SAFARI IN
KENYA AND TANZANIA
I
left Penticton on a beautiful sunny day - the drive along the Okanagan
Lake shore to the Kelowna Airport was Okanagan at its best. It was
April the thirtieth, 2002 - the first leg of my African Safari. Equipped
with warm clothes mostly I was stunned at the icy blast that greeted
me in Calgary. But then the whole of Canada experienced weird temperature
fluctuations in the spring of 2002. Carol Peterson, our tour leader
and I took off for Nairobi the following morning at 8am. Apart from
her own luggage, camera equipment and film she had several cartons
of clothing as well as other donations for her friends in Africa to
help them in their efforts to help others less fortunate. We flew
direct to Nairobi, Kenya - first to Minneapolis and then over Labrador
to Scotland and over the English Channel to Amsterdam. After a few
hours in the airport there we flew on to Nairobi and arrived about
9pm. The time changes were really difficult for me with my ëon
time medications and eyedrops. I was never sure which day it was let
alone the time.
We were greeted by a handsome, black gentleman dressed in a business
suit and with a smile that would light up a whole room. Our drivers
were right behind him and after we got through customs with all our
luggage and Carols cartons we were whisked off to the Stanley Hotel.
By the time we arrived Carol knew the names of all three, whether
they were married and if so and how many children they had. And they
knew she had a husband and two Irish Wolfhounds and four cats. The
Stanley Hotel was built in 1802 by the British and though a thoroughly
modern hotel still retains its old world quiet, dignity and charm.
The first thing that struck me when I went in was the beautiful wood
paneling and furniture. It gleamed like rich satin. When we arrived
the staff seemed to come out of the wood work to welcome Carol. Many
jambos (Swahili for hello) and hugs!
Nairobi began as a railway station and stopping place between Entebbe,
Uganda and Mombasa the Kenya port on the coast of the Indian Ocean.
Under British rule it gradually became the gateway to East Africa
. The Stanley Hotel became the center for all foreign visitors - dignitaries,
royalty, and celebrities from everywhere. King Edward the V111 of
England, Clark Gable, Ernest Hemingway and such like notables centered
in the Stanley Hotel.
The following morning we had breakfast in the famous Thorn Cafe -
so called for the acacia tree that grows in the middle of it. There
was an array of food that left me speechless. Breakfast and lunch
are nearly always buffet style in Kenya. Jugs of fresh fruit juice
of all kinds, trays of fresh fruit (the pineapple was like nothing
we get here), huge jars of preserved fruit, any kind of dried cereal
you could think of plus porridge, numerous different buns and breads
and two chefs with huge bowls of big brown eggs beside them. They
did nothing but make omelets - any kind you wanted. Bacon, sausages
and all the hot stuff at another table - plus huge pots of baked beans
- a breakfast favorite in Kenya.
That day I spent in the hotel - Carol would not let me outside alone
and she had business meetings to attend so I browsed in the book store
and picked up some books on Kenya, had lunch by the swimming pool
(buffet style) and window watched. I will diverse here for a moment
- the traffic on the street below my window mesmerized me. This hotel
is in downtown Nairobi - population two million plus one million slum
dwellers. The street below me had four lanes with a sidewalk down
the middle. The closest traffic light seemed to be about a block north
of us on a side street. The curb lane on both sides of the street
was angle parking. - So actually there were two lanes of traffic.
When the pedestrians wished to cross the street - they did so -at
any time or any place. There might be thirty more or less wandering
through the traffic at any given time. The drivers were apparently
expected to be totally responsible for their safety. They might stop
three inches from someone - but neither driver nor pedestrian seemed
even slightly concerned. They have never heard of road rage apparently
in Kenya.
Another thing that struck me was that no one wore their hair long
and no one wore shorts. In fact the men on the street all wore suits
- not necessarily a tie but nearly always a suit jacket with their
trousers.
Since Kenyatta established the independence of Kenya and brought it
into our world Nairobi has continued to develop and expand and has
become the metropolis it is today with all the skyscraper trappings.
The days when you could see the herds of elephants and gazelles grazing
near the railway station are gone. As the land was taken over for
city expansion the people who lived and survived on it with their
own social system (the extended family) were forced to give up their
land and hence what one author calls the fourth world ë was born
- the slums of Africa - in this case Nairobi.
