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  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 96

    Ireland

    July 18, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    And so the trip ends, it is strange to think that after thirteen weeks it is time to go home. I have travelled a long way from my starting point in Johannesburg, saw a lot of animals in their natural habitat, meet plenty of lovely local people and had a great laugh with some tourists. I have done some unforgettable activities such as gorilla hiking, skydiving and hot air balloon flight to name only a few. There has been plenty of highlights and a few lowlights but I wouldn't change a thing about the trip as it has been amazing.

    I arrived into Dublin to the sight of heavy rain and clouds. Mam collected me and I told her to bring me to see Éabha. I couldn't believe how much she had grown since I had left. She was full of smiles and I can't wait to tell her all my elephant stories. I am looking forward to having a good catch up with all my friends and family.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 93

    Antalya

    July 15, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 43 °C

    We arrived in Antalya just as a heatwave hit the region. The forecast was 40+ degree celsius for the few days we were there. The minute we got off the plane we could feel the humidity and heat. We organised a hotel transfer and it turned out to be a VIP experience. The inside of the car had reclining chairs, air conditioning, a fridge with cold water, a tv and leather seats.

    When we arrived at Hotel Mono we realised that we forgot to book a hotel with a swimming pool. It was a mistake as we didn't realise that we would need to cool off in this heat. However the hotel was located in the old town of Antalya and close to the sea. We organised a boat trip to the Andrasan islands which is known as the "Turkish Maldives". To be honest the tour was poorly organised from the start as there was minimal to no information from any of the staff regarding time to spend at each spot, time for lunch and where to go to get bus home. We stopped at two islands with beaches and one spot mid ocean for swimming. There was huge number of other boats and swimmers in the same area so it was very busy. Our boat had no music compared to other boats so there was no atmosphere on the boat. Nevertheless it was lovely to sit on a boat with a sea breeze for a few hours and then hop into the sea for a swim to cool us down.

    The next morning we went to a beach beside the old town. The beach was small but they had constructed wooden planks to put sun loungers on in order to make more room. We played some uno and relaxed on the sun loungers and then swam in the nice fresh sea to cool down. After dinner we walked through the old town looking for music however it was difficult to find a good spot. A lot of Turkish music was playing in the background while people are eating or smoking which wasn't what we were looking for. We found Irish and English pubs but none of them had any music however finally we found a bar with a DJ. Originally we didn't know many of the songs as they were in Turkish but we danced as they had a good beat. As the night went on the DJ started to play more International tunes and we struggled to leave as every time we tried to go home the DJ played another banger tune.

    On our final day we went to the Waterhill Aqualand waterpark. This was Ciara's first time at a waterpark and we had a ball. We arrived just before the park opened so the park was quite for the first hour and we were able to do all the slides without queuing. It was lovely to be able to hop into the water to cool down from the high temperatures. In the middle of the afternoon there was a dolphin, seal and bulga whale show. After being in Africa and swimming with a school of dolphins it was a strange feeling watching them doing tricks at this show. Nevertheless it was nice to sit in the shade for a short period. We ran around the park again to do all the slides again before leaving. That evening we had a final dinner on the terrace of our hotel that overlooked the sea. We watched the sunset while having a final cocktail of the trip.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 89

    Cappadocia

    July 11, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    When planning our trip to Turkey one of the main locations we wanted to visit was Cappadocia. There are famous Instagram photos of hot air balloons flying over a valley and both Ciara and myself were interested in seeing it in person. We were collected at 3:45 and brought to a local office for payment and to be organised into groups for the balloon. Each balloon can carry twenty people. The balloon's basket has compartments to separate people and to help distribute weight. Once we got in the basket, the pilot explained the safety position to take when landing and then we were off. We floated up into the air and watched as about eighty other hot air balloons flew around us. We flew over the valley, sometimes going high and other times flying low near the ground. The pilot rotated the basket slowly so we could get a beautiful panoramic view. The whole experience lasted about one hour. Ciara and myself were in awe for the whole time and we couldn't believe how pretty it was to see all the hot air balloons. We started at dawn and saw the sun rise over the valley. It was beautiful to watch the sunlight change over the valley. We were definitely surprised by how much we enjoyed the experience and our photos make great Instagram posts.

