Will there be lego in Africa?

Sunday, 13 May 2012

On the road: day 5

Today's plan was simple, get up super early and head out on a day break game drive. Part one involved getting the boys out of bed, now given their propensity for waking us up at ridicules o clock most of the time you would think this was easy...not. Zach in truth managed to get himself together enough to be mildly polite about the time of day, Josh however was resolutely stuck to his pit and refused to move. I will spare you the details but a moany boy was eventually poured into his clothes with teeth brushed and hair curled. This was the fastest I have ever seen the tribe get ready and into the car, wonders will never cease on this trip.

The sun was just starting to rise and we were off...for about 100 yards when I thought the car was being a bit sluggish, maybe disengage the 4 wheel drive? Job done back in the car, still a bit sluggish, in fact more so...mmmm that will be the flat tyre that I hadn't noticed. Luckily we were very near the park HQ who had a large garage facility. I changed the tyre with Zac's help and handed over our tyre to a guy for puncture repair. During this time Zanz was informed that there was a lion nearby so for the next 20 mins all we heard, in between confused questions about how the whole tyre, inner tube, wheel worked, was her saying she didn't want to miss the lion and couldn't we just set off without the spare so we could see it? This wasn't going to happen so we amused ourselves by feeding velvet monkeys who at the same time tried to climb in the car. Zach and Josh decided that the monkeys were an invading army and started to stock pile rocks and sticks. Armistice was soon declared and we had our tyre sorted within the hour.

This is becoming a bit tyresome!

Like daddy but with more hair.

Same again really.

Zannah was not overly joyous about the time taken but going without a spare would have led to unfathomable misery had we had another puncture. Within 200 meters of leaving the camp we came across a large pride of lions visiting the small runway toilet, probably only used by David Attenborough and the occasional oligarch who flew in to the area. We followed the pride of three male and seven females and at one point they passed within touching distance of the car...awesome.

Ok everyone been to the loo before we go a huntin?

Erm I wouldn't use the gents for a while........sorry

Oh god I hope they haven't used up all the loo roll?

We are now sat at breakfast looking out over Ruahah River so I will add to this later.

It is now later, we spent the afternoon at Zanner's much sought after treat accommodation, Rhuha River Lodge. This is one of the Foxes group of lodges in the south of Tanzania, a rather more upmarket type of lodge for the fly ins who use the airstrip mentioned before. What they made of our rag bag outfit heaven knows, but it would seem at this time in the season our dollars are as good as anyone's. Which reminds me of a peculiarity of Tanzanian money exchange, you get a lesser rate for a 1996 $100 dollar bill than a 2003, why? No one could explain, by that I mean they did try but it made little to no sense at all!

Today we managed over 100km round the park, but given it is 22,000kmSq it was small beer. Back in the lodge we could sit on the huge veranda dinning area resplendent with leather easy chairs and sofas looking out on the river. At times you could here the hippo mooing, yawning, crying, I'm not sure of the term but they are noisy creatures either-way. The boys had already engaged in tormenting the staff so it was safe to assume that our food would be spat in and served cold. Later we headed out for a dusk game drive along the river route and came across loads of interesting groups the most amusing being a herd of giraffe who look down on you with complete befuddlement then try to walk, trot, run without ever really making up their minds which they prefer. We followed a wonderful herd of elephants crossing the river with numerous young, another amazing experience for which Josh thanked us by going on and on about a star wars character in his book.

Bright eyes.....awe what a preddy puddy tat

Just like any tabby at home...only bigger, with more teeth, oh yes and a desire to kill

Oi darlin...like my main?

Elegant and regal, makes our royals look cheap

Big rock...they'll be leopards in them there ill's

Off for a lay down after such a long walk to the loo

Bao-bab tree hiding behind Zac and Josh

Foxy...well balck backed Jackel anyway

And the river runs dry!

BEAST

Grieving takes many forms, a sad end to one of the Kings of Africa

This was the end of a sorry tale

Well Mavis I told you not to rely upon the Sat Nav!

A-HA the mighty predator springs upon its prey

And takes it off to it lair to consume...maybe with a few nuts

Wow that things got some ears

Ah there birds nests!

Bath time

All out, thats enough of that

Right lets throw dust

Geerrrroff my land

What's going on here then?

