Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater

Over the past days, we've put some serious mileage behind us and have just arrived in Zanzibar (which is totally living up to its heavenly reputation of flour-soft white sand, beautiful sunsets and coconut-cupped cocktails!)

We've been in Tanzania for a week now and have travelled through, visited and stayed in a number of places including Lake Victoria in Mwanza, the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.

For a few nights, we stayed in unfenced campsites in the Serengeti - none of which had upgrade options, hot water or flushing toilets! Because the camps are unfenced, we had security guards to make sure no animals got peckish in the middle of the night. It was a little unnerving hearing roaring lions from our tent (particularly when we'd seen them tearing a fresh zebra carcass to pieces just hours before) so it was a case of holding it in until the morning rather than risking a midnight toilet run!

Even though the Serengeti is Tanzania's most famous national park, I wasn't all that fussed in comparison to the Crater.
The Serengeti was exactly as I'd imagined though - it was the classic east African scenery, full of endless grassy plains with distinctive flat topped acia trees dotting the savannah.
In some parts, the scenery was so perfect and stereotypically African, it almost looked animated, like a scene out of Lion King! We even saw some lions looking out from their very own Pride Rock (although good luck with spotting them in the photo below - I could only see them through binoculars!).

Everything about the Ngorongoro Crater was amazing, even the drive to get there (during which the truck journey turned into a heavy drinking session resulting in hangovers kicking in at about 7pm)
When we arrived, we couldn't see anything except the jagged, rocky peaks of the surrounding extinct volcanoes and the thick white cloud gathered inside - it reminded me of a massive cappuccino from O'Briens!

It looked like the animals had also been on a massive binge drinking session when we arrived, with rhinos and buffalos lolling around, flaked out in the early morning sun and even a male lion throwing up about 10 metres away from one of our 4x4s! To be fair, we were up at 4.30am so we didn't look too sharp either.

As the clouds evaporated and the animals woke up, the Crater revealed its previously hidden expanse that was teeming with wildlife, including lions, rhino, elephant, buffalo (we only have leopard to tick off until we have Big Five Bingo!), zebra, wildebeest, gazelles, hyenas, jackals, waterbucks, flamingos, ostriches and loads, loads more.

But rather than the breathtaking beauty of the rugged Ngorongoro Crater, seeing lions and so many other animals interact at such close range, the highlight of the day was trying to push our 4x4s out of the mud.
I'm happy to report that as I was wearing flip flops (Thank God I was running late and couldn't find my walking boots!), I could barely stand in the calf deep mud, let alone push a truck out of it so provided the troops with strategic advice, direction and general encouragement!

My camera broke a few days ago (so gutted - Anwen, remember to bring yours with you) so I haven't got any photos showing how muddy they got but they were covered, from head to toe whilst I was got away with a few splatters.

However, the whole debacle was caught on film by a CBS camera crew (they were passing in some of the vehicles that helped to tow us out!) so look out for 16 mud slathered people waving at a camera, jumping up and down shouting, "We love CBS!" on a tv screen near you!

Distributing donated clothes

Jambo!

I'm in Tanzania now. We've been through the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater and are now making our towards Zanzibar with a stop off in Dar Es Salaam. I'll write more about this later but in the meantime, I wanted to use this unexpected internet access to let those who gave me clothes know how some of the distribution went.

On our last day in Rwanda, me and three of the girls on the trip went to a local village in Ruhengeri to distribute some of the clothes you donated.

To make sure the families we gave them to really needed them, we did a bit of a reccy first and went to a women's cooperative. Members make baskets by wrapping grass in long pieces of dyed straw. I'm not very good at describing the process but see below for photos!

They insisted we all had a go and despite being petrified I was going to mess it up for them, I did quite well. So if things don't work out with this new environment body, I reckon could turn my hand to basket making.

As usual, a large crowd of children gathered around us wearing tattered, torn and dirty clothes so we gave them some of your donations.
The mothers and children at the cooperative were genuinely surprised and excited at getting new clothes - it was really heart warming to see their faces light up. It was one of the loveliest experiences I've had in Africa so thank you again.
There was one little girl in particular that was so thrilled with her new pink dress (Ann, I think this may have been from someone at Acorn), that she didn't want to put it on straight away because she was dirty so ran over half a mile home to wash before running back to show us.
By time she reached us, she was out of breath but couldn't stop smiling, shyly coming up to me to cwtch me and hold my hand, saying thank you over and over again.

