Dragoman Overland Encounter – Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
Wow! What an incredible journey around East Africa!
19 of us from the UK, Canada, NZ and 1 US (plus our Kiwi driver Blair) spent 21 days in a Dragoman Encounter truck. The truck is fully equipped and as long as we were stocked up on food, water and diesel we were totally self-sufficient. Each day 2 people and their 2 helpers were responsible for feeding the rest and some delicious concoctions were made. We camped each night in places ranging from well appointed camps to an unsuspecting villager`s field (complete with big horned cows) and everything in between. The pace was fast as we had 3243 km to cover and many places to stop along the way. It did mean the more relaxed days spent swimming, reading or hiring a dugout canoe were even more delightful.
There were 5 main highlights of the journey, which are written up individually. There are also photos that make up some of the bits in between. We had lots of fun and laughs, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and saw some amazing things – another trip of a life time!
NGORONGORO CRATER & SERENGETI (Tanzania)
Ngorongoro is the worlds largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic crater – 610m deep and 260 square km. The crater is a natural enclosure for wildlife and almost all the the animals found in East Africa are found in the crater.
Our group of 19 split into 4 open top safari jeeps and slowly descended the steep walls of the crater. We soon spotted our first creatures (a herd of zebra) and the excitement really set in. During the day we were lucky enough to see elephants having a dust bath, buffalos, wildebeast, ibis, warthogs, flamingoes, hyena, emus, gizelles, jackels, eland, monkeys, baboons, water buck, rhinos (but only from afar), a pool rammed with hippo, and lions so close we could watch them breathing. It was a long day but we were buzzing with amazement at all the beautiful creatures we had seen and between us all had thousands of photos to show for it.
The next two days were spent `game driving` in our truck through the Serengeti. We removed the canvas roof so we could stand on the seats and peer eagerly out of the roll cage. Here we were treated to more and more and more of the animals we had already seen plus a few rocks, trees and termite hills that were briefly mistaken for animals. We also saw giraffes and the very rare leopard (which in a very strange twist in animal kingdom hierarchy was then chased across the savannah by a baboon!).
From sunrise to sunset Africa engulfed us in sights, smells, sounds, sun, bumpy roads, dust, biting tetsy flies, fire ants, and mosquitos – all part of the awesome TIA experience! (TIA = This Is Africa – used to account for lions just right there, regular power cuts, multi coloured spiders, African time, python road kill, and anything else that makes Africa a special place to travel).
MOUNTAIN GORILLAS (Rwanda)
The day to visit the gorillas finally dawned with much anticipation and excitement! First stop was the visitors centre where we assembled ourselves into groups of 8 of similar fitness and/or desired hiking time. Ours was the faster paced group, which allowed us to visit the Susa group (the one Diane Fossi dedicated her life to – made famous by “Gorillas in the Mist”). There are 38 gorillas in this group ranging from babies only weeks old to 5 huge silverbacks. We were then driven to the entrance of the park closest to the last known whereabouts of the group. Each day a team of trackers stay near the group until the gorillas make their nest for the night. The next morning the trackers return to the nest and follow where the gorillas have wandered during their breakfast feasting. This only happens with the habituated groups and is extremely useful for research and the guarantee of thousand of tourist dollars every day that can be used for the gorillas conservation and protection.
When our 4×4 could no longer navigate the “African massage” dirt track our trek began. The first 30 minutes up over farm land to the park boundary were extremely fast paced and at least 7 of the 8 of us were wondering if we had chosen the wrong group! However, once inside the park excitement grew as we had confimration that the Susa group had been located and the pace (thankfully) slowed to meet the terrain. And so it was that 5 Canadians, 2 Kiwis and 1 Brit were trekking through the wilderness with “Machete Man” in front hacking us a path, followed by “Anti-Poacher-Man-With Gun #1”, our guide Oliver, us, “A-P-M-W-G #2” bringing up the rear. The forest was absolutely beautiful and we were delighted that the trek really was a trek through dense undergrowth, orchids, mist, and stinging nettle!
