AFRICAN ENCOUNTER
Overland Safari Blog
January – May 1973
Part Four – Nairobi, the Game Parks and into to Rwanda
13 March 1973
And so on Shrove Tuesday, when, at
last) all of the necessary visas had been gathered in, we set out once more and headed for Narok and back into the Rift Valley which
would be followed by the Masai Mara Game reserve.
The Souvenir stalls as we prepared to
head down into the Rift Valley once more. Notice that Head-bands have started
to appear as our hair was getting longer and rather unkempt! 14 March 1973
The Masai-Mara is in Kenya but the
animals that live there do not respect national boundaries and were free to wander
across into Tanzania and to other game parks elsewhere.
We picked up a guide and having "parked" the Trailer securely, he was asked
to take us to where we would see large Cats. He clearly knew his business for
he took us where a pack of lions (and other predators) were feeding on the
carcase of a dead elephant. The elephant had clearly been dead for some time,
as the smell on the down-wind side told us. However, the lions seemed quite
happy with their feast. It was interesting to note the hush that descended on us
all as we encountered our first lions in the wild. It may also be worth noting
that one mistake by the driver on the tough terrain could have tipped us all
out into the wild and we could be grateful that the lions looked to have fed
well from the elephant. I think that what we hadn't registered is that a Lion etc that has fed well and has a full stomach is less likely to attack, unless of course it is provoked!
Our first Lions and their feast of Elephant, and totally unconcerned by a truck full of tourists!
Nature’s Scavengers await their pickings from the Elephant's carcase
“Pride Rock” note that the Male Lion here is in the background, behind the branches, these rocks have a volcanic origin are a familiar feature of the Serengeti area.
15th March Serengeti
At Seronera Lodge in the Serengeti - It is wonderful how everything in Africa seems to be larger and / or more colourful
We had spent the night camped at
Seronera Lodge which marked the approximate border between Kenya and Tanzania
and between Masai Mara and Serengeti. Having had a wonderful day in the Masai
Mara; the wonders of Serengeti, and more Lions, came as something of anti-climax, as we had
seen most of the animal types (except a Leopard, which are notoriously shy and not
often seen). As someone commented most of our animal sightings were of their back-sides as the animals moved slowly, or quickly out of our way.
At Seonera we met up with a Southbound trip and exchanged drivers - bidding goodbye to Clive and saying hello to John Wells, recently arrived from London, who would take us the rest of the journey back to London.
That afternoon we left Serengeti and drove down to Lake Victoria where we camped close to the Lake; this was probably the worst night that we encountered, for
although we had tents and mosquito nets somehow they managed to get at us and we spent most of the night fighting the little rascals off, and hoping that none
of them was carrying any malaria (fortunately no-one did get malaria - which was a credit to the tablets that we had been taking).
16 March
The following day brought us into Mwanza where were able to re-stock our supplies at the market. This was one the days on which I shared the shopping and cooking duties with one of the Girls. One of the nicer products on sale in the market was Fish which had been freshly caught in Lake Victoria.
We crossed an inlet of Lake Victoria on a ferry at
Kisongo, and I remember asking a local person on the ferry how we should cook our
fish. He recommended gutting and then stuffing the fish with a mix of local
vegetables, suitably spiced. This we made on our small gas stove, and it did indeed make a very good dish something which met with
strong agreement from all of the crew, (and which still lives in the memory!).
At the Ferry across part of Lake Victoria – with local musicians who had taken time-out from their Bus journey to do some performing, for our benefit.
That night we spent in a Gravel Pit,
used for road mending, one of the first of many that we would encounter in the
next stage of our journey.
17 March St Patrick’s Day
Not a good day – the Truck’s engine failed and we got stuck in mud – how we got out I forget. And to cap it all Scotland lost at Twickenham – no wonder I forgot!
18
– 20 March 1973
The border crossing between Tanzania
and Rwanda was one of the most memorable crossings as it was so clear that here
was a natural division between countries separated by a deep gorge in which ran
a red river – this was known as Rusumu Chutes. I had long ago, while studying Geography O Level, heard of Rwanda
and its predominant tribes; the Hutus and the Tutsis which had seemed forever to be at war with one another for ever.
Fortunately at the time when we arrived Rwanda had been at peace for some time
and the country seemed welcoming and the people friendly.
Scenery and roads typical of Rwanda and Cattle
21 March 1973
One of the features of Rwanda was the
green of its hills which were in contrast to the red of the mud which marked
its roads, for we were now heading away from countries where British colonial
rule had left a distinct mark to places where Africa had taken over once
again, which basically meant poverty. Although we did see Churches as we drove
through, the suspicion was that religion had adapted to meet the local
customs and beliefs.
At Kigali, Rwanda’s capital we saw, possibly for the first time one of the customs which operates throughout Africa, that of mending clothes with a hand operated sewing machine, out in the open, which could have been a machine that my Mother had used beofre the coming of electric sewing machines.
Another novel feature of
this small and rather poor country was its postage stamps which were large and
celebratory – I had been collecting stamps from each of the countries through
which we passed so here was the opportunity to collect some real treasures.
A Brick making “factory” situated exactly where the materials were extracted
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