Tanzania

After Rwanda Mark and I decided that we would take the quick way through Tanzania (distance wise) so that we could get to the Zambezi as quickly as possible. The “quick” way was via the western outback of Tanzania along the Lake Tanganyika and definitely off the beaten path.

From the Rwandan border we drove about 100 km on pavement before we turned west towards Burundi and Lake Tanganyika. We continued on a nice dirt road until just south of Kibondo, where we decided to try our hand at bush camping. We made a pitiful fire (the wood was wet) and made a gourmet meal that consisted of ramen and baked beans. We were a little nervous about sleeping in our tent but no people or wild animals bothered us.

We woke up in the morning refreshed and made our way to Kasulu, where our true off-roading adventure began. The road from Kasulu to Uvinza was slow but very manageable dirt. The land was lush after the rains from a couple days before and a few puddles still remained on the road. Once we crossed the bridge outside Uvinza the road went to shit. It began with a crazy uphill rock climb over boulders which we managed. But once we reached a plateau we had to go through about 20 large puddles, some of very deep. We easily managed to cover Marvin (our car) in mud. The next couple hours on the road were stressful… slow driving but stunning scenery. Our sturdy Marvin Toyota was holding his own in 4x4 mode. We climbed up and over a small mountain range and on the way down the road took a turn for the worse. It was muddy sand, they were repairing one side of the road and it was mainly large semi-trucks deriving on the road. This led to Marvin grounding out on the big bumps… a little worried about our front differential not having enough clearance.

Mother Nature then decided to play her wild card and sent a crazy storm our way… as if we didn’t have enough to worry about. As with most storms here in Africa when it rains, it rains hard… the road had two rivers running down it. Mark kept the Hilux in 4x4 and we were cruising……nice driving Mark! Then it really started to rain… so hard we couldn’t see a thing even with the wipers on full speed. By this point I was already gripping the handle above the door, fully scared of sliding into the ditch. We found a flat section that was not under water and pulled over to wait out the storm. While we were stopped, Mark decided that he would strip and take a shower in the rain… shampoo and all! Finally we were able to get going again and we reached Mpanda just as it was getting dark. It took us 8 hours to drive from Kasulu to Mpanda, a distance of 267 km.

After a good nights rest and some food, we were off for the next stage in the journey. The first section of road took us through Katavi National Park. Right at the entrance we crossed a river that was chock full of hippos… so many that at first Mark thought they were rocks! Driving through the park we saw some vervet monkeys, impalas, enochs and some baboons but the main highlight was the giraffes. Super cute, just flipping their ears at the flies and checking us out.

Just when we thought we were through the worst of it Mark stopped for a pit stop, looked under the car and found oil was slowly leaking. It is amazing how quickly a perfect day can go to crap… the Tanzanian days were full of ups and downs. The next couple hours were very stressful, we drove through a couple small villages but none of them had any oil to sell. We decided to push on to Sumbawanga, a city about 65 km away…….we made it!

The next morning we had the crank shaft oil seal replaced in 4 hours and for $30, a job that would have took a few days and heaps of cash back at home. It’s amazing what 10 hands in an engine can do.

So back on the road by lunch time… this time we were heading to the Zambian border. Only 120 km to go and we would be on paved road, no problem we thought. But about 5 km from the Zambian border we come around a bend and find the road blocked by 4 semi trucks slipping in the mud. One of them had slid into the ditch and the others were helping to pull him out. It was very muddy and the road was slick and it didn’t help that it was raining. We had to wait a while and then we had to do some crazy off road driving to make it around them.

So finally we made it through the Tanzanian border and arrived on the Zambian side. It turns out the border officials do not work on the weekends at that particular border. Mark and I were not going to camp by the border until the next morning so we took the advice of a local and drove on to Muplungo and go to the immigration office there. Now we are in Zambia, ready for our next African adventure…….don’t ever take pavement for granted! We plan to hang on the tarmac for a good stretch.

Rwanda

So we drove from Kampala, Uganda to Kigali, Rwanda in one day. We were worried we might have problems at the border due to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda… luckily there were no issues. The drive was super beautiful and the road was surprisingly good. Early the next morning we took off to do a loop around SW Rwanda. First stop was the drive to Kibuye on Lake Kivu. The drive was beautiful, paved and going up and down terraced Rwandan hillsides. There were people everywhere… nowhere except the national park did we get away from a huge population. I read somewhere that Rwanda has one of the highest population densities in Africa… it definitely felt like it. Lake Kivu was stunning… and looking across you could see the mountains of The Democratic Republic of Congo.

