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| OK this is the whale shark on the second pass when Mike got over run by fellow snorkelers. Photo taken by Lee, a fellow traveler. |
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| Mike at the Nile Special. Life is good. |
We are in Lalibela which deserves a proper entry all on its own. Cheers to all!
Monday 20 February 2012
some catch up photos
We are in Lalibela which deserves a proper entry all on its own. Cheers to all!
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Sawa Sawa ( Slowly Slowly)
We are writing this from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: which is long way from Kigali,where we wrote our last blog!!
It took us two days leaving Kigali to get to Jinja. While less hair raising from our first drive, the scenery remained remarkable: mountains, lush valleys and intricate switch backs.
Jinja is located where the White Nile exits Lake Victoria and Ugandins consider this the source of the Nile. Mike had an incredible two days kayaking the White Nile cataracts. Although the Nile doesn't have the canyon of the Zambezi, the rapids are huge. This adventure marked the end of Mike's wild beard and it was trimmed in celebration of this dream come true.
As for Jane, after a cruise on Lake Victoria she and a traveling friend headed to the local taxi park to catch a matata to Embale. These are minibuses that sit until more than filled and then set off for their destination. Following this was another hour to Baduda where Barbara Wybar runs a vocational school and orphan's program. The afternoon was spent visiting the school, families and village. Three American interns are helping for stages of 3 to 6 months. A long hike back through the dirt roads and banana fields brought us back to Barbara's guest house. A great experience. The following morning we caught up with the truck at the Uganda/Kenya border crossing.
Another two days and we arrived at Nakuru National Park where we opted for a game drive. Our group surprised us as we have had many game drives...but we all signed up again. Nakuru is famous for flamingos but there were few as the lake is still too high. In fact it appeared the highlight was to coffee ans desert at the fancy lodge which always welcomes us scruffy as we are. But never judge a game drive by the morning. That afternoon we saw a total of 16 rhinos, including one that appeared to consider ramming our 4 by 4 before opting to amble across our path.
That was the less seen black rhino who browses on bushes and small trees, is sway backed,narrow mouthed and rather ill tempered. We also saw plenty of white rhinos who graze on grass, are wide mouthed, more mellow and are not as big. Leaving the park we came across a lion kill only a few meters off the road but very easy to miss. Relaxing there were two wonderful male lions ...all in all a spectacular day.
It was short drive to Samburu National Park but this time it was less exciting. We did see a are breed of zebra and the "articulating" giraffe.
Our next drive was one of a knd. The road from Samburu north to Marsibit is so bad it is hard to describe ( even Mike is at a loss for words). For long stretches it was better to drive off the road into the scrub land. We climbed and passed the rim of a spectacular volcano complete with a small lake.We bush camped on what looked like a moonscape.
The stretch north of Marsibit was somewhat better but still challenging. Jane, and two others were lucky enough to spot a cheetah; the rest seemed to be shaken into a stupor. Once across the Ethiopian Border we were surprised to find paved roads; very narrow but paved. The pounding the truck had taken led to a breakdown which pretty much cost us a day and required an unplanned bush camp. The breakdown was near the ruins of an Italian fort guarding the southern approach of Ethiopia.
Finally we reached Konso and stayed at "Strawberry Fields", a training centre for sustainable living/farming as well as a camp. Hidden in the hills above Konso is an extraordinary tribal village. It has three sets of walls, each added as the village grew and a maze of narrow allies passing family compounds and looking over the valley below. It is like stepping through the looking glass.
Next stop was Lake Abaya known for the US drone base there. A very long day has brought us to Addis Ababa, an undeveloped sprawling city of four million.We are learning to cope.
Happy Birthday Marion!!
It took us two days leaving Kigali to get to Jinja. While less hair raising from our first drive, the scenery remained remarkable: mountains, lush valleys and intricate switch backs.
Jinja is located where the White Nile exits Lake Victoria and Ugandins consider this the source of the Nile. Mike had an incredible two days kayaking the White Nile cataracts. Although the Nile doesn't have the canyon of the Zambezi, the rapids are huge. This adventure marked the end of Mike's wild beard and it was trimmed in celebration of this dream come true.
As for Jane, after a cruise on Lake Victoria she and a traveling friend headed to the local taxi park to catch a matata to Embale. These are minibuses that sit until more than filled and then set off for their destination. Following this was another hour to Baduda where Barbara Wybar runs a vocational school and orphan's program. The afternoon was spent visiting the school, families and village. Three American interns are helping for stages of 3 to 6 months. A long hike back through the dirt roads and banana fields brought us back to Barbara's guest house. A great experience. The following morning we caught up with the truck at the Uganda/Kenya border crossing.
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| Barbara walking the hills on her way home from school. |
Another two days and we arrived at Nakuru National Park where we opted for a game drive. Our group surprised us as we have had many game drives...but we all signed up again. Nakuru is famous for flamingos but there were few as the lake is still too high. In fact it appeared the highlight was to coffee ans desert at the fancy lodge which always welcomes us scruffy as we are. But never judge a game drive by the morning. That afternoon we saw a total of 16 rhinos, including one that appeared to consider ramming our 4 by 4 before opting to amble across our path.
That was the less seen black rhino who browses on bushes and small trees, is sway backed,narrow mouthed and rather ill tempered. We also saw plenty of white rhinos who graze on grass, are wide mouthed, more mellow and are not as big. Leaving the park we came across a lion kill only a few meters off the road but very easy to miss. Relaxing there were two wonderful male lions ...all in all a spectacular day.
It was short drive to Samburu National Park but this time it was less exciting. We did see a are breed of zebra and the "articulating" giraffe.
Our next drive was one of a knd. The road from Samburu north to Marsibit is so bad it is hard to describe ( even Mike is at a loss for words). For long stretches it was better to drive off the road into the scrub land. We climbed and passed the rim of a spectacular volcano complete with a small lake.We bush camped on what looked like a moonscape.
The stretch north of Marsibit was somewhat better but still challenging. Jane, and two others were lucky enough to spot a cheetah; the rest seemed to be shaken into a stupor. Once across the Ethiopian Border we were surprised to find paved roads; very narrow but paved. The pounding the truck had taken led to a breakdown which pretty much cost us a day and required an unplanned bush camp. The breakdown was near the ruins of an Italian fort guarding the southern approach of Ethiopia.
Finally we reached Konso and stayed at "Strawberry Fields", a training centre for sustainable living/farming as well as a camp. Hidden in the hills above Konso is an extraordinary tribal village. It has three sets of walls, each added as the village grew and a maze of narrow allies passing family compounds and looking over the valley below. It is like stepping through the looking glass.
Next stop was Lake Abaya known for the US drone base there. A very long day has brought us to Addis Ababa, an undeveloped sprawling city of four million.We are learning to cope.
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| We are doing well . . . but may not be in touch for a while as we head north. |
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