East Africa

15 September to 8 November 1995

Journal

Friday 15^th September 1995

Leaving Johannesburg at the usual 04h00, I drove north to the Zimbabwe border at Beit Bridge.

As usual I crossed without incident and reached Harare in the late afternoon, camping at Lake McIlwaine just to the west of Harare.

Saturday 16^th September 1995

Leaving soon after sunrise, I headed north-east towards the Mozambican border. This time there was no convoy required so I could drive straight through Tete to Malawi without any problems.

I was able to reach a hotel just outside Blantyre by the late afternoon.

Sunday 17^th September 1995

Again, an early start, and I was driving north up through Lilongwe to the Tanzanian border, which I crossed just before it closed (at about 16h00 - although it was 17h00 on the Tanzanian side). I continued for a few more kilometres, before staying at a basic hotel in Tukuyu.

Monday 18^th September 1995

From Tukuyu I continued north, quickly going into Mbeya to change some money into Tanzanian Shillings. Then I drove east through to Mikumi National Park, where I camped for two nights. It was very expensive, costing US$ 20 per day per person, $ 30 per day per vehicle, and $ 20 for camping - but the campsite had no facilities other a long-drop toilet.

Tuesday 19^th September 1995

I spent the day exploring the park both to the north and south of the main road.

Wednesday 20^th September 1995

Leaving mid-morning, I drove on east and reached Amani in the East Usambara Mountains by late afternoon. It was very cold and misty, so I decided to stay in the old guesthouse there rather than camp.

Thursday 21^st September 1995

I spent the day walking in the forest around Amani, but there were no guides there, and I didn't have enough information to know where to go. I saw quite a lot of birds, but few of the specials, although I did see Amani Sunbird and Green Barbet. I decided that I would have to return sometime in the future to bird this area properly.

Friday 22^nd September 1995

Leaving Amani in the mid-morning (not having seen many more birds), I drove back down what was a very bad road to the bottom, and then continued east to Tanga. From there the road was gravel through to Kenya, where tar resumed again. I drove north to Mombasa, took the ferry across, and continued north to Watamu, where I stayed at Mrs. Simpson's Guesthouse.

Saturday 23^rd September 1995

I spent the day relaxing at the guesthouse, which was on the Indian Ocean.

Sunday 24^th September 1995

Mrs. Simpson provided me with a guide, and between us we found many of the local special birds, but failed on Clarke's Weaver and the Sokoke Scops Owl. We also went down to Mida Creek, where there were plenty of Crab Plover.

Monday 25^th September 1995

In the morning I drove north past Malindi and up to the saltpans further along the coast. Again I saw plenty of birds, although didn't know where to look for the specials of the area.

Tuesday 26^th September 1995

Leaving Mrs. Simpson's Guesthouse, I drove back to Malindi, and then west towards Tsavo East National Park. Entering the park from this side was no problem, and I was able to camp next the Aruba Lodge - although the lodge itself was closed.

Wednesday 27^th September 1995

I spent the whole day exploring the Tsavo East Park, and enjoyed tremendous success in finding new species throughout the day. Some of the specials seen were a pair of Painted Snipe and a Slender-tailed Nightjar. I again camped at the Aruba Lodge.

Thursday 28^th September 1995

In the morning I drove across into the Tsavo West park, starting off in the southern portion around Lake Jipe - though I failed to find Taveta Golden Weaver - probably because they were in eclipse plumage. From there I drove north and camped that afternoon at a lodge that overlooked Mt Kilimanjaro - a fabulous view in the sunset.

Friday 29^th September 1995

I spent the day exploring the northern portion of the Tsavo West Park, and spent some time at the Mzimba Springs. That evening I camped at the Mtito Andei campsite on the extreme northern end of the park.

Saturday 30^th September 1995

Luckily I left the campsite early in the morning. The road through to Nairobi was OK, if very bumpy - there were more repairs than original surface. However, it only took three hours to reach Nairobi - there were many large trucks that were very difficult to overtake. Getting through Nairobi was not too difficult since it was a Sunday, but even so, there was still considerable traffic volumes.

