A Month in Review: Africa

 Paul and I have been traveling for a little over a month, and mostly in Africa. I thought it would be good to go back and write a reflection about that month and the parts of Africa we visited. What I realized most is that Africa is an extremely diverse place, both in ecosystems and people. Each country and often city/region has it's own character and it is silly to lump things into one big pile. That is not my intention here, but instead I will attempt to reflect on what I saw when I was in Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and try to organize my thoughts and feelings about my time there.

1. The phrase to remember is TIA. This was first introduced to us in Kenya by a fellow tour member. It stands for This Is Africa. It means that there are lots of things that may not make sense (at least not to you anyways), and it's Africa, so you just have to deal with it and go with the flow. For example, our first kettle in our first hotel had European plugs. But the walls had British plugs. Why was this? TIA is the best answer. Half the meals you order at a restaurant are not the same ones that arrive, but they took do long to get there that you eat it anyways. TIA. You're on a tight schedule and you ask how long it will take to get something done (laundry, a meal, etc.) they say 10 minutes but it really takes an hour. TIA. You see where I'm going with this?

2. You can't feed or help everyone. Africa is a gigantic continent, with many many people. If you have traveled to Africa, then you have more money than most people will make in many many years (maybe even a lifetime). Our first day on the truck we stopped for lunch in the middle of nowhere. A Masai tribesman appeared suddenly with his wives and children and watched at a close and uncomfortable distance as we ate our lunch. At the end, he stole some food from our rubbish bin to feed to his goats. It was confusing but only the first of many "eating while people watched" experiences. Several other lunch stops (again in the middle of nowhere) found us surrounded in minutes by entire villages (never mind where they came from) watching us eat. It felt uncomfortable and made me guilty. But what should we have done? Give them all our food? This is a difficult question, and one I'm not sure of the answer to. Once or twice we only had a few people watching us eat. At the end of the meal we'd offer anything left (bread, meat, fruit, cheese). But an entire village and only a few scraps? Our cook just told us there were too many and we'd cause more problems by giving away the food than we'd solve. And should these people be relying on overland trucks for their food, are we causing a terrible dependency? Or is it our job as people that have more to offer it to those that have less? I still don't know the answer to these questions.

On our tour of a Malawian village, we learned about the wells that were installed by the Canadian government. Before the wells, the villagers had been constantly sick from drinking from the lake. That is one way to help people. We also visited a school (the children were on holiday) and met the principal. He explained classrooms had between 100-200 students each and that they were really lacking supplies. He asked for donations of actual goods or cash donations. We gave what we could but we had been told not to bring anything except our cameras and a hat and we weren't prepared. Next up was the health clinic which treated its patients for free. Their aim was to decrease malaria by giving out nets and treating people the moment it was contracted, decrease HIV/aids through awareness and then medication, and to deliver healthy babies. The entire health clinic was run by 2 nurses and several helpers and paid for by UNICEF. Of course they were still in need of new things, like beds and sheets, but overall they had what they needed. Again they asked for donations which we didn't have nearly enough of. I felt overwhelmed. There are so many people in Africa and so many things that could be done to make their lives easier, but I don't have that kind of money. Maybe it boils down to help who you can, when you can, where you can, I definitely believe in donating to organizations that I know can make a bigger difference than I can. This brings me to my next points..,

 

3. Westerners (or maybe just all travelers?) are see as cash cows. As I mentioned before, just the fact that we are able to pay for a plane ride to arrive in Africa makes us rich by their standards. I found that when in Africa, people wanted one things from us: money. The children learned to say, "hello, give me money" before anything else. The Masai children charged you $1 for a picture. You were targeted at all times if you stepped off the truck by people selling figurines, necklaces, bracelets, and more. It didn't matter if you were just running off to a toilet and didn't have money. You are a cash cow. If you looked lost, someone would appear to give you directions, then ask for money. One of our fellow tour participants tried to explain to some of the self-appointed guides on our town tour in Malawi that the trip we were on was a budget one (lots of camping) and that in her country she is middle class and took years to save up for this trip. She was trying to change his idea that she had money coming out of her ears and could just throw it out the window. She had a budget and had to stick to it. I'm not sure if her guide understood this, but I can see it from both sides. Unemployment is high and people, struggle to make even a meager living. We have enough money to travel to another continent. Either way, it can be stressful when you are always being asked to buy something, and surrounded by people begging for money. You want to help, but feel helpless. 

