Coming home and digesting the African-isms

It's back in Nairobi again, we even said it feels like we've come home, it's been a base that we return to for every trip transition it seems.
It was a relatively smooth bus ride from Kampala to Nairobi, actually the trip back has been working out extremely well. We arrived in Nairobi at our estimated time of arrival of 7pm and unloaded our bikes from the Akamba bus storage into the infamous River Road area. We scooted out quickly, heading directly to the Parkside Hotel.

Our last entry was in Fort Portal on JD's birthday, and while it was just ten days ago it's hard to remember everything that has happened, it is so far away.
JD's birthday dinner at the Rwenzori Guest House was definetly a dining treat. We celebrated with an ultra-delicious birthday dinner including a chocolate cake done up with rainbow sprinkles because what would a birthday be without rainbow sprinkles.

The next morning it was off to the crater lakes, just south of town. We made it to the nature reserve in the early afternoon, unloaded our goods into a sweet banda with a view of the Rwenzori mountains. Then it off to our new friend Aubrey's lodge for a drink as it sounded as though the accomodations would be a little out of our league.
The ride was absolutely gorgeous as we rode to his prime location on a hill between two of the crater lakes, looking out into the Rwenzori range.


Not sure whats more intimidating, Rukuyu traffic or Kampala traffic

About 6 minutes after we arrived and did our tour of the very posh and pleasant Ndali Lodge, an intense thunder and lightning storm blew in from the Congo. It was a fantastic moment to be inside and watching from our cushy couch, with beer in hand.

It did mean for an unusually wet dry-season cycle back to the nature reserve. Funny how I had just done some lazy fender repairs just that day, cutting off the essential back part of my fender with my swiss army knife and zap strapping the remaining part up off my tire onto my rack. It made for a very muddy back on the bike ride home. This brought smiles on the incoming into towns, and then much laughter as we passed.

The next day we were off again to meet up with some Canadians that we'd met on our bus ride to Kampala, Jody and Kyla. Working for Samaritan's Purse they have spent 4 months in the small town of Rukuyu teaching about, and selling a fairly accessible water filtration system. We arrived again in time to be inside for a very winter-BC-esque downpour. My gaging of the intensity of the downpour is very skewed as the sound of the rain on their tin roof was too loud for conversation.

We slept that night in their pad, JD with their new rat cat and Chelsea and I in a small tent pitched on our bed, as per their advice, in an attempt to avoid a rat running across our faces. The next morning was Sunday, so naturally we were off to The Church of Uganda for a very welcoming sermon. We were acknowledged and then invited to stand up and introduce ourselves. This made for some awkward introductions as we stood up and kept it simply, "Hi my name is Tracy...and I'm from Canada...I'm very happy to be here...". At the end of the service there is an auction of the food that people have donated who can't contribute money. We were gifted one pumpkin and one pineapple, it was a very nice gesture from a very nice crowd. We were relieved to not be invited to sit in the front of the church facing the congregation as the girls were their first time there, or to sing a song, as has happened to JD.

Chelsea fixes flat while JD dries laundry.

The joys of traveling with the modern woman.

(inside joke)

Onwards we went, to Ibanda for the night. It was a sweet entry into town. I rode alongside a young boy from the previous town. He made sure I knew my local greetings and would keep appearing here and there, making sure we found a place to stay. We are well looked after, wherever we go.
We stayed in a room with a view, very promising for a good night sleep, but just happened to be on the same night as the Boda-boda end of the year party, which in true African fashion, meant for some loud music, all night long.