We also popped into an orphanage to drop some clothes off. Whilst we were there, the 'Auntie' in charge showed me the dormitories, rooms that had two sets of bunk beds in them. Each bed held up to four children between the ages of four and fourteen in some rooms, so there would potentially be 16 kids in a room no bigger than 14 x 12 foot.

I've posted some photos below so have a look to see if you can identify anything you gave. Also, one of the girls who came is writing a blog and has posted some photos so have a look at www.milkundmidnight.tumblr.com if you're interested.

GORILLA TREKKING WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!

We are leaving for Tanzania tomorrow and probably won't have internet access for the next week ( * * * Dani starts to hyperventilate * * * ) so here's a vey quick run down of how the gorilla trekking went...

* * *

There are not many gorillas living in the wild. There are only 36 families in the world and these are spread across the dramatic Virungas mountain range that tower over and divide Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Yesterday, we went trekking in the sodden rain forests of the Parc National des Volcans to see the Umabano family which consisted of 14 gorillas, including the main man himself, Silverback Charles, and his wives and children.

Now I'm not one for Americanisms, unnecessary capitalisation or excessive punctuation marks, but gorilla trekking was MOTHER FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

The day began with coffee (not as nice as Ugandan coffee - not that I'm biased), a traditional Rwandan dance and drumming session, a briefing on how to act around the gorillas and an hours drive up what can in no way be described as a road. It would be generous to call it a track, but we bounced our way up it and everyone survived despite a number of (apparently) accidental yet moderate groping incidents.

The first part of the walk was through farmland. Our welcome was pretty similar to a Ugandan welcome, with cries of "hi muzungo" floating across the fields and children waving at us. The scenery was pretty similar to the mountainous region of Eastern Uganda with patchwork style terraced fields and people tending the land, only the blood red Ugandan soil had been replaced with thick, rich brown soil and was surrounded by the most dramatic mountains I have ever seen.

After getting sucked into mud pits, stung by massive (and painful) stingies, crawling on all fours to get through a thick tangled web of various trees, and bushes, whacked in the face by bamboo and eucalyptus tree branches and generally contorting our bodies under, over and through the boggy Rwandan mountains and its rain forest vegetation, we saw our first mountain gorillas.
There were two young gorillas play fighting together that ended up tumbling and bumping into me when they lost their balance - the first of a series of heart pounding and hair raising moments where I froze and stared wide-eye at ur guide before awaiting instruction on what to do.

My heart was racing for the whole experience, none more so than when Silverback Number Two, (who kinda reminded me of Mark by the way Gill!) strode past us, literally brushing against my trousers with utter nonchalance at our presence.
Alex caught the end of this on video and you can see me turning round to look at him mouthing something that Auntie Bet definitely wouldn't approve of.

The Silverback Stride really is something to see. The confidence and sheer power with which he swaggered was just unbelievable - he was all shoulders and arse and was nature's ultimate brick shit house. Hippos had nothing on this bad boy!

He and the others really didn't give two hoots we were there. The guide explained that they don't see humans as a threat at all, but as other jungle animals so just tend to ignore us. Good job really as my attempt to blend into the natural surroundings didn't work out too well.

We did get to see and hear Silverback Number Two do a pretty impressive chest beating though - it sounded a little bit like coconuts being knocked together! A couple of the young teenage boys gave it a shot too but they weren't as impressive as the groups's number two. It was a bit like pre-pubescents teenager trying to puff their chests out but actually makes them look like right weeds.

We soon met Number One who was sitting on his bamboo and nettle throne in a small clearing, just sitting, chilling, watching two of his little ones, with his arms crossed whilst looking pretty cool, grumpy and generally awesome and scary all at the same time.
Seriously, this fella should be king of the jungle, not any lion. (Do lions actually live in the jungle by the way?!)

I don't know how much they weigh but it must be a pretty hefty amount, most of which is carried in their shoulders and peachy arses.
And they are vegetarians! Now if that isn't a sign that salads and dieting aren't good for you, surely gorillas, followed closely by hippos, what is?

There were a couple of moments and scenes that made me think, 'Wow, gorillas really are quite similar to us humans!' There was a younger gorilla jumping all over their older sibling and generally being irritating until the older one lost his temper and whacked him hard across the head and sending the youngster flying. It reminded me of when I used to win fights against my brothers - before they grew into six foot something monsters that is.

