1 April - Gorillas in the Mist!!!

1 April

Bwindi National Park

Steph:

Oh my goodness. Today was amazing. We had to get up really early to catch a ride up the mountain to the national park. It was breathtaking. The mountains were covered in mist and we drove alongside the cliffs for a good hour. At one point the road was blocked by a tree and our driver, Mike, grabs a machete, gets out and hacks the crap out of that tree. A few more men went to help and within 5 minutes, the road was clear. It was incredible. A whole tree out of the way in 5 minutes.

So here's how it works. There are currently two gorilla families that have been acclimated to humans. They are allowed 8 visitors per day for exactly one hour. You begin the day treking up the mountain chasing them around. Sometimes it takes groups 6 hours to find the gorillas, other times they're super close to camp and it only takes 30 minutes. Once we get to the gorillas, we have an hour to hang out with them and take pictures. The rule is that we can't get closer than 7M to them, but the gorillas don't know that so the chance of us getting closer is pretty good.

We walked around for exactly 20 minutes before our guide told us we could get off the dirt road and go into the jungle. Literally through the jungle. It was awesome. And there they were! This family has 12 members and three of them are silver backs. There was one little baby and a few 5 yr olds.

The hour went by much too quickly but it was great and we were all extremely excited.

Enjoy the pics :)

The Impenetrable Forest

Evil Safari Ants. They're horrible. They bite and don't let go until you rip their heads off.
Really.

AHHHHHHHHH! Right before he farted. 

Right in front of us!!!

31 March - Kabale

31 March

Equator – Kabale

Steph:

It's Easter!

Another driving day. They're quiet days. A lot of people sleep or read or wave at kids as we go by. We stop every once in a while to take pictures, have lunch or go to the market. The roads have been pretty bad but only because they're re-doing it all. Toward the end of the day the roads were in great condition but our forward movement was pretty slow.

We arrived in Kabale in the afternoon. This town is just at the border with Rwanda and is actually where most of the press hung out during the genocide. It's interesting to drive into a place that I've been reading about in the book.

The camp we're staying in is a hotel as well and has a gym. The music is ridiculously loud. So loud that we can't hear ourselves think outside in the patio. Haha! Africans really like their loud music. I don't know how they're not deaf yet. Pip and I made a delicous Easter roast. We bought a whole lot of beef and it turned out delicious. Beef, roast potatoes, rice, mushrooms, veggies, etc. It was huge and awesome. Will's been feeling ill since his booze cruise and this made him feel much better :) I'm taking credit for it.

Everyone is super excited for the Gorillas tomorrow!!

Oh! And we also got to design some Tshirts. The whole group wheighed in and they're going to be great!

30 March - The Equator

30 March

Jinja – Equator

Steph:

The whole truck spent pretty much all day sleeping and hung over. The ride was pretty uneventful. We had a delicious tomato, avocado, boiled egg sandwhich lunch at a random gas station. It was messy but yummy.

We stopped at the equator for the night. It's Erik's fourth time and my first time. I guess crossing it while you're on a plane doesn't count. After taking some photos we had dinner and went to bed. This place is an art shop and a cafe. All of their proceeds go directly to AIDS orphans in the area. We camped in their backyard. Simple enough.

Oh! I did start reading a new book today. Ishi lent me "Shake Hands with the Devil". It's about the Rwanda Genocide from the point of view of the UN Commander. We'll be in Rwanda in a few days and I'd like to have it read by then. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know very much about this subject. It's shocking to know that it happened less than 20 years ago and that we don't hear about it except for Hotel Rwanda.

Erik and I will taking turns reading it. Tomorrow is his turn.

rough ride :)

Our captain

Woo!

28 - 29 March - The source of the Nile

28 March

Jinja

Steph:

Lazy day. Everyone (except Mark, Ish and Dave) went to raft the Nile, so we relaxed. I spent most of the day on the internet doing nothing. I did talk to my mami and Sam, which was really nice. Erik is starting to feel kind of crappy again. It sounds like a cold this time. Hopefully it will go away. Ish and Mark spent most of the day feathering and cleaning the chickens. By the time the others got back, dinner was ready. Again, delicious.

