April 22, 2009
Started the day with our Tanzanian’s guides – Jacob And JC, with a 2-hour dusty drive to Kikuletwa Springs. These are hot springs located in the Masai plains and are among the major sources of water for the Nyumba ya Mungu Dam. Since we didn’t want to swim, the guides made another plan to visit a cave. What we didn’t know was that we had to take a very scary hike down a steep and narrow path that looked like a death trap. That wasn’t part of the planned itinerary. It was unbelievably narrow, enough for only one foot each time, with a huge drop-off on the sides. I don’t know why I psychoed myself to go do it. Even though JC was holding my hand the whole time, I wasn’t too happy about the hike at all. It was a nice gesture on their part, but the hike down into a cave which I don’t care about, got me steaming mad. We were supposed to continue the hike to get to a waterfall, but I was adamant that I didn’t want to continue and started to KNNCBFF under my breath. The hike back up was just as bad and took forever. It was not funny. One slip and you are guaranteed dead! By the time we got back to the vehicle, I was shaking like a leaf. I hated the climb. The scorching sun made it worse.
Sensing our unhappy mood, the Guides then decided to drive us to the waterfall. We had to hike a little and I made them promise not to make me climb scary slopes again. I shamelessly repeated myself and was relentlessly harping on the fact that I ain’t gonna climb no more. Thank goodness the climb to the waterfall was worth it. It was a beautiful sight and absolutely tranquil for a relaxing lunch.
We were then driven to Nkweseko camp where we were to bunk for 2 nights. What a pleasant surprise this was! We were blown away to see a cabin propped up in the middle of the forest at an altitude of 1800 meters, over-looking Mount Kilimanjaro, along with an in-house chef and his assistant, exclusively for us. There was no one else in sight! We technically had the whole 2 storey-cabin to ourselves where we were pampered with the warmth of the fireplace and fresh cooking. Chef Heaven’s cooking was simple, but awesome. He had made French Onion Soup for starters, Beef Curry with Rice and a fruit cocktail as dessert. It was simply food from Heaven. Literally!
Dusty road, sightings on the way to the spring and Kikuletwa Springs
The scary hike to an anti-climax cave, an annoyed me after the hike and a bruise that lasted for the entire trip having almost slipped from the ridges.
April 22, 2009
Kenya Airlines sucks!
There was so much hassle at the airport and it took us more than an hour to check-in. The flight coming in from Guangzhou was over-booked and they had to change our seats several times up till we got on to the plane. We had separate seats for the 10 hour flight to Nairobi and when we got to our assigned seats, we realized that there’s someone else seating in there. Our African friends wouldn’t budge, refused to give up their seats and our seats were changed again.
Fortunately, a kind soul was willing to swap her seat and we managed to seat next to each other on the long flight. It was, however, one of the most uncomfortable flights I have ever experienced. I’m so puny, yet there’s hardly even any space for me. Imagine how bad that is for Silver Bullet.
What struck me most was the heavy stench…a really bad STENCH of body odour. I don’t want to be mean, but these people stink to high heavens and could use some dose of deodorant. As a result, I hardly slept a wink.
We had a 4-hour layover at Nairobi to Moshi on Precision Air, Tanzania’s domestic flight. Precision Air has the reputation of leaving at precisely on whatever time it wants to leave. In this case, a half hour earlier; with only 10 minutes advance warning!Weird. Wonder how many people missed their flight that day.
Upon arriving in Moshi, I was delighted to find out that visa is not required for Singaporeans. That means a savings of USD 50 on visa fee! However, it also means that I don’t have the nice visa sticker on my passport like Silver Bullet did. Oh well!
Our arrival in Kilimanjaro Airport was received by Silver Bullet’s colleague who took the liberty to take us around the a farm before dropping us off at our lodge for the night, The Watering Hole.
Precision Air @ Nairobi
View from the sky
@ Kili Airport & a farm in Tanzania with Silver Bullet’s colleague
April 20, 2009
The country seemed to be in turmoil in our absence from Bangkok a few weeks ago. The reports weren’t pretty and I’m glad we were not here when it happened, especially since we found out that there were some upheavals near where we live.
By now, it looks like everything has returned to normal. Yesterday seemed pretty quiet. Thailand is again successful in driving tourism away from the country with the occasional civil unrests since the airport seizure late last year. It almost seems like a big joke as these unrests will probably happen again in the future and will die down in a matter of days before some idiots will start the riot again. If they keep this up, rest assured that there’ll be no tourism dollars coming in and they are well on their way to economic slump, like the rest of the world.
As suspected, death toll from road accidents were also on the rise over the Songkran period last week. On our way to pick up the cats yesterday, we noticed a gaping hole on a bridge along Petchburi, indicating a fatal accident may have occurred. A scary sight.
Meantime, it’s looking like Bangkok is business as usual and is still a safe destination.