Typical you try to get a nice photo of the clouds and then......

That's better, non of those nosy giraffes.

Josh adopts his safari position

Zac has really taken to photography and produced some really cool shots, however this has also given the boys one more thing to argue about. Darkness fell at around 6:30 as we headed back to our base. An enjoyable supper and two tired boys made for an early night as Zanner has promised another early start to catch the possibility of leopards in a nearby hill...

On the road: day 4

Much like yesterday we were in no great hurry to move, we knew we had a short hop to get to Iringa before ploughing on to Ruahah National Park, the largest national park in Tanzania. Although the journey encompassed some 350km we had it broken down so that by 190km we knew we should be able to have a decent break with something bordering on edible as far as food goes due to Iringa being a fairly decent size town.

The initial journey was pretty uneventful with no Police bothering to trouble you as it was Saturday and it would seem this is a day of rest or, as I now know it, bribelessday. We reached Iringa in good time (3:5hrs) so were ready to chow down by 12:30, however, Zanner was adamant we stop at the local information office to seek onward advice as we hoped to stay in or near the park. The office belongs to the local tour company and wanted to charge $10 for making a call to the place we had already been recommended by friends back in Moshi. Suffice to say we got the call made but sidestepped the ridicules fee. Fortunately the same place has its own exceedingly good cafe, coffee and pies, oh yes they make chicken and mushroom pies better than Greggs here! Refreshed we headed to the local craft building which was run as a charity for deaf people who are cast out in Tanzania due to the perception that they cannot earn money for their families. This charity gives them work and therefore an income from which to gain a foothold in the human race! They also serve good coffee and chocolate brownies. As I am now 16 months without touching a drop of alcohol ,coffee does seem to have become a disconcerting habit, but with Zac and Josh bickering in the back of the car and Zannah falling asleep in the front you need something to keep the reflexes sharp on these roads. Again we came across more carnage, with one truck even taking out the whole of the crash barrier along a bridge with some 40ft drop either side...scary.

After the Iringa stop Zanner sent us the wrong way before we turned around and headed in the general direct necessary to get us where we needed to go. It's a bit like having a sat nav, it will always get you there but sometimes you need accept the fact it hasn't a bloody clue what it's doing.

The journey to Rhuha is pretty brutal as it involves around 100km of unmade road, made much worse by the recent rains. It is a real bone rattler and filling loosener which really tests your nerves and worse still makes Joshua's decibel level go beyond critical. Suffice to say he very quickly lost his much loved Nintendo time not helped by Zach constantly winding him up about each minute that was taken away from him.

Worth the journey any time

Crocs have real back bone for their work

The next pictures don't need captions, there are just nice...Zanz is getting good at this photo thing!

Kudu du du du duo

We arrived at the park with enough time to trek 20km with good light before we needed to find our bandas for the night. Amazingly we spotted Kudu, Rock Hyrax, Elephant, Zebra, Gazelle and the Saddle-Billed Stork (East Africa's largest) all within half an hour, pretty cool we thought. As the night drew in we found our accommodation, amazing little steel bandas with toilet block and small eating area. Just as we were getting bags out of the car we spotted two Giraffe happily munching at the trees next to one of the bandas. Already encamped we're two couples from South Africa, I say SA but three of them were from the UK but had lived there for 20 years. They were over-landing for four months and heading up to Ethiopia. They will have covered over 20,000k by the time they return to Joburg making our road trip look like a day out. However, by now the hobbits were getting restless so we drove up to the only place we could grab food, the staff canteen. And there we sat, eating chicken and rice with 15 local workers all happily ensconced in the FA Cup final...life is very funny at times.

On the road: day 3

Today was our rest day, by that I mean we were not going to be traveling on the road point to point. So instead we did 150km off road around Mikumi National Park! There was a question mark around wether we would set off early to catch the sunrise and the game, this question continued to be debated well into a leisurely breakfast...much better than the best breakfast in Tanzania served at Irente Farm.

Mum your arm pits really smell!

We were soon on the road fueled by our triple espresso's and restful sleep. The wildlife came to meet us on the road as a gang of baboons strutted around the middle of the highway with underslung babies, a fashion many Hamstead mums will no doubt find attractive in time. Suffice to say these dog like primates showed a clear disregard for the trucks and 4x4's who utilize this road. Along they way to the main gate of Mikumi we saw Giraffe, Zebra and assorted gazelle.

