We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do some traveling
around East Africa over the Christmas holidays. Since arriving on the continent,
we have been itching for the chance to put our tourist caps on and to explore
and experience Africa from a traveler’s point of view. We are happy to report
that Africa did not disappoint! For those of you that are curious as to what
Africa is like, please enjoy following our recent travels below. Hopefully it
inspires you to come see for yourself how beautiful this continent (or at least
parts of it) truly is (… and come visit us, of course!).
First Stop – Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania
As mentioned before, Dar es Salaam was more of a transit
destination, as opposed to a destination by choice. Due to our ghetto train
arriving 9.5 hours late at 12:30 am, we only had one full day to spend in Dar
es Salaam, which was more than enough. Despite it being a very large city,
there’s not a whole lot to do there. We spent the day walking around Oyster
Bay, the northern peninsula of Dar es Salaam (and most touristy destination)
while sweating like fat messes.
Oyster Bay
Riding in a "Tuk Tuk" in Oyster Bay (basically, a motorized rickshaw)
Oyster Bay - Beautiful sunset!
Second Stop -
Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa was HOT and HUMID. The caps is necessary to
emphasize just how hot and humid it was. In fact, after our first sponsor child
visit, Byron came down with a serious fever due to the heat and the lack of
water he drank that day. He, of course, eventually passed the fever on to Diane
right before we left for Canada. Great times on the flight!
We were warned that Mombasa might be a dangerous place to
be. Apparently, there has been a conflict between Mombasa and Somalia that has
resulted in several random bombings in busy parts of Mombasa. Luckily for us,
the city appeared very safe during our time there. Cars are subject to
inspection and individuals are subject to metal detectors upon entering any establishment.
The highlight of our tourist time in Mombasa was probably Haller Park, an animal
reserve located within the city. Here, we got to feed giraffes, see and touch a
120-year old giant tortoise and watch a hippo and crocodile feeding. Although
not in the wild, it was pretty cool seeing all these animals up close and
learning more about them.
Mombasa - Feeding a giraffe
Mombasa - 120 year old tortoise
Mombasa - Hippos coming out of the water for their daily feeding
Mombasa - Crocodile feeding. The guy looking straight up was the biggest croc we'd ever seen!
We made friends with our driver, Johnny, from the Compassion
visits and he was kind enough to be our guide through Old Town, in the heart of
Mombasa. It’s a good thing we had him with us because we would have had no idea
where to go and it kept the rest of the locals off our back!
White washed buildings in Old Town
A traditional Kenyan meal!
In Old Town in front of Fort Jesus
A view of the harbour in Old Town
Third Stop – Nairobi,
Kenya
After coming back from our surprise trip to Canada, we spent 6
nights in Nairobi, where we met up with our friend, Jackie, a fellow volunteer
with Hands. Lucky for us, Jackie is a local Kenyan and she, together with her
good friend, Calvin, pretty much served as our Kenyan hosts the entire time we
were there. We were taken care of extremely well!
The main highlight of our time in Nairobi was visiting the
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an orphanage for elephants and rhinos! They
brought out the elephants in two groups for feedings (they fed the elephants
giant bottles of milk for the giant babies they are): (a) those between 3
months and 3 years; and (b) those between 4 and 6 years. Each elephant was
introduced by name and his/her story was told about he/she was rescued from the
wild.
Nairobi - Us with Jackie at the elephant orphanage
Nairobi - This baby elephant with the red blanket was our favorite!
Nairobi - Rescued black rhino
Nairobi - More giraffe feeding!
Highlights of other parts of our trip are shown in the
pictures below. One interesting part of our tour through Nairobi was driving
through Kibera, the largest slum in all of Africa. Unfortunately, out of
respect for the community, we didn’t take any pictures during our
drive-through.
Nairobi - The Karen Blixen Museum (author of the famous book-turned-movie, "Out of Africa")
Nairobi - View of Rift Valley
Nairobi - Crossing the equator on our drive to Lake Bogoria
Lake Bogoria (a national park that we drove 6 hours to get to ... specifically to see hundreds of thousands of flamingos)
Hot springs at Lake Bogoria that we boiled some eggs in!
The famed Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi (similar to a Brazilian steak house where meat comes non-stop on giant skewers)
Ox testicles, anyone?!