Once out of Nairobi, there was a good road north past Thika and then round to Mt Kenya to Isiolo. I arrived there at about noon, and then continued north for the last 40 km to the Samburu Reserve. This road was the worst I had yet encountered, and it took a full three hours to cover the 40 kilometres to the reserve - one couldn't drive along the road but had to drive beside it - where it was unbelievably dusty. I camped at a campsite on the edge of the river.

Sunday 1^st October 1995

I explored the area to the north of the river, which had a large variety of arid bird species.

Monday 2^nd October 1995

I spent some time along the river, and also drove in the area to the south of the river.

Tuesday 3^rd October 1995

Due to the state of the road, I left the reserve very early, and struggled through the dust to get back to Isiolo. Once there it was an easy drive back up round Mt Kenya, and on reaching Nyeri I bought the necessary entry permit for the Aberdare National Park. Not being able to afford to stay at Treetops, I was going to take the other entrance and then camp. It was quite an easy drive up a dirt road to a plateau near the top, where there was an old building - nowhere to sleep, but just living space.

With amazing skill, I managed to park my vehicle in a spot in the car-park which must have had a massive animal burrow underneath. When I returned to the vehicle after an hour or so, one wheel had sunk in so far I could only just seen the top of the wheel. Since there was nowhere to put the hi-lift jack (it just sank into the mud) I had to be pulled out by one of the park's tractors. I noted that the next day they tipped in three trailer loads of rocks!

This high-level part of the park (at an altitude of around 3 000 metres) was very different to the rest of the park which lies at about 2 000 metres, being cold, wet and misty. However, there were still lions to be found up here, and they were rumoured to be very dangerous - even eating tyres off vehicles. Although I didn't believe the latter, there were certainly quite a few seen over the next day or so.

I camped in the vehicle, and it was quite cold that night - but not below freezing.

Wednesday 4^th October 1995

During the day, I drove down the main road towards Treetops - as far as was allowed. Nonetheless, I was in the forest zone, and found a lot of high-altitude birds, both in the forest and bamboo. The upland areas were covered in heath, where Alpine Chat was common. However, while driving back up to the campsite, my brakes failed - the pipe had come loose off the master cylinder. Neither I or the ranger up there had any spare brake fluid, so I would be forced to go down without brakes.

Thursday 5^th October 1995

Leaving at first light, I headed down the tar road to Naivasha, 1000 metres below. Since I had no brakes at all, the only option was to put the vehicle in first gear low ratio. While this was fine, it was very slow, and on the few straight sections I got out and walked beside the vehicle. After about 4 hours I got down to the bottom of the mountain, and reached the first garage where I could get more brake fluid. There was nothing wrong other than the pipe had come loose, but we had to bleed the brakes.

From there I was able to drive on to Lake Nakuru National Park, where I camped for two nights.

Friday 6^th October 1995

I spent the whole day in the park, and drove right round the lake during the day.

Saturday 7^th October 1995

Leaving Lake Nakuru mid-morning, I was able to reach Lake Baringo by noon, and spent the early afternoon relaxing in the lodge - right next to the campsite. I spent the latter part of the afternoon wandering around the local area, and met up with the local bird guide. He was going to carry out a bird count the next day, and invited me along, so I accepted.

Sunday 8^th October 1995

We started off by working around the lake shore, and then mid-morning took one of the lodge's boats to cover various parts of the lake and check out one of the islands. In the afternoon we went inland to the cliffs, where a whole new set of birds were found. A great day's bird-watching.

Monday 9^th October 1995

Leaving Lake Baringo in the morning, I drove across to Kitale, which involved going down the Rift Valley and back up the other side - a very beautiful place to cross the valley. Driving north from Kitale, I camped just to the south of Saiwa Swamp for two nights.

Tuesday 10^th October 1995

In the morning I went out to the Swamp with their guide and another (amateur) birdwatcher. I left them after an hour as they were spending all their time on tracking down the common birds, and spent the rest of the day finding quite a few of the rarer birds.

Wednesday 11^th October 1995

Leaving the campsite in the morning, I drove north through a very changing environment before reaching the desert near Lodwar. I first tried to visit Ferguson's Gulf, but the lodge there had been closed and abandoned, so I drove back a short way and drove on to Eliye Springs. While all the previous roads had been tar, the last 20 kilometres to the Springs were very sandy, and it took some concentration to reach the lake shore. I camped there for the night.

