Nairobi, also known as Nairobbery (and for a very good reason Anthony!), gave us a chance to catch up on post, washing, passport applications and, more importantly, good pizza and cinema. Most of us took the opportunity to visit the Langata Giraffe Centre where we could feed giraffe and be scared by Big Jock, the huge male. David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was also a popular place to visit, here rescued rhino and elephant are reared on site. A truck meal took place at Carnivores, a meat eater's haven, where we got the chance to sample zebra, ostrich, hartebeast, impala meatballs and crocodile before hitting the dance floor and adult adventure playground.
From Nairobi it was onto Tanzania and Snake Park near Arusha, the campsite that houses an array of unfriendly reptiles (thankfully behind glass!). From Snake Park 4x4s were arranged for a 2 day trip to the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. The game viewing was spectacular. For some the wilderbeast migration was the highlight, for others a rare spotting of a cheetah. The sight of lions mating put a smile on most faces.
South to Dar Es Salaam and from here we caught an early morning ferry to the beautiful island of Zanzibar. We spread ourselves about the island, some choosing to spend time in 5 star all inclusive luxury, some exploring historic Stonetown and most lounging on the northern beach of Nungwi dragging ourselves out of the sun only to scuba dive in the crystal clear turquoise water.
The northern shore of Lake Malawi was our next stop. From Chitimba we headed along the lake, south, to Kande Beach where we once again lounged in the sun and went scuba diving. A few of the guys went on a horse ride, which ended in them riding the horses in the lake as a cool down.
From Malawi we drove through the northern tip of Mozambique into Zimbabwe. Our first couple of days were spent in Harare at The Rocks campsite, so called because it has big rocks which are very easy to fall off! The favorite haunt in Harare was the cinema, films could be seen for the bargain price of 30p!
Antelope Park, a breeding center for lions located between Harare and Bulawayo, gave us a rare opportunity to walk with lions and cuddle 2 month old cubs. Two groups of lions, one group of cute cubs aged 4 months and one group of big scary adolescents aged 12 months, are walked twice daily. Elephant and horseback safaris were popular too and the night safari was fun if a little lacking in action. Our stay at the park was rounded off with a game of football with the elephants.
Clambering around Zimbabwe Ruins was interesting but not as much fun as shopping at the curio market just outside. Trading was rife, the prize going to Kerry for trading half a tube of toothpaste for a stone statue.
West to Bulawayo where Paul and Anthony watched an African Champions League football match between Esperance of Tunisia and Highlanders of Botswana. They were among 65,000 local people and the only whites in the ground, well apart from the Tunisian team. From Bulawayo we caught the overnight sleeper train to Victoria Falls. The train station reminded us of old WWI movies where the girl waves tearfully goodbye to the hero, the train looked like it was from an era way before that. Stories of signal failures and recent train crashes did nothing to stop us having fun in our four berth, gray leatherette bunk bed cabins with en suite leaking sink.
We arrived safely in Victoria Falls ready to take part in an action packed 4 days. Victoria Falls is an adrenalin freaks paradise. The nutters among us bungee jumped 111 metres off the Zambezi bridge, gorge swung, high wired, abseiled and rap jumped. The less daring went for microlight and helicopter rides over the falls and the more sedate went on a horse riding safari and played golf (well ok, there were crocodiles in the water holes of the golf course which presented an element of danger). The water level of the falls was the highest it had ever been and so white water rafting was unavailable to us, however, the huge volume of water made the falls look spectacular and the spray totally soaked us. On the Sunset Cruise along the Zambezi (aka Booze Cruise) we drank the bar dry of beer. Most of us learnt that drinking locally brewed, cane derived, Jungle Juice is something best left to the locals and that trying to aim a coin into a glass of water from your bum cheeks is nigh on impossible.
From Victoria Falls we headed into Botswana and to the Okavango Delta. Here we spent time traveling by mokoro (dugout canoe) along narrow waterways - very relaxing. We went on long foot safaris in the national park and saw large groups of giraffe and elephant. Swimming in the delta was amusing, after being poled in a mokoro 100 metres from camp we were presented with a slightly wider section of the narrow channel and invited to paddle in 5 inches of water. Matt, Fred and H showed off their angling skills by catching cat fish for tea.
Cheers for now the Oasis Crew
Talk to you soon - Andi & Co.
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