Safari - Aberdare National Park

One story of Nairobi we forgot to include: for our last night in town, we decided to eat at a middle eastern restaurant since we were given the impression that it would be good here, and we had been looking forward to it. We were recommended to go to the Phoenician, a restaurant that has been in Nairobi for awhile but moved to a new upscale location. We arrived and found that they had made some changes - they are now a Lebanese and sushi restaurant, but for a few weeks, they were not serving Lebanese food until another expansion was completed. Sushi was so far from our plan of middle eastern, and we did not like the idea of raw fish in a country that we occasionally had concern about eating raw vegetables, so we ended up next door at an Italian restaurant, which actually was pretty darn good. We began our two week safari through Kenya and Tanzania by heading about 4 hours north of Nairobi to Aberdare NP. Our first challenge was just getting out of Nairobi, as it took almost an hour because of AM rush hour traffic. However, it actually seems like it is always rush hour in Nairobi. We are traveling in a 4WD Mitsubishi SUV with our driver/ guide Bedan, but we were told we'll be switching cars in a few days due to the weather we'll have later on in our trip. We are not quite sure we believe this story, but our current car is nice and comfortable, and as it is just the two of us on our safari, there is plenty of space. Also, it took about 4 hours but it should have taken 2.5 even with the bad traffic, because our driver went so slow, even the donkey carts were passing us. Usually, tourists in third world countries are worried about their safety due to high speeds and alternate driving techniques; we were not. Our first views of the Kenyan landscape were not what Betsy had imagined. Instead of arid, desert like land, it was lush and green, full of palm trees, rolling hills, and a variety of farms - corn, coffee, tea, wheat (somehow the wheat in Kenya looks prettier than in Ohio), flowers, etc... Hugh claims he knew Kenya had good farming because of his extensive research, i.e. watching "Out of Africa". //. The first stop was at the Aberdare Country Club for lunch. From there they drove us to the Ark, their hotel in the middle of the park. It was a beautiful building in a beautiful location.


The all wood building had lots of No smoking signs, lots of fire extinguishers, detailed fire escape maps, and outside, a prominent "assemble here during fire" sign - we weren't sure whether to be happy that they were so safety conscious or nervous about sleeping in a tinderbox. Fortunately for us, there was no chance of serious fire since it rained when we arrived at the Ark, canceling most of the activities including the afternoon bird feeding/watching. Also, the hotel is built next to a watering hole with several levels of balconies, for game viewing in comfort. With the rain, very few animals were interested in coming to the water hole, and so even though there are some lights for night viewing, it was a low yield of animals (and certainly nothing like the amazing water hole experience at Etosha in Namibia). We did see lots of the African water buffalo, which we were surprised to see boss around the solo elephants who came by.


The Ark also has a watcher who is spotting the animals that come to the water hole while we sleep. If he sees something interesting, he rings and a buzzer sounds in our room (which can be turned off). At 3 am, when the buzzer sounded 4 times indicating something unusual, Hugh got up and saw two porcupines while Betsy slept. Now, they were large and cool looking porcupines, but they were still porcupines. //. Moving on, we continued to drive north and we passed the equator, both of our first times driving across the equator. Of course, at the sign were several "guides" who wanted to show us the "water draining in different directions" trick, and visit their curio shop, but we decided to skip these offers.

Location:Kenya

Extra Zanzibar photos

We enjoyed Zanzibar so much that we decided to post some more pictures without specific stories. Sorry to post out of order (Zanzibar was before Nairobi).


On the terrace of the Zanzibar museum


View of the bay


House of Peace (under renovation)


Random house in Stone Town


Random terrace in Stone Town


Flowers at the spice farm


Cocktails at sunset, the beach near Stone Town.

Location:Zanzibar

Rosh Hashanah

Leaving Zanzibar, we flew to Nairobi where we celebrated Rosh Hashanah and attended services at the Nairobi Synagogue (seriously). The synagogue was a beautiful building and the grounds were very pretty.





