Into The Wild

Hello again people :)

This week has been incredible!!! Our first view of African wildlife came this week!! Firstly though I will just answer the question set by Auntie and Uncle about the marathon as for some reason I thought I had written about it last week on the blog, but I clearly hadn't, so my apologies for that :)

The marathon itself was very hard. I was soooooooooooooo tired by the end of it hahaha!! We ended up only doing the half marathon anyway on the day because we did not want to pay $60 to run the full marathon. So we set off at 10 to 7 to be there for 7, and we had to run about 3km to get to the start as they had blocked the roads. So we ended up being right at the front with the true marathon runners! There were runners from Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Europe, America, and Japan! It was a great mix! There was a lot of elbowing and argy bargy at the start with each other as people were jostling for position. Me, Tim, Alex, and Elefas had said we would run together, but within the first 10 minutes, we had all been split up and were on our own. So we had to run 11km down the same road up towards Kili, and met many people on the way running for one reason or another. It was quite funny to realise how unfit I was when a lady who looked about 70 sped past me, up the hill, but I continued at my own pace, and soon I saw the first runners returning down the same road past me (we ran up the same road and then turned round and ran back down the same road so you could see who was in front of you) and I saw Tim and Elefas speed past me on the other side of the road shouting 'JAMBO!!' to each other in greeting. After no time at all I to, had turned and was on my way back. The pain and blisters kicked in at about 17km as it was down hill and the shoes (that were NOT meant for running at all) were beginning to seriously rub. However, the stadium which was the finish point was soon in sight and I staggered over the line to be greeted by the rest of the guys from camp, and receive my medal and t-shirt as we were in the first 1000 runners!! The size of the blisters on my feet when we got to camp were ENORMOUS!!! But I was very glad to have done it, because it was a fantastic experience :)

Now onto Camp Ndarakwai. We had to drive 2 hours out onto the middle of these flat African plains, which was an incredibly rough ride, but we didn't care. We were going to see our first bit of true African wildlife in 2 months! We were so excited!! However we saw no wildlife as we drove in, although we saw hundreds and hundreds of eagles circling way off in the distance, which was quite a cool, but eerie event to see.
 We arrived in our small camp, which we were to stay in for 3 days and nights. The camp itself was located in the middle of Ndarakwai national park, which is 12000 sq km, and is connected to another 3 national parks (2 in Tanzania, 1 in Kenya) as is a major migration route for many animals in the North of Tanzania, coming in and out of Kenya. We were sleeping in 3 man tents, with a small fence around our camp that is electrified after 6 o'clock. However fences do not stop monkeys from getting into our camp. On our first day in camp about 10 monkeys came and entertained us, by trying to raid our kitchen whilst our cook, William, was in there. William eventually drove them off, but only to the top of the trees where they waited for their next chance to attack.


We set off the same day with our ranger Muud (Mood), for our first bush walk. This was to prove an unforgettable experience, which I know I will NEVER forget :) We walked for about an hour without seeing anything, and then we saw up ahead, a small herd of elephant, and zebra too. They were not close, about a mile off, but we see them quite clearly as we were on top of a hill. We then continued and saw some waterbuck, and kudu quite close up, but they are 2 of the most wary animals on the plains (we were told by Muud) and they quickly vanished into the bush. However, we were then told to keep totally quiet, as were began walking towards where (we thought) the elephants were from earlier, and then we scaled a small hill, and they were right there. Right there!! About 30 metres away from wild African elephants, on foot!! It was INCREDIBLE!! Nobody said a word for at least 20 minutes, standing and watching one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen.


After this, we trekked back to camp, arriving at night and then having to remove the hundreds of ticks we had acquired in the long grass, which took a while. All of the guys were quite worried  about ticks as  Muud had told a story of him finding 3 hidden in his manhood. It was scary.


That night we enjoyed a colossal storm way off on the plains. It lasted for about an hour with bolt lightening at least every second, and it was just incredible to watch in the darkness. Natures power : D The nights themselves were ok, as we had been told y the fellows that had gone before us to Ndarakwai that the nights were quite cold. However, in our tent it was roasting and difficult to sleep although you did eventually drop off through sheer exhaustion desperately trying to get comfortable. I also learnt that I apparently roll over a lot in my sleep, so much so that I ended up on top of Stefan, every night we were there. Hahaha!

We then began some work very early in the morning, which was clearing a waterway to a man-made watering hole for many animals in the area. This was hot work as the Sun felt much stronger out on the plains, and it was a slog to clear all the mud and plants from the waterway. After this, we then went off to make elephant dung paper. It was to prove an eventful afternoon, with elephant crap flying everywhere and caking all of us, as we had to mash the poo into a paste and then mix with glue and pieces of fabric. We also had to go through the poo (yes, with our hands) and remove all the thorns from it. We then mixed it all together in a large container of glue and then took a frame for the paper, dunked it into the dung, glue, paper, water mix, brought it back out, let it drain and then we left it for a day to dry.

