Trip to Mwanza (Part 3)

Through the medium of television, most people know of the Serengeti (though many think it is in Kenya!) and mast know about the Wildebeest migration.

Seeing the real thing and the vastness was a privilege and I am grateful for the experience. The animal is not pretty and the name Gnu probably suits it better, but their coats looked to me like a shiny eel skin and we had a good look at them as we gave way for them on the road. In the park, vehicles are supposed to give way to animals, but the line is so long that we nudged our way through.
As a farmer who once raised cattle, the vastness of the Serengeti to support such animal numbers is indeed vast. Though, next to the Serengeti is the Maasai Mara, which is in Kenya, is another large sward of grassland.

From the Seronera Lodge, where the brilliance of the lizard population and the Rock Dassie is overshadowed by the spectale of the lodge itself, there is a road that heads North to the Masai Mara and another West, to the West Gate (Ndabaka) on the Mwanza - Musoma Road. We took the Westerly route and I sat back spotting game as I would in my old deer hunting days.

Some work was being done to improve the road, though we saw none actually being done. But it deteriorated as the landscape became flat and the only vegetation was Whistle Thorn Acacia.
There were boggy parts and I was promoted to driver to negotiate them. Heavy traffic could not negotiate these wet spots - it was tricky but manageable and I suspect the lorries usually took the Northern route.

We saw just one other vehicle on this leg and it was a car going the opposite way. It was a mission to get past it and I stopped to warn the driver that I did not think a two wheel drive car could get through. We helped him turn around.

The sealed road to Mwanza was a good road and I enjoyed the rock formations on the way.

Having always been interested in geology it was interesting to see the weathering of the rock formation - some looking like someone had made huge piles of the rocks. And we had glimpses of Lake Victoria. This lake is so big that it actually has tides. The local people use the lake as a food source and we saw large fish being carried on the carriers of bikes. Water birds too - Egrets, Herons, Ibis, Storks and Swifts.

There was rich soil here and the thatched houses were home to industrious farmers taking advantage of adequate rainfall.

About 30km from Mwanza the road deteriorated into potholes that had to be driven around and progressively became worse until there was no seal at all and progress became slow.

The Main street of Mwanza was no better and there was a lot of traffic - all avoiding the potholes as best they could.

We were booked in at the Naad Hotel, a large establishment, where the the staff were pleasant, but the room had an innocuous smell. I fact Mags refused to sleep in her bed because of the smell!
There was no hot water in the shower, but the cold was warm and satisfactory. Then we were off to see Petra, the Agency vol, who was the reason for our visit.

Jo wanted us there because there was some antagonism between her and Petra. She lived not far from the hotel and we drove up the narrow access-way to accommodation provided by the school (she was a secondary school teacher). They were built of plastered concrete and we climbed the 8 steps - I have to say Petra's place looked dirty, but she wasn't there! I talked to a boy who told me Petra did not stay here, but was living in another house nearby. Jo told us that the school Headmaster had complained about her changing houses without authority.

Most of what happened is between the Agency and Petra, but we were made to feel uncomforable. Petra was sitting talking to her African boyfriend, looking at photographs and she did not even look up when we entered the room. The reception was frosty to say the least and my biggest disappointment was that we were not offered a cup of tea - I was hanging out for one!
Finally, she introduced us to her man and told us we should meet at the school at 8:00am.

Over a beer at the Lakefront Hotel, we discussed our next movements because Mo & Jo were supposed to be in Nairobi by the next weekend. I suggested that matters be claned up and we head back on Wednesday - tiring but possible.

The hotel was noisy and we did not sleep well, but it was ok.

Without going into it too much Perta wanted to extend her contract - I guess because she didn't want to leave her man. The Headmaster did not want her to - probably embarassed about her involvement with the guy. Jo could therefore not allow her to extend and in a perverse way, Petra blamed Jo. So while there was bad feeling, we were thre to help transport Agency equipment back to Arusha and Jo to do a debrief with Petra and ther boss, the Headmaster.

While Jo was doing her work, Mags and I looked for a Neem Tree project - unsuccessfully and reaching Shinyanga on a newly formed Mwanza - Dodoma highway - nowhere near completed and reverting to the old single dirt track from time to time. The new highway will be amazing though and the project manager was a Kiwi.

