The little boys set up a soccer pitch in the lane. After dark, they play in front of our house, in the light thrown by our lights, for they have no electricity. These boys will flag my husband down as he comes down our lane, clamoring for a ride in his heavy, diesel-powered Toyota. He opens the door and lets them pile in. They roll down the windows so that the happy singing they impetuously break into carries down the lane ahead of them. The women look up from their cooking and laugh. I watch our car roll into our driveway with its load of excited passengers. It barely stops before the boys fly out like birds released from a cage.

Our house is the second to last one in a cul de sac. I must walk up the entire lane to the main road. A black and white mongrel guards where the lane meets the road. I've seen him warn other dogs which approach with stiffened head and legs. One of his ears is badly ulcerated from a fly bite. By the time I reach the end of the lane I have said "Bonjour" at least twenty times. I feel that my lane isn't a lane but a village. I call my village "Television".

I walk in the early morning, before the sun breaks out from behind leaden skies. A Tropical bulbul's crystal clear song from a tree beyond my garden wall serves as my alarm clock. From the bottom of my lane, it takes me another ten minutes to reach a stadium which is busy and noisy on weekends when football matches are played there. We can hear the uproar from fans from our house. The stadium is protected by a high metal fence with an entrance gate sometimes guarded by a soldier. My young woman friends complain that they are harassed by soldiers around Brazzaville. I tell them that the advantage to reaching 51 is that rarely do I have to worry about the unwanted attentions of men. Inside the stadium's gate is a track of broken concrete which encircles it. No cars are allowed inside although one morning huge lorries had made it past the guard. Barefoot men stripped to the waist washed the trucks down with dirty water from buckets made from sawed-off plastic containers. The vehicles' doors were open and their radios blaring Congolese pop. When I stuck my fingers in my ears as I passed, the men laughed and danced a little jig for me.

Bands of young men pass me at a run on the stadium's concrete track. I assume they are football players keeping in shape. Every patch of litter-ridden dust functions as a football pitch. The players are ordered by their coaches to weed the pitches first, but they never clear the playing fields of the empty plastic bags and flattened bottles which are strewn across Brazzaville. The young men exercising in the stadium have thin, sinewy legs. They wear an odd assortment of footwear—flip flops, sandals, runners with the toes cut out. Some have no shoes at all. They run barefoot.

I stepped outside my gate for my early morning walk and found a new born puppy at my feet. It mewed a little, but its tiny eyes were rolled up in its head and it was barely moving. It was a miniature version of the black and white mongrel at the top of the lane. I silently swore that it had found me. Women in the lane directed me to where the puppy had crawled from. A teenage boy dressed in shorts and tattered shirt acknowledged that the dog belonged to him. He was embarrassed to be addressed by this white woman with her rough French. The dog's mother was dead four days ago, he said. It is hungry I told him, without meaning to accuse him of not caring. There was an awkward silence. Then the boy shrugged, his hands splayed and uplifted as though to say "What can I do?" I looked beyond him to his concrete block hut. The front door was a dirty yellow curtain. The family which lived there could barely feed themselves. I left the pup there. I am leaving Brazzaville in a few weeks for a month. I am not around to take care of it.

Afterwards, I thought this teenager must be the one who I've seen sweeping the lane several doors down with a whisk broom held together at the apex of triangle by a flattened metal container. He handed my husband a note this week in English which mysteriously read, Monsieur, I was cleaning behind the wall of your garden and I killed a snake. I will return to finish the job. Behind the house is where the Tropical bulbul sits and sings in his tree. There are no houses there, just subsistence garden plots of manioc. I see the women working in the plots when I look out my study window. I think of snakes. We found cobras in our garden when we lived in Tanzania. My husband tells me that several black mambas were killed at his Brazzaville construction site.

On Saturdays after my walk I treat myself to small twisted donuts, freshly fried in a wok of hot oil. Soft and sweet, six of them cost me 50 cents. When I first arrived in Brazzaville, I was buying them every day. Now I resist and look forward to my Saturday splurge. The woman who makes the donuts sets up her shop of small table, stool and cooking pot early morning on an intersection with a side lane so that she attracts a good flow of customers. She usually sells out by noon. She wears her hair in braids which stick out all over her head. Her clothes are gaudy colored cotton prints. She smiles in pleasure when I tell her how good her donuts are. She is not the only business woman in the lane. Rickety stands outside private houses sell papayas and mangos, popcorn to be scooped from large containers, and small bags of charcoal.

