Remembering Safari

Way back when, at the very beginning of our trip, we went on safari in Tanzania.  We've done so much since then that it feels like months ago, but really it was about 5 or 6 weeks.

We used a company called Good Earth Tours, and booked in a 5 day / 4 night camping safari.  We figured, let's start the 'adventure' off right - and as neither of us has much if any camping experience, we figured it could be fun to give that a try (the alternative is to stay in lodges).  We were hooked up with a pair of Canadians, Michael & Melanie, who turned out to be not only well-seasoned travelers to extremely remote spots (much thanks to their jobs in geophysics (him) and environmental science (her)), but also avid outdoors people - the kind of hard core that thinks canoeing & camping in below-freezing weather is a 'good time'.

As I mentioned before, we felt very fortunate to have these two as our companions - given we spent 5 days in a jeep and taking all our meals together, a bad pairing would have been disatrous!  They were laid-back, had interesting stories to tell, and were easy to chat with.  And if there had been any question in the matter, they earned full admiration points when, on a serene, meditative drive entering the Serengeti, Melanie broke the silence by whipping out her iPod and travel speakers and playing us some Toto for a collective Moment of Zen.  I think (hope!) they found us to be good safari partners too, although I think they found us looking a little 'keen' for our trip, all decked out in new clothing & gear (I can promise that by this point we don't look too sparkly!).

As for the safari itself, we visited 3 parks.  The first and least impressive was Lake Manyara, but given it was our first game drive, we were pretty much excited for everything - and especially enjoyed the monkeys.  On the second day, we drove into the Serengeti, where we spent the middle two nights.  Here, we saw lots of animals, including the usual suspects like zebra, giraffe, elephants, a few lions (though at a distance), hippos, buffalo, and antelope - and a wide variety of birds too, turning Jason overnight from normal guy to avid birdspotter.  We did see one chase (cheetah v. antelope), but no kills or really any action to speak of. I was most amazed by the vastness of it all - endless plains and skies - trying to make myself understand that this was the animals' real home, not something manufactured for our entertainment. 

Our last stop was in the Ngorongoro Crater (we spent a night camped near the rim), a beautiful self-contained park where almost all of the major animals live -- other than giraffe because there aren't enough trees for them to eat! The Crater is also home to 23 black rhinos - a critically endangered species which is often poached for its horn.  We managed to spot a couple, but only very far away.  That did complete our Big 5 viewing, though.

As for the camping, we think we fared pretty well, many thanks to some of our shiny new gear (namely my fancy-schmancy headlamp and Jason's too-cool-for-school safari hat, and of course our sleeping bags and inflatable pillows!).  Good Earth's camping equipment - they provided tents & mats - was pretty nice, too; the tents were the nicest & biggest of the ones we saw at the campgrounds (many tour companies set up camp at the same location, so we could check out the competition).

We were treated to two stunning sunrises - one in the Serengeti on our early morning (6am) game drive on Day 4, and the other at breakfast over the crater on our last day. Evidence of those special moments and the others (plus evidence of the safari hat) can of course be found on Picasa, but here are a few to whet the appetite:

Speak no evil in Lake Manyara

Dinnertime in the Serengeti

Showing off in the Hippo Pool

Hitching a ride across the plains

Soaking in the scenery at the Ngorongoro Crater Lake

Road Trip, South Africa

Before we get too far removed from our time in South Africa I thought I’d share a few highlights from our time driving around the Western Cape. As is typical we opted for the budget rental car, which in this case meant a light blue Chevy Spark Lite. While it’s unlikely we’ll make it our next car, it served us well and is a bit of a natural deterrent to auto theft as I can’t image anyone giving it a second look.

Not just a Spark... a Spark Lite.

After our three nights staying in Cape Town we drove south to explore Cape Peninsula. The drive was amazing, winding above the Atlantic ocean along the western coast, and we really enjoyed our drive and walk around the nature reserve at the bottom of the cape. While we didn’t make it to technical southern tip of Africa, we did at least reach the “The most Southwestern Point”…whatever that means.

Like everyone else, we stood by the language we understood.

We spent a night in Simon’s Town, after which we visited the penguins and then headed up and east to the wine region. We ended up staying in Franschhoek by accident as a couple places we looked in the more well-known town of Stellenbosch were booked, but it ended up working out great. While we weren’t blown away by the wines, the scenery around the entire area is unbelievable and Franschhoek has a great small town feel. Fit my vision of what a town in Napa or Sonoma might have been like 30 years ago, with an even more spectacular backdrop. 

Nice views from Glenwood Winery, Franschhoek

During our time in foodie Franschhoek, we had one dinner out at a fantastic little place with a menu that changes nightly, and opted another night to cook some ostrich bolognaise in the indoor/outdoor kitchen at our guesthouse.