4. Pictures of People and Towns. You may have noticed that aside from one or two photos, my blog is not crawling with natives' pictures or their villages. We did drive a lot, and got a good taste on what Africa looks like in the cities, towns, and small villages. Their houses ranged from small round mud huts with grass roofs to concrete square buildings with corrugated metal roofs. Some houses were also made out of brick, with varying roofs.

 I saw hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of houses and only took a few pictures. Why is that, you ask? Taking pictures of other people's homes felt invasive. What if someone just showed up in my neighborhood and started driving around, snapping pictures. I wouldn't feel too happy about that, so I didn't think it was fair to think of myself as different or more special. I just took it in and took pictures with my mind as a memory, with only a few real photos taken when there were no people in sight, or in the busier towns when I was on foot like everyone else, not looking down (literally) from the truck with my big camera. Take for example, this small town in Kande Beach below. This is a typical town, but I was on foot and felt a bit more comfortable snapping these.

My dearth of photos of people was also possibly quite noticeable. Women balancing everything imaginable on their heads (buckets, gigantic bags, entire saplings), men sitting on the side of the road watching the cars go by on their improvised bleacher seats, children running next to the truck screaming hello and waving their hands. These are just some of a multitude of images I keep in my mind. Like the pictures of villages, taking pictures of other people (out of the truck) seemed invasive. To make it worse, in Tanzania they believed that you were stealing a part of their soul when you took one. I cannot be responsible for stealing someone's soul, even if it's only they who believe that. You might argue that for photography's sake, I could take some beautiful pictures of these beautiful people. I just felt more comfortable not hiding behind a lens of a very expensive camera. The only real exception for this was in southern Tanzania where a whole group of children appeared out of nowhere while we changed the popped tire on our truck. They asked to have their photos taken and were so excited to see themselves in the camera. I have a few of those photos as well, but I am wary of posting these online. You can see in the above pictures on of our trip participants with a girl sharing the picture. She is ecstatic to see this photo of herself. In Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe it was a bit different as you are not stealing anyone's soul and in general people love to have their pictures taken. Still, these are tricky moral questions, and I'll have to have a good long think about them as I continue my trip.

5. It's all about the small moments. Both Paul and I have been camping before and so we were not too daunted by the idea of camping for 27 days through Africa. I can say, however, now that we are in Brazil sleeping on beds, we are infinitely more comfortable. But camping is a unique way to see a lot and spend little, so camping it was. We had lots of interesting experiences, from freezing cold showers that were also filled with mosquitoes, geckos and ants, to getting locked in toilets, and everything in between. Some of of these experiences you might just have to have been there for them to make sense. But since this blog is as much for me as it is for my readers, allow me to indulge a bit.

Southern Tanzania: Paul and I and 2 other participants are on dish duty after a long day of driving, we are staying in a hotel for the night but still eating from the truck because our meals are included. After dinner we get to work scrubbing at the dishes in the dark, Paul with his headlamp on and all of us crouched down working as the washing tubs are on the ground. I'm singing a song or two to keep us occupied and (maybe?) entertained during this boring job. Suddenly, Paul loses his balance and does a back roll through the hedge behind him. As Paul's feet disappear over his head, I am first worried and then hysterical with laughter. He has popped up on the other side of the hedge with only a few small scratches and walks back over like nothing happened. I can't breathe, I'm laughing so hard my back hurts and I'm shaking. He just shrugs and says that he tucked and rolled. It's definitely one of those, 'you had to be there moments', but a moment I never want to forget.

Kande Beach, Malawi: I stumble out of tent to the toilets in the morning before a lazy breakfast. As I go in, the cleaner motions to one of the stalls, but I (for some reason?) go into the other one. After I lock the door I realize I have done something wrong. The lock has been broken and was pushed all the way into the wall locking me in. Instead of asking the cleaner for help, I think I can get myself out of it. Ha. The doors are too big for me to climb over or under, and the tents too far away to yell for help. 45 minutes of ant watching in the stall (what else could I do?) and another camping participants comes in.