05-10-2007

Republic Of Congo Gorilla Safari

I visited the Brazzaville office of the Wildlife Conservation Society www.wcs-congo.org which has worked for the past 15 years with the Republic of Congo's government in managing wildlife and its habitat in the country's national parks, among other places.

I plan to soon make an exploratory safari to ROC's northern Nouabale-Ndoki National Park. I then offer to accompany guests in 2008.

Nouabale-Ndoki was created in 1993 to protect 4000 sq km of virgin old growth forest which had been previously marked for commercial timber extraction. To quote the WCS, Nouabale-Ndoki is a "rare example of an intact forest system in Central Africa, completely uninhabited by people, and with extremely low human population densities in the surrounding areas." Contiguous with protected forests in neighboring Cameroon and the Central African Republic, Nouabale-Ndoki is home to forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, De Brazza monkeys, sitatunga and bongo antelope, Yellow-backed duikers, and hundreds of bird species. During reconnaissance surveys in the 1990s, prior to the park's establishment, "naïve" chimpanzees were encountered which had never before seen humans. Nouabale-Ndoki contains 1000 plant species, including 100-year-old mahoganies, as well as the sources of three major river systems which drain the northern Congo.

Nouabale-Ndoki's ecotourism program was opened in 2000. It is one of the only places where western lowland gorillas can be observed in the wild. Mbeli Bai is a large forest clearing where gorillas come to feed on aquatic vegetation. Other mammal sightings at Mbeli are forest elephants, buffalo, sitatunga, and otters. Visitors observe from a raised platform constructed on the clearing's edge. Thirteen gorilla groups and nine solitary silverbacks are known to frequent Mbeli Bai.  All are habituated to the presence of observers and to the researchers who accompany guests. Visitors are therefore able to learn about the wildlife from the researchers who study them.

A group of habituated gorillas inhabit an area around Mondika, another park destination for guests. Habituation efforts took a period of seven years for local Ba'Aka trackers, expatriate, Congolese and Central African researchers. These are the only western gorillas to be habituated thus far. Seeing them in the wild is a comparable experience to seeing East African mountain gorillas. Finally, there is the large mammal viewing from a platform at a clearing in the park called Wali Bai. Here there is a scenic lake visited by forest elephants, buffalo, and many species of birds.

This is not an easy safari. Getting to Nouabale-Ndoki NP first involves a flight from Brazzaville's chaotic airport to the northern air strip of Ouesso. From there it takes anywhere from two to five hours to travel up the Sangha River by motorized pirogue (a dugout canoe) to a pick-up point where a vehicle can transport the remaining distance to Bomassa, park headquarters, where guests overnight. It is another two and a half hours to Mbeli Camp from Bomassa, first by truck along a forestry road and then by pirogue into the national park and along the narrow Mbeli River to camp. Access to Mondika Camp involves a three-hour hike through the forest as well as a river crossing of thigh to waist high water. In addition, walking is required in the forest around Mondika in order to find the habituated gorillas. Tracking can mean wading through swamps. You must be in good physical condition.

You should allow a week for this safari. Accommodation is basic but comfortable. Mbeli offers raised timber bungalows with attached bathrooms and terraces which overlook the forest. Mondika Camp consists of tents under thatch. Groups of visitors must be small. Mbeli Camp sleeps eight. Mondika Camp, where habituated gorillas are observed, only allows four people at a time. For this reason, reservations for these camps must be made many months in advance. August through October is the best time to visit.

Air France has direct flights to Brazzaville from Paris three times a week. The average cost of a return ticket from eastern Canada or the US is $2500.00 US. A ROC visa must be obtained in advance from the ROC embassy in Washington, DC. A confirmation of a tour booking can serve as your letter of introduction. Factor a per diem cost of $350 – $400 US a day for this safari.

The current limits of Nouabale-Ndoki were determined after a series of reconnaissance surveys and walks carried out by Wildlife Conservation Society researchers. One of these was Michael Fay, who you may be familiar with from a series of National Geographic articles since the 1990s. Mike Nichols was the NGS photographer who traveled with Fay. See Nichol's website at www.michaelnicknichols.com. Click on Ndoki: The Last Place on Earth and be instantly transported to deepest Africa.

This information about Nouabale-Ndoki, Republic of Congo is under Other Destinations on the website. Please contact me if you are interested in going August through October 2008.

