My first experience with bush camping has been great. There is a style of travel in Africa called overland exploring. It's inexpensive and requires that you help out with the basic cooking, cleaning and maintenance. When we get to the camp site, everyone gets out of the truck, grabs their tent and sets it up. Then you get your stuff out of your locker, set it up in your tent - sleeping mat and bedding, clothing etc. it's best to do this when it's light as it is often remote and there is little light once it goes dark. A headlamp is absolutely essential, as are extra batteries. There is a rota of duties and you are part of a team of four. Duties range from food prep, cleaning out the truck, dishes, and pots and pans, and "flapping", a technique for drying dishes in the most sanitary way, this is actually quite brilliant. There are three basins, one to do the initial rinse, the next with hot soapy water, then a first rinse with a little Dettol in it, and the last simply a hot rinse. Everyone takes a dish in each hand and flaps around until they are dry. The same goes for washing hands. One basin with soap and a scrub brush, one rinse with dettol and the last one a clear rinse. No one got sick in the whole time we were away. It's amazing to me how quickly we became efficient at set-up and take-down each day. There is lots of laughter and everyone is willing to help out with anything needing doing.
the truck was a beast but we got used to it and spent many hours going over bumpy, dusty roads. Getting stuck in the mud was quite an adventure, but again, teamwork prevailed and we survived.
Sunday 11 March 2012
5 hours in Dubai is giving me the time I need to catch up on my blog. It was hard saying goodbye to my friends today and I am realising that this trip is full of rich friendships from all over the world that inevitably end in goodbye, very few who I will see again. You get very close, very quickly and begin trusting people who are complete strangers. Everybody shares everything they have, whether it's snacks, bug spray, medications, or even clothing. It is the way of the traveller.
There is an acronym we use here in Africa: TIA (this is Africa). It explains away anything and is always said with a big smile.
Nairobi (Maasai meaning: "place of cool waters")
I arrived safely after an uneventful journey from Addis to Nairobi. I got here around mid afternoon so had plenty of time to get settled and found myself beside the pool as it was a hot and humid day. The swim was glorious. I met the group at 6pm and then had a beer and dinner with Stephani from NYC (a replica of Carrie from Sex in the City.....really) and Liz from Yorkshire. These girls are going to be a lot of fun! There are 14 people including people from London, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany and NYC. The guides, drivers and cook are Kenyan. So far, it seems like a good group.
The vehicle is massive and capable of taking us on very rough roads. It will carry everything we need for the safari including dishes, tents, sleeping mats and food and water. We each have our own locker which has to fit all our belongings - i am so glad i have learned to pack light. I'm really looking forward to doing some proper camping and we are told that the bush camps in the Serengeti are located amidst the animals whom are free to roam where they will. It is not unusual to have hyenas, warthogs and even elephants visit your campsite in the night! First stop was overlooking the Rift Valley which was incredible! The thorny Acacia trees, so quintessentially African, stand out against the serene landscape.
We continued to travel through the tea-growing highlands going west towards the Tanzania border. It is quite hot, high 30's and I am enjoying the warmth and sunshine. This is the ancient homeland of the Massai, tall, graceful tribesmen dressed in distinctive scarlet robes, tending their prized herds of cattle. Children stand by the side of the road, their bright smiles so beautiful, waving up at us as we pass by. The countryside is lush and green and the donkeys look healthy and strong, unlike the ones in Morocco who were skinny and carrying too much weight.
We stopped in the hilltop town of Kisii where we stocked up on all the supplies as we head out into the African wilderness to begin our safari on the Serengeti. 8 hours on a very rough road. Tonight we are staying just outside of Kisii, in dormitories with hot showers, flush toilets, and beds with bedding, the last luxury before the upcoming bush camps with cold showers and stand toilets.
There is an acronym we use here in Africa: TIA (this is Africa). It explains away anything and is always said with a big smile.
Nairobi (Maasai meaning: "place of cool waters")
I arrived safely after an uneventful journey from Addis to Nairobi. I got here around mid afternoon so had plenty of time to get settled and found myself beside the pool as it was a hot and humid day. The swim was glorious. I met the group at 6pm and then had a beer and dinner with Stephani from NYC (a replica of Carrie from Sex in the City.....really) and Liz from Yorkshire. These girls are going to be a lot of fun! There are 14 people including people from London, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany and NYC. The guides, drivers and cook are Kenyan. So far, it seems like a good group.
The vehicle is massive and capable of taking us on very rough roads. It will carry everything we need for the safari including dishes, tents, sleeping mats and food and water. We each have our own locker which has to fit all our belongings - i am so glad i have learned to pack light. I'm really looking forward to doing some proper camping and we are told that the bush camps in the Serengeti are located amidst the animals whom are free to roam where they will. It is not unusual to have hyenas, warthogs and even elephants visit your campsite in the night! First stop was overlooking the Rift Valley which was incredible! The thorny Acacia trees, so quintessentially African, stand out against the serene landscape.
We continued to travel through the tea-growing highlands going west towards the Tanzania border. It is quite hot, high 30's and I am enjoying the warmth and sunshine. This is the ancient homeland of the Massai, tall, graceful tribesmen dressed in distinctive scarlet robes, tending their prized herds of cattle. Children stand by the side of the road, their bright smiles so beautiful, waving up at us as we pass by. The countryside is lush and green and the donkeys look healthy and strong, unlike the ones in Morocco who were skinny and carrying too much weight.
We stopped in the hilltop town of Kisii where we stocked up on all the supplies as we head out into the African wilderness to begin our safari on the Serengeti. 8 hours on a very rough road. Tonight we are staying just outside of Kisii, in dormitories with hot showers, flush toilets, and beds with bedding, the last luxury before the upcoming bush camps with cold showers and stand toilets.
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