"Jacq!" I scream out excitedly with my head popping over the door, "Can you go and get Paul and tell him to bring his screwdriver? I'm locked in!" After a squeal of surprise from her, and let's be honest who wouldn't be surprised, she runs off to find Paul for me. My knight in shining armor arrives with his screwdriver and I begin the lengthy process of removing the lock mechanism. I do eventually make it out and remember to never use that stall again. Is this an instance of TIA? Probably.

Northern Zambia, south Luangwa National Park: 

From Paul: It was night time after a game drive in the wildlife park, and Liz and I have both decided to take a shower. We aren't allowed to walk alone in the park after dark as the animals wander through freely so timing our showers at the same time is a good choice. So we say our goodbyes, and Liz gets in the shower. There is no roof divider between the men's and woman's so we can yell back and forth. Liz squeals as she finds several geckos running across the wall. I decide to use the loo first and I check the cubicle to be sure there are no little critters. There were 2 geckos that ran off into the darkness. I'm alright with geckos, it was snakes I was looking for really. So then I sat down, finished my business, and reached for the toilet roll which was in a little wooden box. As I pulled the paper out, it moved a little bit, then stuck. So I pulled on it a little harder. Then I got the fright of my life when a little frog came barreling out of the toilet paper and landed between my feet. I couldn't see very well so really all I could see was a dark shape launching itself from the toilet paper and a splatting sound between feet. I screamed so loudly that Liz could hear me on the other side and yelled back to check if I was ok. Remember the frogs, they're going to make another appearance...

Back to Liz: It's early in the morning and Paul and I have to pack lunches, eat breakfast, pack up our tent and we're on dish duty. We decide to split tasks to make things slightly quicker. I'm making sandwiches and he's dropping the tent. After a few minutes Paul comes over to me to ask for help: there are frogs and termites on the tent! I finish up the sandwiches and go over with him. He's moved the tent, but the whole bottom is covered in termite tunnels. This is the least of our worries. Clinging to the top of the tent are 2 small harmless looking frogs. We try to use the broom handle to encourage them to come down. All they do is hop around the top of the tent. After a few minutes Paul finally manages to get one on the broom. He takes it down to the ground and shakes it lightly, but it won't let go. He shakes it more firmly, but still it holds on with its arms flying around. I use a leaf to encourage it off and it hops away. One down one to go. The second frog is more determined and hops around and around the tent as I begin to laugh hysterically. We'll never get packed up and ready at this rate! Finally I decide to try to get it on a leaf instead of a broomstick. As I sidle the leaf up to the frog, it jumps straight at my face instead (Chloe, if you're reading this, I know you would have been beyond terrified and I can see why!). I let out a small yelp. Okay, maybe more like a scream, as the frog narrowly misses my face and hops away safely on the ground. At that point I am laughing so hard I can't breath and I'm holding my stomach, my face is hurting from smiling so much. Frog and all, it's small moments like that I'll never forget. 

And we're thankful for...

So that's the wrap up. A month in Africa has surely made us grateful for: washing machines, attached bathrooms, clean drinking water, lack of street sellers, reliable hot water and water pressure, flushing toilets, toilet paper in stalls, clean toilets, our health, trustworthy food, the NHS (for food), no mosquitoes with malaria in the UK, shade and I'm sure loads of other things I can't think of at the moment. But seriously, washing machines. Washing clothes by hand is time consuming and never gets them quite as clean as we'd like. 

Zambia and Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls)

Our last few memorable days have been spent in Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe which is separated by "The Smoke That Thunders", better known as Victoria Falls (or Vic Falls). The first few nights were spent camping on the Zambian side, next to the seemingly calm Zambezi River. The last few nights we crossed the border on our own, leaving our lovely truck-mates behind and staying on the thundering falls side. The days were jam-packed with fun and sad goodbyes. As there were way too many things going on, I'll just briefly summarize my thoughts on each country as well as our activities. Feel free to skim, jump ahead, or just glance at the pictures. I realize this is a monster post, but well, I just couldn't be bothered to separate them.

