Safari

Safari, the one activity that everybody who comes to Africa must do. A couple of months ago we decided to splash out and go on safari in Tanzania. Tanzania is the home of Ngorongoro Crater and the fabled Serengeti, so what better place to go see picture postcard Africa. We teamed up with Tim and Andrea from Hawaii, who have just sold their house and are spending 10 months touring around Africa. We headed out from Arusha to begin our 5-day action packed animal viewing extravaganza. First stop was Ngorongoro Crater, formed when the peak of an extinct volcano collapsed. The Crater is now home to the highest density of large animals on the continent. You descend out of the mist that seemingly always obscures the crater rim down onto a lush savannah landscape. Animals are dotted everywhere. There are many dirt tracks crisscrossing the plain making it simple to visit all the varying landscapes contained within the crater. If you only have a day to try and see animals, Ngorognoro Crater is the place to come. We managed to see all the animals you could dream of in the space of 3 hours. Although the Crater feels slightly like a zoo, except you're in the cage, it is amazing that so many large mammals can exist in such a small area.
The highlight of any safari in Tanzania must be the Serengeti. In Maasai language it means 'endless plains' and they definitely are. The tall whispy grass goes on forever, periodically broken up by flat topped Acacia trees. We visited just at the start of the dry season and managed to see a portion of the great migration. Unknown to me beforehand, it is not only the wilderbeest that follow the rains in a continuous circle up into Kenya and back again. The zebra also make the long march in search of water. We managed to see huge heards of zebra moving through the plains and even got to see them in a panic while drinking at a pond, constantly on the look out for crocodiles and lions. Of all we saw in our 3 days in the Serengeti the ultimate was the huge male elephant we came upon on our way back to camp. He had just pulled a tree down and was tucking into his dinner when we drove up. Naturally protective of his food, he was not pleased as we edged closer. After 20 minutes of incredible viewing we went to drive around him and continue down the road. As we approached he moved off the road, but suddenly swung around an went to charge us. Luckily he pulled back and instead trumpeted at us in both defiance and warning. All four of us passengers where petrified, but Bryson our driver and guide was unperturbed.
Our safari in Tanzania was wonderful. We were lucky enough to see all the animals we could wish to see and managed to have some close up contact. I don't think I will ever visit a zoo again after seeing the immense space the animals are free to roam in.

UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

After returning to Arusha from our adventures in the Serengeti I found the energy to visit the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In the mid-90's a horrific genocide took place in Rwanda with over a million estimated deaths, mainly ethnic Tutsi and Hutu sympathisers. The events surrounding the genocide have recently been given light through the movie Hotel Rwanda. The Tribunal was set up to apprehend and try anyone suspected of being directly involved in the genocide.
I spent a couple hours listening to the prosecutions closing arguments on the case against Tharcisse Muvunyi. He was the former Commander of Ecole Sous-Officiers (ESO) during the time of the genocide. He has been charged with giving soldiers under his command direct orders to kill orphans who were under the protection of a convent in his district. He was apprehended in London in 2000 and transfered to Arusha for the trial. Many cases have already been tried and completed including some of the main characters from the movie. However, there are still 18 people at large, mainly in exile in other African countries.
The trial is not a trial by jury, but is judged by 3 judges from the pool of judges elected by the UN to serve at the tribunal. The prosecution legal team is comprised of UN lawyers. The defense legal team is made up of criminal defense lawyers from around the world. Defense lawyers can contact the UN and volunteer their services in the case that the defendant cannot provide his own legal counsel.
I was so lucky to be able to witness a unique bit of history. The events that transpired in Rwanda were beyond comprehension and had far reaching effects across the continent. The genocide and subsequent mass refugee migration directly caused the downfall of Mobutu in Congo and caused serious instability in the surrounding countries that is still being felt today. The objective of the Tribunal is to produce some kind of closure for the Rwandan people and help them move on from this tragic part of their history.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Tracking of the endangered mountain gorillas is a truly unique experience, something only equaled by walking with lions or swimming with great whites. It is the only activity I have done where you are completely at the mercy of the animals. These creatures you've only ever seen on television are within touching distance. They are so familiar and exhibit such human qualities you have the immense urge to walk over and shake their hand. The mannerisms and movements have such a resemblance to how humans move and act, I find it incredible that people still refuse to believe in evolution. One memory of many that will last with me forever is off a 2 year old staring at us with inquisitive eyes while aimlessly scratching an itch on his arm. It was exactly what I could imagine myself doing while watching TV on Sunday afternoon. At the same time if they felt you were encroaching on their space you would very quickly know about it. The immense power coupled with stunning grace is on show at all times. It only took the lead silverback to effortlessly slide down the trunk of a tree and crash through the undergrowth to drive the point home. Tracking through the dense jungle to view the gorillas for 1 hour is completely at the invitation of the gorillas. You are a privileged guest and nothing else, totally in their domain.
Seeing the mountain gorillas ranks right at the top of sites, activities, etc... that I've done in my life, and it will take something spectacular to top it.

