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Africa
  • Elaine Corrigan
апр. – июл. 2023

Africa

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Chobe National Park

    29 мая 2023 г., Ботсвана ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The drive from Elephant Sands to Chobe National Park took three hours. The plan of the day was a three hour safari drive in Chobe National Park followed by a three hour cruise along the Chobe River. We were told we had to be at the camp for midday to start our tours. Once we arrived at the camp we had a few minutes to set up our tents before we were collected by our safari guide Kobo. We were all concerned that we would not see many animals during the safari drive as most animals can be hiding from sunlight during the middle of the day, however we were very wrong.

    Upon entry into the park there was a noticeable difference in appearance compared to previous national parks that I have visited on this trip. The roads were sandy so only 4x4 jeeps could use the park making it quieter. There were more trees and less grass but this made spotting the animals a little bit easier. Kobo told us that the park has been protected for 35 years and is only open during daylight hours so animals are very used to seeing people and 4x4 jeeps.

    Within a few minutes of entering the park there was a group of giraffes hanging out together. Next we saw a group of vultures resting on a tree. They were looking at an impala who was slowly dying on the ground below. Kobo told us that the vultures were waiting for the impala to die before having their feast. That is the circle of life!

    Next we saw large groups of baboons, kudu and zebra together. We went down to the water edge and saw two male elephants trying to impress a female elephant. However, the highlight of the safari was when we came across thirteen lions feasting on a buffalo further down the river. Kobo explained that the lions had paralyzed the female buffalo yesterday by the riverbed. The group of buffalo stayed with it's injuries all night until it died, then the buffalos left this morning. This gave the lions the opportunity to move in and enjoy their feast. It was funny to see how the hierarchy of feeding occurred as the male ate first followed by the young lions and then everyone else. There was also ten to fifteen vultures waiting at the side to take any leftovers although Kobo was unsure there would be much left due to the size of the lion herd. We sat and watched the lions from across the riverbed which was only about twenty meters away. It was amazing to be so close to a large herd of lions and watch them being active.

    As we returned back to the entry of the park we saw the large group of buffalo, who had lost their family member, taking shade under trees. There must have been nearly one hundred buffalo. We saw large groups of elephants crossing the river to the other side for more food or water. There was also a few crocodiles near the river edge and a group of hippo lying on the sand. I was surprised how close we were able to get the animals without them moving away.

    Kobo dropped us to the river where we got onto on river cruise boat. After the excitement of the safari, the river cruise was more chilled and relaxed. The Chobe River splits Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. We learned that there was previous conflict between Botswana and Namibia about an island in the river as Namibia felt it should be theirs however Hague did a review and declared the island to below to Botswana. We cruised along the river for a few minutes before spotting an elephant in the middle of the river eating grass. The river was about five meters deep and the elephant had found an area with plenty of grass to eat. It took the grass in it's trunk and shook the grass around to get rid of the moss before eating. Kodo explained that elephants can hold nine liters of water in their trunk before drinking.

    We saw plenty of birds such as heron and swallows flying over the river. We saw another crocodile and a lizard by the river edge. We also saw a group of buffalo that stay on the island in the middle of the river for nine months of the year as they have enough water and grass to fed on. The only reason they leave the island is to find new mating partners. We watched the beautiful sunset over the river before heading back to camp for our last night in Botswana.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Victoria Falls Zambia

    30 мая 2023 г., Замбия ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We crossed over the Botswana border into Zambia for our last day on this leg of the trip. There is a beautiful bridge that crosses the Chobe River to Zambia however to be honest it looks out of place compared to the basic surroundings. Once across the border we stopped in Livingstone for a half an hour stop at the supermarket before proceeding to the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park is where you can visit Victoria Falls on the Zambia side. The month of May is high water season for the Zambezi River. The difference between the volume of water falling per second over Victoria Falls in high season is fifty times higher than in low season. This means that during high season the volume of water at the waterfall produces a huge amount of spray as it falls.

    We were warned by Crispen to not bring any valuables and to wear quick drying clothes. We entered into the park and got a distant view of Victoria Falls. We took pictures of the waterfall wearing our dry clothes not knowing how wet we were going to get. As we got closer to the waterfall the spray volume increased so much so that every item of clothing was dripping within a few seconds. The waterfall felt like it was only ten meters away from us and the sound of the water flowing was extraordinary. There was a lovely bridge that crosses over into a headland that had a good view of the waterfall. This bridge provided us with great fun as it was nearly all within the waterfall spray cloud. We all had a great laugh running into the water spray and then taking a few steps backwards back into the dry sun heat.