Zambia:

A general overview
We found Zambia to be friendly, welcoming, and generally less stressful and pushy than the rest of the countries we have visited. The Zambian Kwacha is used, but USD is also widely accepted. People of all ages were happy to smile and wave and say hello. This was in direct contrast with Tanzania, where people glared at you and occasionally made rude gestures. Through several of our boring tasks, we were driven around by a helpful taxi driver who was happy to wait while we tried to send our goods at the post office (after visiting a grocery store to find a box and coming back, and packing, and wrapping it up, and then finding out they don't accept card payment or USD, and all the ATMs in the area had run out of money and having to finally exchange money...). Prices were decently affordable and the views were spectacular. I'd go back to Zambia in a heartbeat!

Sunset Cruise

So what did we do in Zambia? Well besides the game drives and walks, we took a sunset cruise with our truck-mates and staff from our overland trip. This was an open-bar, dinner-served, perfect way to end our trip with our newly made friends. We all took a plethora of pictures and admired the blazing red/pink sun sink below the horizon. We reminisced about all the different places and crazy adventures we lived through, and thoroughly forgot any of our former complaints. Looking back it is always rosier, right?

Microlight

The next day after packing up our things for the last time, Paul and I both took a microlight over the falls. For those of you that don't know what this is, it is a glider with two seats and a small engine. You sit behind the driver with a loosely buckled seat belt on a tiny seat that would hardly fit a child and hold on for dear life. The driver expertly takes off and zooms above the falls. A view from the top is really the only way to see how magnificent it is. I've got pictures of me up in the glider, but they are stupidly on a disk and my little computer has no CD/DVD drive. Ah well. After a short 15 minute flight of looping above the falls, you sail back down and say your prayers as you come in for a bumpy landing. Although it was terrifying, it is absolutely worth it! Paul was shaking for hours afterwards but has admitted that he too is glad we took a flight above the falls.

Border Crossing into Zim

After the flight, Paul and I picked up our gear from the campsite in Zambia and hopped in our taxi and we were off! That taxi drove us to the Zambian border where we had to get exit stamps. Another taxi drove us through "No Man's Land" over a bridge overlooking Vic Falls and to the Zimbabwe entrance. Then we entered Zimbabwe and took yet another cab to our hotel. Phew! We had arrived!

Zimbabwe:

General thoughts and the ATM Debacle
On arriving in Zimbabwe, we found the people were just as friendly and helpful as they had been on the Zambian side. If someone tried to sell you something on the street (a very common occurrence) and you said no they left you alone. It was a nice rest after being constantly pestered throughout Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

Our first concern was to get to the ATM to get out some local currency. My newly updated XE.com app on my phone had told me that we would be withdrawing Zimbabwean Dollars at a rate of 621=1 USD. We got the the ATM and were presented with the following withdrawal options (numbers only):
20, 50, 100, 200, 500 (and up to 2,500). Well, this was confusing, and we'd managed to forget the name of the local currency to boot. If 621 Zim currency = 1 US Dollar, then taking out 500 would mean less than 1 USD? Surely this wasn't correct. A bit panicked, Paul went to ask the security guard if he happened to know the exchange rate between US currency and the Zim Kwacha. The guard didn't seem to understand. Paul asked if he gave the guard 1 USD, what would he get back in Zim Kwacha? Then I said maybe the name of the currency was shilling. The guard still didn't know and was beginning to look really confused. Out of desperation I typed in 2000 to be withdrawn from the beeping, impatient ATM , thinking that would maybe be enough but having no real idea if that was reasonable. Then, luckily, right at the last moment a local man walked up to use the ATM next to me. He overheard our conversation and explained that Zimbabwe used the US Dollar! I quickly cancelled that transaction and this time took out only enough money to pay for my rafting trip. It was quite surreal to be in the middle of Africa and see USD appearing from an ATM. After reading up on all the countries I was visiting in Africa, I have no idea how I overlooked this.

After this extremely confusing incident, we headed to a nice dinner to reward ourselves. What was on the menu? Kudu (a type of grazing animal like deer), warthog, and crocodile! We tried lots of lovely dishes and we absolutely enjoyed our quiet candlelit dinner together. The service was impeccable and with full stomachs and tired bodies we called a cab home.