    After breakfast we were collected for a bus trip of Cappadocia region. We first visited a viewpoint over Goreme village which has big fairy towers. Our guide George explained how these fairy towers were developed as a result of volcano formations and eroded due to wind. Next we visited the underground living quarters developed by Christians who came from Jerusalem to spread Christianity between the 3rd and 7th Century. There was approximately one thousand people living in the underground villages and they were hiding from Pagan Romans. There is over two thousand underground villages in the region. We visited Selime Cathedral which is a caved church and it was built in the 11th Century. We learned that there are approximately one thousand caved churches in Cappadocia.

    After lunch we walked to Saint George's Church which was built in the 13th century. It was a nice river walk to the church and the church had some nice wall paintings. Finally we stopped at the Pigeon Valley Viewpoint before being dropped back at our hotel. We treated ourselves to a three course Asian meal in Quick China. It was so good that we returned the next evening for dinner again. Special mention was the chocolate fever desert, words can't describe how delicious it was!

    The following morning we got up at sunrise to watch the hot air balloons from the roof of our hotel. We spent an hour fascinated by the balloons floating up in the sky. After two early mornings we were glad to chill and have siestas for the afternoon. At 5pm we were collected for our quad biking tour. We were in a group of eight and drove to different valleys for a view of the scenery. We drove through tunnels and on sandy bumpy roads. We drove up and down tall banks. It was a fun experience and something different to do. Overall Cappadocia may be a touristy town but the hot air balloon experience was well worth our visit.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 87

    Istanbul

    July 9, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I arrived in the metropolitan city of Istanbul and knew straight away I was back in Western civilization as the size of the airport was huge. It took twenty five minutes to get from the landing strip to the airport gate. There were organised queues of people waiting in line for the passport control. I got the bus into the city center and had the afternoon to explore the area before Ciara arrived from Ireland. She got a little bit lost when she got off the airport bus so she was relieved when I found her at the bus stop. After a quick change we went for dinner in a local restaurant and paid for an overpriced (but tasty) bottle of wine while having a good catch up. We didn't know where to start as there was so much to catch up on.

    We decided to do a walking tour with Pinar from Free Tours. She walked us through Sultan Ahmet Park explaining to us about the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. I learned that there are over three thousands mosques in Istanbul. Pinar was very good at explaining the history of Istanbul and giving us good tips on where to visit. She was also very good at persuading us to join her boat trip in the afternoon as most of the group from the walking tour went on the boat trip. The boat sailed through the Bosporus Strait and Golden Horn which is the strait that separates the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was interesting to see the big expensive hotels and houses on the edge of the strait. We got a very good view of the whole of the city and saw a lot of mosques in the distance. After the boat trip Pinar walked us through the Asian market pointing out different food and allowed us to taste some of the Turkish delights and ice cream.

    The following day we got up early to miss the queues for the Blue Mosque. It had some lovely blue mosaic tiles on the ceiling. We didn't stay as long as we had predicted but this helped to also miss the queues for the Topaki Palace. Topaki Palace is where the Sultans and their families lived. It had four main courtyards and multiple smaller buildings containing dorm rooms, school, library and mosque. After lunch we stopped at the Serefiye Cistern to watch a light display on the columns of the walls and to take cover from the sun. We went back to our hotel for a rest and then went to the Galata area for dinner. Galata is the new town of the European side of Istanbul. There a tower with a view over the city, a tram line that ran a long the shop street and plenty of ice cream shops. It was nice to people watch while having dinner and a delicious ice cream.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 85

    Nairobi

    July 7, 2023 in Kenya ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We crossed back over the Uganda/Kenyan border to retrace our path back to Nairobi. We stayed in Nakuru again and had a final dinner together.

