‘David Attenborough’s documentaries inspired our adventure to Africa’

My husband has always wanted to visit Africa, he’s a bird breeder and wanted to see the weaver finch and waxbills in their natural habitat, as well as all the animals he’d seen while watching David Attenborough’s documentaries on television. We had the opportunity to join a trip to East Africa two years ago and — to his surprise — I suggested we go.

We flew into Nairobi, Kenya on a wet night and that was the start of an arduous but fun trip. We were packed into a Toyota HiAce van and travelled through Kenya to the Masai Mara (where we did our first safari), Uganda and Tanzania.

From dancing with the Masai to riding in a hot air balloon over the Mara we were mesmerised by the country and the beautiful people of Africa. We saw so many animals in their natural habitat on safari; it was spellbinding to come across a pride of lions or cheetahs feasting on a carcass, with the vultures waiting to pick the bones.

Uganda in East Africa was amazing, especially when we trekked to see the gorillas. It was such a hard hike, slipping and sliding on the wet earth, but all the challenges were worth it to be amongst the giant silverbacks and mums and babies. For more than an hour we stayed with them and were in awe.

Travelling through Uganda and over the Nile we came across a riot with police in attendance using water cannons and were amazed by the spectacle of it. W also drove through villages with so many roadside stalls, including the sale of coffins, meat hanging outside in the sun, fruit and vegetables, clothes, firewood, furniture, even electrical appliances. We saw villagers walking in the middle of nowhere in their Sunday best and beautifully dressed school children coming home from school. I wondered where they lived. Sometimes we came across a poor village and we were amazed at how they lived and how they survived in the harsh climate of Africa.

During our visit, we only once felt unsafe. I made the innocent mistake of taking a photo of a policeman in his uniform and he threatened me with jail if I didn’t delete the photo. I promptly did. I’d recommend taking a look at what can and cannot be photographed by tourists when visiting and foreign country.

When we entered Tanzania we found it to be a very dry, harsh country and were glad to be treated to a five star resort upon our arrival in Arusha, which is a city located at the base of the volcanic Mount Meru. Unfortunately I became very ill and we had to cut out visit short and fly home. I was disappointed to have missed the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. Of course my husband wants to go back to see them, maybe, but there are other places in the world on our bucket list to visit now.

Have you travelled to Africa? Where did you go and what did you see?

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