Rafting the Mighty Zambezi

The next day would be quite full on, as we planned rafting in the morning for me and a visit to the falls in the afternoon together. Paul had no interest in rafting and after the microlight terror, was ready for a restful recovery morning. I woke up bright and early at 6:15 to eat a bit of breakfast and get outside to be picked up in time. When my pick-up arrived, I jumped in, bouncing with excitement. If you know me, you know that I've never met a stranger. The nice family sitting behind me were from Scotland: my almost-countrymen! We stuck together the whole morning, through the tea, safety talk, bumpy ride to the gorge, the gorge decent, and finally into the same boat. With 5 of them (mom, dad, 3 boys of college age), me and another young guy from London, we had an awesome boat. I sat in the back near our guide. We practiced all the safety procedures before we set off - our guide also explained that on the river, the companies worked together to keep everyone safe. There were kayakers (who were first-aid and paramedic trained) following the boats just in case. We started paddling down the reasonably calm river. Little did I know what was coming for me (dun...dun...DUHN!)

We started on Rapid 11, also known as the Overland Truck Eater. It was a class 3+, and relatively easy and fun. Definitely a good start...

Then came the Three Ugly Sisters (3 rapids in a row) and the Mother. Our guide tells us it's a 4+ and as an excited and energetic boat, we say.... GO FOR IT! Within moments of entering the first of the 4 rapids, we flip. Looking at the pictures afterwards, I am the first to fly off the back of the boat. I am underneath swirling, rushing, smashing waves and can't find the surface. Eventually I just hold onto my life vest and let myself bob up. My helmet hit something... The inside of the raft (still flipped over). I reach around for the safety line (also known as the O.S. line.... can you guess why?) and I feel myself being pulled out by the guide. More water smashing and whirling and gulping for air and wondering if I'm going to drown before the guide has flipped the raft after rapidly pulling people in. Before I know it, it's my turn and I'm back in the boat, holding on for dear life. At that point we are just finishing The Mother, and have swam 4 rapids. Our guide later admits that the first rapid was a class 5, but he didn't want us to chicken out. Well, that explains things! None of the other boats tried it, so no one else flipped but a few people were ejected out. We rescue someone swimming near us and drop them back in our boat. My brush with death is over... for now. But we still have 10 more rapids!

Most of the other rapids are easy 3+/4s, and they are exhilarating without being panic-inducing. Many of the rapids are gigantic waves towering 10 feet above your head and only the skillful navigation of our guide keeps us upright. Before one of the rapids, another boat teases us for being the only ones to flip over. Karma gets them in the end though, as they flip on the first of a series of 2 rapids called the Terminators 1 and 2. We're running safety behind them, and instead of following directions, the participants on the boat are clinging onto the safety line on the wrong side of the boat. Their guide can't flip them over, and the rope eventually breaks. I know they're in trouble when my guide starts murmuring a string of expletives under his breath. He knows they need to get back in the boat before the next rapid and it doesn't look good. With the help of several kayakers, he avoids the dangerous rocks next to the boat, and the poor participants swim the next rapid as well. I know how that feels! We fly ahead to try to rescue as many participants as we can, and pull three people into our boat. Everyone is a bit shaken, but alive.

Then we get to The Washing Machine, the last class 5 rapid on the river. Half our boat wants to do it, the other half doesn't (I'm in the "thanks but no thanks camp"). So we switch some people out of the boat and take on some other who also don't want to be flipped again. Our boat paddles hard to avoid the rapid that flips 99.9% of all boats. We turn back to watch the other boat try it... and they miss the rapid! So no one flips and we continue on towards Morning Shower (rapid 24 and our last). Our guide smiles mischievously and tells us to leave our paddles in the front and huddle together in the back. With one hand we hold the safety line and with the other we hold onto another life vest. Our boat soars towards a series of gigantic waves. The first wave we hit, the 3 boys to my right tumble off into the water. The next wave, the three people to my left go, pulling me head first with them. I swirl around underwater for a bit, coming up of of the water quite a ways from the boat. Immediately there is a kayak waiting for me and I hold on in the rescue position. Within seconds we are out of the rapid and into calm water.

Phew! It was a tense ride, but a day I will never, ever forget. What do you think, would you like to ride the Zambezi? I could think of a few of my old AGE teachers who might love to kayak the crazy, raft-eating waves.

Victoria Falls

After an exciting morning all I wanted was a good long nap. Unfortunately, it was our only real day in Zimbabwe so we had planned to see the falls. I cleaned up and we headed out...