    The surprising but nice part of our visit to Victoria Falls was the lack of tourists. We were able to walk around the park and take our own pictures without having to wait for other tourists to move or other tourists photobombing our pictures. According to Crispen it seems like Africa tourism hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels which is a shame as it is a very beautiful location.

    We finished our trip at the Victoria Falls Waterfront and had a lovely dinner together while watching the sunset over the Zambezi River. We remembered the funny parts of the trip and shared our highlights and lowlights. Three of us are continuing onto Nairobi and unfortunately we don't have anyone else joining our group so it will be a very small group. Nevertheless I am really glad that I got on so well with the group and we had some amazing experiences. There is a possibility that I may meet some of them again further along in the trip depending on their travel plans too but I must say visiting Victoria Falls and having a good laugh running through the waterfall spray was a great way to finish this leg of the trip.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

    31 мая 2023 г., Зимбабве ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Victoria Falls can be viewed from both the Zambia and Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River. There is a debate about which side of the river is best to view the waterfall. While I was in the locality I wanted to visit both side to see the waterfall completely. Courtney had previously seen it in the low water season three years ago but was interested in visiting it again during May's high water season.

    We got a taxi from Victoria Falls Waterfront lodge to the Zambia border and got our exit stamp out of Zambia. We walked over the bridge into Zimbabwe. From online research there was a conflict of information regarding the price of the Zimbabwe visa for an Irish citizen. Some official website said we didn't need one while other websites said I did and it would cost $30. Both websites were incorrect. Courtney got her visa for $30 as she is traveling on an Australia passport however my visa turned out to be $55. I was a little bit surprised but wasn't going challenge the officer on it. Once we got our Zimbabwe stamp we walked to the entrance of Zimbabwe's Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Crispen had told us the entrance fee to the park was $30 but it actually was $50. Nevertheless as I was in Zimbabwe I had to pay the fee as I wasn't going to turn around now.

    Once in the park we walked around for about two hours seeing the waterfall. The view of the waterfall was slightly more distant than the Zambia side however there was still a lot of water spray from the falls which made it difficult to see the scale of the waterfall. At times it reminded me of being at the Cliffs of Moher with the rain battering in from the coast however at Victoria Falls you could take a step or two backwards out of the water and the sun would be shining down again.

    Courtney and myself came to the conclusion that in high water season the Zambia side is better as you are closer to the waterfall to get wet however in low water season Courtney said the Zimbabwe side was better as you don't get wet much but you get to see the scale of the waterfall. I would like to come back during low water season to see Victoria Falls and compare for myself the difference. One disappointment was that Devil's Pit swimming area was closed because the water was too high so I would like to swim there too.

    After our visit at the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park we met the American couple, Karen and Craig at the local market. We spent a little time trying to haggle items without much success before we crossed back over to the Zambia side to complete our short but sweet visit to Zimbabwe.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    South Luangwa National Park

    2 июня 2023 г., Замбия ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We had a very long drive from Lusaka to South Luangwa. We left at 5am and arrived at 18:30 to our camp. We noticed the poorer houses along the way as the houses were made from wood with a straw roof. We came across a few flea markets where locals were gathering to buy their supplies. There was a lot of children waving at the truck and this helped to pass some of the time on the truck.

    There was an optional safari drive leaving at 5am however as we had a long drive the day before nobody fancied getting up early for another drive. Instead we used the morning to relax and recovery. The camp was located beside the Luangwa River and we saw sixteen hippos lying on the sand bank in the middle of the river. We sat for an hour or two watching them lying on the sand bank and occasionally spotting an elephant coming down to the river on the opposite bank to drink some water. It was funny how the hippos barely moved for the time we watched them.

    WiFi was available for two hours at reception between 12-2. While I was connecting to the WiFi, I noticed local people setting up chairs and drums in front of me. At 1pm a music show started, the locals started singing and dance before introducing a play. The play was about a daughter who wanted to leave her tribe and go into the city however the chief of the tribe showed her the lessons nature has to teach natives. The best part was seeing how creative the actors were at demonstrating the animals of the safaris. It was like our own Lion King play, we were very impressed and recommended it as a optional activity for all trucks that visit the camp.

