Masai Mara

Our first instructions for the tour was to pack a small bag for 2 nights in the Mara National Park. The rest of our luggage would be stored in our truck (named Limpopo, after a river) and we would travel into the Mara in minivans. Our van consisted of 4 couples and we dubbed it the 'Love Bus' as we had 2 couples on honeymoons, 1 newly engaged and ourselves who were soon to reach our 1yr anniversary. It took a few hours to drive from Nairobi out to the camp site and was a good opportunity to start to get to know the others in our van. It turned out that most of the people were from England which is a bit different from the other tours we have done around Europe.

The roads that we travelled on varied from OK to really bad. It was a sign of future roads to come with large rocks and lots of sand making up the start of roadworks. It was very noticeable when we left the wealthier areas in Nairobi. The houses became much simpler and were often little more than corrugated iron sheets and uneven planks of wood nailed together. The people were dressed in their finest clothes and setting off for the walk to their jobs. We don't know how their clothes managed to stay clean with all the dust that was around.

We had a brief photo stop at the Rift Valley on our way, just to try and appreciate just how vast the landscape is. Along the side of this windy road there were people cooking corn in 'ovens' dug into the side of the hill. They would then try and sell it to the cars driving up. 6 hrs after we left Nairobi we finally arrived at camp with the last 2hrs being the worst of the roads so far.

As our introduction to life on the campsite, this was really nice. It was a permanent tented camp site, so each tent had 2 single beds and a toilet and shower at the back. Luxury. However, we should mention that this camp didn't have any fences and there were a few monkeys hanging around when we got there. We had also seen some rather large deposits from elephants nearby. Some of the local Masai were used as guards to patrol the perimeter and keep us safe overnight. We had one issue being that the zip on the doors of our toliet & shower didn't close so the guards probably got to see more than they expected.

Another aspect of the luxury was that there was even electricity provided uptil 9pm. This meant that it was a race to get the few charging points for those that needed them. Luckily for us we had thought ahead and brought extra camera batteries.

In total we went on 2 half day safaris and a full day one. The first one was that afternoon. We had our first experience of what it meant to be a tourist in Africa as well. There was a group of Masai women at the gates of the reserve and the instant our van pulled up they were at the windows trying to sell us blankets, beads and carved animals. We learnt quite quickly after that to have the windows up. They also just run around the side of the gate in case you missed them the first time. At one point we thought the lady was going to crawl onto the roof and pass us stuff through the sun roof. 10 out 10 for effort!

On the game drives there seems to be no set rules for the drivers to follow, as they seemed to drive everywhere and anywhere. There are some dirt roads, but as soon as an animal is sighted it is straight onto the grass. The radio is also constant in the background as the drivers talk to each other. The roof of the van pops up so that when you do find the animals you can use the roof or the windows to take photos or video. We are still amazed at how capable our driver was at spotting animals. As our group had split into 3 vans, quite often all 3 would be together and then our driver would say, 'I think this way is better' and we wouldn't see the others for a few hours.

A slight delay in reaching the gate one morning. Flat tyre
We had sighted some Giraffe and Zebra before we even reached the park and were very excited about our first game drive experiences. Each time we entered the park there were some more Zebra and Gazelle quite close to the gate. As we drove further we saw herds of Elephants that were feeding, and families of Giraffe going for a walk. One of the highlights was getting VERY close to a few Lions. As it turns out they don't move much and like to sleep through most of the day.

A typical drive would involve bumping along the road scanning the horizon in the hope of seeing something. We often decided that far off trees looked like Elephants, when suddenly there would be excitement on the radio and we would pick up speed and turn up along with 10 other vans to see a lone Lion or Cheetah. Amazingly at times we were only 2 metres away from them. There seems to be an unwritten rule of only 5min with the animal before moving on and people get cranky if take longer.

The most memorable moments from this park include:

• Driving through a heard of Buffalo. They definitely didn't seem at all concerned that we were there. As we slowly made our way through they would turn and look at us and usually move off the road. It was interesting to see the number of birds that were sitting on their heads and picking at the ears and noses.

