Africa - Kenya, Tanzania & Malawi, August 2013

 

The mission

December 2012 at home on the farm; I bounced into the kitchen with a twinkle in my eyes. I broke the news enthusiastically to Mum in the usual way - "I booked some flights!", making her wonder where on earth David is going now! Earning a healthy tax free income in the UAE and 8 weeks of school summer holidays provided the opportunity for a 30th birthday present to myself like no other. At the time still considering myself 'young, free and single', I happily splurged a substantial sum on flights into Kenya and out of Zambia, a 4 day safari to Masai Mara National Park, and a 21 day Oasis overland adventure through Tanzania and Malawi!

Safari snapping

The day after arriving in Nairobi, I was happily gazing out the truck window at the vast Rift Valley on the way to Masai Mara. By perfect fluke my visit coincided with the great wildebeest migration, meaning the park was teaming with life. We had awesome sightings of lions, cheetahs, elephants, 31 giraffes, hippos and a leopard. But the crowning moment was seeing the famous river crossing of hundreds of wildebeests and zebras. We couldn't believe our eyes when a huge 3 metre crocodile slunk into the water and inched upstream towards the mass of nervous animals. The current forced one unfortunate beast directly into the croc's path and BANG, there was an almighty wail! The wildebeest, which was metres from safety, made a valiant bid to escape the clutches of the croc, but ultimately succumbed to this ancient predator and drowned. Nature in full glory!

Truck life

Our big yellow Oasis truck called 'Bulldog' was lovingly looked after by American driver Dave. Tour guide Ishi from the Outer Hebrides and trainee Kiwi Kim kept order amongst the 22 younger travellers from Ireland, the UK, Oz, NZ and Canada. One long drive day lasted 13 hours and left at 5am! The smart truck design included seats along each side facing one another to promote socialising, open sides with roll up windows, and a raised area at the front with an open roof called the beach! For security reasons, if we wanted to put money in the truck safe, we'd communicate to the key holders that we'd like to put ‘cheese’ in the ‘fridge’! The hours would pass quickly admiring Africa's beautiful landscape and exchanging waves and "JAMBO!" greetings with enthusiastic local children.

Camp flapping

Upon arrival at our campsites it was all hands on deck pitching tents, preparing dinner if it was our turn, and washing up. This factory-like operation involved 4 basins with different levels of scrubbing and dunking, followed by mad flapping in various personalised styles to hygienically dry everything! Before camping INSIDE the mighty Serengeti National Park we were warned not to take any food into our tents, to avoid any surprise awakenings during the night. We were told the story of one silly man who used a chunk of raw meat on the end of some string to attract a wild beast. As he wound in the meat, a hyena close, he snapped his prize photo, but lost his hand in the process!!

No dramas

Keeping out of trouble whilst travelling combines a healthy dose of common sense and a bit of luck, not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thankfully I missed the devastating Nairobi airport fire by a couple of weeks, and left Stone Town for Zanzibar's beaches half a day before the acid attack on the two British teenagers. I was happily tucked up in bed hours before our group's drunken shenanigans led to an unfortunate Aussie lass dislocating her ankle during a late night splash in the hotel swimming pool! I managed to keep my sensible head on a couple of nights later during my wilder than usual birthday celebrations!

The big 3-0

The timing could not have been more perfect for a location to turn 30. I quickly realised why so many people rave about Zanzibar - the Spice Island, with its stunning palm tree rimmed white sand beaches. An offer of a trip swimming with dolphins was a superbly unique experience for my birthday. After a long choppy ride to locate these friendly creatures, our boatman's tactic was to position us in their path and shout "GO, GO, GO!" With snorkel and flippers on in readiness we took the plunge into the depths in the hope of intercepting them. The first time, I saw one underwater, but the second time round I got lucky and spent a magical minute following about a dozen dolphins on my own, before returning to the boat - AMAZING! Later I fed turtles at a conservation sanctuary, swam in the sea at sunset, and went out for a group meal during which I was presented with a big cake with candles! A day to remember for sure!

Memorable Malawi

The final country on my Oasis tour was one of the poorest on the continent, but it felt safest and was  incredibly friendly. We spent 5 glorious days at a couple of gorgeous spots on the sandy shores of Lake Malawi. During this time I did a 20 mile hike into the hills and to an impressive waterfall; I swam a mile to an island where I plucked up the courage to launch myself off a 10 metre high rock into the lake; I played beach volleyball with my Oasis truck mates, defeating a rival truck team; I played in a football match where the Mzungos (whites) took on the local youngsters; and shockingly for some I watched a pig get slaughtered, gutted, prepared and roasted, before enjoying the end result in a massive truck feast, which was an education in where our food comes from! All in all, Malawi was a wonderful end to a brilliant African adventure.