A Postcard from Malawi

We have a long journey to Malawi but the route is scenic and the colourful street scenes interesting.  We make roadside stops for toilet breaks and buy lamb kebabs from the local stalls to keep the hunger pangs at bay!  One of the joys of long road trips is watching the kids run up to our bus to wave goodbye. The looks of sheer joy on their faces as we wave back makes us all smile.  We often wish we weren’t speeding by but there are long distances to cover and the conditions of the roads mean that we take twice as we would to cover this distance in Australia.  

The landscape is mountainous and the border crossing uneventful.  We finally arrive in Malawi and our campsite by Lake Malawi.

This lake takes up a third of the country and is more like an ocean than the fresh water lake that it is.  There are 500 species of fish in this lake and fishing is very much part and parcel of the life of the folk who live around here. 

We have just 3 days in Malawi and we spend it at the lake.   We have fun just chilling by the beachside bar, whiling away the hours playing cards, chatting to the locals and swimming in the lake. The water is gorgeous and warm and fresh and there aren’t any crocs or sharks to worry about!  No ocean currents or rips either.   We swim to cool off in the heat of midday and we swim at night to cool off before we sleep.  Lying in the warm water in the pitch dark, looking up at the night sky is bliss.  Again, I wish we had more time here.  

We have all decided to spend one of our mornings on a village walk.  Our local guide walks us through the village and invites us to the Village Chief’s house for a chat.  The Chief happens to be his dad and he explains to us how the title is passed down.  The reigning Chief appoints a niece or nephew as the next in line, ensuring that it passes on to another family.  The Chief also allocates land to each of the families in the village, enabling them to cultivate their staples of manioc, maize and fruit and also build a little hut to live in. 

There is a mix of Christians and Muslims here but they coexist peacefully.  Polygamy is practiced but our guide insists one wife is sufficient for him!  We find the people of Malawi to be incredibly welcoming and friendly.  They are more than happy to have their pictures taken and in fact thank us for doing so.   The women sit outside their huts, chatting to each other as they prepare food for lunch.  Their lifestyles our simple as is the meal they are preparing but their lives also seem incredible stress free to me. 

We visit the local school and the hospital and the kids are once again delighted to see us.  They hold our hands in theirs and keep quizzing us as to where we are from and what we do there.

The local hospital has very little resources and we find out that the majority of patients that visit are suffering from Malaria.  Fortunately, early detection enables them to be treated but it is still a massive problem in these parts.  A visit to the village is not complete without also having a chat with the local witch doctor.  I am not impressed by this man who doesn’t really tell us much except a bit of mumbo jumbo but in many African countries witch doctors are often visited on a regular basis along with visits to the hospitals for more serious ailments such as Malaria!

We say goodbye to Malawi by roasting a pig for a lakeside BBQ feast.  The pig has been purchased from the local village and cooked for us by a local who slaves all day by the spit.  Tomorrow we leave early for another border crossing and Zambia.  This will be the last country for some of us on this Kumuka overland tour.  We can’t believe how the time has flown but soon we will be in Lusaka! 

“If you are alive – Live”

Conversations with a Masaai ‘Warrior’

It is our last night in Zanzibar and we are contemplating a mutiny.  It has been such a wonderful ‘getaway’ from our journey in Afric,  and we want a few more days here in the Spice Islands.  Alas it is not to be. 

A few of us spend the evening having cocktails at the Sunset Bar on the beach.  I get chatting to the local Masaai guys who are selling their wonderful jewellery.  Samuel (his adopted name) was the first Masaai I photographed when I arrived here.  Unlike many Africans who are very reluctant to have their photograph taken or want to be reimbursed for the privilege, he was really happy to model for me and even pleased I had asked.  He is quite chatty and friendly today and seems really happy to see me.   

He shows me his wares but I’ve got my little stash of Masaai bracelets.  He insists on giving me a bracelet anyway and ties a lovely leather bracelet with blue beads on my wrist.  I want you to remember me he says and I smile back.   

We spend a lovely evening enjoying the music from our youth, the passion fruit daiquiris and the  Zanzibar sunset.  Someone lights the candles and lanterns that were strung out on the beach and gets a fire going.  It is a romantic setting and the sunset just adds to the atmosphere!

