nearly as bad as the other because our condom was only opened and not yet unravelled. It was kind of ironical because when we showed up at the hotel there was a briefcase in our room and Katie asked the staff if it had been used – probably should have asked if it had been cleaned!
We decided that it would be funny to play a practical joke on a couple of the other newbies and some of those who were a little less liked (with the exclusion of Michael) and after getting them to open the door we hid a condom in their room. The prank didn't work very well but it was funny watching them check every inch of their room. Glen had them convinced that Katie and I had found our condom inside the pillow case so they were literally ripping their entire room apart. The last finding was a well used container of petroleum jelly right beside Glen's bed – what was this place???
We left pretty early in the morning (Day 21) to get to Mwanza by a decent time. Mwanza was a fairly dodgy looking campsite on the side of Lake Victoria. It was quite tempting to go and jump in the water by the time we had our tents setup but Kanyo shied us away from doing so by telling us that the lake is known for its crocodiles. It seemed weird that we were setting up our tents so close to the water if there was the possibility that a crocodile could jump out of the water and take one of us! I think maybe he was having a piss with us because he didn't seem to concerned or maybe he was angry at some of the lazy people and was hoping they got dragged away...jk. That night we also celebrated the one year marriage of our new Canadian Friends Mel and Brendan...they popped open a couple bottles of champagne purchased by the kitty and we all drank and toasted to them.
The next morning (Day 22) we decided to go for a run with Laura, Bilsey and Tom. I am not sure it was a great idea considering it was six in the morning but I think I always feel that way before a run (and actually, Katie had to drag me out of the tent). We had some trouble keeping up with the marathon runners and Tom and Billsey were actually running down the hills we had just come up so they could sprint up them again – crazy, crazy, crazy!
We headed from Mwanza to Ikama Camp in the ____ game reserve. Like usual, we arrived in the game reserve later than we were supposed to so we had to rush to set up our tents before nightfall. Kanyo had arranged for us to have a game walk with a couple of local guides. I am sure that everyone else was a little surprised when the guide showed up with two other people and no weapons. Well that is not exactly true, they had weapons but nothing more than a couple of clubs and bows and arrows. I am sure they were pretty experienced and knew what they were doing but I sure wouldn't have wanted to run into a pride of lions without any armed guards.
Our first stop on the game walk – which was literally a trek through the tall plains of grass – was to a tree that, “despite it looking dead was actually alive and only pretending”. This really cracked Micheal up and after that everything that looked dead was only pretending to be alive. The walk was too late in the day and I think everyone wanted it to be over once it started. That being said, our guide did manage to find a black Mambo (also known as a 'five stepper' because of their highly poisonous venom) hiding out in a small rodent hole. We tried to get above it to take pictures but once the guide told us that it was quite the jumper we were a bit timid, with the exception of Will who put his camera two inches from the hole. We also spotted some massive Safari Ant colonies and some extremely creepy looking spiders. We were surprised that the spider didn't get pissed off and try to bite somebody as four or five us tried non stop to take pictures of it from point blank range. Probably one of the highlights was shooting the security man's bow and arrow. The guide shot it first and then about six of us tried to see if we could match him. Jeremy did an amazing job (as usual) and beat out all of the other members ten fold. The guides could not believe that this was Jeremy's first time shooting a bow – all the girls were jealous of me...I was so proud. Jeremy, my hunter/gather fiancé! The game walk ended perfectly as the sun was setting with rainbows in the background.
Kanyo treated us to a traditional Kenyan meal of Ugali, beef stew and spinach (Katie was extremely lucky as it was her cooking night). I am not sure why it was such a funny night but I think Michael made it funny because he refused the traditional spinach (anything green and healthy was disgusting in his eyes) and when Rihannon put some on his plate he nearly lost it. His supper experience was then topped off when he got to the end of the line and there was no meat left (keep in mind that he was responsible for dishing out the meat servings...so, when he dished out the last of the meat, warning bells should have been going off in his head as he knew he had not yet been served - ???). Although we probably shouldn't have laughed at it him, it was hard not to. Sadly enough, this has happened on more than one occasion. When everyone goes to eat he is usually hanging back being lazy so when he finally gets there the food is gone or people are on having seconds. The worst case was one morning when he was too lazy to get food. By the time he mentally prepared to get up, the dishes were nearly done and the remainder of the food was thrown out – he got into a pissy mood that he was going to starve and that no one announced breakfast was over. I guess he did not hear the 1st or 2nd 'last chance' for food calls that the cooks do every meal. Yep...this was our Fitsy...but despite all this, we absolutely loved him!
