Excerpts From Their African Travel Log

We evolved from naïve travelers to fairly savvy overlanders. Through trial and error we gained confidence in our off road driving skills and the amazing ability of the Land Rover. We drove from South Africa to the far north of Kenya which borders Ethiopia, stopping in 9 countries during our year long sojourn. Although not luxurious traveling (since we did a lot of camping), we experienced the remarkable essence of Africa. We would joke that in Africa you don't need to go to the grocery store; people everywhere sell food they've harvested along the roadside, from cashews to fried bird embryos! Roads in some African countries are notoriously bad. Leave it to the enterprising Africans to make a business out of it though. Frequently you'll see someone filling in potholes, hoping you might appreciate it enough to hand over a tip. Those most creative will even add a little dance to further tempt you into parting with some coins.

My personal favorite is the children, especially those who tirelessly wave only asking for one in return.

From Soweto to Nairobi we met local people and learned more about their way of life. Although most black Africans have very little in terms of material items, they do have a strong sense of pride and keen survival instincts. Most are very kind, hard working and eager to learn about life in America.

A few experiences in Southern and East Africa:
Our first foray into the "bush" was with a group of South Africans, many of who had never been outside of their country (this is typical of South Africans, during the years of apartheid). All 12 of us ventured into Botswana where the moment we left the tarmac and ventured onto dirt we received a rock into the windscreen cracking it in half immediately. No sooner did we get over our new Landy now flawed we heard the inevitable thump thump thump of a punctured tire (flat tire). We would soon lose three more tires in 10 days while once nearly getting run over by an oncoming vehicle who thought it would be entertaining to see how close they could drive next to us while we stood trying to change the flattened tire.

Having a vehicle in Africa is like being a celebrity; only a small percentage of the population can afford to own one. Most were impressed with the fact that we were driving a Land Rover. Land Rover's tried and true reputation reaches into even the most remote locales. In fact when negotiating difficult terrain people would always say, 'yes, you most certainly can do it, you are driving a Land Rover'!

From time to time we would give people lifts.
When giving a ride to someone in Africa be prepared to have several of his friends come out of nowhere to hop in for a lift as though it meant they could all come along. In one instance we offered a man a ride and before we knew it there were 12 people accompanying him, including those sitting on the roof of the vehicle. One was a very pregnant woman who was happily climbing up to the roof when I stopped her midway and gave her my passenger seat.

In a remote area of Zambia we saw a guy rolling down the road what looked to be a giant sized reed basket. He was having such trouble with it falling from side to side, we decided to stop and ask if we could help him. He said that he was taking the homemade corn "silo" made of reeds to his grandfather's house 5 kilometers away (3 miles)! We made his day by hoisting the basket onto the top of our vehicle which completely encircled it and delivered the silo to a very excited grandfather who said he wasn't expecting it until 2 days from now!

In Malawi we found ourselves stranded after the whole country ran out of fuel! We were stuck for 3 days searching everywhere for someone who would sell us the diesel out of his or her farm equipment to enable to just cross the border.

Normally the biggest danger while canoeing on the Zambezi is the wildlife. Crocodiles and hippos are hidden beneath the water while on the banks bigger animals such as the fierce buffalo and the African elephant can be found drinking and cooling themselves. On our 5-day canoe trip of which we booked with a tour company, we were expecting leisurely days soak up the sun while viewing the wildlife from the confines of our canoe. As we paddled on our second day, the clouds rolled in quickly and before we knew it we were getting drenched. The other American travelers in our group were terrified of the animals but quickly forgot as each bolt of lightening struck nearer and nearer. The lightening cracked, the thunder bellowed and the rain came pummeling down. The Americans panicked and stopped on the banks thinking they would walk to camp. What they had forgotten was that wild animals were everywhere, making the walk unthinkable. The safest thing to do would have been to keep going but now we were stuck with canoes filling with rainwater and the wind and rolling river trying to take them away. Eric and I tried our best to keep the canoes afloat by bailing out the water in hopes we could encourage them to continue back to camp. The Americans would have nothing to do now with getting back in the canoes. We waited several hours when we heard the crackling of branches and out from the bush emerged our rescue crew of Africans, who risked their lives by walking through the bush in the pouring rain. With such limited visibility they could have easily encountered a cantankerous buffalo or elephant that wouldn't have thought twice about charging. In the typical African humble way they made no mention of how a mere few put several lives in danger. They simply gathered our belongings and canoed everyone back to camp. Camp was a welcome sight to our nearly hypothermic bodies.