Our trip was quickly rapping up and so we hopped on a bus to make it to the cool southwestern corner of Uganda, nestled between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. It is appropriately named the Swiss Alps of Uganda for it's rolling hills, and we entered accordingly with an intense uphill climb. While the ensuing head trip is half the battle while starting a climb, there is always a real treat of a view at the top. Up and up we went, and the smell of brakes as vehicles crept downhill past us, engines off to save gas because it was certainly steep enough to keep a truck rolling down for the whole time. There are rock faces which were evidently a major part of the economy in this area as it is carved away by people who then lug it down to the roadside, pile it and sell it. Past the rocks and up, us encouraged by vehicles heading up past us, they thoroughly entertained by the sweaty mzungus cycling, (and sometimes pushing bikes) towards our next stop, Lake Bunyoni. The other nice thing about cycling uphill is it often means there's a downhill, and this carried us nicely into the Bunyoni Overland Lodge, on Uganda's deepest lake, supposedly measuring a good 6500ft deep.
We had a deluxe sleep in our "mobile" tent, thoroughly preparing us for a relaxing day in two hollowed out log canoes, just us and a bottle of wine. A crayfish dinner stimulated JD's days of fishing past, and he bought 2 crayfish traps so that we may attempt to catch our own dinner for the next night.
There were many volunteers with information for the Mzungus on how to set up a crayfish trap. As soon as the trap was in sight, a smile would creep onto the face of those passing by, and the inevitable changing of their route over to us would take place. First we needed a rock to sink the trap because they were new and would need to be waterlogged. Then we needed to get directions on prime crayfish weeds, as the traps are set up pretty much by shoving them through the weeds, into the mud, and then covering them with grass. Not to be forgotten is the sorghum feed, leftover from beermaking, this foul vomit-smelling bean-sand is smeared on the trap to make it ripe for catching some crayfish.
Although our traps did catch fish, they weren't crayfish and we decided to implement a catch and release type system, before heading out into our canoes for another day of relaxing on full bellies, having received double our breakfast order (slight misunderstanding). We were stocked with a bottle of wine for our last day before we started travelling home.
We retured to camp that night, no crayfish in hand, but pleasantly surprised by a grand buffet dinner of soup, chapati, vegetables, crayfish masala, beef and the most delectable of roast pork. This meant for a late night of talking philosophically with Nick from the UK, raised in Zambia, and currently working on fixing up the roads of Africa.

Our lives had really slowed down and the next day we were nicely primed for some more cycling so we did the climb out of Kabale. It was a long uphill, but good for getting some end-of-the-trip clarity, with one last cycle through the countryside. It is amazing to be biking through hills, lush green in colour, and thoroughly organized in their farming plots. It happened more than once that we would hear "Mzungu! Mzungu!" off in some hill somewhere and then a group of kids would come running out of the bush to run uphill with us, hardly breaking a sweat.

Lunch with a view

We would hop on a matatu to arrive in Mbarara before nightfall we decided, but were picked up by Julius, with a truck fit for 3 cyclists, and headed straight to Kampala that night. Julius saved the day, as we could definetely live without another matatu ride.

It made for an earlier arrival than planned into Kampala, and provided us with insight into some questions we had about Africa. Why, first of all, was it so funny whenever we made a peace sign as we passed through a town? Well, the peace sign used in North America does not mean the same thing at the moment in Uganda. In the heat of campaigning for the February 23rd elections, apparently the peace signal represents Besigye, the incumbent, Museveni's main rival. Museveni is appropriately demonstrated by sticking up a thumb, in a thumb's-up kind of way, also a gesture we did regularly.

Last night we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and giggled about all of the only-in-Africa-isms of the trip.
There is very much an Hakuna Matatu approach to serving in restaurants, getting one's meals at vastly different times always, and the laissez-faire approach to acknowledging one's entrance into a business, like the bus company employee whom we had to wake up in Lamu to buy a bus ticket. Who unapologetically said upon waking, "I'm so hungry". Or the driving on the roads in a frantic kind of way, passing and honking energetically, but all done with a smile on the face and a wave in passing. Or how the best grocery shopping is done from a bus window, when people sell the freshest mangoes, or have the best onion selection. It all comes together as somewhat inspiring, and definetely creating a thirst to come back again...like next year.

I'm a born again matatu passenger

Fort Portal, UG - Today is JD's birthday and we are celebrating in luxury at the Rwenzori View Guest Lodge, run by a jolly malaria-plagued bloak named Morris. A comfy bed never felt so good. Last time we blogged we were just leaving the Red Chilli in Kampala. It feels like a lifetime ago.