Rob orders a sheesha and the smell of apple and tobacco mingles with the salty breeze blowing in from the ocean.  Zanzibar is truly a stunningly wonderful place to get away from it all!

All too soon it is dinner time.  Julie and I have dinner at this wonderful restaurant which sits high above the water on stilts.  We order seafood tapas and as we eat, we enjoy the sound of waves  gently breaking below us.  This is not an Australian beach.  There is no surf here – just a very calm ocean.  It is absolute bliss.

Tonight is the full moon party here on the island and I have agreed to go along.  I have never been to one previously and I am not quite sure what to expect.  I am always a little apprehensive about these parties as I wonder if it will be just a mass of drunk people on the beach but my curiosity gets the better of me and I cave in.  Fortunately, my preconceived notions are proved wrong and I am pleasantly surprised.

We arrive at the beachside location around 9.30 at night to find we are early.  It looks far too civilised to start with.  People appear to be having dinner at candle lit tables!  Obviously the night is still young.

The party kicks off with a troupe of African acrobats doing ‘Cirque du Soleil’ stunts on a very small stage.  They are very athletic and the crowd very appreciative of their efforts.  The second act consists of a very young Michael Jackson wannabe who moon dancers to ‘Dangerous’.  The party has begun!!

We go back to our little spot on the beach.  We have dragged enough deck chairs and benches to relax on and we just lie there, listening to the music pick up and people watch.  I am pleasantly surprised by a flash of red Masaai blanket in front of my face and the sound of Samuel’s voice saying, ‘Karibu’ (welcome).  My Masaai friend has made it to the party and come looking for me. 

We chat for awhile before he asks me to dance.  I haven’t been on a dance floor in ages but what a great way to end my stay in Zanzibar.  The music is great and Samuel a good dancer.  I wonder where a man who grew up in a mud hut tending cattle learnt to dance this well!  But then he is a black African man and these men are just born with a sense of rhythm coursing through their veins!  

My fellow travellers join us on the floor and the party is now well and truly under way.  It is a beautiful night and full moon sheds its light on our little gathering here on the beaches of Northern Zanzibar.  Did I mention this place was magic? :)

After dancing for awhile, we go back for a rest and a couple of drinks.  I walk down to the beach with Samuel and he lays out his blanket on the sand and we sit down for a chat.  When I came to Zanzibar I had mentioned to Julie that I wished we could have dinner with a Masaai so I could get a bit more insight into their culture.  My wish has come true once again!

Samuel starts to tell me about his life.  He is now 26 years old.  He was born in a Masaai village near the Ngorongoro Crater.  He has grown up tending cattle and in fact owns a few himself.  He has just recently come to Zanzibar to earn a bit of cash so he can learn English and better educate himself.  He is also learning to wait tables and does a few hours a day for practice.  I am just intrigued by this man who has grown up in a place with no running water or electricity, as cut off from the modern world as you possibly could be and yet has aspirations and dreams for his future just as someone from a big city would!  He speaks pretty good English and seems far more worldly than I would have expected him to be.  He misses his life in the bush but comes away to make a living so he can finance his dreams!   

I glance at my watch.  It is past midnight and we had all agreed we would go back after a few hours.  Our taxis are waiting!  My goodness – time flies when you are having fun.  I walk back to find my mates.  I find Julie chatting to Norbett, one of the local guys who she had met earlier at the Sunset bar.  They want us to stay but it is now almost one in them morning and we should really be heading back.

When we get back to base, we find the gates have been locked.   We hadn’t even thought of this possibility – surely weren’t other people at the full moon party?  Fortunately we find a security guard who lets us in.  The next challenge proves to be getting in to our room, as reception has also shut up shop and turned in.  The security guard comes to our rescue once again and after having obtained our room number, mysteriously turns up with our room key.  This would never happen in OZ but I find that nothing is ever a problem in Africa and people are incredibly resourceful and inventive when things don’t quite go to plan!   

We have an early morning breakfast as we are catching the noon ferry from Stone Town and we still need to drive back there from the Northern Beaches were we are based.  I have almost finished eating when I find Samuel standing over our table.  He has come along to say goodbye.  We had hoped to go back to the Sunset Bar and meet our local friends for one last drink after the party last night but faced with the fiasco of locked gates, we had not dared venture anywhere.   So he has come looking for us to say goodbye.

