It was Wednesday 20th December 1989 that we met at Best Camping Tours in Nairobi. Douglas, Mariam, Carla, Nurettin, Ineke. Douglas and Mariam on honeymoon, a special gift from Mariam’s brother. On Friday Per and Elisabeth from Sweden joined us for the rest of the trip. We got a close group. Only 2 hours on the road when the water pump turned out to be broken and the driver had to return to Nairobi. Anyway, waiting 3 hours on the roadside …. but later that day we were rewarded with an elephant family during our 1st game drive.
In the evenings a beautiful sky with countless stars. We around the fire with Hassan our cook, eat in a circle.
The alarm rings early on Safari. At 5 a.m. we board the open bus and search the horizon for cheetahs, rhino, buffalo, monkeys, lions, zebras, birds (especially Per).
And yes, we are lucky; at the bottom of Kilimanjaro -with in those days a snowy plateau – stands an old rhino..
Every few days we went to a real lodge where we could take a shower and a toilet where we could sit on instead of squatting. Such a luxury!
Other days we slept in small tents, got a lot of mosquito bites from ‘the Beatles’. Wrecked to the hole in the ground at night when we had to pee so as not to wake the wild animals.
We danced with the Kikuyu people; I think it was near the equator where we met Mariam’s family.
Sometimes – we naive people- pitched our tents to a river full of crocodiles. And in the evening we walked through the pitch dark to the crocodile bar. There were dozens of crocodiles behind the bar staring glassily at us. We did everything to get a beer or two…..
The baboons were so bold that they pulled your plate of food from you.
At one point heavy weather struck. A bridge has been destroyed, a zebra washed ashore. Tourists who were dragged through the water in their jeep. Fortunately survived.
All women busy repairing the damage. The Maasai men are there, look at it and have the greatest fun. To the annoyance of Douglas and Nurettin who shouted to them ‘use two hands’.
Full of our adventures and impressions, we had an emotional goodbye in Nairobi. The beginning of an unforgettable deep friendship for many years.
Ineke – September 8, 2020