East Africa

Kenya

With Botswana a close second, this was everyone’s favourite place. We were only here for two nights due to our impromptu two extra nights at Zambia. The people were super friendly. The food was closer to Indian than Swahili and the views of Kilimanjaro at Amboseli out of this world. I was not prepared to see it above the clouds on the flight back from Zanzibar either. Then, at night, the skies cleared, and you could see the skies in the horizon, as though you were travelling through space.

There are still elements that are unpleasant. There are vacant lodges and so many unemployed. It would seem, from a cursory glance, that they treated their animals much better than they treated their people. If the Masai were not as photogenic, I question how much the government would allow their existence.

The Masai were gentle people, with soft spoken voices. They showed us their homes and their self-made single room school, where children smiled at us. 

Tanzania

The megafauna is truly amazing. Lions chewing on baby warthogs (:( ) right next to you, and zebras blocking the road, even the elusive leopard lies unperturbed in their trees. Ngorongoro crater stood out for its views, and you really could see why Serengetic means ‘endless plains’ in Masai.

The small airplane we took getting into Zanzibar was not as frightening as we though. It was helped by our French pilot, Guillame, who sipped his coffee, ate his pastries, listened to music and read John Updike all while flying an airplane smaller than my bathroom. At one stage I’m sure Guillame napped.

Snorkelling turned out to be REALLY fun. And being stung by jellyfish REALLY hurt. I didn’t learn after my first time and went out again. I was told by a local (he was grinning) that it was jellyfish season. Was it then mean of me to then watch from my sunbed as various pasty looking tourists then took the same foolish move as me by wading deep into the pristine, clear waters, below yowling and scrambling back to the sand?

Tanzania presented even bigger problems. It was the same we encountered in Zimbabwe. See, in Bostwana, Kenya and Zambia (South Africa and Namibia have their own historical issues…) you see locals and a range of people travelling. And by locals and range I mean blacks, browns, yellows. In those countries, there were as many blacks as whites. The service was always friendly, but importantly, genuine. In Zimbabwe and Tanzania, the tourists were all white. There were no exceptions. Except us, and one day, there was an Indian family. We were there for nine nights and the people were overwhelmingly homogenous. The service was truly subservience. And for no one to notice, that was surprising. It was like they were in absolute oblivion. It was very uncomfortable. The staff were subservient in fear. In one of the places, we were in a room literally five meters from reception. We pushed our bags over to reception, where the man looked mortified. He was contrite with himself. “Please call us next time! We will get in trouble with Marcus!” He implored. Marcus was the white owner. He was not even joking. It made me sad. Less than five hundred meters from the lush resort, locals lived in shipping containers. I can’t imagine if I were to visit Australia as a tourist, and see ONLY wealthy asians in hotels, served by wide-eyed, cowering white locals, who lived in shanty towns. It’s unimaginable that this is the status quo. I would gladly go back to the continent, but I simply cannot see myself re-visiting Zimbabwe or Tanzania again. So I guess, I’m safe from African jellyfish then.

I’m glad I saved Africa for last in my travels. It was the best. The one I want to go back to again. Everyone should go. The big five are the icing. The landscape is worth it on its own.