31 July 2008
Stop press
28 July 2008
Photo time, take two.
Photo time!!
Admin stuff
If you want to send us an email on our Jamesfamily email address, that'll be great as long as it is less than 100k so that we can download it onto the phone.
It also means we get to hear all the juicy stuff you may not want to share with everyone on the WorldWide Web via a comment on the blog!!
Gorillas in the mist
We had a fruitful and relaxing couple of days in Jinja (the source of the Nile or one of them depending who you talk to. I’m busy reading The White Nile by Alan Moorehead about the explorers Speke, Burton and Baker. Interesting stuff!) and we then headed off for the big smoke of the capital city. We aimed for Lugogo Mall, resplendent with a Game and a Shoprite. We had coffee and an early lunch at the Rwenzori Coffee Shop and then a quick shop. Kaz had a fruitless 20 minutes on the email but Telecom Uganda couldn’t manage a speed of more than 256kps.
We then headed for Garden City Mall and found a far better internet café (R15 per hour and 100Mbps) where I was able to update the blog quite happily. We stayed overnight at the Backpackers Hostel and Campsite, a couple of kays west of the city, at least the right side of town for making a quick getaway. Camping was fine but the hostel part turned us off. Rebecca found some friends and spent the remainder of the afternoon playing in the sand. Generally we are not very keen on city campsites and this was no exception.
So, without a backward glance, we left Kampala behind, lingering memories of Marabou Storks circling overhead, gridlocked taxis and bread vans smousing their wares all over the show. Filled Tom Cruiser with diesel, that came to Ush 220 000, about Ush 2700 (R13.50) per litre. Have been able to find Stanbic ATMs quite often so at least it is not too difficult getting the local currency.
It appears that Kampala also has its fair share of load shedding, but in their case it seems to be “one day on, one day off”. Ouch!
Lousy Lake Mburo
Driving through the forests just south of the city we had tantalising glimpses of turacos and plantain-eaters flying across the road.
En route we again crossed the equator, heading south, and took the obligatory pics. We stopped at the nearby Equation Café for delicious coffee and a scrummy cinnamon muffin which we shared. All the profits are ploughed into the care of Aids children. We bought an Ugandan MTN sim card and gave granny a ring from the Equator! Drove through loads of torrential rain which makes the roads a particular challenge as the potholes fill with water.
This lake is encircled by a national park (an “A” grade one, nogal!) with the park fees to match. The game experience was nowhere near anything we’ve experienced to date but unfortunately the charges are; US$100 entrance and another USh 20 000 for camping. The rare species they had to offer were impala and eland, for South Africans this is a bit of a joke! Ablutions were very ropey too. We never did find the secluded “campsite 3” as you need to take a guide from “campsite 2” which is next to the restaurant - signposts are non-existent. We did have hippos grunting around the campsite which is right on the lake and Rebecca spotted some fireflies. The camp attendant actually rustled up some hot water and the resident monkeys and warthogs moved into the camp in the morning. We had a cooked bacon-and-egg breakfast and struck camp in the drizzle.
A very well placed overnight stop, yes, a “must-see”, no.
Don’t let us hear about anyone having nothing nice to say about our SA national parks! They are national treasures and the infrastructure and accommodation far exceeding anything we’ve experienced since driving out of Kruger at the beginning of our trip and at a fraction of the price.
Lovely Lake Bunyoni
The scenery turned more hilly and the banana plantations more plentiful. The hills were covered in a tapestry of cultivated fields, very beautiful. From Lake Mburo we rejoined the main road at Sanga Village after taking some pictures of the Ankole cattle with their massive horns. Apparently the horns act as a cooling system for the cattle. Now it was on with the Ugandan zig-zag. This is a highly choreographed dance performed by the corps de ballet. In this dance: the dancers weave from side to side; at one second, right in front of each other and then with millimetres to spare each dancer glides back to their side of the road, and of course we picked up the moves straight away. The court jesters (“very, very rude words” buses) of course do none of this; they just head straight for you and force you to vacate the road – stage left - until they have passed!
Quite a rainy day again and we saw a hamerkop fishing in the potholes!
Something that never ceases to amaze, is the transport we’ve seen. There are bicycle and motorbike taxis for people to go from village to village or from market back home. It is banana season and we’ve seen trucks piled high with bananas, bicycles loaded with bananas, one massive bunch on each side and then one or more on the carrier. We’ve also come across bicycles struggling along under a load of charcoal, pineapples or even long planks. This is not unique to Uganda but common across all the countries we’ve visited so far.