Because of the poor road quality and the multitude of people and animals that walk on the road we made a pact never to drive at night. Unfortunately we were detained at the Tanzania border with nowhere nearby to camp so we decided to drive to the nearest village. By this time it was very dark outside. We thought we had found a campsite when lots of local children came out of what seemed like nowhere and climbed all over our vehicle. We found out later that they were trying to steal anything they could get their hands on, including our rooftop tent.

In East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), one quickly notices a different feeling about. It is one that is much more exotic and true to the "wild" Africa we have imagined. It's quickly apparent when you spot a Masai warrior walking down the road with only a red shuka (blanket like cloth worn draped over their shoulders), beaded necklaces adorning his lean physique and his rungu (carved wood stick used as self-defense) in hand. Additionally there's a plethora of wildlife and you are much more likely to see animals casually grazing on the main roads.

Upon arriving in Kenya we quickly made our way to the Masai Mara, as this was my ultimate destination to photograph wildlife. We stayed at a camp I had been to previously on a group organized safari. Since we were unfamiliar with the park and it is so easy to get lost they set us up with a local Masai, named Frances, who would help us find wildlife and get us back to camp at the end of the day. Additionally, this was the year of El Nino rains; water was prolific and very easy to get stuck if you are unfamiliar with driving in this challenging terrain. Our guide told us he was able to drive and we thought it be nice to finally relax. We quickly found out that he had no idea how to drive leaving us to once again take back the wheel. After a long day of wildlife viewing and getting ourselves stuck and unstuck in the mud we settled down by the fire with cocktail in hand. Frances asked if perhaps we would like him to wash off the days mud from our vehicle and all it would require was the keys so he could move it a little closer to the hose. We thought sure why not, what harm can come of it. An hour went by and no Frances. Eric went to look for our Landy and there was no Landy. We learned later that he had stolen our car and was at his village a couple of miles away. When we finally recovered the vehicle, all of our belongings were thrown everywhere around the back seat and mud lined the inside as well as the outside. He had picked up several friends along the way and was showing off the Landy's amazing 4x4 capabilities. We were worried about damage that had been done as he had obviously been driving the vehicle hard on extremely rough roads; some pot holes could fit a vehicle in them. Our Landy came through however, fairly unscathed after such a beating.

What started off as an upsetting experience in the Masai Mara unfolded into one of the best years for wildlife viewing. The wildebeest and zebra migration was spectacular. We witnessed enormous herds crossing towards Tanzania.

Land Rovers are the vehicle of choice, especially in these wet conditions. We did take pleasure chiding those that drove Land Cruisers, promising that we would look for them later to pull them out of the mud, as was often the case. One such occurrence happened while watching a pride of lion in an area in the Masai Mara near a marsh. A Land Cruiser became deeply lodged in the mud. Lions were everywhere and the poor driver was not about to get out and walk to the nearest camp for help. We happened to be close and offered the assistance of our Land Rover and winch. Constantly watching over our shoulders while hooking up the winch line. In Africa, road assistance Is a warn winch and a Defender. Oh what a feeling...

In Tanzania we were able to fulfill a lifelong dream of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. At 19300 feet it is the tallest mountain on the continent. Although one does not need to be an experienced climber to attempt it, you do need to have some basic high altitude gear such as clothes and shoes. Since home was our car and there's little room for extras, we only had warm weather clothing.

We decided to take our chances and try the climb even though we had no gloves and only lightweight jackets and sweatshirts for warmth. Incredibly Eric was able to climb with just tennis shoes! As if that wasn't enough Eric lost his sweatshirt part of the way up. While summiting, one of the guides got severe altitude sickness and had to descend; this allowed Eric to borrow his gloves. I continued to wear socks over my nearly hypothermic hands.

