Return from Madagascar

Since our last post things in Madagascar only got better (and hotter), and all in all we had a great time. I've posted some pictures above, and will have a Madagascar gallery up soon (the internet here seems a bit wonky right now) on our photo site.

We're now safe and sound back in Kenya and have a week here before we return to Canada. Unfortunately there were 3 Canadian tourists killed in the Nyeri district of Kenya today in a car accident -- something that is way too common here in Kenya. Unfortunately with unsafe roads, even more unsafe lorries, very corrupt police, and a severe lack of highway upkeep, these sorts of things seem destined to continue happening here in Kenya.

We're very excited to get back to Canada, and are continuously debating where we will be eating our first meal when we get back and what things we miss the most back home. Looking forward to seeing the people back in Victoria very soon, and our other Canadian friends and family hopefully soon thereafter!

Alive and Well in Madagascar!

Sorry for the spelling here... this is a very non-qwerty keyboard Im typing on...

So, things are going pretty well here in Madagascar, and already this trip has been very much unlike any Ive been on before. It has thus far been a trip of extremes to say the least. We arrived just in time for one of the biggest ass-kickings this island has received from a cyclone in about 14 years - perfect! The rains were absolutely torrential, and incredibly high winds too. We weathered the cyclone quite well in a little thatched hut on high ground at a semi-lodge type place along a river in lemur-country. The cyclone flooded the roads about 10 feet deep surrounding us for 3 days or so in which we were stuck. In addition to that there were massive mudslides/landslides all over which made things more interesting. In the presence of all the carnage we still managed to get some incredible sightings of the largest lemurs on the island -- the "Indris" -- as well as chameleons, boas, geckos, and other interesting creatures.

After things had settled down following the cyclone we headed for the coast skirting endless landslides and flipped semis on the ravaged roads. It took us about 6 hours by "taxi brouse" (bush-taxis -- as good as they sound) to get to where we are now. The weather has improved greately in the wake of the massive storm, and we now find ourselves in insanely hot weather with loads of sunshine. The humidity and temperature here feel a bit like if you were in a pressure cooker steaming at an even 40 degrees C. Its the hottest weather Ive ever experienced so far (worse than Peninsular Malaysia or Borneo, even the bottom of the rift valley right on the equator in the summer time feels like a winters day comparatively) and you basically sweat what feels like youre entire body weight each and every day.

Other than the weather things here are absolutely beautiful however, and the people and sights are incredible. Tomorrow were off to boat down a canal on the east coast here, and then were off to a tropical island on Friday.

Hells Gate National Park: In the Dry and in the Wet

A few weeks back we returned to Hell's Gate National Park with our friend Jamie. It was right after the "short rain" season here in Kenya, and we definitely noticed a difference in terms of how much green things were in comparison with the first time we went. I've just been going through some photos and realized that I have a shot from the exact same location taken in the dry season and in the wet. The difference is startling. Have a look (click to enlarge):

Before the wet season (October, 2006)

After the wet season (February 2007):

Photos from Tanzania

We've just returned from Tanzania, and our stay in Marangu was fantastic. The hotel we stayed at (thanks aunt Mary & uncle Duncan!) was in a beautiful location with lush gardens, a great view of Kilimanjaro, and excellent rooms. We even discovered two tortoises in the gardens as we played croquet one afternoon! We hired a guide and traveled the surrounding area by foot, winding our way through banana plantations, up to beautiful waterfalls, and to the local village. Jenn & Jessica bought some local fabrics at the town market, and I even managed to buy a touque for cold winter nights back home (it's a special 'Kilimanjaro' touque).

The drive was excellent, and we marveled at how much better the roads are kept in Tanzania in comparison with Kenya. English was spoken less by the locals than in Kenya, but we found the people to be so friendly that it was hardly ever a problem. We had no trouble bringing our vehicle across the border, and were surprised to discover that the usual vehicle fees were waived for us because our stay was less than a week.

Link to pictures below:

2006 Africa - Marangu

We're back!

The internet was down here at ILRI for a good portion of last week and then we were gone to the Aberdares for the past three days. Because of this we've been incommunicado for quite some time.

Jenn & Paul arrived last Sunday, and we've been enjoying lots of festive activities like board games, bocci ball, and drinking. I wrapped up most of my work early last week, so we decided to head off on a short safari before Christmas to the Aberdares. We'll spend Christmas here, and then we're off to Tanzania on the day after Boxing Day.

Above is a shot of Jess & I from this morning. Our quest for elephant was finally successful, and we had much better luck on this trip than on our previous one to the Aberdares! We should have some video up shortly, and in the meantime here is a link to some stills from the trip:

2006 Africa - Aberdares #2

Story from the Aberdares!

