10 things you could do with $600...

If you had a spare $600 lying around, what could you spend it on?

1. You could buy a new computer, stereo, TV or other consumer durable black good.
2. You could drink 600 pints of beer in a Czech pub.
3. You could buy a season ticket at Carrow Road.
4. You could enjoy a lobster meal for 4 at Humerbar Restaurant in Zurich.
5. You could spend 2 months travelling in relative luxury in South East Asia or on the Indian Subcontinent.
6. You could visit Petra 20 times.
7. You could book two return flight tickets from London to New York.
8. You could buy an annual pass for 10 families to Prague zoo. (That is 10 lots of 2 adults and 2 children).
9. You could pay just the park entrance fees to Kilimanjaro National Park. If you wanted to climb it, you would need another $400 minimum.
10. Or, you could take a four-day camping safari (with your own equipment) in Tanzania, visiting Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Thats what we did!

What would you do?

Kdyz mate prebytecnych 600$USD, 10 moznosti jak s nimi nalozit.....

1. Koupit si novy pocitac, stero nebo TV.
2. Vypit 600 piv v ceske hospode.
3. Koupit si sezonni listek na fotbalovy tym Norwich City.
4. Zajit si na poradnyho humra pro 4 lidi v Humrbaru v Curychu.
5. Ztravit 2 mesice cestovani v pomernem luxusu v jihovychodni Asii nebo na Indickem subkontinentu.
6. Navstivit Petru dvacetkrat. (skalni mesto v Jordansko).
7. Koupit zpatecni letenka pro dva lidi z Londyna do New Yorku
8. Rocni vstupenka pro deset rodin do Prazske Zoo.
9. Zaplatit jen vstup do Narodniho Parku Kilimandzaro (pokud si chcete vylezt nahoru takze pridejte dalsi 400$USD!)
10. Nebo 4 denni safari se svym vlastnim stanem v Tanzanii do Tarangire Narodni Parku, Serengeti Narodni Parku a Ngorongoro prirodni rezervace.

Tak jsme nalozili s 600$ my.
Co byste udelali vy?

KENA

Zdravime,
Nakonec jsem psala z Addis Ababa
Jeste 2 dny jizni Etiopii nez jsme se dostali na hranice s Kenou, jih Etiopie byl krasne zeleny a plny huste dzungle. Na hranicich v Moyale jsme dostali viza a ubytovali jsme se v takovy spinavy dire, bylo to hrozny mesto, asi jako vsechny pohranicni. Celou jizni Etiopii a severni Kenu jsme se setkavali s ‘qatem’ coz jsou listky nejakyho stromu, ktery vsichni zvykaji a jsou pekne zmasteny, protoze se cpou plnyma igelitovyma taskama a sezvykaji az pul kila denne. V Jemenu, Somalsku, Etiopii a Keni je to legalni. Takze v Moyale byli vsichni pekne vymeteny a bylo docela komplikovany zjistit, jak se odtamtud dostanem. Jedina nase moznost byla, podelit se o korbu nakladaku s dalsimi asi 50ti lidma, nastesti nakladak prevazel fazole a tak to nebylo na tvrdym. Tahle jizda z Moyale do Isiolo ma byt jedna z nejhorsich v Africe, je to uplny voraniste plny der a taky to byvalo nebezpecny kvuli banditum. Ale musim rict, ze jsme byli pripraveny na nejhorsi, ze to bude neco strasnyho, ale dalo se to prezit, delili jsme se o jeden pytel fazoli a bylo nas tam hodne, ale nakladak mel velky kola a tak hrboly a diry po ceste nebyli tak bolestivy jako by to bylo v autobuse. Taky to trvalo jen 17hodin.
Meli jsme docela starch z Keni, slyseli jsme hrozny historky o vrazdach a prepadavani, znasilnovani a nevim co vsechno, to vsechno se opravdu deje, ale vetsinou za tmy, kdyz my spime a pres den se clovek citi docela bezpecne.
Prvni zastavkou mel byt Narodni park Mt. Kena, druhou nejvyssi horu Afriky jsme si chteli vyslapnout mistio Kilimanzara (ktery stoji kolem 800$ za vyslap za cloveka), nakoupili jsme si na 4 denni trek a stopem-pesky jsme se dostali pred branu parku, kde postavili stan v krasnym kempu.



Bohuzel, se od ledna tohoto roku ceny parku v Keni zmenili a tenhle park stal 15$ na den, tak ted ho zdrazili na 60$ denne + kempovani v parku+ pruvodce, takze to utrpeni vyskrabat se na horu by nas jeste stalo nejakych 300$, tak jsme se nastvali a zustali v kempu 2dny abysme alespon sporadali vsechno to jidlo, co jsme nakoupili. Kemp byl krasnej se super spravcem a vyhled na hour Kena jsme meli ze stanu.



Jidlo a piti se uplne zmenili, vyborny mlecny caj s kourovou prichuti, takovy nafoukly koblihy k snidani a jogurty. V Keni zije hodne Indu a tak ryze a curry a chapatti je na kazdem menu. Mistni specialitou je ugali, takova lepkava nakysla hmota s masem, ale nastesti se tomu skoro vzdycky da vyhnout. Protoze Kena byla britskou kolonii, hranolky se smazenou rybou nebo kuretem jsou vsude k dostani. My jsme si oblibili v mistnich jidelnach pilau ryzi(ryze ochucena kardamonem s vodovym curry) a githeri( 3 druhy fazoli v trochu palive omacce) a to jsme si dali na pul. Vetsinou byli k dostani i cerstvy dzusy na ulici mango, avocado, papaya

Mistni dopravou jsou hlavne MATATU minibusy, ktery jezdi vsude a porad a strasne rychle. Tak jednim z nich jsme se dostali z Nanuyki do Nairobi, hlavni mesto z kteryho jsme meli opravdu starch, ale pres den je to ok, ale jak zavrou kramy, tak se ulice vyprazdni a po 7 vecer uz moc lidi ven nechodi. Prezdivka NIGHTROBBERY docela sedi a i kdyz bysme se nejradsi Nairobi vyhnuli uplne, tak to neni mozny a uz jsme tam byli 3krat a az na strasnej hluk a hodne lidi to bylo fajn.

Pak jsme vyrazili na pobrazi, autobusem do Mombasy, kde jsme stravili den, moc prijemna atmosfera, dobrej mix africanu, indu a arabu. Opravdu jsme tam uzili jak jidlo tak lidi, architekturu a swahilskou kulturu.



Nasi hlavni destinaci v Keni byl, ale ostruvek Lamu, ktery jsme meli nekolikrat doporuceny. Jen 7 hodin jizdy po pobrezi na sever od Mombasy, taky jedna z nebezpecnych silnic a tak kazdy autobus ma chlapka s kalasnikovem, nastesti jsme nemeli zadne problemy, ridic to valil 130km v hodine a tak nevim jestli by se vubec nejakym banditum podarilo nas zastavit!!

Lamu byl raj, prevazne muslimsky ostruvek s krasnou swahilskou architekturou, uzounkymi ulickami a hlavnim dopravnim prostredkem jsou oslici, nasli jsme si krasny ubytovani a bylo nam tam tak dobre, ze misto 3 planovanych dnu jsme tam zustali 5 dni, docela prselo. Vyrazili jsme celodenni vylet mistni plachetnici, strasne foukalo a tak jsme se malem prevratili, nastesti se nam to nestalo, ale potkali jsme jednu, ktere se to podarilo.



Zarybarili jsme si a ulovek jsme si ogrilovali na plazi, taky jsme se pekne spalili.



Meli jsme kuchyn k dispozici a tak jsme si obcas varili, I kdyz to cenove vyjde o neco draz nez jist v nejake mistni restauraci, tak si clovek muze udelat hromadu zeleniny s testovinama. Proste se nam tam hrozne libilo a i po 5ti dnech se nam nechtelo ostrov opustit.



Cestou zpet do Nairobi jsme si rikali, ze jsme v Keni 14 dni a jeste jsme nevideli ani jedno divoke zvire, dostat se do Narodnich parku po svych je skoro nemozny a mistni doprava tam nejezdi. Skoro vsechny vstupy narodnich parku se zdrazili na 60 $ denne a tak jsme muesli byt opatrni pri vyberu. Nakonec jsme si zorganizovali Safari z Nairobi za 290$ na 3 dny s navstevou 2 parku. Prvni Masai Mara, nejznamejsi a nejnavstevovanejsi park v Keni, kde jsme se projeli 2 hodiny vecer a 2 hodiny rano a neverili vlastnim ocim, kolik jsme toho videli za tak kratkou dobu, zacalo to zebrama, zirafama a pak jsme videli stovky buvolu, slony, jednu lvici a 2 lvy, no byla to nadhera,












vecer jsme se prezrali a rano jsme pokracovali do narodniho parku Lake Nakuru, kde jsme meli asi 4 hodiny u jezera a to byla nadhera, uplnej koberec z Flamengos, do toho pelikani a mezi tim se prochazeli zebry a videli jsme 3 bily nosorozce a zahlidli jsme hyenu a do toho ruzny druhy antilop a gazel.










No krasny to bylo po ceste do Nairobi jsme si vyzkocili u jezera Naivasha, kde jsme 2 dny kempovali u jezera a kousek od stanu se nam v noci prochazeli hrosi, teda nastesti za plotem, vydavali hrozny zvuky a docela jsem se jich bala, je to v Africe nejnebezpecnejsi zvire, napadnou vic lidi nez jake koliv jine zvire!!!!
Hell s gate narodni park je par kilometru od jezera a je to jediny park v Keni, kde se muze clovek prochazet nebo projizdet na kole. A tak jsme vyrazili na kolech, byl to uzasnej zazitek, jen na kole mezi zebrama a zirafama a taky buvolama(z tech jedinejch jsme meli trochu starch), divocaku a antilop.



Pak nas mistni Masai vzal do lomu a odpoledne jsme se vratili a udelai hromadu salatu s avokadem, ktery je momentalne v sezone a stoji 2kc kus!!!!
Navrat do Nairobi a rychle do Tanzanie, nase plany se tak trochu zmenili, protoze kamarad Stepan nas opet prijede navstivit a to na severu Tanzanie a tak zajedem do Tanzanie a Ugandu nechame az na potom.

Celkove jsme nevedeli, co ocekavat od Keni, spis jsme byli negativne naladeni, ale vsechno nas mile prekvapilo, jak lide, tak priroda, tak krasni Masaiove, tak jidlo a maji taky vyborny pivo Tusker. Vsichni mluvi plyne anglicky a vetsina tisku je v anglictine, skoro denne jsme si kupovali noviny a musim rict, je to hruza co se deje v tyhle zemi, vrazdy, znasilneni, kolik lidi je HIV pozitivnich, kmeny, kteri se vrazdi vzajemne, korupce a jak je nebezpecno na silnicich, vsichni jezdi 100km/h a predjizdi zasadne bez koukani.
Ale libilo se nam v Keni.

tak vas vsechny zdravime a mejte se krasne

monika

Hakuna Matata

We had a nice introduction to Kenya, one of the powerhouses of African tourism. The immigration officer on the border between Ethiopia and Kenya was very friendly and taught us some Swahili and gave us some advice on travelling in Kenya. This positive start was soon counter-balanced by Moyale being possibly the most typical example of a border town this side of Tijuana! Guys chewing chat sat around the filthy hotels prone and unable and it was impossible to find any useful information on how to get out of the town! In fact the only way out was south towards Isiolo. Possibly the most infamous road on the trip from Cairo to Cape Town this road sends shivers down the spine of overlanders, many of whom loose their shocks enroute. Our only option was on the back of a truck full of sacks of beans, along with about 100 other people. We had heard stories of trucks turning over so we were happy to be so well weighed down! Not only is the road known for its poor, bordering on non-existent condition (there is no tarmac between Moyale and Isiolo) but it is also the territory of many bandits, which live on looting trucks passing through. The trip should take around 8 hours to Marsabit and then a further 9 hours to Isiolo. We were lucky in that our truck did it in that exact time, and we rolled into Isiolo at 3am the next morning.



Isiolo was nothing more than a place to stop and recuperate before heading on via Nanyuki to Naro Moro, at the base of Mount Kenya. Not only is Mt Kenya famous for being the second highest in Africa but also for being a cheap alternative to Kilamanjaro and Meru for trekking. Or at least it was. In our first encounter with KWS (Kenyan Wildlife Services) we realised that in January they had increased the fee from $15 per day to $55 per day, which is quite an increase! It still pales in comparison to the $1000 you would need to climb Kili, but still it put it out of our budget. Instead we relaxed in solitude at the campsite at the Mt Kenya hostel and contented ourselves with views of Mt Kenya from below.



Fully rested we headed to Nairobi, hoping just to pass through. Who is afraid of big bad Nairobi? We were actually, I mean, its not called Nairobbery for nothing! In the end we found that it was not so bad as the hype, that we were able to wander around without being robbed, raped and murdered. We ended up stopping over in Nairobi three times, and each time was fine. However on our first night we did get back to our hotel before 6pm and soon after heard two violent fights and gunshots from our room!



The next leg of our journey was to visit the Swahili homeland along the coast of Kenya. Frustratingly, the road between two of East Africa's biggest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa, was probably the worst road in Kenya but we got there eventually. Next time, and with a bigger wallet I am going to take the old Rift Valley railway that still operates with full service between the two cities. The history of Mombasa is like the history of Swahili in microcosm, a melting pot of African, Asian and Arabic cultures, with smatterings of Portuguese and British colonial influences thrown in fir good measure. Just Fort Jesus (which we didn't enter due to the also exorbitant entrance fees) managed to change hands between the Kenyans, Omanis, Portuguese and British during its operating history. The old town surrounding the fort revealed similar examples of this chequered past. We heard stories of anti-Western sentiment and Osama Bin Laden graffiti but all we received was a warm and friendly welcome. All in all it was one of my highlights of Kenya. I have to say as well that it is amazing how much one man has influenced millions of peoples opinion of 'the West'. Since his historic election victory the sheer presence of Obama has turned everything around. No longer are Americans treated as some sort of pariahs, with both locals and fellow travellers alike turning away from them. They are now being welcomed everywhere. At the same time in the UK we are electing far-right anti-social fascist scum like the BNP and the UKIP ('the BNP in blazers'). Now who is going to be shunned?



Just as beautiful is the old Swahili town on the island of Lamu, 6 hours north of Mombasa. Because this road is another hotspot for bandits we had a military escort on our bus for part of the journey. The island is half an hours boat trip through the mangroves. Another beautiful old Islamic Swahili town this is a seaside resort with a difference. Here the beaches take a back seat to the old town and cups of steaming milky tea and thick mango juices take the place of cold beers. We took the almost compulsory dhow trip through the mangroves. Although the trip was quite scary, the wind was high and we passed an overturned dhow on the way, it was a nice day, we went fishing but only Monika caught anything so she had to share her catch with us (Along from Korea, Neil from the Philippines and I) as we had barbequed fish on Manda beach for lunch. Lamu was so quiet and serene that we spend several days there, in a state of almost total inertia. On one of our last nights we indulged in a deluxe meal of fresh grilled fish with such a plethora of side dishes I was at a loss as to which to eat next.



Which brings me to the subject of Kenyan food. Almost every country we enter I fear the worst. Since my introduction to African food in Ghana I am very pessimistic about the offerings. Kenya has been just as impressive as almost all the African countries I have visited since Ghana. Chapatis, fish and chips (with salt and vinegar), fried chicken, sausages, all manner of egg dishes and a smattering of Indian cuisine all washed down with strong, milky chai or, away from the coast, refreshing Tusker lager means that I never once had to try the national dish,Ugali, a meal pulp that resembles the worst of African cooking!



Having spent about two weeks in Kenya and not having seen a wild animal we decided it was time to return to the interior. Back in Nairobi we organised, after much deliberation, a 3-day safari to the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru national parks. At $100 per day it is not a cheap undertaking, although still only 60% of the cost of a Tanzanian safari. Its still a shock, especially when you a reused to $20 per day Asian tours! It was however, worth the money. The Masai Mara can't really be described without slipping into all sorts of clichés so suffice to say we bounced around in a safari van (with a pop-up roof) and spotted all sorts of wildlife lying under acacia trees such as lions, elephants and buffalo (3 of the 'Big 5’' in about an hour) as well as giraffes, ostriches, all sorts of antelope and wildebeest, and squillions of zebra. I was so excited upon spotting my first zebra and then I realised they are more common than cows here and spend most of their time grazing by the side of motorways!



Lake Nakuru was possibly even more beautiful. An alkaline lake populated by about 16,000 flamingos, with marabou storks and pelicans mingled in and white rhino, buffalo and more zebra wandering around the shore. We also saw a jackal and a hyena, two of the more nefarious species on display. I must also add that I was very pleasantly surprised that tourism hasn't had a greater impact, it has been really well managed. Even at Masai Mara the camps appear very low-key from the outside and, whilst Masai village tours are offered, they are not forced, nor are any other 'extras', and there was a marked absence of hawkers, although our van did manage to stop at a souvenir shop enroute both to and from the park!



We arranged to be dropped off from the safari at Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake with several campsites dotted around its shore. We were lucky enough to be visited by a herd of hippo during the nights, who came to graze on our campsite. I say 'lucky' as there was an electric fence separating our tent from these surprisingly dangerous animals. Close by is Hells Gate national park, the only park in Kenya which you can cycle through, apparently there are no wild cats there. We hired bicycles for the day and set off, cycling under beautiful rock formations and between herds of zebra, antelope, giraffes and buffalos, which apparently aren't dangerous as long as they are in a group. Again we had a run-in with KWS here as the entrance fee to Hells Gate was also increased. A warning to any students attempting to take advantage of the concessionary rate it will only be offered to students under the age of 23, in groups of 10 or more on an organised, official visit. Individual students on holiday will not enjoy the reduced rates. Personally I don't see the point of offering them to non-residents in that case.



