East Africa
1 September - 21 November 2014

1 September - Sydney to Johannesburg

Pleasant but long flight via SAA. Despite J'burg's dangerous reputation we braved the J-train into town then taxi to our overnight guesthouse.

2 September - 16 October - Absolute Africa 56 day truck trip to Nairobi, Kenya

2 - 5 September - Botswana

The truck arrived early morning & was plusher than we expected - it even had padded seats. Tents are quite quick to erect. The tour was only 1/6th full so plenty of room on board & lots of extra mattresses for sleeping which was great as they were very thin.

We drove fast through northern South Africa and Botswana. The latter was a surprise. Not many people but lots of widlife - right beside the main road. Our first camp site greeted us with a bar-b-que smorgasbord.

Ourn 2nd day saw us at our first national park - Chobe. In addition to the prolfic wildlife viewed from our truck in the park we went on the famous river cruise. This was epic as we got really close to elephants, buffalo, hippos and crocodiles.

Inside our truck - home for 56 days	Roadside view in Botswana - wildlife everywhere
Magnificent Sable Antelope	First night stop. One of our tents is visible	Lion chasing off scavengers from kill in Chobe NP, Botswana
	Chobe river cruise
Remember this fabulous show & book

6 - 9 September - Zimbabwe

After a long border crossing (the norm in Africa) into Zimbabwe we drove to Hwange NP. Superb! Did day and night drives through the park. During the latter the driver got over-enthused & drove us into a ditch at high speed. We shared some cuts & bruises but nothing bad and the jeep was still drivable thankfully - not a good place to be walking at night. We got close to lions, elephants, zebra and even a jackal. The highlight though was a pack of the very rare painted dogs - the most feared hunter in Africa as the pack will chase its prey till it drops.

Next stop was the spectacular Victoria Falls. We stayed at a camp in Livingstone and went on a helicopter flight which flew too high for our liking.

Our transport in Hwange	Painted dogs
Buskers Zimbabwe style	View of the falls from helicopter	Part of our group
	Cooking duties. Our guide cooked most nights though

10 - 14 September - Zambia

We drove for 2 days via the capital Lusaka to get to South Lwangwa NP in Zambia. This park is, of course, amazing. We saw our 1st leopard but with difficulty. Even though we stopped (in our open jeep) only 5 metres away AND our guide was pointing at it AND it was daylight AND it was lying in the open under a tree, we couldn't see it till it twitched an ear. Then we couldn't NOT see it. Besides seeing a great array of animals way too closely we also saw 2 amazing events.

We were watching a pride of lions basking on the river bank some 200 metres away across a broad sandy beach when 2 hyenas appeared below us at a water soak. While they were drinking a lion saw & stalked them. He charged the last 100 metres at incredible speed and the hapless hyenas saw way too late as they are cumbersome at the best of time. When the lion was only 2 metres from the galloping, petrified & screaming pair he stopped & let them go.

Further along the river we watched as a bad tempered hippo took exception to a drinking leopard and came roaring out of the water to chase it away.

Late that night though it got really crazy in camp. While a hippo was grazing at the back of our tent suddenly there was a loud banging followed by a scream and the honking of our truck horn and a stampede of elephants past our tent flap, then a stampede back the other way when they found their path blocked to the river by another tent. We found later that a camp guest was sitting by the pool reading by torch light when a trunk groped over his shoulder & snatched his cup of Milo. The guest ran one way, the elephant another, which was into our camp. The elephant smelt citrus fruit in our screwtop rubbish tin & tried to smash it open. His mate meanwhile probed for food inside our truck cabin rudely awakening our sleeping driver when it touched his leg with her trunk. The driver blew the horn & started the ebngine to try to scare the elephants away. That worked except they ran into our cul-de-sac of tents. Thankfully no injuries resulted but lots of adrenalin flowed..

Nosey neighbour	Here is that 'invisible' leopard at South Luangwa NP
Matriarchs protecting a baby...	.. especially in the river crossing as there are many crocs	The hyena which had a lucky escape

15 - 17 September - Malawi

Malawi is an incredibly poor country, dominated by Lake Malawi.We stayed at a village on the lake shore and visited their school & clinic. Most of the country's teachers haven't reached high school level themselves. The clinic didn't even have malaria medicine so many infant deaths here.