After an intense cycle out of Kampala we rode in some sort of mega-heat to Lowero. It was a beautiful ride. I'm hooked. Cycling is definetely the way to go, passing thru the countryside at a human pace, earning one's hunger and good sleeps, with much more interactive greetings. Upon our arrival in Lowero, our Chelsea was sick and I will forever trust her intuition as she was the only one (except for the locals we shared them with, so sorry) who ate a muffin, after (now) famously saying, "I sure hope this muffin is ok". It was a very odd night that night at the Lutheran Guest Lodge. I had the most intense mefloquine dreams yet, and the heat was more stagnant than a expanded juice jar in the heat. Needless to say we took a restday the next day so we could replenish our salts, Chelsea could recover, JD could process his cold and I could consume as much oregano oil as I could muster.

The next day we were off again and we landed in Nakasongola. We arrived in the heat and decided to scoot on up to Masindi in a matatu. Our wait for the matatu was a very social gathering of children and after many demonstrations with cameras and replaying videotape, after the last little brother of the last little neighbour's child tried every bicycle, we got on our matatu and drove to the turn off to Masindi. This is where we transferred our bikes, and learned about patience; patience in the heat, patience while having to pee, patience while the matatu starts and then drives around the block to put gas in it then return and practise sitting some more. That night we slept at the Alinda Guesthouse in Masindi for yet another night that was as adventurous as the day. Masindi is a busy place on a Friday night, hilariously so (after the fact...). There was much activity on the main drag, from which our window was about 5 feet. I didn't know that transport vehicles drove at 3 o'clock in the morning honking their horns all the way down the street. Anywhere. In a desperate attempt for sleep JD attempted to get another room but found us locked into the building with no staff or phone in sight. Our plans to bike to Butiaba were shifted and we embraced flexibility - thoroughly. The plan became hitching to Murchison Falls to stay at the Red Chilli Lodge in the park and if we didn't make it, we would head back into town and sleep. Both plans made us feel lucky.

It's about 84km to the lodge and everybody said we would never make it. After 2 rides to our hitching post we were picked up by Washington Obote, UN World Food Programme food delivery man on his way to the Sudanese refugee camps in Northern Uganda. JD kept saying we were lucky, and we were. But just as lucky as us was the chimpanzee we almost hit. None of us had ever seen chimps in the wild, not even Washington, even though he did the drive north regularly. Cruising down the road, we were suddenly slamming on the brakes. I didn't know if it was my own scream or that of our closest relative but there was a scream as we had to have bumped the chimp's behind...we looked back worried that we would be the people to see their first chimp and kill their first chimp (not that that is one of the parks attractions) on the same day. It made it into the forest and we stopped and watched as 3 others sat in the forest next to the road.

We arrived at the Red Chilli by 2pm (thanks Washington) only to hook up shortly thereafter with Bart and Marije who would be our game park and Nile River travel partners for the next 2 days. Never before have I been woken up to "Tracy, get up there's a hippo". But that night I was. There is a hippo who does the 7-10km trek from the Nile every night to feast on the grass at the Red Chilli Lodge and we watched him much his way around our banda.

Our luck continued the next day when we took the morning ferry over the Nile as the sun was rising to where most of the game lives. I don't know if it was our spectacular good luck, Bart's great sighting abilities or the leopard-print underwear I wore to bed, but the next day we had our best leopard sighting of the trip. A very focused leopard cooly walked right in front of our vehicle.
We stayed at the Alinda again the next night before having our biggest cycling day yet, to Butiaba.

We cycled out of Masindi into a beautiful landscape, past sugar cane fields, and lush green forests to the Budongo Forest to set up for our second chimp trek (after doing one on the way back from Murchison). We would do a morning chimp trek after having a comfy sleep in a banda right at the Budongo Forest Ecotourism Centre. But first we would cycle the rest of the way to Butiaba to see Lake Albert. It was a long hot haul down to the water, and gave us a beautiful view of the escarpment down over the lake which is divided down the middle between Uganda and the Congo. The road was bumpy and called for some ghetto repairs part way thru (hallelujiah duct tape), but Lake Albert gave off a nice cool wind.

