Kenya. Mombasa to Tsavo

 To paraphrase Billy Connolly, ‘the jungle at night sounds like everything is eating everything else’.

  Okay, so it’s not the jungle, but I do remember the sounds of the night in the Kruger park in South Africa . Lions roaring, elephants trumpeting and hyenas howling. The first thing that struck me as I lay in bed in my first night in Tsavo West National Park in Kenya was the relative quiet. Certainly, there was the inevitable chirping of the cicadas and crickets. - and there was a lot of bird song - but other than the occasional grunt of a hippo wandering about my garden, there were none of the anticipated sounds of Africa .

  I had flown into Mombasa earlier that morning and had arranged for my hire car - a Toyota Rav 4 - to be delivered to the airport. Peter, who had brought the car down from Nairobi would be using public transport to get back, so I agreed to drop him somewhere sensible. As it turned out, he stayed with me for most of the journey, eventually being dropped at Voi, a charming little town nestling between Tsavo East and West National Parks . To have someone with local knowledge for those first few hours was actually very useful. We drove into Mombasa to pick up some basic groceries. As I parked, I was not surprised to find the car instantly surrounded by ‘boys’ offering to ‘watch the car’. A few small coins here is sufficient. If you ignore them you may find your car has a few more dents than it had before, or even a flat tyre. A bag of fruit was obtained from one of the street sellers and we were ready to go. Maybe I was meant to haggle here but I never thought about it. We battled through the constant throng of Matatus. A Matatu is a small, badly maintained mini bus. They are cheap and plentiful, but also very risky. There are hundreds, possibly even thousands of them in Mombasa – along with home made carts which appear to be based on an old car axle. The carts are over-filled with everything from sacks of fruit and vegetables to plastic water containers.

  Heading up towards Nairobi, Peter was a mine of information – everything from keeping myself safe to who to tip and who not to. Driving in the hours of darkness in Kenya is never recommended: not only due to the threat of car jacking, but also because many of the trucks plying their trade between the port at Mombasa and Nairobi (and as far away as Uganda) are so badly maintained that they constantly break down. Trucks are simply left abandoned with no illumination so that they are a genuine hazard at night.

  The road to Nairobi is... well, in places there isn’t one! A large section of the road is being re-surfaced, so badly sign-posted detours take you over rough ground and through sandy fields. By now, I was already grateful to be in a 4x4 and experiencing what the locals call ‘an African massage’. Trucks get stuck on even the slightest of hills, where the drivers will use rocks under the rear wheels to inch towards the summit. Queues of these trucks often block the road forcing another un-planned diversion through another sandy field.

 After dropping Peter at Voi, I headed onto Kitani Bandas in Tsavo West. A banda is basically a small stone built cottage with thatched roof. It was actually surprisingly well equipped for a self catering stay. The small kitchen had a two ring gas burner, sink and a plentiful supply of dishes, pots and pans. The only thing lacking was a fridge. Power for the lighting was supplied by a generator which ran from five until nine in the morning, and again from six until eleven in the evening. A kerosene lamp is lit on the patio each evening. The two single beds were equipped with mosquito nets which reached all the way to the floor. There was also an en-suite bathroom with a hot water shower. The water is heated during the day by a solar system and supplies more than enough water for showering and general washing up.

  Towels and all bed linen were all supplied, although I did opt to sleep in a sleeping bag liner on top of the bed as night time temperatures remained above twenty four degrees. After a comfortable first night's sleep, I rose at six thirty to start my first game drive early. The sight of giraffes and zebras feeding a few hundred metres away from the house was breathtaking along with the vision of Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance complete with snow-capped peak. What a perfect start to the day.

I had booked only two nights at Kitani to begin with, as I had no real plan as to where I was going. I ended up staying for four nights due to circumstances beyond my control – more on that later. One of the pleasant aspects of Tsavo is its relative quietness. Most tourists prefer to go to the more popular and well known parks, such as the Masaai Mara or Amboseli. So, apart from a few mini-buses and land rovers catering for the guests at the various lodges or the ‘two day-ers’ up from Mombasa , you can go for hours and never see another car. This means being able to get pictures without someone else spoiling your view.

  I decided to set off south across the Tsavo river, as the ground to the south of the park is more open. Tsavo is pretty well overgrown in places which is why some people prefer the other parks. The animals and birds are there, including the ‘big five’: lions, elephants, buffalo, leopard and rhino – it just takes a bit more work to see them. The south of the park opens up into large plains, criss-crossed by a sparse network of roads and doesn’t seem to have as many of the larger herds found in the more densely vegetated north, but here you will find some of the more solitary species such as oryx or kudu. Secretary birds and ostriches patrol the savannah. The road here takes you to Lake Jipe, which is a haven for a multitude of different bird species. Its waters are also favoured by elephants, hippos and crocodiles. You can hire a boat here for a few dollars and get close to the hippos.

  The currency in Kenya is the Kenyan Shilling (ksh) and small denominations are still referred affectionately as ‘bob’. Most places, however, prefer to deal in U.S. Dollars. If you choose to pay in shillings, beware that the exchange rate offered varies quite considerably from one place to the next. A day pass into Tsavo will cost you forty dollars plus three hundred shillings per person. The rate differs for vehicles with more than six seats. A smart card system is used which you can charge with money in advance and the appropriate amount is deducted each time you enter a park. Another word of warning here is that although every gate can take your smart card only certain gates have the facility to charge the card. Mtito Andei is the northern most entry into Tsavo West and is the only gate in this park where you can charge cards. The Voi gate into Tsavo East can also supply and charge smart cards.