After an uneventful night with no animal sounds we awoke (Day 23) and made our way (ten minutes) to the Serengeti National Park. We spent the full day driving around the park. In the afternoon we spotted a carcass out in the open sahara where shortly after we spotted the lions who had taken it down. It looked to be a Wildebeest but the lions were not eating...must have been either too tired, too full, too hot, or just didn't want us crowding around watching it eat. We stayed as long as we could but they barely popped out their heads and only did so when we pulled away. We headed further down the road and spotted hyena, jackal and a bunch of other smaller animals and then turned around to see if the lions were going to be more daring and show themselves. When we got back one of the lions was feeding but was staying very low to the ground so we couldn't see all that much. After giving up and making it maybe a half kilometer down the road the truck got stuck in some super deep mud...this seems to happen pretty often. Because of the angle of the truck (it looked like it was going to tip) we got out and tried to help rock it. After pushing from several angles, lots of digging from Robert and Kanyo, and some people getting seriously covered in mud, we managed to get lose. I have been stuck plenty of times in my life but never have I had to get out and push and at the same time watch out for animals that could munch on me for supper.
Our evening was a bit more eventful staying in the Serengeti park. We stayed at the Serenora camp site which was originally named camp six. I say this because at one point they changed the name of the campground because safari guides would come early and pay the park officials (bribe) so as not to have to stay in that camp. Supposedly, there is two different prides of lions that call that surrounding area home and at night tend to get very close and snarl at eachother...Kanyo once had 16 lions roaming around the tents.
After dinner and just as it started getting dark, Kanyo gave us the low down on politics in most of the Eastern African countries that we had visited. It is easy to see how perfect Kanyo is for this job after spending this much time with him. He can speak eight languages (most fluently), knows quite a few details regarding the traditions of quite a number of tribes, knows a lot about the politics in each country, knows the names and habits of most of the animals in the park, can name the vegetation and to top it off is an excellent cook (seriously...an excellent cook). The great thing about his talks is that they are not boring and they keep everyone around the fire interested the entire time (which very few of us can do). After about an hour of Kanyo talking we were interrupted by lights darting towards the bathroom. We all jumped up just in time to spot either a water buffalo or something of similar size walking around just in the bushes adjacent to us. This frightened a lot of our members and so every one worked together and cleaned up the campsite for the night. Kanyo ensured us that it was safe to come back to the fire once we were done. There was but a small few that were daring enough to settle back around the fire despite the sounds of the lions roaring in the distance. Because of the volume, it didn't seem possible but Kanyo reassured us that they were miles away. However, throughout the talk the lions continued to get closer and closer and started coming from both sides of the camp. Katie had not been feeling great and had went to bed a little earlier than myself but I stayed a little later listening to stories around the fire. When I finally went to bed I had intended to do some typing on the computer. I remained diligent for about twenty minutes but when I began to hear the sounds of lions through my headphones I figured it would be a good idea to turn off my lights. I didn't want to be that one stupid guy that gets talked about later... “so we had this one guy that was typing on his computer when a lion came and”.... you get my point.
You could tell that everyone was a little more fearful at this campsite because in the middle of the night it seemed that people were waking up because they had to pee but just waiting for others to do the same. When we woke up we heard a couple of others talking and figured it was Rihannon and Glen. We turned our lights on and it was immediately followed by the others. We were like a pack of Impala's because we all watched intently and shined our lights looking for the slightest danger while we were going pee. Unlike how slow we had been to actually get out to go pee, we were back in tents seconds afterwards we were finished.