When time to leave, we had anticipated taking a matatu back up the escarpment, but this was apparently not so, according to local schedules and we had to hire our own to get us back to Budongo Forest, which we became very clear that we wanted to return to. I would say this was the most exciting matatu ride yet, but it has been surpassed by our matatu ride(s) from yesterday. I don't know if it is a prerequisite for getting the job but apparently matatu drivers are all in a hurry to get somewhere, as well, the rules for limiting passenger seating to 14 people (as was done in Kenya) has not been implemented in Uganda.

We did make it back to the forest and had a power sleep before hiking into chimp territory the next morning. Our guide Justin took us into the forest and we followed the calls (and smells) of the chimps. We made our way towards the partially habituated chimps for our chimp experience. Chelsea was the first to step in fresh poo, and Justin told us we were close by, you could smell them. He too was (unknowingly) covered in our closest genetic relative's poo, as he explained to us that these normally calm chimps are low on food these days and tourists usually get to watch them while they feed in the canopy. These days they are looking for food on the ground, where we were. If only the chimps had videocameras. The 3 of us huddled as the chimps were all around us in the forest, screaming and banging on tree trunks to signal we were an annoyance. We were happy to return to camp, as the sounds of a large group of excited chimps is like nothing I have ever heard. Beautiful and yet horrendous all at the same time.

The fastest matatu ride of our lives took us to our luxury pad in Fort Portal, for JD's 39th birthday.
Until the next internet connection,
Chimp affection,
Tracy, JD and Chelsea

Word from the Red Chilli

Greetings Luvs - We're staying one more night at the Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala as we gather information before loading up the paniers and heading out. JD has had a cold and so we opted for a few solid sleeps before headin' on down the dusty...
We can't download photos here but do hope to find a place to do so today and get some Lamu shots out - in an attempt to deliver because we adore reading your comments!
Last night's sleep was deep and delicious after a homemadeish meal in our posh cottage with Heather from the UK and Jack from Australia. The night before was...well...a reminder of mosquito infestations from my Northern Ontario past. It was the middle of the night and the big guys had come out. It was thoroughly entertaining to watch JD piece together a mozzie net (from the safety of Chelsea's), while the buggers fledged a full-on attack.
Yesterday, Chelsea and I headed into downtown Kampala on our bikes to pick up money and some supplies - good to get the exercise, but the pollution was well, breathtaking, quite literally. I do feel a surge of biking confidence though as I never brought my bike to Montreal because of a fear of biking in the big city. To have cycled on the main drag in Kampala was very empowering.
Word has it that Kampala has a budding cafe culture that we will check out this aft. Will keep you posted on my rating of a Ugandan latte...
Much love.

Kampala...

Hello all - we've arrived in Uganda...happily. It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks. I'm still digesting. Damn, I love life...We have much catching up to do, I realize. Our Phyllisimo has headed back to the Canadian coast from the Kenyan coast and now Chelsea, JD and myself just arrived at the Red Chilli Backpackers Hostel in Kampala, after an adventurous bike ride from the bus station. We were in Lamu for christmas...oh the stories.

Christmas day was spent snorkelling in the Indian Ocean while our guides caught fish off the dhou (dunno about that spelling, it's a traditional sailboat used for trade on the coast for centuries) and prepared us a meal of various fish, coconut rice and veggies. It was breathtaking. Chels will do a full xmas day entry in her lovely poetic fashion.
JD and Phyllis left Lamu on the 29th so Phyllis could catch her flight to Campbell River that night. Chels and I took a bus on the 30th...it was hot, smelled like rotting chicken flesh...we should have known from the push-start beginning at 7am from the mainland that the bus was going to be...character building...we started the day off with a dhou ride to the mainland and many eyes were looking at us while some town-caller-esque fellow was obviously talking in swahili about the two unmarried mzungus, and there was much warm laughter. You never quite know what they're getting at, but those Lamuians are a special breed of friendly that is for certain. They are sweet. Lamu was a nice slow pace. I loved it.