There was also a young gorilla that paraded himself in front of us, making direct eye contact before shamelessly flopping onto the ground in the sun, arms above his head, legs akimbo before starting to scratch his nuts with vigour. Our guide's response?
"Boys are the same all over the world, whatever animal they are".

From the photos I've posted on Facebook, I've had a few messages and texts off people saying things like, "I expected Africa to be sunny. It looked like it was raining in your photos. Ha ha - your tan won't last long!"
Well it's the rainy season in Africa and the film was called Gorillas in the Mist, not Gorillas Chilling Out With a Cocktail and Relaxing in the Blazing Sun.
Num nuts.

Goodbye Uganda, hello Rwanda!

After spending the last couple of months in Uganda, I was really sad to leave. I felt quite emotional about leaving a country I have grown so fond of and had a strange heavy sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach whilst we went through border control - like I was waving off a friend, not sure if I'd ever see them again.
That said though, I'm pretty sure I'll be back in some way, shape or form whether Uganda wants me back or not.

After a fairly uneventful but prolonged and needless wait at the border that involved getting drenched by a Ugandan / Rwandan downpour, we were eventually allowed to cross into Rwanda and I got a pretty interesting stamp in my passport.

I couldn't tell you anything about the Rwandan scenery from the border crossing to Kigale as our 4.45am wake up call meant I spent most of it cwtched up in my sleeping bag sleeping.

Our first stop in Rwanda was the Genocide Museum.
In 1994, approximately one million Rwandans were massacred over a period of 100 days following years and years of longstanding tensions and civil war between the minority Tutsis who ruled the country and the majority Hutus who formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

The genocide itself started when the then President's (a Hutu) plane got shot down coming into Kigale airport. Tutsi extremists were the main suspects but nobody has ever taken responsibility for it.

Only hours after the plane was shot down, the government began their meticulously organised and pre-planned massacre of Tutsis in Kigale. Opposition members were murdered within hours and the army was dispatched throughout the country with one aim - to identify and kill all Tutsis regardless of age or sex. Even newborn babies were beaten to death with machetes or clubs.

Every day for over three months, Tutsis, and any Hutus suspected of sympathising or showing any compassion towards them, were brutally butchered on the spot. Due to a longstanding propaganda campaign by the government, many Hutus had such deep hatred for Tutsis, that ordinary men, women and children as young as ten joined the mob mentality, killing their victims with enthusiasm and blind hatred.
Most Tutsis were killed in their own villages or towns, often by their own Hutu neighbours and friends who were told to kill or be killed.

Seeing photographs of streets littered with decomposing, mutilated corpses, reading personal accounts and watching videos from survivors about the scale, speed and sheer brutality of the slaughters was one of the most shocking things I have ever seen.
I find it unbelievable that something so horrendous and so brutal could have happened so recently. Unidentified corpses are still being uncovered across the country.

Almost everyone we see walking along the street here would have been involved in the genocide in some way - they or their relatives could have been involved in the killings, they could have lost family members, been orphaned or lost their livelihoods.

Our visit was made more poignant by the fact that Rwanda goes into a month of national mourning every April. When we were at the museum, there was a memorial service around one of mass graves.
I didn't stay and watch as I didn't want people to think their mourning was part of my tourist experience but even just passing by was so sad and poignant.

From what I've read, been told and seen though, Rwanda seems to have done a pretty good job of unifying itself. It would have been pretty easy for the new RPF government to be bitter and rule with revenge, but they seem to have restored a great deal of trust between the two tribes and are creating a new spirit of national identity.

Some of the people on our truck bought purple wristbands that commemorated the genocide. Unfortunately for one of the boys, he didn't look at his properly until we were back on the truck and had left Kigale.
Instead of saying "Rwanda Genocide - Never Forget", his says, "Rwanda Memorial. Free entry Wednesdays and Thursdays after 11am".

Rwanda is also home to mountain gorilla which we saw yesterday but that's a whole other blog!

Week One - rafting and elephants 

S'mai byts from Queen Elizabeth National Park! 
I'm one week into my journey down to Cape Town and we're still in Uganda on an overland trip. We basically travel from place to place in a massive yellow truck and sleep in three man tents with a tent buddy.  I lucked out with my tent buddy who is a really lovely girl called Allison from the States. Luckily for me, she doesn't snore or talk in her sleep. Unluckily for her, I do both. 

We have the option of upgrading at some camp sites though where we can pay between $10 - $15 a night for a much nicer, bigger tent.  Only one week in and me and Allison are on Night Two of living in our mega tent which has three beds, an en suite, a changing room, blackout blinds, a light, a balcony, a little sofa out the front and a washing line at the side.  Now this is African Camping - Dani Style! 