He has written me a lovely note and gives me his contact details.  He says he will keep his fingers crossed that we will meet again once more.  There is little chance of that but we take a few happy snaps and say goodbye.  He carries my backpack down to our transfer vehicle.  I just love the Masaai culture and it has been absolutely delightful making friends with a man who has had such a completely different upbringing to my own privileged life.  

I hug him goodbye and wish him all the best.  I think I have left a little piece of my heart in Zan- zibar and hope to return here one day to recapture the magic!

The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this:  decide what you want.  ~Ben Stein

Zanzibar – The Spice Island

We spend the night in Dar Es Salaam, at a camp site on the beach before catching the ferry for our four night ‘get away’ to Zanzibar.   The camp site at Dar Es Salaam is lovely but we get there too late to enjoy the beach. 

I have always dreamed of visiting the exotic spice islands of Africa, so it isn’t just chance that Zanzibar was an inclusion on this African Adventure.  The ferry is crowded but we find seats and relax for the 2 hour trip to this romantic island off the coast of Tanzania.

Zanzibar is an interesting cultural mix where the traditions of India, Africa and Arabia melt into a ‘Zanzibari Mix’!  It was one of the great trading posts of East Africa where the annual monsoons forced the traders to spend long periods at the trading post.   Today this has resulted in a wonderful melting pot of cultures that seem strangely removed from the rest of the African continent. 

We get there in time to enjoy a local lunch and sign up for a spice tour.  Our guide ‘Ali G’ is hilarious and regales us with tales from the past in accents from the west!  We learn about the history of trade between Arabia and Zanzibar and the less colourful past of the slavery trade.  This place has seen the Portuguese, the British as well as the Omani Arabs and in its hey day during the 1840s the Sultan of Oman even relocated his court to this amazing place!

We get back in time to sip cocktails and watch the sun set from Africa House.  We begin to relax and enjoy a very different place, pace and tempo from the wild life parks where we have spent most of the past 4 weeks.

We have dinner at the local night market where we sample the local cuisine, eat loads of seafood and stuff ourselves silly on chocolate mango pancakes - yum!  The locals are friendly and Julie, Emma and I spend a fun evening chatting to the local boys!

We have a leisurely breakfast the next day before Julie and I visit the House of Wonders.  Built by the Sultan of Oman in the 19th Century it is now a fantastic museum with exhibits on the history of Stone Town, the Swahili culture and the Dhow way of life on the Indian Ocean!     

After our informative morning, we have a spicy Indian thali lunch and browse the alleyways of this fascinating town.  Zanzibar is famous for many reasons including the lesser know fact it was the birthplace of Freddie Mercury.  I hadn’t realised he was of Parsi origins!

It is a wonderful lazy afternoon of good food, chats with locals and a bit of shopping to remind us of this place that was once one of the greatest trading ports in the world. We meet up with the rest of the group for our transfer to Ngunwe Beach in the north of Zanzibar.  We will spend 3 nights of R&R, relaxing and enjoying the delights of being close to the Indian Ocean.  The turquoise blues of the ocean are stunning and I never tire of watching the dhows sail past. 

As we walk past the beach cabanas on our orientation tour Julie and I decide that after weeks of roughing it in a tent this would be the one time we splurge a little and upgrade.  Julie has just turned 50 and she is having a year off to celebrate her milestone. 

Our beach cabana is built on stilts and is right above the water.  I go to sleep with the sound of the ocean lapping beneath me and smile at the thought there are two more days of luxury!

I don’t plan to do much in my time here at the beach besides having a bit of pampering and eating lots of seafood and of course updating my blog! 

Conchesta, my beautician turns out to be a real find!  She gives me a manicure and pedicure that lasts for hours and massages my legs till all of the knots from months of travel disappear.  After a wonderful facial, she walks me to the local village and introduces me to her friend who does my hair.  As I sit in this little hair salon in a tiny village in Zanzibar, I am surrounded by the local girls who have come here to have their hair cut and braided.  I marvel at the unique hair styles of each girl and smile as they feel my hair and ask if I am really black! 

A wonderful second day ends with Julie and I having dinner at a restaurant that overlooks the ocean.  We treat ourselves to lobster and wonder how we can go back to life on the truck and a camp site!