We arrived in Witu (just down the road from where we started) about 3 hours later, and stayed until 1pm, when we were to arrive in Mombassa. Apparently there was a coolant problem with the bus, as indicated by our many stops on the way to Witu and the very slow pace at which we were travelling. Finally we got on the road again, after a feeble attempt to get a ride out of town, and a few bow games with the locals. I am totally in awe of how people truly live hakuna matata-style here. As we pulled away after every hot, sweaty stop someone was cracking a joke and had the bus in hysterics. And what good sports they are. Chels and I were squished at the very back of the bus, but there were folks who were standing in the aisle the whole time. Granted they had likely bought discounted tickets from the driver directly, and knowingly piled illegally in single file for what was supposed to be a 6hour bus ride that was 10 by the time we got off, and there was still a good 3hours to go, they amazingly got down on their knees when we went by police checks so as to go by unseen. It's moments like that, that make me love these places.
As for us Mzungus, at Malindi we got off the bus (and ditched the rest of the remaining of our bus ticket), made our way to a hostel, having already missed our train. Saturday morning we inquired about flights. When was the first one out of Malindi?!? How fast could we make it to Nairobi...the flight was too expensive. Off to Mombassa, we thought. We left the travel agency, discouraged and hot and headed to the internet place to send JD an email that we wouldn't make it that day. At 9:45 we headed back to the agency to ask about the train from Mombassa and were told it didn't actually run on Saturdays, or Sunday mornings...and all the flights from Mombassa were full. We made a spontaneous purchase for planes tix on the only flight available out of Malindi (and Mombassa for that matter) for the next 2 days...and didn't look back.
Happy New Year everyone...
More internet time tommorrow.
Big, bad love.
Tracy

A few photos from our Safari

Hi everyone,

We are back in Nairobi after spending Christmas on the coast. There will be more on this adventure later. I just thought I would catch up on few photos from our Tanzania Safari. So here are some of my favorites. Oh my! so hard to choose........

Safari Low-Down

Somebody's research indicates that no two zebra's stripes are the same, like fingerprints. After having a closer look, yes, I guess that's true. It feels as though we have seen all the zebras. We have seen so many zebras. So many gnus, so many impallas...and in trying to count how many lions we saw we couldn't even calculate that, we officially lost track. This is a good sign.


Our guide Bryceson and our cook Antony picked us up in the green Sunny Safaris Land Cruiser on Friday morning. We headed North East towards Lake Manyara National Park. The drive to the campground was exciting in iteself as we drove thru small towns with fruit stands and many people living life in the heat, moving at a pace that takes awhile to become accustomed to. This a definetely not a Tim-Horton-coffee-to-go culture, things are done Hakuna Matata style here. After having developed some sort of adult onset attention deficit disorder, my brain seems to be adjusting to a less foggy climate.
I love the small towns.



Along the road are often little rows of shops painted in bright turquoise and red and at the moment we have predominantly been in Maasai country and the fabrics show it. Materials of bright blues and reds worn by men and women with beautifully stretched ear holes adorned with elaborate beads or left plain, leaving a hole often about the size of a quarter. And while it is piping hot as baboon's breath here there is a significant population of Maasai who have fallen in love with the ever woolly and warm tuque. We even saw one Maasai standing on the side of the highway yesterday, leaning against his staff, watching over his cattle stirring up the dry desert dust, fully garbed in traditional Maasai shuka (bright materials), wearing a full balaclava with yes, a pompom on top.
We set up camp, or had camp set up for us rather, as we sun bathed hollywood-style by the campground pool drinking Safari and Kilmanjaro beer in the hot african sun to kick us into the safari groove.





And then Lake Manyara National Park. Where to start. We popped up the top of the LandCruiser (we became ever more grateful of the breeze a pop top provided as well as there being sun cover) and cruised into the park. We have observed that animals like to eat and sleep and walk and chew their food thoroughly. We saw our first elephant standing alone, or so we thought. Then the bushes started moving and out came an even larger fella...and this was only the beginning. Towards the lake we headed, where we watched vervet monkeys, baboons, differents species of Ibis, zebras, elephants, hippos, and one very large lizard. It's difficult to put into words.

