Day 26 & 27 – en route to Kenya

After much debating we decided to stay an extra day at Kijereshi as we were only due up at Masai Mara on the 15th (tomorrow being the 13th) and Ernest felt nervous about trying to bush camp in Kenya close to the Masai Mara.  The area is very heavily populated and he couldn't remember any places that he would feel safe about bush camping at and we would have two days to fill in with bush camping... I remembered the area quite well and there were plenty of places to camp but when my husband gets stubborn he gets really stubborn. My logic on the whole thing was that we should get as close to the Masai Mara as possible as we didn't want to waste any of our day in the park with traveling and getting there late was just the worst thing that could happen. But to save the feet stamping fits when I don't get my own way, I decided for the good of all, to back down and stay put... Who cares anyway, it was a great place to spend another day. 

We didn't want to go back into the Serengeti for the day as the cost was just too exorbitant and we had seen just about all we could on the two days that we went in.... Actually I think there could have been much more but we were all very happy with what we had experienced and looked forward to a day of no driving. We have done approximately 6000 kms and a day of no bouncing around on terrible roads would make a great change.

‘The Queen’ was pretty clean as we hadn't moved her for two days so while everyone else did their car cleaning Ernest and I sat and watched with our feet up....wonderful!

The pool at the lodge is just fantastic and although we have been pretty lucky with the weather - not too hot, it was warm enough to sit around the pool without getting baked. We have also had a thunder storm every afternoon, apparently very early rains, so the guys here were pleased and said it would bring the wildebeests back earlier than usual.

Oh yes I need to make a few corrections on some earlier stuff. What I called a Tsessebe is actually a Topi and the zebras are just standard zebras - the Grevy zebras are only seen at Samburu.  I needed to get that in just in case someone who reads the blog knows that I wasn't quite accurate.

It was also a great opportunity to do some bird watching, I do so love birds, it is so rewarding to see some new birds and at times I find it even more rewarding than game watching. There is always something new and exciting to see. Kim is also an avid bird watcher so we spent some time with the binocs glued to our eyes.

We had spoken to one of the drivers that were transporting other guests and he told us of a camp site just before the border between Tanzania and Kenya on Lake Victoria so we had decided to pack up the next day and head for the lake again.

So next day we did a slow pack up and set off for this new campsite on the lake in a town called Musawa. We had no idea of the name of the campsite but he assured us there was one there.

It was only 160 kilometers away so there was no need to rush. After a leisurely breakfast we paid the bill, had a swim, nearly stood on a snake, which literarily went between my legs while I was walking down the path, and eventually we had a Royal send off from the staff who had been so good to us and had all spent quite a bit of time looking over the truck, shaking their heads an clicking their tongues especially at the kitchen and all the chili sauces that we seem to have accumulated since leaving SA.

The drive up was so different from what we have seen before in Zambia and Tanzania.  The road was excellent, probably the best one we have driven on so far. The people are far more productive, the country side green and obviously very fertile with lots of small but productive farming units growing everything from vegetables to corn to Kasava and sugarcane. There are bananas everywhere and you see guys on bicycles carrying a few huge bunches at time... They look like a traveling banana.The little towns along the way are full of motorbikes, there seem to be even more than bicycles and there are workshops in the towns that are crammed full of bikes being repaired. You see all sorts of guys running their own little businesses from welding, to furniture making to vendors with little stores selling their fresh produce - just much more orderly!  One guy was a traveling souse with everything on his back from sun glasses to face cloths to hats to toothbrushes.

The campsite which we eventually found was really great, there was another overland truck with a load full of Hollanders and another group of Chinese people, who have the most incredible photographic equipment that Steve and Ken were drooling about. There was even a little beach with beautiful trees and “sea sand“ all be it a little course and a little dirty. We were tempted to swim but the water was quite choppy and a little dirty and as there are rumors of bilharzia, we just looked at the water and enjoyed the view of the lake which really is very pretty.

We couldn't really fit into the site so we were in the semi "parking lot " but it was just a one night stop over for us so we didn't care where we were as long as we were secure and level... It is awful being on a slope as you are either standing on your head all night or slipping down in a ball at the bottom of the tent.

