12th
On the bright side, your husband may snore, but at least he doesn’t chew the cud (not regularly anyway). In the early hours of this morning, I woke to a sort of grinding, snorting and stomping and struggled to remember where I was. Through the tent flaps, the moon was reflected off the glassy surface of the Zambezi; a yellow glow from dust and the smoke of dry-season fires. Crawling out of my sleeping bag to gingerly open the zip, I peered outside and found myself at about gut-level with an old male buffalo, about 10 feet away.
I had been dying to spend a penny for about 2 hours, but the whoops of hyena and the sounds of buffalo and hippo grunting just a stone’s throw from my pillow, had counselled a near bed-wetting strategy of staying put and thinking of deserts. Finally, I slithered out of my tent and paused. The buffalo languidly turned to look at me, and in a semi ducked position, I kept my eyes on him as I side-stepped 3 steps right, and then a couple of steps back until I was just on the other side of the tent, though still peering round the corner and geared for flight. We both observed a respectful truce, and I executed an equally undignified return to the opening of the tent and flung myself through the gap, heart racing.
Apparently this is a fairly typical night in Mana Pools on the Lower Zambezi. Helping with a game count of the park, I have spent the last couple days walking through one of Zimbabwe’s best wildlife destinations, and can confirm that it lives up to expectations in every way. Watch this space for more.
27th
We received this update from ATTA and thought you might be interested to see it:
“FOLLOWING A STATEMENT ISSUED ON SATURDAY EVENING BUT STILL OFICIALLY UNCONFIRMED IT APPEARS THAT THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT MAY HAVE PARTLY BACKED DOWN IN THE FACE OF GROWING GLOBAL CRITICISM AND OPPOSITION TO THEIR PLANS TO CONSTRUCT A HIGHWAY ACROSS THE SERENGETI.
THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT HASAPPARENTLY ASSURED THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CENTER IN PARIS THAT THEY WILL SEEK AN ALTERNATIVE SOUTHERN ROUTE AROUND THE SERENGETI TO BRING ROAD ACCESS TO RURAL COMMUNITIES AND LEAVE THE SERENGETI PARK ROADS UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF TANAPA AND FOR TOURISM PURPOSES ONLY.
The proposed highway would have linked remote under-developed communities to larger hubs, cutting through the park into which giant herds of wildebeest migrate between Tnazaani’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara. But following strong world wide criticism of the project, and a recent visit from US Secretary, Hilary Clinton, it appears that the Tanzanian government has informed the United Nations’ cultural organisation UNESCO that it had been dropped.
“The World Heritage Committee has received assurance on the part of the Tanzanian government that the highway project is abandoned .The committee has therefore decided not to list the site on its list of endangered World Heritage Sites because the threat has disappeared,” said a WHC spokesman.
Tanzania’s government had backed the road plan by saying that the country should start caring for its people as much as it did for its wildlife. But critics said it would destroy what scientists consider to be the “largest remaining migratory system on Earth” and lobbied hard against the project.
Serengeti Watch, urge caution, this organisation committed to preserving the Serengeti’s ecosystem, said it feared the highway plan could still re-emerge at a later date.
“We do not consider this the final word in the Serengeti Highway saga by any means,” the group said
The Serengeti Highway was intended to link Musoma, on the banks of Lake Victoria, to Arusha.
The project’s critics argued the road would achieve the opposite of what it set out to do by destroying a key tourist attraction and thus stripping local communities of their jobs.
Serengeti Watch said the government was now considering a highway that would wrap around the southern tip of the protected areas. It quoted a letter it said had been written by Tanzania’s Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Ezekiel Maige.
Instead of cutting through the park towards Arusha, this new road would run “south of Ngorongoro Conservation area and Serengeti National Park,”"
18th
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about travelling is the liquorice allsorts of people I find myself rubbing elbows with. As a camp manager, where tourists came to look at the animals, I was often lodge-bound and ever so slightly crazy with cabin fever, so the variety of human life that passed through my patch provided no end of entertainment (I’m conscious that this little revelation is likely to spark mass paranoia amongst the holiday-makers, but really, look around…what d’you expect?). I’ve had high-flying New York types that tripped out of helicopters for a dirty weekend and recoiled from the visitor’s book in case they incriminated themselves (small world that it is). There have been mummy’s little darlings who refused anything to eat but fanta and bread, buried toothpicks in the sofas, and were rather light-fingered in the gift shop. Other camp managers tell stories of a “goth” woman who insisted on seeing her orange juice squeezed in front of her and required mineral water to wash her hair…and this on a remote beach in East Africa. I remember scratching my head over the menu for a diabetic, lactose and gluten-intolerant raw foodist, with an allergy to monosodium glutamate (sigh). You get my point.