    Included in our trip we had a night time game drive in South Luangwa National Park. Our tour guide picked us up at 4pm and we saw crocodile, hippos, puku, kudu, impala, zebra and a few elephants before sunset. It's crazy how every safari looks different and although we spot the same animals, the animals are in different surrounding or different situations and that makes the safaris so exciting. We stopped in the middle of the savannah to watch the sunset while eating popcorn. The sunsets in Africa are beautiful as the colours in the sky is very vibrant. We also saw the full moon rising nearly at the same time which was very cool.

    Once the sun had set we continued on to search for more animals. We first saw a family of lions lying in the grass resting. There was one male and two females with eight cubs who looked so small that they must have been only a few months old. We were able to drive within a few meters to see the lions and their cubs without them moving. They didn't even seem bothered by us. It was amazing. On our way out of the park we came across four impala who seemed on high alert. There was a few other 4x4 around us with their headlights off. After a few minutes one of the 4x4 switched on their headlights and we noticed a leopard creeping closer to the impala. The impala also spotted the leopard and they scattered in all directions avoiding their predator. The leopard then sat and looked around for a minute before walking slowly along the road ahead of us. He was not bothered by the headlight tracking him and it was very cool to be so close to the leopard and to see it move. The leopard then ducked back into the bushes out of our line of sight. When we got back to camp we were very excited to tell Crispen about all the animals we spotted over dinner and it took us a while to come down from the high of the safari.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Kande Beach

    5 июня 2023 г., Малави ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We had another long driving day that included a border crossing into Malawi. There was a lot more to look at in comparison to the long drive through Zambia. We saw more activity in the villages and people were working in the fields or at the local markets. We saw some people playing soccer and cycling along the road. There were women walking with buckets of water on their head and men fishing in the rivers. There was a lot of police and military check points along the way checking Harmony's driving license or checking our passports. When the local people heard the truck driving by they would stop and look at the truck. When the children noticed we were white people they would shout "Muzungo (white people)" and wave at us. It was fun seeing their smiles and hearing them cheer when we waved back at them.

    The following morning a local guide George invited us on a village walk. When we left our camp George introduced us to three of his friends who also walked to us individually as our personal guides. We were shown the village chicken hut and pig stye. We went to the local school and once the children saw us they ran out of their class to greet us. It was a mad experience as a lot of the children gave me high fives and then took my hand and wanted to touch my white skin. We then went into one of the classes to meet the principal who explained the school subjects and told us that the school had twelve teachers for 1390 children. This means younger children go to school in the morning and the older children attend school in the afternoon. He informed us that passing English is mandatory in order to be able to progress into secondary school and university. He asked for a donation to help build a dinner program to allow all children to have a meal to eat at school as some children go to school hungry due to lack of food at home. As we walked out of the school the children again were hanging out of us which was funny but I felt a little bit strange. I'm not a celebrity but I felt that was how I was being paraded around the village.

    We then attended the local health center and we were shown around by the general manager. The health center has a maternity service along with HIV testing and immunization. They explained that all other health problems are treated in the hospital 70km away. Again they asked for a donation to help purchase mosquito nets and to fix they water pump. On the way back to our accommodation the personal guides showed us their art. We realised when they took us all aside separately to show us their own art that the main point of them to give us personal guides was to earn money themselves. We also had to pay the head guide for the village tour so we felt a little bit conflicted when we got back as a $10 village walk turned into a lot more money than our budgets were expecting. It was nice to be able to meet the local people and donate money to them as they are a lot poorer than we are. It was a strange feeling to have children wanting to touch my arms because of my skin colour. We had conflicting feelings about the whole thing afterwards and I am still not sure how comfortable I feel about the whole experience.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Chitimba Beach

    8 июня 2023 г., Малави ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    As we headed north to Chitimba the roads got worse and worse. The size of the potholes took over the road and there were places that had deep river water potholes running through the main road. Harmony tried his best to avoid the potholes but due to the size of them we had a very bumpy drive. Our camp was in Chitimba beach which had very basic facilities.

