The Indian Ocean Dhow

Rainy season around this place just began! The tropical big fat drops just start landing from the sky and hitting the ground with a big splash. Flash rains will be a constant  presence from now on so there is the need to be ready for lots of mud and sticky roads and for that I have changed my tyres to more off road. Finally out of town (Kampala) and moving up north to the heat… so much heat that we were forced to have a cool down break for the two of us… Me and my bike Mbuti Lilhaza (Blue Goat). We are now on the dry season and it is too much heat in the air plus tarmac hot, heat from traffic, black smoke everywhere, stop and go, police check points, hundreds of boda bodas (Motorcycles), pure madness to escape but all part of the TIA (This is Africa) business, so far so good and ready for a border day between Uganda and Kenya in Malaba. To leave Kampala it was crazy… Completely madness but we finally moved out and we are on a roll. As moving to Malaba Border, truck traffic is increasing in numbers, (parked and moving on the road towards Kampala) Matatus (Taxi Vans) and saloon cars just overtake km’s of trucks and literally push you off the road to that side pavement, broker in pieces. Driving skills are at a test again and madness as we get closer it is building up rapidly! TIA!. A few kilometers before reaching the border, the queues of trucks begin on the Ugandan side, they take the northern corridor that connects to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and South Sudan on the Kenyan side, they make the corridor from the Port of Mombasa to enter Uganda and follow the Northern corridor to these countries. The queues to the border are endless and the fuel tanks I lost count when it became 3 rows of trucks glued to each other this in the same direction. Once I have reached the border I didn’t want to but I had to… On the Uganda/Kenya border I got a “fixer”… called Kenneth. One thing that the African borders in some countries have in common are labyrinthine buildings that nobody understands with the queues and where to go to stamp a load of papers (4x this is new) in this way they get tired and if they don’t line up, they put you in part because you are not part of the assembled system, between fixers, agents, etc. it is constant episodes about documents, obstacles, health screenings, added costs without an invoice, but with good humor and a bit of luck everything was rolling to the Kenyan side and moving to the first city Eldoret where dreams begin and also where dreams end! Today’s motto is “Welcome to Eldoret, the City of Champions!” for all the marathon runners come from this side of Kenya. Since I’ve left Eldoret just have been climbing the Rift Valley, you end up by seeing people with woolly jumpers and woolly hats, pine tree forests, it is freezing cold and rainny! You will need a polar jacket in warm Africa. On the top of the mountain I have reached Latitude 0°  | Timboroa | Great Rift Valley | Kenya | Africa, just one more imaginary line crossing, this time at the mountains of the Great Rift Valley, off the beaten track in Timboroa, Kenya! Climbing up the mountains and moving forward down to the lowlands but passing to a famous toilet with a stunning view to the Valley, The Facebook Toilet. Moving down the mountains of the Great Rift Valley I have reached the capital of Nairobi and with so much to do in that urban center of Eastern Africa. I have managed to visit the Nairobi National Park which lays at the outskirts of the heavily populated city of Nairobi. You can organize a trip from there on a Safari van or book earlier with an agent. If you are a Eastern African country resident the ticket it is very cheap and you pay only for the safari day. Once in the park you can see the city buildings and towers as background which really make you think about the interaction between humans and wildlife. There is a road from town you can see all the springboks just across the road, cars passing by, traffic lights, etc. It looks like the zoo is next door. The biodiversity of species in the park it is fair and clusters of different fauna/ game that you can find in the park, including lions, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, Topi, springbok, warthogs, buffalos, crocodiles, monitor lizards, birds like, Hadada Ibis, Turacos, Marabus, Crested crane, Black and White cranes, Eagles, Starlings, primates, baboon, vervet monkey, etc. Inside the park you can also visit the monument where the wildlife national authorities have burned tons of illegal ivory coming from pouching activities throughout the country. Right in town there is also the Nairobi Giraffe Center and yes, it is that place where you see photos in the web of Giraffes getting feed by the windows of a Victorian house. In Kenya there are 3 species of giraffes, the Reticulated, the Masai and the Rothschild (endangered) at some point they reached to 70 individuals. The center has an important role on the recoveries of individuals population and then after a period they can release them into the wild. After one year of the newborn babies then can name them, but at the moment you can meet and feed, Salma, Daisy, Kelly, Stacy, Eddy is the dominant bull of the center as giraffes are very territorial they only have one individual. You can visit the center on the web and help their cause, and