    On our final day we stopped at the Great Rift Valley for a photo of the scenery. The Great Rift Valley extends 9600km from the Red Sea to Mozambique. During our drive back to Nairobi Karen, Craig and I tried to remember all the high and low memories of the last fifty six days. We discussed what we had expected and what we learned from traveling through Southern and East Africa.

    When we arrived at our final destination the Hotel Boulevard in Nairobi we saw Harmony who had travelled to Nairobi to properly say goodbye to us. He had a big smile on his face and we were glad to hear that he had recovered from malaria. We said thank you to Crispen, Harmony and Francis for all their guidance and work during the last fifty six days since Cape Town. Ethan texted to say he was in Nairobi so I met him for a catch up and final goodbye before I organised myself for my early flight to Istanbul.

    It has been an unforgettable adventure since I started my trip in Johannesburg. I have learned a lot about the different African cultures and met some interesting and friendly local people. The overland travel was tiring at times but I think it was good to see everyday life when driving through the local villages and towns. I am excited to head to Turkey to meet Ciara for a holiday now.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 81

    Jinja

    July 3, 2023 in Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Jinja is situated on the edge of Lake Victoria and at the source of the White Nile. We spent three nights here and it was well needed after all the travel I have done. When we arrived the manager showed us a video and explained all of the activities we could do while we stayed in Jinja. As a group we chose to do a sunset boat cruise on the first evening. We were collected at 5pm by a boat which had plenty of drinks and finger food. Unfortunately the clouds were in so we only got a brief glimpse of the sunsetting. Nevertheless I learned a lot about life living by the River Nile from the tour guides. They explained that the government built two dams on either side of Jinja for power production however instead of 150 megabits of energy being produced, as planned, only 20 megabits are actually produced. This has annoyed locals as there was a lot of money spent on these dams without any true benefits. The other problem is that the level of the river has risen as a result of the dams and the river has a reduction in fish population due to over fishing.

    After the boat cruise Francis, Del, Kye and myself went to the bar to play uno while we (or more I) asked Francis a lot of questions. The winner of each uno game had to demonstrate their dancing skills. I was on a winning role so my Irish dancing moves were on show a lot.

    The following day I went for a run along the main road and I nearly caused multiple motorbike accidents as the motorbikes slowed down to look at a "Muzungo" running on their streets. After lunch I spent the afternoon in the spa. I decided to treat myself to a massage, manicure and pedicure as I felt after seventy days on the road I needed some TLC. The full body massage was interesting as the lady had some interesting massage techniques. She pulled on all my limbs nearly dislocating them. I'm not sure how calming it was but for $20 it an interesting experience. Before dinner I did a yoga class overlooking the Nile. It was a nice combination between stretching, core exercises and balancing exercises. It felt very good to exercise again properly after all those long truck drives.

    The final day I did whitewater rafting with Kye and it was organised by Nile River Explorers. We drove thirty minutes to the start of the rapids. There was four in our boat including our guide Josh. Josh explained that the rafting can be either grade three or grade five rapids depending line we take into the rapids. We decided to do the grade five rapids as "go big or go home". Josh talked us through what to do during the rapids and if the boat turned over. The first rapid we nearly flipped which shocked us all and then on the second rapid we fully flipped, this scared Kye as he was caught under the boat for about five seconds. The aim for the rest of the rapids was to stay in the boat. We got to swim down the last rapid which was fun as the current was pretty strong and it took us down the river quickly. In total we travelled twenty kilometers down the river before the end of the trip. We were all hungry and tired after the rafting and were glad to be given a chicken wrap and beer at the bus to celebrate completing the rafting journey. After dinner we had a final game of uno (Kye won overall winner) before saying goodbye to Del and Kye. They made us all laugh so much over the last nine days that we were all sad to leave them. However we head back to Kenya to finish our tour in two days so its the start of saying goodbye to my African travel family.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 79

    Kigali

    July 1, 2023 in Rwanda ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    When I organised this trip I did not consider visiting Rwanda as I didn't know much about it However throughout my travels I had heard a lot of good things about the country so when the option to do a day visit to Rwanda was on offer I was glad to go. Rwanda is also the fiftieth country that I have visited. There was noticeable difference between Uganda and Rwanda straight away after crossing the border. Firstly there is an hour difference so we went back an hour similar to South Africa time. Secondly they drive on the right hand side of the road and there is speeding fines so drivers follow to rules. The roads were lovely and smooth with a large number of cyclists sharing the road.

