Craig and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya – an incredible trip. Instead of writing all the details of our adventures, I thought it would be more fun to create a picture tour of the places we visited. It was quite a week!
The first stop on our 3 country tour around Lake Victoria was Rwanda. We spent our first day there in Kibuye, on the shores of Lake Kivu. The countryside and lake were beautiful, and we had the opportunity early in the morning to see several fishermen leaving for their day's work in dug-out canoes.
Much of our time in Rwanda was spent thinking and talking about the genocide. In Kibuye we visited a church where 11,000 people were killed in one day, a number impossible to fathom. The genocide museum in Kigali was even more overwhelming. The exhibits ended with a room full of pictures of children who were killed, with descriptions of their favorite toys and best friends beside each photo. The children's memorial opened up to a garden where 250,000 people are buried in mass graves, some of whom they are still burying to this day.
After two days in Rwanda, we took a bus to Kampala, Uganda. The border crossing was a welcome break from a very long bus ride!
We spent our first 3 days in Uganda at Murchison Falls, where the Nile river flows into a space merely 6 meters across to create the most powerful waterfall in the world.
The sheer amount of water at Murchison was hard to capture in a photo, but this gives you an idea.
The Victorian Nile fanning out below the falls. We took a boat ride the next day up to the rocks in the distance.
Just in case you missed the roaring sound of water, the Ugandan National Park Service made sure the location was well marked. The sign of course wasn't visible until you were coming back from the hike around the falls!
The next day started early, with a beautiful sunrise on our ferry ride across the Nile.
The game drive on the banks of the Nile was unlike anything I have experienced in Tanzania. Some of the animals were the same, but the landscape with the Nile winding through the park was breathtaking.
Uganda has several unique species of antelope, and this is the smallest. We saw them everywhere!
The hartbeasts were the most unusual animals we saw on the drive. You can't tell from this picture, but their horns really do make the shape of a heart.
One of many fishing boats on the Nile. They make their catch by banging a paddle in the water and scaring the fish into nets. It was very entertaining!
The baboons were out in force on either side of the ferry crossing, and they most certainly were not afraid of people. At one point I was pretty sure this one was going to get in our car, but luckily he got distracted and wandered away.
Our guide told us that this was a particularly old giraffe because of his dark coloring. He was one of the tallest I've ever seen!
Another giraffe shot - can you tell this is one of my favorite animals?
In the afternoon after the game drive we went on a river cruise up to Murchison Falls. The boat ride was one of the highlights of the entire trip. We saw hundreds of hippos and lots of crocodiles and birds. The hippos were particularly fun to watch. They made lots of noise, spouted water out their noses, and periodically even fought with each other!
My med school classmates will appreciate this picture. Doesn't this feel distinctly like 3rd year sometimes?
February and March are calving season in East Africa, and we had the opportunity to see baby hippos, zebras, and wildebeests, and even a few baby elephants.
Crocodile Point was an impressive area of the Nile. Apparently you can see up to 150 or 200 crocs there on a good day. We saw at least 50, which was enough!
The hippos seemed lazy and quiet most of the time, but every now and then we were reminded why they have the reputation for being the most dangerous animals in Africa.
This was the biggest crocodile we saw on our river adventure. The guide said he was about 2 1/2 meters long, but they can get up to 6 meters. Yikes!
Another entertaining hippo shot....
One of the best moments of the trip - enjoying the late afternoon sun and the wind in our faces on the top deck of the Nile River boat.
The Nile at sunset. We walked down to this area of the river every evening of our 3 day tour.
After the 3 day tour at Murchison Falls, we stopped at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where 6 of the 8 white rhinos in all of Uganda currently live. Luckily white rhinos are much more docile than the black ones, because they let us get really close.
When I said close, I meant it. Well... I do have a good zoom on my camera. :)
The last stop on our great East Africa adventure was Amboseli, the game park in Southern Kenya famous for animal viewing with the backdrop of Kilimanjaro. Our first experience in the park made it seem like a wasteland. We started the drive crossing a giant (and completely dried-up) seasonal lake, and all you could see for miles around was dirt, a few scattered animal skeletons, and small dust tornadoes. Once we got to the area with the animals we witnessed an impressive dust storm. You could see the brown cloud coming towards our car, and soon we were completely enveloped in it and could hardly see. It made for some very dramatic scenes!
These zebras give you an idea of just how heavy the dust was.... you could see about 30 feet away and then everything faded into a vague shade of gray.
Our first hyena sighting - they were as creepy as Lion King makes them out to be.
One of the most common animals we saw in Amboseli were wildebeests. They are funny-looking creatures!