    We woke at 6am to do a hike up to Livingstonia mountain which looks out over Lake Malawi. Mike was our tour guide and we walked from our camp through the village up the very rocky mountain. It felt good to be able to exercise again as the last few days we have being driving a lot. Luckily the clouds were covering the sky so the temperature was suitably comfortable for exercise. After 11 kilometers we got to the top and visited a waterfall in Chipunga forest. It was nice to take a break to put our feet in the cold water for a few minutes. Karen and Craig decided to take a motorbike back down the mountain while I decided to walk with Mike. The hike down was nice as I got to have a chat with Mike about life in Malawi. It took about 6 hours to hike the round trip so my legs were tired by the time we got back to camp. Although I was glad to walk as apparently the motorbike down the mountain was extremely bumpy and worse than when in the truck.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Stone Town, Zanzibar

    12 июня 2023 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I was quite excited to head to Zanzibar for a couple of reasons. I was looking forward to spending a few nights in one place, I wanted to do a scuba dive trip and chill on the beach for a while and meet other tourists from other tours. We got a ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Stone Town on Zanzibar which took about two hours. Harmony stayed behind minding the truck but Crispen came with us to ensure that we had no issues. Crispen was not allowed to work as a tour guide on Zanzibar as there is a rule that international tour guides were not able to work on Zanzibar and they are trying to ensure sufficient work for local tour guides instead.

    Once we checked into our hotel in Stone Town I decided to do a history tour of Stone Town. I learned that Stone Town was built by the Indian and Arabs and it was interesting to see the difference in building structures from both nationalities. Zanzibar was used as a island to hold African slaves before they were heading to Africa and it grows a lot of spices. We walked through the markets learning about different spices and fruit for sale. I learned that Freddy Mercury was born in Zanzibar and lived in Stone Town before emigrating to England.

    On my way back to my hotel a local young man asked me to be his "friend" as his dream was to live in Canada. It was one of many strange proposals I got on this trip.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Nungwi, Zanzibar

    16 июня 2023 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The following morning we drove north to Nungwi. I went for a walk along the beach and met a lot of Maasai native people who were trying to sell sandals and bracelets. I booked a scuba dive with Zanzibar underwater explorers. Dominick was our guide and there were three other divers who were all traveling with Intripid Tours. As we headed out to our dive sites we spotted two dolphins swimming in the water. Dominick told us they were mating which is why they were away from their pod. Dominick talked us through a safety plan before we dived. We did two dives around Tumbatu island which was just off the coast of Zanzibar. There was a lot of colourful coral to explore and we saw a lot of starfish.

    That evening I reunited with Claudia who I met on my South Africa leg of the trip. She was traveling with Intripid Tours from Cape Town to Nairobi. She introduced me to her group and they all invited me to be part of their travel family for a few days.

    The following morning I joined half of the Intripid Tour group and went snorkeling near Mnemba island. On the boat out to the island we saw a pod of dolphins and we were allowed to stop and swim with the dolphins. It was crazy how deep and fast the dolphins swim. We tried to keep up with them but to no avail. It was definitely a highlight to be able to swim with them.

    Once we arrived near Mnemba island we jumped into the sea to snorkel. There was schools of fish swimming around some coral. I saw an octopus for the first time which was cool. After about ten minutes of swimming, I felt a sting on my arm and realised that I was stung by a jellyfish. I remembered that our scuba dive guide Dominick had told us yesterday that the jellyfish in Zanzibar were not poisonous so I did not panic. I thought that the sting would ease after a few minutes so I tried to keep snorkeling. However I started to feel intense cramping pain up through my shoulder into my neck and down my back to my hips. I felt very uncomfortable.

    As there were a lot of boats around it was difficult to figure out which was our boat but eventually the snorkeling guide flagged our boat down. I thought that being out of the water would help ease the pain but it seemed to be getting worse, I struggled to breath due to the pain radiating throughout my body. I didn't know if I wanted to sit up or lie down. The guides realised that I was struggling badly and after a couple of minutes of confusion I was brought to the marine reserve center on Mnemba island. I needed help getting off the boat and walking into the center as I was all over the place. When we arrived there was two ladies who had a box labelled jellyfish. I lay down on a bench and they rinsed my arm with vinegar and gave me painkillers. Within about five minutes I was starting to feel better already. The gave me advice about how to treat the jellyfish sting and what to expect as it heals. I was very relieved to start feeling the radiating pain reduce back to localised stinging.

    When I returned back to the boat I felt more myself already and the group were glad that I already had my smile back as they were quite concerned for me. My body was shaking for about thirty minutes due to the shock. I returned to the boat and waited for the group to finish their snorkeling before we returned back to mainland.