We drove through Kabale and headed straight to Lake Bunyoni, about 9kms down a very windy road. The Bunyoni Overland Resort is very comfortable and we are camped right on the water’s edge. We cooked dinner on the jiko last night, it worked really well. I may need to buy a couple more of them. We’ve seen some cool orange ones next to the road.
We are all turning into Sudoku aficionado. This morning we were sat in the sun doing our puzzles, luckily we have a book each.
Today, Friday, is market day in Bunyoni and we saw loads and loads of dug-outs all paddling in from the islands with their wares or to shop. Some of the dug-outs reminded us of container vessels except with bags of charcoal piled high instead of the containers.
We took a walk to the market and bought some avos (R1 each), potatoes, R2.50 for about a kilo, and a cabbage for R2.50. We also purchased 2 big pieces of some colourful cloth for R35. Pretty sure that we get charged mzungu rates, but, at these prices, we are ok with that!
Well, luckily we’re not on a tight schedule! We were planning to leave for Rwanda on Sunday, but by the time we got up, had breakfast, packed up the tent, had showers, taking some calls and had coffee, we decided to climb the hill to the highest point and have lunch at the Arcadia cottages. The view was great and we had a great view of all the islands dotted around the lake. They did offer camping but their rates were not great so we drove down to Kalabas nearby the Overland Resort, and camped there for a night and ate their pizzas, nice but get ready for nearly a 2 hour wait.
A country called Rwanda
We’ve arrived! Had an almost painless border crossing, whizzing through immigration and customs in record time and without outlaying a dime, only to be stopped by an officious policeman manning the non-existent gate. He was looking for something in French and we didn’t have a clue in English. Finally drove back to the Custom guys and one of them came with us to sort out the policeman who was obviously a couple of rules behind! Oh yes, don’t forget to drive on the right hand side of the road. They forget to tell you this small but important fact as you enter the country.
We stopped for coffee along the road and before long a little crowd had gathered taking in all the details like coffee, kitchen box, Rebecca and what we were up to. No communication but very friendly. Rwanda has a nice feel to it.
We have been told that there are no gorilla permits for August or September and that campsites are non-existent in Kigale.
We are currently waiting for our lunch to arrive at Bourbon Coffee and about to log on to their wireless network, the cyber squatters strike again!
22 July 2008
More pics
Bushcats in multicolour
Kenya to Uganda
Jungle Junction was a great place to stay in the rainy weather as one had the run of the house and kitchen, but the taxi’s noisy hooting did get a bit much. The car was full of wet washing that we weren’t able to dry in Nairobi. We first visited the CCAfrica offices to secure our booking for Kichwa Tembo. The day before, there had been an attempted armed robbery on the casino next door to their offices in the Holiday Inn, so that made us feel right at home! Our business done and 2 nights accommodation secured we were ready for the “off”. It was with a huge sigh of relief that we bade the city goodbye. We got stopped by the police in one of their routine checks and I got called out of the car to be asked where my reflectors were, I pointed them out (they really wanted to know where the massive square monstrosities all Kenyan pick-ups wear were) and was then asked for my “life-saving devices”, I mean, do me a favour!! About 20 kms out of Nairobi the sky started brightening and we turned west into the Rift Valley. Wow! This is what the non-drivers miss out on. The drive through the valley was spectacular, the yellow wheat fields and the mountains in the distance. The road was quite good and none of the stories of the dreaded C13 turned out to be true, thank goodness. We stopped for a combined coffee/lunch next to an old water trough near an observatory or listening station. Great spot. The road deteriorated the closer we got to the western Oloololo Gate. None of the campsites shown on our maps were signposted so we kept on going and finally ended up at the gate just beyond the turn off to Kichwa Tembo (Elephant Head/Skull). We were the only ones there and what a fantastic camping spot. We could see buffalo, zebra and ostrich on the plains in front of us. We quickly got our wet tent up, Kaz hung out the washing and I got a fire going with the wood provided. Had lamb chops for supper after a sundowner of G&T – Kaz, Tusker – Rich, and Bitter Lemon - Rebecca. The lion and hyena calls were a far better night time chorus than the claxon of the matatus The next morning, up early to a beautiful Mara dawn: the hot air balloon’s were rising in the distance and the glow and the sound of the burners drifted over the plains towards us in the still morning air. At breakfast time, the banded mongooses and the cheeky D’Arnaud’s Barbets came for a visit. With the washing finally dried and our bags packed, we set off for the lodge at 11 am. Rebecca was so excited, she’d already been waiting in the car for ages.