05-10-2007

My winter in the Southern Hemisphere

05-10-2007

Southern Safari July 2007 Trip Report

Let me remind you about the Selous Game Reserve. When combined with the Niassa Game Reserve it becomes one of the largest and most important biological ecosystems in Africa. It includes the world's largest remaining miombo (deciduous) forest and two of the most significant intact elephant ranges in all of Africa. It shelters the largest populations of elephant, Cape buffalo, and Sable antelope in Africa. That's a lot of hype which results in raised expectations, but when you visit you must be prepared for wary wildlife. Animals are simply not as habituated to man as they are in Northern Tanzania. In the Selous' case, hunting is allowed and this impacts wildlife's skittishness as well. They know enough to keep their distance. You therefore have many opportunities for action photography using 1000^th of a second shutter speed. I practiced on graceful, airborne impala. While reviewing all my photos, however, I realized just how much wildlife we nevertheless saw under these different circumstances—elephants, giraffe, baboon, hippos and crocodiles (more hippos and crocs imaginable), wildebeest, mongoose, hyena, and kudu.

A different set of rules applies to game driving in the south. Drivers/guides don't have radios with which to communicate with one other as they do in the north. Since they cannot rely on hearing about a sighting, they must be knowledgeable about wildlife. A place like the Selous, and Ruaha National Park too to a certain extent, like to uphold their reputation of isolated pristine bush. If, for example, a second vehicle approaches where you are observing, its driver typically waits until you are finished. Drivers jockeying for the best views for their clients, which is what happens at a leopard sighting in the Serengeti, is just not done in the south—at least it isn't happening yet. As the south develops more of this is certain to occur. The first signs of it will be vehicles equipped with radios.

Two wildlife sightings stand out during our Selous visit: While everyone rested before a late afternoon game drive, a large elephant fed on Borassus palms very close to one of our tents. The tent's occupants stayed quiet to watch it out their screened entrance flap while the rest of us observed from the safe distance of the mess tent. When the elephant finally smelled us, it panicked, turned tail, and ran back into the bush as quickly as we had sprinted from the hippo on the walking safari.

The second memorable sighting was a large collection of giraffes drinking at Lake Manze. I have a record giraffe sighting of 40 altogether in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This placed a close second.

There are many new luxury tented camps in the Selous. I still prefer to private camp. My operator set his camp at a superb spot on Lake Mzizimia's shores. Our camp fire and chairs faced magnificent sunsets. We listened to bellowing hippos at night and at dawn, the throbbing hums of Southern ground hornbills. Selous' sunsets and sunrises some of the best anywhere in Tanzania.

When I lived in Dar es Salaam, the route from the Selous through the Uluguru Mountains to Morogoro was poor. It included an Mgeta River crossing that was best attempted only in the dry season. The route can still give you trouble, but at least the problem of the river has been solved with the opening of a bypass.

It is wonderful long day's drive to Morogoro through the Uluguru Mountains—made shorter if you stay closer to the reserve's other entrance at Matambwe—through scenic forests, and friendly colorful villages where you can stop and buy oranges, bananas, sugarcane to gnaw on in the car, or millet juice, a local specialty. It would be perfect to overnight along this route if there was a guesthouse with a good grassy garden to pitch tents. It is on my list of things to do to find such a stop next time I pass through Uluguru.

We hit some bad luck in Mikumi National Park. One day before we arrived, a controlled burning out of control swept over the park. You will always encounter controlled burning when you travel in the dry season, but usually only sections of parks are burned at a time. In this case, however, there wasn't much left in Mikumi, either of landscape or of wildlife, with the exception of a singularly beautiful family of elephants. Thankfully, our tented lodge where we were booked remained intact. We checked in early and nursed our disappointment with cold beer and a swim in the pool. "Dirty Harry", a lone bull elephant, grazed below the lodge early next morning.

I consider Ruaha National Park the safari's highlight. We camped there too, at a site known as Kilima Mitonge which overlooks a "sand river" for which the Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park are known. Sand rivers are raging torrents during the rainy season and seemingly dry river bottoms during the dry season. Trapped beneath the sand however, by impermeable rock, is water for thirsty game to uncover when they need it the most. Apart from bees which temporarily swarmed in the tree where we hung the bladder shower, no wildlife was seen from camp. Game drive sightings easily compensated for that, especially on what came to be known as "Simba Day" due to the number of lion sightings we racked up.  We first watched three to five lionesses at a water hole. Their kill of early morning was a few hundred meters away, left for the vultures by the time we arrived. As the females moved off three handsome young males showed up for a long drink. (They drank steadily for ten minutes!) Other female members of the pride were nearby. One was a mother of three cubs, thought to be barely three weeks old. They mewed, like domestic cat kittens. That same afternoon we saw a lioness hunting along the Ruaha River, the male which followed her detrimental to her two heroic efforts to bring down impala. As we headed back to camp, we came across a dead Cape buffalo guarded by three lion brothers. It didn't appear that the lions made this kill. The truth may be that the buffalo traveled into the park to die from wounds suffered by a poacher's bullet. (Buffalos are tough animals.) We returned shortly after dawn to watch a lively drama played out for hours between the feeding lions and the hyenas, jackals and vultures intent on stealing the leftovers.