    I met them again later on for a sunset cruise and they all mentioned that I looked a completely different person compared to earlier. We had a good laugh about it and we had a good evening on the boat dancing. I was sad to say goodbye to the Intripid Tour group as I had a good laugh with them however hopefully our paths will overlap again later in the trip.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Arusha

    17 июня 2023 г., Танзания ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We traveled from Dar es Salaam to Maragua which is located at the base of Kilimanjaro. It was nice to drive through the mountains again. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to be able to see Kilimanjaro and there was no sign of the clouds moving the following morning. At least I've some reason to come back to Tanzania again to visit Kilimanjaro.

    We stayed in Snake Park in Arusha for a night before heading to the Serengeti. Snake Park has some of the poisonous snakes in cages. They do anti-venom treatments here so if someone gets bitten by a snake they take the blood from the snake to make an anti-venom. I looked at the snakes but didn't dare get too close. They also have some turtles, birds and crocodiles in cages here.

    Beside the snake park there was a museum about the Masai tribes. Emanuese is a Masai and I learned a lot about the Masai tribe from him. He told us that a man can have multiple wives and Emanuese has twenty siblings. They like having daughters as then the family get more dowry when your daughter is being married. Masai tribe worship the cow and are also Christians. They herd cows, drink the cows blood and eat it's meat. They can move freely between Tanzania and Kenya so they build temporary houses to live in from wood and cow dung. We were then brought to the local village and meet the local children and people. It was a nice experience and I learned a lot about the Masai which has a very different culture to ours.

    When we arrived back to Snake Park we met Ethan who was on our Cape Town to Victoria Falls leg. He flew from Zanzibar and was traveling to Serengeti for a week. It was nice to have another friendly face at the dinner table and have a catch up for a drink at the bar. The bar area had hundreds of jerseys and notes pinned up on the wall from other tourists who have stayed in Snake Park over the years. Of course there is always an Irish one!    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

    19 июня 2023 г., Танзания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater are one of the most famous safari destinations in the world so I was looking forward to seeing the difference compared to the other safaris we have seen. We were collected by HQ Safari, Danny was our tour guide while William was our chef. We drove five hours passing through the Ngorongoro entrance before entering the Serengeti National Park. We stopped at the entrance of the Serengeti National Park to have lunch before starting our safari on the way to our camp for the night. The Serengeti National Park has huge savannah regions which are flat plains of grasslands. What surprised me the most was the amount of lions we saw on this game drive. We saw about fifty lions in total! In other game drives we were lucky to see one or two lions. Danny was very knowledgeable and he explained that 25% of African lions are located in the Serengeti National Park. We saw a female lioness perched up on a rock watching the savannah below, we saw two lions mating and a pride of lioness with their cubs. I learned that when a lion and lioness mate they leave their pride for 4-5 days and mate every 7-15 minutes before eventually hunting for food again and returning to their pride. A lioness is pregnant for three months with 2-6 cubs. Female cubs stay with the pride for life while male cubs stay in the pride for two years before they have to leave and make their own pride.

    We also saw a leopard chilling out in a tree, a herd of elephants walking in a line in the distance, a serval cat walking along the road and two hyenas creeping through the grass. We stayed in a camp in the middle of the park and observed another beautiful African sunset before having a delicious dinner. I heard hyenas call during the middle of the night close to the camp but didn't dare leave my tent to invest further.

    The following morning we had breakfast at 6am before exploring the Serengeti National Park further. We saw a huge amount of hippos bathing in the water, a very large group of buffalos, lions resting after killing a zebra, a variety of antelopes, warthogs running in random directions and two cheetah resting under a tree in the distance. Most of the animals were not bothered by the 4x4 vehicle apart from the buffalo who stared at us the whole time we observed them.

    We exited the park and headed to a camp at the Ngorongoro Crater rim for the evening spotting giraffe and a buffalo on the roadside. The camp was so high it was at the edge of the clouds which meant it was pretty cold. We were glad to have soup for dinner and we wore multiple layers sleeping in the sleeping bags.