The locals can be a strange bunch too. On a trip through Malawi, our 1958 Land Rover ground to an agonising, clunking halt, as only a Land Rover can, in a mosquito-ridden swamp called Kazilizili. From behind a dark bush materialised a man wearing a broad hat fashioned from black bin bags and fishing line, strumming a jaunty tune on a homemade banjo. He was joined by another rural type, clad in a fashionable, though grubby, Burberry trench coat, who brought a Tipex bottle to his nostrils, declaring in the Queen’s own English: “Where’s my snuff? Where’s my snuff?” It’s not something that you easily forget, and inhabitants (or should I say inmates?) of Kazilizili still appear to me in disturbed moments.
And then there are the nomads of the world. While working in Kenya’s Rift Valley, a visit to market day in a Maasai village yielded a pair of handsome sun-burnished French folk, wearing what looked like school uniform, carrying a small backpack each. They were in the process of walking from Cape Town to Jerusalem (as you do), trusting only in the generosity of people along the way, and a film has since been made about them. We spent hours listening to their tales of soaking in the hot-tubs of South African millionaires, and of sharing meals with warlords in countries that you only hear about for all the wrong reasons.
Incidentally, this week I bought an apple pie from a lady dressed as a fairy standing at a Harare traffic light. Apparently the apple pie, in addition to a good thing to have with a cup of tea, was also the secret to eternal life. I’ll let you know how that pans out.
As the saying goes; “there’s nought stranger than folk”.
18th
Amongst other things, social media has sanctioned the voyeuristic tendencies within many of us. Consequently it’s now okay to keep a much beadier eye on the doings of others than previously acceptable, without being considered even a little weird. Therefore, I am unashamed to admit that I get regular feeds on a few individuals through whom I vicariously enjoy adventures when reluctantly tethered to my desk, and therefore incapable of having any of my own.
Within a few weeks, a couple of these souls have embarked/are about to embark on pretty incredible personal journeys and every few days I read with a mixture of awe and envy of their latest exploits, bug-bears and conquests. One of my Facebook friends, Julian Monroe Fisher, will shortly begin walking across the belly of Africa, from the coast of Mozambique to the Atlantic in Angola. The second person is someone I regard with the same curious incomprehension as a fax machine: I have no idea what makes it tick but think it is quite marvellous in any case. Well-known ocean rower, Roz Savage, is a few days into her mammoth 4000 mile solo row across the Indian Ocean.
The blogs relate a repertoire of interesting happenings thrown across their paths (Roz seems to be frequently pelted by flying squid), and describes the very human afflictions which make life on the explorer’s pedestal sometimes less than comfy. From painful blisters to sunburn, annoying insects to homesickness… hurrah, they are mere mortals after all. I find myself searching for what motivates these people to take up the mantle of extraordinary endeavour. Much like my great grandfather, who set off from Scotland in the early 19 hundreds to carve a new life for himself in East Africa, I imagine that much of the reward comes from stepping off the well-trodden path and relishing the unexpected.
Whatever it is that galvanises such people, the interesting thing is that the inspiration they provide can come in many forms and you can take what you will from it. Whether it means choosing a different country to visit next year or throwing in a tedious job to do something on your own, pushing your physical and mental limits in running that marathon, or reading a controversial author…the message for me is that boundaries are there to be pushed and only in doing so do we make room to grow (or, less philosophically, experience the novelty of being hit in the face by air-borne seafood).
11th
Nature is frequently required to remind us diminutive little bipedals who’s boss. For all our technological prowess, at the end of the day we’re still squishy, pink and about as impressive as limp lettuce in the face of our world’s capacity to awe. While sometimes these reminders come in devastating quakes and giant waves, at other times they are beautiful and gently surprising. This year, the rains in Namibia have topped the charts, breaking 100 year old records in terms of quantity and wreaking havoc on roads and previously high-and-dry safari camps. Some places received a year’s worth of rain in a month. This is all relative of course. We’re talking about a country which enjoys over 300 days of sunshine annually (I know, sickening). So when we say it’s been a record rainy season, bear in mind that the creatures of the Namib mainly subsist on sea fog and may only see 100mm of rain in the whole year. But, if you happen to be a tok-tokkie beetle and have to stand on your head every morning to catch drops of fog running down your back for your morning cuppa, you might agree that in the desert, a little rain goes a long way. Ordinarily, the colours of the Namib and wider Skeleton Coast are vivid and captivating. In fact, you run the risk of sounding like a stuck record and exhausting your personal store of enthusiastic adjectives as you exclaim repeatedly how simply astonishing it all is. Add a little water to the equation and you have tumble-weed grass turning from gun-metal grey to psychedelic green and deep-red sand wearing a carpet of yellow flowers. Shallow mirage-like lakes of water appear for the first time in a decade beneath the giant dunes of Sossusvlei . Late afternoon electric storms paint the sky with bruised purple clouds and sheet-lightning. There goes that blue planet, got a new trick and showing off again… If you haven’t planned what to do with all those public holidays at the end of April/beginning of May, think about heading out to Namibia to witness nature’s little party in the desert. 