The Kilombero canoe safari was an exploratory one. I must thank all my tour members for being such good sports about it. From Ifakara village we drifted down the river in a local dug-out paddled by a Kilombero River fisherman. Passing little fishing villages, spotting birds of Tanzania's largest wetlands like fish eagles, egrets, pelicans, bee-eaters, kingfishers, cormorants, skimmers and plovers, we enjoyed sunset from the water. Arriving at dusk at the boundary of the Selous Game Reserve we found a camp waiting for us. Another dug-out had gone ahead with camping equipment. In the morning we tried our hand at fishing the traditional way, with line and baited hook, and we made a visit to a nearby fishing village. After lunch, we began our return to Ifakara. This was slower going because the canoe now fought the current. We made camp on a sandbank in the middle of the river. We made Ifakara by noon on the third day after a very early start. This safari would appeal to truly adventurous souls. Being impervious to the pain of sitting long hours in the bottom of a canoe under a very hot sun is also a requirement. Elephants are possible sightings at certain times of the year. We did see hippos and some of my guests said they heard lions at night from the campsite by the Selous. I think it has great potential with some adjustments. I hope to return next summer and improve it.

A final word about Mang'ula village at the entrance to Udzungwa National Park. Not only is it the base for forays into Udzungwa, one of Tanzania's newest protected areas of endemic forests, primates, birds, reptiles and amphibians, Mang'ula also makes an ideal base for a Kilombero canoe safari. Mang'ula came at the end of our southern safari. It was a perfect place to relax and experience the lively culture of a friendly Tanzanian town. The Udzungwa Mountain Guesthouse where we bunked is an extremely simple place but there is something about it which satisfied everyone. I would stay longer next time. Photographer Will didn't join the canoe safari. He climbed to the Sanje Waterfalls in Udzungwa National Park from where, if you camp overnight (another great idea for a southern safari), you overlook the Kilombero Valley far below. There are no roads in Udzungwa National Park, only hiking trails. You must be fit to undertake these.

05-10-2007

Northern Safari July 2007 Trip Report

05-10-2007

Honorary Maasai Program, Engaruka

I first met Abby Matthew when he was seventeen. I turned up in Engaruka and camped at his father's campsite in the middle of town called the Engaruka Ruins. Abby offered to act as my guide. Abby is currently a student at MWEKA, Northern Tanzania's school of wildlife and conservation management.

Abby has put together some short cultural itineraries for me which we decided to call Honorary Maasai programs. They are for those hardy travelers who are truly interested in immersion in Maasai culture. They run from three days and two nights to five days and four nights and involve camping at the Engaruka Ruins campsite. There are no guesthouses in Engaruka. The itineraries are designed for easy inclusion with a longer wildlife safari since Engaruka is located half way to Lake Natron on a track which runs north from the town of Mtu wa Mbu at Lake Manyara National Park. Between December and March you will find zebra, ostrich and buffalo sharing new grasses with Maasai cattle in the Engaruka area. The rift valley scenery is superb. For more information see Cultural Safari under Tour Info.

05-10-2007

Oreteti Discovery Cultural Tourism Program at Eluwai Village

This is another opportunity to live with the Maasai. Oreteti founders Gemma and her Maasai husband Leskar Enolengila, invite guests to Eluwai village in Monduli district where Leskar was born. Eluwai has an unsurpassed location overlooking the rift valley. I made a mental note to return in the clearest months of the year beginning in October to enjoy the panorama again. Mounts Oldeani, Ngorongoro, Empakai, Kerimas, Gelai and Lengai are visible from Eluwai, as is Engaruka's seasonal lake on the rift valley floor. There is a higher view point to walk to from Eluwai which allows you the chance to see Mounts Kilimanjaro and Meru, even Mt Kenya, if you are very lucky.

The way to get the most out of an Eluwai visit is to include it on a longer safari. Because of its location in Monduli district, just outside of Arusha, this is easy to do. The road north from Eluwai has been much improved I hear since my last explorations of the area so it might be a great adventure to head north to Engaruka and Natron from Eluwai instead of driving to Mtu wa Mbu village first and taking the better known track north from there. Adventurers out there, let me know if you are keen and I am only too happy to go with you. We could time our trip to catch all the once weekly Maasai markets. Even if you make Eluwai your only stop, remember that Saturday is market day in Monduli Juu, the nearest town to Eluwai village. You will catch some opposition if you take photos, but the market is well worth visiting if you don't mind carrying its memory in your head instead of on a flash card. Purchase a cold soda from the bar and watch the pool games on the outdoor tables. This kind of market is a good place to buy the pastoralist sandals the Maasai wear made from motorcycle sandals.