We did have Chipatas for lunch. There's a stand right outside the gate, run by a 16 year old and his older brother. They make delicious chipatas and fill them with potatoes, chicken, eggs, avocados, etc. They also make sweet ones with Nutella and bananas. Very yummy.

-------------------------------------------------

29 March

Jinja

Steph:

Another day just to chill. We slept in, I did laundry with Pip, Erik was on the computer, the boys threw their rugby ball around. It was nice. We went swimming in the Nile, which is cool to say. Rory and Will rented a kayak and the boys flipped it so many times that it started sinking. We jumped off the dock. I dived in and realized how old and fragile I am. Haha. As I hit the water, I moved my arms to avoid bumping into someone and screwed up my neck and shoulder. Again. The same thing I did in the airport flying into Jo-burg. I swam it off a little and felt slightly better.

At 5pm, the whole group went on a booze cruise. We stayed because Erik cannot get sick. They won't let him see the gorillas if he's sick. So we hung out while the whole group got completely shnaukered (spelling?). They came back and it was like a circus. Haha. Super fun to watch. Pippa kept sliding underneath the table and would have no idea how she got there, Rory swallowed a piece of glass and insisted on having more beer to wash it down, Ishi broke her sacred Iphone, Mark was loving on everyone. It was really funny. While they were gone, Erik and I switched everyones tent flies to face a different direction. When they tried to get into their tents they weren't able to find the zipper. It was hilarous.

Good night.

The Nile!!

27 March - Uganda!

27 March

Nakuru - Jinja, Uganda

Erik:

The border was very easy. The conversations were great on the back of the truck. We passed a lot of smiling and waving kids. Ugandans are very nice and very friendly so far.

We went to the market for cook groups 2 (Rory & I) and 3 (Dan & Mark) to stock up for their dinner nights. Ishi gives each group a budget and they have to get the most they can at the markets. We got 5kg of veggies and 1kg of meat for under $8usd. Group 3 got 3 live chickens for 25,000USh (~$10) and a 1,000USh execution fee. Pretty great.

The market was great fun.

Steph:

Getting into Uganda was exciting. The whole landscape and feel changed almost immediately. The landscape switched from Savannah type brush to lush, green and more banana fields. Kenya is so developed. I felt like every single patch of land was being used up for something. Here in Uganda it's back to beautiful mud huts and farming only one farm inland from the road. It has a bit of a Malawi feel. I love it. People are dressed more traditionally rather than the modern, city styles I saw a lot in Kenya. It's bright green rice patties and banana trees all over the place.

The market we stopped in was great. It was fun watching everyone try to haggle, since it was a lot of people's first time. I was sent off to find eggs and found a stand with a nice younger kid manning it. I needed a lot of eggs and bought out his whole inventory. Naturally, I asked for a discount because I was buying so much. He laughed and laughed with his buddy but I kept smiling and insisting, "yeah, a discount". He finally said, "ok, discount. Wait here." and he ran off. I thought, oh no, this guy doesn't know what it means and now I have to wait. So I stood there awkwardly. He came running back with one egg in his hand, put it in my bag, smiled at me and said, "discount, thank you." It was cute.

We arrived at the Nile River Explorers Camp around 8 and set up our tents while Rory and Erik made a delicious potato and beef dinner. It rocked. Again, this group is really fun. It's going to be a great little trip.

Last bit of Kenya

Dave :)

Back of the truck

26 March - Nakuru Lake National Park

26 March

Nakuru Lake National Park

Erik:

Absolutely a GREAT day. The company made it great, as well as all the animals we saw. The black rhino was 20M from the car and stayed near us for 20 min. The Lions were sleeping in the trees. We saw LIONS! Woohooo!