Have a look at these great pics from the Kulala conservancy near Sossusvlei on our Facebook page. Give us a call on +44 1747 898104 if you’d like to know more about safaris in Namibia. *The above image was taken on Wolwedans in the Namib Rand Reserve. Courtesy of Wolwedans.
11th
This has just been issued – it appears to suggest that the road through the Serengeti will go ahead, but not be tarmaced. I think everyone agrees that the road is vital to the communities, but there does seem to be a perfectly good option going south around the park. my understanding is that this route is no more expensive. Whether the road is tarmaced or not is not the issue. Let us know your thoughts on this.
DIRECTORATE OF PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
PRESIDENT’S OFFICE, THE STATE HOUSE, DAR ES SALAAM.
PRESS RELEASE
The Government has reassured the international community that Tanzania will never do anything to hurt or take any decision that may irresponsibly destroy the Serengeti National Park such as building a tarmac road through the Park.
However, the Government has reiterated its commitment to meet its responsibilities of supporting development efforts of poorer communities living around the park including building a tarmac road on the northern tip of the park to ease the severe transport challenges facing those communities.
“The Serengeti is a jewel of our nation as well as for the international community. We want to give you our assurances that we cannot be irresponsible by destroying the Serengeti. We will do nothing to hurt the Serengeti and we would like the international community to know this,” President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete told Mr. John McIntire, World Bank Country Director today, Wednesday, February 9, 2011 during a courtesy call on the President at the State House in Dar es Salaam.The Dar es Salaam-based Mr. McIntire also represents the Bank in Uganda and Burundi.
Armed with an illustration of a map of northern Tanzania, President Kikwete told Mr. McIntire: “There has been so much unnecessary confusion about this issue. Let me give you my assurances that we will keep the Serengeti intact. We will not build a tarmac road through the Serengeti National Park. We will only build a road around the park to ease very serious transport challenges facing the poorer communities around the park.”
Under the plan, the Government wants to decongest traffic inside the park that currently crosses the Serengeti daily on a 220-kilometer road which passes right through the park. Instead, a planned road will only cross the Serengeti for only 54 kilometers which will remain unpaved.
In recent months, a global network of environmental activists and conservators has mounted a completely misinformed campaign claiming that the Government of Tanzania intends to destroy the Serengeti by building tarmac road through the park, which will seriously hurt the famous migration of wildlife.
“No tarmac road will be built through the Serengeti. As you know well, Tanzania is the most conservatory country in the world. This has been our policy and position since our independence and you can have my assurances that this position will remain unchanged,” said President Kikwete
“While we will continue protecting our Serengeti seriously, we will also make sure that, as Government, we meet our responsibilities to our people. These people living in the northern side of the park were removed from inside the park itself as part of our conservation efforts. It takes about eight hours of very rough travel to reach their area from Mto wa Mbu town, and it is only 170 kilometers stretch. They have no road. They have no water. They have no power. We will be doing huge injustice if we do not move to correct these imbalances. If they perceive that we don’t care about them, they will easily become enemies of the park and that will harder to deal with.”
“We will continue with our serious efforts of conservation, but we cannot deny these people living on the northern side of the Serengeti border a road. There is neither justification nor explanation for not building this important road.”
The President thanked Mr. McIntire for his suggestion that the World Bank would be willing to fund processes leading to building a tarmac road on the southern side of Serengeti National Park but insisted that the road to the south would not solve transport challenges of communities living on the northern side of the park.
Ends.
10th
After my ascent to Point Lenana last year and vowing not to do it again, (mainly because of the unGodly wake up hour of 3 am for the summit sunrise!), I was driving past Mt Kenya this morning. There she stood, towering above me. She had such beckoning look! I was very tempted to drop everything and walk through the moorland, and head up to the base of the peaks.
