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Dobbs Away II
Dobbs Away II

Dobbs Away II

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    Village kids
    Ambositra townTown concertConcert viewersVillage homeRickshaw rideVillage outskirtsHome cooked meal

    Ambositra

    October 12, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    This small town on a hill is famous for woodcarving and was only a few hours drive from Antisirabe. We ended up having a great experience with our accommodation after a bad start.
    We’d been taken to a room at our originally booked hotel that was simply not happening. It was essentially a wooden box in the garden with daylight showing through the walls, one small ‘window’ with a shutter (no net or glass) and no mosquito net for the bed even though the room was already swarming when we arrived. The hotel was fully booked so they couldn’t put us into one of their decent rooms in the main building.
    We called the tour organizer and learned that the hotel had an annex. Not expecting much, we drove down a very rough road through a small village, past an abattoir and over a collapsing bridge before pulling up to large, new-looking house. The caretaker, a cute older lady, let us in and proceeded to show us 4 rooms. The place was empty, and the rooms were large, clean, and did not need nets because the doors and windows were new. We settled into the room and after realizing we were the only guests, and seeing how organized the new kitchen was and knowing the caretaker was also the cook, decided to eat dinner there. What a great meal! We ordered early for a later dinner and after she knew what we wanted, she headed into the village to buy ingredients. Simple food, but fresh and wonderfully prepared.    Read more

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    Miniatures taxi bus
    Rice fieldsMadagascar made carMiniatures displayMadagascar car logoMaking of a mini bike1Market day

    Antsirabe

    October 11, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    On the way to our stopover point, we were pulled over once again by the police and our driver had to pay another ‘fine’. Apparently, the tinted windows are too dark and need to be changed. This was a law just introduced last week and obviously being exploited by the traffic police.
    We enjoyed a quiet night while it poured with rain and John was able to watch the exciting SA-NZ rugby game at last since we had decent internet.
    On our way out of town, we stopped at an interesting artist’s colony where locals were making miniature toys out of recycled materials. Very clever and original toys reflecting items from everyday Madagascar life.    Read more

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    Sunset over Mozambique Channel
    Small village on way to MorondavaBarren landscapeSlashed and burnedFuneral procession

    Morondava

    October 10, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

    A full day’s drive through many villages and different landscapes took us to Morondava where we’d picked up our second car and driver a few days back.
    Slash and burn agriculture - chopping down trees to make charcoal (which is the main cooking fuel source for most), burning off the remaining grass and bush so new grass will grow that livestock can eat and, eventually, planting crops - is a common practice here. It’s most devastatingly obvious when in and around some of the national parks where we’ve seen dense forest on one side of the road, and barren, charred land on the other. Sadly, the poverty is so extreme in many areas that it seems people have no other option to survive. The hardest to see is many young kids working (in fields, carrying bricks, breaking rocks, etc.), not going to school, and begging on the side of the road.
    We arrived at our odd, but comfortable hotel on the beach looking out over the Mozambique Channel.    Read more

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    Wow!!!
    The gorgeMajestic grand tsingy2Scary crossingBalancing actSifaka siesta timeClimbing the tsingySmall tsingyTsingy panorama2Yikes!

    Bekopaka

    October 7, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Another day’s drive reminded us how happy we are not to be self-driving. This became even truer as we had several very interesting ferry crossings. On the first ferry, which was ~45 minutes long, we had to drive up onto a pontoon with 6 other cars via 2 thin metal ‘planks’. Absolutely no room for error. Yikes! The second ferry was very short (~5 minutes) and involved driving into a river up to thigh-level, then driving up 2 very steep narrow planks onto a ferry which dropped you on the other side of the river and again required traversing the narrow metal tracks.
    While here, we took a river trip down the Manambolo River to see the beautiful gorge and did some hikes in the small and grand Tsingy Bemahara (another world heritage site). The scenery and landscapes have been incredible. The walks have been challenging, not only because of the insane heat (it’s >95F), but the walks require scaling ladders, using ropes and harnesses on some of the steepest bits, squeezing through narrow canyons and caves, and trying not to cut your hands on the incredibly sharp limestone edges. The Tsingy are limestone outcrops that have been eroded over millions of years into unique formations of razor sharp serrated pinnacles, canyons and caves. The local guide we had for two days, Narcis, was great and taught us not only about the flora and fauna, but also educated us about Madagascar history and culture. We also had some good lemur sightings, adding a new species to our count (9 total now).
    Did we say it’s hot! This is the hottest weather we have had in Africa with temps reaching 38C (100F), which usually means starting activities early with a siesta during the hottest part of the day. We’ve also encountered the worst mosquitos since being in Africa. Christy has not resorted to wearing her mosquito suit yet, but we promise a picture of her wearing it at some stage in our time here.    Read more

