Uganda and Kenya, Africa

Let’s go Gorilla Trekking … We happily arrived at the overlanders camp on Lake Bunyoyni all in one piece- I say this because on the last trip the truck nearly fell over a cliff and into the lake on the way up and all of the passengers had to jump out of the truck one at a time!  Luckily, this was not our experience!  The camp itself is set right on the lake and is one of the deepest lakes in all of Africa and perfect for swimming!  After a quick dip we made ourselves at home for the next few days before retiring early for what would be an early start and a long day.

Our trek started very early the next morning with our car arriving at 4:30 in the morning for the long and extremely bumpy drive to where our trek would begin.  The roads were treacherous all the way up and down several very narrow mountain roads, many of which had large mud puddles and even larger ruts from the big trucks making the trek up to the mountain-top villages.  Luckily for us we had a great little 4X4 vehicle and were able to negotiate all of the mud patches without too much difficulty with the more than four hour long drive provided stunning views the whole way up.  With the mud and a few stops for photo ops we arrived a little late and had actually missed the orientation.  It all worked out though as normally we would have trekked with a group of eight plus guides and trackers but in the end there was only us and one other couple.

As we headed the first of many steep ascends we were quickly reminded of just how many months we spent eating and drinking our way through Europe and other parts of the world!  We were amazed at just how quickly we went from terraced agricultural land and farms to lush, deep rain forest.  After the decent into the rain forest we started the first of many very steep trails up what would end up being four very difficult mountains in search of the Mubare family of gorillas.

The fourth mountain was an even more steep one than the previous three with a bit of a twist that we weren’t all that fond of… bush whacking sans a machete!  We were quite literally caught, cut, scraped and pricked with all kinds of sharp vines and thorns.  Once we made it to the top we stopped for a bite to eat while the guide went ahead to meet up with a few of the trackers to make sure the gorillas were in a good spot before we made our way down to see them.  The way it works is that the second you see one of the gorillas, your hour starts and you can only spend 60 minutes with them no matter how good or how poor the viewing is.  Luckily for us when we finally made our way down after four and a half hours of mountain climbing, bush whacking and sweating more than I have… I think ever… we made our way down to where the gorillas were.

The first thing we saw was the Silverback laying in the middle of the trail, stoking one of his female family members who was cuddling a tiny baby gorilla that was only about two weeks old.  It was absolutely stunning!  In total we were able to see 24 members of the Mubare family and nearly all of them were out on display and putting on quite a show for us.  As the gorillas moved down the trail we followed close behind and at one point two of the adolescent males starting beating their chest straight out of Godzilla and then one of them came rushing towards us.  We had been told that if this happened we would have to remain completely still… and we did… just barely!  As he charged us Stijn and I were right in front of his path but he stopped about a meter and a half from us and then began to pose for the camera!  It is indescribable to see these amazing primates in their natural habitat- they all seemed to have such vivid personalities and attitudes; some posed, some were shy while others played around and showed off for us!  It was if the second we saw them the previous four hours or so of the hardest climb we’ve ever made instantly melted away and we were elated to be able to be so close!

A couple of the gorillas got really close and one came right up to me just to make sure I wasn’t a threat and despite the VERY loud voice in my head telling me to run, I managed once again to stand still and he passed behind me and began playing with one of his siblings.  Sensing my uncertainty, Stijn then made his way over to me and put himself between me and the gorillas and just as he did so another one came running up and was grabbing on to the trees for leverage as he came closer he actually grabbed Stijn’s leg to propel himself past us- it was amazing!  Stijn was pretty excited that one touched him as they are allowed to touch you but not the other way around!  We had an amazing hour watching the gorillas interact and seeing just how human they are- we have 99.9% the same DNA as the gorillas and it’s absolutely apparent when you see them interacting so up close and personal. 

After our hour was up it was time to make the trek back out of the rain forest and back to the campground- luckily for us we were able to take a bit of a short cut out and were back at the car after only about an hour and a half of hiking.  We then headed out for the more than four hour drive back to meet up with the rest of our tour group and heard all about their experiences as well.

We arrived back at the campground shortly after 8:00 p.m. and had just enough energy to eat dinner and share some stories with some of the other trekkers.  By the sounds of it, we definitely had the hardest climb, some groups found their gorilla families within an hour, but our hard work was rewarded with a much larger group and much better sight lines than a lot of the other groups!  We couldn’t have been happier with our experience despite all the cuts, scrapes and sweat but our journey took a lot out of us and we made a quick exit and headed to bed!