    The following morning we drove into the Ngorongoro Crater. The Ngorongoro Volcano was last active two million years ago. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera which means that wildlife can grow and live in this crater. The difference in elevation is 600m from the top of the crater rim to the crater floor. The vegetation was completely different inside the Ngorongoro Crater compared to the Serengeti National Park. The grass was greener, there is a lake in the middle of the crater and there were more bushes and trees around the edges. We spotted lions, zebra, warthogs, hippos and buffalo. We also saw two of the twenty eight black rhinos in the park. I actually liked the background scenery of the crater with some lakes and it was amazing to see so many animals in the middle of this crater.

    After our game drive we drove out of the crater and headed back to Arusha. We heard that while we were in the Serengeti National Park Harmony, our driver, got a fever and had been taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with malaria and was put on a drip and given malaria medication. I was surprised to see him back at the truck ready to drive us to Nairobi the following morning but he said that malaria symptoms come on very quickly but they can also disappear quickly once treatment has started.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Nairobi

    23 июня 2023 г., Кения ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We drove from Arusha to the Kenyan border however the truck unfortunately didn't pass the border due to incomplete truck papers. We had to say goodbye to our truck "Shashe" and driver Harmony at the border. It wasn't the way we hoped to say goodbye to Harmony however it gives Harmony time to recover from malaria. Crispen organised a taxi for us to go to Nairobi. I am not sure how we fit in the car with all our bags. It was a long three hours to our home for the night.

    We stayed in Wildebeest Eco Camp in Nairobi it was a beautiful camp with a nice bar and pool area. There was pretty birds around the camp area too. Due to the problems at the border and arriving late to the camp Crispen organised buffet dinner for us paid for by Acacia which was very nice. Our new driver for our final leg of the trip is Francis. He is from Eldoret in Kenya and we met him before leaving Nairobi. It will be nice to hear about life in Kenya from the Kenyan perceptive.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Lake Nakuru

    24 июня 2023 г., Кения ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    From Nairobi we travelled to Lake Nakuru for our last safari game drive. This safari is a small park but it is famous for its flamingos and rhinos. After entering the park we saw hundreds of flamingo and pelican at the lake. It seems like it would be a great park for the bird enthusiasts as there were so many birds in the area.

    As we drove further around the park we spotted three big white rhinos munching on the grass. We were able to be really close to the rhinos and see how big the rhino move. As always the safari shows us something special. We also saw a lion popping his head out of the grass, a family of baboons and monkeys playing in the trees, a herd of buffalo and a lot of zebra.

    Kenya is very influenced by the United Kingdom, you can see similar structures to the United Kingdom however there is still a lot of poverty in the towns and villages. I have noticed that Kenyan drivers are a little bit mad as they overtake when there is little or no room. Crown paint also has advertisement on most walls in the villages which is a little bit strange.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Eldoret

    25 июня 2023 г., Кения ⋅ 🌩️ 22 °C

    On our way to Eldoret we crossed the equator at Timboroa which is 2600 metres above sea level. We stopped to take a picture of our crossing. It is mad that we have travelled so far since our crossing at the Tropical of Capricorn in Namibia.

    Eldoret is known as the "City of Champions" as most of Kenya's athletic champions have roots from Eldoret. It is located in the Great Rift Valley which is part of the intra-continental ridge that runs from north to south through Kenya. We stayed at Neiberi resort and arrived just in time for lunch. The owner of the resort is friends with Bill Gates and apparently Bill stays here often however we didn't see him. The resort was very nice and it had a big pool beside the local river. As I chilled by the pool in the afternoon I noticed nine swans coming out of the river and head up the path towards our camp. I figured out afterwards that the receptionist often feeds the swans but it was funny looking at them walk up the path as it was not something I was expecting to see.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Kampala

    26 июня 2023 г., Уганда ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Queen Elizabeth National Park

    28 июня 2023 г., Уганда ⋅ ⛅ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Lake Bunyoni/Bwindi Impenetrable Nat

    29 июня 2023 г., Уганда ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Kigali

    1 июля 2023 г., Руанда ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Jinja

    3 июля 2023 г., Уганда ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Nairobi

    7 июля 2023 г., Кения ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Istanbul

    9 июля 2023 г., Турция ⋅ ⛅ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Cappadocia

    11 июля 2023 г., Турция ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Antalya

    15 июля 2023 г., Турция ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Читать далее

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  • Elaine CorriganAfricaПутешественник

    Ireland

    18 июля 2023 г., Ирландия ⋅ 🌧 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.    Читать далее

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    Окончание поездки
    18 июля 2023 г.