Kichwa Tembo
We arrived to a typical CCAfrica welcome. The camp, while officially outside the park, still afforded a fantastic view over the plains with buffalo, elephant and giraffe visible. The camp itself was home to loads of resident warthogs and coppery tail monkeys. The tent was very comfortable with a bed for Rebecca as well. Titus, our housekeeper; Andrew, our waiter; and James, our ranger were very attentive and looked after us very well. Needless to say the food was fantastic. We soon got into the rhythm of breakfast, game drive, lunch, siesta/swim, afternoon tea, game drive, sundowner, dinner. I won’t bore you with the details of all the game we saw, but rather just tell you about one experience that stood out (so much so that we didn’t go on another drive but opted to stay in the camp instead of the afternoon drive and do a walk around the camp in lieu of our next morning drive).
The Mara River – one river too far for Junior Gnu
After picking up the four “gap year” kids sharing our vehicle who’d been on the balloon safari, James headed for the river to see if any of the animals looked like crossing. At a favourite crossing spot we saw some zebra and Thompson’s gazelles just milling around. The zebra’s followed the tommy’s away from the crossing point and then back as if teasing us and making us wait. Further off we could see some wildebeest also heading towards the crossing. Eventually we could see the zebra moving closer and closer to the river’s edge, so too did we see a large crocodile swimming to the middle of the river, sticking to the deeper water. Eventually with a huge splash they started moving across the water, first the zebra’s, then the wildebeest, then more zebra’s. Some groups caught sight of the croc and moved away keeping to the shallower water, shielding their young behind them, and then galloping across to safety. The croc bided its time until a young wildebeest found itself alone in the deeper water. With a flick of its powerful tail, it lunged towards the hapless animal, the water frothing from the effort, and with it in its jaws, the croc returned immediately to deeper water, drowning the animal in the process. We watched it struggle in vain, all of us caught up in the bitter-sweet way in which nature works.
Crocodiles 1: Wildebeest -1
Rebecca was not very happy and promptly burst into tears. She has decided to take crocodiles off her Christmas card list. In fact, I was told in unequivocal terms that; “if you’ve taken any photos of that crocodile, Dad. I’ll just delete them!”
Another croc soon took the place of the successful one and he tried on several occasions to snare a zebra, but was unsuccessful. The water foaming from the lunge, the acceleration of the target, and then everything settling down again.
It has to be one of the most amazing spectacles we have been privileged to be part of and the reason why we didn’t go on another drive – we wanted to relish this experience as we felt that no other drive would match up.
Another interesting observation from the crossing was the fact that some animals, after crossing successfully, turned around and went back, running the gauntlet of the crocs again. This occurs if a family group gets split up and they need to re-group.
The Maasai Mara is an amazing park and we’re glad we revised our earlier plans not to visit it as we’d already been to both Tsavos and Amboseli; exhorbitant park fees nearly bankrupting us in the process.
We saw mating lions, cheetah, hyena, silver-backed jackals and Ruppell’s Griffon.
Our 2 nights at Kichwa Tembo were also special. The staff were very attentive and spoilt Rebecca. On the day we were due to leave, we packed up and took a bird walk around the camp and forest. We then met Niall Anderson, the South African lodge manager. He took us on a guided tour of Bateleur camp, the upmarket satellite camp of KT. Fantastic! (Lisa: It’s your type of camp.) Milka, the Bateleur manager invited us to lunch at Bateleur north camp and of course the James’s jumped at the opportunity. Food was great and even though it meant we only got back on the road at 14:30 it was well worth the delay.
Kisumu, on Lake Victoria
The road to Kisumu, like many African roads, lull one into a false sense of ease, and then, bang, they degenerate badly. A lot of commercial agriculture along the way, mostly sugar cane. Drove into Kisumu after dark dodging potholes and people, breaking one of our cardinal rules not to drive at night, but sometimes there is no choice. The GPS directed us across the lake to the campsite, but after asking for directions and finding the way signposted, we eventually got to the Kisumu Beach Resort. Set up tent amidst the swarms of mozzies and hit the sack. Luckily we’d feasted so well at KT, we didn’t need to eat.