the population of Giraffes to grow by adopting a giraffe. In Nairobi there are many places to go and things to do, like the giraffe center, The Nairobi National Park at the city boundaries, the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage Center (heavily booked), the Karen Blixen Museum, famous for her 1937 book Out of Africa which chronicles life at the estate. Next day blasted from Nairobi to Mombasa on the A109. Reaching Mombasa on a hot day and dusty sand is everywhere, the traffic to the island it is pumping, and the city just engulfed on a cloud of dust. On the A109, had a pretty close encounter with some wildlife on the natural corridor of the Tsavo National Park and the wildlife law enforcement Academy. It was a rainy day but the Zebras and Elephants seemed like they didn’t had a shower for days. One of the elephants started his stumping moves and kicking rocks, as he was a bit angry for having the family on the other side of the road waiting for him… What a thrill of a day. At the end of the road you reach the island city of Mombasa and crossing it by a cargo ferry packed with cars and vans. Once in the old town I have visited the UNESCO World Heritage, Fort Jesus, constructed by the Portuguese, on their arrival by the Indian Ocean Coast. The guide gave me a overview of all the building and taking over throughout the decades by the Omani Arabs and then the British. The fort it was already a fusion of cultures, being a fortress to defend Mombasa in a strategic point from the delta and the island also played a critical role in the trade with all the dhows and all the boats coming from the European countries. A must place in Mombasa with literally the stories written on the walls since the construction of the fort, now UNESCO World Heritage site. Next day moving out of Mombasa Island on a barge heading south along the coastline. Already in the beach scene of Kenya, Karibu, Diani Beach! Beautiful place full of top-class hotels, bars, sea food restaurants, diving schools and beaches with clean turquoise water and extreme heat is a must since hitting the East coast of Kenya. Moving down the coast have reached the capital of Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam and moving to some dogging streets where I had serviced the bike near a ghetto bar which brought curiosity of passers in the neighborhood and drunken people but fortunately the mechanic, and just one person was speaking a bit of English. Next day moved to the port area to catch the Cargo Ferry from Dar Es Salam to Zanzibar. It was not the best I’ve ever been, a lot of port bureaucracy, schedules and waits for boarding, schemes and tickets without an issue code, confusion, communication, among others. After loading many potatoes, cabbages, cows, furniture, piles of mattresses, cars, boda boda, paperwork, hours of waiting, a load of stamps, I managed to reach Zanzibar! The pandemonium continues including being received by a Maasai team. Once reaching the island it was terribly hot and already packed with people and cars at the port! Once reached the hectic Stone Town in Zanzibar another successful surgical operation at Mr. Issa workshop to fix broken radiator tube, electrical faults, water in the fuel, oil leakage. After fixing all that started crossing the island from top to bottom into resorts and beaches on the island of Zanzibar from the northern tip of the island, Nungwi village, on the west coast to Kendwa village and to the east in the central part of the island on a peninsula, Pingwe village where is sited the famous Rock restaurant. I have visited the ruins of a Portuguese Fort Mvuleni on Zanzibar Island. Some of the ruins that remain but already with new constructions around, others of support, plus a metal roof that was built to protect the fort including a stairway to the cellars and caves of Fukuchani with the presence of water where the population uses for bathing and laundry. Some kids were taking care of the ruins or supposedly working for the government but without any identification no ticket price just a registration book. I noticed that they were not quite in line with the asking price for my visit and possibly they should be making a collection for their own fund just to show the Portuguese legacy through the waters of the Indian Ocean on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania, Fort Mvuleni. Moving forward, back to the continent and moving south in the hemisphere, dripping copious amount of sweat, Mbuti Lilhaza dripping copious amounts of oil. Reached Horohoro One stop border post, the best so far I have seen in Africa, no hustlers, no fixers, no commitments, and I was the only client at that time! All the staff was awesome and polite… beautiful stuff! Very grateful with the customs, of Horohoro between Tanzania and Kenya. From there I passed the Kilimanjaro Mountain, Mero Mountain, and moved through wild lands in the region of the Maasai tribe in search of mountains among the acacias in a completely vast and arid place where only reticulated Giraffes, donkeys, goats and cows appear. It’s hot, I continue to drip sweat and Mbuti Lilhaza continues to drip oil, so everything is still normal. That day manage to catch a chameleon on the ground and the Maasai women to hustle me all the way till I have finished this awesome ride, The Indian Ocean Dhow!

João Luís Sousa