I thought I would share it with you…
02nd
I have a friend to whom the idea of sleeping in a tent is as close to purgatory as one could get without actually shuffling off any mortal coils. Conspicuously sporting an intense dislike of adventure, dust and insects, her preferred accommodation will come complete with wall-to-wall carpeting, air-conditioning and 24-hour satellite TV, preferably including Oprah. If no alternative exists, then camping is undertaken, grudgingly, with a convoy of vehicles loaded with chemical toilets, feather duvets, the latest in portable kitchen-sinks and only barely stopping short of a liveried butler.
Said person once made the point that there was really no need for her to visit the Masai Mara when she could view the migration perfectly well on satellite TV, edited for the action without having to hang around waiting for the wildebeest to eventually summon up the courage to take a dip with the crocodiles. Perhaps she has a point.
Recently I’ve been reading interesting stuff about the role that technology will play in the future of travel and it got me thinking. The gadgets and gizmos that are now part of everyday life have done much to bring us into closer proximity to the world’s wondrous environments, wild animals and diverse people. For someone who still hasn’t figured out how the now-obsolete fax machine works, I find it remarkable that, from the couch, I can watch a leopard hunting baboons in the Okavango Delta, or learn about the colourful tribes of Papua New Guinea. I can spectate as the intrepid presenters of Top Gear try hard to kill a Land Cruiser (and themselves) in the Arctic or watch the often excruciating experiences of the likes of Bruce Parry as he surrenders to the manhood initiations of people in South America (incidentally, how many initiations does one need before one feels secure in one’s manhood?).
So I got to thinking, while sitting warm, comfortable and within easy reach of the salted peanuts and a cold beer, why bother leaving the couch at all?
When getting ready to meet our maker, no one ever says “I wish I’d watched more TV”. TVs, Laptops, Smartphones, iPads etc., are amazing for finding out what’s out there, sharing it with your mates and planning your adventures…there’s an app for that, but this is not the same thing as actually “living it”. And therein lies the rub: casting yourself into the 3-D reality of the migration, actually being there and experiencing it, is incomparable in every way to the unmemorable event of observing it on a flat-screen. Out There is where you hear, taste, feel, smell AND see it happening, leaving sensations and emotions deeply and indelibly branded on your psyche.
While life becomes faster, more complicated, more stressful, increasingly artificial, I yearn more and more for simple pleasures such as the delicious sensation of rinsing the days’ adventures off myskin in the balmy evening air under a bucket suspended from the branch of a tree…and there ain’t no app. for that.
26th
I have traveled and lived in Namibia over the last 10 years and have never seen the desert with this tinge of gree
Chris (my zoologist husband now working with W.W.F here in Windhoek) and I have spent the most wonderful weekend in Sossusvlei! It was a slow start from Windhoek, we had to hire a 4×4, and my card didn’t work, so lots of phone calls, presumably to India… eventually we were on our way.
Unusually for this time of year, Namibia has had a lot of rain, and as we journeyed down, many of the dry riverbeds were in full flow. So much so, that we wondered if we were going to be washed down river… but we got there.
Mountain Homestead Lodge, in the Namib desert, is an extra-ordinary place. The jagged Nabib mountain range rises to the east and the huge expanse of red desert resembles some sort of weird moonscape. We had an amazing room with picture windows overlooking the vast desert. Because of the recent rain, everywhere we looked, a tinge of green was emerging and flowers were opening up.
Chris was on a mission to find the Jameson Red Rock Rabbit, which is specific to this area and find him he did… nibbling on the fresh shoots. Such a handsome animal, large, reddish brown with long sticking up ears and a little fluffy black tail.
Chris was also thrilled to find the tiny Dassie rat, or Rock rat, which are squirrel-like without the fluffy tail. Weighing in at only 9oz, they have padded soles, noticeably flattened heads and flexible ribs which enable them to squeeze into extremely narrow crevices. The Dassie rat has an unusually slow reproductive rate; they only produce a pair of off spring once a year during the hot summer months.
Normally you would be compelled to get up at some un-Godly hour 4.30-ish to drive to the entrance gate to the Sossuslvei dunes, but we decided to take it easy… we were the only ones at the lodge, as this is the low season, and we were just as happy immersing ourselves in the stillness and silence of this captivating place.
When we did set off, the 60 km drive to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei was a wonder! You can never get enough of the beauty; a constant play of light and shadow from the clouds on the shifting sands. The stark majesty of the dunes piled one on top of the other until it seems they reach half way to heaven.
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