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    2Alley of the baobobs
    Baobab forestFossaBrown lemurParadise flycatcher1Sifaka babySifaka mother and babyMajestic baobobsOur safari tentSifaka and baby

    Kirindy Reserve

    October 6, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Another day’s drive brought us to a park famous for not only lemurs, but also their main predator, the fossa (a nocturnal cat/weasel-like creature that climbs trees). The roads have been relatively good with a few potholes, fewer police stops than we found in many places on the mainland (though the police here might be even more corrupt as our drivers have had to pay bribes twice already), and good signage. The landscape has been very interesting varying from rice paddies, to farmland to cattle grazing areas. Unfortunately, the poverty here is really visible and worse than most of the places we’ve visited so far.
    As we got further west, the landscape became very dry and hot (38 C) and we learned the A/C on our van was broken. We were none too happy about this and quickly let the tour organizer know. They are going to attempt to fix it while we take another car on the dirt roads heading further southwest. Luckily, the new car has working A/C. The odd thing, which we don’t totally understand, is that not only did we pick up a second car (stronger 4x4 for the bad roads), but also a 2nd driver. So now we have 2 drivers for 4- 5 days - Tom and Joclyn.
    Our accommodation was a spotlessly clean safari-style tent with mattresses on the floor and an open-air toilet/shower outside. Very pleasant.
    While here we did both a night and day walk and were able to see a few more kinds of lemurs and some adorable babies learning to leap and climb (the mothers bring them low to the ground to do this in case they fall, which makes for great viewing). Also saw a fossa – in the parking lot!! One of our guides, every time we saw a lemur would exclaim loudly “WOW” as though he had never seen one before – very cute, but we were trying not to laugh every time it happened.    Read more

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    Wow!!!
    Chameleon at restLeaf tail geckoPygmy chameleonGecko love1BoaGecko cityOur sitting roomFrench colonial charmChameleon feeding time

    Antsirabe

    October 5, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Many of the names here sound similar. Antsirabe is, in fact, a different town and was a stopover point on our way towards the west coast.
    We drove most of the day with a stop at Madagscar Exotic, a fantastic “zoo” housing many species of chameleon, gecko and butterflies in very large outdoor enclosures. Let us tell you…we LOVE chameleons. They are so incredibly beautiful and have an endearing way of moving slowly, looking around, and adapting to their environment. It was such a treat to watch them being fed and getting a chance to hold several of them. Such cool creatures.
    The hotel where we stayed was very charming – a French colonial café that had been converted to a hotel. Our room was enormous with a sitting room, separate bedroom, and ceilings 15+ feet high. It was such a treat to stay here after such a crappy place before. Unfortunately, we were out the door at 6am for our long drive west.    Read more

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    1Sifaka lemur
    Black & white ruffed lemurIndri lemurBrown lemur1Bamboo lemurChameleon on night walkLemur feeding at 'zoo'120th anniversary lunchHaunting call of indris

    Andasibe

    October 2, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After buying a local SIM card, water and getting some cash, we drove ~4 hours up to the Analamazaotra-Mantadia National Parks (another world heritage site).
    The people in this part of Madagascar look far more Asian than we expected. You could easily believe you were in Indonesia or Malaysia. We’ve learned that the first people to settle here were originally from SE Asia, and they were followed by Portuguese, Arabs, African slaves, Indians, French, etc. You can definitely see the French influence in the farmhouse–style architecture complete with wooden shutters. And happily, you can taste it in the food – including some delicious patisseries and boulangeries.
    We learned a few days before arriving that several of the hotels we’d planned to stay at were fully booked so we ended up in a very basic “eco-lodge”. Essentially, it was a straw hut with a bed inside and attached toilet block (where the toilet hardly worked and the hand-spray shower water was cold). Not a good introduction to accommodation here, and especially disappointing because this is where we spent our 20th wedding anniversary.
    Nevermind. We had each other. And the lemurs and chameleons (almost) made up for it!
    We first visited Mantadia park and were lucky to see 3 species of lemurs there, including a lemur baby. Ridiculously cute creatures that are so odd – almost a cross between a gibbon, NZ possum, sloth (not the movement, just the look) and meercat. On several nocturnal walks we were able to see 3 more species of lemurs as well as 3 kinds of chameleons. Amazing. And, on our last day here, we saw 2 more lemur species and several more babies.
    For our anniversary, we went to lunch at a fancy lodge (where we’d wanted to stay) and enjoyed a bottle of wine and some seafood. Very nice, though the animals here have been the absolute highlight.    Read more

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    Antananarivo, Madagascar

    October 1, 2017 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We arrived in the capital city of Madagascar at 3am after short layovers in Nairobi, Kenya and Moroni, Comoros. After just 5 hours of sleep in Tana (the city’s nickname that we can actually pronounce), we met our driver Tom, who we’ll be with for most of our trip.Read more