The next day, we were taken on a mad roller-coaster of a ride on an open top truck, through the bush, dodging thorns, trees, and various animals, as we were taken to work on a road in the national park. This turned out to be quite confusing as we were directed to make a small trench to drain a TINY amount of water on the road. What we ACTUALLY ended up doing was making a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge hole in the road rendering it totally un-drivable. On the way back from work, we persuaded our driver to take us on a small game drive, and ended up seeing some impala, zebra, wildebeest, and secretary birds, which are one of the coolest looking animals I have ever seen. We also saw the ugliest animal I've ever seen which is the Maribou stalk, which is massive, but looks diseased and half dead (it was NOT actually dying, and diseased apparently its just what it looks like ) On the way back Phoebe ( the new American gal from Boston) was too slow in getting out of the way of the thorns on the road, and so had a face full of acacia thorns, which made cuts that did not stop bleeding for about 30 minutes.

In the afternoon it was our meeting with the Maasai. The group was highly excited for this meeting, and I was no exception, having heard so much about the Maasai, I was incredibly excited. We walked for about an hour to get to the Maasai 'boma' or homestead, where were greeted by the 9 wives of the man whose homestead it was. Overall, he had over 50 (!!!!!!!!!) children, and when asked does he remember all there names, he replied that he tries. We then questioned, and were questioned by the Maasai women, about marriage, life, school, and ages, before me and Sarah, had our hands grabbed by the 9th wife, and led away into a tiny hut, with 4 tiny rooms, that was dark, but soon our eyes adjusted and we could how well made and set out it was with all shelves for storing wood, and a room for keeping the calves in at night. We then proceeded to (try) and make a necklace and a bracelet, which Sarah seemed to get the hang of more than me, as mine was taken from me quite quickly and finished by the Maasai. After this, pictures were allowed and the Maasai thought it was a great laugh to see themselves on camera. They then sang us many songs of themselves and we got to join in with the famous Maasai jumping. It was then our turn to sing some of our own songs to the Maasai, so we sang (of all songs) Yogi, Yogi Bear, and Brighton football chant that has become well known in camp.It was another experience that I will never forget on this trip. The whole 3 days was fantastic. Simple as.


On the way back we ended up leaving Alex in the supermarket where we stopped, thus leading to an almost colossal pile up in the middle of the road, with us in the middle. : D The next afternoon was one of chaos, but so much fun, for we had organised a sports day for Mbokomu Primary School, with events such as, 3 Legged Race, Cement Sack Race, Fling a Flip-Flop and Tug o' War. Me, Sarah and Alex were in charge of Tug o' War. Everything was under control until it was our time. It basically ended up with me, Tim, Ailsa, Sarah, and Jonny, randomly spaced along the rope, with the entire school on either end of the rope, pulling for all we were worth. I ended up face planting the floor, and being trampled into the dust by a stampede of kids, and receiving quite a few rope burns for my tumble as well, but the kids and, in all fairness, all of us enjoyed the afternoon as it was great fun.

It was then the last day of project for us. It was quite a scary moment to think that I had been working there for almost 8 weeks, and it had become a regular part of my life here. It's sad that we will see it only once more before we go. Me, Sarah, Lena, Fiona and Ella trekked up in the afternoon just to finish off what we had started in the morning, which ended up with me and Sarah, teaching all the kids, Yogi Bear, More Than A Feeling by Boston, and in return we were chased across the field with the kids shouting 'Josh and Sarah Jamba, Jamba, Jamba' which translates as 'Josh and Sarah Fart, Fart, Fart' I think its ok that my lasting legacy to an African school, that will be remembered is that of being the Jamba kid. : P

Last night, we also played 'Ring of Fire' at the bar, as it was the last weekend where it will just be the 3 monthers together. It was great fun, with Tim getting so drunk that he ended up trying to walk the wrong way out of our tent in the night, shouting at every person he saw, including when a young Asian lady fell over at the bar, he started singing 'I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese' and then 'She Fell Over!!'

At this very moment I am so excited, along with the rest of camp, as tomorrow we go on safari!!!!Serengeti and Ngorongo Crater!!! Hahahaha!! It so happens that my camera died yesterday, however after being chased by the police, with a mad taxi driver who refused to pull over for him when asked, I managed to find a film camera for safari. So the next blog will be full of stories about safari!!! Waited for this for so long, and I know its going to be AWESOME!!!!!

Much Love, Hakuna Matata

Josh