Thursday 12^th October 1995

Not having seen many birds, I drove back to the Saiwa Swamp campsite.

Friday 13^th October 1995

Leaving the campsite in the morning, I drove south and then west to Uganda, crossing at the Busia border crossing - I was informed that this was a much more friendly crossing point, and had no problems using it. I continued on the good tar road west to Kampala, and then drove south to reach Entebbe in the early afternoon. I was able to camp at the Palm Beach Resort which was right on the lake edge. I spent the afternoon in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens nearby.

Saturday 14^th October 1995

Returning to Kampala in the morning, I drove north up through Masindi, to reach Murchison Falls National Park through the Butiaba entrance. I spent the late afternoon walking around the Paraa campsite - the lodge had been destroyed years before, and there was only a campsite in the area. One of the birds found there was the White-cheeked Oliveback (Nesocharis capistrata).

There was an American family also camping there - they were based in Kampala. They also had some very fancy camping equipment, including a steel-lined cooler-box. Since there wasn't enough room in their tents for everything, they left the cooler box outside that night. In the morning there was little left of it - hyenas had simply ripped it to pieces.

Sunday 15^th October 1995

Starting off at 07h00, I crossed the Nile on the ferry to drive around the northern part of the park with a guide. A very pleasant drive, although not many new species were seen - other than Abyssinian Ground Hornbill. I crossed back over the Nile just after midday. In the afternoon, I joined up with the Americans, and we took the river cruise up to the falls, finding Shoebill on the way. From the river, the falls looked quite impressive, but nothing like the view from above.

Monday 16^th October 1995

In the morning I left Paraa and drove east to reach the falls themselves. These were an incredible sight. When crossing the Nile at Jinja (which is the source of the White Nile), it was about 250 metres wide, and the same below the falls. However the river narrowed to just 5 metres at the falls themselves - the power of the water was quite indescribable - I estimated that although the water was only about 5 metres wide, it must have been close to 30 metres deep! I then headed back and spent a bit of time in the forest area which was - as yet - undeveloped. Also, the road directly back to Masindi was not recommended at this time - it was very rough.

I reached the Busingiro community campsite in the late afternoon. I was able to arrange for a guide the next morning.

Tuesday 17^th October 1995

The guide arrived at sunrise, and we drove the short distance to the Royal Mile - the magnificent forest area just to the north of the campsite. On the way I somehow managed to slip slightly off the road and smashed the front wheel into a log. Amazingly, I dented the rim almost to the edge of the tyre, but the tyre seemed OK, so we continued on (in fact, the tyre never deflated, although I kept it as the spare until I got back to South Africa - and then threw the wheel rim away). We spent the whole morning on the Royal Mile, and saw an incredible number of forest species.

I stayed the night at Busingiro campsite again.

Wednesday 18^th October 1995

Leaving the campsite early in the morning, I drove back through Masindi to the south (the direct road was not viable at this time). The road was in excellent condition, primarily because the local villagers maintained it - if they kept it in good condition, they would have transport. However, the road - being in a very wet area, was very steeply built-up, the crown of the road never being less that one metre above the ditch on either side - so it was critical to remain in the centre of the road at all times.

By midday I had reached Fort Portal, and then went down the escarpment to the west. I reached the Semuliki National Park by about 15h00, but it was very undeveloped, although there was a basic campsite.

Thursday 19^th October 1995

In the morning, one of the rangers took me along a trail into the forest. However, after two kilometres of secondary growth we reached the end of the trail - or more accurately, we reached the workers clearing the trail. It was impossible to go any further as it was too thick. So I never really reached the forest, and abandoned my exploration of the area. With hindsight, there might have been areas one could have explored more, but most of the good areas were not accessible at this time.

In the afternoon I returned up the escarpment, and drove the short distance to the Kabale Forest. There was a nice campsite there, with many Blue Flycatchers around.

Friday 20^th October 1995

I spent the whole day in the forest, in the morning looking for Chimpanzees, which we found several troupes. In the afternoon, many more birds were found.

Saturday 21^st October 1995

I spent a brief time on the forest edge, without a guide (which was required to enter the forest). By mid-morning I was on my way back to Fort Portal, and then headed south to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

I camped near the main lodge, and avoided the other campers - a bunch of Australian overlanders, who were tremendously excited that one of them had bought a goat, and they were working out how to cook it for the evening. I had a very pleasant meal at the lodge.

