Conveyances
As I was chatting with my brother Gordon and relaying some of our recent adventures, he suggested a blog post about the many types of conveyances we’ve experienced during our eight months in Africa (plus about four weeks in Europe). Great idea, bro – here we go…
Most Exotic
Camel riding in Egypt and Morocco
Our first camel ride at the Pyramids of Giza was a photo opportunity. We bargained with a camel handler for about 5 minutes of just sitting on top of camels and having him take photos using my phone, with the pyramids in the background. However, he had us at his mercy – perched atop camels that only he could control. He took us on a 15 minute walk until I more forcefully told him we wanted to stop and get off the camels (because we didn’t want to have to pay him more than we bargained for and I wanted my phone in my own hands again). He finally let the camels drop to their knees and sit so we could get off our exotic conveyance. The ride itself was fun – swaying along with the camels’ unique gait as they moved both legs on one side of their body and then both on the other. The other sensation is of how high you are off the ground – my camel was an especially tall one.
In Morocco, we rode camels for about an hour into the desert to a desert camp. We went up and down dunes and far enough into the desert that all we saw was sand stretching all around us. There were, however, plenty of other camel caravans doing the same thing, along with trucks ferrying tourists’ suitcases to camp, so it wasn’t exactly Lawrence of Arabia. Speaking of which, Mike played the music to Lawrence of Arabia as we were gliding through the desert – it was the perfect audio backdrop to our camel ride. While it was great fun, sitting on the broad back of a camel stretches your legs wide, so that when you get off, you’re walking like a rodeo bull rider. Mike found the ride a little too uncomfortable and opted for the truck ride back after our night at the desert camp. I rode the camel back and enjoyed watching the sunrise from the back of “Antonio Banderas” – my camel.
Matatu in Kenya
A matatu is a local bus found everywhere in Kenya – weaving in and out of the traffic flow and suddenly stopping to pick up or let off passengers. There are no bus stops – you simply have to wave down the bus to get on. We had taken a private taxi to an AirBnB in Lake Naivasha but quickly discovered so many issues with the place (including no A/C as had been advertised), that we decided to find a suitable substitute. The new place was just up the road but we had our suitcases and backpacks and didn’t know how far it was. So we decided to try a matatu. It screeched to a halt when we flagged it down. Peering inside, we saw one tiny space available and maybe another in the back. The conductor quickly took our suitcases and somehow managed to tie them on the roof along with all sorts of other bags, furniture, etc. on top of the roof that belonged to the other passengers. We wedged ourselves into the bus with our large daypacks – Mike in the small space in the back and me in the middle seat. Every other seat was taken – about 15 of us crammed into a van built for 11. It was fun for the 5 or so minute drive. People gawked at us and thought it was funny when we spoke a bit of Swahili. It was pretty much what you’d expect – crowded, a little smelly but not terrible, with all the windows wide open for air circulation. We decided once was enough and we went back to private taxis or a bajaj (what tuk-tuks are commonly called because they are generally manufactured by the Indian company, Bajaj).
Motorcycle Taxi on Lamu Island, Kenya
You see boda-bodas everywhere in Kenya as well as the matatu buses. Boda-bodas are motorcycles which are dirt cheap for a ride. They generally take 1 or 2 people. We found Lamu Island to be extremely hot and humid – the air lay heavily on top of us, making exercise extremely draining. We had tried running one day only to be wiped out completely from the weather. The next day we tried to ignore the stifling weather again and walked a couple of miles to a breakfast place. We arrived tired and completely drained! Breakfast perked us up but walking back was weighing on us. So we opted for a boda-boda. Both of us fit on one motorcycle with the driver. Fun and terrifying ride! If we were on the narrow paths by ourselves it would have been straightforward with a little excitement when we crossed a bridge or balanced on top of a wall with the ocean right below us. What we didn’t factor in were all the other boda-bodas, oxen-pulled carts and the people biking or walking along those same narrow paths. All of us had to maneuver around each other and mostly they never stopped for each other – they plowed on ahead, narrowly missing each other by inches. If anyone veered even slightly, it could have triggered a multi-conveyance pileup – people, motorcycles, bricks, straw, oxen all toppled over. I closed my eyes often during that ride. I wouldn’t do that again but I’m glad I had the experience.
Unexpectedly Horrific
Okay, I’m exaggerating a little – horrific is quite dramatic, but these 2 conveyances were much worse than expected – one disgustingly dirty and the other making us the most feared for our life.
Overnight Train in Tanzania
The overnight train in Tanzania was supposed to be a neat adventure. It turned out to be an adventure, all right. I knew that trains in developing countries are often very basic – no A/C, windows open, dust coming in through the window and coating your things. I had been on one in Egypt decades before. We bought tickets for a first-class sleeper cabin on the train that would afford us privacy and control over the windows and we would not have to pay for a hotel for one night. The cabin seats were rundown and lumpy, we couldn’t get the windows to go up or down without help and when the seats were configured as a bed, I saw lots of grunge in the seat cracks and the blankets and pillows looked really worn and dirty. And that wasn’t the worst of it. The bathrooms in the train cars were just a hole in the ground, with a small dirty sink that didn’t work and a bucket that you could fill from a faucet. If you filled it too much, the water sloshed out onto the floor. The bathrooms smelled like urine.
