Confrontation

[TRAVELER_750]

Did you do that awful trip down the Mombasa Hw to Nairobi?

We leave for Botswana and South Africa on this coming New Years day.

Yes the drive is painful - very slow traveling ; at least 30% longer than what Google Maps tells you due to constant presence of slow moving large trucks.

These trucks drive no joke 20 MPH on what is supposed to be a highway and only has 1 lane per side. This leads to overtaking of the trucks which can be quite dangerous.

Was worse on our way back North than it was headed South from what I recall.

No accidents at least though, I can imagine accidents are frequent and would really extend the journey as a single accident would shut down the road.

Your trip sounds amazing! Botswana should give you that more of those intimate interactions. If I ever figure out a way to make a self drive trip to Namibia one day I would explore trying start or end that trip with a couple nights in Cape Town.

I believe Cape Town is really nice but for us Joburg is easier as it is a direct flight from Perth Western Australia and by that time to go home we are pretty well knackered.

Self drive in Namibia, If I were 20 years younger I would be on the phone booking that trip now.

 

[mfinley]

From what I can gather, IF you can visit as a local things like lodging which includes meals and park entry fees would be an incredible bargain compared to the tourist prices.

Is not that tourists cannot act more like a local and visit the local areas it is just not part of the tourist route intinerary.

A few things I thought interesting observed roadside along the drives since you seem to enjoy the details.

Most areas outside of the city are very much undeveloped, shanty houses, you see people in the village making the long walk with water daily - not an easy life for sure.

There are small markets everywhere along the route but when our driver stopped at one (to pick up a grocery order his wife had called in to one of the vegetable / fruit markets) it was requested we stay inside the vehicle. It seemed quite safe though and the markets were all women run and seemed to where the women hang out so they all seemed quite interested in the white man in the truck (me).

Our driver did make it a point to stop both directions at "official rest stops" which is an overpriced souvenir shop / convenience store. It felt like a requirement disguised each time as a I need to use the restroom by our driver. He did not ask us to buy anything there but it almost felt like he was graded positively or negatively by "someone" if we did. At this stop there were 2 sides ; one half for tourists and one for locals only which was more of a cafe but I don't think we were allowed in. Our driver said the bathrooms on the tourist side were MUCH nicer than those on the side he had to use.

In the area between Tsavo and Amboseli ; the road there had only recently reopened after mudslide damage from the rains. Saw almost no other vehicles on this road for hours. We passed by multiple schools and small towns and the children seeing a tourist vehicle were very excited often jogging along side with us and waving hello. It did not seem like begging at all, just genuine excitement and our driver said they were not always this way but they were all very happy the road was back open as they know how important tourists are to their way of life.

Another time we went to a temporary bridge crossing which was a little sketchy and there were teenagers soliciting for money to cross. Our driver yelled at them and slammed on the gas passing by them. Our driver explained/claimed he was one of the people along with a dozen or so others who constructed the temporary bridge a month or so back - but the teenagers were claiming they had done so in order to collect money from those that wished to cross as a thank you to them for their hard work. I was very glad not to be driving at that time. But was not a dangerous looking situation and was something that was not aimed at tourists only but each passing car.

I am grateful despite the long drives to have the above experiences, if I flew into the airstrips inside the parks I would not have seen any of these things and the only possible culture interaction one would have is an optional trip to a Masai village which seemed very staged for tourists.

Great experience, thanks for the details, this is an interesting read.

PS - I can't believe they named the elephant Craig

 

[mreynolds767]

Oh Craig is a legend! They named them back in the late 70's I think and researchers have followed the few remaining families since then.

I did not see Craig myself but seen many photos of him, his tusks scrape against the ground as he walks they are so long. He is not oldest living but definitely has the longest tusks. He is 53 I think ; the elephant in my photo is 49 and has also been followed by researchers since birth.