The rest of our group arrived that night and after we had all met
and rejoiced we left the next morning on our first safari outing -
a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Orphanage. Daphne Sheldrick
has rescued and rehabilitated orphaned animals (other than the big
cats) most of her married life but elephants have been her greatest
challenge and greatest success. Elephants are more akin to humans
than any other animal - in emotions, development and longevity. They
are children when we are children, teen-agers when we are teen-agers,
adults at about twenty and live to be about 70 years of age. They
are highly intelligent, have long memories and the family is the most
important thing in their lives.
Daphne spent 28 years of trial and error finding the right formula
to feed infant elephants. Her keepers are trained in elephant husbandry
and psychology. We arrived at about 11am to observe the morning feeding.
The babies are brought in from the bush by their keepers to the enclosure
to be fed - otherwise they live in the bush with their keepers because
eventually they are all returned to the wild. They are orphans usually
because their mothers were killed by poachers (for their ivory) or
they lost their family in a stampede or got caught in a trap and the
family could not rescue them. They are always severely traumatized
if not physically emotionally, and grieve for the loss of their family
for weeks. During the first year when the infant is entirely milk
dependant the keeper sleeps with them, feeds them on demand and exudes
fondness. Their little trunk is always attached to the mother (in
the wild) while feeding so the keepers start with a blanket and gradually
the child transfers to the keeper. His/her trunk is tucked into his
armpit, or his ear or somewhere all the while they are feeding. When
the baby starts to play there is great rejoicing - baby elephants
do not thrive unless they are happy - and playing means they are happy.
Some of course, do not survive. Like all children they have to be
disciplined - first with a wagging finger and the tone of voice. As
they get older a small prod lightly charged is used - but always after
they have been disciplined they have to be forgiven - given much loving.
As they get older too, their keeper takes them further and further
afield until they encounter the wild herds and eventually find them
more interesting than the keepers and they join them. Elephant herds
are always composed of females and calves - the bull elephant’s
duty ends with the breeding and they drift on and live primarily alone.
Male elephants reach puberty at about 14 or 15 years and are then
removed from the nursery and transported to a park where they continue
their maturing with their keepers. All females in the wild are closely
guarded in the herd until the matriarch who is the leader of the herd
considers them ready for breeding.
We also saw a baby rhino being fed - a whole different scenario when
it comes to raising. I was the third attraction after the elephants
and the rhinos - standing next to me was a lady with her baby boy
over her shoulder - an infant about 6 months old. He never took his
eyes off me elephants and rhinos notwithstanding - those big black
pools were glued to me. His mother whispered to me, he has never seen
a white woman before. This visit was one of the highlights of my trip
- I wish I had the space to tell you more about this wonderful lady
and her accomplishments.
That night we
had our welcoming dinner and the kitchen staff came in with a big
Welcome Carol cake to help us celebrate as they danced around the
table. We left the next day and as the matriarch I sat beside the
driver in our Toyota van. We had two vans and drivers - Peter and
Sampson both from the Kikiyu tribe. Carol tells me the Kikiyus are
very smart business men. All of our drivers spoke the language of
their tribe, Swahili the inter tribal language, reasonably good English
and sometimes another language as well - Sampson for instance, spoke
some Spanish. I was in the van driven by Sampson. Sampson had a face
like a full moon, loved to laugh and and was a fountain of knowledge
as well as the most dextrous of drivers. He steered through the traffic
with one hand all the while talking to me and pointing out landmarks
with the other. It took me awhile to control my reflexes because he
was driving on the wrong side of the road (to me)as well, but I held
my heart (and tongue) firmly in check. I figured if we made it to
the country safely all would be well. Precious thought - when we finally
hit the open road we were surrounded by herds of goats and cattle.
The road (a new one) was two narrow lanes with no center line. The
surrounding country was flat with scattered acacia trees mostly (there
are over forty varieties of them) and lesser shrubs. There we began
to see our first wild life mainly antelopes. One of the amazing things
to me were the yellow weaver birds. At the first sign of rain (we
were into the rainy season) they start to build a nest which hangs
from a branch of a tree. If the female does not like it they immediately
start another. Some trees reminded me of Christmas trees decorated
with huge ball ornaments. Kenya was into one of its rainy seasons
- approaching their winter hence everything was green. The rains were
not overwhelming and the temperature was comfortable.