Sunday 22^nd October 1995

I drove around the northern part of the park, and early on found the very visible Giant Forest Hogs - this being the best place to see them outside of their normal forest habitat. I also found a sign - photographed - that I remembered my parents had also photographed about 30 years earlier "Elephants have the right of way". My version was a bit more rusted than theirs!

It was an enjoyable day, and I was able to track down many species, including Brown-chested Lapwing - which was an early migrant.

Monday 23^rd October 1995

In the morning I took the boat out to the island where they were habituating a group of chimpanzees, and in the afternoon I went on the ferry up the channel between Lakes George and Edward. I also spent time around the channel and - in the end - tracked down the Papyrus Gonolek.

Tuesday 24^th October 1995

Having studied many maps in the park office, I thought that I should be able to find the track that lead south through the park towards Ishasha. The rangers said that it was closed, and impassable, but I decided to take a risk and ignore them - the road wasn't closed for management rreasons - it was simply not maintained.

The track was easy enough to follow from the tar road, and once on it, it was not too tricky to follow. However, I wondered how long I could keep along the track, as it clearly had not been maintained for many years - but after just 10 kilometres, I met a whole pack of graders and bull-dozers. I think they were surprised to see me, but once I managed to drive past them, the road was fabulous - a brand new and unused road.

From Ishasha, I followed the only track, which soon lead me to a main road, which then lead me directly to the Impenetrable Forest - my target. It was a far easier drive than I ever expected. I was quite impressed with this bit of navigation, as I did not have a GPS for this trip. I reached the forest by mid-afternoon, and camped in the community campsite at Buhoma. I was in time to book for the gorilla tracking the next day. They only allowed two groups of 8 to go, and at some times of the year there was a waiting period of several weeks, but in October, there was no problem.

Wednesday 25^th October 1995

Paying US$ 120, I was able to start off on the gorilla tracking. Since it was the wet season, the gorillas were generally fairly sedentary, and the family we went in search of (there were then two habituated families) was seen the previous day quite nearby. After a two hour walk, we found them, and then spent an unforgettable hour with them. They were very relaxed with our presence - perhaps too relaxed, since they were happily climbing up very small branches (often less than an inch thick) almost above us. There was one brief scare when one branch snapped, but the gorilla (a female) managed to grab another, and didn't fall on us - we were literally underneath them (they had climbed over us, and the guide didn't want us to move at that point).

Few of us got any photos as it was very dark in the undergrowth, and very soon afterwards it rained, and those without plenty of waterproof bags lost their camera equipment (at least two video cameras of others died on this walk).

Thursday 26^th October 1995

In the morning I went out with the most bird-experienced guide, and he wasn't at all bad. We found quite a lot of the birds during the morning, but I felt that I was running out of time, and so didn't stay longer. At the time I was unaware that I should also have visited Ruhija at the higher elevation in the forest.

I left in the late morning, and drove east to Kibale before heading north-east to Lake Mburo National Park. This was a very pleasant place to camp, and again was good for birding - although I didn't see one of the special species (being unaware that the Red-faced Barbet was so special).

Friday 27^th October 1995

I spent the whole day exploring the national park.

Saturday 28^th October 1995

Leaving the park in the morning, I returned to Kampala and headed south to Entebbe, this time camping next to the hotel on the edge of the Entebbe Botanical Gardens. I spent the late afternoon in the gardens

Sunday 29^th October 1995

After an early morning walk through the gardens, I left and drove east through Jijiga where I went to view the "source" of the White Nile - the real source into Lake Victoria is always contentious, but the outlet from Lake Victoria is unmistakable - a river over 250 metres wide!

I then passed back through the Busia border into Kenya, and headed south-east towards Kakamega, although I went too far south before finally finding the right road. Once near the town I was directed along some back roads to reach an old double-storey wooden structure, where various other visitors slept above, there was plenty of room for me to camp underneath.

Monday 30^th October 1995

For the whole day I went out with a guide and explored various parts of the forest, seeing a wide variety of birds. Brown-chested Alethe were especially common around the building, and Blue-breasted Bee-eaters were also seen.