After 2 hours in the park our guide asked us if we could cope with another hour. When met with resounding yeses he informed us that it was actually only 5 more minutes – YAHOOOOO!
We soon met up with the trackers, dropped all our gear bar our cameras and grins and set off to meet our rellies. We were not disappointed!
Wow! Words can barely describe the feeling of being so close to such incredible creatures. It was lunch time for them and the quantity of foliage they were consuming was mind-blowing – some even dismantling whole trees! We saw and heard them sit and chew, run and tumble, pretend charge and shy away, climb (and fall out of) trees, piggyback the little ones, sneeze, fart, growl and grumble. They were SO SO awesome!
Our one hour allowed with the group was all too soon over and we found ourselves hiking back down the mountain to the excited chatter of “It was so cool when…” “I loved the…” “Wow” “Awesome” etc! All of the human groups had similarly awesome times with their gorilla groups – definitely a trip and life time highlight!!!
RWANDA
Occupied by the Germans then Belgium and France, the Republic of Rwanda did not gain imdependence until the late 60`s. Like many African nations it has struggled with its identity since. From berets and compulsory French in schools to a traditional justice system and internationally financed infrastructure, Rwanda is pulled in many directions. Chinese built roads leading to Australian run mining operations. French built roads leading to corperate oil installations.
In recent times Rwanda has stayed out of the press and is working hard to rebuild a sense of national identity.
It was just 14 years ago that 1 million souls were taken by the countrymen and another 2 million displaced. An artificial class system was established then ingrained and finally used to pit man against man – former friends, family members, strangers and neighbours fighting and brutally murdering those not of their class.
The world looked on, or looked away, and spent months deciding what to call this particular altercation. While members of the UN argued whether to call it “civil unrest” a “tribal conflict” or an actual “civil war”, giovernment exercution lists were used to eliminate all local opposition. Raod blocks at every intersection served to seperate Hutu from Tutsi and depending on what was written on your compulsory ID card determined whether you lived or died – right there on the side of the road. 10000 people a day!
Genocide is a word that did not exist in Rwandan language until the 1990s. It is a sad word to have to add to your national vocabulary. 14 years on it is taught to young children along with the country`s recent history – an attempt to ensure it is not part of their future.
1 in 7 Rwandans died a violent death between 1991 and 1994 by their countrymen. A staggering 238000 are buried in mass graves at the genocide memorial, which we visited in Kigali.
This is not an exciting outdoor adventure or animal safari but it was a hugely moving experience that made us shake our heads at human nature and simultaneously smile at the resilience and determination of those who remain.
SOFT POWER (UGANDA)
Soft Power is an organisation set up in Jinja to improve educational facilities for children (google their website – it`s very cool!).
We spent a day volunteering and in exchange stored some really treasured memories. we started at the pre-school with some of the most beautiful children in the world. Many of them are orphans (often 1 or both parents the victims of AIDS) but despite this they were all so trusting, delightful and gave the BEST hugs! (often 2, 3 or 4 kids at a time!). They sang us songs, said hello to us each individually, and made a valiant attempt at learning the hokey tokey! After more cuddles and playing we sadly dragged ourselves away from the smiling faces to visit the health and art centres, a real tribute to the success of Soft Power in the community. Then it was time for us to do some work and we found ourselves up to our elbows in blue or cream paint, brightening up the walls of 2 classrooms at a local Soft Power supported school – a very small but hopefully significant contribution. Those kids deserve the best!!!
RAFTING AND KAYAKING THE NILE (UGANDA)
It was awesome! A fabulous way to spend our 3rd wedding anniversary! Big water (2500 cubic metres per second is very big water!), huge laughs, massive rapids and a very exhilarating way to spend the day. There are a couple of vids on here – we will try and get more on at some stage (those in Wellington can watch the DVD in July). We were spread over 3 rafts and Logan was in a double kayak with a local guide. We ALL had swims in grade 5 rapids but SO much fun!!! 🙂