    We drove to Kigali which is the capital of Rwanda. It is the cleanest city in Africa as every last Saturday of the month businesses close to that everyone can help clean the streets. I would suggest that it may be the cleanest city in the world as there was not one piece of plastic or paper on the ground. Kigali is located on a hill with green fields growing tea, rice and roses.

    We visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and I learned about the 1994 genocide which killed one million people within one hundred days. The genocide involved the Huti native people against the Tutsi native people where people were killed using machetes. The genocide museum is located at the final resting place of 250,000 people who lost their lives during the genocide. It was hard to read about all the people killed violently during this attract especially the children. It is hard to believe this genocide happened so recently and over a few weeks.

    Our driver told us that local people still have a lot of hurt as so many people had family members killed during the genocide. Nowadays people from Rwanda can not differentiate themselves as Tutsi or Huti instead they only call themselves Rwandans in order to try keep peace. However from talking to the tour guides it sounds like there may be conflict from not having freedom of speech. Afterwards we visited the Belgian Memorial which commemorated ten Belgium UN peace keepers who were killed during the genocide.

    We drove to Hotel des Milles Collins which was known as Hotel Rwanda. This hotel was used to keep some people safe during the genocide. We had a lovely lunch and I happened to bump into Claudia who was on my trip to South Africa and Zanzibar. It was a nice surprise to meet some of the Intripid group and Claudia for a brief moment again.

    Rwanda surprised me as a great country to visit as it is so clean with plenty of cyclists. I was glad to visit the genocide museum as although it was sad it is interesting to hear about Rwanda's history.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 77

    Lake Bunyoni/Bwindi Impenetrable Nat

    June 29, 2023 in Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Francis told us before arriving that Lake Bunyoni is know as "Africa's version of Switzerland" and I can understand why. It is a long narrow lake surrounded by beautiful green mountains. It is Uganda's deepest lake approximately 6500 feet deep. The lodge and camp site was located on a hill where the truck was parked at the top of the hill and the campsite and lodges were located at the bottom of the hill. We got lots of exercise walking up and down the steps from the lake and campsite up to the truck for food and our bags.

    While the rest of the group went kayaking I decided to go for a swim. A short walk along the lake there was sun loungers with a diving board and hammocks. It was beautiful area to chill and relax while listening to the birds chirping. The weather was very humid so the cold fresh water was perfect to cool down. Francis took over cooking duties today and we had a delicious goat barbeque. It was my first time tasting goat and I really enjoyed it.

    The following day we left at 5am to go to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for our mountain gorilla trek. There was a briefing for all hikers at the entrance of the park where we learned that the park is spread mainly in Uganda but also in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. There is 1063 gorillas living in twenty one families within the park. It is a protected park and due to population of gorillas growing they have been downgraded from the extremely endangered list to the endangered list. Rangers track the families every morning before the tourists arrive to monitor their whereabouts.

    The group of hikers were split into groups of eight and we were all going to visit different gorilla families. We met our guide Gloria who told us that we may be hiking for a long time before getting to the gorillas. The path was a narrow trial that was steep at times. We were at an altitude of 3600 feet so it was hard at times when climbing

    After one hour we were told to take a drink and put on our face masks. This was a sign the gorillas were nearby. Since COVID the park has used face masks to avoid humans giving any infections to gorillas and vice versa. This was the tricky part of the hike as the gorillas were down the side of the mountain among trees and scrubs. There was two rangers who used knifes to cut down bushes in order to make a path down the mountain to the gorillas. The path was mossy and slippery but we didn't mind as we were excited to see the gorillas.