On our way out of the park Chelsea and I were standing at the front of the vehicle, letting our faces be kissed by the wind when hmph, something wet...that did not smell like water... and it had not rained. We had just passed thru a group of baboons who evidently, had taken a pee above our heads, and it was now on our faces. A delicacy in some places perhaps?!?
The next day we were off again into the Serengeti National Park. We stopped in at Oldipai Gorge, for those archaeological types this may be more familiar to you as Oldivai Gorge, home of the first finding of a hominid skull, and some footprints that are 3.6million years old (holy #*%!)preserved by volcano ash. These footprints led to the gorge and were accompanied by footprints of the extinct 3-toed horse, among other species. I was particularly fascinated by how raindrops preserved in the ash were able to indicate which animals migrated into the area before the rains and which migrated with the rains.
I have dived into perhaps much too much detail, it's all coming out at once...and now we have a plane to catch to the coast...more to come, in a more concise fashion.
big love,
the gang.

Post Safari Pre Xmas Check-In

Mumbo Poa!
Here we are back in Nairobi - and now there are four! Chelsea arrived at the Nairobi airport on the 13th after our epic wildlife orphanage day (hence the photos that have been sitting without story on the blog). On the 12th we visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the Langata Giraffe Centre, and the Kenya Wildlife Service. The David Sheldrick WT has an excellent program of adopting orphaned rhinos and elephants and nursing them back to health and then returning them into the National Parks. They have a system of introducing them into their natural setting progressively during their stay at the orphanage by doing their best to recreate some of the habits of how life will be once they're back on their own. So, they said they only play soccer with the elephants every one in awhile, as they may not encounter too many wild soccer balls.
I can't help myself, I have to move onto our super duper safari from which we have just returned. We just gto back to Nairobi from Arusha, Tanzania where we started our safari.
It all started with Chelsea's arrival - with our fourth member of our troop we were ready to scoot out of the big city and leave Kenya for the Tanzanian safari-town of Arusha. We left in the morning and arrived at about 1:30. What a ride. It has become clear to me that at some international borders there is a no-man's land between say, Kenya's border and Tanzania's.

We pulled into the Kenya border station and were bombarded with bracelet sellers ... and more bracelet sellers...and more bracelet sellers knocking on the shuttle bus window, reaching thru the window, putting bracelets on our wrists in a cut throat bracelet market, apparently. I am learning to say I won't be shopping and to stick to it, but there is a learning curve.
We got into the border office line up and our shuttle bus driver quickly caught on to our Canadian habits of being polite and not budding back. For some reason we stayed in the same spot while everyone casually moved ahead of us. We were scooted up the line by our shuttle driver who was sticking to a strict schedule and upon getting the Kenya stamp, I stepped outside. I must have had that look on my face like, I don't know where I am, because there was suddenly a man that I thought I recognized, asking me if I was on the shuttle. Why yes I was, and he quickly ushered me towards some shabby booths where I heard the words 50$ and VISA. Yup, that sounded about right. So I gave the guy who was oddly surrounded by many other men speaking very frantically, all in a very small booth. My intuition alarm bells were going off, it was seeming quite sketchy actually, and then voila! my (well actually, Chelsea's) 50$ was gone and I was being handed 5000 Tanzanian shillings (5000!) and told this was some spending money in Tanzania. I was definetely confused at this point. I looked back, Chelsea was in the booth next to me. Could it be? Was this the way Africans sold people visas? This ain't right I decided, but by then I was physically being turned around with a hand on my shoulder and sent off to get my visa around the corner. Why did I go over there the shuttle driver asked. I don't know. Border chaos I suppose.
And then we stuck together, and got our visas.
On our trip back today we were much more border-savvy.
Lesson learned.
More safari news later. We're off to see King Kong.
Much love.
Hakuna Matata.

Update coming soon

Sorry everybody for the delay in getting some more words down on the blog but its been a couple busy days. Phyllis and Chelsea have arrived and we are about to bus down to Tanzania from where we will finish this post. I just needed to upload the photos first as I may not get a chance in Arusha. So hang tight.

Kwaheri, JD