footloose ferrett

The itinerary: Nairobi - Masai Mara - Nairobi - Arusha (Tanzania) - Dar Es Salaam - Zanzibar - Dar Es Salaam

Highlights: wildlife and big cats in the Masai Mara; visit to a Masai village; volunteering at a local education centre; historical Stone Town

Lowlights: long,bumpy drives; food poisoning in Zanzibar; being isolated in campsites away from the real Africa.

Enjoyable for: wildlife lovers; history buffs (Stone Town) and beach bums

Challenging for: people who get travel sick; those who don't enjoy camping and / or group travel

Welcome to Africa! After a much needed night’s sleep in Nairobi, Rhino and I set off on our six-week organised camping adventure through Eastern and Southern Africa or should I call it a six week mental and physical endurance test? Accustomed to personal space, freedom and sense of spontaneous adventure, we were ushered, herded and cajoled through the first two of eight African countries via tourist-orientated campsites, ‘organised’ group activities and scheduled toilet breaks.

Our first stop in Africa was the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. After a horrifically bumpy and bone-shattering 12 hours journey from Nairobi, we arrived long after dark at a campsite just outside the park where you could hear the hyenas’ wails at night. We awoke bright and early at 6am the following morning for a full-day game drive and what a game drive! Well worth the future chiropractor fees to re-set our spines after the previous day’s journey! Over the vast green, hilly expanse that is the Mara, we encountered and observed a plethora of native game, some far in the distance but some remarkably bold like a cheetah who walked its lone cub (the sole survivor of a larger litter) safely past our vehicle. In one day alone we watched giraffes graze, zebras play, a leopard lounging high in the branches, proud prides of lions, grumpy buffalo, herds of humongous elephants as well as innumerable wildebeest, antelopes, warthogs, ostriches, and guinea fowl...

Before leaving the Masai Mara, we paid a visit to a Masai village to see the human side of the landscape. Guided around the villages by the son of a chief we were shown a traditional ‘jumping’ dance, welcomed into one of the locals’ homes and of course, shown the ‘tourist’ market where you could buy enough bracelets and bangles to cover both arms to the elbow. We were proudly shown the lion skin that the chief’s son had caught to end his five-year soiree into the bush to prove himself as a warrior and to claim the first of his wives following his public circumcision at fifteen. After returning with the skin of a lion, the men can take as many wives as they have cows for a dowry (!) and once married, their new wife will build them a new house out of cow dung. These small dark and electricity-less huts are home to several adults, children, dogs and young vulnerable animals. Fully-grown goats and cows are kept in a muddy field at the centre of the village at night and guarded by insomniac warriors to protect them from lion attacks.

Returning to Nairobi, we continued with our heavily timetabled and sanitized version of the capital city whose suburbs were currently on the FCO’s blacklist due to political instabilities and fear of attacks from Somalian rebels. So we were allowed only to visit Western-style shopping malls and take a short walk through the flower-bedded university area. Within twenty-four hours, we were back on the truck heading towards Tanzania.

One of the features of organised overland truck tours is that you stay in campsites and lodges outside towns and cities and whilst you avoid the pollution, crowds and grimness of the cities you only really get to experience urban life through the truck windows. Instead you stay in mainly isolated locations perhaps with a village nearby. Rhino and I for various personal reasons decided not to go with the rest of our tour group to the Serengeti and instead had a few peaceful days of rest and relaxation at Snake Park camp, just outside Arusha. For three blissful days away from the group and organisation, we milled around playing cards, chatting to locals and visited the local Masai cattle market. But the highlights of the stay were the two mornings that we spent volunteering at a local education centre. Set up by a British graduate, the centre runs adult education classes, an after-school club for children and a kindergarten (see www.livlife.org). Unfortunately, it was enrolment time whilst we were there so I couldn’t help out with the teaching but Rhino and I bravely tried to mend some of their broken 1990s computers and set up a system to help them with future maintenance. It was inspirational to see how such a small institution set up with so little could help so many local people learn valuable skills. If you find any spare computer mice and keyboards in the depths of your cupboards – seriously think about donating them to an organisation in Africa.

Passing through Dar Es Salaam, we briefly we stayed the night (unsurprisingly) at a campsite out of town by the Indian Ocean before venturing over to Zanzibar via a variety of modes of transport. Zanzibar conjures up images of Arabian legends, white sand beaches and men in fez hats selling exotic spices and in this way it doesn’t fail to impress. In fact you feel more like you’re in North Africa then off the coast of Tanzania. Stone Town (the main colonial area) is in a quaint maze of narrow alleyways, elegant colonial buildings and Sultans’ palaces. It’s pretty shabby around the edges and some areas are unsafe after dark but there’s a certain Arabian charm about the place. Zanzibar was only united with Tanganyika (the mainland) to form Tanzania in the late twentieth century and a lot of the country’s former wealth was built out of the Arabian-Swahili slave trade (not something we’re taught about in schools!) and before a violent and extremely bloody revolution late last century a lot of the population were of Arabic origin. We visited the National Museum housed in the impressive and enchanting House of Wonders which gives a basic overview of the history and culture and great views from the balcony.

Whilst we found the history fascinating I’m sure that a lot of other tourists prefer the beaches and yep, they’re pretty cool indeed with white sand and crystal clear water if that’s your thing. I spent a few days in paradise mixed with unfortunate food poisoning whilst Rhino got to enjoy the white sands more than I did. He did much of this at night-time (full-moon parties anyone?) with the rest of the group proving that there are some advantages to group tours in that you always have a willing few to party the night away with.