Our other stop in Malawi was at a beach 'resort'.

Market in Lilongwe - capital of Malawi
The local school	Kande Beach. Beautiful gentle people - at play	The villagers put on a dance & meal for us ..
.. so Robbie taught them the chicken dance	Our beach resort looked good from this angle	Chitimba beach (resort)

18 - 21 September - Tanzania and Zanzibar

A long drive with a border crossing culminating at a farm near Iringa. They serve very nice hot chocolate and brownies. Next day we had another very long drive - this time to the exotic capital Dar Es Salaam on the Indian Ocean. The real reason though for our stop is to boat across to the fabled Zanzibar.

We had to cross the harbour in an unbelievably crowded ferry which wqs plastered with 'No photography' signs. Our Spanish documentary maker - Jorge - ignored the signs. He was arrested and taken to gaol and we didn't expect to see him again on the trip.However he not only talked himself out of gaol but with his spare time till the next ferry he visited the national museum. There he found the skeleton of Lucy (mankind's earliest relative - 3.2 million years old) in an open case. Of course he photographed himself holding the skull.

A long boat trip took us to the amazing Zanzibar. It is nothing like the Africa we are used to - distinctly Muslim. We spent a few magical days there - with no long drives. Good food as well. Whilst most of our group stayed at a beach way out of town we grabbed a guesthouse in the tiny alleyways of the old city.

Unbelievably crowded ferry across the harbour	This is our boat for the trip across to Zanzibar	Our hotel in Zanzibar
Dar es Salaam fish markets	The town beach is very popular	The streets are exotic
We found the church in Zanzibar	Zanzibar rural transport which we caught to see the countryside

22 - 25 September - Tanzania to Arusha and the Ngongoro Crater

Back on the mainland we drove into the interior of Tanzania again. Overnight we stayed at the bustling town of Arusha - the jump off point for both Kilimanjaro & the Serengeti.

Next stop was the stunning Ngongoro Crater. This is a wildlife paradise protected from the outside walls by the steep sides of the crater.

Descending into the crater was like going into a wildlife park but with animals intermingling freely. We saw lions, wilderbeest, zebra, wart hog, baboons, elephant, ostrich, rhino, cheetah, hyena, hippo, flamingo & myriad water birds. Incredible concentration of creatures.

We camped overnight on the rim with strict instructions to not go outside our tents during the night even for a loo stop. Way too dangerous due to roaming animals.

Roadside lunch stop en route to Arusha	Our camp in Arusha	That is the snowcap of Kilimanjaro floating high in the sky
Buying lunch roadside	Gazing from the rim of the Ngongoro crater	Jorge preparing a Spanish style lunch for us
Enclosed off-roader - more protection than normal	Wilderbeest with flamingos	Lush vegetation
Hippos in the background	A lone ostrich	Setting up camp on the rim in the cold mist

26 - 27 September - Serengeti & Grumeti

We camped au naturale on the Serengeti plain and were told to leave 2 elephant widths between each tent to allow animals to pass though overnight. We then went for a 2 hour 'nature' walk - this is soon after passing lions, elephants, buffalo & the like. I was a little jumpy.

I was jumpier next day when we alighted from the truck for a 2 hour 'nature' walk. Holding a chameleon distracted me only temporarily from the large number of predators wandering in our vicinity.

For 2 days we gawped at the endless parade of magnificent wildlife.

The vast numbers of wilderbeest & zebra have a numbing effect on the brain - a vast illusion which is why predators seek to isolate one from the herd

28 - 29 September - Mwanza and Nyakhanazi overnighters

We had a long drive interspersed with overnight stops at Mwanza on Lake Victoria and Nyakanazi, both in Tanzania. This is a very big, diverse country and we've spent 12 days in it.

After bargaining for supplies	Camp site at Mwaza on Lakw Victoria		The boat across the lake
Nyakhanazi. Loud disco next to our room	Oops, another short breakdown

30 September - Kigali, Rwanda

Rwanda is so lush. As soon as we arrived in Kigali, Robbi & I hired motor bike taxis to look around. Spent a few hours at the sobering Genocide Memorial.

1 - 3 October - Mountain gorillas

We stayed overnight at a cute camp where they're pushing the local art & crafts.