The falls on the Zim side have a series of 16 different viewpoints where you can stop and admire the view and take pictures. Although it was crowded, it was easy enough to find a quiet place just to stop and stare and take in the  immense falls. From the deep throated thunder of the Devil's Cataract, which is surrounded by so much mist you can barely see it, to Rainbow Falls (no surprise why it's called that), we spent nearly two hours wandering, snapping pictures and enjoying the view. If you can make it here, I would recommend it!

I think for this experience, pictures speak louder than words.

Look at all that mist!

I'm the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

The Walking Safari

This incredible 27 day trip across southeast Africa as included many different national parks and many game drives. Each day was a different experience and full of adventure and excitement. When we arrived at our last national park, we were given the option to do a game walk. Instead of in a vehicle, you walk through the park, or just outside of it (there are no borders around the park so the animals walk freely in and out of it). Our guide was named Conrad and our scout supplied by Zambian wildlife protection was named Jimmy. Jimmy carried a rifle and was there to protect the animals and the group. When he wasn't on a game walk, he was protecting the park from poachers and other illegal activity. Both men were extremely knowledgeable and we felt safe walking into the unknown with them.

Jimmy, our faithful scout

On game drives, you're always racing off to see the next thing, and usually big things (like the Big 5). On game walks, you focus on smaller things like insects and tracking animals based on prints and marks, and dissecting dung, and checking the wind, and more. We got to see some of the Small 5 as well. Take, for example, the antlion. It digs itself a small, inverted, conical hole with very steep sides. Then it buries itself under the sand at the bottom and waits. It doesn't take long for an ant to wander in and fall down. And once it's falled down, there is no coming back. The antlion waits until it tires itself out from trying to scrabble up the steps, then it grabs it and pounds it against the sand until it dies. We actually watched an ant fall into a hole and the antlion catch it. So small, but so incredibly interesting.

Then there is the tracking, prints, marks, dung, etc. Our guide showed us the hippo highways, where lines of hippos walked. You could tell they were hippos because of the two straight lines of beaten down soil and the grass in the middle (hippos legs don't cross over). We saw lion prints, and hyena prints, and learned about the different dung. He took apart an elephant's dung and explained how important it was for the rest of the ecosystem: food for the baboons, scattering seeds, etc. We learned that hyena dung is white because of the bones it gnaw, that lion dung is full of hair, and leopard dung is usually hair free as it will peel the pelt off an animal before it eats it if it has the time. Impalas create middens (their own little toilet piles) where they sniff each others dung to learn about the health, gender, etc. of the other nearby impalas. Who knew poo could be so interesting?




I also learned more about termites, and one type in particular: the mushroom termite. It can't digest the food it gets, so it feeds it to a mushroom it grows in its mound and then the termites eat the mushroom. They have to keep it at a perfect temperature so they open and close holes for it in the mound. The queen termite lays an egg every 3 seconds, and so the termites have set up a cooling system to lift out the hot air and circulate cooler air back in. This means that some of the termites entire job is to spit on the holes in the mound to keep the air coming in cool. What a life, right?


Now we did see some of the big animals too, and quite close. A family of giraffeswere grazing the trees and we followed them for a while. Then an elephant crossed the river and we followed him as well. In both cases we had to be very quiet and follow the directions of Conrad and Jimmy exactly. These are not tamed animals and when they are angry can be very dangerous. Mostly, Conrad informed us, the animals don't think of us as a danger and ignore people. But if the wind is wrong and the animal agitated, you could find yourself in a sticky pickle. We got the chance to sit on a fallen tree in the river and watch the elephants come down to drink. It was lovely, just sitting in nature and being so close to the animals without a big metal vehicle between us.



We finished the 4 hour walk with tea and cake, and chatted a bit more with Conrad. He said- and I agree- that after a few game drives you should have a game walk, if only to understand the smaller parts of nature that you drive right over in a car. Everything is connected and everything is important in nature and we should continue to learn about it and conserve it.

The Night Drive

In one of my previous posts, I described a day of game driving. Well after arriving at South Luangwe National Park in Zambia, we had a new experience waiting for us: the night drive!