  One of the problems I found is that the map I was supplied with listed roads which no longer existed, and even the ‘Lonely Planet’ guidebook has camp sites mentioned which are no longer there. If you plan to go camping many of the sites are regarded as mobile sites and can move. The rangers at the information centre can give you up to date information. Also, many of the signs in the southern area have long since disappeared. The stone blocks on which they were once situated are still there so you just have to use your common sense to work out where you are and which road to take. The condition of the roads varies quite considerably across the park, and many are completely inaccessible by anything other than a four wheel drive vehicle. In fact many car hire companies prohibit the taking of a two wheel drive into any of the parks so always check with your company before doing so or you may find yourself liable for all costs associated with any damage.

  By now I had spotted most of the more common animals available to me (other than any of the big five) and it was getting towards evening so I decided to head back to my banda. That was when I had my first elephant sighting! On the road ahead a group of five, including a large adult and two youngsters were lunching on the trees at the roadside. I stopped and watched from a respectful distance. Later, just a few kilometres short of my destination, I stopped to investigate a rustle in the grass at the side of the road. As I pulled up I found myself staring straight into the face of a leopard. The next fifteen minutes was spent in a sort of cat and mouse chase as I would manage to focus my camera on him only for him to disappear into the grass and pop up a few metres away. I felt as he clearly didn’t want to leave the area, he probably had a kill in the grass, so as night was starting to fall I thought I had better leave him to it – minus a picture. Still, for the first day, two out of five ain’t bad!

  Rising at dawn the following day saw me take in the north and east of the park. The bush is much denser here and more difficult to see things but I was still treated to the fairly rare sights of a bush-baby and a monitor lizard. Even a large bright green snake slithered across the road in front of me. Mzima springs are an oasis of green. 250 million litres of water rise here every day and is then piped on to supply Mombasa . There are trails around the springs on which you can be accompanied by an armed ranger if you wish, but they are just as happy to let you wander on your own, although you do need to sign a disclaimer! It is also a popular water hole and can attract lions and elephants as well as the resident crocodiles. The upper and lower pools here have large herds of hippos lazing about waiting until nightfall when they will walk as far as ten kilometres in search of food. The upper pool has an underwater viewing hide but all I saw was hundreds of fish.

  Some of the roads in this area of the park are in very poor condition and it was as I was passing Chaimu Crater (a massive mound of petrified lava) that the first of my disasters struck. Probably due to the many thousands of kilometres my car had done on the rough Kenyan roads, the fuel tank dropped from its mountings onto the prop shaft causing an almighty screaming which could probably be heard for miles around.  I had to break the number one rule of safari! I had to get out my car to check it was safe to drive. Deciding it probably was safe I screeched the next twenty five kilometres 'til I reached the safety of  Kilaguni lodge, where a couple of petrol pump attendants managed to effect a temporary repair at the princely cost of two hundred shillings (about £1.50). This was when the decision was made to stay on here for another two nights as the car hire company agreed to send a replacement car down the following morning.

  I had booked in at Kitani safari camp that evening for dinner. The restaurant is a large open plan area covered by a thatched roof. Small ponds within the restaurant serenade you with the choruses of bull frogs. Quite how such a small frog can make so much noise I am not sure. The dinner of beef and chicken cooked on a hot stone at the table was superb and the cold tusker beer that washed it down was very gratefully received. But the evening’s entertainment was yet to come. Hippos begin to wander up from the stream below and into a pool at the edge of the clearing. From there they come into the restaurants grounds to feed on the grasses there – right in front of the diners!

  Day three – new day and new car. While waiting for the replacement car I had been chatting to Alex who is the caretaker at the bandas. He had told me that other guests had spotted Lions with cubs in Rhino valley so that would be the destination for today. I was only a few kilometres into Rhino valley when disaster struck again. Despite being in a four wheel drive I hit soft sand, and in seconds was stuck up to axles. I couldn’t go forward and I couldn’t go back. Again I had to break the golden rule. Once more I had to get out the car. I dug away sand with my bare hands. I pulled up bushes at the roadside and put them under the wheels. I found logs and tried them – it was no good. I was stuck fast. After about an hour I decided to settle down and wait to be rescued. I was confident that Alex knew where I was heading and would eventually raise the alarm.

  After about two and a half hours, with heat inside the car becoming unbearable, inspiration struck. I looked down at the floor and saw the rubber car mats. Again I dug out sand from the wheels and placed the mats beneath them. Slowly I started to move – and kept moving! As I rounded a corner a herd of Buffalo charged at me, but I was in no mood for stopping now. By this time it was after five o’clock and I kept going and headed back to base.

  No more disasters followed and after four nights I crossed the main road and into Tsavo East where I found accommodation in Tarhi tented camp. Meals were included, and that night saw an 'eat-all-you-can' barbecue. The most spectacular sights in Tsavo East are its massive elephant herds. Stomping through the bush there are often more elephants than you can count. Large herds of buffalo are also present.

  After another early morning game drive I headed back to Mombasa to relax for a couple of days. Other than the car problems, my only regret was that I never saw any lions, but I had a great time. The Kenyan people are so friendly and accommodating, always greeting you with a friendly ‘jambo’. Would I go back? I am already planning it!