Crossing into Uganda we were confronted by the massive and active Virunga volcanoes. Gorillas be found there but we're going instead to those in the Impenetrable Forest - sounds daunting.

The next day we found out just how daunting. Robbie found the going very tough but one of our guides attached himself to her for the duration & was a massive help. We bush bashed for a 5-6 hours and accompanied the gorilla family for 30 minutes. The baby put on an acrobatic show for us - the little poser. Brilliant, exhausting experience all up. Worth $700 each? Not for mine.

We overnighted in the market town of Kisoro.

Local crafts at overnight stop	Taking bananas from farm to market
First sight of the massive Virunga volcanos of Uganda	Walk into Kisoro from from our camp		Impenetrable is right. Thankful for elephant tracks
The silverback	This baby was very entertaining		Rest is good

4 - 10 October - Jinja via Lake Bunyoni, Msaka and Kampala, crossing the equator.

Beautiful green & rugged scenery. Next stop was Lake Bunyoni, Uganda where we hired a boat to look around. Next day we had a brief stop at an orphanage en route to Jinja.

Two long travel days followed. The first night we stayed at a remarkable lodge in a freezing cold jungle with the most ornate dining room & gardens. None of us braved the beautifully landscaped pool. The next night we stayed in the grounds of a plush hotel in Kampala - much warmer and we loved sharing their pool with the locals.

Jinja is billed as an adventure capital but we were all jaded & found it way too touristy, and the hype wearying. Glad to leave.

	Lake Bunyoni	Traffic blocking parade in Kampala
Orphanage games	Dining & games room of the exotic jungle hotel	The lounge/dining area
Luxury pool in luxury camp but way too cold for swim

11 - 14 October - Nakuru NP and Lake Naivasha

Nakuru NP was different, set around a lake. We saw our first black rhinos there, up close. Flamingos were also there in numbers.

We drove to Lake Naivasha and toured by dugout canoe. The length of the trip is getting to us now & we're finding not much new.

Jorge enjoying the locals at our Nakuru camp	Flamingos with buffalo security
First close look at a rhino		Lake Naivasha locals

15 - 16 October - Masai Mara, Kenya, then Nairobi

Drove into Masai Mara on a shocking road. About this time a tour truck like ours crashed killing a couple of Aussies. Put the wind up our rellies till they realised it was a different tour company to ours.

We visited a Masai village. Robbie got to dance again. Next day was a little scarey. Our guide took us off-road into a rarely visited valley, contrary to the park rules. He stopped next to a lion & lioness and turned off the engine so as not to irritate them. The car wouldn't restart. The guide had no gun , phone or radio so we stayed very still for ages till a car appeared on the ridge & came to investigate. He push started us with his vehicle. That was a long time to go without breathing.

We visited the notorious Mara River crossing where the carnage occurs amongst the wilderbeest & zebra during the great migration each year. Thankfully the herds had passed & we only saw carcasses being chewed by the massive crocs. We're no longer jaded by the long trip. This place is amazing!

		Too close for comfort in an open car that won't start
The killing fields - the Mara River	Just carcasses now that the migration has passed	Last night party in Nairobi

22 - October - Nairobi, Kenya to Bahar Dar, Ethiopia

We caught a taxi to the airport. Traffic was awful so the driver took us off-road for a few kms along the fence line of a national park.

Arrived safely and headed to Bahar Dar in Ethiopia via a surprisingly plush Ethiopian Airlines flight.

Our prebooked NGG Hotel proved to be of similar standard to the no-star places we frequent in SE Asia and was typical of the places we stayed in Ethiopia.

Leaving Nairobi	Relaxing at a roadside cafe in Bahar Dar		Omelette sangers	Our first Ethiopian market - no tourist trappings

17-19 October - Bahar Dar

This town is so exotic, the people so friendly. We chose not to do much other than wander the streets, eat & enjoy the locals. The livestock market was fascinating. On our 2nd night we headed off to a 'touristy' night club to savour the unique local music & dancing. There were 4 other western tourists there. The rest were out-of-town Ethiopians with a smattering of Sudanese. Their shoulder dancing is remarkably erotic given that it is totally modest. The music, thanks to the attempt by Hailie Selassie to import western culture, is both unique & wonderful. It is basically African but merges guitar, saxophone & western musicality.