When we returned we loaded the equipment - a drum, 2 cookers, fridge, pots & pans plus other odds and ends.

We managed to leave Mwanza at 5:45am and the return trip was uneventful save the lions we saw in the shade of a small Acacia tree. Fatigue had taken the gloss off what we were experiencing.

We arrived back at Mo & Jo's house at 7:30pm after travelling 1446km in three and a half days. No wonder we were tired!



Mo did not expect us so early and had not much food in the house, but poached us an egg and made us toast. He brought forth his bottle of whiskey which promoted a good night's sleep!

Trip to Mwanza (Part 2)

We left Karatu before breakfast and were ar the gate into the Ngorogoro Conservation Area before the wardens were there to open it. Trucks were also waiting as this was one of the routes freight was carried to the interior. Maybe even to Kenya for goods that may not pass at the Namanga border.

We were passing on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, then going through the Serengeti and on to the Mwanza/Musoma Road - past the Souther part of Lake Victoria.

We expected to see a lot and at this time it was all a new experience for me, so I was excited. There are any amount of documetaries about the Serengeti and these days pictures of the animals are easy to come by. But this is from my point of view and my camera was just and old point and shoot thing but readers may be interested.

The gate warden had actually overslept and he was half an hour late, but we were processed and we made our way into the Conservation Area. It was rainforest with large trees and we were climbing on an unmetalled road of red soil. The Ngorogoro Crater was formed when the centre of a large volcano collapsed inwards leaving the rim - like hills and a flat bottom. We were climbing the hill towards the rim and the road skirted along part of the rim before it goes on to the Serengeti. There is a lookout when the road first reaches the rim and the view reveals the huge area that is the crater. We did not tarry though because we had a long journey ahead. I expected to a lot of animals in the early morning, but saw only one buffalo and one sneaky hyena.

There are tourist complexes along the rim and I suspected that they are expensive places to stay - but the views would be tremendous!

As we dropped off the rim, we saw some giraffe,

grazing the tops of Acacia trees and they looked at us with disinterest. Once we left the crater rim, the vegetation turned to mainly grassland which was dry and in some parts, barren.

The road was corrugated and especially on the corners, it was not possible to drive with any speed. Never the less Mags nodded off and slept through it.

There was not much feed or cover for animals, but there were a lot of Thomson's Gazelles and many Zebra. These animals always look clean and neat with smooth coats and I felt some humility that I was able to view them in this way. I still think that I have been incredibly lucky to have seen all the animals and places that I have.

I was driving at this time, so I was able to stop momentarily to have a closer look. Jo did not mind me stopping for a photo, we all knew the time restraints but it was not like a sledge hammer over our heads!

There are some large birds that I had long wanted to see and I was able to stop for a longer look at these. There was the secretary bird. This bird was on my 'to see' list an I was pleased to see some at close range. They seem to solitary birds though.

Then the beautiful Crowned Crane. Over the years we saw a lot of these birds and always they were aloof and beautiful.

It is some distance before the approach the gate 'Naabi Hills'. Yes, Big E named his bar the same name, but he said it was a pun and really meant a mixture of the names of his daughter and that of Round L's daughter.

As we neared the gate, on our right were many vultures feeding on a carcass, probably a kill from last night. When I was but a lad, I saw a movie called 'Where no Vultures Fly' - can't remember anything about the movie, except they looked to where the vultures circled to find where the lions were. I was pleased to see these birds bepite the reputation they have.

At Naabi Hills you leave one park and enter another and of course have to pay the entrance fee. It might be thought of as a money making exercise but I think it is well worth it.

These guys are used to dealing with the public and it all goes well. I have seen people having trouble - but largely they make for themselves.

We thought we were making good time and here are a few pictures that need no explanation.

Well maybe they do - the baboon is ok but those are lions under the tree and there goes a chettah.

Our next stop was the Seronera Wildlife Lodge where we had a coffee and something to eat. This is a beautifully built lodge and actually built into the natural rocks there. We needed the short rest because were were still excited about the Widebeest Migration we had seen earlier I will come back to that in my next blog, because there are enough pics here for now.