This is a long one, but it should make some good bedtime reading....

The Aberdares was an adventure unlike any that Jessica & I have been on before. There were highs and there were lows, and in the end we certainly felt strengthened -- and at the same time slightly exhausted -- by the experience. Here is an account of an adventure that we will no doubt recall for years to come, for better or for worse!

DAY 1 - The High Plateau
Aberdare National Park is made up of two distinct sections: moorland, peaks and forest atop a high plateau, and an outcrop of dense rainforest known as the Salient. The park intrigued us for this reason, but also because it would be a good place to find elephants, a species which Jessica still has yet to see in the wild. We decided to approach the park from the Rift Valley to the west, and enter the park via its western entrance. This route would take us straight into the high plateau.

We were to visit the park just at the end of the 'short rain' season here in Kenya. This was a slight concern because several of the roads in the Aberdares shut down when things get really wet due to the muddy conditions and mudslides. As we approached the western entrance there was a slight drizzle, but fortunately it wasn't the torrential downpours that we've been experiencing quite frequently these days. As we departed the Rift Valley we were soon able to make out the tall peaks that make up the Aberdare mountain range; four of the tallest of which range from 3500m to 4000m. Rising from foothills to the park gate we found that the road turned into a beautiful paved mountain pass. With each 100 meters we gained in altitude the temperature seemed to drop a degree or so. Soon we reached the gate to the park, paid our park fees to the warden, and also picked up the recommended park map which is only available at the park entrances.

The temperature was colder than anything we've experienced in Kenya so far, and looking at my altimeter I noticed that we were way up at 3200 meters. I remembered being at this height at the basecamp on Mt. Ranier, and know first hand that it is certainly high enough to start feeling the effects of high altitude. The flora at this height was much different than anything we've previously encountered. We made our way to our camp first since it was around 4pm and we wanted to set things up in order to get a quick game drive in before sundown.

After setting up camp we hit the road and found several buffalo, duikers (a type of antelope), and reedbuck. We decided that we had just enough time to visit the nearby Chania waterfalls. The falls were absolutely gorgeous, and the recent rains meant that they were at full-flow: an incredible sight.

Just outside camp on our way back we stumbled upon another bonus: an encounter with a rare black (melanistic) serval cat. They are essentially like a small black panther, and seldom encountered in Kenya .

The wet conditions meant that making a fire was next to impossible, but nothing that a little gasoline couldn't rectify. We enjoyed shish-kabobs and hotdogs, and dined amongst several "eyes" watching around the campfire. The eyes belonged to buffalo and antelope (they light up with a greenish tint when illuminated with a flashlight), but also what we think were several hyenas (with a nice reddish-tint characteristic of predatory animals). This wasn't too much of a concern as long as the fire was going and we didn't stray to far from camp! That night we heard the barks of wild-dogs far off in the distance, and slept fairly well in our cozy little tent.

DAY 2 - Journey to the salient (or Decent from the Misty Mountains to the Shire)
We awoke to frigid conditions and quickly warmed ourselves with still-steaming coffee from our thermos at around 6:30am. We broke camp quite quickly as we were eager to start the day off and begin our quest for elephant. We returned to Chania falls for a quick breakfast (which was on the way) consisting of fruit salad, and also samosas warmed on the old engine block. Our goal for the day was to travel the 15 km or so it would take to get to the lowland area of the park known as the salient. It was there that we would have our greatest chance of finding elephants, in addition to other animals such as bongo antelope, wild bush pig, and rhinoceros. Our map that we had purchased at the entrance to the park, and which the warden had assured us was the best map available for the park, indicated that there were two roads leading to the salient. The southern route led to a large red mark on the map labeled "blockade" and then led outside of the park. The northern route was a bit longer, but ultimately led into the salient. Judging by the contour lines it appeared to be a beautiful mountain pass. When we got to the fork which separated the two we headed north and looked forward to avoiding having to exit the park and then re-entering it at another entry point, as the southern route would have required.

The northern route proved to be gorgeous for the first 7 km. It didn't look like it had been used for a quite some time, but we hadn't seen a single other vehicle since we had entered the park so this did not come as any sort of surprise. We winded up grassy hills, traversed past alpine lakes, and descended through dense bamboo forests. Occasionally the lakes which were flooded would run into the road, but they were easily bypassed and we thought nothing of it. Just before making our decent into the salient, and with only about 5 km to go, the conditions became slightly more muddy. We were in a small valley which acted as a sink, collecting rainwater and turning dirt to thick mud.