Night drives are vastly different from day drives for several reasons. The first being that, well, it's a night. No 5 am starts, although you do arrive back late, around 8pm. The second difference is that because there is no sunlight, you can't see anything without the help of your spotter. The spotter is extremely important in your experience. They sit on the hood (bonnet) of the car, or standing front of their chair, while holding a very powerful spotlight. They scan side to side looking for the glint of an animal eye or a patch of fur that doesn't quite belong. And they are darn good at their job! The first night, our spotter found a leopard within the first 10 minutes after dark. We got to watch the leopard stalk away as the baboons cried out their warning calls in the trees. It was incredible, being there and part of nature. I also enjoyed the game drive because it meant that you didn't have to be constantly on watch for animals. It it pitch black out in the park, and you just wait for the driver or spotter to pull over and tell you what they see. The stars are bright without light pollution, and when the truck is turned off to admire an animal, it is nearly silent with just a few animal sounds. Finally, we enjoyed the "Sundowners", a drink provided while the truck pulls over and you watch the sunset. All I could think during our two night drives is that it couldn't get better than this.



Now our first and second night drives were vastly different from each other. The first night was exhilarating, and at times a bit terrifying, but also one of the most memorable nights on this trip. The second night was calmer and more relaxing, and also absolutely worth it. So what happened on the first night, you ask? Well, join me in my 9-seater open sided safari vehicle...

The evening drive started at 4, with about 2 hours of sunlight left. After entering the park, we drove up right next to a large hippo, that had apparently been rejected from its herd and now had to live a solitary life. It had found this one, tiny, grimy puddle in which to spend the day. After we drove up, it got a bit annoyed at us and climbed out (we zoomed away as there is nothing worse than an angry hippo).

 Following the hippo, we saw all the usual animals: giraffes, elephants, impala, birds, etc. Before we knew it, it was time for Sundowners. We pulled over next to the river and enjoyed the sunset. Now the fun would begin. As I mentioned earlier, our spotter found a leopard next to the road just after night had fallen. 

After watching it a while, it wandered back into the tall grass. Just then, a hyena stalked angrily next to our vehicle. If I had reached out, I could have touched it! Once that was out of sight, we continued. Our driver chose to take the elephant loop road, and after a few kilometers we found out why it had that name. A gigantic herd of elephants were blocking the small dirt path that we were driving on. We waited for a bit, but they didn't seem keen to move. Then another car pulled up behind us, and we were trapped! 

The car behind us turned off all their lights and revved their engine in hopes of scaring off the elephants. Easy for them to do, as they weren't sitting right in front of them! Elephants may look harmless, but when they are angry, frightened or agitated they will charge at you and can destroy an entire car with everything (or everyone) in it. And a gigantic bull just a few meters away from the car was stamping its feet and shaking its head; these are all very bad signs that mean you should turn and run. But we were still trapped. Our tour guide asked if anyone in the truck had a light, as the elephant was frightened because all it could see was the bright spotlight shining in its eyes. If it could see us, it would know we were harmless and move along. Being prepared, I had my iPhone with the flashlight on it. Not the strongest, but strong enough. I held it high and let the elephant see what was happening. He did eventually leave, running down the bank to cross the river. He was followed by a whole family of elephants, too many to count. We continued on and found even more elephants ahead. We wiggled our way through slowly, hoping to be left alone, when a huge elephant appeared suddenly to the right, next to my face, seemingly out of thin air. I gave a little cry of surprise as we sped up through the bushes. My heart was racing a mile a minute and I was glad to be out of the elephant loop. What we found when we emerged was worth it. A pride of lions, maybe 20 or more, were moving camp and walking next to, then across the road in front of us. Again, so close I could reach out and touch them. They didn't seem to notice us as they paced on to some unknown destination. They are beautiful and powerful, golden hair shining in the spotlights. I was in awe of being next to so many of them as they disappeared into the distance.

Now there were many other little creatures we saw, but the experiences above were the things that stood out the most. All in all, it was an adrenaline pumping night. Not every night drive is like this, of course. Our second night, much calmer, had us finding not one, but two leopards on branches near each other. Our guide guessed they were a mating couple, a male and female. We sat for quite a while just watching them. We also were hinted later that there was another leopard in the nearby trees. We searched and searched but to no avail. Finally, our driver turned off the truck and we sat listening to the growling of the leopard and the warning sounds of the baboons. I may not have been able to see it, but it was still incredible to listen. Finally, we found a hyena trying to cross a small, dry river up the other side. There it was surprised by a hippo. They challenged each other, and first the hippo turned away then (perhaps remembering its size?) turned back and ran at the hyena. After only a short charge by the hippo, the hyena gave up and crossed back over. The little nuances of nature are so interesting.