• Observing a group of about 10 Vultures fighting over the remains of what we think was a Buffalo carcass. It was only the insides that remained and the 3 way tussle for the intestines made for tense viewing. There was also a couple of Hyena on the fringes waiting for their turn. We then realised that sitting in a nearby bush was a male Lion guarding Buffalo carcass. Interestingly we revisted this spot a few times over the next 2 days and the Lion did not move, but the Buffalo hadn't been eaten. We were told that the Lion would probably wait about 3 days before eating.
  
  
  

• Seeing the migration of Wildebeest and Zebra. There were 1000's of them and they all seem to travel in straight lines, follow-the-leader style. They travel together as both animals have complimentary skills. One has great eyesight, and the other has superior hearing so that they will detect predators first. The animals are in a constant migration pattern and move north from the Serengeti to the Mara and back again a few months later in search of fresh grasses. We were also able to see them cross the Mara River although at quite a distance. Not even Steve's super lens could manage a photo. The bush bathroom break was quite an interesting one with the Zebra moving past!

• Rescuing a van of Chinese tourists who had followed us when we took a 'short cut' through a dry creek with quite steep banks. Their driver wasn't quite as adventurous (or capable) as ours and struggled to make it up the other side. All the guys on our truck tried to push him up the bank but to no avail. In the end our van had to tow him out, although the rope snapped twice in the process. It would have been really nice if any of the fancy looking 4WD Landcruisers that came past gave a hand. So even though we got through fine, it took 45min to get the other van out and we were an hour late for lunch.

• Watching Monkeys steal bananas at the lunch spot and then discovering the Hippos at the riverside. Usually Hippos spend the day lazing in the water so it was lucky for us to see all of them on the riverbank. While watching them from the bridge we also saw a small crocodile in water.

We were also able to meet some of the Masai at their village. We were welcomed in dramatic fashion as they all started dancing and jumping right in our faces. They then took our hands and made us join in. Claire's new Masai friend gave her his blanket to wear and she didn't want to give it back. It was surprisingly soft. Later they performed the tradional 'Jumping Dance' which Steve joined into. Traditionally the highest jumper would be offered a wife as a prize. The locals didn't need to fear. We don't know how they do it but they certainly get very high. None of the tourists even came close.
Performed by a professional

Steve's turn, although to get the height Steve had to bend the knees.

The Masai village is fenced in thorn bushes to protect from the wild animals and the cattle are also protected in the same way. Each compound represents one family and the number of huts shows the number of wives of the chief. This village had 10 huts! Each hut is built by the wife from mud, grass and cow poo and maintained by the wife. The huts are quite small and very dark inside, but have separate areas for cooking, sleeping and keeping the baby animals. The central area of the village is also littered with cow poo as this is where the cattle aer kept overnight to protect them from the wildlife. While we were there we could see the cattle returning, usually with quite a young boy in charge of the herd. They have to travel many miles to find suitable grazing for them.

Close encounter with a few of the kids. The one in pink was fascinated by the earings.

We left the Mara looking forward to the rest of the trip. The drive back to Nairobi was interesting. Claire got to see first hand the true condition of the road as she sat in the front seat. It wasn't uncommon for the driver to change sides of the road if he thought that side was better.

Back just outside Nairobi at 'Karen camp' we discovered how life would really be for the next few weeks. Our tents were already put up so all we had to do was sort out a shower and find some clean clothes. Being a participatory tour this was our first night of helping with the cooking and cleaning. Steve was on the cooking team and helped to create Coca Cola Chicken which is a specialty of our Zimbabwean driver and quite tasty. Claire was lucky as she was on Truck cleaning - nothing to do as we hadn't been in the truck yet.

Kenya was definitely memorable and we were looking forward to Tanzania and more game drives.

Nairobi
Our final day in London started very early with a trip out to Heathrow from Greenwich. Things didn't start well when our train was delayed, and then our Oystercard wouldn't work. When we finally arrived at the airport we quickly learnt why we were unable to do the online check-in the previous day. As it turned out the flight was overbooked and we were possibly going to be delayed until the following day. As compensation we would be offered €600 each plus a night in a hotel to fly the next day. By the time check-in closed we had started to look forward to another day to relax at BA's expense and thought about how to spend the bonus money. After an hour or so, the check-in assistant then told us there were some spare seats for us, and that they were in Business Class. Woo hoo!!! A quick run through security and duty free. We made the flight and settled us and our purchases into our fully reclining seats to prepare for the five star food menu and select our meal options while having a calming glass of champagne.

