Kenya to Uganda

Mighty Maasai Mara

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.