Later on in the morning we paid a visit to another of Carols projects
- a girls school. This is where the cartons of clothes and cash donations
and the school supplies we all brought were to be delivered. There
are 600 girls in the school but it happened to be a holiday month
so only the boarders were there. The buildings were utterly utilitarian,
the plumbing antiquated and the grounds unkempt. We visited two classrooms
- the children ( all dressed in green dresses) sit on benches and
write on higher benches. They are taught English as well as their
native subjects - and spoke English to us. Then we went to the chapel
(a building) where they put on a concert for us. Interestingly, both
teachers we met were young males. There were about 32 girls, aged
around 15 years that formed their choir. Their only accompaniment
was one African drum. The teacher had a voice range from tenor to
baritone and the volume of those young girls voices was astounding
in its richness and strength. We all joined in a singing dance around
the room and Carol took pictures of all of us with the choir. It was
a delightful interlude.
One of the aims of the school is to rescue the Masai girls. (Maasai
is spelled in two ways - I have used the shorter one.) The Masais
are a large, nomadic tribe who for centuries have roamed - their source
of wealth is cattle and hence they pack up and move on whenever fresh
pasturage is required. They sell their young girls in marriage - some
very young, to increase their wealth in cattle. Attempts are being
made to change their traditional habits, have the women, children
and old people stay in a village and establish schools so the children
can get some education. In areas where this has been accomplished
the young men alone now take the cattle out to graze. They have to
stay with them of course, to guard against predators. Now too, the
people in the nearby villages are encouraged, if they hear of a Masai
girl-child being sold into marriage to remove the girl and bring her
to the school where she remains as a boarder until she finishes her
education at about 16 years.
We saw a lot of wild life that day - various types of gazelles, dik-dik,
wildebeest, giraffe with young, warthogs, common zebra, chameleon,
spotted turtle (Carols sharp eyes spotted it beside the road), Masai
ostriches (the males are black and white) and cape buffalo - considered
to be the most dangerous animal on the savanna. The roads in the parks
are not paved making it difficult to stand up in the vans - the best
position for viewing since your head is above the roof. I pulled a
muscle the first day so spent most of my time in the front seat with
the driver. All of our drivers were excellent at spotting and identifying
both birds and animals at a distance and carry reference books on
both as well. There are snakes in Kenya - including both black and
green mambas, puff adders and the like and they are all poisonous
- but we did not see any. We ate our box lunches at a Masai road -
side curio shop and restaurant. This tribe are noted for their bead
work - head bands, collars, chokers and ear rings. Both men and women
wear them. Their poverty is evident - when only the young men go out
herding, the ones in the villages have a hard time earning enough
to live on from their crafts.
Evening was approaching and as we drove toward our destination the
snowy crown of Mount Kilimanjaro was sparkling in the late afternoon
sun as it sat on an ermine collar of white fluffy clouds resting on
the blue velvet cushion of the horizon. We arrived at Amboseli Park
Lodge just at dusk and as we drove up the driveway we saw a spotted
hyena slinking off and a saucy black - faced vervet monkey greeted
us from the middle of the road. As soon as we got out of our vehicles
we were handed a glass of orange juice and rushed out on to the patio
to see the elephant and water buck just departing from their evening
drink at the water hole below us.
Our first early morning safari was the next day but I decided to take
a breather and spend it by the pool catching up on my diary. The little
monkeys kept me company - but we were warned not to encourage them
and to always keep our unit doors shut because the little thieves
will steal - especially fruit. My room was African decor with a definite
Masai influence - head boards and valences made of small peeled poles,
lamp shades made of hollowed out small tree trunks and the walls decorated
with black murals of animals, birds and insects.