Jess, cooking al fresco

Jason enjoys his ostrich spag bol

Next we headed east along the scenic route 62, which provided as stunning as advertised. While our stay in Oudtshoorn proved only moderately interesting, we can now say we’ve visited the Ostrich Capital of the World and we did get to take a dip in the pool, with the owner’s dog, at our guesthouse.

This guy found us pretty curious, too.

Weather foiled our attempt at driving the scenic Swartberg pass the next morning but we made our own scenic detour and took the Spark Lite for a little semi off-roading on our way back west.

Our last two nights were spent in Montagu – “Where drying fruit is a way of life” - where we stayed at a fantastic little guesthouse at the back of a Brewery/Restaurant. While calling the town sleepy is perhaps an understatement, we really enjoyed the downtime and what felt like home cooking from the transplanted German chef. I did a nice 12km hike on the second day (Jess wasn’t feeling well), which offered some great views of the town and surrounding area and continued the training for Machu Picchu.

The road less traveled

On our last day we managed to squeeze some brandy tasting, which proved an interesting contrast to the wine tastings, and a stop a nearby botanical garden.  

Brandies with a savoury pairing

Our final night was spent in the travel lodge at Cape Town airport in anticipation of our 6:30am flight to Johannesburg and connection to our 12 hour voyage to Hong Kong. All in all we really liked Cape Town and the surrounding area which proved to be much more scenic than anticipated (and often reminiscent of California) as well as a whole lot safer than expected.  Check out the rest of the pictures here – where you can also see some of the entertaining road signs we encountered on our journey!

Chilly Willey

Along the False Bay coast line in South Africa, heading north from the Cape of Good Hope, there is a stretch of beach called Boulders, which is famous for its African penguin colony.  

Thanks to a good tip, we did not pay the R40 ($6) admission fee to hang with the penguins.  Rather we found the back way onto the beach, where we got up close and personal with the penguins.

Jason even gave one penguin a thumbs-up... 

... in obvious defiance of park rules. :-) 

Entertaining people the world over

In Cape Town, we spent 3 nights at a B&B called David's, run by David and his partner Hannes, who is the main guy we dealt with during our stay.  On the last morning, as he was running my credit card through, Hannes asked me, "Why do you have such a strange name, 'Willey'?  Really! How odd." After we had a nice chuckle over that, he proceeded to call ahead to another B&B on the Garden Route to let them know we might be coming to stay.  The one-sided conversation went something like: "Yes... yes, a very nice couple...  You won't forget the name: Willey.... that's right... yes, a big room for Big Willey."  

We gave B&B number two a pass, you might not be surprised to learn.

Anyway, we just posted a small album from our 3 days in & around Cape Town.  Our big activity from our stay in Cape Town was our hike up Table Mountain, but we also made it out to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners of apartheid were held.  It seemed good to go and visit, but unfortunately we didn't find the tour all that worthwhile - more entertainment than information, oddly enough!

Is Cape Town a Safe Town?

I have been a little anxious about visiting Cape Town, not because of the warnings in the guide books, but because one evening, after a few drinks, I was lectured at length by my South African friend, Natasha, on the mortal perils of visiting this dangerous city.  Essentially, the message went, I was risking life & limb if I decided to walk in, drive through, or think about Cape Town.  I was terrified. Keep in mind, we have lived in West Philadelphia.

You will be glad to know that we escaped unscathed, and while we practiced CONSTANT VIGILANCE, we never really felt in too much danger.  (However, after a wrong turn into a township around 10am one morning, I can understand why we were advised not to drive around at night without 100% certainty of where we were headed).  But on foot, we felt pretty secure, especially due to the presence of these: 

There was no one in here.

I'm pretty sure these "Mobile Crime Prevention Units" weren't around during the time Natasha lived in South Africa, or her opinion of the Cape Town's security would certainly be more positive.  Clearly they've made a difference! 

First Attempt at Strenuous Activity

After two weeks of easy going travel, being driven around to look at animals and chilling out on the beach, our arrival in Cape Town presented the first real opportunity for us to stretch our traveling legs. While we undertook a nice walk around the neighborhood where we stayed (Green Point/Sea Point) and the V&A Waterfront after our arrival. On day two we set out to conquer Table Mountain, the ever present landmark looming over Cape Town.

Table Mountain view from V&A Waterfront

Based on advice from a couple of people we decided to begin our hike/climb from the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, southeast of the city center, via the Skeleton Gorge route. The mountain peak is 1087m and offered by far the most ambitious climb either of us had undertaken, which doesn't speak too proudly for our mountaineering - especially after meeting so many Kilimanjaro climbers in Tanzania.

Fair warning

The ascent took us a little over three hours, with a good number of photo breaks, and included some periods of seriously steep up hill walking, ladders and even some climbing up  and over rocks in part of the gorge. 

A little help on the way up

The views and scenery were unbelievable even on a somewhat hazy day, and the energy exerted made for a real sense of accomplishment when we finally reached the top where we enjoyed our lunch of leftover snacks from our safari lunches as we didn't bring any real food with us (whoops). 

