Days 42-46: 19-23 October 2006

Okavango Delta, Botswana, to Wolwedans, Namibia

Only two days to Cape Town! We are in Wolwedans, an unbelievably nice farm just south of the Sossusvlei Dunes in Namibia. A long and extremely interesting journey is coming to an end, with the past few days packed as full of impressions as ever. From the first rains of the Okavango Delta, we found ourselves back in the mega heat of the desert at Serra Cafema in the Hartmann Valley of northern Namibia... continue reading
 

Days 37-41: 10-14 October 2006

From Vamisi to Ilha de Mozambique, Luangwa, the Kalahari and Botswana"s Okavango Delta

The diversity of Africa is so impressive. Those desolate deserts in Egypt and Sudan, the fertile mountain areas of Ethiopia, the vastness of the Serengeti and Maasai Mara, the salt lakes of Kenya, and now the coast of the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. It really is a great privilege and a very special experience to travel Africa this way, but even eight weeks pass by quickly and we often feel so rushed. I"m certainly not ungrateful, but one or two days is not enough to get to know a country. Anyway, it is enough to get a first impression... continue reading
 

Days 33-36: 6-9 October 2006

Greystoke Mahale, Tanzania to Vamizi Island, Mozambique

 
This time the chimpanzees didn"t lavish us with kindness. I have been to Mahale twice before and each time the chimpanzees showed up immediately. Sure, you have to wander around a while, just like in Uganda, but usually the trackers start very early in the morning and by breakfast they have already found the chimps and informed you via walky-talky where they are that day.But this time it was not meant to be. On both days, the trackers heard the chimpanzees and glimpsed them briefly, but the animals had climbed so far up into the mountains that you could hardly spot them in the depths of the rainforest or even get anywhere near to them. We hoped they might come down again within the next few hours, but as I said before, it was not meant to be. We enjoyed Greystoke Camp nevertheless... continue reading
 

Days 30-32: 3-5 October 2006

Sasakwa, Serengeti, Tanzania to Greystoke, Mahale Mountains, Tanzania

The break felt very good. The three days we spent in Sasakwa gave us time to relax and catch up with all kinds of things. Most importantly, the helicopter was given a thorough check-up. Franco, our technician, took almost six hours to oil all the necessary parts and check that nothing had come loose or been damaged in any way. So far, the helicopter has proved to be utterly reliable and we haven"t had a single problem. (Touch wood!) It"s due for its 100-hour service soon, at which point Franco will take a full 2-3 days to work on it... continue reading
 

Days 28-29: 1-2 October 2006

Chyulu Hills, Kenya, to Lake Natron, Tanzania

Today we crossed the border to Tanzania, but unfortunately you can"t simply do this the most direct way in a plane or helicopter. Camp Ya Kanzi, where we stayed, is very close to the Tanzanian border, and the closest airport, Kilimanjaro Airport, which is situated slightly south of the mountain, is only 15 to 20 minutes away by helicopter. However, according to law, you have to leave the country via an international airport, so we had to fly back to Nairobi. Unfortunately too, Nairobi is in quite the opposite direction and we had to fly almost an hour northwards and then a good hour southwards later. Planes do not have other options, but one would think that with a helicopter you could simply fly to the border post, where cars pass through all the time, land, get your passport stamped and be on your way again... continue reading
 

Days 25-27: 28-30 September 2006

Maasai Mara to Chyulu Hills, Kenya

Days 23-24: 26-27 September 2006

Virunga Mountains and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda

 
Another early wake-up call. At 5am someone quietly knocked at our door. It was still pitch-dark, as sunrise is only at 7am. On the small terrace, there was hot water for tea - a necessity as, at this altitude of 2 400m, it gets very cold at night, despite the fact that we are close to the equator.Even the hot shower we had ordered the night before was waiting for us: a bucket suspended two metres above the floor with a showerhead attached. It provided hot water for a couple of minutes...
We wanted to go and see the mountain gorillas, but visits to these wonderful creatures are not that easy. Each group of gorillas can only be visited by eight tourists, and for no longer than one hour each day. As there are eight of us in our group, and the permits are often sold out in advance, we could only get permits for the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, 2 ½ hours away by Land Rover... continue reading
 

Days 21-22: 24-25 September 2006

Lake Turkana, Kenya to Kisoro, Uganda

On Sunday, after a day"s break at Wolfgang"s Oasis Lodge, we left Lake Turkana and headed south, passing the volcano as we flew to Nanyuki. As we had indulged in quite a bit of sightseeing on the way, we had to stop twice to refuel. Even before we"d left Lake Turkana, we had been short of fuel and had had to take some from the tanks of the Cessna Caravan support plane.
Our first refueling stop was in the middle of the desert, close to Lake Logipi. As there was no airstrip anywhere within range, we simply landed both the chopper and the Caravan in the middle of a vast flat area. There was nothing around us for miles. This was actually a good thing, as the soft ground made it difficult for the Caravan to speed up and get airborne, and she required more than 2 km for the take-off. To put this in context: she usually makes it within 700 m, even fully laden and filled with fuel. It could all have gone so wrong... continue reading