We were lucky that we had been put in touch with one of the congregational leaders who in addition to inviting us to services, also hosted us at his house for dinner. We really lucked out to have a warm holiday welcome, with interesting people and great food, especially the homemade challah. // Since Nairobi has quite the reputation for crime, we left our valuables, including passports, secure in our hotel. For the first Rosh Hashanah service, in the evening, we showed up at the synagogue without any ID, having not put any thought that they might have a need for security, too. Fortunately, we passed the thorough interrogation by the Mossad agent (Israel's secret service) who was working security, and allowed in. //. We were not in Nairobi too long and we did not see much as far as tourism goes. However, we didn't need much time to realize how crippling the traffic can be in Nairobi. We can also confirm that there is no use to having Amex travelers checks in Eastern or Southern Africa, as NO ONE wants them. But here is an image of one monument we passed in our travels, dedicated to the 2nd President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi.


Our next adventure: safari in the national parks of Kenya and Tanzania.

Location:Nairobi, Kenya

Stone Town and the Beach

Our ferry approached the island of Unguja and brought us to Stone Town- we had arrived in Zanzibar. Zanzibar was at one time considered the spice capital of the world and was the center point of trade between Africa and Indo-Asia - this gave it a mix of cultures that is evident in the food, people and architecture (which comes with a different type of scaffolding - logs tied with rope).


Stone Town itself is a maze of narrow twisting streets, similar to Venice, but minus the canals. It easy to get lost within, but that is also part of the charm. It is while wandering that you notice the architecture and get to appreciate that these people are really into their carved doorways.





It was one of the very few places we've been where we were told it was safe to walk at night, which we appreciated. Our first night we watched the sunset from one of the city's waterfront bars, while the locals were practicing their flips on the beach.


We had to take the obligatory spice farm tour, which turned out to be a great idea, except for one small part. We decided to do the bike tour version, so as to get a view of some more of the people, island, etc, while getting some exercise.


The unfortunate part was that after leaving town and going through the forest, it started to rain. Our guide assured us it wasn't raining, that it was a shower. Well, the shower lasted for most of the next 4 hours, so we were pretty soaked, but the temperature was warm enough that even Betsy didn't get cold, and the tour of the spice farm was fun. They would pull some leaves off a plant, crush them, and then we would smell it and guess which spice it was. We were not that good at guessing. Betsy usually guessed lemon grass, but when they actually did give us the lemon grass and told us this one would be easy, she guessed something else. Hugh wasn't much better. After the leaf test, they would then dig up the root, or pull off the bark, or whichever part the actual spice was made from, and then explain the process of turning it into a spice. The lunch they served us later was another taste test of many of the spices. Some of the spices also had other uses, even as lipstick.


They also grow tropical fruits on the farm and we got to taste some great stuff, including jackfruit, and here is our guide climbing the tree to get us a coconut.


During one of the heavier rain periods, we took shelter and the guides took the opportunity to teach Hugh a local board game, sort of a combo between nok hockey and pool.


On the bike ride home, the sun came out and we took a short break on the beach. Betsy eating Kashi bars in various locales will be one of Hugh's enduring memories of Africa. Here she is enjoying her favorite snack, which our supply of is quickly dwindling.


After stone town, we then moved to the beach for a few days. We chose a resort on the east coast beach of Jambiani. The beach was gorgeous and the water the most crystal blue either of us had seen - it was like looking at a postcard.





There were some strange things about the east coast beaches. One is that the tides are really dramatic, with the edge of the ocean moving about 1/2 mile between high and low tides. This allowed for great beach running at low tide, but made walks on the beach difficult at high tide when most of it was underwater. We were also surprised by how some areas seemed to have a lot of seaweed while others did not. We later found out that the seaweed is being planted and farmed, apparently to support the Chinese market. It is quite apparent that the Chinese are investing heavily in Zanzibar, and in East Africa in general. The seaweed does take away from some of the beauty, particularly at low tide. //. We went scuba diving again, and although it did not have the large species like Tofo, the water was warmer and there was a great variety of coral. Also in contrast to Tofo, there were not the strong waves to push the boat through, but we did have to wait for high tide to lift the boat off the ground.

