T.I.A.

East Africa

I was in East Africa for almost 6 weeks: 

6 - 23 Jun: Tanzania

24 - 3 Jul: Kenya

4 - 10 Jul: Uganda

8 Jul: Rwanda

11 - 16 Jul: Kenya

During this period, I was most fortunate to be able to:

- climb Kilimanjaro

- visit very beautiful nature reserves and learn about animals

Sunset at West Serengeti

- pass by beautiful countryside

Rwanda

Uganda

- go gorilla trekking and visit 11 silverbacks in their natural habitat (only 700 gorillas live in the wild)

- camp next to the source of the White Nile in Uganda

- cross the equator in a town called Equator

Having lunch on the South of Equator

- learn about how useless the United Nations were with regards to genocide in Rwanda 

Kigali Genocide Museum

- meet some wonderful travel companions

Hesbon, Jane, John, Nick, Lorna, Aimee, Derek, Lizzie, Qiujie, Brad, Natalie, Nicole

Martin

FAQ on where I have been

Yes. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are beautiful countries.

No. The land is not always bare. There are beautiful coffee, tea, banana and sugar cane plantations.

Yes. There are people who have too much nutrition in them. They pay others to walk their horses and dogs. The school bus drivers of their children wear coats.

No. The streets are not full of beggars. Only 1 boy had asked me for money. There were a handful of people who had lost their limbs begging along the road in Rwanda.

No. Not everyone is a long distance runner. (Refer to people with too much nutrition.)

Yes. Many people in the service industries speak English (English is taught in schools) and drive on the left side of the road except for Rwanda, whose people drive on the wrong side of the road and speak French more commonly. Swahili is most welcomed in Tanzania and Kenya and Uganda has too many dialects that I could not pick up in time.

Yes. There can be many Beemers and Mercs on the road and there are sometimes more cars than carpark lots.

Yes. There are toilets and there are toilets. Generally, I am thankful for a toilet with a door. Tissue papers, flushing system and taps to wash hands add to the star-rating.

Yes. People still build their own houses out of clay, dung, branches and leaves.

Yes. There are also houses with high fences, barbed wires and armed security.

Yes. There are very interesting advertisements.

Yes. The time spent in East Africa was AWESOME and I felt safe, even when I walked on the road alone. I cannot wait to come back to Africa again.

T.I.A. This is Africa

Steve sums it up best

Safari : Random stuff

I had a great time at the nature parks and reserves in Africa. Initially, I thought I would be bored by Day 2 of a 6-day safari, seeing the same animals again and again. Sure, the baboons do not rate any more after the first day but it was AMAZING watching the animals in their natural habitat, oblivious to us, humans, the invaders, our presence. The behaviours of some of the animals differ from place to place too. There is always something interesting and fascinating.

What have the animals taught me? 

For one, do not be narrow-minded and run in one direction mindlessly like a zebra or a wildebeest. For some reasons, zebras and wildebeests do not turn left or right when followed by a vehicle. It was really funny watching them run frantically forward when we followed behind slowly (yes, it is really mean of me). In life, I guess we have to learn how to change direction once in a while or turn around and confront. Time for me to pick up boxing. Dodge left. Duck right.

Run, baby, run

From the topi, I learn that vigilance is all it takes when you are alone. The topi, facing 2 lions, only had to show them that it knew of their presence. It did not even have to run (although it does help to have horns). The lions just went away. Great tip for the lone traveller to deter potential attackers.

Red alert

What are my favourite animals from the safari?

Favourite bird: A nameless bird (maybe it was a comec, I am not sure). It is small. Instead of flapping its wings, it skipped a little and propelled itself upwards in a trajectory motion with the aid of the wind. Very “Angry Bird” like. Too cute.

Favourite animal: The male lion for being sweet 

and the giraffe for everything I am not – gentle, graceful, tall.

Tips and considerations for safaris

1. Enquire the qualification of the guide. Experience on the field matters. There are professional examinations for guides who went through courses on the geography, flora and fauna of the reserves.

2. Ask about the mode of transport. Open-top 4X4 are better vehicles in the reserves. It is also better to have radios on car because guides do share notes (such as where a leopard has been spotted) on the air.

3. If you have a favourite or just want to concentrate on certain animals, let your guide know so that he can focus on those animals (be it asking fellow guides/ drivers or bringing your to the usual spots were those animals appear). The parks have opening hours. There is no point driving around the huge parks and pointing out animals you do not want to see.