We set off at 3:30 that afternoon on the second game trip of the day
and were rewarded with the sight of many animals and birds. Amboseli
is a small park but has a high population of elephants and we saw
many of these magnificent animals. On the way back we came across
a group of hyena cubs playing outside their dens - with no parents
in sight. A big old warthog had a den practically in the middle of
them and when he arrived he made a great fuss digging dirt out of
his burrow and kicking it to one side. Approaching in the distance
were three other warthogs and we wondered what their intentions were
- but they kept their distance and the resident warthog eventually
crawled in his burrow and subsided. We were late for dinner but saw
a gorgeous sunset on the way back.
The next morning we were up early to leave for Lake Manyara after
the presentation. Tips are part of the tour expenses but Carol always
brings the staff at the lodges something extra. A Canadian poster,
a bag of sweets, some Frisbees - and we individually leave a note
of thanks in our room (the room maids do not get in on the tips) with
a small gift such as a pen, or a tee shirt - and a post card or two.
They love post cards of Canada and where you live. Almost anything
is a welcome gift because if it is not useful to them they take it
to the market place. On the way out we drove through a troop of golden
baboons doing what baboons do - climbing trees, grooming each other,
nursing their babies.
The rains had left the roads very muddy in spots and early on we were
held up by a tanker mired in a mudhole. A minivan had tried to pass
him and the two of them effectively blocked the road. Everyone piled
out but me and luckily a Land Rover came along and managed to haul
everyone out. I stayed put for ballast while our driver steered us
along the rim of the ditch to the other side. When we reached the
border at Namanga it was raining and we changed vehicles and drivers
(they are not allowed to cross borders). Our new drivers were Paul
and Godson (Godie) and we said goodbye to Sampson and Peter. I did
not find out what tribes our new drivers belong to - there are 120
different tribes in Tanzania. When we were introduced Godie put his
arm around me and said You are Bibi - Swahili term for respected grandmother.
The staff often called me Bibi or Mama. We stopped for lunch at the
Impala Hotel in the bustling city of Arusha and then on to Lake Manyara
Serena Lodge to spend the night. On our morning game run we got some
excellent photos of baboons, elephants, impala, zebra and some far
off ones of hippos and crocodiles.
After lunch we left for the Ngorongoro Crater .The crater is the jewel
of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, an area 3200 sq. miles in size.
It is designated as a pioneering land - use experiment - Wildlife,
People, Forestry, Archeology, Pre - History, Education and Tourism.
It abuts on the Serengeti National park. The crater itself is roughly
100 square miles and is referred to by some ecological historians
as One of the Wonders of the World. It is in a setting of mountains,
forests and plains and unequalled in the wealth of wildlife that inhabits
it. The animals have no need to migrate due to the abundance of food,
water and environmental riches that are available to them.
The Ngorongoro Lodge is perched on the rim of the crater - built basically
of basaltic rock caused by the cataclysm that produced the volcano
several million years ago. The volcano eventually collapsed inward
and became the crater. My room was along a long, dark corridor parts
of which were open to the outside. All of the lodges where we stayed
were different and interesting. This one had a shower that could have
accommodated about 6 people - should one be inclined to have a shower
with six people. The following day we spent in the crater which at
that time of the year was a carpet of yellow flowers. We saw many
animals, grazers mainly on the grass lands, but also bull elephants,
reed bucks, water bucks, rhino, hippos and the like on the swamp lands.
Predators are numerous in the crater also - including the beautiful
black maned lion, jackals and hyenas. Some animals are conspicuous
by their absence. Elephant herds will skirt the rim but will not come
into the crater although the bulls will. Topis, impala and giraffe
will not live there. The only explanation for this is that the food
is not suitable. Both Kenya and Tanzania are a birders paradise. The
crater hosts hundreds - both migratory and seasonal. Many water fowl
seek refuge here and there were hundreds of pink flamingos, pelicans,
avocets, herons, hornbills, bustards and many others.