Everyone is assigned a task each day, so depending on the rota, you could be cooking, cleaning (dishes), cleaning (the truck), a fire starter / water carrier or responsible for truck security.
It's pretty great actually - everyone chips in and does their share and there's always a really nice atmosphere whether we're trucking, tripping or at camp. 

For the first few days, we went back to Jinja. Whilst we were there, we went white water rafting down the Nile which is apparently one of the top five places to raft in the world with lots of grade five and six rapids. 
Now, I'm not going to mince my words about this experience... I shit myself. 

Only once can I ever remember being as scared as I was going down that sodding river in a pimped up bloody dingy. That was on that horrendous swing ride thing at the top of the Stratosphere Tower in Vegas when I nearly cried with relief as soon as I was off the Godforsaken thing. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for this living life on the edge and taking every opportunity that comes your way, go getting kind of attitude, but like hell am I ever going rafting in Jinja again. 
No way. No chance.Dim gobaith caneri. 

Despite having the basic training on what do to when (not if - when) the boat flips, in the heat of the moment, who honestly remembers all that stuff??  When I was stuck bouncing and somersaulting round under the raft in grade five rapids, I certainly didn't. 

All I can remember is thinking : 
Shit, this Nile tastes awful. Ych a fi. 
Shit, I've been spinning for quite some time now. I'm not sure I like this. 
Shit, I'm stuck. I want to get out. 
Shit, I can't breathe. I want to breathe.
Shit, I'm gonna die. I don't wanna die. But at least Cath's going to name her baby after me now. 
Oh thank God, I've surfaced - air!
Shit, I'm under again. 

After what seemed like an eternity (but was realistically eight seconds at most), the Nile decided to vomit me out of the its white water washing machine style death trap and fling me downstream ready to upside-down straddle Mr Kayak Man and be taken back to the (relative) safety of my raft. 

We've also crossed the equator, been on a game drive and cruise where we've seen a bunch of birds and animals - the most impressive of which have been elephants and hippos.
And I can tell you something Office Junior - yes, hippos are cute when you see them on the tv from the safety and comfort of your own home, but when they're about 10 metres away from you, waddling their way through your camp site and right past your tent, they are pretty bloody scary! 
Anyway, I got your photo - I expect to see it printed out and on your desk when I get back. 
(Sue, you'd absolutely love it here. There are so many ugly and colourful birds all over the place, you'd be in your element!)  So it's onto Rwanda and gorilla trekking next - can't wait! 

* * *

Happy Wedding Day for yesterday Nic & Dave!
Hope you had a fab time - can't wait to see the photos!  Cariad mawr a llongyfarchiadau enfawr i chi! 
Xxx 

Thank you for all your texts too. I can't respond to them as we're in the middle of nowhere and I can't find anywhere to buy credit but I can still pick up calls at the moment even though the reception can be dodgy.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to receive / make texts / calls in the rest of Africa though. 

Also, I'll only have internet access about once every seven to ten days from now on and not for long (I only have about 40 mins today) so I won't be able to respond to individual emails but I'll try to cover everything here. 

Trying to post this for the tenth time only without photos this time now!
Office Junior - you'll have to wait for your hippo photo!

Our beautiful nan

As some of you may know, my nan, June Hitt or Nanny June, passed away on 31st March, breaking the hearts of our family and depriving the world of one of the most wonderful people you could ever be lucky enough to meet.

There are five of us that have the privilege of calling our nan Nan and she loved us all in her own wears-her-heart-on-her-sleeve Welsh Nan way, the kind of obvious, abundant and overflowing, never-once-doubted-her-love-for-us kind of love that slightly embarrasses you when you're a teenager but makes you love her even more as an adult.

But she wasn't a stereotypical, wussy kind of Nan.
Our Nan had Va Va Voom.
One favourite memory that has been lodged in my mind recently involves me, my Nan and Grandad drinking beer in street cafe in Prague surrounded by Dutch football fans who were exceedingly enamoured with her spirit and willingness to get involved with the chanting crowds, air punching and Liverpool-related football banter - she had only gone and pulled herself a hot Dutchman who wanted to take her home!
My Grandad was lucky to get her back.