Success!

Unfortunately the descent did not provide any relief to our now aching legs and feet. Most people take the cable car back down so we should get some points for walking back, even if the pace was slow and there was a lot of groaning. 

Carefully down

After almost another three hours we emerged back in the botanical gardens, although not exactly where we expected to. Thankfully we waited till the very end to get a little lost. We treated ourselves to a well deserved beer and cookies on the grass in the gardens while hoping the ascent for our Inca Trail hike in April will at least be a little more spread and also come with a real lunch.

We climbed all the way up there!

Reflections on Zanzibar

So... how's this for some excitement?  Our first pictures are up!  We are still working on narrowing down our safari pictures from about 867 to something more manageable, but meanwhile we have shared our Zanzibar pictures (click here for the album). As long as we've got pix up, we thought we'd share some reflections on our time there.

Like most people, we ventured to Zanzibar for the sun and sea, which we found in abundance in Jambiani, on the east coast of the island.  We were very happy with our accomodations - a quiet resort run by and frequented by Germans - and we really appreciated kicking back and enjoying the beautiful weather, walking in the unusual spongy sand, and sleeping by sea breeze - especially, as some of you know, my 'beach vacation' has been a long time coming!

Ahhhh....

However, more interesting than resort living was discovering a bit about real island living. In front of our hotel was the beach, but behind it was the town of Jambiani - a poor village with livestock roaming the streets along side sand-covered, barefooted children. Clusters of dilapidated houses filled the area, with seemingly little to close one family off from another for privacy or security. But what struck me most was the friendliness of people - we were constantly being greeted by young & old as we took our stroll through town.

Jambiani Town

We were reflecting too on how, despite conditions that to our minds are unfathomable, people seem contented - and we supposed this was partially due to the seeming equality in means between the villagers. However, in talking to one local restaurant owner after dinner one night, we discovered that there can be great resentment when a local person tries to achieve and make a better life for himself. He told us about how, given his apparent success, he often has local men coming to him with their hands out - and he is trying to impart on them that he has worked for his money, and to get them to do the same by earning what they're asking for through odd jobs. But this requires a change in mindset... and is why, as he also told us, he has encountered local people who are so resentful of him that they deliberately try to sabotage his business, for example by calling the authorities in to check on his licenses to operate, etc. So in case you needed more proof - all the cliches about money are true.

On a lighter note, one "benefit" of visiting a poorer country is that the transportation can be a fun experience with the right mindset. When we left Jambiani for a night in Stone Town on the west side of the island, we decided to take a dala-dala for the 20+ mile journey. Dala-dalas are a form of public transport - a covered u-shaped bench on the back of a pick-up truck, more or less. We waited about 90 minutes for the 'hourly' service. All cargo (including our backpacks) goes on the roof, and there is always room for one more inside. If the seating were comfortable to begin with, it would comfortably seat 9, but for most of the ride, there were 20 adults (including the 'conductor' who usually hangs off the back), 1 baby, and a 10 year old boy... with a chicken. It was our first experience traveling with farm animals - probably a better initiation than, say, a goat.

Not our dala-dala, but you get the idea!

Jambo!

Greetings from sunny Zanzibar, where we find ourselves a couple shades darker (brown and/or pink) and a couple pounds lighter (travel as weightloss program okay for a day or 2, but this is getting ridiculous).

We hope too many people haven't lost faith in reading our blog, since it's been over a week since inviting many of you to read and we haven't put anything up.  But for context, there are roughly 40 million people in Tanzania, and about 1% of them are online. So it's a little tough finding a connection here!  (We ended up paying $3/30min from our hotel for this one.)

So far we have taken a rickety minibus ride from Nairobi, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania, and can personally attest to the fact that the road improvement works seem to be plentiful, though not by any means hurried.  We have spent a night on either side of our safari in Arusha near the central market, and were surprised at how safe and comfortable we felt in a city we had been amply warned against.  We safari-ed with a Canadian couple - Michael & Melanie - and thought that for a 5-day / 4-night blind date, we would have been hard pressed to hope for a better match.  And in the taxi on the way to catch our flight to Zanzibar, we learned the term 'celebration bumps'*.

We will write more on this when we are in a place with a better connection, and share pictures.

Overall, we have found the people in Tanzania laid-back, friendly, and welcoming - even more so when they learn we are from "Obama country".  And unlike many other places we've traveled, a simple 'No, thank you!' seems to put the scarf sellers and henna artists off the hunt in the first instance.

We'll be in Zanizbar til Friday, when we will take a middle-of-the-night flight down to South Africa to start the next leg of our journey.  Hopefully the connections there will be more readily available, and we'll share more then.  Until then - back to the beach!

*Celebration bumps: A series of 3 mini speed bumps.  Named as such "because they make you shake!"