Having done the blue line tour on day 1, day 2
consisted of the yellow line tour which was more concentrated on the central
city. The key points of interest included the Castle of Good Hope, which
was built in the 17th century and was unfortunately under renovation
(more of a fort than a castle), and District 6. We also did the short harbour trip as part of our ticket and
after the tour joined the District 6 walking tour.
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| District 6 Mural of the years - 60's to 90's |
There is so much to do in Cape Town and the hardest
part is actually working out what to select. We opted for a Cape Point
Tour and Robben Island visit for our last two days. The Cape Point Tour
started early and took us around Table Mountain on our way to the Cape of Good
Hope, via the Atlantic coast and Chapmans Peak Drive (apparently one of the
most picturesque coastal roads in the world). By the time we got there
the weather had closed in (drizzle and extreme fog), however we made it to the
most South Western tip of Africa and after a couple of photos (it was really
moody but beautiful), and a quick visit to the Cape Point Lighthouse we were
heading to Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town for lunch. The main reason for
the Boulders Beach stop is the African Penguin colony (formerly known as
Jackass penguins as they sound like donkeys). They are an endangered
species mainly due to predators in the sea and on land, but here they seemed to
be doing ok – they were very cute and their unique characteristic is the spots
on their tummies.
Our last stop "the Groot Constantia winery"
for a tasting in the oldest wine region in South Africa. Again a lovely
way to finish the day before our ~30 minute drive back into Cape Town, arriving
around 5.30pm and ~100kms later.
Our final day in Cape Town was all about
history. First the District Six museum. District Six is a former
inner city residential area that was a lively community made up of former
slaves, artisans, merchants and other immigrants as well as indigenous races,
Malay people and whites. It was home to almost a tenth of the city of
Cape Town’s population and numbered between 1700-1900 families. In
February 1966 the government declared District Six a whites-only area and over
60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed to the Cape Flats between 1968
and 1982 by the apartheid regime. The old houses were bulldozed – to put
this in perspective it would be like taking a suburb, say Ponsonby, and wiping
it off the map. If this isn’t all abhorrent enough, since the fall of
apartheid in 1994 the government has failed with their pledge to support
rebuilding for those former residents with recognised claims. District Six
remains undeveloped and the bare land currently remains a tribute to all that
was lost. The museum itself pulled at the heart strings as the personal
stories of individuals came to light – the separation of mixed families, lost
friends, lost communities and lost heritage.
Our second and no less important stop of the day was
the Slave Lodge. Originally built in 1679 for the Dutch East India
Company it housed thousands of slaves during it’s time and is one of the oldest
buildings in South Africa. Slavery was officially abolished in the Cape by the
British in 1838. The museum is a tribute to so many who lost their lives,
were tortured and mistreated in the development of the Cape (not that this was
unique to South Africa) and was a really interesting, if not shocking place, to
learn a little more history.
Our final visit for the day was Robben Island – both a
South African Heritage Site and Unesco World Heritage Site. Since the 17th
century the island was used to house prisoners, in the late 1800’s it was used to house a leper
colony and with the introduction of apartheid it again become a prison for
political prisoners (the most famous of these being Nelson Mandela who served
18 of his 27 years here from 1961) and convicted criminals. It was a
maximum security prison for political prisoners until 1991 (when any remaining
were released) and the criminal prison was closed in 1996.
The most interesting part of this tour was listening to a former political
prisoner (now a Robben Island guide) who told us of the prison and how it
operated as well as his own personal stories. It was notorious for its
harsh conditions interestingly enough criminal prisoners held here had things a
little easier than those political prisoners, who at the time were deemed far
more dangerous. We got to see around the island, which had its own small
village including a school (for wardens and their families at the time), the
combined cells (housing up to 60 people), the courtyard and individual cells
(including Mandela’s). Rightly so when the political prisoners were all
released Robben Island become a symbol of the strength of the human spirit as
it remains.
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| Nelson Mandela's Prison Cell |
Feeling like we have done Cape Town pretty well our
next day was a travel day to Johannesburg and then the 5 hour trip into Kruger
National park and our camp at Tydon Safari Lodge in Sabi-Sands.
Sabi-Sands is a private game reserve that shares a border (non-fenced) with
Kruger National Park. We had about 90 minutes to settle in to our new “deluxe
tent” before our first game drive through Sabi-Sands. We joined 5 others
already at the Lodge and headed out. Within a very short time we were
watching our first White Rhino and by the time we left the park we had seen 14
of them. They are larger than the Black variety and have a much squarer
and wider jaw. Somewhat appalling to learn that Kruger National park still currently
loses 3 per day to poaching. The current value of Rhino horn being more than
that of gold at $75,000 USD per kilo, about a million dollars per horn. We also
saw the usual Impala (wouldn’t be Africa without them), a hippo, Zebra, Brindle
Gnu (Blue Wilder beast), Kudu and multiple birds. We enjoyed a beverage
in the park and watched the sunset as well which in Africa always seems to be
stunning.
The next day we were off to Kruger National Park just
after 6am. The park is 2.4 million hectares which is the size of Wales
and they are in drought having had no rain for just over 2 years now (this type
of climate is much more suited to predators). What seemed just inside the
gates we saw loads of vultures in the trees and circling what we found out was
a dead hippo. Possibly a casualty of the lack of water or natural causes.
We spent just over three hours driving round the park
and got to see a Dwarf Baboon Spider (our guide pointed this out), Giraffe,
Spotted Hyena, Wart Hogs, Kudu, Cape Buffalo, hippos, elephants and Grey
Heron. The absolute highlight however was getting to round out our Big
Five with our one and only sighting of a leopard that we watched at the base of
a large tree, whilst it watched the zebra nearby. Amazing to be able to
see such a rare animal in the wild.
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| Kruger National Park |
Back to camp for breakfast and a break before our afternoon drive (again in Kruger) that began at 2pm. We headed out and before we even got to the gate for Kruger Gary spotted a Servil – from a distance we thought it may have been a Cheetah but apparently the Servils are much rarer. Inside of the park we again saw some amazing wildlife and scenery – Kudu, Vervet monkeys, Crocodiles, Hippo, Giraffe and the two prizes for the day (over and above the Servil) was the Pangolin and three male lions. The Sabie River runs through Kruger which is absolutely beautiful and a refreshing change to see fresh water in such dry surrounds. When we returned to camp the guides couldn’t believe that we’d seen a Servil and Pangolin as some of them have only ever seen them once (in years) and some not at all. Hard to believe that after so many game drives in Africa we are still seeing new species – such an amazing place.
The next day was our drive day back to Johannesburg
via the scenic route to view Gods Window and the Lisbon Falls. We hit
Johannesburg just before peak hour traffic and stayed with Rob (who we had met
14 years earlier in Cambodia) and enjoyed a really relaxed evening, a few
wines, good food and Dindy (the super cute and friendly golden
retriever). Lots of catching up and travel tips flowing both ways and he
kindly dropped us off at the airport the following day to catch our flight to Uganda.
The flight was 3 hours and 45 minutes long and we
arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at 7pm. After the usual luggage collection and immigration were
on our way to the start of tour 2. After checking in at
Entebbe Backpackers we were introduced to our new tour group of which there
were 24 including us, plus our guide Joe and driver Patrick. Our new big yellow
truck was "Shaggy".
The following day we departed at 7am heading for Mbarara. A big drive day at
roughly 6 hours and 260km (gives you some indication of the road quality). We stopped at the
equator for the normal middle of the earth photo and had a quick look around
the shops. The first things we are starting to notice is how
green everything is in comparison to Southern Africa. The communities also
look to be poor with rough living conditions, no running water, dirt paths and
what we can only describe at shacks that they sell goods from. The other really
obvious difference to Southern Africa is the friendliness of the people. You feel like complete
royalty driving around as people wave and smile at you in welcome (particularly
the children). Already it feels like a great country and nation. We made one other stop
on the way at a local food stop where we tried chapatti for the first time - a
kind of simple roti, and if you get it with egg included it's called a rolex. Scenery includes loads
of hills, crops, bananas and tea plantations - really different from what we've
seen in Southern Africa.
The following morning we were up early and off to
track Chimpanzee in the Kalinzu forest. We headed out and
for about 20 minutes walked through the forest (with a guide) in the dark. In some places the
forest was quite thick but it was really peaceful and beautiful. After trekking for just
over 2 hours we came across a lone Chimpanzee in the tree tops. Unfortunately not the
family group we'd hoped to see but a Chimpanzee none the less. Thankfully with the
zoom of the camera we were able to see it properly and we spent about 45
minutes observing before we headed back to camp, walking through a tea
plantation on the way.
Then back on the truck and after travelling
120k we arrived in Queen Elizabeth National Park where we completed a game
drive on the truck and then onto the Kazinga Channel for our game cruise
where we saw so much - common and yellow billed stork, pied kingfisher,
weaver birds and their large nests, great white egret, Nile crocodile and
monitor lizard, bush bucks loads and loads of hippos including babies, grey
herons, marabou storks and a huge population of many different species of bird.
We camped just outside the National Park and were up
early again the next day departing at 6am for another game drive before making our way
(200km's) to Kisoro where we are stayed for three nights. We arrived and
went for a wander into town. It's pretty clear here
that most people walk - there are by far more people walking up and down the
street than there are cars - also carrying every manner of things on their
heads, and babies on their backs. A really cool
introduction to village life.
We were greeted at the coffee farm and went through
the process - how it's grown and harvested, shelled, roasted, ground and
served. The farm is small and harvests ~1500-2000kgs each
harvest (2 per year). Lots of locals get involved as again it's really
manual and everything is done by hand - the pounding, the roasting (in a small
pan over an open fire) etc. After the beans were
roasted we got to grind them and then everyone was served fresh coffee. At the
end of the tour we were given a small bag of ground coffee to take away.
After the coffee tour we walked ~5km to Lake Mutanda
where we were doing a canoe cruise. The walk there was
priceless. We walked through the local villages, and had lots of
encounters with the local people and especially the children. What a treat - our
group (of 5) became the pied piper as they followed us for a short while, and
played games. We walked past a school as well and almost every child
was asking us "how are you" which appears to be the catch phrase they
all know here. There are no words to describe this experience, which
happened to be the free part in between the two paid excursions.
The cruise was great - really pretty and very peaceful. We saw a couple of otters in the distance and generally just got to relax. A really nice way to end the day. We got back to the hostel around 4pm, just in time to walk into town to check out the local weekly market.
The market was fantastic - everything you wish it to
be when you visit a foreign country and see how they live. Unfortunately in Uganda
they seem very opposed to the taking of photos of anything (even if they are
not in it) so we got yelled at a few times but still managed to get a few
momento pictures. The only ones that don't seem to mind their photo
being taken are the children.
The following day is the reason we are here - to see
the mountain gorillas. There are currently ~880 left in the world (a great
increase from Dian Fossey’s time when there were only 200 remaining). We
were up at 4.45am and off at
6am for our 90 minute drive (50kms) to the Gorilla trekking briefing point
in Bwindi National Park. The park is 330 square kms and is home to 300 mountain gorillas. The Gorilla families
are closely monitored and visits to the families are restricted to a maximum of
8 people for 1 hour once a day to minimise impact. They have been
habituated - which means for a period of 2 years they are introduced to people
(rangers and trackers) gradually so they become less fearful of them. They
are typically peaceful animals, unless of course they are threatened or in
danger. We were part of a group of 6 and the group we were
given to track was called the Busingye Group - all families have names. The official trackers
who find the gorillas are sent out at 7am - they track the gorillas (they do not have any type
of electronic tracking devices and pick up from where they had left the family
the previous day and radio back to the guides when they locate them - then
between them they work out the best way for us to get there.
We started trekking at 9.40am and 1900m
climbing almost immediately to a height ~2300m.
It was 2 1/2 hours of walking before we were within range of our
gorillas and we got our final briefing before going any further. The trek itself wasn't
bad - we had an "off trail" portion which was interesting as it was
super steep and lots of ferns (as well as thorn bushes, ugly branches and cut
tree stumps to watch out for) but mostly it was on skinny makeshift paths.
Our gorilla family was made up of 9 (2 males including
the dominant silverback, 4 females and 3 babies) they had been being chased by
another group of gorillas - so in trying to get further away from them they did
us a favour and headed closer to the community and when we found them they were
on the very edge of the forest and the beginning of the farmers crops.
Holding our breath we headed into the forest and
within a few short minutes were in view of a full grown gorilla female with a
baby. Viewing these critically endangered animals up close
has been on Lesley's wish list forever, and nothing can describe the feeling we
got when they first came into view. They are simply
beautiful.
When you get to the gorillas you get to spend an hour
observing them (again monitoring impact) - this is the fastest hour of your
life! We could see the silverback and the other male and
grown females - all of which are enormous animals. They moved around a lot
so we were also continuously moving but lucky for us they also moved out into
the open so we really got to see them in all their glory. This is an experience
of a lifetime and one that will in all likelihood never be repeated and most
certainly never forgotten. An extremely special
moment that will stay with us for a lifetime.
Unfortunately our hour went all too fast and we found
ourselves heading back. Luckily for us we were really close to a community
that our transport could pick us up from so our walk back to the van was less
than an hour. Due to the proximity of the gorillas to the community
a group of locals came to help the Park Trekkers follow the gorillas with the
aim of chasing them back into the forest and away from village and the crops.
Before we left we were treated to a spot of entertainment from the local
school children we were back in the van driving the 90 min's back to our hostel.
We're sad to say goodbye to Kisoro as it's been
amazing - the town, the people and of course the gorillas. Uganda has proved to be
a really colourful and beautiful country and is definitely a highlight of
Africa overall.
With only 50kms to travel the trip was pretty short as
far as overland goes with an easy and quick border crossing we arrived at the
Red Rocks camp in Musanze which was fantastic and new - only having been here
for 2 years it works with 75 women and 100 children to help them with education
and work/skills. There were lots of options for activities available
and we opted for the storytelling to get a real view of what Rwanda has been
through.  |
| Red Rocks Bathrooms |
The account coming from someone that lived through it
was pretty raw – the genocide in 1994 killed over 1 million Tutsis as well as
moderate Hutus in 100 days. Neighbours killing neighbours, friends
killing friends and family members doing the same. It is fair to say that
this is one of the most horrific events in our lifetime and the world failed
them. On the positive side it is absolutely mind-blowing that this
country and its people can put this behind them, learn from it and get on with
their lives. The effects are without doubt still being felt, but they are
a happy and friendly nation that is one – simply Rwandan.
Back on the truck for our final drive :-( with 100kms
to cover we headed for Kigali, Rwanda’s capital (pop 300,000). The drive
was really scenic with lots of hills, cropping and greenery (Rwanda is known as
the land of a thousand hills). On arriving into the capital the better
infrastructure (compared to Uganda) becomes more obvious and there are lots of
people going about their business – and of course the usual waving, cheering
and hellos as we drive by.
Our last dinner as a group as we and another truckie
(Libby) depart here. We headed out and spent a really relaxed and
enjoyable evening together socialising and watching France beat Germany in the
European football league semi-final. The food became secondary and we waited
until almost 10pm to be fed (to be fair there were 30 of us to feed in an
already full restaurant).
The following morning we were up early to share our
last breakfast with the team and say goodbye. It’s quite unbelievable how
quickly you can develop wonderful relationships with people and it was really
sad to say goodbye. After lots of hugs and swapping of addresses we waved
goodbye to the big yellow truck and all the wonderful people on it.
They’re off to Tanzania now and we have one more day in Kigali to catch up on
things before the next phase of our journey kicks in.
Goodbye said we arrange transport to visit a few more memorial sites. The first of which was the Nyanza-Kicukiro Genocide Memorial site where 5,000 victims were killed after Belgian soldiers who were serving in the UN peacekeeping forces were ordered to withdraw basically abandoning them. We then visited two churches south of Kigali that turned out to be the most shocking and powerful memorials having coffins above ground, bones, skulls and clothes on display of those that were savagely murdered.
The first was Ntarama which is a small church where
5,000 were executed, mostly women and children and the second was Nyamata which
is a larger church/memorial site. Here on the 14th of April 10,000 people
were killed inside or in the grounds of this church via grenades, rockets and
automatic weapons (you can still see the damage to walls, floors and
ceilings - there were only 7 survivors. Another
35,000 were killed in and around the church compound over 2-3 days later in
April 1994. Inside the church are piles and piles of dirty and bloodied
clothing of those that were found here. Beside the church is the
underground crypt which you can enter (although it was too much for Lesley) and
thousands of skulls and bodies are housed here (45,000).
The atrocities that happened here are really
unbelievable and if genocide isn’t bad enough the way in which these people
were tortured and killed is beyond comprehension. Everyone from
everywhere in the world should come and see what happened here – perhaps then
it would stop happening over and over again around the world. We have
huge respect for Rwanda – more than you can imagine – they are a nation that
has somehow managed to forgive, or put this behind them, in order to move on
and become one nation at peace. What is even more incredible is that they
have done this in a short 22 years.
Last day in Rwanda, and Africa, and we spent it
catching up with our notes and photos etc. We will be really sad to leave
as Africa has most definitely surprised us, leaving no doubt that at some point
we will be back.
Best and most special moment – getting up close and
personal with the mountain gorillas
Worst moment – 2 out of 3 days in Kisoro with no
running water Most surprising – how hard it was to watch the big yellow truck leave
Things we will remember about our East Africa:
Mountain GorillasThe waving children
People yelling Muzungo (the word for foreigner)
Green landscapes
Banana plantations
Tea plantations
Manual everything
Genocide
Bumpy roads
Dust
Mud bricks
People walking – everywhere!
Cold water showers
Power cuts
Bush toilets and long drops
and last but defnitely not least, the big yellow truck
Starting our Absolute Africa tour tomorrow (which includes Uganda and Rwanda), so AJ and I re-read this entry to prepare us :-) Your experience as you wrote it definitely gets us even more excited!!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting and very jealous. It's amazing and I'm sure you will have super experiences too. What part of the Absolute tour are you doing?
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