Unfortunately Stijn woke up feeling under the weather and before long we were both suffering with bad stomachs, fevers and all kinds of bugs.  We spent the next two days at the amazing campsite resting and attempting to mend ourselves for the next leg of our journey!  Unfortunately this meant that we weren’t able to make the trip with the rest of the group to a local orphanage but we were happy to hear all of the great stories from the rest of the group.  Some people were so taken with the children, which I must admit happens quite easily, that they sponsored a child or in some cases two! 

Luckily we didn’t miss out on all the fun though as the last night at the camp a bunch of local kids came to sing and dance with us and it was quite a special experience.  We all got a chance to get up in the middle of the group with one of the kids and shake our booties a little bit and let me tell you, those little kids can shake their booties better than Beyonce!

Let’s Go Kenya…Again… The next morning we started the long trek back to Kenya over three days and made our camp at Lake Vinashia which is home not only to Maryl Streep’s house in ‘Out of Africa’ but also to a number of families of hippos!  Once we had all set up our tents we took out a few boats to get a closer view of the beautiful yet extremely dangerous animals.  Though Hippo’s are strictly vegetarian they are known to have been the cause of many a death, most likely by stampede, but none the less.  Our tour guide set out very strict rules about when we could and could not go near the lake as unfortunately they lost a passenger a few years back who decided not to heed the same advice and sadly was not heard from again.  Luckily our campground is surrounded by an electrical fence that keeps the hippos out when they exit the water to graze in the evening and early morning.

As we set out on the boats we were amazed by just how massive the creatures are and there were so many different families.  Each family occupies one particular area of the water as well as their grazing territory on land.  Oddly enough, with these creatures being quite dangerous, just up the lake is a public beach and when we drove by on our boats we were shocked to see half a dozen local boys playing in the water! 

The hippos were being quite shy as they tend to do during the day as they need to stay in the water to protect themselves from the heat of the sun as they don’t naturally have enough protection in their skin.  Luckily for us there is another part of the boat tour… we got off at one particular spot of the lake and were taken out into a large field where we were able to walk amongst the wild animals!  We were quite surprised at how close we could get to zebras’, water buck which are a bit like a caribou, wildebeests’ and giraffes’… we were literally walking among them!  

It was such an amazing experience that the next day Stijn managed to hire a fisherman to take us and a few of our tour members back out on the water.  This time, the hippos were out and about!  We were taken up the other side of the lake where we saw five large families, some of them with up to 40 hippos including young babies.  Because it was a bit cooler the hippos were more out of the water than they had been the previous day and we couldn’t have been happier with our impromptu tour… great idea Stijn!

The rest of the day and the majority of the next were spent getting ready to say goodbye to a large portion of our tour group and to prepping the truck and our camp supplies for our new members.  We were sad to see many of the people go that we had shared so many amazing memories and even though it has only been a few weeks, it’s amazing how quickly you get to know people when you’re camping and living out many of our dreams!  Luckily enough the new members of our group are great and I’m sure we’ll share many amazing memories with them as well!  And just as before, we are once again surrounded by Australians!  We are becoming well-versed in Aussie-talk and there are far less perplexed look than there was a few days ago!

After we were joined by the new group it was time for one of the highlights of our tour and the gem of Kenya… the Masai Mara National Park.  The drive was long but the landscape turned almost immediately into the quintessential African landscape.  Rough, wild bush with lone Acacia trees seemingly springing out of nowhere on the horizon- it is truly breathtaking.  As soon as we entered the park, our eyes quickly darted from one side of the truck to the other in search of the big five that are commonly seen here and we were not disappointed.  Almost immediately we saw massive herds of wildebeests’, antelope and impala.  Amongst the animals the park is literally littered with bones of animals that have served the food chain and have helped to sustain life in Africa.  Nothing is wasted of the animals…. The bones are picked spotless by various animals and eventually even the bones will be eaten by hyenas’, vultures’, storks’, and others. 

Carrying on through the park it wasn’t long before we spotted (pun intended) a beautiful cheetah lying in the grass sunning itself in-between meals.  It’s a hard creature to describe other than to say it looks like complete perfection… each spot is perfectly spaced amongst all the other perfectly sized spots all culminating with the most elegant faces.  But the Cheetah does face its’ challenges… even though it’s the fastest animal on earth it is not a successful hunter as it cannot sustain its speed long enough to wear out its prey.  It also is the only feline that does not have retractable claws leading some researches to question if the cheetah is really part of the feline species or perhaps actually a dog.  Whatever the classification, it is undoubtedly one of the most amazing creatures I’ve seen to date.  Simply stunning.