Amazingly, we weren’t alone. Jodie and Craig who we’d met in Nairobi were also camped there for the night.
KIsumu and the resort were less than memorable and, after a quick cereal breakfast, we plotted a course for the border town of Busia and Uganda.
The Equatorial Bushcats
We crossed the Equator and are officially in the northern hemisphere, for now at least!
We stopped along the way for my jiko (a small cooker fuelled by charcoal) and some tomatoes and bananas.
The border formalities were marred by the “helpers” and the fact that Ugandans do lunch between 1 and 2pm, regardless. Finally got through without paying the $20 road user fee as we had a carnet, hooray!
Next stop: Jinja, the source of the Nile. Drove straight to the Bujagali Falls after driving along probably the worst (and best) road we’ve experienced so far. See comment re Kisumu road, this should be called the James Road Theorem number 1.
Just Jinja
The Speke campsite is at the falls and overrun by day visitors. We were planning to spend the night there until Craig came to tell us of a far nicer one, Eden Rock, which is where we are at the moment. Apparently Prince William stayed here when he came to do some white water rafting! While at Speke’s, we saw some kayakers fording the rapids…not for the faint hearted, only one got through without Eskimo rolling.
We plan to stay put for a couple of days for Rebecca to update her journal and do some work, and for us to catch up with emails and to plan our route through Uganda and Rwanda.
14 July 2008
Jambo from Kenya
Slow ferry from Dar
Packed up from Sunrise Beach and didn't recognise Tom Cruiser because he was so clean after the service. Looked as good as new. Ferry took ages so we all busied ourselves: Rebecca and I with our own Sodukos and Kaz with a magazine. Traffic northwards through the city was horrendous. As we noticed coming into Nairobi too, roads in big cities are a mess and generally gridlocked. Finally got on the Bagamoyo road and breathed a huge sigh of relief to put Dar behind us. Destination for the day was Peponi Resort just north of Pangani (different spelling and far nicer). About 10km from the campsite and after having a coffee/lunch stop rolled into one, we were stopped by a team of workmen digging a trench across the road, in fact the trench ran from one village to the next so there was no around and nothing for it but to switch off and wait for them to finish the trench, lay their water pipe and fill it in again. So we watched two guys do all the work and the others doing nothing. Luckily the foreman had asked for a lift to the Tanga road so he had a vested interest in getting it done chop-chop. Got to Peponi to find Matt and Sue there, as well as Glen Green and family. We had wondered when we'd bump into them. They had a son, Galen, about Rebecca's age and the two of them really hit it off so they played and played and played, with Tiva his younger sister in tow. Needless to say we didn't see a lot of the kids for the next couple of days. Glen, Tandi and kids left to head up to Mombasa and the same day we booked a dhow cruise to go snorkelling. It was just us and it was nice for Rebecca to snorkel and at least see some colourful reef fish. Water was a bit cold so she just went into the "deep end" once. We were also lucky to see some dolphins on the way out to the reef.
Peponi is really organised and a place I would recommend to anyone travelling to northern Tanzania. It was then time to say goodbye to Matt and Sue who were heading north-eastwards to Arusha while we were going north towards Mombasa. Not sure when our paths will cross again as we will go from Kenya to Uganda and Rwanda while they cover those countries on their way back from Ethiopia.
Kenya; the bushKats are Koming
Got stung for a Tanzanian Road Tax as we were leaving the country for non-existent roads by an overly officious customs officer looking for a receipt. Things got worse as we were then hit for a Foreign Vehicle Permit going into Kenya. Good business, this government lark. At least our Comesa insurance still seems to be valid.
Made our way to Twiga Lodge where we were glad to see that Glen and crew were still there. Rebecca nearly jumped out the window and off they went. We had had fairly low expectations of the place given what we'd read but it just shows you can't believe what you read. It was amazing; camping right on the beach. Secure, and very comfortable. So just when you think things can't get better than the Tanzanian beaches, they can.
There was pretty good snorkelling off the beach between the tides and you could do your shopping from your chair but more of that later, I'm getting ahead of myself. We needed to visit Kenya Wildlife Society to get a smartcard to visit Tsavo East/West and Amboseli and as it was Friday we decided to hit Mombasa on Saturday rather than Sunday. This meant backtracking to Diani to draw some Kenyan currency before heading off to Mombasa. Lucky that we did, because as Mombasa is an island, access from the south is by ferry (yep again!!). Luckily it was better organised, and the craft a bit younger vintage than the Tanzanian ferry. My only gripe was that all Landrovers only paid Ksh 60 and pick-ups were Ksh 110!!!! Once in the city, found KWS and sorted out the smartcard very easily and then off to park at Fort Jesus to explore the old town which is quite similar but on a smaller scale than Zanzibar, even down to the narrow alley ways and carved doors. Found someone cooking potato crisps on the side of the road, delicious. Traffic was manic as the town was full of these little tuk-tuk taxis, normal taxis and minibuses.