Gemma has built a round guest hut, which sleeps four in a pinch. Two is a better fit. The cook who accompanies you prepares meals in the same hut. You get a lot of visitors here as well, such as Leskar's father (delightful, handsome Maasai mzee with a taste for popcorn) and the young warriors after they return with the herds at the end of the day. For that reason, until Gemma can provide more guest huts, which is her plan, I would suggest that you tent on the compound. It is cooler and you have more privacy. There is a basic drop toilet.

Eluwai activities include hikes to the higher view point of the rift valley and to several orpul, temporary camps where Maasai men, typically warriors, congregate for purifying and energy rebuilding ceremonies. I learned at Eluwai that Maasai women too have their own versions of orpul, after the birth of a child for instance. Leskar's father, a traditional healer, will accompany you on your hike and lecture on the plants and trees that the Maasai use medicinally. You can learn how to bead at a Maasai women's cooperative a few minutes walk down the hill from the village. When the animals return to the homestead at dusk you can help the Maasai women milk the cows and goats. (Use caution around ornery Maasai cows.) Then there is that view to enjoy. On your last night in Eluwai, the young warriors and girls dance, a very evocative performance by kerosene lantern. The young men so enjoy their competition of who can jump higher and impress all the women that I got the feeling that they could dance and sing all night. Leskar's brother was the undeniable jumping champion.

See more about Oreteti's programs under Cultural Safari under Tour Info.

05-10-2007

More of Light in Africa

Here is my promised follow-up on Light in Africa. I met with Mama Lynn in Wereweru village, Northern Tanzania, where LIA is located. I had set aside a morning for my visit with her. I ended up staying for lunch and departing late afternoon. How to describe Mama Lynn? She is tough—in Tanzania she would be described as mkali or "fierce"—energetic, driven, outspoken, and with unshakeable faith in the power of good (which for her is the same as a nondenominational God) and in her calling to help the young, the old, the unwell, the handicapped and the abused of Africa. As my hours passed with her I came to see that without this intense belief in her destiny (she claims receiving a vision) she wouldn't have been capable of leaving behind her life in England, and building Light in Africa.org into what it is today—four children's homes for orphans; medical and social worker teams which hold outreach clinics in the bush; the program of choice for 200 volunteers a year, usually 2^nd year medical students from British universities, among many other things. Because she is fearless, she strikes me as unstoppable. An indicator of her success must be that she has drawn the undesirable attention of those who resist change. By now she is a little famous, which she acknowledges sheepishly. She says she has to relate her "story" about six times a week.

Mama Lynn asks prospective volunteers to fundraise first. The sum of $1000 US per volunteer group is a typical donation. Volunteers then have the choice where their money goes. For instance, the British medical students usually replenish medical supplies for the clinics. There might be furniture, a toilet or a new building that LIA needs. The organization can work with volunteers on ideas for their fundraising.

Please be advised that volunteers to Tanzania are required to pay for an additional work visa in addition to their tourist visa, which is obtained after their arrival. LIA helps volunteers with these applications.

05-10-2007

More of Stand Out Adventures

This is my promised follow-up on Mary Kariuki. If you recall, Mary is the owner of Standout Adventures which guides women (although not exclusively women) up Mts. Kenya and Kilimanjaro. I met Mary in Moshi, Northern Tanzania, where she had taken an all day bus ride from Nairobi to talk with me. During our day together, I learned some interesting facts. Mary is considered the first East African woman to summit both Mts. Kenya and Kilimanjaro. Growing up in a village in the shadow of Mt Kenya, and wishing to provide for her son from an early ill fated marriage, she worked as a porter on Mt Kenya which was not only backbreaking work but also highly unusual for a woman in traditional Africa. She then worked her way into guiding on the mountain. Mary and I have decided to collaborate on a Mt Kenya ascent followed by a wildlife safari which will include Kenya's Maasai Mara as well as Tanzania's Northern Serengeti. Since the best climbing months for Mt Kenya are August through October, the Maasai Mara (the same ecosystem as the Serengeti) and the Northern Serengeti are the destinations of choice for that time of year.

Please see Active Safari under Tour Info for Mary's Mt. Kenya climbing programs.

05-10-2007