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African Stories
Brief Summary
After travelling around Kenya ( Mombassa and Nairobi)
I took an over-land truck down from Nairobi to Harare.
There were nineteen other people on the truck plus two
Kenyan drivers and a Kenyan Camp Master. It was a
seven week overland tour through Tanzania, Zanzibar,
Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We saw the
big five. Buffalo, Rhino, Lion, Leopard, and
Elephants. We walked close to Elephants ( 20 metres),
Buffalo ( 70 metres ) and Rhino ( 5 metres, Yep 5
metres from a family of white rhinos ) I climbed
Mount Kili, went snorkeling in Zanzibar, camped in the
Seringeti. Saw Victoria Falls. A few of us Bungi
jumped from Vic Falls bridge, and most of us rafted
down the Zambezi. After the truck trip finished in
Harare. I continued down to Jo-burg and Capetown. I
climbed Table mountain, saw Robben Island, and did a
tour of the cape. Now I'm in Hong Kong starting the
Asian portion of my trip.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
About half ( 12 ) of our overland truck group took the
option of climbing up Kili. The highest mountain in
Africa. We all payed a lot of money with park
entrance fees ( 350 US ) and porters fees ( 160 US )
to get very tired. It took us 5 days to get to up and
back. There were three huts on the way. The first
day was a four hour walk through what looked like a
rain-forest to the first hut. The next day was about a
6 hour hike up to the next hut. The third and fourth
day were the hardest. On the third day we walked the
whole day to get up to the final hut. The landscape
looked like Mars, there were no plants it was red and
rocky with strange rocky peaks. The final hut was very
cold and isolated. It felt like an Antarctic station.
Then at midnight we started the final assent. None
of us had ever seen so many stars in the sky. But
stars weren't interesting as we plodded along. It was
necessary to go 'pole pole' which means 'slowly,
slowly' in Swahili. By morning (about 8am)we had made
it. There was snow, and it was freezing. Three of
our group didn't make it. But none were sick. It
took almost 4 hours to get back to the top hut. Down a
scree slope which was very tiring. We had about an
hours rest there until we descended to the next hut.
We got there in time for dinner. I was too tired to
go and eat and just crashed on my bed.
One of the problems was that our overland truck guide
advised us wrongly about what food to take. We ran
out of jam on the first day and would have run out of
bread and fruit unless our porters had not told us we
needed more food. We had to barter with other
climbers for more food. We all became instant friends
with an American called Eric who gave us some biscuits
and peanuts.
The porters were local Tanzanians who carried our food
and gear in sacks on their heads. My bag was fairly
light. But a guy on our truck nick named 'Layer
Chris' ( who was obsessed with having exactly the
right gear particularly the right number of clothing
layers for the cold ) packed a tonne of stuff
including a large book he never touched. The Porters
were also very amusing. Some knew almost no English
and would respond to any question by saying "Yes, my
friend". Others knew some English and taught us some
Swahili on the way up.
There's a picture of me at the top at my web-site
(kiwimartin.freeservers.com)
Vespas and street food in Zanzibar
In Zanzibar we were free to do whatever we wanted.
Melissa ( American from the truck ) , myself and Eric
( who saved us on Mt. Kili ) hired Vespas for the day
in Stone town. We rode up North, saw a chamber where
slaves were kept. (Zanzibar was a major trading
centre for Slaves ) Had a bit of a Spice tour, and
had lunch at a small beach resort. Then went to the
East coast and got completely soaked by storms that
were passing. We didn't get cold as the sun was
fairly hot. The roads were mostly good but some where
incredibly bad. The only map we had was from Lonely
Planet book, it was very simplistic. To get back to
Stone town it looked like the best way was right down
the middle of the Island. The road turned out to be
insanely bad. The tarmac had almost completely gone.
We had to weave all over the place to avoid the
bigger pot holes and chickens. The local children
waved us along, getting very exited to see us, often
jumping up and down while waving. It took us at least
two and 1/2 hours to make it back to Stone town. It
was tiring because the bikes were jumping around.
When we eventually made to some sealed roads we had
hardly any time left. We had to get the bikes back by
6. We zoomed along the roads overtaking one another
to make it back, only having a rough idea where we
were going. We got stopped by police at a road block.
They asked us for our driving Permits. None of us
had an International Drivers Licence but luckily we
had gone to the police station earlier and bought
permits for the day. After we got into Stone town
itself, we couldn't remember how to get back to the
place we rented them from, which was closing at 6:00.
We eventually found a local who knew the way to the
shop, and we followed him on his push bike to the
shop. We got there about 6:30, but they were still
open.
The street food in Stone town in front of the old fort
on the waterfront at night was superb. It was
virtually free, just a few pence/cents per item.
There was all sorts of food; Very fresh seafood,
potato cakes ( curry, beef, stuffing ), nans, Zanzibar
pizza ( nothing like a Normal Pizza ), sugarcane
drinks and cakes. Most of us ate there every night.
You would just walk along picking out different things
wondering what they would taste like and being
pleasantly surprised by how good they were.
When Pythons Attack!, Botswana
We took a flight into the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
We took makoros ( canoes with guys at the back with
poles ) out to a bush camp. We had a bit of a play
with the makoros and it is much harder than it looks
to get them going where you want. We spent three days
on the island bush camp, and took the makoros out to
different places for walking safaris. We saw
elephants up close ( about 20 metres away ). We
spotted a lone Buffalo in the distance (lone buffalos
are quite dangerous and can charge). We got a bit
concerned when we noticed the first thing the guide
did was look for a tree to climb. It didn't charge.
But we were all keeping a look out for the best tree
to climb as we walked. One of the last things we were
going to do was see a hippo pool. We had seen many
hippos on the trip so far so we weren't too excited.
In the end we couldn't find any so the guides took us
to an island for another walking safari. One of the
old guides found a python under a bush. There was a
bit of excitement as we all gathered around to see
what it was. The guides told us climb up on a fallen
tree while one of them was busy poking the snake with
a long stick. When the snake slid away to find a more
peaceful resting place all the guides went mad,
shouting "Run away, Get away" as they ran, some going
behind their clients. Myself and the Aussie Danny
couldn't see what all the fuss was about and stood on
the ground and watched the python go right past us.
It was about 6 foot.
The funny thing was our driver/guide from the overland
truck was with us. It was his first trip. He had made
a habit of getting very drunk and snoring a lot at
night. The previous night he gave a rambling drunken
speech around the campfire in which he told us that we
should be more of a team. He told a story about how
one friend abandoned another friend when they saw a
lion by climbing up a tree. Guess who was way up the
tree when the python came along. We all turned around
and couldn't believe how far up he was. To be fair he
is scared of snakes and reptiles.
Arrested in Bulawayo
In Bulawayo Zimbabwe we had a few free days. I was
told to go and change some of the truck money, which
were my 300 pounds worth of travellers cheques. When
we had been to Zimbabwe previously ( Vic Falls ) we
got a rate of 180 Zim dollars to the pound so I had to
get at least close to that rate. The bank rates in
Zim are terrible, as the government sets the rate.
There is a black market and a lot of us had been using
this in vic falls. I went out with Melissa ( from our
truck )for the day to get a few things done, first one
being to change the TCs. We walked to the Library
where we had been approached the previous day to
exchange money. I assumed that there would be a
similar person there today. There were a whole lot of
women dressed in white. When I looked at one of them
she approached me and asked if I wanted to exchange
money. I told her I needed to exchange 300 pounds TC.
After lots of walking and talking to other people to
arrange it I finally ended up down an alley in a back
entrance of a building. Melissa stayed out of the way
( good idea ) I didn't think that was such a good
idea myself so I left. As I was leaving they had found
the women I needed to talk to. She had a look at the
TCs and said they didn't change them. I thought fair
enough. I caught up with Melissa and we decided to
split up and meet up later as it was taking a long
time to change the Money. No point us both wasting
time and risking being arrested. I went straight
around the block as I needed to change 20 US for my
self as I needed Zim for my bus trip to Jo-burg after
the overland expedition had finished. I found another
woman ( dressed in white like the others) What we were
doing was so obvious. And I thought that at the time.
We agreed on 160 which wasn't too bad. I asked for a
calculator to do check the Zim dollar number. I was
given one and did the calculation. We walked up the
street trying to be at least a little discrete. But
probably looking obvious. Once she had the wad of
money. I asked to count it, keeping my 20. As soon as
she handed me the money a guy (not in a uniform )came
between us and told us we were coming with him and
flashed some ID. I had heard that this sometimes
happens as a con and the guy might not be a Police
officer but just trying to con me into giving him a
bribe or stealing my money. So I said "Right, lets go
to the Police station then. Where is it?" So the guy
said "Year it's right around this corner" motioning
with his hands. "So, we're going to the police
station then?" "Yep". So we all walked that way.
He talked to the woman. She seemed concerned which
was a bit of a worry. He told her that she had been
really obvious and he seemed a bit puzzled. I was
thinking now he might be legit. I thought I might be
fined a little or spent a couple of days in Jail. But
it was a worry not knowing what was going to happen.
I was glad they caught me exchanging only 20 US,
rather than 300 pounds. He didn't talk to me again
until we got around the corner. He said he was sorry
I was caught, and asked me if I knew what I was doing
was illegal. Of course I lied. And and tried to play
dumb ( which isn't to hard ) I said I just wanted
some Zim for spending and this lady was willing to
sell me some. After we walked on a little further the
only other thing I could think to do was to ask to see
his ID again. So I stopped and let him walk ahead a
bit. When he turned around I asked him. He told me
he wasn't trying to con me or get a bribe. Then he
said he wasn't a police officer but he was taking me
to the police because what we were doing was wrong. I
considered bolting at this point, but getting chased
or getting in a fight was bound to bring police
attention. Before I could decide He said he would let
us off. I thought he was saying to reverse the
transaction, but when I asked he said I should keep
the wad of Zim dollars and I should give the 20 US to
the Woman. I thought I had clicked to what was going
on then. I thought the wad of Zim would either be
half paper or the wrong amount. So I asked to count
the money. Surprisingly he agreed. I counted it,
and it was all there. As we all went our separate
ways I checked the money again, checked for my wallet
etc. Everything was intact. I think he was just
somebody tiring to turn me in to the police. Much
later in the day I managed ( mostly through a bit of
luck ) to change the 300 pounds at a rate of 248.
Which was unbelievable. 180 was the best we got last
time. It amounted to about 75 thousand Zim dollars. (
The largest Zim note is a hundred ) So it was a huge
bag of cash. I got a ride back to the camp site and
got a few free beers. We had plenty of money in the
kitty now, and could afford to go out to eat on the
final night.
.
Martin's World Trip