Tuesday 31^st October 1995

I didn't bird in the morning but rather left to drive south to the Masai Mara Reserve. Most of the roads were good tar, but after I reached a point close to the Tanzanian border and headed east, the road quickly deteriorated. I continued east towards the Masai Mara, but the road conditions continued to deteriorate. I was later to discover that the first rains of the season had fallen a day before. As a result, this road would not be used again for several months - but I continued unaware. After having to make more and more extensive detours to avoid serious bogs, I lost all sign of the road, and just wandered in what I hoped was the right direction (I didn't have any GPS at this time). It started raining heavily, and I wondered whether I would ever find anything or anyone that would tell me where I was.

After about an hour I reached an airstrip, and was then able to follow the track from there to reach a lodge located on the western escarpment of the Masai. Having found the lodge, they were able to direct me on to the main road into the reserve. I had to then head back out to the gate so I could pay my entry fee (somehow I had got in missing all the gates).

Once legally in the park, I headed to the only campsite, which was near one of the lodges - but was simply some rocky ground set aside for camping, there were no facilities at all. However, it was close enough to a lodge that one could walk there (about 500m), so I was able to get a shower and drink quite easily. Obviously if you are going to do this, you need to have a decent torch, as the walk back in the dark can be unnerving without one - there is plenty of wildlife that can be encountered in a 500 metre walk through the reserve.

Wednesday 1^st November 1995

During the day I wandered over many areas of the park - there seemed to be no restriction on where one drove, with tour operators driving anywhere they felt like - which clearly damaged the bush, but the authorities didn't seem to care. I found one fruiting fig tree on the edge of the Mara river and spent some time bird-watching there, and then heard a considerable noise nearby. On investigation I found that a large herd of Wildebeest were migrating, and had the opportunity to watch it on foot - an amazing sight, and I was surprised to see quite a large number of dead animals left in the river - they had been trampled in the stampede. The crocodiles and vultures then had a feast.

I spent another night at the campsite.

Thursday 2^nd November 1995

In the morning I tried to see if I could cross the border into Tanzania, but was told that I would first have to visit Nairobi and pass through Immigration and Customs there before trying. So I had no choice to go the long way round through Nairobi on the main road.

The road from the reserve back to Narok was amazing. No tour operators would take their tourists along it - they flew the 200 km from Nairobi to Masai Mara. The road was so dreadful that one could actually lose sight of vehicles as they went through the potholes! My Landrover did not enjoy the experience, and one of the front springs broke. After that I had to crawl along the road until I reached Nairobi, where I found a Landrover garage that would fix it - but only in the morning (it was around 16h00 by then anyway) so I stayed in a hotel near the city centre.

Friday 3^rd November 1995

It didn't take too long to replace the broken spring, and I was off again. From Nairobi I drove south through Athi to the Namanga border post, and continued on south to Arusha in Tanzania. At this point, I turned west towards the Ngorongoro conservation area. While on the tar road, everything was fine, but once I got onto the (very bad) dirt road, the suspension wasn't happy. Given the success of the trip to date, I decided to give this part of the trip a miss, and returned to Arusha, where I stayed at the Masai Campsite - an excellent campsite on the old Moshi road.

Saturday 4^th November 1995

Leaving the Masai camp first thing in the morning, I was able to reach Mikumi before dark. Rather than spend US$ 70 to camp in the National Park, I visited the lodge in the park, and found that one could stay there for about $25, and no park entry fees.

Sunday 5^th November 1995

Leaving the lodge early in the morning, I was able to return the way I came back to Malawi. However, I couldn't drive that far, and so stayed at the Government Rest House in Mzuzu. These rest houses are very cheap, and although fairly basic, do provide a bed, shower and basic food.

Monday 6^th November 1995

Leaving Mzuzu, it was an easy drive south to reach Blantyre by the late afternoon, where I stayed in the same hotel as I visited on my way north.

Tuesday 7^th November 1995

Leaving straight after breakfast, I was able to pass through the border and the Tete corridor very easily. I experienced no problems en route.

By noon I had reached the Zimbabwe border, and was able to quickly drive south-west to reach Harare in the late afternoon. I decided to continue till sunset, and reached Denise's Kitchen.

Wednesday 8^th November 1995

Again, leaving early in the morning, I was able to pass through Beit Bridge in the early afternoon, and reached Johannesburg around sunset.