Location:Zanzibar

Dar Es Salaam

Jambo, Jambo!! That's hello here in Tanzania. Already our attempts at learning Swahili are paying off. We said goodbye to Mozambique and our less than stellar attempts at speaking Portuguese, and arrived in Dar es Salaam, the capital city. Swahili and English are the two official languages of the country. // We could instantly tell we were getting closer to the equator as the weather was hotter than our warmest days in Tofo. Driving from the airport to our hotel, you could easily tell the differences between these two capital cities. Dar had good roads, side walks and less trash piled on the side on the road - a clear contrast from Maputo. We actually never saw any trashcans in Maputo, and so it's not surprising that it ended up in the street. //. After a long and hot day of traveling, we decided to just stay at our hotel for dinner that night, which turned out to be a great choice. The food and outdoor garden atmosphere was good, but the highlight was the company. We sat at a table with two people from Johns Hopkins' public health program, and their local contact, a doctor from Tanzania joined us as well. Turned out the doctor was an infectious diseases specialist, as well as a fountain of knowledge and a good storyteller. He assured us that getting malarone (the malaria medicine) would not be a problem, and even gave us the name of a pharmacy that would be sure to have it. The next day we walked into a pharmacy and acquired the medicine, sealed with the Glaxo Smith Kline labeling, confirmed it had a good expiration date, and it was even cheaper than in the US. Betsy now has enough malarone and Hugh is back on Lariam, still disappointed with not having any psychotic dreams. Going back to the dinner from the night before, the two people from Hopkins were telling us stories of Baltimore's dangerous streets, as the topic of safety came up since we were in what is considered one of Africa's most dangerous cities. Apparently, according to them, the police have put up blue lights on telephone poles at the edges of the bad neighborhoods so that students, visitors, etc., don't accidentally walk the wrong way. One of them lamented that Google maps does not consider the blue lights when mapping out directions. //. We did not do much in Dar, as there was not very much to see. Since we only had plans to visit one tourist site, our first priority was mailing back some of our stuff that we no longer needed that took up a lot of space in our baggage, like our sleeping bags. Tanzania does have a national postal system, but like any good third world country, it was always the person at the other counter, which is easy to find just "over there", who would be able to help us. After 2 &1/2 hours of trying to buy a big enough box, having it inspected, sealed, wrapped in paper, then completely wrapping the box in packing tape, as we were instructed to do, the box was mailed. The woman at the post office said it would take one week to get to the US. We will be happy if it arrives at all. //. We visited the National Museum, which had some interesting fossils of early man and some history of the country. There was also a small memorial to the victims (who were Tanzanian) from the bombing of the US embassy by bin Laden, back in 1998. It was mostly wreckage, twisted bicycles, broken glass, etc., but conveyed the right emotion. No pictures of it, as photography in the museum cost extra, and we didn't pay. //. That night we had dinner at a restaurant that we found highly recommended on TripAdviser. It was an outdoor/sidewalk BBQ/Indian/Chinese restaurant called Mamboz. It was not a very clean place, but the food was great. The fires of the bbq were putting out flames several feet high and the smoke was tremendous - so happy we sat upwind. The staff were friendly, random strangers came over to us recommending ways to use the different condiments, other random strangers came to our table to sell us DVDs, magazines, hairbrushes, maps, hangers, pillows, etc.(the table was on the sidewalk), and we got to watch the Dar street scene- we were entertained and didn't have to pay for the show. And our stomachs still felt fine the next day! //. The next day we were off on a ferry to Zanzibar. It was only then that we started to use the camera again, as we had been a little skittish at having it in most places in Dar. Here is Dar from the ferry, and it does look kind of pretty from the sea.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tanzania

Maputo

Leaving a small town like Praia do Tofo is not always easy. We "knew" there was a bus that could take us to Maputo but without a bus station, most of the information is transmitted by word of mouth. Word of mouth is a bit harder when you don't speak the same language as those who have the information. The evening before we were leaving, we had one of our dive masters help introduce us to the bus driver who was hanging out in the central market and we made our arrangements: meet the bus at 4 am. The bus experience is typical of the undeveloped world, but I can say that there were no live chickens or other animals being transported with us, as experienced in some other countries. It was about 9 hours later of breathing fumes and a lack of personal space that we arrived in the capital city, Maputo. // Since starting our African vacation, we came across two magazine articles titled 48 Hours in Maputo, which made us very excited for our planned 48 hours in town. Unfortunately, our expectations from reading the articles clearly exceeded reality, and so we are going to keep this blog shorter and limit the photos. All the meals were great (we definitely suggest anyone visiting here to eat at Zambi's), except for the one restaurant that both articles and our guide book highly recommended and said couldn't be missed - Restaurant Costa do Sol. Even though they proudly print on their dilapidated menus that Wayne Newton has been there, it is not worth a visit for the ocean view, the food or the long, non-scenic ride to get there. But the flies there are skilled at swimming in wine glasses. //. Most tourist sites were not that special and run down. The train station, supposedly ranked in the top 10 most beautiful around the world, is nice, not thrilling, but nice. Same excitement with the iron building by architect Gustav Eiffel, of the Parisian tower fame. It's the greenish one on the right.


