Follow his adventures here. Best of luck Nicola, we hope to see you again soon!
Two days later we arrive at Arba Minch in Southern Ethiopia, a well travelled town on the lush green tropical landscapes aside Lakes Choma and Abaya. Truly magnificent and to our uninformed expectations very unlikely Ethiopian. We meet up with Tom and Carl (find them here), two British overlanders packing a heavily branded Landrover. We hang out for a day or two visiting the Crocodile Market on Lake Choma (a specific spot on the lake shore where they seem to hang out), by boat, where we find Crocs baking in the sun and Hippos carefully eyeing us, seemingly bored. The next day Carl and Tom joins us as we depart south toward Omo Valley and ultimately further so toward Kenyan Lake Turkana. Along the way we stop at a few village markets where we encounter some of the famous Omo Valley tribes doing their trade. Colourful yet surprisingly commercial (thanks to us tourists) as entrance fees are levied when entering a village market as a foreigner and the same applies for any picture taken. I do understand, but no thanks. This ain't no funfair. Finding Omerate, the last Ethiopian village en route to Kenya, we stamp our passports at immigration and enjoy a last typical Ethio meal before we set out to find our last bushcamp in 2002. The next morning we follow dusty sandy tracks south, passing some small informal settlements along the way and eventually noting a waypoint on the GPS that reads "border marker". We track it down, finding a concrete 'gravestone'. We are about to enter Kenya. This particular route into Kenya is not that often travelled (although more so these days) and therefore not represented at the border by Kenyan immigration and/or customs officers. In fact, the less nav-savvy may even pass this frontier without realising they had done so...
Behold, Lake Turkana. A great sheet of shimmering blue on a semi-arid backdrop. We continue to drive sandy tracks mixed with outcrops of rock most of the way as we enter Sibiloi NP, a desolate, rarely visited national park except for the archaeological community based around the research camp at Koobi Fora. We find a place to camp on the beach, just down from an abandoned outcrop of brick-and-mortar houses, unexplained. We are not alone. On the beach right on the shore are literally hundreds of goats and a few cows, huddled in little groups with herders dotted about under shade. Rather reassuring, as the lake is said to be home to a large crocodile population and if the livestock is to be believed, this stretch of shore is an exception. Swimming! And this would be a good place to procure a goat, meet Robert, our billy goat. Unfortunately we had ulterior motives and Robert was consequently 're-appropriated' at approximately 16:00 that same day. A little tough Robert was as we had no appropriate tenderising agent although nonetheless, tasty roasted leg of goat was served for supper. Robert was to keep us company (in part, of course) for the following 5 days providing the necessary protein to our travelling party of 5. We are surprised that the Turkana track thus far has been pretty easy-going and not nearly worthy of its hard-to-do reputation although the desolate beauty of this place and its people certainly is not. Having said that, dry deep-rutted mud tracks across the plains indicate that traversing these lands during the wet season will be slightly more challenging, as in most cases. A few bushcamps later (including another gracious day on the shores of Lake Turkana, just south of Loyangalani, followed by a hellish windstorm night) we arrive at South Horr, a little oasis proper with trees, schools and other matter of green. We are warmly received by the Samburu Missionary school volunteers and after some tee and a chat we saddle-up to continue toward Maralal. From Maralal we turn east at Kisima heading for the new and well-deserved tarmac at Isiolo which takes us straight into Nairobi, garnished with tales of milkshakes, yoghurt, biltong and all manner of fruits and vegetables. We go straight for the de facto stop for overlanders in Nairobi, Jungle Junction, where we will spend some days resolving our cravings and mechanical problems accumulated: Our alternator is not pushing current since 2 days ago (thank goodness for solar independence); Joel's Landrover lost its brake booster (he speculates); Tom and Carl's Landrover shows cracks on the chassis (ouch). The Landcruiser is fixed in a morning, replacing the brushes in the alternator with help from Kirk (follow Kirk and Dale on their travels here), a fellow SA overlander and Landcruiser devotee. The following days are spent having braais and talking about our respective travels and plans in addition to, of course, letting the Kenyan authorities know that we're in their country. We particularly enjoyed Jungle Junction because it's based around a house which everyone camping there may use. After 5 months of tenting it we have an actual couched lounge, dining room and kitchen to our disposal. Add some good company and Bob's your uncle. We spend +- 5 days in Nairobi before we drive (and sadly say good bye to Joel, our resident archaeologist and partner-in-adventure for the last 5 months. take care mate, see you in Canada!) with little further delay to the Kenyan coast. Mombasa, further south and 3 beautiful days at Twiga beach, complete with fresh fish, veg and roasted cashew nuts bartered from locals on the beach. Finally, the warm-watered, whitesand-fringed Indian Ocean. Absolute Bliss. She will be our guide for the next 2 months all the way down to Kwazulu Natal.
The next days are marked by much the same as we enter Tanzania and on to Dar Es Salaam. We decide to skip Zanzibar on account of tourist influx and crazy prices. Staying south of Dar on South Beach, a slight case of complacency results in an episode with knives, played out in a ditch, after dark, on the side of the road that services south beach. Make no mistake, Africa in general is as safe (minus the troubled areas of course) as anywhere else in the world, and like anywhere else in the world, cities and the fringes thereof facilitates crime, especially after dark. We escape unscathed (although Steph misses her lucky charms) largely due to the fact that the knived robbers who were mugging us were interrupted by a second set of knived robbers who appeared to be mugging them and in this scuffle of confusion, made our way to the nearest shop in haste. A reminder that walking at night in some parts of any foreign city is seldom a good idea, no matter how confident and trusting you may be. Always check with the locals. We lick our wounds on the lovely Kipipeo beach for a few days before floating further south.
South Eastern Tanzania was slightly disappointing (i use this word with reservation) as access to the beach/coast was somewhat limited. Maybe so because of We stop at Kilwa Masoko at night after some problems with our suspension and decide to spend a few days. The next day we mount our first Dhow excursion to Kilwa Kisiwani, an island just offshore steeped in history dating back to the 15C Arab trade routes. The next day we leave for Mtwara where we will try to have new rear leaf springs fitted. We spend another few days tracking-down and fitting the new rear suspension and new master cylinder (brake fluid leaking due to worn seals). Thank you Ernest! We get away late the last day and only make it to Masasi by dusk. Struggling to find anywhere to stay, we strike gold with the cheapest hotel known to man. A full €2.20 per double room charged, clean, complete with pink walls and matching mosquito net. We throw back a few Serengeti's (local beer) after dark whilst enjoying Masasi's sound scape during another and apparently common power-outage after which we retire, ready for Mozambique in the morning...
No comments:
Post a Comment