    The park rules are that tourists have one hour with one family of gorillas per day. Gloria set her stopwatch when we saw a gorilla eating the leaves from the tree. The gorilla moved down the hill and we followed as we spotted more gorillas together. In total there was fifteen gorillas. The head of the gorilla family is the silverback who is the biggest gorilla and is the father to all the younger gorillas. The silverback gorilla is born with black hair but as he gets older his hair goes silver. I was surprised by the size of the silverback as he was probably the width of two people and his hands were huge. There was a one year old baby gorilla who was been protected by his mother so we saw him from a distance.

    The funniest of the group was the three children. These children were approximately two to three years old and they climbed up and down the trees, falling out of the trees and wrestling each other. They were hilarious to watch as they seemed to be having a lot of fun. In the future the two male children will fight it out to be the new head of the family when the silverback gets old.

    Similarly to some of the safaris we have done I was surprised by how close we got to the animals without them been bothered by us. One female gorilla was eating and then got up and walked by me to another tree. She was at arm's length away from me. Nobody wanted to leave after the hour however we all respected the gorillas space and time. It was quite the climb trying to get back up to the original trial but once we were at the top we couldn't stop talking about what an amazing experience that was. I have had some unbelievable experiences on this trip but this gorilla trek was one of the best.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 76

    Queen Elizabeth National Park

    June 28, 2023 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Queen Elizabeth National Park contains one community of chimpanzees and we hoped that we would be able to find them during our trek in the park. We met our ranger at the entrance of the park and he carried a gun with him. This was the first guide to carry a gun with us in Africa so it was scary to think he may need to use it on our trek. The ranger explained that there was no guarantee to see the chimpanzees as they move throughout the park daily.

    The luck of the Irish was well in form today as we only hiked for under an hour down the gorge and across the river before our ranger spotted a chimpanzee in a tree at the far side of the river near where we started. We rushed back along the original path across the river to our starting point. When we arrived we saw approximately twenty chimpanzee. Some chimpanzees were sitting on the ground while others were up at the top of the trees. We were able to stand about five meters away from the chimpanzees. The chimpanzees at the top of the trees were singing and calling out loudly. I learned that the chimps at the top of the tree were singing to inform the others that they had found food. After 2-3 minutes the chimpanzees who were sitting on the ground climbed up the tree to join their families. They ate their fruit from the top of the trees and dropped the shells to the ground nearly hitting us.. After about twenty minutes the chimpanzees finished eating and some of them came back down the tree and walked to the river to rest under some scrubs. It was cool seeing how the chimpanzee slide down the trunk of the tree. I didn't know what to completely expect from the the trek but it will be an unforgettable experience to be standing so close to our primates.

    Once we returned back to our accommodation we had our lunch while telling Crispen and Francis about the chimpanzees. Kye, one of the British guys, went to the bar to buy a juice. He opened his bum bag to find $200 gone from his bag. He searched the truck, his tent and locker but he couldn't find it. Kye reported that he left his bum bag at his tent unattended for five minutes before lunch while he grabbed a shower. This was the first time that Acacia had used this accommodation. The manager was called and Crispen and Francis discussed with him the situation. The manager defended his team and explained that they hire good people who they trust. While they waited for the police to arrive Kye looked in his bum bag and realised that there was a secret compartment and it had the $200 in it. He was mortified about the whole situation and apologised profusely to all the staff and managers. The manager in fairness took the apology pretty well and was glad to cancel the police however it was an embarrassing situation for all involved.    Read more

  • TravelerAfrica
    Day 74

    Kampala

    June 26, 2023 in Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    As we crossed the border into Uganda we noticed a big difference in the scenery compared to Kenya. Although the road conditions are still good it is noticeable that Uganda is poorer than Kenya. It has some lush green mountains and they sell a lot of fruits, sugar cane and cows. We stopped at the tea plantations and Francis explained how the workers hand pick every tea leave.

    We picked up Kye and Del in Kampala who are both from Bristol. They are going to travel with us throughout Uganda and they added a new dynamic to the group.    Read more

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