Day 3 is spent enjoying the ocean, writing and reading and watching the dhows sail past!  This evening we have the full moon party but that’s another story!  Zanzibar is a magic place…and the sound of lapping waves is music to my ears.

“This is the finest place I have known in all Africa to rest before starting my final journey.  An illusive place where nothing is as it seems.  I am mesmerized…..” David Livingstone, 1866

Discovering the Ngonrongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is another must see in Tanzania’s collection of famous safari parks and also one of the most visited!  I am excited to be here.  My first few of the crater is from the crater rim where we have been camping the previous night. 

 

There aren’t too many spots to camp in the crater rim so although we were the first to arrive at this scenic spot, our camp site was very quickly looking like tent city.

The crater is just one in a series of inter related eco systems and craters in the Crater Highlands.  These once active volcanoes and calderas are now home to some of Africa’s most prolific collection of wildlife. The Ngonrongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is about 8300 sq km and the crater itself approximately 20km wide and one of the world’s largest calderas!

My first sighting of life here is of the Masaai, herding their cattle.  As the ancient custodians of this land they are allowed to share this space with the many wild animals including lion, elephant, buffalo, wildebeest and a variety of antelope that call this place home.  I love the colours of their blankets which adds a splash of vibrancy to an otherwise dull landscape!

Many of the animals on the crater floor are here on a permanent basis although there is some movement in and out of the crater.  It is a place where both food and water is quite plentiful and hence an attractive place for both the Masaai and wild life. 

We have however, come at the driest time of year and although the lakes are full of water, the surrounding plains are quite dry and brown.

It was quite cold camping on the rim of the crater and the clouds are still pouring over the rim as we wind our way down the steep slope to the floor of this ancient caldera. Our first sighting is of flamingos in the shallow banks of the soda lake, Lake Magadi.  Despite the smell of sulphur, blown our way by the gentle breeze I wish we could get closer to admire the beautiful pink flamingos so prolific here.

They are just amazing to watch and I could sit here for ever!

Due to the time of year, there is much less wildlife than we expected.  But what do you know…it is spring time in the crater too..and this time it is the hyenas that keep us entertained!

They do it – doggy style (no variations here - he he) - in the grass, in the mud…enjoying the freedom of springtime and quite oblivious to the snap happy paparazzi in the 4 wheel drives close by!

For me the most exciting sighting of my crater safari is the elephant with the giant tusk!  I had heard about these elephants but never seen one previously.  These elephants have been poached so aggressively they are close to extinction.  Unfortunately, the laws of natural selection now dictate that most of the elephants born have much smaller tusks.  We watch this elephant in fascination wondering how he gets around.  Who said size didn’t matter? :) !! 

We drive up the crater wall content in the knowledge we have seen enough for the time of year we are here.  It is time to head back to our campsite in Arusha and get re-acquainted with our truck!   We have had a great time on our little excursion and had fun with our guides who were quite attentive with their compliments!  

As we leave the village I see a flash of colour and catch a glimpse of a Masaai market.  Soon we will be leaving them far behind, as we get further away from their traditional homelands.  I love these people and wish I could spend more time getting to know them and their ancient culture. 

 Readjusting is a painful process, but most of us need it at one time or another.  ~Arthur Christopher Benson

Spring Time in the Serengeti

We say goodbye to 8 of our original tour group after the trip to the Masai Mara.  We have also welcomed 2 new Aussie ladies Emma and Julie who joined us at Lake Naivasha so our new group is consists of just a dozen travellers.  It is lovely to have more space in the truck and a smaller group means  everyone is a little more cohesive and we are always on time for our early morning getaways!

We are now in Tanzania and have transferred to 4 wheel drive vehicles from our camp site in Arusha for our trip to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.  Each vehicle has a guide and a cook and the bunch of Tanzanian boys – Costa, Feraji, Miraji and Danny are fun and ensure we will be entertained in the next 3 days.

It is a long drive but we enjoy the changing scenery and marvel at East Africa’s baobab trees that remind us of their cousins Down Under. 

The endless plains of the Serengeti – (all 15,000 sq km) are incredibly dry and at first we feel almost devoid of life.  Of course at this time of year, most of the wildebeest and many of the zebra have migrated to the Masai Mara in search of greener pastures.