She had a bit of an edge to her too.
Most people think she never had a bad word to say about anyone, but having watched several rugby matches with her, I can categorically state this is incorrect.
There has been many a player / coach / referee who would have encountered The Wrath of June had they the misfortune of walking into Partridge Road following a rugby game - particularly an international.

One thing that all us Hitt Kids have said about our nan is that she was our family glue.
She still is, but just because our glue isn't physically with us any more, it doesn't mean things will change. And she's made so much of a mark on every one of us, we'll carry her around with us forever.
And Grandad, we'll still see you as much as before, it means you'll have to make the coffee and cheese on toast now! And I can be just as fussy about my coffee as you can about your tea you know...

As far as Nans go, I've been exceptionally lucky. I love thinking they're up there together watching over us all, keeping us safe and out of trouble (and hopefully either laughing at the things they've found out about us or looking the other way).

I didn't think not being there at the funeral would break my heart as much as it is, but seeing as I'm on the equator, I like to think I'm a little bit closer to her new bright sparkling star.

Nan, I'll give listening to Grandad a go on Thursday and try as hard as possible not to dwell in sadness about what we've lost and think about the love and happiness you gave us for so long.
I'll tell the gorillas you said hi.

XXX

Back into Africa & donation update

After a short detour to the Rhondda via Entebbe, Nairobi and a million places in between, I'm currently in an Amsterdam departure lounge on one of the stop overs on my mingingly long journey back to Uganda before starting my trip down to Cape Town.

Thank you so, so much for all your donations of clothes and shoes. I can say with certainty that there are many, many children in the South Wales area that are far better dressed than I am! I can't wait to give them out.

I can also say with certainty that I have the most generous and thoughtful colleagues, friends and family (and even people that I've never met before - thank you Acorn people!) that went out of their way and even changed their evening plans to sort though suitable things for me to bring back. Diolch.

Selfishly, I'm going to keep a few things back like the football shirts, shorts and boots as they will, without a shadow of doubt, be THE coveted items I've brought. I'm going to give these things to kids I meet along the way as I think it will be nice to post some photos for you to see.
(Football comes a very close second to religion in Uganda, despite my self appointment to the role of WRU Participation Officer - Africa branch)

In particular, I want to thank my handsome (sorry Cam, I know that's not cool but you are handsome!) cousin Cameron.
Thank you soooo much for the football tops you left at Uncle Mike's. I'll tell whoever I give them everything I know about Cardiff City (won't take long) and make them promise to support City at all times. Except when they play against Liverpool of course!

I had so many things that I couldn't bring them all and there's been a slight change of plan in what I'm going to do with them.
I've given some of them to a local charity in the Rhondda and some to a cancer research shop. (Suspect they'll raise a small fortune - some of them were designer clothes with labels still on - you lot are bonkers!)
As for the rest, I'm confident that this isn't the last Uganda will see of me (poor Uganda. As if it doesn't have enough problems), so I've kept some back and will take the rest with me on my next trip.

Maybe next time I come I'll remember that five bottles of serum and three bottles of mousse was possibly bordering on excessive.
Waxing strips were totally necessary though.

(By the way, it was a right barrel of laughs carrying an extra suitcase along with my 100 litre rucksack to the check in desk - I almost took out a six foot something security guard on the way in. On the positive side though, at least he broke my fall)

Anyhoo, I'm starting my trip on Saturday morning.
I've got mixed feelings about it at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get into the swing of things soon enough.

Thanks for all your donations, kind words and support over the past week.

Xxx

Clothing & shoe donations

A couple of people have asked me how many clothes, shoes etc I want because they don't want to give too much / too little.

I have a whole extra suitcase for clothing / shoe donations so can take quite a bit with me - up to 25kg. I haven't got a suitcase for them yet mind so if someone has one / a rucksack that they don't want back too...

(Yes, I know, but then again, I've always has a demanding streak - why change now?)

As I said, I will then sort out a mixture of sizes, boys and girls clothes to take with me and donate the rest between a charity shop here in the Rhondda and a local charity for underprivileged families.

So if anyone from work has anything to donate, please can you give them to Luke Merlini (Corporate Services, Rivers) or Kira Hutchinson (Comms, 4th floor, Ty Cambria) by no later than midday on Wednesday 4th as that's when I'll be collecting them.

If non work people want to donate, please let me know. However, I'm only using my UK WORK mobile number at the moment (the one that ends in 94). Otherwise, drop me an email or Facebook message. Only problem is, I haven't got a car here so I'm afraid you'll have to get stuff to me.

Thank you / diolch / wanyala / asante.

X