TSAVO TO MOMBASSA- ROAD FROM HELL
18 November 2006- Saturday
Baggage drill the same but a lot easier with just a duffle bag. Omelet breakfast and ate with a Scots couple. Then four hours of driving on red dirt roads along with the other 20 some vans. The driver's all had radios so they would call if the sighted something. Saw a lesser kudu, a pair of did-diks (the smallest antelope about the size of dachshund but with longer legs). Several hartebeest, a couple of giraffes, some warthogs and a pair of cheetahs at a great distance. As I said these vehicles do not leave the road. Well, all this took about 4 hours, which was prettty slim pickings for the time invested so returned to the Taita Hills lodge for lunch, picked up 22 more postcards and stamps, and then back to the registration area to meet our buses to Mombasa.
Not to be perjurative, but there started the Chinese fire drill. First they suggested an alphabetic list- then groups of 35 self-selected, then a rush for the buses. I was unlucky- I got bus number one in which the back seat was occupied by a sick guy and his wife- she told me they had the entire back seat to themselves so he could lie down which he frequently did. Linda from Joisie had befriended this couple and had asked me what I thought about the fact that he had been vomiting for 3 days. I suggested Pepto bismol tablets which Ron had lots of, but when I saw the guy in person with a distended abdomen that prevented him from sitting straight up and a sallow complexion I realized he had worse problems perhaps an intestinal obstruction. (to get ahead of the story he was never allowed on the ship but had to fly out of Mombasa. later heard he was on a trip in Spain got sick flew back to the states, had a CT of the abdomen then flew to Nairobi to pick up our tour). Bus number one had no air conditioning, and no shock absorbers to speak of and must have been wrecked at one time because when I looked out the front window from the next to last seat in the bus I was looking at the left side of the road not the highway. Was bumpy to begin with, but when we got to the "highway" to Mombasa we started running into ruts, then pot holes, then trenches where the bus would bottom out completely. Thank goodness they had seat belts. After that flight in the 747 and now this episode I'm going to call this my "turbulence tour." But the old saying holds true- there's nothing so bad it can't be worse. On the opposite side of the road were literally hundreds of 18 wheelers lined up at weight points headed for Tanzania. We were told that they some times had to wait there for days. One of the trucks was carrying a ships cargo container which had shifted weight and yanked the trailer over on it's side. Second one of those I've seen this trip.
I was never so glad to leave a bus. At the pier we had the usual boarding drill- some people did not have documentation of a yellow fever shot so they were pulled out of line to get one. You got your hands sprayed with a disinfectant before you got to the gangplank then escorted to your room. This being my 3rd time in this cabin, it was like coming home. Was glad to see my luggage had made it, but in spite of the old dry-cleaning bag trick, some of it was too wrinkled to wear. Actually went up to dinner after washing off some of the road dirt because we had arrived after 8 (our alledged 2 hour trip had expanded to 4) and I was starved as well as beat up. Found a new drill in the buffet line- as usual disinfect your hands, then a wait staff picks up your plate and puts whatever food you want on it and hands it to you at the end of the line. I asked the maitre de what was going on. He said a number of the passengers had come down with diarhhea after they had stopped to visit Luxor, Egypt and they didn't want it to spread. Those passengers had been quarentined in their cabins.
(The next day heard the news of a cruise ship pulling into Fla with 800 sick passengers). Ate with a Kiwi (New Zealander) who said they had taken a trip to Tsavo that day from the ship and said they saw herds of elephant, etc and even a leopard. We must have shooed them over from our side of the game park. All in all a less than perfect day but grateful for a hot shower and my queen-sized bed.
Baggage drill the same but a lot easier with just a duffle bag. Omelet breakfast and ate with a Scots couple. Then four hours of driving on red dirt roads along with the other 20 some vans. The driver's all had radios so they would call if the sighted something. Saw a lesser kudu, a pair of did-diks (the smallest antelope about the size of dachshund but with longer legs). Several hartebeest, a couple of giraffes, some warthogs and a pair of cheetahs at a great distance. As I said these vehicles do not leave the road. Well, all this took about 4 hours, which was prettty slim pickings for the time invested so returned to the Taita Hills lodge for lunch, picked up 22 more postcards and stamps, and then back to the registration area to meet our buses to Mombasa.
Not to be perjurative, but there started the Chinese fire drill. First they suggested an alphabetic list- then groups of 35 self-selected, then a rush for the buses. I was unlucky- I got bus number one in which the back seat was occupied by a sick guy and his wife- she told me they had the entire back seat to themselves so he could lie down which he frequently did. Linda from Joisie had befriended this couple and had asked me what I thought about the fact that he had been vomiting for 3 days. I suggested Pepto bismol tablets which Ron had lots of, but when I saw the guy in person with a distended abdomen that prevented him from sitting straight up and a sallow complexion I realized he had worse problems perhaps an intestinal obstruction. (to get ahead of the story he was never allowed on the ship but had to fly out of Mombasa. later heard he was on a trip in Spain got sick flew back to the states, had a CT of the abdomen then flew to Nairobi to pick up our tour). Bus number one had no air conditioning, and no shock absorbers to speak of and must have been wrecked at one time because when I looked out the front window from the next to last seat in the bus I was looking at the left side of the road not the highway. Was bumpy to begin with, but when we got to the "highway" to Mombasa we started running into ruts, then pot holes, then trenches where the bus would bottom out completely. Thank goodness they had seat belts. After that flight in the 747 and now this episode I'm going to call this my "turbulence tour." But the old saying holds true- there's nothing so bad it can't be worse. On the opposite side of the road were literally hundreds of 18 wheelers lined up at weight points headed for Tanzania. We were told that they some times had to wait there for days. One of the trucks was carrying a ships cargo container which had shifted weight and yanked the trailer over on it's side. Second one of those I've seen this trip.
I was never so glad to leave a bus. At the pier we had the usual boarding drill- some people did not have documentation of a yellow fever shot so they were pulled out of line to get one. You got your hands sprayed with a disinfectant before you got to the gangplank then escorted to your room. This being my 3rd time in this cabin, it was like coming home. Was glad to see my luggage had made it, but in spite of the old dry-cleaning bag trick, some of it was too wrinkled to wear. Actually went up to dinner after washing off some of the road dirt because we had arrived after 8 (our alledged 2 hour trip had expanded to 4) and I was starved as well as beat up. Found a new drill in the buffet line- as usual disinfect your hands, then a wait staff picks up your plate and puts whatever food you want on it and hands it to you at the end of the line. I asked the maitre de what was going on. He said a number of the passengers had come down with diarhhea after they had stopped to visit Luxor, Egypt and they didn't want it to spread. Those passengers had been quarentined in their cabins.
(The next day heard the news of a cruise ship pulling into Fla with 800 sick passengers). Ate with a Kiwi (New Zealander) who said they had taken a trip to Tsavo that day from the ship and said they saw herds of elephant, etc and even a leopard. We must have shooed them over from our side of the game park. All in all a less than perfect day but grateful for a hot shower and my queen-sized bed.
Labels: Nairobi to Rio 2006
posted by DT at 11:10 AM
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