"Momentum" I told Jessica "is key in these sorts of conditions!" as we blasted across large mud ponds, and pools of water almost 2 feet deep. Battlecat handled incredibly well, and we took comfort that if we did get stuck our faithful 4x4 was so small that it would only take one of us to push it out. As we rounded a corner I saw a small hill, about 20 metres long, that looked quite slightly more muddy than any we had encountered so far. I stomped the accelerator to the floor and pondered the best path to take up the hill. About half way up the tires started spinning, and our progress came to a stand still. I reversed back down the hill, got a good running start, and floored it once again. We made it about one foot higher than our first attempt. Several more attempts got us to roughly the same spot and we found ourselves having to decide if we should turn around and backtrack to the southern route or jump into the mud and muscle Battlecat up the final 10 meters.

We decided that we had come too far to turn tail and retreat. There were elephants to see, and some muddy hill wasn't going to interfere with our plans! How hard would it be to get up this slope of oozing 6-inch mud? Sure, we'd get a little dirty and sweaty. but surely it wouldn't take too long?

Oh, how wrong we were....

The muddy hill of doom
We started off with simple pushing. Unfortunately Jessica had never driven the 4x4 before (by her own decision!) and wasn't feeling comfortable maneuvering Battlecat out of the dirty mess. Even still we gave it a try with her driving, but the correct combination and timing of the parking break, clutch, and gas pedal wasn't happening. She decided it was best if she pushed. I wasn't comfortable with her doing all the hard work, but we both decided that it wouldn't take too long, and I was better at getting old Battlecat out of the mud. The elephants were waiting.

We quickly realized that we were getting nowhere simply pushing, rocking, and trying to get a bite by rotating the steering wheel to the two extremes. We would need some sort of traction. I abandoned my "tread lightly" mentality, pulled out my leatherman, and quickly proceeded to hack down all the surrounding folliage in order to create a path of traction. It was slow going. We tried using rocks. It was even slower going. We went back to sticks & leaves.

At this point we were committed. There was no way in hell we would give up after all this work, and we were going to get up this $%&*#@& hill if it was going to take us till sundown!

And so it went. We placed sticks on all sides of the tires, pushed with all our might, and the car would move another foot or so before getting stuck again. Using this technique we moved at a rate of 2 feet every 10 minutes. The top of the hill got closer and closer, and our resolve became greater and greater. Finally, just as the steep part of the slope started to decrease in grade I could feel the car gain extra horizontal traction, and Jessica's push allowed me to roar to the top of the hill. A scream of joy escaped my lips, and I hopped out at the top to greet Jessica as she made her way to the top of the hill. She was crying with joy, and we promised to ourselves that we would never attempt this part of the Aberdares during the rainy season again. It had taken us 2 1/2 hours to reach the top, and we were ready to continue on.

Back on the road
According to our super-accurate park-purchased map the last 5 km of the northern route we were taking led to the northern border of the park where there is an exit gate and a road that parallels the park border before decending into the salient: our destination for the elephants. After the muddy hill debacle we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, and that we could get out of almost anything mother nature threw at us. Sure the day was pretty much spent (it was almost 4pm), but we had survived a difficult situation and we would have some great stories for years down the road. Our smiles faded as we approached the nothern gate only to discover that the road leading into the salient was closed (and had been for some time) and our only option was to exit the park at the gate, and then drive around to another entrance to the east.

We were not happy.

We drove to the gate to find that the park ranger guarding it was looking at us with quite dumbfounded expression. We stopped to say hi, and looking at our little 4x4 all he could say was "you came though in that?!". There was only one route we could have taken to get there, and we told the ranger that indeed it had been a tricky route, we had got stuck once, but that our little Battlecat was a strong car and we were quite proud of it. The ranger couldn't believe it. "You're the first car I've seen since a big Land Rover made it through about a month ago" he said.

The pride that we felt after finding out that we had just accomplished quite the off-road adventure -- even by Kenyan standards -- was slightly diminished by the fact that the route we'd have to take to get back inside the park was long and bumpy. We seriously contemplated giving up and just heading back to Nairobi, but we soon realized that we couldn't let the Aberdares defeat us! We still hadn't seen an elephant yet, and we refused to go home with our tail between our legs.

By the time we got to the next entrance to the park it was almost 6pm and the sun would soon go down. Our campsite wasn't too far away, and we barreled past huge wild bushpigs and numerous antelope as we raced the suns decent to the horizon. We arrived to find a much nicer campsite than where we had stayed the previous night. It was called 'Bongo Campsite' (after the rare 'Bongo' antelope) and is aptly named, for it is an antelope grazing pasture. It had nice short grass, and antelopes all over. We set up the tent and had a fire going in record time.

