September 23 - October 1, 2013
Nairobi and the Westgate siege
We arrived in Nairobi on Friday the 20th and had our first truly wet few days. Luckily we had decided to upgrade, even though the room on the first night left quite a bit to be desired. We were very happy to be dry though.
The Saturday we spent at the shopping mall near the campsite due to the free WiFi, and as we were sitting in the food court updating Facebook and our friends and family on our whereabouts, we watched on the installed TV the horrific terrorist attack that was taking place at the Westgate shopping mall just ten kilometers down the road. We would later learn that over sixty people were killed and more than one hundred injured. The tragedy left a somber mood on the new group but we were all grateful to be leaving Nairobi safely on Sunday morning for the Masai Mara.
We arrived in Nairobi on Friday the 20th and had our first truly wet few days. Luckily we had decided to upgrade, even though the room on the first night left quite a bit to be desired. We were very happy to be dry though.
The Saturday we spent at the shopping mall near the campsite due to the free WiFi, and as we were sitting in the food court updating Facebook and our friends and family on our whereabouts, we watched on the installed TV the horrific terrorist attack that was taking place at the Westgate shopping mall just ten kilometers down the road. We would later learn that over sixty people were killed and more than one hundred injured. The tragedy left a somber mood on the new group but we were all grateful to be leaving Nairobi safely on Sunday morning for the Masai Mara.
Masai Mara
We were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a static tent in the Mara! We even enjoyed a beer on our "front porch". Although the park is much smaller than the Serengeti, we saw lots of zebras, buffalo, antelope, gazelles, and lions. The migration was still in the Mara and the baby animals were active: jackals chasing each other, antelope discovering the joy of running, and zebras staying close to their mothers. We stopped for lunch along the banks of a river and saw the chubbiest baby hippos :) The highlight was finally seeing the elusive eland!!
We were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a static tent in the Mara! We even enjoyed a beer on our "front porch". Although the park is much smaller than the Serengeti, we saw lots of zebras, buffalo, antelope, gazelles, and lions. The migration was still in the Mara and the baby animals were active: jackals chasing each other, antelope discovering the joy of running, and zebras staying close to their mothers. We stopped for lunch along the banks of a river and saw the chubbiest baby hippos :) The highlight was finally seeing the elusive eland!!
Lake Bunyonyi, Rwanda, and Gorilla Trekking
The long drive to Lake Bunyonyi was totally worth it! It was a little rainy but we spent the majority of our nights in a cabin with a comfy bed and hot shower. Our first day we actually took off again to Rwanda to see the Nyamata Church, Hotel des Milles Collines (aka Hotel Rwanda), and the Genocide Museum. It was a melancholy but very interesting day, and it was nice to see how far this beautiful country has come in just twenty years. The countryside is green and Kigali is very clean. They even have a monthly Umuganda, or compulsory community service day, to cleanup the city.
The long drive to Lake Bunyonyi was totally worth it! It was a little rainy but we spent the majority of our nights in a cabin with a comfy bed and hot shower. Our first day we actually took off again to Rwanda to see the Nyamata Church, Hotel des Milles Collines (aka Hotel Rwanda), and the Genocide Museum. It was a melancholy but very interesting day, and it was nice to see how far this beautiful country has come in just twenty years. The countryside is green and Kigali is very clean. They even have a monthly Umuganda, or compulsory community service day, to cleanup the city.
The following day we went gorilla trekking in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Amazing!!! Gorilla trekking is a conservation effort between the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme to save the Eastern Mountain Gorilla population that is threatened by snares set for other animals. The program works with the Nkuringo Village to promote education and local participation in the efforts. We visited the Busingye family which turned out to be quite close to the entrance. The gorillas were beautiful and calm, and although we tried to keep our distance, they had no problem walking right past us. They mostly lounged in the bushes eating plants. We heard the silverback more than we saw him because he had really bad gas. Gorillas were by far the best part of our African over landing experience!
Our last day we relaxed at Lake Bunyonyi. The scenery was majestic and perfect for a lazy day. Unfortunately on our way back to Kampala the leaf spring on our truck snapped and we were stranded for ten hours. We arrived late at the Red Chili Hideaway in Kampala and dropped out early from the trip to fly back to Johannesburg for cousin Vinny and Lauren's wedding :)
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