So there you have it, two nights in a game drive. What do you think? Is it something that would interest you? Or would you prefer to stay more than an arm's length from lions, hippos and hyenas?

Game Drives - The Serengeti and Ruaha National Parks

Waking early in the morning with the stars still twinkling down and the moon shining sleepily may signify that you will be participating in a full day game drive. Both my days in the Serengeti and Ruaha National Parks were so similar in experience, I thought I would merge them into one blog post. The game drives start early, and most parks usually open their gates by 6am as the animals come out early. You'll find elephants and giraffes looking at you blearily, chewing on their breakfast, golden lion cubs playing and running around, waiting for their mothers to wake up, and the deep red-orange sun rapidly rising over the horizon.

Most of the day is spent in the safety of the jeep, stood up with your head poking out the pop-up top, scanning for animals. Sometimes you hit a long stretch of road with no animals to speak of; other times you'll be surrounded by so many animals you won't know where to look. When the animals are sparse, you can enjoy the ever-changing scenery. In the Serengeti, it was more of a savanna with pale yellow elephant grass swaying in the wind. The occasional tree appeared, bare branches dark against the light background. As it is the dry season, the rivers are mostly empty but a few waterholes remain. In Ruaha national park, there were far more trees and shrubs with parts of the river diminished from the summer levels, but still holding on. Birds flap or soar by your head and off into the distance. A gathering of other trucks nearby signifies something interesting to see. You might think that 12 hours of game driving over the bumpy, teeth chattering, rocky, "African massage" roads would be unbearable, but the time zips by and before you know it you are on your way out with the red-orange sun lowering itself behind the trees.

Game driving is really like a big lottery, or a present you have yet to open. Nothing is promised during the day; you may see something and you may see nothing. The skill and knowledge of your driver will add immensely (or subtract from) your experience. A driver/guide who knows the different animals names and habits, and not just the big five, will be invaluable to finding and experiencing a piece of this incredible nature. Every moment is tense, as anything might be out there. Even though it sounds monotonous, it is far from it. Spying a twitching ear in the grass could lead to a whole family of lions, as you yell out, "STOP!" to your guide, and the truck screeches to a halt, nearly flinging you out of your standing position. If there is something good, you move into the best position to see the animal and sit a while, truck engine off, taking pictures or just admiring the incredible animals. 

Now that you understand the basic game drive day, here are a few highlights from my time in these two national parks.

The Serengeti:

Hyenas, vultures, and a lion fight over the carcass of a buffalo - every time the lion returns to the kill, the rest of the animals scatter

Mama and cubs laying sleepily in the shade, resting in the afternoon heat 

A giraffe in the morning, so close it nearly stuck its head in he truck, eating the thorny acacia tree with its long blue tongue and brown-yellow teeth

A pile of hippos, yawning their gigantic mouths, and a baby hippo bored of sleeping constantly bothering its mother by trying to climb on her back (the baby hippo shortly after got pushed off into the water)

Ruaha National Park:

Morning elephants come so close that they rear up a bit, making the warning sounds that come before they charge

Two lionesses stalk through the bushes and tall grass towards the unsuspecting gazelle, tails swishing meaningfully behind them

Two young male giraffes "necking" or fighting each other by hitting their necks together, while an older giraffe stands watching a bit wearily nearby

Two adolescent lions and a lioness laying lazily in the shade, unfazed by a ring of trucks surrounding them snapping pictures

A baby elephant, still very attached to its mother, following her around, always reaching up to touch her with her trunk

The gigantic baobab trees, stripped of their back by the elephants, a rainbow of stripes shelling through their bark.

The destroyed baobab tree

Baby elephant!

Giraffes 'necking' (fighting)

There is more, much more, and many include experiences you can only understand once you've seen them with your own eyes. This is not the end of our game drives, as we've still got the national parks in Malawi and Zambia to come. More days filled with surprises and nature's beauty, and even though it means a 5am wake up, I am ready to go!