Walked through the Old Town and then to the city centre where I bought 2 new pairs of flip flops. I've already worn out 2 pairs. Drew money at Stanbic and treated ourselves to coffee at the Castle Royal Hotel. Then we caught a tuk-tuk back to the car park. Rebecca thought this was magic and especially liked the way they push their way through the traffic. It was then on to the Mombasa Club to use the loo!! Very posh. Then back to the campsite.
Twiga and Miss Twiggy
The campsite was home to a little African hedgehog who popped out every evening and went about his foraging. He wasn't particularly bothered by us and you needed to check where you were walking to avoid stomping on him. The nocturnal animals far preferable to the cheeky vervets who came our during the day and didn't miss a trick.
Sunday we rested…and shopped. (Without moving away from our spot on the beach)
First up was the kanga seller who arrived on the beach and showed Kaz all the cloths she was selling. We bought some as presents. Then we had a visit from the fishmonger who sold us some prawns and went off to shell them for us.
"Mr. Mango", the greengrocer, turned up next pushing his bicycle. We bought some bananas and he gave Rebecca a custard apple to try. The Masai trinket seller, the carvings man, the basket and mat seller and the newspaper vendor all went away empty handed.
The location, laid back atmosphere and the lack of an influx over weekends made this one of our favourite spots. Glen, Tandi, Galen and Tiva left to get a move on towards Ethiopia and Galen and Rebecca waved and waved until they were out of sight.
Twiga to Tsavo
Said goodbye to the sea as we were heading to Tsavo East for a bush injection. Courtesy of an email from the Planetarium we had a great sighting of the crescent moon flanked by Saturn, Mars and Regulus all in a line in the West, while behind us Jupiter was showing in the East.
Last trip across the ferry and headed west out of Mombasa and yes, the traffic was worse. As Mombasa is a port the number of trucks parked on the mainland side was horrendous. But hey, eventually we were on a dual-carriageway, haven't seen one of these for a while. Kenyans, like Tanzanians, have a nasty habit of putting large humps on both sides of the road to slow traffic when the speed limit drops to 50 and these are mansize! Stopped at the first entrance gate to the park to have our coffee and then made our way to Voi gate. Stopped at Lion Hill Camp to confirm whether they still had camping and ended up sitting on their deck having lunch and watching elephants in Tsavo East, and ,no, they don't offer camping anymore. As it was too late to enter the park for us to mak the most of the daily fee, we stopped at Red Elephant Lodge which did. They gave us a room key for toilets and showers and we had the place to ourselves. Drinks in the bar were expensive, rather head up the hill and drink at Lion Hill camp.
Leisurely pack up, coffee at the Voi entrance gate and into the park. Topped up the smartcard to see us through 3 nights in Tsavo and 1 in Amboseli. The campsite was amongst some big trees, with a resident baboon troop, and the ablutions were inhabited by bats. Nice setting though!!
Saw a lot of game, especially in the Kanderi Swamp area. Given that this was one of the centres of the elephant poaching war, they have certainly recovered, there were hundreds all over the wetlands.
Tsavo has some signposts, which is more than Selous had, but no real picnic facilities. We visited Aruba Lodge, overlooking Aruba dam, only been open 4 months where we had a quick drink and a look at the dam. Driving around we saw some gerenuks eating trees standing on their hind legs. They look like impala with very long necks. The flocks of queleas were huge and made a whooshing noise as they flew past. We made our way to the Galana River in the northern section and then on to the Manyani Gate where we exited the park with about 45 minutes to spare. Stopped to have coffee and were joined by Winnie, the ranger who booked us out. She even had one of our last Hobnobs!
A couple of kays up the main road we turned off to the Tsavo River Gate to Tsavo West.
We were immediately struck by the difference in the terrain. While East was flattish, West was more mountainous and particularly volcanic. We made our way towards Mzima Springs, which provides Mombasa with its water supply, and found a viewpoint called Roaring Rocks on the way. Looking out over the valley we were treated with a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro peaking out. It dwarfs all the other hills around it and even the slopes of Kili rise above them.