The cats however being the territorial animals that they are, stay put in this park and target some of the other animals such as buffalo that remain in the Serengeti. 

Once again we are incredibly fortunate in our sightings.  We spot a lion and lioness resting in the tall grass and as we watch these two magnificent beast, the lion stirs and starts to lick his lioness.  We realise he is a little frisky and before our very eyes, the mating rituals of a lion are played out in slow motion.  It is definitely spring time in the Serengeti!

 

There are more lion sightings before we reluctantly head for camp.  We have a few more game drives to look forward to but we must set up camp before dark.  It is exciting to be camping in the wild once again but have strict instructions to not stray.  There are no fences between us and the wild animals whose home we are invading!

We are treated to a great dinner that night and enjoy not having to cook our food or our wash dishes!  As it gets dark the sounds of the Serengeti break the stillness and quiet of our campsite.   The eyes of jackal and hyena glimmer through the bush and we are glad when the bright light of the moon sheds light on our campsite, enabling us to not just hear but see the buffalo grazing a few metres from our toilet.  We give them a wide berth but they still make Julie and me jump as we brush our teeth hurriedly and prepare for bed.

I wake up to hear that many of my fellow travellers have heard lion and other animals in the night.  I am upset to have slept through the din and am determined to make amends on our second night. 

We have 2 game drives on Day 2.  The most exciting moment on our morning drive is when Nathan spots a dead impala on one of the lone trees that break up the open savannah.  We are excited but our efforts to find the leopard who dragged this kill up the tree are not successful.

Determined to come back here in the afternoon we leave this site in hopeful anticipation of what we might find.

We find a hot lunch waiting for us and we thoroughly enjoy the treat.  Lunch on the truck has been salad sandwiches so it is quite a treat to not only have a hot lunch but to have it prepared for us.  I have made friends with our guides and they invite me to try their local food which they have prepared separately for their own lunch.  They eat ugali (mashed potato texture but prepared with maize flour) with a spicy meat mixture.  I join them, making little balls with the ugali and pick up the meat with my hands and thank them for a taste of local cuisine! 

That afternoon we return to the tree with the dead impala, only to spot the leopard on the tree fast asleep only a few metres away from his kill!  We are incredibly excited and even as we wait our turn in the 4 wheel drive queue to see this unique sighting, the leopard wakes up and starts to feast!  Once again, the Universe delivers!

I have always wanted to get a good sighting of a wild leopard on a tree but to see him enjoying an impala is just icing on the cake.  We snap away, knowing that we are incredibly lucky to be witnessing this.  Here is just one of the many photos I took that day! 

Soon after this sighting there is a light shower for which we are grateful.  It settles the dust and cools the air.  Our game drive is not quite over.  When the rain stops, we are again excited as we spot 6 female lionesses with their cubs, resting under a tree.  I have never seen this many lions together.  There must be at least 20 lions here.  The pride caress each other, licking the moisture of the rain off their cubs.  It is an amazing sight to see. 

As we watch the mums start to stalk a herd of zebra grazing about a hundred metres away.  The cubs follow after awhile.  It appears the mums are teaching their cubs to hunt.  Just as they draw close to the herd, a fatal move by one of the babies alerts the zebras and they scamper away.  This lesson will be re-plaid many times over before these cubs are able to be self sustaining in the wild. 

We return to camp on a high.  I am really excited by what we have seen so far.  That night we have another feast and then a few of us stay up late in to the night, quietly chatting around the fire and listening and watching for signs of life.  We are not disappointed.  Elephant, lion, hyena, jackal and buffalo keep us entertained for what seems like hours.  Only a reminder that we need to be up early the next day finally forces Julie, Emma and myself to finally turn in.  Julie and I zip up our tents on another fabulous day in the Serengeti.  

We have a final game drive early morning on Day 3 in the Serengeti before we make the long drive to Ngorongoro Crater.  While we see many birds and enjoy the antics of the hippo pool we can’t beat the excitement of the previous couple of days.  Somebody remarks that if we see a black rhino, we would have seen the Big 5 within a 24 hour period in the Serengeti.  Alas, it is not to be and soon it is time to say goodbye to the wide open plains of the Serengeti.  I take back so many wonderful memories of this very special park in Africa!

If you aren't sure who you are, you might as well work on who you want to be.  ~Robert Brault