The unintended consequence of visiting so many incredible destinations on an expedition such as this, is that you have to cover the distance between the one you have just seen and the one that you are next going to see. And if you are planning to do a similar trip then bank on the fact that you will spend at least half of your time behind the wheel on some unmarked dusty road negotiating pot-holes and crazy bus drivers. Furthermore, these trips often can’t be completed in one or even two days and so you need to find a safe spot to rest. A good piece of advice is to get advice. Ask people who have driven the road and read about the areas that you will be passing through.

Our trip from Jinja to the Mara required an overnight stop and we had been advised (and read) to avoid the Kisumu Beach Spectacular Paradise Lodge Supreme Hotel. It had the makings of greatness: acres of rolling lawn set on the Lake Victoria in a tropical climate. And yet the owners have somehow conspired to ensure that it is a complete dump not even worth a mention in any travel guide or GPS listing. We should have known by the name alone—the number of superlatives in a resort’s name (in Africa) is directly correlated to its crappiness. But the flip side of the coin is that you will occasionally find a real gem—as we did—after we abandoned the town of Kisumu for the eastern highlands of Kericho. The Tea Plantation Hotel is a cute, somewhat colonial, somewhat mission-like hotel set in the rolling fields of a genuine Kenyan tea plantation. The camping is only adequate, but the stone cottages, which Darryl and Marjolein stayed in, are the perfect spot to rest your head on a long journey. An island of tranquillity in an ocean of confusion (when it comes to hotel management at least).

The next day we wound our way down into the rift valley. The scenery changed drastically from misty tea fields to dry savannah as we passed through Maasai territory on unmarked roads. On the way, we (Steve actually) had our first trip blowout. The last 1km of the road from Kericho into the Ololooloo Gate was completely missing; however, we managed to wind our way to where the GPS showed a bridge and sure enough we had made it into the infamous Maasai Mara.

It wasn’t by accident that we had arrived in the Serengeti/Maasai Mara at the Ololooloo Gate—we had it on good authority that the great migration herds were in the area. We weren’t disappointed. Millions of wildebeest and zebra stretched across the plains as far as the eye could see. Fat lions sauntered from shadow to shadow, followed by a cackle of hyenas and jackals vacuuming up the leftovers. In our 2 days in the Mara, which is actually split into 2 separate parks (?), we saw lion, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, leopard, cerval, hyena, jackal, eland, hippo and eland; and we were lucky enough to witness a few hundred gnus and zebras crossing the mighty Mara river. We were also, unfortunately, treated to the plethora of tourists racing around in their safari vehicles. The park is completely overrun and the off-road driving rules don’t help at all. But who can blame the tourists: it is a wildlife mecca. I just hope the authorities catch a wake up and start managing the vehicles and roads a little better. One of the highlights of our trip to the Mara was meeting Edward, a Maasai warrior, just outside the Talek Gate. He hosted us at the Aruba campsite, which is a whole lot better and cheaper than the park run ‘campsites’. Edward, he assures us, has killed seven lions and an elephant with only a spear. I didn’t argue. It is impolite and, if true, wouldn’t be worth disputing with the warrior himself. He did single-handedly chase off a very large and very angry herd of elephants the next morning by throwing stones at them and running towards them (and backwards at times…quite fast). I felt much safer with the spear-wielding Maasai guards, in the presence of large and dangerous animals, than I had with our previous AK47 armed guards.

Edward was also kind enough to show us around his village—for a small price of course. The Maasai are a fascinating tribe. They still practise most of their ancient, and sometimes rather barbaric traditions, with the respect and amazement of all who visit or read about them. Once again, I couldn’t help but want to be a Maasai warrior roaming the savannah with red blanket slung over my shoulders and spear in hand. So, I’m a Maasai Silverback. Wicked!

This is a good time to mention how dry east Africa is at the moment. It is one of the worst droughts for decades… which is quite something when you think back on some of the recent droughts that have ravaged the region. It is so bad that the herds of the Great Migration couldn’t decide if they were coming or going. We saw a herd of zebra cross the Mara from northeast to southwest, only to return about 30 minutes later. This is not done lightly through the crocodile infested waters (see pics)! The Maasai have already lost hundreds of cattle and have been granted special permission to graze their cattle inside the boundaries of the Maasai Mara Park after dark—no wonder Edward has killed seven lions!After the park, we set off for Nairobi, where Darryl surprised Marjolein with a trip to Zanzibar…and more… a huge congratulations to Darryl and Marjolein who are now engaged! We so enjoyed having Darryl and Marjolein with us for 3 weeks; it’s great to have new blood mix up the GreenAfrican vibe and they were certainly missed once they left.

Nairobi is east Africa’s bustling capital. It is as vibrant as the continent itself and caters for the sophisticated with a large array of shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and clubs. We decided to stay at the infamous Jungle Junction, which is situated in one of the more affluent suburbs in the west of the city. Jungle Junction is a halfway meeting point for serious overlanders (not the truck full of European overlanders… the Unimog/Long-Way-Down/GreenAfrican type overlanders): converted trucks and Unimogs, carrying families (and pets!) for years around the world; motorbikes with lone riders who are stretching out across the continent; Land Cruisers and Land Rovers kitted out for the bush and all the eventualities that African roads offer. Unfortunately I rolled in with my exhaust disconnected from the manifold and sounding like a V8 on a dragster. Punda’s central diff lock was also stuck in and so we once again needed to stop for repairs. Thankfully, this time, the repairs were minor and cheap and we were soon back on the road to an unplanned destination to meet up with the 4Afrikans… and co… in Mombasa.

Bang it up a notch! The mood of the GreenAfrican party was in need of some change and it was received in heaps when we arrived in Mombasa. We had a blast playing touch, chess, boulles, and watching cricket, Currie Cup and pretty much anything that was on…anything that involved some sort of competition or drinking (drinking boulles could be dangerous) at least. But we had a blast and were sorry to see the crew leave… and to leave the Mombabasa/Tiwi Beach area. The magic of a trip like this is being able to change your plans and hook up with friends along the way for an unexpected week of chilling on a beach and drinking wine under a full moon. The downside of a trip—or potentially Africa—was realised on the Sunday: The 4Afrikans (Bait’s and JTex’s) car hadn’t LEFT Iran; the Mckuhn’s still didn’t have their car; and Carl and Jimmy had to make an emergency landing in Harare after a window blew out on their Kenyan Airlines flight! TIA (This Is Africa).

But the 4Afrikans had no car and we still needed to hit Ngorongorororo by the end of the week. So we decided to pile all 4 of them in back (luggage and all) and rename the trip the 6GreenAfrikans… travelling in PundaBoyshey. Our first stop was the beautiful Tiwi beach, which is only 40kms south of Mombasa. We recharged the batteries on the white beaches for a few days and then set off for the infamous Northern Tanzanian Safari Circuit (2Afrikans in the back and 2Afrikans per pubic transport).