All we could do was dream about our next destination, Zanzibar, and lying on white sand beaches soaking up the sun as we shivered by the fire on this never ending mountain.

After finally reaching the summit we celebrated back in town before making the drive to Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania and the jumping off point to go to Zanzibar. There we found a hotel with hot water and a safe place to leave the Landy while in Zanzibar. We did however; find that taking one shower was not enough to remove the layers of dirt after 5 days on the mountain.

The next day we took a boat to Zanzibar. After hiring a taxi to take us to a hotel, we were held up at knifepoint and left in the middle of nowhere in the scorching hot sun to walk with our packs and camera equipment. Needless to say after finally making it safely to a hotel we eagerly left behind this island of crystal clear water and palm trees billowing in the wind.

Next we drove out to the Serengeti where 1 million wildebeest were in the midst of giving birth. Calving season would last 3 weeks before the wildebeest would slowly start their circuit all over again, heading back to the Masai Mara with baby in tow. Small babies accompanied most adults and we even witnessed the miracle of a live birth. I have always wanted to drive from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya. Although in two separate countries, it is one ecosystem and the wildlife knows no borders. Persnickety border guards however do and are not very sympathetic to weary travelers. They will usually only let you pass once you've produced the appropriate paperwork and established a decent conversation in KiSwahili. We knew that we didn't have the paperwork necessary to cross into Kenya and we had heard rumors that the bridge was washed out from all the hard rain. So we weighed the options. We could drive through the Serengeti and take the risk that we might be turned back; this would cost us 3 precious days of driving. Or drive outside of the park on a tarmac road, which would take us longer and rob me of the chance to do the drive I'd always dreamed of. We decided to take our chances and fulfill the dream. The drive through the park was gorgeous. It felt as though it was our own private sanctuary as not many people venture into the northern reaches of the Serengeti.

We found out why this beautiful area of the part is devoid of human life: Tsetse flies. These fearless flies are the most tenacious insects I've come across. Their bite draws blood and leaves a welt that will swell and itch for days. At one point our vehicle filled with them, and it seemed as though we were the first mammals to come around for months. The only way to combat the tsetse fly is to immediately stop what you are doing and give them a huge swat. This would usually render the fly on the floorboard upside down, seemingly dead. But to our amazement the tsetse fly would often reincarnate itself and before we knew it was up and flying once again in hot pursuit of some flesh. When we finally arrived at the border we could now add credence to the stories of the river being uncrossable. The bridge had been washed away leaving only enough for foot traffic. We walked across to speak to meet Julius and Kibet, the guard and game warden stationed at the very inactive crossing. They were emphatic that we would not be able get the vehicle across and even if we did, our paperwork was inadequate and we would be detained. We made an attempt of small talk in Kiswahili and before we knew it Julius and Kibet were loading up shovels in our vehicle to help us cross the river! We scouted the river looking for the section of the river that might possibly have a tree on the other side to help us winch out should we get stuck. Without a tree in site and only 4 feet of near vertical banks on the exiting side we decided to take our chances and rely on the power of the Land Rover and Eric's honed driving skills. After shoveling to create a bit more of a slope rather than such a steep incline, the Landy was ready to attempt what had turned several other vehicles away. We charged through the river to get up enough speed to carry us up the other side, only to stall half way up the bank on the other side. Three more attempts and thoughts of turning around for the long drive back encouraged us to try once more. We added a few more sticks and stones to our exiting point and this time the Landy hoisted itself up and seemed to fly across to the other side. We had made it. As all four of us celebrated we realized that there was still a paperwork issue. Although we were across to the other side, technically it was an illegal crossing and Julius and Kibet could make us go back! We hoped that they did not see this crossing as a way to gain some entertainment from the boredom they suffer working at a border post that sees 2 people a month! After sharing some food and drinks with them we were sent on our way through the Masai Mara.

More stories to follow!

A special thank you to Lisa and Eric Hoffner for this excerpt from their travel log. Live your dream and see the world in your Land Rover...

To see more of Lisa's award winning Wildlife and Natural History photography visit her website.

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