The adjacent lake contains many islands with very old churches & monasteries. It is the source of the (Blue) Nile River.

Steve being embarrassed on stage	Robbie doing the shoulder dance on stage		More bar action
Outside our hotel	Catching a ferry round the monastery islands		Shoulder dance lesson at local bar

19 October - Gondar

This is a very strange country where everything is a little different. Their calendar is Julian so different date & year to the rest of us. Their time is odd where our 7am is their 1 o'clock. Their staple food is injera - a fermented pancake made from a high protein grain called tef.

Their main religion is the oldest form of Christianity. It has a strong Jewish influence - every church incorporated a Holy of Holies complete with a copy of the Ark of the Covenant containing a copy of the stone tablets & the rod of Aaron. The originals are supposedly in the cathedral at Axum - brought there by the son of Solomon (and Sheba) after a visit to Israel during a dark time in Israel where the future looked bleak.

Sad to leave this nondescript, enjoyable town but onwards & buswards to Gondar - a strange town replete with palaces, chateaus and a really, really old church

Archetypal African bus station - in Bahar Dar		Unexpectedly lush countryside
View between palaces	The Holy Trinity

20 - 23 October - Lalibela

Took advantage of a cheap flight to view spectacular gorge country from the air (and avoid a 15 hour bus trip) en route to amazing Lalibela.

This place is astonishing. It was built high in the mountains centuries ago by an emperor who had a vision of building a heavenly city - complete with River Jordan. He had artisans carve beautiful churches out of the bedrock of the mountain - dozens of them - below ground level.

Mighty gorges from the air			Church of St George from above	From underground
Injera is the (tef based) fermented pancake under the stews			More shoulder dancing in a local bar	This is the bar's kitchen

24 - 26 October - Arba Minch

Again we took the easy option with cheap flights via Addis Ababa to the far south west - Arba Minch. We are on the way to the most primitive of all places - the Omo Valley tribal areas.

We are now in the land of animists as opposed to Christian. We had a brief look around the Arba Minch area including a trip by bus to Jimma in the Durza tribal area. Back in Arba Minch we engaged a guide for the the next few days as it is apparently very difficult without a guide. We are sharing him with a couple we met on the plane.

House near Jimma - the Dorze tribe	Making pancake from palm stems	Our travel companions in the Omo Valley
	Public bus	Jimma markets
Steve with 'guides'		Couldn't fit on the last bus so squeezed into a ute

27 - 29 October - Konso - Jinka

We negotiated a guide - Midju - at the bus depot who herded us onto a bus to Konso. We visited a village near there and received a tumultuous welcome from the kids returning from school. The Konso tribal villages are fascinating - appear straight out of The Hobbit. We happened on a local Konso market on the way to see 'New York' - a spectacularly eroded gully.

Into the wilderness - note the size of the pot holes	A la carte breakfast in Konso			Local school kids chasing us to welcome us to their village
'The Hobbit' village
Konso tribal market in the hills				Weirdly eroded valley nick-named New York

After another fabulous day we headed off to Jinka. After checking into a guesthouse and during a walk around town we attracted a crowd of kids who took us home & performed a spontaneous dance off.

Our hotel courtyard in Jinka	The Pied Piper working the crowd in Jinka			The big dance off

30 October - Key Afer market day (Thursday)

Drove to Key Afer. What a fantastic market town. Members of the Hamar, Banna, Tsamai & Arsi tribes trade here. There are some stunningly beautiful looking people in these tribes.

31 October - Mursi tribal land

Jinka is the boonies. We've discovered that tribal enmity looms large round here and our guide is not popular with the locals. There is a well organised 'guide mafia'. To try to avoid antagonising the local guides (using our own imported one) we snuck out of town early the first morning by car for a day trip to the Mursi tribe. Naked warriors with machine guns appeared along the road an hour out of town - disconcerting. A jaguar crossed the road in front of us.

The village was amazing though photos cost us. The chief spoke Australian as he'd lived in Lilli Pilli, Sydney for a year while doing a cinematic course so he could use film to advocate for his people. On the trip back to Jinka security was tight as there'd been an inter-tribal killing that day due to a grazing dispute.

Our guide, guiding	Mursi greeting	Mursi village
	Notice the lip-plates on the women (at left). The lips are pierced & stretched from a young age. Usually the decorative plates are not inserted and the 'lip loop' just swings in the breeze.