Our morning game drive (Day 24) was cut short because shortly after we started we ran into another overlander truck stuck in the mud (go figure!). After getting them free from the mud we ourselves were then stuck in the mud and spent an hour and a half trying to get free. The men went to work at first and there was a wall of us rocking and pushing the truck. We laughed as we looked over our shoulders and watched as all of the girls sat there, laughing and taking pictures (with the exception of my Katie, who was feet deep in the mud with all of us). We were very squished for room and at one point, Alberto (newbie from Chile who did not like to get dirty) started to push on the back of my head. So...here I was, in my groove, rocking the truck to my own rhythm when all of a sudden, I feel this force from behind. I think he actually was more of a detriment to me then a help but he sure did give the entire group a great belly hurting laugh. Once we got free, we changed directions so as not to get stuck again and besides some lions in the distance and a very long line of zebras crossing the road we never managed to see many animals. We are always learning new info and found out that Zebras and Wildebeest are good friends because the zebra can see well and is complimented by the good sense of smell of the Wildebeest. However, the Wildebeest is one of the stupidest animals followed closely by the warthog. They both will run into danger and escape only to forget about the danger five minutes later and walk right back to where they came from...easy food as Kanyo would like to say.
Our next stop was the Ngorogoro crater where Katie and I had had our best animal sightings thus far. Katie and I were a little scared about the temperature at night because the last time we had been there it had been very cold and now it was officially winter here in East Africa. It was nothing less than we expected and five minutes after getting there everyone was wearing their long gear, long underwear, hats and mitts...and that is a bit strange for Africa. Katie was one of the first to go and shower and she was hoping she would have a hot shower but sadly for her, it was freezing cold! For those of you who know Katie, she is a complete 'freeze chicken' and apparently she was screaming to Jemma (in the shower next to here) as the water was hitting here. I had the luxury of having a hot shower as there was another set of showers on the opposite end of the camp that Katie was unaware of. I think she was ready to kill everyone when they were complaining about how hot their shower was. Our biggest concern and highlight was getting the fire started until Glen and Rihannon let us know that they were going to be coming along to climb Mount Kili with us. We had been working on them for so long and had only got a yes out of Glen. We were practically jumping around with excitement and immediately called Abraham about our new recruits. We hadn't been worried about the short notice of one day because it meant more business for him and we definitely knew he would find a way to make it happen.
After a cold night we awoke at 4:30 in the morning (Day 25) to even worse conditions than what we had had during the night – fog obscured all of our view. The conditions upon the top of the crater didn't seem to matter because as we descended into the crater in our small safari jeeps, we passed through the fog. The crater was by far the best game viewing we had done while on the overland tour. We got a great look at a cheetah lying in the grass no more than twenty feet from the truck, we witnessed Wildebeest's having sex, hyenas running past us with a bird and close spottings of lots of other animals. By 11:30 we left the crater and were all happy to do so because we were super tired from our early morning. Our jeeps met up with the overland truck and after a quick lunch we were on our away to Arusha to look at some Tanzanite. I don't think Katie and I had been seriously considering buying any Tanzanite but after a speal by the dealer and a look at the stone we were sold. Supposedly the only place in the world where this blue Tanzanite has been uncovered is in Tanzania and only near the city of Arusha. Also it is of limited supply so in less than twenty years they predict it will be gone and the price will rise higher than that of diamonds. Katie and I decided that it would be nice to have it put in her engagement ring as it would always be reminder of our amazing and life changing trip (and engagement) while in Africa.
When we arrived at the campsite we met up with the new truck that we would joining for the rest of our journey to Cape Town and our new guide...but Robert, our driver, would still be with us. We didn't have much time to enjoy meeting the new recruits our learning about the new truck. All of our stuff had to be located, organized (had to arrange what we needed for Kili and what would be kept in the new truck) and be ready to be picked up by Abraham, who was picking us up a couple of hours later. Although, it was painful, we managed to finish with an hour left to relax. Because of the short notice of the climb, we had not been able to organize warm clothes on our own – I mean...this is Africa! Luckily, everyone on our trip were super helpful and donated socks, long underwear, sweaters, toques, mitts and anything warm they had. After a delicious BBQ, we had to say “see you later” to majority of the group members and our “goodbye's” to a special few that we would not be travelling with again such as Michael and Kanyo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)