Then we arrived in Nairobi. Organised chaos is the only way to descibe it. Considering we were off the plane first, we managed to be at the end of the customs and immigration line. After buying our visa we found our prebooked transport and made it to the hotel only to be told they were out of rooms. We were then transferred into a another hotel within the same chain and finally we got to bed around midnight, some three hours after landing. The US$90 per night seems very expensive for what you get.

The most confronting thing that we noticed so far is the amount of security around. There were security guards on the front door of the hotel and armed security on each floor near the lift exit. He escorted you to and from your room. I don't know that safe was quite the feeling we had.

We had one day to explore the city before our tour started and we began with the National Museum. After seeing all the security we were a little on edge but decided to be brave and walk there anyway as it was only 500m around the corner. The brand new Lonely Planet that we had bought was a bit behind on the prices so if you are using one, expect to pay a bit more for entry and food then what it states. The museum was a bit expensive for what it was. There wasn't much history of Kenya but more of a display of wildlife, particularly birds. There were also life size representations of The Big 5. One in particular was Ahmet, the only elephant in Kenya to receive government protection due to the size and symmetry of his tusks. The best exhibit was a photographic one of Kenyan people. The photographer had built his own camera and used a single sheet of photographic paper to capture the image instantly. The emotion seen in the expressions of the people was quite incredible.

The entrance to the photography exhibition

After lunch we braved the street again and headed into town to see the National Archive. After the morning walk Claire had noticed that none of the women wore much jewelry so the wedding rings were removed. There were alot more people about in the afternoon and it took us an hour to weave our way around the sidewalk stalls selling mobile phones as well as the takeaway chicken places. Nearly every shop/stall has very loud music blaring out of it and makes for an interesting atmosphere. The Archive was really good. Each of the Kenyan tribes has a section and it is filled with weaponry, pottery, artwork, carvings and explanations of their lives. If you only had time to choose one I would return to the Archive. The staff were also very helpful and you could have paid for a tour guide as well.

Back at the original (booked out) hotel we were kept entertained for the rest of the afternoon by the numerous wedding parties that came past. It appears that the hotel gardens are quite sort after for photos. A wedding party here also consists of at least 15 people, including 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, 5 children all in quite extravagant matching outfits.
That night we met our tour guides and fellow passengers for the next 43 days on our Acacia Africa - 'Nairobi to Cape Town' tour. It was at the meeting that we discovered that we would be changing vehicles and getting new tour guides/group for the last 20 days. The group was a good mix with ages ranging from 21 to 40 and singles, friends, and couples.

TURKEY

Istanbul

The trip started off just like any other, as we headed out to Luton at the crack of dawn. It was a fairly uneventful flight until we landed at the terminal in Istanbul. As the world was in the grips of swine flu when we found that Turkey was taking no risks. We were all thermally imaged on our way into the airport terminal and Claire registered a temperature which was too high by 0.2 degrees. She had to sit with about 6 other people for 15min and in the hope that she cooled down. Luckily for us she did and by then the visa and immigration queues had gone so we breezed through.

The start of this tour was in Istanbul so we headed straight to the Grand Bazaar and wandered around the maze of streets. It is remarkably clean which was surprising given our previous experiences in Egypt. We saw a lot of interesting things to buy and decided to return on our last day rather then carry everything with us. We met the rest of our group that night and the trip started properly the next morning with a tour of the highlights of the European side of Istanbul.

First stop was the Topkapi Palace where it took us 3 hours to explore. Much of the time was spent listening to our guide who was very informative but whose delivery was very boring. Regardless the palace is pretty impressive and would have been a city within a city during its heyday. The tiles in particular were quite intricate and amazing colours.

The seal of the sultan and some of the decorative tiles.