Another flash to the Lion King. This one was sleeping about 10 feet from the road and didn't seem to mind that a few cars had stopped to watch him snooze.
Amboseli is in the heart of Maasai-land, and a group of Maasai warriers came to the lodge to do a traditional dance for the guests. After the dance they built a bon-fire, and Craig and I ended up talking to them for the rest of the evening. Our conversation was half in Swahili and half in English and ranged in topic from their desire to visit to New York City to what its like to kill a lion when you first become a warrier. By far the thing they were most enthusiastic about was education - not just for the new school for Maasai children that was recently built near their village, but also because extra money had been raised to build a school for the adults who hadn't had the opportunity for education when they were growing up. It was a fascinating conversation and definitely a highlight of the trip.
Twilight at the tented camp in Amboseli. It was beautiful!
Kilimanjaro was out in full force on the second day of our safari. It had snowed at the peak the day before, so the glacier looked bigger than usual.
The baby zebras were a highlight of the weekend. So cute!
Our second lion sighting of the trip was a little intense - he had just made a kill and still had blood on his face and paws. A few minutes later we drove by the unlucky antelope, and the hyenas had already arrived.....
There are lots of elephants at Amboseli, and the backdrop of Kilimanjaro makes seeing them all the more special.
This is the view Amboseli is famous for: elephants and Kilimanjaro. It was a great way to end an absolutely amazing trip.
Zanzibar was a fascinating place. The culture is very different from mainland Tanzania, and the views were incredible. I've put together a picture tour of the island to give you sense for just how unique it is.
Stone Town is the biggest town on the island, and it is famous for is its architecture. Zanzibari doors like these are everywhere, and the shape of the door can tell you if the building was originally Arabic or Indian. Both cultures are extremely influential on this Indian Ocean island. Historically Stone Town served as the primary port for all of East Africa, opening an entire side of the continent to Middle Eastern and Indian traders.
We ate lunch our first day in Stone Town at Mercury's, named for Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. Little known fact - Mercury was actually born on Zanzibar!
The view from the Old Fort, one of the many places we visited on our tour of Stone Town.
Enjoying the sunset from the roof of the Africa House Hotel was one of the most fun things we did in Stone Town. We liked it so much that we went back every night we were there!
The markets in Stone Town were particularly bustling and colorful. Zanzibar is famous for its spices, and you could definitely tell in the market - they were everywhere.
Another view of the market....
Stone Town is filled with winding streets and narrow alleyways. I was glad we had a guide the first time we walked around. We would have gotten hopelessly lost without one.
This picture includes images strongly associated with Zanibar's history and with the present culture. As the main port for East Africa, Zanzibar was one of the major sites for the slave trade and later the ivory trade. The church on the right was built on top of the world's last open slave market, and the altar stands where the whipping post used to be. Today Zanzibar is 95% Muslim. There are over 40 mosques in Stone Town alone, and several within a stone's throw of this church.
A view of the water from one of the many alleyways in Stone Town.
Kids playing on a boat right off shore... looks like they were having a good time!
During our trip we took a sunset cruise on a dhow, an Arabic-style sailboat used by many of the local fishermen on Zanzibar. Seeing Stone Town from the water was a treat.
Another view of Stone Town from the dhow.
Sailing the dhow was tough work... there wasn't exactly any technology on board to make it easier!
Sunset from the boat - absolutely breathtaking.
Evening overlooking the water in Stone Town. There wasn't much light left... hence the double mast in this photo.
The night market was one of our favorite places in Stone Town. A popular meeting place for locals, everyone gathered there in the evenings to socialize and sample the day's catch. All the food was served by men in chef hats, with the Indian Ocean rolling behind them. It was quite a scene!
The water at the beach in Zanzibar was the most beautiful I've ever seen. The otherworldly shades of green and turquoise were incredible.
Craig and Raphe enjoying a massage during our time at the beach.
A great night at dinner. The restaurant at our beach hotel was built on a low cliff overlooking the water, and because it was high tide in the evenings, the waves would roll under us while we ate.
An after dinner beach walk with Craig and Raphe.
This was a typical view during our time at the beach... beautiful water scattered with dug-out canoes anchored by local fishermen.
One of the best aspects of our beach hotel was the horizon pool. I spent a lot of time there!
A closer view of the dug-out canoes used by many Zanzibari fishermen.
Its hard to describe the stunning color of the water, but this picture gives you an idea.
A dug-out canoe at low tide. The water was crystal clear and very shallow, and the tide went out for nearly a mile. Walks at low tide through water like this were definitely a highlight of the trip.
The view from my usual perch overlooking the water. Not bad, right?
The classic Zanzibar scene - a dhow at sunset.