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    Slave market sculpture
    Stone town1Freddie Mercury's houseZanzibar doorSlave holding cellSkylineCross made of Livingstone's treeDhowSundownerRooftop lunch

    Stone Town, Zanzibar

    September 29, 2017 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    We spent just two nights in historic Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Zanzibar was once the center for the slave trade for east Africa and Stone Town was the main administrative port. Narrow winding streets, buildings of stone and coral, and a mix of Arabic and European colonial architecture, mosques, churches and Hindu temples define this small town.
    We found a local guide to take us on a walking tour early in the morning before the full heat and humidity hit. Our guide, Yusef, did a great job highlighting the complicated and often tragic past of this town, including the slave market. The former slave market is now the site of a large Anglican church that was built after slavery was abolished. It was fascinating to have learned about Dr. Livingtone’s legacy in Malawi, then seeing his influence and abolitionist views had a huge impact in Zanzibar. In fact, there was a crucifix made from the tree where he died in Zambia displayed in the church.
    While here, we’ve enjoyed some good food and enjoyed wandering around and getting lost in the maze of streets and alleys.    Read more

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    Zanzibar House
    View from roomMatemwe beach4Feast!Night view

    Matemwe, Zanzibar

    September 24, 2017 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We came to Zanzibar with mixed feelings after reading a news story while in Nairobi about how the ministry of health is targeting AIDS clinics to arrest gay men. Horrible policy in every way! Some of the people we love and admire most are gay, so this offended us deeply. We thought of how we might protest by donning rainbow bracelets or t-shirts, but couldn’t find anything suitable (no surprise). Unfortunately, many of the countries we’ve visited have similarly dim human rights records (especially related to gender and love equality). Sigh…
    In any case, we left mainland Africa and flew to Zanzibar from Nairobi, arriving late to a small beachfront hotel on the east side of the island near Matemwe beach. We stayed here a few days with our only plans being to laze around before we start a busy month touring Madagascar. It was great having a few days doing nothing except thinking about where we have been and what we have coming up over the next few months. It was surprisingly easy to get in a routine of waking late for breakfast, swimming, reading, napping, swimming, eating dinner and then going back to sleep. It was pretty great.    Read more

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    Kombo cottage
    Farewell Tokoloshe1Karen Blixen's houseTokolosheKaren Blixen's fireplaceLunch with Vishal and Sita

    Karen, Nairobi

    September 17, 2017 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We’ve spent a relaxing week with minimal driving or activities in this leafy suburb outside of Nairobi. We found an idyllic stone cottage where we were able cook our own meals, watch mindless TV (including John’s cricket (emphasis on the mindless- ha, ha)), read, sleep, clean up and organize all of our stuff so it fits into our small bags. Christy also got a haircut, mani/pedi, and we’ve both enjoyed drinking cold, bubbly water and wine. We were also lucky enough to catch up with Vishal and Sita, who Christy knew from Campbells/Wharton/Philly, and enjoy a wonderful lunch getting the scoop on what life is like here compared to the US and other places.
    Since this part of our trip is winding down and because the Land Rover has been the third character in our trip these past 5 months, we need to take a moment to discuss its’ role in our recent adventures.
    Nicknamed Tokoloshe (a mythical and mischievous bush elf in South African folklore), we’ve written many things about this LR as we’ve been travelling. It’s featured so often in our posts because it’s been our home - functioning not only as our transport, but also as our bedroom, kitchen, and living room. We’ve probably spent 95% of our time, since first getting into the front seat in Johannesburg last May, within just a few yards of the LR. It was very rare for it to be out of our sight at any time during this entire part of the trip. We also have written several times about repairs we’ve had to do along the way and several days spent in mechanic’s yards getting things fixed. However, we’ve put this vehicle through a LOT. We’ve driven almost 20,000 kilometers (about 12,000 miles) through 9 countries over the last few months in all kinds of weather and road conditions. We’ve been through hot, dusty deserts, over steep and twisty mountain passes. We’ve driven through rivers, mud, deep, endless sand and long stretches of tarmac for hours on end. We’ve inadvertently hit multiple potholes at speed and driven over roads made up of endless rocks and corrugations so wide and deep that we started a collection of all of the small pieces of the LR that had been shaken loose during the day and we tried to return each piece to its proper place, often with the help of some duct tape.
    With all of the bad roads we’ve driven, it’s a miracle that we haven’t experienced any major tire issues – just a few unlucky flats early in the trip. We also fed the poor thing some contaminated fuel, but it still did not die or leave us stranded.
    We lost count of how many times we were stopped at police and military checkpoints, but are proud we only picked up one ticket and never paid any bribes. We are especially thankful we did not collide with any vehicles, goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, and - most importantly – hit any humans. With all this torture, the LR still started every morning, without hesitation. Tokoloshe has also been a magnet, attracting people wherever we stop and enabling us meet so many friendly, funny, helpful, generous and interesting locals along the way. So, yes, we are happy not to be driving or camping anymore (although we will miss the experience of camping wild with all the animals), but are thankful to Tokoloshe for enabling us to experience so many great adventures.
    It was with mixed emotions that we said goodbye to Tokoloshe as Jennifer & Gerrit (the Dutch couple we met in Zambia) picked it up and began their 8-day drive back to Johannesburg.    Read more