After asking directions about 5 times (and getting the wrong answer 3 times) we started south down the dirt road along the lake. This road was super beautiful but the going was really slow for part of it… an off road practice ground for what was yet to come in Tanzania.

Next we headed to Nyungwe National Park to check out the Angolan Colobus monkeys. I also wanted to see the chimpanzees but they were currently not in the area.

On the way back to Kigali we stopped in Gikongoro to check out a genocide memorial. It was at a technical college where 50,000 people were killed in 1994. The memorial was a couple of mass graves and then a third mass grave was dug up and the bodies were preserved in lime. The rooms in the collage became their tombs. It was horrific. An amazing and poignant reminder of what had happened les than 15 years ago. One can only hope the people of Rwanda can overcome their hatred so this doesn’t happen again.

Nile Freestyle Festival

The past couple weeks Mark and I have been chilling on the White Nile River in Uganda, dividing our time between campsites at NRE Bujagali falls and the Hairy Lemon about 40kms downstream. We came to the White Nile looking for big water kayaking and amazing play waves, and that is exactly what we found. Our days have been filled with paddling trips down the river, playboating sessions on world class play waves, sitting in the shade, chatting to friends and enjoying the Nile party atmosphere.

Sunset on the Nile

Mark on the Nile Special

Waking up to monkeys outside the tent.

The Nile River Festival began on November 30 with the Big Air Competition. The water was up and the Nile Special wave where the competition was to be held was prime. 44 men were competing and 14 ladies. Mark paddled fantastic but the competition was fierce and he did not advance into the semi finals. I managed to scrape into the finals by the skin of my teeth and then put together a couple of solid rides… to my surprise I came out on top.

Not sure where this boy picked up his costume

Nile Special – Big Air Competition

Watching the Ladies Semi Final

Saturday was a grueling day… 45 kilometers of big water rapids, mixed in with long flat water sections, all run in a playboat. We divided into teams of two and paddled hard for just under four hours (fastest time was circa three hours) to try and come up with the down river race title. Mark and his partner Lochie battled against 14 other teams and came out in fourth position. My partner Robyn and I ended up in 3^rd out of 6.

Sunday’s race consisted of paddling the first four major rapids of the Nile river, running up a hill with your boat, getting on a bodaboda (50 cc motorbike) with your boat and paddle, racing back to camp, running through an obstacle course of rafts with your bodaboda driver and on reaching the finish line, you and bodaboda driver had to funnel a beer. What fun! Paddling through the rapids was hard enough, the run up the hill was backbreaking and then I had to hold on for dear life while my bodaboda driver flew back to camp site. Next was the crazy obstacle course of rafts that was slippery due to the soapy water on them… my bodaboda driver helped pull my exhausted body through the obstacle course and the next thing I knew I was down on my knees gagging down a funnel of beer to come in 4th place. One of the best races I have been in. Of course the party afterward was epic, going late into the night.

Michelle about to run Bujagali Falls

Ladies Down River Race

Michelle with her beer prize

Last Few Kenyan Days

Our last few days in Kenya we have spent doing a few short road trips in our new car, Marvin. We went to Hell's Gate National Park and then to Sagana to spend a couple days on the river. On the way back we found a small leak in our radiator and so we delayed our departure to Uganda by one day to tomorrow.

A New Car and a Big Waterfall

After looking into all sorts of options on how to travel around Africa Mark and I decided that to get the most out of our African adventure we would buy a car. So a couple weeks ago we started searching for a vehicle. A couple of scorching days in Nairobi, a trip to the local post it board, myself surviving a mild case of food poisoning and somehow we ended up the proud owners of a 1991 Toyota Hilux Surf. But finding the vehicle was only half the battle… we had to endure a four hour wait in a line up to get a PIN number (you need a PIN number to own a vehicle), got all the paperwork completed for the transfer of ownership, stood in line to submit the transfer of ownership and now we are waiting to receive the vehicle registration. Hopefully we will have it by the end of the week. In the meantime we had a custom roof rack built, so that we can carry our kayaks, along with a spare tire and a couple jerry cans on the roof.

While we were waiting for the registration to go through, Mark and I headed back to Sagana with James and Simon Coward to do some kayaking. The first river on our agenda was the Maragua, which we hit on Friday. Unfortunately I had a run in with a rock and came out with a sore shoulder and a broken paddle so I was unable to finish the run. But the boys came back with grins on there faces. After the run they went to scout a section of the Maragua that had never been run below the dam. It was too late in the day for them to have a go at it so it’s sitting there for another time.