After a few rhinos’, more giraffes’, ostriches’, hyenas and wart hogs’ it was almost time to head to our campground within the park to spend out under the protection of three Masai warriors and enjoy a lovely Masai meal prepared by the local Masai women.  Amazingly enough just as we were heading back we came upon a pride of lions- both a male and female off one their own as well as four other female lions.  When lions mate, the male will take the female of his choice (as there are only one male to four or five females in each pride) off to the side and begin the rather tedious task of mating.  They will do the ‘deed’ every 20 minutes, each act lasting only 20 or so seconds, on and off for two hours.  It was quite a sight to see but more importantly it was just amazing to these majestic beasts in their own environment.  The males’ manes are so beautiful and lionesses are extremely elegant.  Not a bad way to end a game drive!

The next morning we were up and early for one of the highlights of our trip and probably the coolest things we’ve ever done… hot air ballooning over the Mara!  We had no idea what to expect as neither of us had ever done it before and we couldn’t have been more amazed by our experience.  As we took off we quickly climbed up over the park and before we knew it we were 2500 meters in the air!  Inexplicably, it didn’t even feel high and because of the gas it was nice and warm… perhaps too warm as Stijn’s scalp was getting burnt so we switched places and I soaked up the heat! 

The perspective of the park from that high is completely different from that you get on the ground- you can see all the animal tracks and watering holes and the far distant horizon.  We smoothly descended back to 50 feet or so to take in the animals waking up to begin their day and to forage for food.  Most of the herd animals were out and about first and while we didn’t see lions from the air we were quite lucky to spot (or rather hear) an elephant storming through the trees… what a sight!  We had the most amazing and perfect weather and the first cloudless day we’ve had in Kenya yet and it all combined to provide us with a truly thrilling experience! 

We could have spent all day up there but sadly we had to land at some point.  The basket had no wheels on the bottom so we all had to crouch down and sit on the bottom of the basket while holding onto ropes and prepare for landing… a few bumps and we were back on the ground and it was over before we knew it.  Luckily our package had even more in store for us!

Once we were all back on the ground we were picked up by a truck and driven a little further into the park where a massive breakfast complete with champagne awaited us!  It couldn’t have been a more amazing setting if we had dreamt it up.  Champagne was poured and the amazing breakfast was ingested and it capped off the most magical morning… I think we really have a thing for this ballooning now! 

On the way back to the campsite to meet up with the rest of the tour group we once again came across four female lions slowly starting their morning and getting ready for a day of hunting.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see them make a kill but it was none the less amazing just to sit there and observe them in the wild.

Sadly once we were back at camp it was time to pack up and leave the park… I think we would have quite happily stayed put for many more days but we’ll have many more game drives to come and we did have an amazing stop on the way out thanks to our game drive guide and night protector Jonathan the Masai Warrior.  He and his village welcomed us into their homes and we got a taste of what Masai life is really like.  We were shown the traditional jumping dance that is performed at ceremonial events such as weddings or welcoming guests into the village.  The massive heights that the Massai warriors can jump is perfected over years of herding cows, goats and other domestic animals as they do not eat wild animals.  As they walk through high grass they must jump to ensure there are no lions or other predators that might cause problems for them and their herds.  It also comes in handy in finding wives as they have competitions and the warrior who can jump the highest gets to have the most wives! 

We were lead into their homes which are made by the women of the village and are constructed of sticks from trees and cow dung.  One home can take up to four months and can last up to twelve years.  Each home is designed the same way with two back rooms for young goats and cows.  The main living part of the house has two small beds, one for the young children and one for the parents.  Once children get to be too big they must live in their grandparents’ homes as there is no room for them as new younger children need to take their place.  There is however a guest room for visitors of other villages!  Each bed is covered in cow hide that is placed over wood.  In the middle of the room is a fire for cooking and for keeping warm and although they have all they need, they are by no means luxurious.  There is next to no natural light and it was only after a few minutes of being inside that we could actually see what we were looking at. 

After looking at the homes Stijn and I set off to look at the baby animals that were kept in behind the village.  The village itself is surrounded by twigs that form a circle to protect their animals in the evenings from any predators.  For this same reason, they aren’t able to grow vegetables or their animals and themselves would be at risk.  Stijn, as usual found himself a baby goat to cuddle, much to the chagrin of its mother!