Of course, we got our fix of dirty fried chicken from Chicken Inn - it was no KFC but it'll do, pig
Fourth Stop – Arusha,
Tanzania
We decided to visit Arusha for the sole purpose of visiting
our friend, Terry, a pilot who has been living in Africa for the last few
years. Unfortunately for us (but good for Terry!), he up and got a new job while
we were in Canada and was actually in Canada during the time we had planned to
go to Arusha. Despite this, Terry insisted that we come to Arusha, stay at his
place, hang out with his friends, and then head to the Ngorongoro Crater from
there (which is a couple hours away from Arusha). Terry’s friends, all pilots
themselves, were an amazing group of people and made us feel so at home during
our one night in Arusha.
Terry's crew in Arusha!
Flying to our safari the next day
Fifth Stop – The
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Probably the most beautiful and scenic stop on our journey
(and possibly of our lives), we traveled by plane to Lake Manyara and, from
there, drove an hour and a half to a place called the Ngorongoro Crater. As a belated wedding present, Terry made all
the arrangements for our time in Ngorongoro and hooked us up with an
unbelievable deal using his pilot connections. Thank you, Terry! We were at
Ngorongoro for two days, spending one day of safari in the crater itself and another
day of safari in the Serengeti Desert. Consider this our African honeymoon!
The view from our lodge at Ngorongoro
The Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater safari - Zebra with a Masai village in the background
Ngorongoro Crater safari - Spotted Hyena
Ngorongoro Crater safari - Lionness showing her fierce jibs
Ngorongoro Crater safari - Uncle Scar giving us the staredown
Ngorongoro Crater safari - A view from inside the Crater
Serengeti Desert safari - Giraffes showing some love
Serengeti Desert safari - Migration of wildebeest
Serengeti Desert safari - Lionness (from a pride of 15) posing for the camera
Serengeti Desert safari - Cheetahs on the hunt! (Unfortunately, we didn't see the kill)
Last Stop – Zanzibar,
Tanzania
After much sightseeing and safari-ing, what better way to
end our vacation than relaxing on the beach for 5 days in Zanzibar! We spent two nights on the east coast in Jambiani, two nights on the north coast in Nungwi and
then the last night in Stone Town. The beach in Jambiani wasn’t great – during
low tide, the sand was covered by seaweed and exposed rock. The beach in Nungwi
was better, but not by a whole lot. We were actually quite surprised at this
because we had heard that Zanzibar has some of the nicest beaches in the world.
The interesting thing is that it’s not your typical beach island. People don’t
actually chill and lie on the beach. Rather, they lounge by the pools or the
small, elevated private beaches of their hotels/resorts that look out on to the
beach. It seemed like the actual beach was more for locals to walk and for
fishermen to do their thang. Having said that, as we walked from the northeast
coast of Nungwi to the northwest coast of Kendwa (a walk that took about 2
hours), we began to see much nicer beach with softer sand (the west coast isn’t
subject to high and low tide). But, regardless of where you were on the island,
one thing we definitely appreciated was the warm, turquoise blue water of the
Indian Ocean. It was like looking at a postcard!
Jambiani, Zanzibar - In front of our guesthouse
Jambiani, Zanzibar - Where the water be at?
Jambiani, Zanzibar - Swimming (or hovering over for 2 seconds) with the dolphins
Jambiani, Zanzibar - Red Colobus Monkey (only found in Zanzibar)
Jambiani, Zanzibar - Catch of the day - Octopus! (We witnessed the kill while snorkelling!)
Nungwi, Zanzibar - Masai security guard doing a serious man pose
Nungwi, Zanzibar - Our attempt at replicating a Peter Lik photo
Nungwi, Zanzibar - View of the Indian Ocean from our room
Nungwi, Zanzibar - Turquoise blue water along Kendwa Beach
Our time in Stone Town was quite interesting. We did a spice
tour on a spice farm 30 minutes outside of Stone Town and then spent some time
doing a tour through Stone Town. Food stalls, including a night food market,
shops, restaurants and cafes were abundant here.
Stone Town, Zanzibar - Diane getting blinged out during the Spice Tour
Stone Town, Zanzibar - Inside a chamber of the former Slave Market
Stone Town, Zanzibar - Night food market!
Stone Town, Zanzibar - Seafood on a stick
The streets of Stone Town
Stone Town, Zanzibar - The local fish market
After all our traveling, we have a deep sense of
gratitude for the opportunity to be able to go and experience all these great
places and are left with a sense of awe for how beautiful God made this
continent! We are now back in our home in Kitwe, Zambia, settling back into
“normal” life and work as volunteers. Oh, how we’ll miss comfy beds and showers
and the wonderful coffee of Tanzania and Kenya! We’re excited for what lies
ahead in 2013 and will be sure to keep you posted! Now if only we could find
our house and car keys (we wish we were joking …)