On Saturday Mark, Simon and I went to scout the Upper Ragati. Thrashing through the bush along side of the river for a couple hours resulted in thorn scratched legs, scaring the local children (who had not seen many white people) and a desire to return to the river as quickly as possible to run this hidden gem. Back to the camp to pick up James and the boys went off to paddle slide after runnable slide. A portion of this river had been run once before by Simon, though the majority of it was a first descent. The locals watched in amazement from the bank, unable to fathom what the crazy muzungus (white people) were doing. Most of the local people cannot swim and thus are scared of water.

Sunday we woke up super early and drove out to the Rubangazi river for another first descent. Five hours after they put in, Mark, Simon and James found me at the take-out. The river contained a couple portages, deep canyon gorges, a sweet waterfall and beautiful lush jungle. The day wasn’t finished yet… on the way home Mark decided to fire off a 50 foot waterfall on the Nyamindi. He named it Shoosty Booty.

Shoosty Booty

Climbing out of the canyon

Mt. Kenya

Kenya Impressions

We arrived into Nairobi airport on Monday morning and by Monday afternoon we were on the rafting section of the Tana River.

James Savage running "Mission" on the Tana River

The White Water Adventure camp, near Sagana, is a little piece of paradise. Located right next to the Tana River, it is the ideal place to recover from a bit of jet lag.

Camp

Though we did not get much of a chance for rest as James Savage, local Kenyan kayaker, was keen to show us some of the local rivers. So Tuesday we paddled the Mathioya and the Lower Tana. Both really sweet runs and a good introduction to boating in Kenya... warm and red water.

Mathioya River

Then early Friday morning Mark and I headed back to Nairobi to get on a 3-day safari to the Masaai Mara National Park. It took a few hours of a very bumpy road to get to the National Park, but it was all worth it. The amount of animals that were roaming through the park was incredible. I thought Banff and Jasper had loads of animals but it was nothing compared to what we found here. Below are some (of the many) photos that we took while we were on safari.

Wildebeast migration

For the past week and a half we have been out at the White Water Adventure Camp. It's been hot with the odd bout of rain, awesome paddling on red colored rivers ....lots of waving screaming kids, snails pace internet, muddy feet, the best coffee and the worst roads.

Sunny days and high water levels

The remaining days we spent at the Soca were beautiful. Blue skies, blue river, white rocks and the mountainsides beginning to change color from green to yellow. The water level dropped each day and so both of us were able to paddle the Siphon canyon of the Soca. Mark’s birthday was fantastic… a day out on the river followed by an evening in a bar with friends.

The source of the Soca

An incredible piece of luck occurred while we were at the Soca. Mark started talking to an English fellow who had worked at a hotel in Soca that just closed for the season. He was looking to buy an English van so that he could travel around Europe for a month before he headed back to England. He wanted to buy Norman right away… of course we could not do that (we needed the van for a couple more weeks). So we compromised… we would meet him in Zurich in a week and sell him our van. So we no longer have to drive back to England… we can fly to Africa from Zurich.

From the Soca we drove into Italy, through Udine and Cortina d’Ampezzo, before heading to the Oetztal Valley.

Udine

Near Cortina

The adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championships were going to be held on the Wellerbrucke section of the Oetz River the following week. Mark and I arrived there to train for a couple days on the qualification section (on the Middle Oetz). It was snowing on the Wednesday we arrived; Thursday was a little better so Mark and I did a run on the Middle Oetz before concentrating on the 400m qualification section.

We drove to Uster for Saturday, Sunday and Monday to spend some time with Anuschka, Renzo and Ivo before heading back to the Oetz on Tuesday. We did a beautiful little hike close to Matt.

Cows coming down from the highlands

Mark, Michelle, Ivo, Anuschka and Renzo

Michelle and Anuschka

Ivo

Back at the Oetz kayakers were starting to arrive for the race. We spent a few more days training before the race was supposed to start on Friday. Mark and I woke up bright and early on Friday only to learn that water levels were too high and the race was postponed… it turned out that the race had to be cancelled. Unseasonably warm temperatures caused the water to rise and the race could not be run. We still managed to have a good time with all the kayakers that had gathered together for the event. Met some new friends and caught up with some old ones. Paddled, relaxed in the sun and partied it up. There are always good times when you are by the river.

Karl Engen on the Middle Oetz

Mark and Karl on the Middle Oetz

Now we are back in Uster, getting ready for the next leg of our journey. We are flying to Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday.