July 13 Sunday Valencia to Kigali
A long day, leaving home at 8 am and arriving in Kigali hotel at 3 am: this was an hour later than expected as a Turkish airway flight from Istanbul to Kigali took off late.
Our first flight was from Valencia to Istanbul, then a change to go on to Kigali, Rwanda. We were travelling economy so nothing exciting to report but at least we didn’t have long to wait in Istanbul so we did not miss the business lounge there. We were met on leaving the plane at Kigali airport by an Expert Africa representative who got us through passport control and then showed us to a lounge whilst he took the luggage tickets to collect the suitcases: We thought this was a bit daft but at least we explained to him what our suitcases look like. So we felt that we spent an extra 5 or 10 minutes unnecessarily in the lounge, but it was very pleasant and we were given a bottle of water each. Then we were escorted outside with our suitcases to our driver guide, Jean Luc, who was to drive us for the duration of our time in Rwanda.
It was a 30 minute drive into the deserted city. and we were pleased to see the hotel Serena, previously the Intercontinental. Chris hit the hay immediately and David followed soon after.
July 14 Monday . Kigali To Nyungwe
We surfaced after a much needed six hour solid sleep at 9 am and got down to breakfast soon afterwards.
It was a really nice hotel and the breakfast was excellent, but we did not really need very much and we sat outside on the Terrace of the restaurant with very pleasant views and the boys were admired by staff and passers by as they too enjoyed their breakfast at our table. . We then packed up the little we had unpacked and went downstairs to meet our guide at 10 am we had decided to delay the genocide museum until our final day back in Kigali
We set off immediately. After 2 1/2 hours we stopped for lunch as a restaurant called Stafford. We had to wait a very long time for Club sandwich that we had ordered and it was not worth waiting for . The mango and banana shakes were however superb. We think that another day we will just order two drinks for lunch unless something really takes our fancy. We then continued on to the Ethnological Museum of Rwanda. This was a large modern building which had had oodles of money spent on it, but there was probably far too much content in it. Anyway, halfway round a man of about 40 attached himself to us and gave us a guided tour for probably 45 minutes and this made it more interesting. Particularly impressive was the Kings house which sat in the middle of the museum.
Then on for another three hours drive with just a stop for an ATM machine which caused David considerable difficulties. The manager himself came out, the machine kidnapped his card, which had to be rescued from the innards of the ATM. but at last he got his money. Thus we arrived at the Hilltop Hotel just outside Nyungwe, at 6 pm having just passed through the town where there seemed to be hundreds of people on the street. Were they just looking at the sunset or are their houses not so nice to be inside? We were offered hot tea and a biscuit and then we made our way to room one, David rescuing the suitcases from two porters who had hung around with them for at least 10 minutes, obviously hoping for a tip.
The room was spacious and had a balcony looking over onto the canopy of trees but was not luxurious inside. Two super fat hot water bottles were delivered to our room about 7 pm before we went up for the dinner buffet. This was of a very poor quality and just about in edible as well as lukewarm at the most. We also had a fight to get a bread roll to eat with our salad And the daughter‘s owner had to sort that out. The other problem was the drinks were quoted in dollars and that got David going so we did not have any beers: the staff could not understand that it was a matter of principle and kept arguing that he could be charged in Rwandan Francs.
We went to bed by 10 pm, David being super tired and immediately asleep.
July 15 Tuesday. Nyungwe
The hot water bottles served us well during the cold night and there was still some heat in them at 7:30 am. We had woken up to torrential rain and a thunderstorm but this had stopped by breakfast time but it was still very wet and overcast outside.
We went for breakfast about 8 am and this was slightly better than the previous night‘s meal in that there was good fresh fruit. We had to ask for some scrambled eggs and they were not really sumptuous at all.
We went out with Jean Luc at 10 am. We drove to the National Park visitor centre and thought we were going for a gentle walk to see the Colobus monkeys. A park guide got into the car with us and we then drove quite a long way in the hope of finding the Colobus monkeys playing near the road. After much driving we eventually stopped and could see one or two monkeys swinging far away, from one tree to another and after watching this for 15 minutes or so, they then asked us if we were ready to track towards the monkeys. I decided this was completely impossible for me as there was a 10 foot bank to get up before trekking dense scrub. I did take a good photograph of David attempting to do this and when he eventually came back, he confirmed that no way what I’ve been able to do the trek.
There was one tracker opening up the path with a machete and all was uneven and slippery. David did get closer to the monkeys, though they were still up the trees.
After this we drove to the canopy walk and were assigned a guide, David, to take us on this. It was signed as easy, but we decided in the end that it was certainly at least a moderate walk. Although supposedly only 1 km to the bridges over the canopy, the terrain was downhill with uneven, wet steps most of the way and lots of slippery leaves over these as well. Once at the bridges the first bridge was relatively short and the next one quite long: I was not keen to progress onto the second one but was persuaded by David that I should! The bridge itself was very narrow but its sides were shoulder height so one’s need hands right high up on that to push oneself along.
Walking back uphill was easier for my sight, but I had to stop several times to take more oxygen in. The whole trip took at least two hours. We got back to the hotel well after three and we’re able to order a freshly cooked lunch (rather than the buffet), very good news. And it was indeed a very pleasant lunch and shows what the kitchen could do if they cook to order. Before finishing lunch, I asked for a fire to be lit in our sitting area and this was indeed done and proved most welcome
Returning to the room about 4.30 I read for awhile and then took to bed for a siesta, missing a whole troop of monkeys that passed by the windows of our room.
So dinner at 7 pm, slightly more enjoyable than the previous night as we chose more wisely, but even so nothing was really warm. We managed to revive the fire after dinner and sat round it until 9 pm when we retired to bed ready for a 5 am start in the morning.
July 16 Wednesday Nyungwe to Lake Kivu
We rose at 4:20 am, ready at 4:50 am for a journey to the chimps sanctuary.
We were one of four jeeps that were going to the chimps this morning. We had about 20 minutes along a tarmac road before branching off onto a rough unmade road which was somewhat bumpy. We arrived at the park centre soon after 6 am and set off by 7 o’clock at the latest with six other clients, two Germans and four super rich Americans, on a trek to discover the chimps. We have been told the previous day that this was an easier walk than the one that we had done to get to the canopy bridge. But it proved exactly the opposite and was quite muddy and slippery for me. The leader of the group, Clement helped me quite a lot and then he designated one John to look after me. Most of the time I did not really need him anyway but when it was slippery, he pulled me forward at a much faster rate than I would’ve gone otherwise: Really quite scary. After an hour of this we arrived at an area where the trackers had found chimpanzees.
We spent considerable time watching the chimps up trees very difficult to see against the sunlit sky behind. We did see one on the path and later on another one walking along the path. One of the American guest said it had passed her greatest expectations, but we could not understand this. After more than 90 minutes mainly stationary watching for any movements in the trees we set out on the return journey which was a slightly easier path and I just needed to rest for oxygen every now and again. Back up base we had to sit and watch a group of up to 20 dancing for 10 minutes or so which I could’ve done without: all I wanted to do was climb into the car and eat a bit of my packed breakfast.
By this time it was gone 11 anyway. I was astounded on presenting John, my helper at times who I thought was a male lad, with Fr.5000 that he said immediately that the price was Fr.15,000. I told him in no uncertain terms that I had not asked for his help and I thought that what I was given was completely adequate. I explained this to Clement and do not know how he resolved the problem but he did say it had been a pleasure having me there!. This episode left a sour taste in our mouths.
So it was 12.45 before we returned to the hotel. David ordered lunch and was told it would take 45 minutes which he said was far too long. How about 10 minutes, to which they agreed: He had just ordered soup and a salad. But it did not come for 30 minutes, so we had to rush it to be ready to move on with our driver at 1:30. But they did offer us a very agreeable table outside on the balcony. A pleasant drive to the next hotel on the shores of Lake Kivu. Our hotel, The Comoran ,was apparently constructed a few years ago but it turned out that it must’ve been constructed on the site of a previous hotel as a lot of the parts were quite old.
We were shown to room four, after an argument with porters trying to pinch the luggage. This was a large pleasant wooden cabin with a really good balcony overlooking the lake. But the interior design left a little to be desired. We walked down to the beach and found that maybe one could swim in the lake though I doubted it. The temperature was warm enough: we will have see you tomorrow if a swim is on. Then back up to the room a little unpacking and then a short siesta.
We went up to the restaurant bar about 18.45 and ordered two strong cocktails, stronger than we had ever had before. We sat out on the balcony of the restaurant enjoying these and then had a very pleasant meal with good service. The first time we had really truly relaxed in this holiday
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July 17 Thursday. Lake Kivu to Volcano National Park.
We woke up to rain but this stopped in time for us to go to breakfast about 8.30. The view from our cabin window and from the restaurant was so tranquil. We had a very pleasant breakfast on the balcony there and then went for a wander round the grounds with a great number of sloping and steep paths. Then back to the cabin and reading on the balcony and packing. At noon we went up to the main building and enjoyed their soup and some pork and David avocado with crab.
At 1 pm, we were picked up for the journey to Volcano National Park. This took three hours and we passed by lovely mountainous valleys and little towns full of people standing around doing nothing. At 4 pm we arrived at the Mountain Gorilla Hotel the last kilometre also over an atrocious road: This will have to be traversed several times as we are here for three days and have several activities ahead. We were shown to cabin 31 this being at some considerable distance from the main building, Later measured as 250 yards. It was a pleasant room quite cavernous inside and very cold and with no view whatsoever. So we went back to reception and said that we thought we needed a room a bit nearer the main building, especially as there was no Wi-Fi in the rooms. This proved impossible but we were promised that we would be moved tomorrow.
Our itinerary for the morrow was a guided nature walk but our guide knew nothing about this, neither did the hotel. So we said it didn’t matter at all and at some point a visit to the Dian Fossey museum was suggested so we agreed to that and to be picked up at 10 am
At 5:30 pm someone arrived to light a fire in our room but the promised electric heater never materialised and the fire gave out zero heat for the first hour at least. When we went up the dinner around 7 pm David wrote an email to Expert Africa saying he was a little put out by the conditions here. David was suffering from gastric flu probably so was not in the best of conditions. We both enjoyed a soup but we’re sorely disappointed in the buffet. David having nothing and Chris a tiny bit of rice, some vegetables and one piece of Osso Bucco in a sauce. There were three large groups in the dining room and just a few couples.
After dinner we asked whether the Wi-Fi was better in another part of the building and were directed to the lounge, where Chris sighted a fire in the adjacent bar. So we settled ourselves there and got very warm and snug and enjoyed to mojito‘s, also chatting to 2 Australians whilst we were there the heavens really opened and there were thunder all around and in the end we just had to brave it when there was a slight respite in the rain and attempt the walk back to the cabin in these conditions. It had poured with rain before we went up to dinner and we secured two umbrellas from the manager for a long walk back to the room. It seemed a bit shorter in fact although I was worried I might slip on the very wet pavement full of puddles. On arriving at the room there were two people in it tending to the fire and they had also installed an efficient electric heater so we became quite snug. We went to sleep listening to the torrential rain pounding on the roofs and thinking of what this would do to mountain gorilla terrain.
July 18 Friday. Mountain Gorilla View Lodge.
A leisurely start to the day with breakfast around 8.30 and then we went out with our driver to the Dian Fossey museum. Here we spent two hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. Chris was able to read all the information using the Ray Ban glasses as she could connect her phone to the centres Internet.
There was also a 3-D experience where we sat in two chairs with goggles on and flew over the park and right up to the gorillas and this was really fantastic. Afterwards we walked round the grounds and encountered a group of 30 or so 3 to 6 year-old playing on the grass. We had put our boys on a wall to take a picture of them with the volcano in the background and the kids made a beeline for the bears and I had to rescue them with some difficulty and then they wanted my binoculars and looked in both ends seeing absolutely nothing. Finally to distract them David took a photo of them and showed them the photo on his phone and one of the teachers rescued us. But later on as we walked past one of the museum staff, they was very worried that we might be using the photo for a bad intention.
Back at the lodge, our luggage had been moved to room 16 and this was indeed somewhat nearer the main hotel. We settled in yet again and read for awhile before going into lunch. Lunch was nothing special, but the soups were always fairly good. We then sat outside connected to the Internet and shared a beer before going into the shop to hire gaiters for our two trips to trek to see animals on the next two days. Then an afternoon of reading and we went up in light rain to see a local group performing with great enthusiasm in the covered area just outside the dining room. At 5:30, the fire was again lit for us.
We went into dinner before seven as we felt the food might be slightly hotter then and indeed the kitchen have provided really warm soup bowls and dinner plates so David had done some good at lunchtime by giving them a lesson on how to run a restaurant. After dinner we sat in the bar with a mojito talking to the two Australians whom we had met the night before and who had seen the Gorillas this morning. They told us that there was a lot of mud involved.
July 19th Saturday Trek to see the mountain Gorillas
We had an early breakfast, got the hired gaiters placed on our feet and were off with Jean Luc by 6:30 am for the Park Centre.
There was organised chaos and we eventually got into a group of eight with a guide., Francis. The other six in the group were one group of three Americans (three men) and the other was a family of three with a son of about 20. We were driven by Jean Luc with Francis in the car to the starting point, this being the nearest place on the road to where they wanted to enter the national park. We walked through potato fields for 20 minutes or so before reaching the wall of the National Park and here there were wooden steps over it. Almost immediately we were confronted by a pool of water in deep mud on the track. It was impossible to circumnavigate this, with the result that our feet were covered in water and my white trainers were a dark brown immediately.
After this there were several other boggy patches but none as bad. It was just pure mud. After about 30 minutes, we got to a clearing where we left the porters and our backpack and continued, with a Ted each snuggling inside our anoraks. The idea is not to spook the Gorillas too much, so numbers are cut (no porters) and no trekking poles (they apparently can be mistaken for spears by the Gorillas)
Poor Pembroke fell out of David's anorak, straight into deep mud, and looked a very sorry little bear.
So it was only a short while before we encountered the Sabyinyo Gorilla Family (a group made up of 18 mountain gorilla individuals). This included the only bald gorilla in the world. The 2018 census showed that there are now 600+ mountain Gorillas. We had just over an hour looking at these gorillas moving just once and six of our group including David went a little further up to see the actual supreme male of the group. The whole experience was quite wondrous. We returned by a slightly quicker route.
Back on the road we were taken back to Mountain Gorilla View hotel by Jean Luc, Francis still being in the car. we showered and changed and then went in to yet another buffet lunch. We opted to take our desert out to a table in the sunshine. Later on we had a wander round the grounds of the hotel, not finding several of the numbers 1 to 34 of the cabins. At 5 pm, we went out and sat on the large open space where there were four chairs and the local people performing traditional dances, with the backdrop of the volcano and we thoroughly enjoyed this and took several photos of the boys with the group and their drums.
Then back to the room where the fire was lit and enjoyed sitting around this until yet another buffet dinner. We retired to the bar afterwards chatting to the same Australians as the night before, and enjoying a mojito. Then back to the room and read around the wondrous fire.
July 20 Sunday. Volcano National Park to Kigali.
Another early morning start exactly the same as on Saturday, this time to view golden monkeys here the group consisted of 16other people and we were unfortunate to have the majority of ours were over keen American photographers. They were very pushy with their long lenses and sometimes three cameras each. Here we hired a Porter, Gregory, who did not speak any English but I could in fact have managed to walk across the potato fields this time without him. As soon as we got into the park we left the porters behind with our backpack, had to put on our face marks. We immediately we encountered a group of monkeys. But the going here was much more difficult - through thick bamboo and sing nettles and I really did need help here.
Our group leader, Constantine, realised this and assigned a female tracker to take care of me. She was very good and gentle opposed to Gregory who hurt me every time he took my hand and had to be persuaded, as we went across the potato fields, to let me just put a hand on his shoulder for balance. We spent over an hour observing monkeys who are more difficult for me to distinguish than the Gorillas had been, but I could track their progress and we moved several times through difficult terrain. The sun shone as we’ve made our way back across these potato fields and it was really quite idyllic. We arrived back at the road long after the other 14 of our group.
We were back at the hotel by 11.15 and changed in our room and packed up after a little problem with the small suitcase ( I had apparently put the key of the padlock into the case, and it had been locked inside the case). We had an early buffet lunch outside the restaurant, packed a little box of desserts, and were away on our journey by about 12.20. And it was then a pleasant three hour drive through scenic mountain scenery to Kigali.
Here we went to the genocide memorial Museum, with an immense amount of security to enter it which included removing our suitcases from the car and having them put through a scanner. The museum was a good memory of the genocide but I found it difficult to understand the films we saw as they were all subtitled and I could not use my Ray Ban glasses to read details as a lot of the writing was in the local language and English was only in small print. But David did read out many of the panels and there were also two memorial stained glass windows the last rooms. One room gave details of other genocides around the world, those highlighted in detail being Namibia, Cambodia. and the Jewish Concentrations camps in Germany. In total there were about 1 million killed and to date only 70 people have been found guilty of this horrendous crime.
We were back in the car and at the same hotel by 5 pm. Here we questioned Jean Luc as to what was happening for our supper and it transpired that this was booked at a restaurant 15 minutes away by car. We did not need to get to the airport for our 2 am flight to Dar es Salaam via Addis Ababa, until midnight and it seemed a little daft to us making Jean Luc come back to pick us up around seven and then bring us back to the hotel and come back at 11:30. So we said we would skip dinner. I argued that the company could pay for the equivalent dinner in the hotel, but this apparently was impossible as they had already prepaid the restaurant - not over satisfactory. We also had a problem with reception who took over 20 minutes to register our passport, in the end explaining that they had not got a reservation to start with but then found one. Again very unsatisfactory.
Eventually we got a room and I went down for a swim, but we could not find a lift that went down to that floor so we went by the staircase and I managed to miss the final stair There was no rail for about six or seven steps, and hurt my right ankle. We sat down and a friendly waitress offered us an ice pack to put on it and after a while we proceeded to the pool and I had a 10 minute swim in this. It was very cold water, the temperature being 20° at the very most. Then back up to the room and a coffee and a snack and dictating this diary before reading for awhile and then having a 2 to 3 hour sleep before being picked up at 11:30.
July 21 Monday. Kigali to Dar es Salaam
A long night with a 2 am take off on Ethiopian Airways to Addis Ababa and then a change to Dar es Salaam. It turned out that we stopped at Entebbe en route to Addis Ababa as well. The planes were full nearly all the way but each hop was fairly short so it was not too painful, but we did not get much sleep at all. We landed in Dar es Salaam after 11 am . The ankle was still problematic and I had had a wheelchair which was great fun off the plane right through passport control and luggage retrieval to the front door of the airport. Using this wheelchair service certainly saves time in foreign airports like Dar: we thought the terminal had been built since our last trip here which had been chaos coming through into the country. This time it was a new terminal with better immigration services
We were in the hotel Hyatt within an hour, needing a taxi to get there as the Uber network did not seem to stretch to the airport. The reception was good and we were shown into room 503 which had a view over the front of the hotel: rooms overlooking the swimming pool were double the price which hardly seemed worth it for one night. We unpacked a little and then had a coffee and a snack before going down to the Club Room. Here we were able to get a coffee and biscuits. We sat outside in what was a really idyllic place with a fountain playing on a pond.
At 4 pm we came back up to the room and I got changed for a swim. The swimming pool was large and overlook the sea, great to swim in but difficult to get in and out. It was marginally spoilt by four or five yelling kids the whole time we were there. We then went back to the room and I cut David’s hair and we had a bath before going down to the club room for a free drinks at 6 pm . We had a glass of wine and there were wonderful tapas to eat which provided us with more than adequate dinner. David introduced himself to Peter and Ad die, from the Netherlands, who were also going on the Rovas rail train tomorrow and after awhile we joined them for an hour or so having a good conversation on the world and past history. We then retired to the room about 9 pm ready for a start not too early in the morning.
July 22 Tuesday, Dar es Salaam to the Rovos Rail Train.
We had a pleasant breakfast in a large area a restaurant of the hotel . David had problems with the hotel on checking out as they wanted to charge him for a dinner that we had not eaten And had he had to wait a long time and did not really get an apology. We then checked in to the Rovos rail desk. Here we came across Rohan Vos again, and presented our bears to him (he had his photo with them on our last trip on Rovos) and he was absolutely delighted and insisted on having his photo taken with them on his own camera. We then went in to a large conference room and sat round large tables and waited a considerable time until the briefing was given on the trip. Here Rohan gave a good address on what the trip would entail and who the guest lecturers, Nicholas Schofield and Tim Butcher, would be. Rohan and Tim would be boarding the train at Ndola. This was so Rohan could to be in charge going through the maybe problematic Democratic Republic of Congo.
We were then driven out to a railway station a little way on the outskirts of town through a very dense traffic. We received a welcome drink on the platform and then a list of names was read out for guests to a specific hostess who would take them to their rooms. At the end there was just us and one other couple who remained and we eventually found where we were meant to be and our hostess was Vivian. We found our cabin , called Letaba, and immediately commenced the difficult task of fitting everything in a very small cabin. Vivian arrived during this and very routinely went through the rules of the train with not much enthusiasm. Later we found her constant tidying up and resetting the cabin temperature to 22 degrees three times a day very, very annoying.
We went for lunch four or five carriages down the train at 1 pm this lasted for 75 minutes or so reasonably good. The wine waiter was a bit poncy and David was not impressed with the quality of his wine. During the morning I realised I was suffering from a cold and it steadily got worse during the day. After lunch. I had a siesta and tried to sleep with the rocky movement of the train. The tracks in Tanzania are meant to be 7 out of 10 but go down in quality once we reach the DRC. During this first day just getting along the corridors to the dining room seemed an eternity: let’s hope that I will become more accustomed to them in the future.
We went to the nearest lounge at five for some tea and chatted to Peter and Addie again. Then dinner at 7:30: nearly all the men were wearing (advised, but not compulsory) jackets and one lad was even in a DJ. The food was excellent but my cold that warm me down and I retired before the cheese and chocolate desert, which David said was delicious. We were asleep before 10 pm and the train remain stationary during the night so we got a good nights sleep.
July 23, Wednesday. Nyerere National park in Tanzania
A game drive. An early morning start with breakfast by soon after six for a 7 am start. Then a 4+ hour game drive in Nyerere National park. We have been told not to be over hopeful on what we would see, but in fact it proved to be a really fruitful drive. There was seven of us in our game wagon, including a Swiss lady with two of her children. From our backseat position where we could stand up and stand on the chairs to see even better we saw several lions and lionesses, giraffe, loads of hippos, Impala and some monkeys
At around 10 we stopped under a pavilion and the train's crew had set up a bar where we chose a cold ginger beer, and of course many other things. We enjoyed these and then went for a very short walk to the nearby lake where there were two groups of hippos and also a crocodile.
We were back at the train soon after noon. A good lunch, lasting as usual at least 90 minutes, and then we proceeded to the observation deck which was right at the front of the train at the moment. However the train was "back to front" for the first few days (you cannot turn a whole train just anywhere). So the view from the Observation Car was just a diesel tank and then the engines. The train will turn round in two days time and then the Observation lounge will be correctly at the back of the train. It is a long walk from our cabin, passing at least 12 carriages en route. We stayed there till past 4 pm and then made away to the other lounge where Nicholas gave his talk on Tanzania for 90 minutes. Then we had a |Rum and Coke and a Gin and Tonic in the lounge as there was no official bar here to make cocktails.
Once again, dinner was a very nice occasion, even though I still had a runny cold and was using a tissues by the dozen. Each meal consisted of four courses accompanied by two wines plus a glass of sweet wine at the end . The train continued for another couple of hours before stopping for the night and will resume its journey at 5 am tomorrow.
July 24, Thursday. Makambako, Tanzania.
We had another pleasant breakfast soon after eight and then re treated to our cabin until about noon when we had a stop at Makambako , a middle size Tanzanian town yet to enter the 21st century. We had an hour to wander around this town with loads of people and markets, many small computer shops and bicycle repair shops that dealt with really ancient bicycles. Chris found it hard to distinguish between the other shops. The train staff were out in day glow jackets to assist us around the town but some of them had no idea of the geography at the town and the map we were given bore little resemblance to the truth on the ground.
Back on board for a delayed lunch at 1:30. From this Chris proceeded to the observation lounge and David went back to the cabin to collect iPads et cetera, for an afternoon ensconced in the most pleasant of the two lounges. The scenery in the morning had been quite dramatic and our line ran over several bridges, with views over the treetops of the surrounds, also through many tunnels. Still not sure when the railway was actually built.
We are having a constant battle with our hostess Vivian as she does everything to rule, and puts all the things away that we want left out and a versa. This happens every five hours or so therefore it is not just a matter of leaving the cabin tidy for her while she does it during breakfast: a bit like having to tidy up for a cleaner back home. Dinner started with a too spicy Samos followed. by Rack of lamb, cheese, and a fairly awful ice cream sandwich as a pudding. Overnight we crossed into Zambia, so we gained an hour as Zambia is one hour back on Tanzania time.
July 25 Friday. Chisimba Waterfalls, Zambia
The train travelled throughout the night crossing into Zambia around midnight but we did not have to deal with a passport control as it was handled by Rovos. However the Rovos staff were up all night dealing with the bureaucrats. A pleasant breakfast and then a lecture by Nicholas on Zambia Then back to the cabin for a siesta before lunch.
Soon after 3 pm, we arrived in.Karamba and boarded buses to the Chisimba waterfalls of which there were three. There were four viewpoints, moderately difficult to reach for Chris, but well worth the effort. At the first set of falls David went on alone with the rest of the group and I just watched. Then the other three vantage points which were even more impressive. Rovos rail had provided a full bar here but I did not feel in need of any alcohol at 6 pm and we just soon returned back to the train.
Dinner was delayed till 8 pm and this was very enjoyable and afterwards we had coffee with Peter and Addie in the lounge. The train then travelled on into the night.
July 26 Saturday. En route to Ndola
A pleasant day as Chris was feeling so much better and did not cough herself to death too often nor sneeze too much. David was suffering from a really bad throat, poor fellow as it is inevitably the harbinger of a bad cold to come. After breakfast, we proceeded backwards to the observation lounge for over an hour before coming back to the central Lounge for a talk on rare animals by Nicholas.
In the observation lounge I enjoyed an Americano with Amarillo. I also sent Cilla details of what we were doing in Zambia, her birthplace, and David read me out the details I had on my genealogical web site for the Bedfords (Cilla's family) so that I felt closer to her. The rare animals shown by Nicholas were indeed very rare or even extinct but still interesting. Then back to the cabin, until lunchtime, listening to the iPad.
After lunch we again progressed to the observation lounge until the train stopped around 4 pm at Kapiri Mposhi in order to put the engine back at the front of the train (it had been at the back of the train since Dar es Salaam) and for more water to be taken on board. We were hoping to get out for a walk along the platform, but this never happened. So about 5:30 pm, we had returned to the cabin and packed up our overnight bags for the South Luangwa National Park on Sunday and Monday, we went up to the middle lounge and had a margarita. This was very pleasant.
Then a nice supper with the boys having their photograph taken there, before retiring back for an early night because we had a 5 a.m. get up on the morrow.
27 July. Sunday. Ndola to South Luangwa National Park. Chinzombo Lodge
An early morning call at 5 am to leave the train by 5:30 am. The exit from the train involved a walk along the completely unlit uneven platform which I thought was dangerous. But then onto the buses to take us to Ndola. The early morning start was due to the airline having put the flight forward by two hours.
We took off at 7:30 am in a small twin propeller plane with only 18 of us on it. The flight time was just 45 minutes but they managed to service a snack during that time. Once at Mfuwe International Airport, we were greeted by the Jeep drivers of Time and Tide hotels, one of which was Chinzombo, where we would due to stay with 10 others.
But first we went to a larger one of their hotels and had a barbecued brunch at 10 am. This was interesting but somehow not very hot. We had some very nice juice out on their outer decks until it became really too hot to sit there. The lodge was right beside the Chinzombo old river bed and there were Impala walking along it. Then back into the nine person Jeep with just four of us in it, Christian and Farhana were the other two. We then found that we had to drive out of the park and round for an extra 15 minutes or so rather than take the ferry across the river because Christian could not walk well with his Parkinson’s disease.
At the lodge we were shown to our six respective cabins which were somewhat more than cabins , a huge complex of sofas chair beds, lounges, and its very own swimming pool. We had about two hours before lunch and I enjoyed a swim and sorted all our possessions out. Then back the four minute walk or so to the main area where we ate at a large table, which was a surprise as I had expected individual tables.
Lunch was pleasant, tilapia and salad and rice proceeded by a good soup, albeit almost stone cold, and followed by a nondescript pudding. After an hour back in the cabin, we set out again at 4 pm this time we joined a different Jeep. We had asked for a change of jeep as we wanted to leave and then return back to the lodge by ferry rather than drive round by road. But the new Jeep was not so convenient for me as it did not have three seats across, but just the two separated by a large box area so I could not get David to help me focus on the animals.
But we did see several elephants and baby elephants, some very healthy Baku deer which are unique to this area, warthog, foul a rare bird and some wonderful trees and everybody else spent a long time looking at lions. Then we stopped for a sundowner with the other two jeeps, beside the river where the locals were fishing and there were several boats silhouetted beautifully with the reddish sky in the background. After this we returned to the camp with a spotlight looking for animals eyes but all that was really found was an elephant poo.
A cocktail back at the lodge was followed by dinner which we had ordered at lunchtime. The quail starter was very pleasing but the lamb that followed was almost cold and the potatoes, supposedly mashed had a thick crust on them. And then the mango baba was anything other than a baba just an ice cream but the wine was very good and afterwards we sat by the fire pit, David revived the fire, and we enjoyed seeing the Milky Way in the starlight skies. Then we were escorted back to our cabin (compulsory because of the possibility of meeting animals) and soon retired for the night, ready for an early start again in the morning.
July 28, Monday. South Luangwa National Park.
A noisy night with the hippos. We were woken up at 5:30 am for a 6 am breakfast and then went off by 6:30 am across the river to the Safari Jeep with Philip. We had a three hour game drive During which we saw lions, elephants, Basically, and indeed everything other than leopard and giraffe. We stopped by the river for a coffee and muffin.
We were back at Chinzombo Lodge soon off the 10 and then had 2+ hours in the room. There was less sun than the previous day and I never got into the pool as it was also quite a lot of wind. We enjoyed our time reading and watching a few Impala and hippos by the river from our balcony. And lunch at 12:30, again a good buffet.. This followed by another two hours in the room before tea at 3:30. I managed without a siesta on the assumption that I was better off sleeping more on the train than in these magnificent, bucolic surroundings. During the afternoon Safari we eventually saw a large leopard cub which crossed right in front of the jeep and also a solo giraffe masked by two tree trunks. And after the drink stop by the river with a dramatic sunset but no flare up afterwards, we saw a leopard in the headlights.
We sat by the fire all by ourselves with our gimlet cocktails before a barbecue dinner at 7:30 pm. We were then told we would leave the hotel at 8:30 am for the airport, for our 11.35 flight, but we manage to get the others to agree with us that we wanted a game drive as promised . So in the end nine of us went out on a 6.30 game drive and then onto the airport whilst the remaining 3 could have breakfast much later and leave direct to the airport.
After this we again sat by the fire finishing our wine and were the last to go to bed, but even so it was not quite 9 pm so some quick packing and organisation ready for our early start in the morning.
July 29, Tuesday. South Luangwa National Park back to Ndola.
Another early morning rise for a 6 o’clock breakfast and then a game drive which we had fought for the night before as opposed to being taken directly to the airport.
Nine of us went off in two jeeps from the other side of the river And for the first half hour or so we saw so practically nothing, but then we were rewarded by seeing about a dozen lions or sleeping in the sun, and later two magnificent wild dogs tearing apart a carcass, a few elephants and giraffe, and lots of guinea foul, warthogs, baboons and monkeys. We left the park about nine and we’re at the airport by 9.45, a cold ride even with blankets wrapped around us. So nine of us arrived at the airport and there was nobody from there from Rovos, but after 45 minutes or so later and Shyanne did arrive and did not seem at all worried that we have been stranded there. We sat on the on a step on the entrance to the airport to try and warm up in the Sun. Eventually other clients from Rovos did arrive and we were called in by Marta to say the flight was ready and just had to go through security checks which were pretty meaningless.
About 40 of us boarded the larger aircraft which was going to takeoff first. 45 minute flight passed in no time and we sat in the front row as nobody else had chosen to sit there. Then coaches to take us back to the train where we arrived around 1.30. We started unpacking but then were told lunch was ready so we left the cabin with various things thrown around ready to hang up, ready to put in a drawer, ready to go in the laundry bag. After lunch we returned to the cabin to find that all the dirty laundry blouses and shirts have been put on hangers, pants and socks need folded elsewhere and generally chaos. I was very tired and needed siesta so cleared to space to lie down. Woke up again at 5:15 to find that we had arrived in the Congo, and our cabin was right opposite the customs building. So had a good view of Lawrence and Marta negotiating the visas. The train stopped for about two hours and eventually, just as we decided to get changed for dinner, it started again and we had to walk down the carriages with the usual jolting.
We stopped in the lounge and order a drink and I spoke to Vivian asking her not to move things, not to tidy up at lunchtime at all . I had to remove blanket from my bed which I had asked her to remove on leaving the train for the game park. An average dinner and then back to the cabin to find my sleep mask had been removed and tote bags left hanging around. Tomorrow it’s a new day to tackle Vivian again.
July 30, Wednesday . Lubumbashi
We got up for the earliest breakfast in order to depart at 8 am, and then went to the Observation Car, only to find the The Bastards from the Dutch group had bagged all the outside seats. And they were so noisey. At 1010 when it was announced that that would be a lecture by Tim Butcher at 10:15 in the middle lounge, this a bit too late as it took Chris at least eight minutes to walk to the middle lounge from here but she enjoyed holding up the Bastards group as they could not pass on the narrow train corridor. The Dutch group had six or seven suites on board. Then a really superb lecture by Tim on his travels across the Congo around 2005 and from which he had written a book called Blood River which we have been given a copy of in our cabin. David downloaded an audio copy for me as an audio book during the morning.
After this lunch was at 12:30 so that our delayed tour of Lubumbashi was going to start at 2 pm, although this was only announced at 1:45 pm in the dining car. Rovos Rail seemed to delight in not telling us too much about the future and telling us it all a trifle too late. So at 2 pm, we boarded one of two coaches, making sure we were in that one which contain Tim and not Nicholas,.
We then had a three hour tour of Lubumbashi. First stop was a "craft market" where there were at least three rooms of trinkets. Some of the guests did buy bangles or samples of rock. Then onto the museum which was a bit antiquated but had the odd thing of interest. From here to the headquarters of the local giant mining company and to the copper mine where there was a huge crater - we never actually saw the crater, but we did see the very tall chimney for waste gases. The traffic was really dense and there were no traffic lights whatsoever, so very interesting!. A sort of Darwinian survival of the fittest
We got back to the train station by around 5 pm, quickly had a shower was the train was still stationary and then went out to the observation lounge for a cocktail and hopefully a read of Tim’s book. But on arriving there it was very crowded and the only table was beside Tim, so we then enjoyed and almost two hour conversation with him, during which we devoured two cocktails. This chat was really really interesting for us. Then on to another pleasant dinner and back to the cabin to do this diary and hopefully start on the book Blood River on audio.
July 31, Thursday . Kolwesi
I lazy morning sitting outside in the observation car for 90 minutes or so after breakfast and then reading inside the car until 15 minutes before lunch. Then the dreaded walk along the corridors to the dining room. During lunch we were told, which we already knew that we were not going to get to Kolwesi in time to visit the Copper mine and therefore the copper mine visit was being scrapped. We had seen couple of mines out of the train window with all their large machinery.
The alternative plan now was to leave the train at 3 pm and go to the lake where we had been due to have had a brunch in the morning and so we had dinner there instead. But we knew we would not reach the coaches by 3 pm and indeed it was 4.30 before we did.. Then we were informed that it was a 90 minute drive to the lodge. So we arrived at this extraordinary hotel/palace just after the Sun had gone down and walked round it once grandiose grounds which were now in a state of neglect. Supposedly it had been a palace for the president once upon a time but who knows?
Having looked at the lake in the dusk and the empty huge swimming pool and fountain system all empty. We went back inside where there were huge tables set up and waited. David eventually went to investigate and found a buffet but nobody told us. This was fairly nondescript. But the lads from the train had brought the wine along and this was served to us. We set off home soon after nine. The original plan had been for the train to continue during our absence so that it was nearer to us but in fact it had not been able to move because of a broken rail .and we had to go back to our point of exit. It was near 23.00 before we got back. A bit of a wasted evening.
Aug 1, Friday. Moving slowly through the DRC.
We woke up at 7 am and found ourselves in Kolwesi where we were meant to have been the night before. We moved on soon afterwards and made very slow progress during the day. DRC rail track is barely maintained, and we were averaging under 15 kph. We knew that by travelling all night would be necessary to get us back on schedule by tomorrow.
After breakfast we went straight up to the observation car and spent the morning there until the lecture at 11 am which was questions and answers by Nicholas and Tim, quite interesting.
After lunch we went back to the observation lounge. At 5:30 pm we had one of our regular stops for track problems for 20 minutes or so , and there was a somewhat unhappy crowd built up around the outside area. They were demanding $10 and things from us. But Mr Voss thought there was no hostility at all in these people. We then got changed for dinner and had a cocktail in the nearby lounge for an hour or so before going into dinner (an African theme night, with Tim and Glenda). A good evening.
Aug 2, Saturday. From the DRC to Luau, Angola.
The clocks went back an hour overnight and when we woke up quite early, we were already on the border. We stayed here for some time with Lawrence negotiating us out of the DRC.
After breakfast we went straight up to the observation car but then found that in fact, there was a walk at 10:30 am so it was not really worth the effort. We all followed Nicholas round this small town of Luau and were accompanied by half the town. Apparently nothing happens at all in this town which is right on the border and our arrival was the highlight of the year, cameras recording as we walked round the block of three tree lined avenues near the station and then back to native dancing show.
But by this time my ankle was hurting so much and I went back to the train. But they did not have any doors open onto the train so I just sat on an ice box near the train for 15 to 20 minutes until the door was opened. After this very little happened during the day. After lunch we sat in the nearest lounge until lecture at 4 pm by Nicholas on Angola. Then sat at the back of this lounge for another half an hour reading and eventually went back to the cabin for half an hour to change before returning into the lounge again for a margarita, then dinner.
One of these unfortunate things about being in the civilised country of Angola is that apparently they do not deal with Starlink and so they will not be any Internet for the next three days.
Aug 3, Sunday, Luena, Angola
There was a walk around Luena, a larger town than the previous day at 10 am but Chris decided that her ankle was not ready for this and just got off for a few minutes and looked out from the station and then went up to the observation car. There was seem to be only one other lady who stayed on the train.
The group came back around 11:15 and we had an animated conversation with Tim until lunchtime. After lunch we went back to the observation car until 4.30 when we backtrack to the other lounge car for the second group talk with Nicholas on various scenarios involving Angola.
We went back to the cabin and changed for dinner and then returned to the middle lounge car for our nightly margarita, talking to Peter and Eddie and then Glenda. Glenda join us for dinner back to the cabin for another journey of the train through the night until at least 2 am in order to catch up on the schedule. The rails seem particularly bad to Chris during the latter part of this so she is still dreaming of a decent night sleep.
Aug 4 , Monday. Kuito Angola
A 9 am start in Kuito where we boarded a bus which took us to the museum in a 15 minute drive. There I used a wheelchair to ease the pressure on my ankle and was driven around first by one of the waiters and then by David.
The museum was to commemorate the 7300 dead buried there as a result of the Angolan Civil War. The head of the museum insisted on giving us a talk on the museum and then that was translated by a none to coherent interpreter, which obviously took up far too much time. After going round the interior of the museum David took over my wheelchair and we went to see the graves and after this there was a group photograph taken on the steps.
We then moved on to the city centre and had 30 minutes there. There was some very impressive buildings and we saw the local town hall and other municipal offices with several flags on. We got back to the station by 11 o’clock and spent the next two hours in the observation lounge.
After lunch the scenery changed to vast open prairie and we passed several groups of 20 to 30 cows - the first farm animals that we had seen for days. It was the dry season, the rainy season being for nine months of the year here, and it did indeed look fairly dry.
At 4 pm, we went for another talk by Nicholas supplemented by Tim on the number of deaths and disappearances of Congo and Angolan leaders. After this we sat until sundown in the middle observation car before returning to the cabin and getting very frustrated because there was no laundry list and this took ages to arrive and then Vivian thought it was all our fault that we had not got the laundry in on time and that we had no laundry or pressing list: quite fantastic that they have staff like this! Anyway, when we had sorted out the laundry with them went to the middle lounge for a nightly margarita and chatted to John and Carol Charlie (yes, that was their surname) and Glenda. Then we had dinner with Nicholas and this was really an interesting evening.