The following
day after breakfast and the presentation we left for the Serengeti
National Park. On the way we stopped at a Masai village. The Masai
as afore mentioned have not changed a great deal in centuries. Cattle
are their wealth and livelihood. The mainstay of their diet is still
milk - and blood which they obtain by intravenous puncture from the
healthiest animals. They will eat some meat and latterly have begun
to add some greens to their diet. They still wear the toga like robes
they have worn for centuries called kangas - the men mostly in red
- and carry spears. These were the only men I saw in Africa with long
hair. Apparently, the men let their hair grow until they marry and
then it is cut. The village was a peeled pole stockade and the houses
were made of peeled poles patched with mud and roofed with reeds and
mud. We were invited inside one but it was so pitch black I could
discern nothing. Apparently there are two beds - one for the man and
one for the woman and children, and a kitchen. They put on a dance
for us which consisted mainly of the men jumping up and down as high
as they can. The women stand in the circle to give support.
They all wear elaborate bead chokers, collars, head bands and earrings.
The beads are strung on wire making them quite heavy - some of the
collars are over a foot in diameter. We also visited the kindergarten
- presided over by a male teacher. As you may have gathered a major
problem in Africa is getting the women educated. The four year olds
like all four year olds had an attention span of about three seconds,
and were too busy squirming, playing with anything within reach or
their fingers, to pay any attention to us whatsoever. But as soon
as the teacher asked them to sing the outpouring was phenomenal. One
little guy was sitting about 4 feet from me and he undoubtedly led
the class. He just opened his mouth and the sounds came - loud and
clear. I tried to take a picture of him but at the exact moment I
snapped he closed his mouth.
We also visited
the Olduvai Gorge taking in some natural history of the place believed
where man was born (quote from Carol’s brochure). Exploration
of the gorge started in 1911 when a German entomologist visited the
gorge and noted some fossil bones which he removed and took back to
Germany. They were identified as the fossil remains of a three - toed
horse long extinct. Serious exploration began in the thirties and
since then hominid footprints and fossils have been identified going
back over a million years - leading to the theory that this is where
the evolution of man began. Much still remains to be done in this
and other craters and gorges in this rich archeological area.
The Serengeti is a national park - very carefully guarded. It is a
rule that you do not get out of your vehicle on any safari unless
given permission but no one is allowed to walk (unless maybe the wardens
- I didn’t ask about that) in this park - not even the Masai.
We drove along the border and saw some forty thousand wildebeests
in migration. In spots they were silhouetted on the horizon as far
as the eye could see. Mixed with them were zebra, gazelles and some
buffalo. We saw many animals that day and I was fortunate to get a
really good look at a beautiful grey striped cat obviously on an evening
stalk just at dusk. I can’t be sure what it was - it does not
fit the description of any of the various species of cat listed in
my books.
The Serengeti Serena Lodge was a beautiful lodge - the rooms are built
on the traditional African village plan with separate rondavel huts
- only ours were luxurious inside. Mine looked over a sweeping vista
and had a small balcony for better viewing. A beautiful African wood
was used lavishly inside - for instance the door to the bathroom was
arched with a handle, carved on the ends about 30 inches tall and
the head boards were carved African free style.
This was our last stop and we were all hoping to see a leopard and
a cheetah which had so far eluded us. The early morning run was interesting
but - no leopards or cheetah. We came back to a breakfast at 10:30
- starting with champagne and orange juice. Then off again at 3:30
- we saw snorting hippos (in the water) and a tree loaded with white
egrets waiting for them to come out so they could get their pickins,
crocs in the distance, and many other animals and birds - but no leopards
or cheetah. The next day was Mothers Day and our last on safari. We
told the boys it was their last chance. Godie was the driver of our
Land Rover that day - it was an all-day drive - and we left about
8am. About 3/4 of an hour later Godie was talking to someone - presumably
Paul - on his CB. The drivers always talk in Swahili when they communicate.
Then he announced the lunches had been forgotten and we had to go
back to pick them up. We all groaned - an hour lost on this crucial
day. Someone suggested the lodge deliver them but Godie said there
was no one there to deliver - they were all out. He turned around
and drove at break- neck speed back the way we had come - and then
suddenly pulled up beside a number of other safari vans, gleefully
pointed to a tree and said there’s your lunch. It was a leopard
lying stretched out on a tree branch, tail hanging down. The boys
love to laugh and this was a great joke on us. The leopard was not
that close so doubtless one of the sharp eyed drivers must have spotted
it - but we all had a look through our binoculars. Later on that day
we saw two cheetahs lying waiting for a herd of impala to come a little
closer. However, it was a long wait so we didn’t see the cheetah
in action. They are the fasted animals on earth and have been clocked
running at 64mph. They are decreasing in numbers and this is a great
concern in Tanzania now. The infant mortality rate is very high. The
mother needs leave them alone to go hunting and lions and hyenas take
their toll. Also the cheetah does not have retractile feline claws
(I wonder why God did that) and often when they do bring down an impala
or other gazelle (they can’t handle anything much bigger) a
lion or even a hyena can easily rob them of their prey.