There were no red-tinted eyes glowing at us around the campfire that night, just green ones indicating antelope and buffalo. Because of this, and also the nice soft ground, we slept very well.

DAY 3 - The Quest for Elephant Continues...
We awoke in the morning to find sunny skies and warm conditions: the exact opposite of the previous morning. We reasoned that since the conditions were in our favour, today would certainly be the day that we would find our elephants. To further lift our spirits, a black rhinoceros (rare in these parts compared with the white rhinoceros) trotted out the woods not 30 meters from us, turned the corner, and headed hack into some bushes a little further down the way as we packed the tent up. It was a good sign indeed.

The roads in the salient criss-cross the park in an east-to-west fashion and we decided to make use of this feature by doing a 'sweep' of the park in order to maximize our chance of finding elephant. We would start at the southern end of the park where we were camping and criss-cross our way until we made it to the northern end. In this way we would transect the park about 6 times from east to west.

As mentioned before, the Aberdares is much different than the classical savannah parks of Kenya. It is quite hilly and densely vegetated. The first road we found ourselves on followed a beautiful ridge which paralleled a river. It was absolutely gorgeous and gave us a great vantage point to spot potential elephants. Mt Kenya broke through the clouds for a short period of time. We set off after breakfast feeling rejuvinated, inspired, and ready to spot some elephants.

As we worked our way from south to north we spotted numerous baboons, antelopes, buffalo, and bush pigs. We passed by gorgeous watering holes full of animals that we thought would be perfect drinking spots for elephants. But alas there were none to be seen.

We were also looking for other signs of elephant to assist our search. We had so far come across lots of elephant dropping, but unfortunately none of them were fresh. It wasn't until we reached the northernmost road in the park, the only road we hadn't checked yet, that we found fresh elephant tracks. The forest is dense in this part of the salient, but we followed these tracks with determination. They followed the road for some while, and then trailed into the forest. The forest was so thick we had no chance of spotting them, so we continued down the road in hopes that they might have emerged in order to cross the road again. Sure enough we picked up some more fresh tracks, but again they trailed into the forest, this time on the other side of the road. We cut the engine to attempt to hear any elephant sounds coming from the forest. Nothing.

Unfortunately it was getting to about midday by this point, and about time that we should be leaving in order to reach Nairobi at a good hour. Our quest for elephant was unsuccessful. We checked at the main gate with the rangers to inquire about elephant sightings so far that day. "They've been hiding in the forest recently" they told us. That would explain our difficulty in finding them.

All was not lost however. We had had a great adventure, seen numerous wildlife, and experienced a part of Kenya that is seldomly visited by western tourists. We felt stronger after our bout with the mud hill, and we had learned way more about safari in Africa than we could have ever expected. We accepted that it simply wasn't our time for spotting elephant, departed the gate, and headed south for Nairobi.

Back from Kapiti

We stayed at an ILRI-owned ranch for the weekend called 'Kapiti'. It's a fantastic old colonial house with several wings, and secret tunnels connecting them.


The area surrounding has some great wildlife, and we should have some video up soon. We had a whole lot of rain during the night, so this mornings game drive was a muddy one and Battlecat is filthy!


The drive yesterday was gorgeous. We ascended a small peak on a nice little dirt road in order to spot game down below. We headed down towards where it looked like the most animals were, and ended up having tea amongst a group of 38 giraffes! We also saw lots of zebra, gazelle, hartebeest, jackal, wildebeest, and warthog. It was a great trip, and we look forward to returning since ILRI staff get to stay there at a very reasonable rate.

We should hopefully have some video posted early this week...

The Elusive White Rhino Adventure

It was another early morning start for Matt and I this last Saturday. This time we went a little further north to Nakuru, Kenya's 4th largest city. Just south of Nakuru is Lake Nakuru which is home to even more wildlife than Lake Naivasha which Matt and I visited the weekend before. We went in hopes of adding flamingo, waterbuck, and the famous white rhino to our growing list of sighted wildlife.

We arrived in Nakuru bright and early to go get supplies for our weekend trek. Nakuru is a bustling town and is definitely a larger city. It is a popular destination for tourists as the neighbouring lake is such a good spot for wildlife viewing. However, like most things in Kenya, things aren't very well marked and we end up spending a while trying to find the main gate to the park! I have to admit, it is mostly my fault as I am not used to navigating and don't co-operate well when under pressure. But, like good explorers we trudged on and did finally find the park!