1 - 3 November - Turmi

Trouble. The local guides knew we'd been to the Mursi & were angrily aggressive. We told the police about their behaviour.

We walked to a crossroads outside town to catch a local bus to Turmi. It never arrived. We flagged down a car (one passed every hour or so) and paid the driver to take us. Turmi is a tiny place famous for its market. We were llucky enough to catch 3 ceremonies nearby. Robbie went to a pre-wedding ceremony the night we arrived.

The next day we trekked to a grooms bravery ceremony - bull jumping. On the way we encountered a confronting girl's 'marriage readiness' ceremony. This involves girls being whipped with razor sharp lion grass. It cuts through their goat skin skirts & lacerates their skin, leaving long bloody cuts (see photo below).

Men jumping at pre-wedding ceremony	Now the girls dance
Whipping scars on maiden after ceremony	Waiting for the groom	He's the nude one
Here the groom is running across the cows' backs		Man about to whip maiden with lion grass
Another result of whipping	Near the end of the many hour walk to and from the ceremony	Lunch at a roadside

4 - 8 November - Herar via Dire Dawar

A long drive back to Abar Minch to farewell our guide who was threatened & robbed on arrival by his competitors. The next day we flew to Dire Dawar for the night before catching a bus to Herar on the Islamic side of Ethiopia.

We went partly to watch a colourful local identity who feeds meat scraps to wild hyenas outside the town walls every night. Robbie was encouraged to sit on the ground while the guy lured this massive, wild hyena to lean on Robbie's shoulders to reach a morsel.

We were really lucky to discover that the monthly camel market was on next day. This is where nomads from the desert come in to trade camels & donkeys.

Our room in Dire Dawar	Old town of Herar	Camel market
	View from hotel

9 - 11 November - Herar - Cape Town

From Herar we chose a very long bus ride to Addis Ababa in order to see more of the countryside. We overnighted in what is a very large, busy city. Like all cities you'd need a few days there to appreciate it. Instead we flew to Cape Town, South Africa only transitting in Johannesburg.

12 - 13 November - Cape Town & surrounds

Cape Town is one of the world's most picturesque cities. Beautiful beaches, prolific wildlife and stunning mountains - especially Table Mtn. We stayed at a cheap guesthouse in the Gardens district.

Our trip to the top of Table Mtn wasn't a great success as cloud obscured the view most of the time. However our drive along the coast to Cape Point and up Ou Kaapse Weg (Castle Hill) was magnificent.

We went for brai (bar-b-que) in Gugulethu one of the black townships. The locals were very friendly - especially a gay waiter who flamboyantly befriended us and asked us to return the next day as he was singing. We did so & had another great time. This time joining a rugby team's table. We caught some good music downtown that night.

Table Mountain cable car	Coast near Cape Point	Another view to Cape Point
.. and another		View towards the city & Table Mtn from Ou Kaase Weg

13 - 15 November - Cape Town - Gansbai

First stop on our roadtrip 1,000 kms east to Port Elizabeth is Stellenbosch. This is a vey pretty, touristy university town in the wine are of the Cape. We enjoyed lunch there then headed to Gansbai.Gansbai is where we are going cage swimming with Great White sharks.

The water was very chilly and the water visibility was not great but what an adventure. We waited till last to go into the cage which worked out well as the others felt the cold quickly & left us most of the viewing time. 2 or 3 10 footers came in close and scared us to death as they brushed the cage chasing the tuna head baits.

16 - 19 November - to Port Elizabeth

We stopped at numerous small towns along the Garden Route. Beautiful coastline with very pretty towns like George, Knysna & Plettenburg Bay. We had to visit the legendary surf spots of cape St Francis (featured in The Endless Summer surf movie classic) and J (Jeffries) Bay. Not a ripple at either. We took a detour inland to see the Kleinkoo region. Tsitsikamma is also a very pretty area.

We've been on the road for nearly 3 months now. We've covered 9,000 land kilometres in 10 countries, stayed almost nowhere for more than 2 nights and more than half of those in tents. We are tired and certainly not appreciating this part of the trip to the full. As you can guess we've also lost our photos for the road trip after Cape Town.

20 - 21 November - Flights to J'Burg then Sydney