To be fair, Maputo is best known for it's nightlife, but being Monday and Tuesday nights, it was pretty quiet and we were unable to find live music. I (Hugh) did find a place to get a haircut, and I think the barber was enjoying cutting the hair of an American.


The people there were very friendly. When we had a hard time getting the bus, the locals in the street helped us. But then, we were traveling on an unfamiliar street, missed our stop, and before we knew it, the bus left the city center and was headed to some other town. It was a few miles before we finally felt it was a safe enough neighborhood for us to get off and find a way back. We didn't miss our stop the second time. //. We were unable to buy more Malarone in Maputo so the malaria medication issue remains. (Hugh had to take some of Betsy's malaria medication while in Tofo as he would not have been allowed to dive while taking his medication [Lariam]). We have enough for now, but will need to acquire more at some point. //. When we made our reservations to fly from Maputo to Dar Es Salaam, we were told that there were two stops but we could not find out where. Hugh was betting on another routing through Johannesburg (would have been #4), but Betsy won this one: Nampula and Pemba, two cities in Mozambique. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mozambique

Whale sharks and Beach living

We just finished our two week stay here in Tofo Beach, Mozambique and despite the fact that many elements of the volunteer program were disappointing, we have loved the diving and snorkeling and so we are happy we came. We liked that all of our dives and snorkel trips have been through the same dive shop (Diversity), so we've had the opportunity to get to know many of the dive masters, hang out with them and get more of the local experience. About half of the dive masters are Mozambican and they were trained through Bitonga Divers. Bitonga is a Mozambique organization whose primary goal is training locals to be dive masters, helping put some of the money brought into Mozambique for tourism back into Mozambican pockets. Bitonga offers many locals an alternative profession, one that gives them a stake in environmental conservation. Fishing is a way of life along the whole coast of Mozambique, and many fish have unfortunately been overfished. Many fishermen are having to also catch sharks and rays, even though it is illegal, in order to make money to feed their families. (The demand from the Chinese market for shark fin soup doesn't help). Not surprising, the numbers or sharks and rays off Mozambique have also started to decrease. A few of the dive masters we have gotten to know are former spear fishermen and are very happy to have new professions, and one that helps keep the ocean life in the water. A local hotel has marine life lectures throughout the week (Manta Monday's, Whale shark Wednesday's, etc..) and each Friday is a local talk, at locals talk about their life in Tofo, and hearing from one of the spear fishermen turned diver was cool.


We have had a lot of experiences here but unfortunately so many of them have involved sand or ocean, and therefore are not camera friendly activities. But we've downloaded a bunch of pictures from the waterproof camera we used in the research and of others in our group and so finally have some proof of whale sharks, humpbacks and more. We've seen whale sharks over 25', but this guy is about 20'.


Even if you accept that he has no interest in eating you, when this mouth is open and swimming at you, you really try to get out the way.


We saw some turtles swimming at the surface and also along the bottom, this guy is ~2' across.


There were lots of eels and rays, and we can't recall how many different species of each we saw. Sorry there are no photos of mantas, but we didn't get a good view of them until our last day of diving, which was without a camera. And the photos of the other rays aren't that good. But here is a Honeycomb eel:


Trumpet Fish


Potato Bass (maybe; Hugh didn't pass the Fish ID Test and Betsy can't remember for sure):


Lion Fish:


We were very happy to be here during humpback whale season, which we had thought we were going to miss. We were excited by how close we were, watching them breach or slap the water with their pectoral fins.

Location:Tofo, Mozambique