Had a walk around the springs where the water is so clear you can make out the hippos even when submerged. There is a underwater viewing tank but no hippo or crocodile graced us with a look-in, only the fish. We didn't see as much game in West as we had in East and not for lack of trying. Kirk's dik-dik were plentiful and we saw loads of them, I suppose the lions couldn't be bothered to catch them unless looking for a small snack. We also saw fringe-eared oryx, and a dead zebra. Seemed to have died of natural causes and the white-backed and lappet faced vultures were sitting in the tree waiting for someone to open it up. We went straight back to the spot the next morning and obviously someone had obliged as all the vultures were scrapping on the ground and there was no sign of the zebra at all! Campsite in West was pretty open, loos were grimy and we didn't really spend too much time there. Genets and dik diks in the camp made up for the ablutions.
On our last day in West, we presented ourselves at Chyulu Gate to pick up our armed escort to Amboseli. We tried to avoid it but "our security is paramount", so Simon, Kenyan military, popped into the front seat and we made space for Kaz in the back, much to Rebecca's delight. The road in most parts was ok and we made it in fairly good time. It was a good job we hadn't dodged the guard as we'd wanted to as there was a stop near the military outpost where "no guard, no go" and one would have to wait for the next convoy. Stopped for our compulsory coffee spot, much to Simon's bemusement, about 10 kms before the park.
Amboseli Amazing
Dropped Simon off at Ol Tukai lodge, had a quick drink, and then headed off for a drive and saw male and female lions lying in the open in the blazing hot sun surrounded by zebras. Amboseli was flat where Tsavo had been mountainous. It reminded us so much of Botswana, especially Makgadikgadi. All the animals kick up dust as they walk, and boy, did we see animals. Mostly elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra and Thompson's Gazelle. It was nice to see impala, Tommies and Grant's all together. Kili was visible al ot the first day as it was so clear. We saw it briefly the next morning as well as a hot air balloon in the distance. It then clouded over and the picture postcard view was gone and not to return.
We liked Observation Hill which gave a bird's eye view over the swamps and the plains. The elephants and hippos were making trenches through the thick mud almost disappearing from view. Talk about a powerful 4X4 and mud pack all in one!
Bird list now includes a Swahili Sparrow.
Stayed at the Maasai Community campsite which overlooked the park and a very pleasant camp it was too.
We've been cooking on coals for the last while and by now our fresh fruit and veg stocks were almost depleted. Unfortunately time for a shop, in a city. Aaargh!
Bushcats are not citycats, especially not these cities.
Anyway, we plotted a course for Nairobi. The road took us out the north western Mashanani Gate which gave us a pleasant drive north of the very dry lake. It then joined up with the main Tanzania Kenya border road. The road out of the park was awfully corrugated and the main tar road was potholed in parts. About 20 kms from Nairobi, where the Namanga road joins the Mombasa road, there seems to be some work on the road with the result that a new road was being built, but the cars and trucks were using tracks on both sides of the new road. It was an absolute free for all. Kaz was driving at the time and had to get into the swing of the Evel Knievel antics in quick time. Were very glad to be guided to Jungle Junction which was to be our home while we did the visa and shopping bit. JJ is a bit like a backpackers and campsite rolled into one. In fact you just camp on the front lawn in front of the house and you have use of the kitchen and lounge facilities. Nice to chat to some of the longer term campers. An Ozzie couple waiting for a new shock for their motorbike who've been travelling for 3 years, and a SA couple based in London who came down the west coast and are making their way up the east. Noisy spot because of the traffic.
Nasty Nairobi
That's a bit harsh but I can't think of anything else to alliterate at the moment.
Nice shopping centre nearby, The Junction, which has a Nakumatt supermarket, very nice, Nairobi Java House, very nice too, a Mr Price, Nu Metro movies and a Wimpy.
I'm currently sitting in Dorman's, another coffee spot, doing my blog and accessing emails via wi-fi. Very, very nice and so 21st century!
Kaz and Rebecca are shopping and they even take credit cards!!
Our visa applications are in at the Ethiopian Embassy ready to be collected this afternoon. Uganda don't do multiple entry visas so it looks like we are off to Maasai Mara tomorrow. Weather in Nairobi is wet and cold. Hope it's warmer where you are!!