Aug 5. Tuesday, Huambo. Angola
We alighted at Huambo at 9 am and we were first driven to a very large square roundabout where there was a statue of Neto, the first president of Angola in 1975 when independence was obtained from Portugal. Chris sat on a bench there but others walked around.
We then proceeded to to another park where the guide wanted us to alight. Nicholas thought that this was futile: but the guide eventually won the day that we stayed on the coach and were there for well over half an hour. Eventually the others returned, just one or two have bought a souvenir. The guide was unable to understand that we were slightly annoyed by this waste of time.
Then a shorter stop at the church before reaching the site of several somewhat dilapidated tanks, remnant of the Civil War which ended with a peace accord in 2002.
The final stop was at the workshops of the Benguala Railway. The workshops had long since been abandoned and there was a ghostly effect in these damaged and dusty huge workshops. Rohan Vos was in his element here and gave various explanations of technical things. We were marched to another of these immense abandoned buildings where there were steam engines as well as random abandoned machinery. One was the discernable ghost of a steam express locomotive, that must have been really something in its day.
Back on the train with about 30 minutes to spare before lunch, we sat in the middle lounge And proceeded to the observation lounge after lunch. The final lecture by Nicholas at 4:15 pm: on the last battle of the Cold War - the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale which was fought intermittently between August 1987 and March 1988, south and east of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola.
Before lunch we had had a long chat with Rohan in the middle lounge, he telling us all his problems especially with South African politics, he also said that he had checked out on our booking procedure and his his staff had assured him that it had been done quickly and efficiently. After the talk, we remained at the back of the middle lounge observing the scenery which had been quite dramatic between 1 pm and 4 pm as a train to descended from a high plateau. Then back to the cabin to change for the 1920s evening, before a cocktail in the lounge chatting to John and Glenda indeed along with others in magnificent 20s dresses and headbands. Dinner was followed by Lawrence presenting his team , so dinner was a trifle longer than normal. Eventually back to the cabin, sleepwalking.
Aug 6 Wednesday. The final run down to Lobito. On to Luanda
The day started really well with an early breakfast looking out into the mist but by the time we got up to the observation car , which was still before 8 am , the mist had lifted and there was magnificent scenery for a couple of hours.
Hundreds of baobab trees, a river, winding hills and little patches of cultivation and round thatched huts in circles: it really was uplifting. We returned to the cabin soon after 11 and did the final touches to the small suitcase so that this was ready for collection at 11:30 as we jogged into Lobito station. We then had to wait in the lounge car until all the suitcases were downloaded onto the platform and then there was chaos as nobody had told us what we were meant to do. Shayanne seem to be in charge and there were loads of other agencies staff who seem to know more than she did. Anyway, eventually we found a man who drove us and one other traveller to the Terminus hotel which we reached about 12.30.
We settled down on a sofa overlooking the umbrellas that ran along the seafront. Someone served us two pineapple juices and we were then able to use one of these glasses to sip Amarula on ice for the next five hours And also have a piece of toast and ham and muffin. David found the swimming pool but there was a notice saying it was strictly only for residents and as there was no one around there at all and there were no towels or changing facilities I had to forego having a swim.
My ankle was quite swollen and hurting on and off so I just had a quick look at the swimming pool and had to stay stationary for the rest of the time we spent there. A group of guests from the train arrived about 3 pm having been taken to lunch somewhere on a package that they had paid through the nose for with Rovos. We left at 5:30 pm with about six others but each couple had a car to themselves and we drove to the airport outside Lobito, this serving probably Lobito and Benguala. There we had about an hours wait before being boarded for the 8:10 pm flight to Luanda but in fact it took off at 7:45 pm and landed just an hour later so all seem very good.
I had a wheelchair to meet me there but we were stopped on the tarmac by two fireman who even quite vicious and demanded to see my boarding card and wanted to know how old I was: eventually they let us proceed and it was a long trek through this recently opened, Chinese built, new airport terminal which was quite vast. Having collected the luggage there was a driver from the Protea Marriott hotel there to transfer us along with one other fellow traveller. It turned out to be almost an hours drive away, the distance being covered at quite a fast speed.
The check-in took quite a long time and we found that we had to get a bus to another airport (to fly to Lisbon) at 6:30 am on Thursday, not good news. The room itself was fine and we had a coffee and biscuit and a shower before turning in for the night. To,morrows airport was only 15 minutes from the hotel, so that was good
Aug 7, Thursday . Luanda back to Moraira
We were down at reception by 6.20 and enjoyed part of the breakfast they had packed up for us, whilst we waited for the transport to the airport. We took some of the fruit and buns with us.
We were at the airport well before seven. We booked in, not completely successfully, as they refused to put the bags through to Valencia. So at Lisbon we will have to pick them up and nd then go to check in again. I asked for a a wheelchair. But they did not have one available at the time so a nice man accompanied us through security and passport to the gate. He said a wheelchair will be available from there: we assured him a good walk this small distance to the plane that was just outside. Anyway, eventually we were escorted to a lorry with a lift with two other couples and entered the plane by being lifted up to near the cockpit. David had purchased an extra seat the previous day. But we found a fact we would’ve been a twosome by our selves and now we were a threesome in the middle with a fat man next to David encroaching on him. So in the end we just took the two further seats and at least a little space on our left hand side
And the pasta were very good on their lunch. There was also later snack just full of carbohydrates. It was an eight hour flight and passed quite quickly. At Lisbon, there was a wheelchair to meet me and take me through to the luggage reclaim: here we were slightly delayed as there was a strike of baggage handlers. Then I was pushed to the TAP special needs check in desk who eventually issued us with boarding passes. We think there must’ve been a trainee on this desk. Both the girls who pushed me were very pleasant, the second being a Hungarian was really vivacious and interested in our journey. Then we waited at a special leads area nearby while they got me onto the system. I waited for a new person to take me onto the flight when that time was ready. We treated ourselves to a Paseis de Nata and iced coffee.
The Valencia flight was an hour late, so we did not touch down there till midnight, and it was 02.00 before we got back to Moraira