Next we headed through the Hippodrome which used to be the site for chariot races but now is home to series of monuments donated by a variety of countries. Next to this park is the famed Blue Mosque. It is the only mosque in the world to have 6 minarets and surprisingly we were able to take photos inside. There weren't that many people praying while we were there which we can understand considering the number of tourists wandering through. The blue colour is from the tiles but they weren't as blue as we expected. It is only the drawings or decoration on the tile that is blue rather then the entire tile. While we were there we saw a child of about age 10 dressed in a regal stlye of outfit. Our guide expained that this was the circumcision outfit and the boy is brought to the mosque and 'shown off.

The wash area outside the mosque

Part of the mosque ceiling

Blue mosque at night

After leaving the mosque we headed into the Hagia Sofia which is now a museum but has been both a Christian chuch and mosque. Much of the Christian decoration was removed or covered over during its conversion and now is an interesting mix of both religions.

Considering the heat of the day we were looking forward to our next stop, the Basilica Cistern. This was the original water source for the city in 532AD. These days there is only 1m of water in it and the 336 columns have been floodlit to create quite an interesting atmosphere. There are also heaps of rather large fish swimming around.

Dinner that night was at a traditional restaurant where we tried Gozleme. This was one of our favourite foods of the trip. They are a savoury pancake that can be filled with meat or cheese or spinach. More often eaten as a snack, we chose 4 and made it a meal. In all the places where we saw these being made it was done by an elderly lady. The best part of the meal was the massive hunk of watermelon that we bought on the way back to the hotel.

Gallipoli

To start today we drove for around 5hrs to the small town of Eceabat where we started the information overload at an outdoor museum. This museum has a replica of the penninsula showing all the sites of the battles involving the British, French, Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish. It also showed the location of the underwater mines in the channel. Back on the penninsula the first stop was Anzac Cove. It was hard to believe that such a beautiful coastline could be the site of so many lives lost. There are many cemetaries in the area and all the graves and very well looked after. Particular care has been taken, so that even the 3 muslims graves are alligned with Mecca.

The Sphynx - a landmark used by the sailors

Further along the road is Lone Pine with quite an impressive memorial although the only tree here is not a pine! In this area, either side of the road are the trenches that both sides were digging. The Turkish memorial is also very impressive and contains some poetry dedicated to their troops. We learnt that the entire 57th division was lost and they have never named a division '57' again. We finished today at the New Zealand memorial of Chunuk Bair which is located at one of the best viewpoints of the area. After the heat of the day it was really nice to swim in the hotel pool and watch the sun set over dinner at the hotel in Cannakkale.

Lone Pine memorial
Kusadasi

We spent 2 nights at this very touristy town. On the drive there we stopped off at Troy and saw the remains of the city portrayed in the movie. The other difference to the movie is that the sea no longer reaches the city walls but has receded a couple of kilometers. There is a 'replica' of the trojan horse and you can climb into it but it is a little squishy. The current one also looks nothing like the one in the movie. Continued on driving to Pergamum which has more ancient remains, the most impressive here being some freestanding marble columns that were at least 10m high. The other main attraction was the amphitheatre. It could hold 10 000 people and was incredibly steep. The heat was getting to us so it was with relief that we jumped back on the bus and made it to the hotel.

Replica of the wooden horse from the movie Troy

Column at Pergamum

Our second day in the Kusadsai area started off again with ancient ruins, this time at Ephesus which dates from 300BC. These ruins are probably the best preserved and it is easy to see the different types of buildings that are there. We started at the Odeon which was used for the upperclass to hold meetings or see shows. The main street is very impressive and lined with chapels, shops, public latrines and an impressive library at the base. The Temple of Hadrian which lines the street has friezes that show the building of the town. Like Pergamum it boasts a massive amphitheatre seating 24 000 people. We have a feeling that it may still be used today.

Looking down the marble street towards the Library
The Hercules gate at the top of the street. If you can touch the sides with simultaneously with flat palms then you are also Hercules.