Ready for some fluffies :)

Guinea Fowl. The worst thing to have in a camp ground or while bush camping. The sound they make makes me want to punch everything.  :)

24 - 25 March - Overlanding!

24 March

Karen Camp

Erik:

We met up with Ishi and Dave again last night at Karen Camp. It's good to see them again.

We packed up our bikes today and met some of the people going with us on the truck. Rory, Dan and Will are buddies from the UK. They just climbed Mt Kenya and seem really cool. Pippa, also from the UK, has been working in Tanzania at a Safari camp for the past 9 months. She's sweet.

We drank too much getting to know each other and playing Kings. I vomitted a bit and had a terrible but great night.

--------------------------------------------------------------

25 March

Nairobi – Kembo Camp

Erik:

Dan and Mark joined us. We are 8 people in total in the back of the truck and everyone gets on really well. The dirve was nice. We got to stop on a mountain overlooking the zgreat Rift Valley. It's beautiful. At the camp we went to see a local knitting group and got a present for Vitor. These women do everything from shearing the sheep, to dying the wool, to sewing everything together.

We also went Chameleon Hunting at night. That was cool. At night, they're just grey and hang out in the bushes.

Oh yeah! We also got some goat meat for lunch, Surprisingly good meat.  

:)

The Great Rift Valley

Our awesome group :)
Dan, Will, Pippa, Ginger Dan, Mark, Rory, Steph & Erik

23 March - DSWT + Giraffe Center

23 March

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

Steph:

Erik made friends with a cab driver yesterday named David. He agreed to drive us around all day. It wasn't cheap, but definitely worth it. We checked out of the YMCA, which ended up being a really well run hostel, and headed to DSWT. I was slightly emotional since our main goal these past 7 months has been to get here. It hasn't really sunk in that we're in Nairobi. Maybe it's because we're here sooner than I thought we would be. Who knows. We walked into the place along with a lot of other visitors, paid our entrance fee and went to stand around an enclosure that leads to the forest. As soon as I saw the first baby I almost started crying. Haha, that's so silly. A few minutes later, one of the keepers grabbed a microphone and started telling us about the trust and the work they do. Then, our of the forest, came a group of keepers with a very nice, single file line of babies. Oh my goodness. They all came running down the hill for their lunch bottles of milk. From far away they all look the same, but the longer you watch them the more you can see their individual little personalities. It's awesom. Some are timid and polite, others are playful and goofy and others are little bullies. After they were all introduced and had eaten, they walked back out into the bush and the bigger ones came jogging down the hill. These guys are bigger (2-3 yrs old) and less clumsy but just as funny. Most of them were orphaned by poachers and it's heartbreaking and wonderful to hear how they came into the keepers' care and how they've slowly adapted and adjusted from the trauma they suffered.

After an hour, it was time for us to go, but I was excited about coming back in the afternoon for a more personal experience with them. David drove us to the Giraffe Center, not too far away. Our overland trip includes a day here so we thought we'd do it early, while we're already here. It was great. It's a rehab / breeding center for reticulated and Rothschild giraffes. They're beautiful. We spent the whole afternoon there, feeding them and getting kisses. It was fun.

At 5pm we were back at DSWT. From 5-6 only the foster parents come to see their babies. We waited for them as they came back to their enclosures for dinner and bed. This time we got to get close and meet them individually. It was awesome to touch them and talk to the keepers. Balguda is a shy little one when it comes to humans but apparently he's quite the bully with the other babies. It's funny.

The whole thing was wonderful. It was a really great experience. We told the head guy that we had ridden from cape town to raise money for these guys, but he had no clue what we were talking about. It's all good though. He's clearly busy running things here :)

Erik:

Today was fantastic. I really didn't want to go. It made me very happy that there are people to do this work.  

We made it

Here they come! Lunch!

Look at this face!

Cuddles

They get milk until they're about 5yrs old

:)

Giraffe Center

They're so pretty

yay!

Back to DSWT. Balguda :)

Food!