We tried to sleep, but the train lurched along in strange ways – not the gentle swaying or lulling motion I had expected. And the thought of sleeping with the dirty blanket and pillow was not conducive to sleep at all! Oh, and the food on the train was simply gross. We opted not to eat the dinner that was brought around and when they came around with breakfast, we declined again. When the train was forced to stop in the middle of absolute nowhere the next morning, there was a bit of relief that we wouldn’t be on the train anymore but that was quickly supplanted by how the hell are we going to get ourselves back to civilization. The trains couldn’t run for days due to a train collision further up the tracks that damaged the train tracks. Read my Tanzania blog post for the full story.
Private Taxi in Uganda
We had to get ourselves from the gorilla tracking adventure we had been on to Murchinson Falls which was about a 5 hour drive. We had gotten a recommendation for a taxi driver and jumped on it. It turned out that our standards for what qualifies as a good driver, differed greatly. Mike and I were the most scared on our trip, during that car ride. Probably because the traffic moved far faster than was safe on potholed roads, with other trucks, motorcycles and other cars all vying for the road. And since it was one-lane going each way, passing other vehicles was rampant and often without enough space to safely pass. Our driver ended up rear-ending a public bus (about the size of a van) because of his tailgating. At the time we weren’t going fast, so no one was hurt and there was just a slight impact. Although we couldn’t understand the argument between the drivers and the bus conductor, we saw our driver forking over a wad of money.
Now that I wrote about this, I recall one other especially harrowing ride on a real-sized bus in Egypt. We were sitting in the 2nd row – could easily see the road ahead and the driver of the bus. During the 2-3 hour bus ride, the driver probably only paid attention to the road about 50% of the time. He would check his phone, have phone conversations, talk to a person to his right in lengthy conversation, and would sometimes not have either hand on the wheel as he grabbed for something. I still don’t know how he managed it, but the bus somehow never veered off the road or hit anything. If I hadn’t been sitting where I was, I wouldn’t have witnessed how lucky we were to have gotten through unscathed. Ignorance would have been bliss.
There is a Facebook group that I was following while we were in East Africa called something like “Africa Bus Accidents”. It was truly horrifying how many bus accidents – many with fatalities – there are in these countries. And yet, the first bad accident we came across was just recently and it was in Madagascar. We didn’t see the accident happen but as we passed the place where it happened I saw a crushed motorcycle and a small van laying in a weird way off the road. There were two bloody sheets completely covering the corpses of the motorcyclists…
Recreational “Conveyances”
Now for the lighter fare. We have enjoyed many fun activities while on our adventures that have involved boats, jet skis, SUPs, bicycles, ATVs, safari jeeps, camper vans.
In the Watercraft Category
White water rafting on the Nile in Uganda. Fortunately, they portage around the Class 5 rapid to get to the Class 4. We got dumped into the Class 4 rapid and swam through part of them until the safety kayaks reached us. I enjoyed the overturn and swimming a lot. Mike’s leg grazed a rock but he was also rescued and we enjoyed the adrenaline-fused experience.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding in Kenya. Nothing of note here – all was calm and enjoyable. Also did SUP in Mauritius.
Sailing in Mauritius. I have never operated a sailboat and Mike hadn’t done so in about 6 years. We rented one, and our adventure ended with us capsizing twice and needing to be rescued (towed back to the dock). We were never in danger but the damn sailboat wouldn’t cooperate and tack back in a direction that would get us back to land. We found out later that the winds that day were very tricky and we didn’t know the one approach that might have worked.
Jet Skis in Tanzania. Nothing of note – we got to go pretty fast and I caught a tiny bit of air. I decided I didn’t want to go so fast that I might fall off.
Kayaking in Mauritius. Nothing of note – we’re in our element in a kayak.
Numerous boat rides all over. Boat ferries in Egypt and Venice, Italy. Multi-day cruise on the Nile River in Egypt. Short cruise on the Nile in Zimbabwe. More “native” boat ride in Madagascar in a boat called a pirogue, an outriggered wooden canoe.
Scuba Diving or in French, plongee sous-marine, in The Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar. The diving in Mauritius and Madagascar was especially spectacular. We saw colorful fish aplenty, turtles, rays, lobsters, crabs, small white-tipped sharks and some beautiful coral, starfish, nudibranches, etc.