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    Colubus monkey
    Well groomed1Monkey business

    Lake Naivasha

    September 15, 2017 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We reluctantly left the Mara, possibly our last experience wild camping in Africa. There is nothing like the experience of camping with no fences, hearing lion, elephant, hyenas and hippos ‘conversing’ through the night, and occasionally, wandering through camp.
    Drove all day to a beautiful campsite on the edge of Lake Naivasha, where we spent our last few nights living out of our Land Rover. On our drive here, we experienced our first overt attempt, since being in Africa, by a police officer to extort money. We were pulled over at a checkpoint and told we had committed a traffic offence by overtaking a truck on a solid yellow line (not sure how the cop may have seen this since he was standing on the side of the road several kilometers from where we may have potentially committed the offence). The ploy by Kenyan police, which we had learnt from others, is to give you the option to show up at court 10 days from the offence (which no tourist will be able to do) or contribute to the cop’s lunch fund. This is exactly what happened.
    In his benevolent mood, the policeman decided to forgive us the offence and said we could contribute $50 for his lunch to show our appreciation. Of course, we said this did not seem correct, and we would prefer to just pay the fine if we could get a receipt. After ~15 minutes of his trying to get us to understand that he only really wanted cash (including asking John to explain to Christy exactly what he wanted – ‘I think she understands perfectly what you want’) he finally told us to “just go”, which we did as quickly as possible, making sure to signal and put our seatbelts back on.
    While camping on the edge of the lake, we were able to enjoy watching some wonderful colubus monkeys in our campsite. Also, since our food stockpile is essentially depleted, we’ve enjoyed eating all of our meals at the local restaurant. Our last stop before returning the Land Rover will be in Karen, a cushy suburb on the outskirts of Nairobi.    Read more

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    Our campsite
    Perfect campsiteBlack rhinoCubs admiring viewYoung male lionsThe mara river grave siteCheetah just before their hunt1Cheetah's successful huntStandoff...elephant wonLiquid lunch

    Eluai Public Campsite, Mara Triangle

    September 11, 2017 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    On our drive out, to the Mara Triangle, we were following a motorbike taxi that one of the lodge’s staff members was taking into town. Unfortunately, they must have hit a bad bump and she came off the bike and scraped herself up. Luckily, we have a good first aid kit and were able to help her clean and bandage all her cuts. Nothing too serious, but she didn’t want to get back on the motorbike so we ended up driving her to the nearest town (which was unfortunately on the hellish bumpy road). We hoped to have generated some good karma to protect us from tire problems on the hideous roads.
    When we got to the Mara Triangle gate a few hours later, we were instantly impressed with how well run and friendly this private conservancy is. They had handouts of rules, sold excellent maps, accepted visa cards, and were really helpful and proactive in offering advise about the park and the best campsites. Best of all, we had heard it was compulsory to hire 2 armed rangers to accompany us to our campsite, but this turned out not to be true.
    We’ve been so lucky to have visited so many iconic national parks, and we worried our expectations for the famous Mara might be too high. Not to worry! The Mara has become our favorite park so far. It’s incredibly beautiful, packed with wildlife and the roads are perfectly maintained. Some of the highlights of our time here:
    • Seeing so many lions – including a group of 4 males stalking a buffalo and another large group of cubs resting on a rocky outcrop
    • Best cheetah sightings ever! One day we saw a cheetah lunching on an impala, another we actually saw 2 cheetah stalk, chase and kill a young wildebeest, and on our last day, we pulled out of our campsite to encounter a cheetah sitting on the road ~100 meters from where we’d been sleeping
    • Excellent elephant, hippos, eagles and massive herds of all kinds of grazers
    • Beautiful campsite on a bluff overlooking the Mara River that we had all to ourselves for 4 nights
    • Liquid lunch at a fancy lodge. We enjoyed our first dirty martini and cold wine for ages with a beautiful view over the park
    • While packing up one morning, we looked up to realize we were being watched by several buffalo on the edge of our camp    Read more

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    1Relaxing in mud pool
    1Handsome

    Lemek Conservancy

    September 9, 2017 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We spent all day driving to a lodge on the banks of the Mara River in the relatively new Lemek Conservancy – a mixed-use conservation area for wildlife and the Maasai to live and graze their livestock – that is adjacent to the Mara Triangle Conservancy. While the tarmac roads were in good condition, they were very narrow with heavy truck and bus traffic - which was unnerving. This unpleasantness was compounded by a ridiculous number of police checkpoints. We eventually got to the edge of the conservancy and the tarmac turned to horrific, corrugated, bumpy roads from hell. The only redeeming part of the drive was that the wildebeest had migrated to this area from Serengeti and we were able to see huge numbers grazing in the conservancy, alongside large herds of zebra, gazelle, topi and giraffe. We only stayed here briefly as we were anxious to get to the famous Mara Triangle and wild camp for our final time.Read more

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    3Weather report
    Driving to The MaraTown centerKisumu

    Kisumu, Kenya

    September 8, 2017 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Crossed into Kenya easily with a straightforward border-crossing. A few hours’ drive took us to Kisumu, another town on huge Lake Victoria. Similar to Jinja, the town was bustling, had a very colonial feel and was easy to navigate. We spent a comfortable night in a hotel (we decided not to camp given that it was still raining and our refrigerator had unfortunately stopped working) and had our first introduction to super-friendly Kenyan hospitality.Read more

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    camping on The Nile
    drinks delivered to campsite - better not spill my martini!charming Jinja architecture4christy's rental horse - much bigger than PeeWee1red tailed monkeyNile rapids below our camp1dinner on the nile

    Jinja

    September 4, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Jinja will be our final destination in Uganda. It’s a very charming, somewhat dilapidated colonial city with loads of very interesting art deco architecture.
    We are staying outside of town on the banks of the Nile River. It’s an absolutely beautiful campsite – one of the best of our trip so far. It has an amazing view of the Nile, good shade, grass, spotless showers and a beautiful restaurant/bar overlooking the rapids. The best part is that at night you can only hear the roar of the rapids, frogs and crickets. It’s incredibly peaceful.
    While here, we’ve visited the town a few times, spent lots of time admiring the beautiful river and bird life from our camp, and Christy went horseback riding. A fun fact: apparently there are only 100 horses in all of Uganda and the stables where Christy went riding had ¼ of the country’s horses there. It’s owned by some expats that are very serious about competing in events around Africa. Christy loved her experience and has vowed to get back in the saddle more often.
    While John was waiting for Christy at the stables, he was able to enjoy watching some red tailed monkeys playing in the nearby trees. A very pleasant visit all around!    Read more

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    1driving in uganda

    Mubende

    September 3, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We broke up the long drive to Jinja by overnighting in a hotel a little over half a day’s drive from Fort Portal. In hindsight, we wish we’d pushed on through as blaring music, drunk people and a loud generator made for a very bad night’s rest.Read more

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    Fort Portal

    September 1, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    A short drive after our chimpanzee trek took us to a campground/lodge just outside of Fort Portal. We were going to do a few day trips from here, but since the camp was a little further out of town than expected, we decided to stay put (plus the rain and humidity made the idea of hiking unattractive).
    The best thing about this place was the farm-to-table food. The owners (a Ugandan woman and her German husband) had created a working farm alongside the accommodation. They raise different animals and have a huge vegetable garden that supplies the restaurant. We asked Miriam, the owner, if we could buy some fresh vegetables to take away with us. The next morning she took us around the garden and let us pick whatever we wanted and did not charge us anything. It was great to get freshly picked lettuce, eggplants, carrots, radishes and tomatoes. She also gave us a loaf of homemade bread. Our friend, MT, will be very excited that we are getting a serving of fresh veges at every meal! This is pretty much as far north as we will get on our drive through Africa and we now start heading southeast towards Kenya.    Read more

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    tough being a chimpyoungsters playing 'king of the vine'tea plantationgateway to home of the chimpstea plantstion viewchimp parade