And from Naivasha back to Nairobi, again, from where we left for Arusha in Tanzania, where we are now. We had planned to travel through Uganda to Tanzania but we had an email from Stepan as we arrived in Kenya who told us he would meet us in Arusha with his friend Tomas and we could go on safari together. So we changed our plans and headed down into Tanzania. Luckily these three countries in East Africa allow visitors to travel between them on single entry visas as long as we stay with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania so hopefully we can just go back through Kenya to Uganda and continue through back to Tanzania.



Sometimes Kenya seems to be very developed, especially when you are speeding along a dual-carriageway in the central highlands, with pristine farmland on either side. Inevitably however, just around the corner it will all fall apart and you will be bouncing in and out of pot-holes again. I get the same feeling from reading the Daily Nation, the English-language newspaper that was my source for all the dirt, crime and corruption happening in Kenya. Take the minister who, in response to a new law restricting ministers to cars sized 1.8l or less stated that he 'could not arrive at official functions in a teenagers car'. Or the government and police officials who were intrinsically involed in the post-election violence and yet are being protected by the dragging -heels investigation. Or even the Mungiki, the gangster sect that controls much of the Rift Valley and Central Highlands, with 'red spots' including Nanyuki, Nakuru and Naivasha, the government does nothing, why? There are more connections than anyone wants to know. A young girl was recently shot by police who were using live rounds to disperse street hawkers, she was working as a waitress when she was killed. And every day there are new reports of rape and child abuse, of priests abusing their position, of young men taking their fathers to court to try to gain possession of the land their fathers worked so hard to gain. They don't want to give it up and see the money squandered. Perhaps the most poignant pages in each edition are the funeral notices. Almost half the deaths are explained away as a 'long illness', read AIDS, and the other half as a result of traffic accidents. In the lonely hearts column posters are less cryptic, demanding HIV tests as a must, or openly admitting to being 'HIV+'. After reading the paper one can be left feeling hollow and without hope, however we met some people in Kenya that renewed our faith in humanity. One of them, Orfan, works as a tour guide by day, spends his spare time running an orphanage for street children in Western Kenya and often goes out in the evenings to meet young prostitutes and try to talk them out of their life on the streets. He was lucky to survive the post-election violence last year, managing to run away from a bus in which more than half of the passengers were slaughtered to death. Whilst people like Orfan are still able to help there is hope for everybody.



Despite, or perhaps because of, the high level of tourism, Kenya has left me feeling a little cold. I thoroughly enjoyed travelling in Kenya but I see no reason why I would return. It just doesn't evoke the same blast of sensations as visiting, say Ethiopia, does. We had no bad experiences, just no unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Even though the safari was amazing, we still shared it with enough people to dilute the moment.

By truck from Moyale to Isiolo

The road from the border town of Moyale to Isiolo in Kenya is probably the most infamous along the whole Cairo-to-Cape Town route. Not only do the dirt tracks eat 4x4s for breakfast but there is also the added risk from the bandits that run amok across Northern Kenya. If you are travelling by public transport the choice is a twice (or perhaps thrice) weekly bus or jumping on the back of one of the trucks passing through daily. The journey takes around 18 hours if you are lucky. We were lucky. Our truck was full of bags of maize, which was good as they made comfortable seats and are heavy enough to stuck worrying about overturning, which a worrying number of the trucks are prone to doing. We left Moyale around 10:30am, stopped in Marsabit around 7:30pm and finally arrived in Isiolo at around 3:30am.

Here is a brief taste of this journey:

DISGRACEFUL!

No, I am not talking about the cricket! Something more important. How can anyone in Britain vote for the BNP? It's pathetic and makes me feel sick, and glad I am not there. How can we still have Nazis in Britain in this day and age, dont these people realise that multiculturalism is what makes Britain Great? Do these ignorant oafs realise that by voting for the BNP they are basically saying "You know Hitler, he wasn't bad, his heart was in the right place". If you vote BNP you are disgracing the actions of the brave souls that fought for freedom during WWII. People claim that they should be allowed due to freedom of speech, well, freedom of speech is only valid until you start abusing other peoples human rights, which seems to be the basic premise of the BNP. Parties such as the BNP and the UKIP (wake up guys, we have been part of the EU for years, and it has benefitted us greatly) should be forcibly disbanded and their leaders jailed under the terrorism act. Bastards.