Once we arrived at the gate we were greeted by Vervet monkeys. Little things with mostly grey fur except a ring of white surrounding their black faces. They were very curious and we even ended up seeing some climbing on people's cars! Once we got in, we immediately saw a huge waterbuck male! Very much like a larger deer with dark brown fur....and one pair of large horns...hmmm...so not very much like a large deer but I think we have some pictures of some! Matt and I then drove up to the banda which we would be staying in. They're sort of like circular huts with thatched roofs. Very...rustic. At this point I think I ended up taking a nap because I was feeling a bit tired and cranky. I believe it was from the "roads" that led up to Nakuru. Although, I don't think I would call them "roads"...more like bits of cement in an immense field of potholes the size of Lake Nakuru itself. Nonetheless, after the break Matt and I set out and had an awesome wildlife viewing. We saw all the previous animals...zebra, warthog, Thomson and Grant's gazelles and LOADS of baboons! They were everywhere! I have to say I really enjoy watching primates though! They're very uninhibited and remind me of what humans might be like if we weren't restricted by the rules of being in polite society.

After some time, Matt and I wandered around to the South side of the lake where we had a little drink by a flock of flamingoes. The lake edge was like a moonscape because it was all dry and all was left was white. We continued by the water's edge and found our first white rhino! SO BIG!! And skittish! There was a long procession of vehicles though, so after we waited for them to pass, Matt got out of the car to get a shot. The rhino didn't really like this though and charged in the other direction. He then faced Matt as if he was going to charge at us! But, ended up doing nothing. Wuss. Haha, no just kidding. It's actually quite scary being in the presence of wild animals...you never know what they're going to do!

Anyways, we ended the day by crashing into a local swanky lodge located inside the park. While driving there we ended up seeing our first predatory animal: a spotted hyena. He was just walking up the road when we spotten us and continued walking right by us in the car...amazing! Anyhow, when we got to the lodge, we lounged outside their very spacious bar, drinking Tusker and Pina Coladas. The tables and chairs were then cleared for some traditional African dancing. It was quite the treat. Matt and I finished our "African" experience at the lodge in the restaurant at an all-you-can eat buffet. SCRUMPTIOUS! Then, we left the lodge and went back to our meager banda. Haha...it was pretty neat!

Well, I'm sure you've read enough by now so I'll leave you there. I'll keep you posted on our other trips in the future. Right now I am working on getting some STD research work and am making some progress! Keep reading to see what happens....Miss you all and will see you soon!

Jessica

Hell's Gate

Our first wildlife adventure was one of the best things I've ever experienced! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! Matt and I went up north of Nairobi to lake Naivasha, which is about an hour's car ride away. Anyhow, there's a wildlife park there called Hell's Gate National Park and is located in Africa's Rift Valley.

After going to the town of Naivasha to stock up on supplies, we showed up at the gate to the park where we found a rather large gathering of cars. I guess Matt and I didn't pick the best time to go as this past Friday was a national holiday (Kenyatta Day). But, I volunteered Matt to go up in line as he was a much more intimidating presence than I was! That didn't stop people from trying to budge in front though! We waited a good hour at the gate I think before we entered the park! It was crazy! Once we did get in though, we were surrounded by steep cliffs on either side of us and what seemed to be endless grasslands dotted with low shrubs and the odd Acacia tree. Our first animal sighting was zebra! It was so exciting to know that the animals were wild and free to roam! Matt and I then turned off the main trail to our camp site which was actually situated midway up the cliffs. On our way up we spotted a small family of warthogs, a mother and 3 of her little children! So cute! They were very skittish though and it was hard to get a good picture of them. After setting up camp, we went back down to finish the circuit of the park. That day we ended up seeing zebra, warthogs, gazelles, hartebeests, and elands. Then towards the end of the day we ended up seeing my first giraffe! So impressive! And so large! I didn't expect them to be so big. It was almost like stumbling upon a brontosaurus or something.

The next day, Matt and I woke up early to get a good sunrise in and to finish the other side of the park. There, we ran into African buffalo, more of everything we saw yesterday and a family of giraffes! We were able to get quite close...it was amazing! Then we took a drive through a shrub/acacia forest. It was beautiful. On our way out we thought the new animal sightings were over, when we looked to our left and saw a whole field of babboons! It was insane! There was even a baby riding on one of the mothers' backs! So funny!

All in all, it was a pretty amazing trip. I can't wait for all our other future trips! I think the next adventure will be at Nakura National Park! I'll keep you all posted! Miss all of you and hope you're all doing well!!