    Kibale National Park

    August 31, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Stayed the night at a campsite/lodge just outside the park boundaries, which used to be a tea estate. The views out over the tea plantations, the lush gardens in full bloom, and the many resident birds made for a very pleasant stay and reminded us that camping can be absolutely fantastic.
    During the drive here, we crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere (John was super excited, Christy felt a bit indifferent). John hoped for some sign to mark our official crossing, but as we were not on a main road, we saw nothing. For those of you who care, we will cross the equator again on our way to Kenya, so John will be on high alert for an official sign, then.
    We visited Kibale NP to see chimpanzees. The day before our trek, we stopped at the info center to ask some questions. Arriving at the security gate, we asked the ranger if this was where the chimpanzee treks left from. With a wry smile, he pointed to the gate and said ‘read the sign’ (see the photo). We felt very excited to do an all day hike to track and hang out with wild chimps in the rainforest. It started out great after being assigned to a small group of 5 (park information indicates a maximum group size of 6) and getting an early start (6:30am) as we headed off into the dense forest. There are 2 options for trekking to see the chimps: 1) the traditional 1 hour chimp trekking or 2) an all day chimp habituation experience. Soon, we realized that the habituation group’s job was to track and locate the chimps so the traditional trekking groups coming later knew exactly where to hike to see the chimps. This became clear when our guide announced after ~3 hours of searching for chimps that another group had found a family and we would be joining them. When we arrived there were ~30 people already there. Fortunately the chimps didn’t seem to mind and the other traditional trekking groups left after ~ 1 hour.
    Once we found the group, we followed them for the rest of the day – until we were exhausted at about 3pm. It was fascinating to see the chimps exhibiting a wide range of behaviors from eating, nest building, play-fighting, and resting. The good was we were able to see the chimps up close and be with them for several hours. The not so good was there were too many people being relatively noisy and getting too close to the chimps. Feeling part of the exploitation, yet enjoying the experience left us conflicted. Of course it’s critical to chimp protection that Uganda reap financial benefit from tourism around them, but it seemed much less regulated and respectful than the gorilla trekking had. However, it was another incredible wildlife experience and our ranger did a great job making sure we were usually away from the occasional large group making it a more personal experience.    Read more

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    1serene setting
    2cozy room

    Ntungamo

    August 28, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Because we’d finished trekking by 2pm, we decided to head towards our next destination to break-up a long drive, planning to find a hotel along the way. Jackpot! A new hotel/conference center/spa had been built in a smallish town at the crossroads between Entebbe, Queen Elizabeth NP and Bwindi. We stopped to have a look, and three days later, here we are! It’s just so nice, quiet and reasonably priced that we haven’t been able to tear ourselves away just yet. We’re the only overnight guests, which is a shame. We’ll have to write some great reviews to get the word out about this wonderful place.Read more

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    big daddy and son
    'why I oughta...!'6 month old looking for mombaby with snackmorning napjuvenile looking for trouble13 horned chameleonjungle gym

    Ruhija, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest NP

    August 27, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We were sure that nothing could be better than our gorilla experience in Rwanda – we were wrong! Seeing the gorillas for the second time in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda (BEST name for a park, ever) was even more incredible…we feel beyond lucky.
    The weather was clear and it was a short hike to where the gorilla family we were tracking had decided to hang out for the day. It took the forward trackers some time to find them as they kept changing direction and we had to wait for about an hour before they knew for sure where they were settling in for breakfast. Again, like Rwanda, we knew we were close when the forward trackers appeared out of the dense undergrowth and our guide told us to leave everything with a couple of the porters, except cameras.
    We approached the family, with a female and young baby appearing first. Next, the massive alpha silverback appeared and sat on the edge of a small clearing. This silverback was huge, but calm, which somehow made him more imposing than the silverbacks we encountered in Rwanda. The group was made up of 3 silverbacks (2 did not appear as they are older and tend hang out on the outskirts of the group), several females and juveniles, and a few little ones -including a 6-month old. Slowly, most of the group appeared in the small clearing and started to feed, climb and play fight. The silverback quietly sat in the background observing and occasionally trying to nap, but also making periodic, low pitched rumbles to make sure we knew he was there and to communicate with the family. From the photos and video you get a sense of how close we got to the gorillas. Officially, you are supposed to only get within 7 meters of them, but it is impossible to maintain that distance because of the tight, dense undergrowth, but also because the gorillas often approach you, sometimes quickly, and decide to sit and do their thing just a few feet from you. After a quick hour, we started to reluctantly retreat back up the mountain and leave the gorillas behind.
    No one leaves this experience unhappy. When you are with the gorillas you occasionally look around at your fellow trekkers to observe their reactions and everyone has smiles, sometimes tears. What we also noticed with this encounter was the reaction of the porters, guide, trackers and researcher that was present. They were as excited as the paying guests even though they probably see gorillas most days. They were all taking pictures, laughing at the young gorilla antics and talking excitedly with each other about the behavior. What an amazing job!!
    When we returned from trekking, we were told by our guide that a chameleon had been located in the nearby village (we’d mentioned wanting to see one), so off we went in our LR with one of the porters to see a chameleon. We climbed through the village into a back garden and were able to see 3 (a male, female and young one) in a tree. What an incredible day!    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    Mountain view
    Camp with Impenetrable Forest view-hoping for no rain!1drenched

    Rushaga, Bwindi Inpenetrable NP

    August 25, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We made a quick stop in Kabale to use the ATM and buy some more wine and bread, before driving a short distance to the edge of the forest. We have permits to go gorilla trekking in a few days, but thought we’d spend a few nights on one side of the park, then backtrack to the other side where our gorilla trek begins.
    We turned off the paved road onto a steep and windy dirt road for the 20km drive to our lodge. Almost immediately, the afternoon downpour started and the road turned into a slippery river. At several spots, the torrential rains had washed large rocks onto the road and we (John) had to get out to clear some of them, with the help of local villagers, in order to get through. At one stage we thought about turning around, but decided to carry on, check into a dry room, and hang out until the rain let up. The location of the lodge was great and we spent a few hours sitting out on the verandah, with drink in hand, watching the mist roll in and out of the valleys of the rain forest in front of us.
    We've had a few interesting experiences here.
    First, we found ourselves in bed bundled up under several warm blankets at 7:30 pm, drinking boxed-red wine from our plastic glasses, listening to an NPR podcast (radio show for non-US readers). We had a good laugh about whether this was a preview of our twilight years.
    Another interesting moment happened as soon as we turned out the light. We both felt something hit the middle of the bed – something with weight. John kicked whatever it was and we both are sure we heard it hit the wall on the other side of the room. We turned on the light, but could not find anything. A very restless night of sleep followed with our thinking every noise was some 4-legged rodent, big six-legged bug, 100-legged centipede or legless snake creeping up to get us. We are in the middle of a rainforest and nature can easily get into the rustic cabins, huts, and what not. However, we opted to spend our second night in our tent, which felt much safer and better sealed. Rain be damned!!    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    Punishment Island
    early morning on the lake

    Lake Bunyoni

    August 22, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    It was with some sadness that we left Rwanda and headed into Uganda. Visiting Rwanda has been a bit like visiting Singapore as a break from SE Asia’s chaos. It’s safe, clean, orderly, and seems to work. It has also been educational, emotional, and inspiring given how resilient, hopeful and hard working the people here are.
    The border crossing into Uganda was reasonably straightforward, but not as well organized as it was coming into Rwanda. Fortunately, we are now experienced enough that we can usually make sense of the disorganized group of unconnected sheds and find our way through with minimum stress. As soon as we crossed into Uganda, the road instantly turned to potholed dirt and was crammed with trucks. We also noticed trash/rubbish on the side of the road, which is non-existent in Rwanda.
    We only drove a few hours to Lake Bunyoni, a very picturesque lake, dotted with multiple islands. While here, we took a boat trip and learned about one of the most interesting islands - Punishment Island, where unwed, pregnant girls were sent as ‘punishment’. We gather that many died here, as it’s a tiny island with no shelter, no fresh water and no food. This practice apparently continued up until the 1950s.
    We have definitely hit rainy season. We were hoping we would miss it, but apparently it has come early this year. This means we are likely to experience torrential rain most days – not fun when camping. This also means we will be adjusting our plans in Uganda and Kenya (basically we’re planning to stay in an airbnb for a week or so). A friend of John’s texted him saying she had just spent a month in Japan on a food tour. As we were sitting in our tent in the middle of the afternoon, with deafening rain lashing the tent for hours on end, imagining and looking for leaks, we had to ask ourselves, “what the hell are we doing sitting in the tent in the middle of Africa during rainy season when we could be sitting in some Onsen in the Japanese mountains eating great food and sleeping on dry tatami??!!” Oh well, it’s all part of the adventure!
    You may have noticed over the last couple of posts, that we are tending to stay in guest houses more often and stopping to take a few days off from driving and camping. We’ve definitely had an amazing time and great experiences over the last 4 months, and are looking forward to the next 3-4 weeks, but we’re also looking forward to not driving ourselves, and not camping – especially now that the rains have arrived.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    Kigali

    Kigali

    August 18, 2017 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    A short, very scenic drive took us back to Kigali. However, poor timing meant we hit INSANE traffic and endless road closures as President Kagame’s inauguration ceremony was just wrapping up in the nearby stadium. It was also Friday rush-hour, and raining. It took us nearly 2 hours to find our way to the Airbnb we’d booked.
    We were very suspicious of Rwanda’s president, who has been described by some as a benevolent dictator and who won his 3rd term with ~98% of the vote. However, he is absolutely LOVED and REVERED by every Rwandan we’ve met. He’s credited with ending the genocide, unifying and re-building the country. It’s hard to argue with his results. The reality is that Rwanda has incredible infrastructure in terms of roads, quality of housing in the villages, and free education and good healthcare. This is a place where you feel corruption is not a big issue and that international aid is actually getting to the people.
    We decided to spend a few days in Kigali relaxing, exploring the city and visiting the excellent Genocide Memorial that explained in painful detail how the 100 days of killing unfolded.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    beautiful volcanoes
    haircut at laston our way to see gorillas!our first gorilla encounter1Number 2 silverback and baby gorilla1Charles - alpha silverbackCharles in charge1young gorillafamily breakfast

    Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

    August 15, 2017 in Rwanda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    A very short drive took us to the area famous for gorilla trekking.
    We’d arranged to camp at a lodge near park headquarters, but arrived to learn they couldn’t accommodate ‘roof-top’ campers apart from in the parking lot. So, unhappily, we camped in the muddy car park while it rained heavily for hours (it was too late to go elsewhere). The good news is our tent stayed dry and the folks at the lodge were very, very nice and even provided us with hot water bottles to take to our tent. Comically, adding insult to injury, the village next door started choir practice over a loudspeaker at 5am the next morning.
    We couldn’t get out fast enough to find a room in town. Plus, our fuel tank had once again sprung a significant leak, so we had to get it repaired.
    We’ve been overwhelmed by how helpful people have been on our travels in Africa. It happened here when the hotel we found in town not only recommended where to go for repairs, but insisted one of the staff accompany us to act as translator and negotiator in case we could not explain what we needed or were being overcharged. Incredibly efficient mechanics finished the job in 2 hours and made us wonder why it had taken the Lusaka mechanics nearly 2 days to do the same repair?
    While in town waiting for our gorilla trek, we spent some time walking through local markets, John got a haircut (Alister was onto something), and we bought some rain boots for our trek. We also had a funny “only in Africa” experience. We asked a waiter at the café where we had eaten lunch where we could buy cheese (generally only processed cheese slices are available). He immediately grabbed a worker at the cafe and asked him to go get us some cheese. We gave him some money (~$5) and a few minutes later he returned, not with processed cheese, but with a whole wheel of local Gouda, made by some priests in a nearby village. I’m sure we looked ridiculously surprised, because we were…and delighted!
    August 18th was a date circled in our calendar for a long time since this was the day we had permits to visit the mountain gorillas, the highlight of our time here. This is something we’d been anticipating and planning for years. It’s the thing we were both most looking forward to experiencing in Africa. Anxiety was high, and we did not get much sleep the night before.
    Each group of 7-8 trekkers is assigned to a ranger and gorilla family before leaving the park headquarters at about 8am. We were lucky to be assigned to Umubano, a gorilla family of 13 members including 3 silverbacks and several young gorillas. We hiked a few hours, first through local farms to the edge of the park, where we were instantly in the densest rain forest/jungle we have ever seen. We were met at the park boundary by an armed tracker, one of many who are there to protect us from other wildlife, the gorillas from poachers, but also guide us to where the gorillas were last seen. A short hike through the dense bamboo, and vegetation (including crazy stinging nettles) brought us to a couple more trackers, and we realized this was a sign we were very close. We were given instructions on how to behave when we approached the gorillas and signs and actions to take if they became uncomfortable with us being there (this included bowing down, making grunting noises, and avoiding direct eye contact). We crawled through some more dense bushes and there was our first gorilla, calmly eating some tree roots! At first, we were afraid it would be very difficult to see the gorillas because of how steep and thickly vegetated the hillside was. However, after a few minutes they moved down the hill a more open area where we enjoyed watching them eat and interact for an hour. Several even came close enough to brush by and playfully hit us (Christy got lightly kicked by a juvenile once, while John was slapped and kicked a few times by a few different gorillas). It was a very humbling and unforgettable experience being so close to these majestic creatures. It was the fastest hour we’ve ever experienced, but everything we hoped it would be. What an amazing day!
    We were also very happy to learn that the Mountain Gorilla population has grown to nearly 1,000 in the wild today, up from ~260 in the 1980’s.

    We had been talking about how John’s brother, Gerard, who visited the gorillas back in 1989 in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) had inspired our strong desire to see them in the wild. Gerard was a pioneer “overlander” as he joined a group of travelers who spent 7 months driving a truck from London through North and West Africa and then across to East Africa down to Victoria Falls. He visited many countries that would not be advisable to travel through today. This was before this sort of thing was done. And done with no infrastructure (disappearing roads, no organized campsites etc), support or modern equipment such as GPS, cell phones, Sat phones, internet. An amazing and inspiring adventure that would have been so much more challenging than anything we’ve come across. When we get back to NZ, we will need to sit down with him and go through all his photos and maps.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without JobsDobbs Away II
    view of lake
    tea plantationheavy loadtypical Rwandan town

    Gisenyi

    August 14, 2017 in Rwanda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Drove to the lake along the Congo-Nile trail. Named because it’s essentially a dividing line for water that drains into the Congo river on one side of the mountains and the Nile on the other. Incredibly beautiful drive, fortunately almost entirely paved with a new road (it used to be a very challenging 4x4 track). Didn’t linger at the lake as there wasn’t anywhere to camp and the accommodation was very expensive, and we decided not to swim in case more bilharzia was present. The last couple of days driving has provided us with some of the most beautiful scenery since we started our trip.Read more

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