 

Next morning up bright and early and off to the border post and then on to Kenya. We got through the Tanzania side in all on ten minutes. There was an official who guided us, assisted us to fill in the forms and the actual building was neat, clean and tidy... What a pleasure. We sailed through to the other side thinking it was all going to be a breeze. Well we hit the most chaotic, upside down border post I think we have ever been in. There are touts that grab you as you arrive and try to convince you that you need their help. This we try to avoid as it always end up with someone bribing someone. We eventually found the Immigrations officer down some dingy little passage way. And ZIP we were through in a flash.......then came customs and insurance. Oh dear we just lost all the time we thought we had gained. The customs was in a little room with one very bad tempered lady behind the computer who obviously either got out on the wrong side of bed, couldn't operate the computer or had a fight with her husband this morning. She kept shouting and telling us to move to one side or to the other side, “give me your papers” then would throw them back and say " what is the capacity of the car" when we told her she would say " where, where do you see that" there must have been a backlog of 5 or 6 people and nobody was going anywhere. It's at these times that you want to either giggle like school kids or just cry. On top of this the insurance guys, all obviously private operators, unlike Zambia and Tanzania were touting for our business, grabbing the car papers and trying to drag us out the office to go buy insurance. Ernest kept saying not to let him take the papers and there was a bit of a tug of war over them. When I describe it now it sounds very funny but at the time it wasn't I can assure you. We eventually got out of the customs office, got persuaded to walk through the border post down the road, down a little alley to the third party insurance guys who insisted that we had to buy $130 worth of insurance for one month in Kenya. The more I tried to argue that it was not a commercial vehicle and that there were only two people in the car, the more stubborn they got. So eventually we paid the $130 and left Kim and Ken to do their arguing.

So after leaving at the crack of dawn, driving 20 kilometers, we eventually pulled out of the border post at 10.30

Now I knew that we were running late... But I refrained from saying I told you so.... It would not have gone down very well at this point. And we had about 70 kilometers to do so we should still make it early enough in the day to enjoy a game drive in the afternoon.

We were headed for Mara Toto and Nara Plains, our one little bit of luxury on the trip and didn't want to miss one minute of our time there.

Oh boy then came a very strange kind of noise in the car... Something had broken. We switched off very quickly and called "help". Steve came rushing over to see what was wrong with his "baby"  (he really loves this hippo like it was a baby). Oh dear the extra alternator fan belt had broken. Bad news as now the extra batteries for the fridges wouldn't charge up so quickly and because the vehicles were about to stand for two days that might be a problem. We would have to run the engine during the day for a while... Oh my gosh that was mild compared to what our imaginations had conjured up so all smiles and we set off again. I then managed to get the office to phone Stella at the camp to tell her when to expect us. The message came back that from where we were it would take us another 4 hours...... 4 hours you must be mad, don't they know Ernest is a racing driver!!!  Again, famous last words. The road just got worse and worse and with every 10 minutes of hell I was about to blurt out "I told you so" but my kids will be very proud of me and I just counted to ten every time I got the urge.

 We went through one village on this most terrible road and low and behold there was a boom across the road. We hooted for them to lift it but out of a little hut came this very official looking mama in a blue overall who took out her little book and said 300 shillings please. Now blue smoke was starting to come out of Ernest ears... For what? For toll she said. Oh hell the worst road in Africa and they wanted us to pay a toll! Anyway after much arguing and Ken and Steve and Kim on the radio saying to Ernest "don't pay just push it down and drive on", we decided 300 was better than jail so we pulled out our three hundred. She then went to the next car ... 300 shilling. So Kim got money from us as he had no change and she started writing the receipt for him. In the meantime Ernest was hooting for her to lift the boom, but she refused and went to Ken. Now it stared to become a circus with Ernest with his hand flat on the hooter and two cars behind Ken also hooting. Ernest then got out the truck and went to open the boom himself she then ran back with Ken's 1000 shillings in her hand to try and stop him from opening the boom - the two of them pulling and pushing on this very old piece of string. In the mean time the other two cars behind Ken passed us all and just slipped through the gate as soon as it was opened and waved to the mama, with her shouting a greeting back at them. This toll was obviously just for foreigners and a way for the village to get some money.

This torturous road lasted for about another hour of driving and then suddenly it miraculously improved and we picked up speed and away we sped on to our destination. Where we were to meet our guide from Mara Toto at 1pm at the Mara gate and even after our slow start we made it to the gates by one thirty - only half an hour late.

Our three days of pure luxury began!