Category: People

It had been known to us that our Uncle Gerrit was going to travel in a very similar manner to how we are: Rough, in a roof tent and preferably remote.

However, he only left 3 months after we did, so you can imagine how surprised we were to learn from our family that while we were camped in Kampala, he was only 90km away in Jinja. We phoned each other and immediately began making plans to meet later that week.

Sitting together in Kampala a few days later, we started discussing our onward travel plans and very quickly recognised that they were very similar. We all planned on heading first towards Murchison Falls National Park and then on to the very remote South Sudanese border and the Kidepo National Park.

The decision to travel together didn’t take us long to make. About as long as it takes to have a few sips of whiskey…

Now all we wanted to do was escape civilisation and get going to our first bush destination: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

After having enjoyed our first stay so much, there was no way we were going to bypass it with Gerrit. We wanted to show him this wonderful place with its invaluable rhino project and the stunning variety of bird life. We also planned on spending time with Angie, who is in charge of the rhino program and Johann, her husband and owner of the Amuka Safari Lodge on site.

We had also told Gerrit that we knew where to find the Shoebill, and him being an avid birder and an excellent bird photographer, we made plans to go and find them again.

So, leaving camp in the early morning we again headed for the swamp, but this time the task was more grueling. Without a guide or gumboots we set off and after having unsuccessfully scoured the places where we found the Shoebills on our previous visit, we were becoming worried that we wouldn’t find them at all. Luckily the swamp provided a beautiful variety of birds to distract us, including two pairs of dancing Crowned Cranes. It was at this point, about an hour into the swamp and while photographing the cranes, that Chris spotted the Shoebill. It was still many hundred meters away, but after a lengthy wade we got close enough to photograph it. We couldn’t believe our luck: another Shoebill! And a first for Gerrit!

After returning back to camp with an impressive bird count, we relaxed at the pool, then had a delicious evening meal with Angie, Johan and their two sons, Nico and Duan. Our common South African heritage provided plenty of exciting discussion and wild (but true 🙂 ) stories.

Angie introduced us to the details of the Rhino Fund Uganda and all the amazing work being done there, while Johann ensured that we knew all the best roads, routes, places and people for both the Murchison and Kidepo areas.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and the Amuka Safari Lodge are magnificent, set in the beautifully serene bushveld, with every person extremely friendly and helpful.

info@amukalodgeuganda.com

www.rhinofunduganda.org

Thank you to Hauke from the Bryanston Organic Market for producing a wonderful range of organic soap products.

Chris and I have been using his soap, body wash and shampoo on the whole trip and are very happy (:-)) with their superb quality.

An added bonus is that there is nothing unnatural in his range, meaning that when having a shower in the game reserve, no harmful by products enter the ecosystem.

Thank you again Hauke for filling all our requirements!

www.naturallyBeHappy.co.za

Likoma Island

Likoma Island is in Lake Malawi close to the Mozambique side but part of Malawi. We took the Chambo ferry to the Island and stayed at Mango Drift Backpackers, which is a beach paradise.

Astrid and I loved this place so much our three nights quickly turned into six. Especially since there was trouble with one of the Ferry’s which had to leave earlier than planned.

Like all great places it’s the people that make it a great place.

Mango’s Manager and Activities Organiser, Ben Spiessens can only be defined as unique. Always good for a laugh, Island style life suits him perfectly. After leaving Belgium at a young age he grew up in Sodwana. And basically grew up in the Ocean. He is an expert Spear Fisher and Free Diver.

Ben took me out for free Diving lessons. And the lessons were invaluable. I’ve been scuba diving now for more than ten years but have never free dived. Still Ben could teach me many basics like fluid dynamics or optimizing my equalization. The Islands calm waters also allow for a perfect learning playground as you slowly dive your way to about 15 – 20 m depth. Unfortunately I did have some trouble with my left eardrum so I couldn’t reach the deeper depths. But just watching Ben descend past 20m was amazing.

Ben is also a Padi Dive instructor and very passionate about his diving. This combined with his amazing teaching ability makes him and Likoma Island a great place to learn to dive!

If I can make it back to the Island, I will! Thank you Ben!