Look at those ugly humans

Once in the park we had to decide if we were to take a guide, but as this is our road trip and as everyone onboard has an adventurous disposition we went with the simple map and hope. We worked our way into the park where we soon came upon the Hippo lake, complete with a family of Hippo's, or heard to be precise. Josh decided they were like water pigs, and no amount of telling him they were herbivores more related to cows could dissuade him from this view. A little patience brought about our first sighting of an African crocodile, resplendent with freshly caught cat fish type thing. This elicited much excitement especially as there was a huge school outing emptying numerous buses of very small African children. In a very health and safety fashion Zanner worried for these children due to the proximity of the croc, the boy's however took the paparazzi view and thought it would make a great picture if the croc grabbed one of the pupils.

Cat fish...always with the cat fish, mmmm yummy children now that would be looooooovely

We trekked off to seek out new adventure and it wasn't long before we found ourselves in the middle of the flood plains. Now we are in the middle of the rainy season and these tracks had clearly not been used for some time...well they have now as our once clean land cruiser made easy going of the muddy trail. But the real problem came from the swarms of tsetse flies, many getting into the car and doing there damnedest to bite everyone inside. Much to Zac's amusement and consternation they took some forceful killing, these things are armor plated. We made our way round this section and headed off for lunch at one of the lodges, the first was closed but the second provided fine fare and a welcome rest from the flies.

Back in the cruiser we headed further round the park and again found ourselves on unused trails, but this was a real joy as we came upon massed herds of every type of beast. Better still as no vehicles had been through this section for some time the grasses had grown to cover much of the trail and this brought the animals a lot closer than they would normally have been. The only disappointment was our failure to spot the lions who patrol this area, but with the grasses so high we could have been yards away from them and not known about it. There were a few hairy moments where we struggled with the mud in deep ravine sections but the cruiser was peerless in its ability to find traction. The boys emotions transversed between...."oh no we are going to be stuck here all night", to "cool that was really fun, should we do it again, I bet no one else will get through there".

On the way out we thought we spotted a lion stalking a wildebeest, so we headed down a track that looked pretty much like many of the others we had struggled down. In no time at all we were accosted by a ranger who told us we were off the track and had to pay a fine! Now is it me or have I become a magnet for those seeking to add to some kind of early Christmas fund? We schlepped up to the office to argue our case, I didn't resort to the bribe function on my auto response iTax device as Apple have said that the software upgrade is only applicable to Fat PoliceMan ver.2:1. As it turns out my time spent at bar school paid off as my defence was accepted and we were very courteously sent on our way. By the way the lion...it was a piece of wood!

Back out of the park on the way home we came across more wildlife either side of the road, culminating in a revisit to the baboon pack from earlier in the day. Just like the previous day, death awaits the road user or abuser who challenges mortality with a low sense of self preservation. Much to Josh's horror, strewn in the road was a dying baboon, the pack trying forlornly to bring the animal back from the brink. We struggled with the idea of putting it out of its misery but with the boys in tow and with Josh already in tears it was a step to far for this adventure. We selfishly abandoned it to which ever oncoming truck chose to ignore the baboons and we felt pretty miserable for doing so.

Life and therefore nature is a funny thing, we spent the day watching it, amazed and awed by the animals and the surroundings. We scoured the park in the vain hope that we would see a top level predator hunting down its lunch, psyched by the idea of crocodiles and their natural killing instincts. But the truth was we were shocked and sickened by another human beings lack of care and their complete disregard for the life of an animal that was simply playing in a place it thought was home. It's a dangerous place to play but I suppose primates don't have a Mr Tufty roadshow?

Back at the lodge we had supper and met some interesting mission workers who discussed the state of the country, from schooling to healthcare, of course this was all achieved with the occasional reference to corruption or as I am starting to understand it CIA, not the American model but Corruption Is Africa. After the previous evenings shenanigans with the boys sharing a double bed we 'topped and tailed them'; having explained what this meant at least 20 times. Prior to falling asleep Joshes final words were, "what's the point in sleeping like this if you still take up all the bed?" goodnight.