In the Aircraft Category
Helicopter in Zimbabwe. This was a spectacular trip highlight. I had never ridden in a helicopter before and Mike had once before. We ended up having a very seasoned pilot who told us all about the introduction of planes to the African bush and plains. The flight itself was over Victoria Falls which are stunningly beautiful. The weather and visibility was excellent. I found the helicopter ride to feel a lot like a bush plane ride – just the take off and landings were very different.
Multiple Single Engine Bush Planes Landing on Dirt Runways. Nothing of note. I love bush planes. You get to see the cockpit and pilots right in front of you. As you’re taking off or landing, you might see animals near the dirt runways. Just the way of life in the African bush.
Many, many airplane rides!!! We’ve been lucky – almost all have been on time, very clean and little turbulence.
In the Land Category
Safari Jeeps in Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa. These are Toyota Land Cruisers and are quite impressive vehicles because of their power through all sorts of obstacles. Mud, holes, steep inclines, rocks, logs, water crossings, etc. don’t seem like obstacles when you’re in these jeeps – in fact it is really fun to power through the bush. Mike especially was thrilled with these jeeps because he has owned one and he outfitted it for mountain guiding purposes. In fact, he wrote a book called 101 Ways to Modify Land Cruisers and other SUVs. Most of our jeeps were open on the sides and the 3 rows of seats were tiered for easy viewing. When it rained, there were canvas sides that could be brought down but we didn’t have to resort to that on our trip. The jeep in Tanzania had side doors, side windows and a roof hatch. For our safaris in that jeep, we would stand up so we could watch out of the roof hatch. Most other tourists would sit until they saw something but we stood and swayed with the jeep movement. Always vigilant and ready for action! One of our jeeps had a catseat in front of the vehicle where a wildlife spotter sits. When it gets chilly, we would reach for the nice warm “stadium” blankets and wrap them around us. If it was rainy or really cold, there are very well insulated rain ponchos that cover most of you and keep you warm and mostly dry. One needs to be ready for a safari drive in any type of weather.
Rental camper van in Namibia. We upped our game by renting a camper van to explore Namibia. Except for a very eventful first day, crossing 4 rivers with current and muddy banks, and driving on very remote dirt roads that were potholed and bumpy, it was fun and provided us a lot of flexibility. We got to experience 2 weeks of living in a small camper van.
Manual transmission car, driver side on the right in South Africa. Had to get good at shifting with our left hand.
Ferrari in Italy. Mike got to live his dream of driving a Ferrari convertible – a red one, no less! I was scrunched in the back being blasted by the wind. Nonetheless it was fun to hit a top speed of 120 mph on the small country Italian roads and see Mike channeling Mario Andretti.
Mountain Bikes in Kenya. Having been on lots of roads in Africa, we would not put our lives in danger riding road bikes. We opted to ride mountain bikes in a National Park on dirt roads with very little traffic. There was abundant wildlife – zebras, giraffe, antelopes, baboons, hyrax – as we rode along. Pretty spectacular!
Bikes on La Digue Island in The Seychelles. This island is devoid of most vehicles except for a few taxis, police cars, ambulances and delivery trucks. It is known for biking everywhere. We thoroughly enjoyed renting bikes and exploring the island and using them to get to restaurants.
ATVs (Quad Bikes) in Namibia. This was so much fun because you’re riding on legit sand dunes and going up and down, curving on the dunes at the top and dropping back down. You’re not on a very boring tourist track. We rode these to see critters who live in the desert – actually most of them live under the sand so our guides had to look for the slightest indication of the critter and then dig in the sand.
Sand Surfing in Morocco. While it sounded like a blast, the dunes nearby weren’t steep enough and the surfing was meh.
Trains in Italy, Portugal and Tunisia
Miscellaneous
Tuk-Tuks in Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya. These are the 3 wheeled motorized carriages. In Tanzania and Kenya they are called bajaj. In Egypt, they are called tuks-tuks but pronounced tok-tok.
Cable car in Cape Town, South Africa from the top of Table Mountain. It is quite a steep cable car and the views are jaw-dropping. Next time I might try rappelling down part of the mountain.
Funicular in Portugal (not the one that broke in Lisbon somewhat recently). The best part of this was on the way down, there were only 4 of us in the funicular and nobody was blocking any views.
We didn’t ride in this Cinderella like horse-drawn carriage. It certainly looked out of place in Tunisia – props to the enterprising Tunisian who went to that trouble to make money off tourists.
Summary
Getting around to places within African countries has proven to need a lot more planning and logistics than expected. It’s more a matter word-of-mouth recommendations or choosing among the gazillion people who approach you offering cheap rides to anywhere. And while we know it is important to check out the vehicle before getting in, you mostly just want to escape the chaos surrounding you and get moving, so you tend to get locked in before checking out the ride. We’ve been in some very sketchy cars and tuk-tuks – bald tires, smell of gasoline wafting in, no working seatbelts, can’t open the door on your own. But through all of it, we’re had so many wonderful adventures that these bumps in the road feel extremely minor.