Our last night we celebrated with a gala dinner. We all dressed for
the occasion (as best we could) Carol was the MC and presented each
one of us with a prize (a little carved wooden animal) and we hung
a MISS TOURISM AFRICA banner on her and gave her a gift. The kitchen
staff brought in special little birthday cakes for the three that
had had birthdays during the safari and we all sang the Swahili song.
Then we adjourned to the poolside patio which was hung with lights
and balloons. Carol had arranged for drinks and African music and
the whole staff was invited to the party. The dancing began and even
I joined in. Not that I had much to say about it - Paul came along
and just picked me up and away we danced. The Africans are a delight
to watch - music and rhythm seems to be so much a part of them.
The next morning we were all a bit subdued. The boys joined us for
breakfast and Carol made her presentation to the staff. Carol always
has a tough time saying good-bye to her African family as she calls
them and Paul handed her a large table napkin to wipe away her tears.
We adjourned to the Seronera Airstrip about 11am where we said our
last good-byes. Carol was accompaning three of the group to Gombe
to see Jane Goodalls chimpanzees and the rest of us flew to Arusha.
Our drivers gave us all a big hug when we left. Those boys are great
huggers!. Then two more left for Zanzibar. We stayed the night at
the Impala Hotel and although there were sight seeing tours and a
game drive if we wished to go I spent a quiet day by the pool. There
was a huge plate of fruit and vegetables in my room including some
of their delicious little (about three to four inches long ) bananas
and a huge unidentifiable object. Was it vegetable or fruit? I finally
could resist no longer and cut it open. It turned out to be an avocado
- at least four times bigger than the ones I was accustomed to - and
it did not turn dark as quickly as most avocados do. We flew out of
Arusha about 9pm and after a brief stop in Dar Es Salaam (the capital
of Tanzania) to pick up passengers flew on to Amsterdam. Arrived in
Calgary at about 10pm the next night and then on to Kelowna and home
the next day.
I had dreamed of going to Africa for many years and my only regret
was that I waited so long. Carol was a consummate tour leader - no
detail was overlooked. Not being an experienced international air
traveler I was totally confused in the big airports and eternally
grateful that she was with me. My travelling companions were equally
helpful and wherever we stayed the staff were there at a moments notice
to lend a hand if I needed one. They must have all thought I was an
old lady or something.
SUMMARY
My overall impression of Africa is that it is a vast and beautiful
land. I realize I was in a preferred and artificial setting and therefore
may have a biased opinion but the trappings of civilization are not
what impressed me. I also know my window of experience is very narrow.
I was there in an area when it was the rainy season and everything
was lush and green. I was not there when it is the dry season when
the heat is intense and the dust storms blow; nor did I visit the
vast deserts or the craggy mountains that can be hit by fierce storms
or even blizzards at certain times of the year. I saw poverty but
not the extreme poverty in which so many Africans live nor did I see
that segment of the population ravaged by Aids and other wasting diseases.
Mainly what I wanted to see and experience for my introduction to
Africa was the wilderness and its inhabitants. What I saw was only
a fraction of what Africa has to offer - but it was enough to make
me realize what a treasure of riches Africa is. The Ngorongoro Conservation
Area alone with its craters, gorges, lakes, forests, savannas, and
swamps is only a microcosm. Much has been done there in the way of
exploration and archeological studies in the last seventy years and
yet there is so much more to be seen and learned. Learning the secrets
of Africa will take generations. Africa needs and deserves help especially
in the areas of health, disease control, sanitation and education.
Let us hope that the modern world in its efforts to focus on Africa
and render assistance do not despoil it.
Ferne Trout
June 27, 2002
Join Carol to visit Africa in May 2003. See
departures for details