4. Bring you super gigantic camera lenses. There is no need to be shy about them. Everyone uses them. 

5. Wear anything you want. Most safari companies would have advised "avoid brightly coloured clothes, they may alarm the animals. Browns, beiges and khaki are preferred." I think I can understand the wide breamed hat, white shirt and beige safari pant and the camera man vest (although I do not think that white is very practical, given the dusty roads.)

But isn't this just too much:

What next? Leopard prints tomorrow? (Or am I being too mean again?)

Honestly, I think the animals will not care if you wear a pink shirt with purple polka dots and the Kylie Minogue gold hotpants – you will be well hidden in the vehicle. Why safari companies advise visitors to wear the safari garb, I do not know. The only place you will get down to walk is probably in the carpark of the tourist information centre or that of your hotel. So just wear something comfortable, have something for the cold mornings and get ready for the mosquitoes and insects in the evenings.

Animals

Spot the animal

First of all, I would like to explain that the nature reserves/ parks in Africa are huge (some are bigger than Singapore). Animals are also camouflaged. It does not help that lions like long grass and leopards hide in trees. It is therefore, quite a task, to spot some of these animals.

Let's use this as an example - try spot the animal in this picture:

Picture taken from vehicle, without zoom

Try again:

Here it is:

No idea what it is? It is a leopard:

Leopard, Serengeti

Let's try another one - spot the animal:

Here it is, right in front of my 4x4, staring at me:

Baby lion, Serengeti

A guide's work in this part of the world is not easy; much worse for a guide/driver who needs to drive and spot animals from the driver's seat (obviously not as ideal as compared to standing up and seeing afar).

This is a totally irresponsible entry on the animals that my guides worked hard for. (Irresponsible on my part because I had not verified what I have learnt against books. They probably told me 9,999 facts but I could only remember 1%.)

Big 5

The 'Big 5' of a safari are leopard, lion, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. Funnily enough, it is a term coined by hunters (and not safari operators), and refers to the difficulty in bagging these large animals, mostly due to their ferocity when cornered and shot at. The value of these animals for its skin/ horns/ tusks also counts.

Big 5

So, let's start with the Big 5. [I am writing down the Swahili names so that I will remember. Same thing withe the collective nouns. Njunge tested me on the collective nouns and everything was 'herd' for me and of course I failed miserably. Apologies to my primary school teachers!]

Leopard (Swahili: Chui) [Collective noun: Leap]

A large spotted cat with short powerful limbs and retractable nails (hence it is able to climb trees while a cheetah cannot). Hides its kills in trees to prevent lions and hyenas from taking its food.

The leopard in the earlier photographs disappeared for a while. We heard some movements in the grass and very soon, it climbed up the tree with its kill (sorry for the lousy picture quality as I was busy looking through a binoculars):

Martin spotted this carcass on a tree at West Serengeti. The tree was just beside the road and we sat there for an hour each day for 3 days (after driving 3 hours to and fro each time) and failed to see the leopard come back for the kill.

Leopard's kill hidden in the tree

The 4x4s next to mine, looking at the leopard

The trick to spotting leopards in a safari? Look for the circus (The leopard trumps over most of the other animals, including the lion. All drivers will drop the lion immediately and drive like F1 drivers to the leopards.), the vultures in the trees nearby (which means that they have seen a kill) and the telling tail from a tree (leopards normally live on trees with short, big trunks).

Lion (Swahili: Simba) [Collective noun: Pride]

A very large cat. Tail long with black tassel at tip. Mates over 7 days without food. 

We saw this pair mating under a tree next to the road in Serengeti (the poor things were surrounded by paparazzi too):  

I suggested to Martin (jokingly, of course) that we could lure the lions nearer to our 4x4 with the chicken drumsticks from our lunch box. Martin told me in all seriousness that the lions do not eat when they mate. 

The other interesting lion spotting was also of a pair, possibly after their 'honeymoon', in Masai Mara Reserve. They walked towards our van and set my pulse racing.

The male walked passed our van on the right and crouched.

The female passed us on our left and positioned itself. 

This was why. And they did not even have to communicate. Can you see the lion's muscles, all tensed up? 

I could probably go on and on about the lions we saw. This one is special because is was the last one I saw in any safari AND I spotted it, before anyone else (first time I spotted something of significance):

Lion, Masai Mara

Awwwwww, isn't she cute?

Elephant (Swahili: Ndovu or tembo) [Collective noun: Herd/ memory]

Granny knows best in the elephant family. The matriarch will decide where to go, when to eat and how to react in danger.

