Lamu – Masai Mara 5 – 16th Oct1

Lamu was an amazing place and we found a great hotel (a little removed from Stone Town in Shela village). We had our own suite, complete with open-air rooftop lounge/dining area, where we were served breakfast each morning. There was also a pool to cool off in because, boy, was it hot!!! Our first evening there, we took a sunset cruise in a dhow, and Lionel tried his hand (very successfully, I might add) at sailing a dhow. The island, being without vehicles of any sort, is full of donkeys, and now I know where the saying ‘beasts of burden’ come from! Those poor donkeys carry everything from sand to huge stones, and anything else that is required of them. The muezzin call to prayer every morning (4.30am) was accompanied by the hee-haw, hee-haw chorus of donkeys and there is an official picker upper of donkey manure twice a day in the narrow passages. Every evening we would go to the smart Peponi Hotel, on the waterfront, and have a really delectable meal………there is a limit to how much local fare we can handle!

We had planned to go to Amboseli Game Park near Nairobi, but were told that if we wanted to see dead and dying animals that that was the place to go. Masai Mara seemed like the better option, and although extremely dry and dusty we managed to see close-ups of the ‘big 5’ within 3 hours. We saw huge numbers of wildebeest and zebra massing to migrate, but only saw a couple of mini crossings. Fat, giant crocs are a common sight, as are the healthiest looking hyenas ever!!

The whole of Kenya is in the grip of a drought, and driving through from the Masai Mara to Arusha was like a nightmare!!! Besides the carnage on the roads, due to reckless and irresponsible driving there are some parts, that have not had any rain for 3 years. If there is no rain, then there is no grass for the cattle to eat. The cactus plants are shrivelled and limp and mature trees are dying. We saw 4 women trying to lift a cow that had just collapsed from hunger, and I have never seen such skinny cattle. The odd few people that we saw, were dusty, skinny and desperate-looking and the children waved us down and asked for water, their gaunt little faces pinched and dry, their clothes hanging in rags off their filthy bodies. There is so much hardship. Poverty, drought, hunger, unemployment and hopelessness (along with corrupt officials) is an ever-present feature of life here. Men, women and children walk, or cycle miles every day for a few litres of water for their cooking, etc. People, crows, cows, dogs, cats, goats and donkeys all scavenge for food on rubbish dumps and litter is everywhere that there are people. I fear that Africa is wearing us down and sometimes we find it hard to sleep at night. (Incidentally, Lionel is snoring as I am typing this.)

The town where we are staying now, Mto Wa Mbo, (a tourist town close to the Ngoragora Crater and Lake Manyara), is in stark contrast to the neighbouring areas. There is greenery, tall trees, agriculture and most of the people are moving around with purpose. (Trying to extract as much money from us ‘mazungu’s’ (whites) as they can, shoving necklaces, bananas and curio’s in our faces as we walk.) .

We have decided not to go to Uganda as the roads are bad and Lionel is very tired of potholes, dust and having to get off the road everytime a tanker or bus drives towards us, as in Africa, life is cheap, power rules, and there is no regard for the rule of the road.

We are now homeward bound and that is very a nice thought………there are still a great many places to see along the way but we will be closer to home and civilisation with each passing day with Zambia and all that it offers, awaiting us………………………

Dar Es Salaam – Pangane – Mombasa – Watamau.

Ever onward, we chose the wrong route to drive to the Kenyan border towards Mombasa (hindsight),…….. instead of the main road, we took the prettier, coastal road, which was a stoney, corrugated, bone-shaking alternative. One of the flying stones hit the caravan and shot back onto our car’s back window, smashing it to smithereens!!!! We both knew what it was as soon as it had happened and Willmore, alias McIver, alias ‘The A Team’, sprang into action……………. 2 mealiebags and a whole lot of duct tape, and within half an hour we were on our way again. We spent 2 nights at Peponi Beach Resort, and bumped into Cape Town tennis friends, Graham and Colleen Burchell from way back when.

Hoping that Mombasa would have a back window for us (but not very confidant) we drove into the madness that is rush hour traffic, on our hunt to get to Nissan. There was one particular chap screaming at us manically from his car and I smiled sweetly at him. He kept on and I realised that he was shouting, ‘FIRE’ , and pointing to the back of our caravan!!!!! We pulled over very smartly, and caused our own major traffic jam, while Lionel opened up the back of the van and sprayed our fire extinguisher willy- nilly wherever he could, trying to find the source of the fire. In the meantime the crowds and traffic, hooting crazily, were backing up behind us. We even had 2 policeman, complete with machine guns, ask what was happening, and once I told them, they said ‘Oh, Okay’, and walked away! (I kid you not).
Following the smoke, Lionel found that one of the batteries that keep the caravan charged, had worked loose in its bracket, and had fallen over and caused a short circuit and hence the fire!!! The good citizen that had alerted us had followed us, and was very vigilant in making sure that the car was secure from the crowds while we attended to the caravan. He then took us to the Nissan agent before shaking our hands and driving off!!! We were very stressed by this stage (Nissan could get us a back window but it would take a week and was going to cost at least an arm, and two legs, and we decided that we would drop our standards and drive back to S.A. in December without benefit of a back window. The fire extinguisher had done a really great job and there was powder in every nook and cranny of the caravan, we also had no means of keeping our fridges in the caravan charged, as all the wires pertaining to the batteries and the 12V system, were just a melted tangle of metal. This was NOT our best couple of days in Africa!!!
We felt stressed, depressed and very, very tired and we had still not found a place to stay………the caravan was out of the question, as it needed to be unpacked and cleaned, and we needed to find an auto electrician. Somehow, with the help of the guidebook on Kenya and the Gps, we arrived at a very ordinary, reasonable (so that they weren’t too fussy about these smelly people, unloading all their filthy worldly goods into their hotel room), with a secure carpark, it was on the beach, and clean, with friendly, helpful staff, wireless internet, and just across the bridge from the centre of Mombasa. We were thinking about the day and I had an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness. Thankful that we happened to be driving through a busy place and were alerted in time……………if we had been on the open road we would have probably had a major, trip-ending fire. Thankful too, for the hotel, which somehow was so perfect for us to lick our wounds and get re-organised. There have been so many things that have fallen into place for us along the way, and I thank God for them all.

Through the driver of a S. African chap that we met in the bar that night, we were given the name of ‘Rashid’, and his phone number……………. he asked us for a deposit of R500, (I know what you are thinking, and you are all wrong, he didn’t rip us off.) He fixed the van in 2 days, and the Willmore wheels were rolling again, north to Malindi via Kilifi. We have condemed all the campsites in Malindi, as not suitable, and so are once again in an hotel (on the famous fishing beach of Watamau, of Hemmingway’s fame), and will leave our rig in their parking lot, while we fly to Lamu island for 2 days. Lamu, I believe, is a place where time seems to have stood still, there are only 2 vehicles – both ambulances, and for the rest it is donkey or man- driven carts, bicycles, and shanks pony!.

Lionel, having been fortified by an excellent curry buffet, accompanied by a fair amount of liquid refreshment, is now happy again. Hot showers are not as important as they were, cold showers, in the ever increasing heat, are fine! We think of all our family and friends often and hope you are all well. Ren, how are you doing? Heather how’s the new grandchild?

We are more than halfway through our trip and will be heading inland after Lamu, so it’s adios for now……………………