The Library

Amphitheatre

Leaving the ancient monuments for awhile we spent the afternoon visiting a leather manufacturer and a turkish delight maker. Lots of nice flavours and if we had been returning to London we would have bought quite a bit. One of the highlights though was the Hammam that we did for the afternoon. Normally this bath-house is only for males only except Fridays but our tour had booked out the place for a couple of hours. The process involves lying on a heated marble slab to warm you up and make your skin smooth, then you get scrubbed by an attendant. The attendants are large Turkish men with had very little command of the English language so conversation was restricted to 'Move', 'Stand', 'Roll', 'Good?', and 'Done'. After the scrub (or pummel as Steve remembers) you move onto the massage bench where you are soaped down with the suds coming from a pillow case. The process finishes with a quick dunk under the cold shower and then a relaxing sit down with some apple tea. We have never felt so clean or so tall as they crack your back, toes, fingers and any other joint they find during the process.

One of the shops outside the Ephesus site

Leather manufacturer

Hand made Turkish Delight

The final stop for Kusadasi was at a carpet weaving co-op. The ladies that make the carpets are from the local villages in the area. The profit from any of the carpets sold goes back to the village. The show room ended up being covered by many layers of carpets as the attendants threw them around. We tried hard to purchase one but they weren't coming down to our price.

This lady was making a silk carpet.

The attendant doing the carpet throw.

Pamukkale

Considering the 40 degree heat we did think it was a little crazy to be visiting thermal pools. Since it was so hot we opted not to pay the extra for a dip in the pool instead we headed to the calcium terraces to have a walk around. The terraces work their way down the mountain side and are filled with the thermal water. We weren't allowed to wear shoes on the terraces and surprisingly it wasn't hot to walk on. It was although very bright as everything is white. After leaving we all spent the afternoon sitting and swimming pool side at the hotel. This was also the last night for some of the group as they headed back to Istanbul the next day.

Cappadocia

It was quite a long drive from Pamukkale and we had a break in Konya with a visit to the Mevlana Museum. Set in some really pretty gardens this museum is dedicated to the Whirling Dervishes and their teachings. We were able to see them later that day at 'Turkish Night' which also included belly dancing and a mock wedding ceremony.

Whirling Dervish

Part of the 'wedding'

Belly dancer

Our first full day started with a drive through the 'fairy chimneys' to Goreme where did a tour of the former city in the chimneys. It was amazing to see the houses, kitchens, churches that were carved out of the structures. They are surprisingly cool inside as well. The entrance to some the caves was a little tricky at times and Claire was almost pulled off one chimney while helping a very overweight lady up the stairs.

Some of the chimneys that contain caves

Inside one of the cave chapels
Another of our highlights was a visit to a local potter. The guy made a plate out of the white clay for us and then a teapot out of the red. We can't remember what the difference was because they all get painted anyway. His work was very impressive and again we bought a few pieces. There was a Turkish Carpet shop across the road from our lunch stop so we had another go at bargaining and we finally made a deal. Steve even managed to get the carpet to fit into his backpack for the trip back to London and it is now safely in Brisbane, awaiting the perfect coffee table. The afternoon was spent in an underground city of Derinkya. We were able to go 8 levels down and were amazed at where the schools, animal pens, ventilation shafts, living areas and churches that had been created in the previous centuries. What was also amazing is that 8,000 people lived down there during times of war.

View of the chimneys

Inside the underground city, around level 8

Inside the school room
That night we stumbled into a real wedding party that was happening across the road. Claire and Mary were ushered into the married ladies section while Steve and Darryl managed to located the brides father and get an explanation of procedings. It turns out that it was 'womens night' where the bride was getting henna tattooed. There was a stage set up with a group of girls dancing with the bride, although as we found out it is only the single ladies that can dance. The married women all surround the stage and then the men stand behind and choose who their future wife from those dancing. We were made very welcome and even offered food. It turned out that the actual ceremony was the next day at the grooms village. We noticed on our way past the next morning that the entire area was spotless and no evidence that 400 people had been there a few hours earlier!Istanbul

It was a long drive back but we did make a fairly short stop as part of the drive back to Istanbul where we visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilisation in the Turkish capital of Ankara. The building is brand new and has some intesting architectural features.

As we were flying out the following day it was up early to hurry into the Grand Bazaar and snap up the last of our purchases. Claire's shopping spree was restricted after the carpet and pottery purchases, so only bought some small pieces of artwork and naturally some turkish delight. Sadly we had to return to London, but the African adventure wasn't far away.