We saw a herd of more than 20 elephants in Serengeti:

One of them playfully approached the 4x4 in next to us and gave the passengers a huge scare (they screamed to the guide," Quick! Start the engine!"):

When met with an elephant, stay still. The head will detect your smell and get its herd to move away. Alternatively, find the elephant tree that will neutralise your body odour. In any case, there is no point running – 2 elephant steps is equivalent to 11 human steps. You will be outrun and stomped. Do not attempt to hide in a burrow. The elephant will bury you alive and then stamp you to death.

Elephants at play:

Rhinoceros (Swahili: Kifaru) [Collective noun: Crash]

One of the biggest herbivores. Has 2 medial horns growing from the skin and not attached to the bones. The black rhino has hooked upper lip while the white rhino has a wide square mouth and a massive hump on the neck. 

My pictures of the black rhino are not very good but here is one of the white rhino:

White rhino, Lake Nakuru

Buffalo (Swahili: Nyati/ Mbogo) [Collective noun: Gang/ herd]

Africa's only wild cows. Large herds are fairly relaxed and will probably disperse if you so clap your hands.

Herd in Lake Nakuru

The lone males adapt the 'attack is the best defence', which makes them extremely dangerous. 

Bull in Lake Nakuru

Giraffe (Swahili: Twiga) [Collective noun: Tower]

Tallest mammal in the world. Walks with legs on the same side but gallops as per norm. Males are 1m taller than females and will feed on top of trees while females tend to bend down and feed from smaller trees (thereby lowering competition for food). Both sexes have horns but males have an additional single medial horn on the forehead.

Giraffes, Serengeti

During droughts, 'kindergartens' will be formed to allow some adults to go away in search of food.

Giraffes, wildebeest and gazelles, Masai Mara

3 horny males chasing 1 female, Bollywood style - too funny to not to share (Source: Derek):

Hippopotamus (Swahili: Kiboko) [Collective noun: Bloat/ crash/ herd]

Heaviest land mammal after the elephant. 

Hippos and birds form a symbiotic relationship, Lake Manyara

Hippos are so heavy they can weigh up to 3 tons galloping on the bottom of the river while submerged as lightly as astronauts on the moon for up to 6 minutes. 

Hippo pool, Serengeti

Number 1 killer of humans in Africa after the mosquitoes. Males often covered in scars from territorial battles:

Scars on hippo, Masai Mara

The closest encounter we had with hippos was in a campsite next to Lake Victoria in Kisumu (third largest city of Kenya). 2 hippos wondered into where we camped in the 3am and stopped 2 metres from our tent. They grunted and the dogs went berserk, barking. Lizzie and Lorna, who had their tent window open stared at the hippos staring at them. I could only pray that they would not run through our camp and trample on us. They probably stayed for 5 minutes and we had a great story to tell. 

Zebra (Swahili: Punda milia) [Collective noun: Cohort/ herd]

Unique stripes on each zebra, much like the finger prints on human. Starts the great migration (but do not finish them) because of its good sense of smell (it can smell the rain and will move towards rain).

Zebra crossing, Serengeti

Stuck in the mud, Serengeti

I commented to Martin how the zebras in Serengeti were so much noisier than those in Ngorongoro. Martin went on to explain that Ngorongoro is a crater and the animals do not migrate. In contrast, those in Serengeti do. Zebras live in family units and as it was the start of the migration season, the zebras were calling out to their family.

Wildebeest (Swahili: Nyumbu) [Collective noun: herd]

The wildebeests migrate in a clockwise direction from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and in Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve (the 2 parks are essentially 1 piece of land called by different names in the 2 countries).

The only animals to finish the migration, which has no beginning nor end. The herds move when any one of it initiates, in search of greener pasture.

Start of the migration in West Serengeti

This is the famous Grumeti River, where the wildebeests will cross to get from Serengeti to Masai Mara, is infested with crocodiles, waiting for their prey:

Grumeti River, West Serengeti

This is where the wildebeest will arrive in Masai Mara (again, infested with crocs):

Mara River, Masai Mara

Some of the others

Cheetah (Swahili: Duma) [Collective noun: Coalition]

Black 'tear streak' below each eye. Plans ahead and stalks its kill as it can only last for 600m (that's 200m more than me) when running at its top speed at 70mph. Anything more and its body temperature will rise, resulting in death (same here!). The only one that I did not see. Sob!