Blantyre was only a one night stopover. We stayed at Doogle’s, which was not what we were expecting, as it should have been the best camping around, but turned out to be nothing more than a glorified bar with dorm rooms.

The bar itself is very cool and here we met Andrew and Philip, with whom we had a great evening chatting away. Both are in the logistics business in Blantyre and we soon found lots of common ground to discuss.

Astrid at some point indicated her need to buy some shoes and Andrew and Philip immediately suggested that they would take us to the best shoe shopping around. So after a number of beers, we agreed to meet the next morning to do some shopping in the market of Limbe.

At 09:00 AM, Andrew and Philip picked us up and we headed off. After parking the car, we found that the bottom end of the market consisted of shoes. In all shapes and sizes, in any colour imaginable. Stallholder after stallholder showed us their footwear, but Astrid couldn’t find anything.

Amongst the huge selection Astrid finally found a great pair of Birkenstock and after some haggling, settled on a fair price.

All the while we enjoyed the intense market atmosphere around us. Goods were being hawked and bartered all around us and despite the seeming chaos, the market was very structured and well run. Beyond shoes, you could find haberdashery, materials and seamstresses, electronics, tools, clothing, vegetables and fruit, and a whole section for automotive spare parts.

What was great about this market was that it had a very large selection of goods and we didn’t get treated like tourists, without extortionate prices, constant harassment etc. It was very liberating to just do what you came for, and not end up being “chased” out.

However, it wasn’t all good news. Astrid had set out to get two pairs of shoes but despite the huge selection, she could only find one pair. So with all of us fed up with looking at shoes, Andrew and Philip took us back to Doogle’s showing us Limbe in the process and introducing us to all the local police officers at the road blocks. 🙂

Thank you again to both Andrew and Philip for an amazing time! And yes, Astrid is still looking for the second pair of shoes… 🙂

After leaving Dan’s Mavunje Camp, we headed to the Zambezi River with Antje and Bernard. Here we spent two nights at Kalizo Lodge, using our time to overlook the Zambezi, telling stories, reminiscing and (of course!) learning about birds.

We had lots of fun watching the Bat Hawks doing their thing against the vividly red sunset, had a cold and wet trip on the Zambezi looking for and finding the African Skimmer and vast colonies of Collared Pratincoles.

Our blood was sucked to within an inch of our lives by the voracious and merciless Mosquitoes – they were immune to everything: DEET, long clothing, Tabard and Citronella.

Thank you to a memorable time together and for inviting us to join you on your bird finding mission!

At the beginning of the week, Mike left us to return to Johannesburg.

We wanted to say thank you very much to him for all the help, advice, lectures and puns that he has given us over the past few weeks.

It’s been an absolute blast having you with us and we will miss you!

PS: And yes, the “poo clues” shall continue…

Hmmmm. What could Mike be looking for? 🙂 

Surprise, surprise…!

Having spent a few days recuperating in the bush between Gobabis and Windhoek, we decided it was time to move on and more importantly, replenish our water supply.

We packed up camp, left the bush behind us and thought, “why not get some awesome local biltong?”. So, we pulled into a roadside coffee shop that was advertising our craving. Having parked the car, we got out and the first thing we see is a gentleman crossing the parking lot wearing a Lederhose!

Now to see this Austrian traditional clothing in the middle of nowhere in the Namibian bush was quite a shock to say the least. We greeted the gentleman and spent the next few hours sitting in the very welcome shade of the coffee shop speaking to Florian and Ute Ernst from Austria.

They had set out to travel south from Europe through Africa and back again and they had given themselves 2 years to do it in, and now, almost 8 years later, they’re still traveling with their little dog Tiger in their converted Iveco truck.

We talked about “Gott und die Welt” (for those non-german speaking amongst us: anything and everything) and learnt a lot about the proper overlanding mentality. They showed us various routes that we were unsure about and entertained us with story after story about traveling through Africa.

One of their tips we plan on using in the near future. If it is successful we’ll let you know about it! 🙂

As they are also traveling north towards Zambia, we might just meet them again in the near future. Whether we do or not, we wish them all the best on their trip and many more adventures.