Mzungu in the Mist

First of all, very honored to be invited on as a guest blogger on roundtheworldwego. I speak for Ben and Leighanne when I say that tracking the endangered mountain gorillas through the jungle was by far one of the best experiences of our lives. There are 3 gorilla families to track in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the Southwestern corner of Uganda; Habinyanja (our group-26 members), Mubare (first group every habituated) and R group (known for being up and over the mountain). Bwindi holds around 300 mountain gorillas, half of the world's population. The other half is located down the road in the Mgahinga Volcano Range. Here is the tracking process: 2 trackers are sent out in the early morning to find the gorilla group. They first hike to where they left the gorillas the day before, and use their night nests, dung and eaten vegetation trails until they locate them. The vegetation is so dense it has to be cut away with machetes to create a path. The trackers stay in constant contact with the guide through radio, and then at mid morning the guide takes the group to the gorillas in the most direct route. To get to Habinyanja group, we took a 4WD about 50 minutes to the Northeastern side of the park, and then did some serious uphill hiking for 40 minutes until we reached them. When we were nearing the group I noticed these large black mounds in the distant trees and was assured by our guide that they were just monkeys. As we got closer, he changed his mind and told us we had found the gorillas, so I was actually the first to spot them! We had no idea gorillas could climb, let alone balance their 400 lbs on a small branch above our heads. When we arrived the lead silverback and 4 or so others were chilling in the trees. We spotted a mother and her 2 week old baby on the ground and quickly snapped pics. We were lucky as about half an hour into our visit the lead silverback slid gracefully down the tree with a branch in his mouth, wandered over and proceeded to mate with a female gorilla right in front of us. Our guide told us this was a very rare thing to see, so we felt lucky and horrified at the same time. It was unreal to be so close to these huge wild beasts, at the closest we were about 8 ft. away. They behaved like humans, each with their own distinct personality. They acknowledged our presense with some intimidating eye contact and then went about their own business. We then happened upon a mother and her small infant playing. The little one was showing off for our cameras, sheepishly eyeing us and rolling around on his mother's back. We all felt incredibly humbled to be in on such an intimate moment. Our hour was up before we knew it and we begrudgingly left but with some amazing photos and a memory we surely won't forget. Overall, had the time of my life in Uganda and now I am anticipating when I can return to Africa to see the rest.

Pearl of Africa

Firstly, my apologies for the extended break between postings. I realise all our dedicated readers have been missing out. My only excuse is that Uganda has been action packed with Laurens' arrival and getting to grips with sub-saharan life. Also, Uganda only has power for 24 hrs out of 48 hrs, so usage of internet is not always possible.
Anyway, we have been having a amazing time since touching down in Uganda at the beginning of June. The visual shock of arriving into a place of such vivid colours was staggering, especially after the last couple months of contemplating desert landscapes. Everything in Uganda is either a brilliant earthy red or stunning green. The contrast between the red dirt roads and the green of the surrounding countryside is amazing.
We spent a couple days in Kampala picking up the gorilla tracking permits and generally getting our bearings. As African capitals go, Kampala is fairly low key, but that doesn't prevent it from being a special blend of organised chaos. You only need to step into a 'taxi' to understand that life works at a entirely different pace in Africa. We have had a great time zooming around town on boda-boda 'motorbikes' and generally racking up near death experiences.
The people of Uganda have been wonderful and always seem to have a huge smile on their faces. The standard call of 'Mzungu mzungu how are you' rings out whenever they see you pass. Mzungu loosely translates into 'white man who stumbles around aimlessly', which pretty much sums up most backpackers.
Once Lauren arrived we undertook the long bus journey to the south west of the country to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for the highlight of any trip to Uganda, tracking the endangered mountain gorillas. See the special posting about the gorilla tracking.
After Bwindi we luckily got a lift with a couple of aid workers to picturesque Lake Bunyonyi, which brings images of The Hobbit to mind. We fully deserved our day relaxing at the lakes edge after being tricked into getting a canoe to the island hostel, not realising that we had to paddle. All three of us were done by the time we arrived and couldn't muster the energy to do anything the rest of the day.
Next stop on the whirlwind tour was to Jinja, the adventure sport capital of East Africa, for a spot of white water rafting on the mighty Nile. Lauren and I braved the rapids, which dwarfed the ones of the Tully River in Queensland. Our raft only flipped 4 times and no major injuries were sustained, so overall a successful expedition.
Leighanne and I spent a couple more days in Kampala getting buses sorted and generally watching a lot of World Cup football, especially Australia triumph. We have now moved onto Tanzania and are all locked and loaded for our 5-day safari starting tomorrow. With any luck we will be able to view the wilderbeast migration as well as seeing the 'Big Five'.