Driving Through the Towns and Countryside of Southwestern Kenya

On August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya, Tanzania1 Comment

Most of our time on our safari trip was spent winding our way through the national parks and seeing the incredible wildlife. However, on the day that we traveled from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, we spent the majority of the day driving through towns and the countryside. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how the people of Kenya live their daily lives. We made the trip on a Sunday, so people were out and on their way to the local markets to buy and sell items. Everywhere that we went in both Kenya and Tanzania, the people that we met were always very friendly and helpful.

No matter where you are in Kenya and Tanzania, you will see the young boys herding the cattle, goats, and sheep. Usually they would move them out of the way of the traffic and other times it was up the vehicle to push its way through the animals. There were also many different stands along the road selling fruits and vegetables of all kinds and at one point we saw many men on bicycles carrying bananas to the market place. There were also the traditional women carrying items to and from their homes by balancing them on their heads.

Most of the time was spent on dirt roads, but there were some times when there were paved roads in the towns themselves. In addition to the people walking on the sides of the roads in their colorful garments, there were always motorcycles buzzing along the roads. The people who owned the motorcycles used them as a form of a taxi and they would pick up and drop off people along the way. Since our drive would take more than six hours, especially due to the border crossing, we didn’t have time to stop at any of the markets, but they were certainly quite busy with all of the locals.

For us, as with any trip that we take, it is important to learn as much as we can about the culture and the lives of the people who live there. Even with the limited time that we had driving through these small towns, seeing the homes, stores, and people was something that we really enjoyed. Whenever the young children, those around five years old or younger, would see our Land Cruiser, they would always smile and wave to us as we drove by. As always, taking photographs from a moving car isn’t easy, but we try to do our best to capture our journey in its entirety.

General Thoughts on Visiting Kenya and Tanzania

On July 21, 2021July 21, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya, Tanzania6 Comments

Now that we are back home, we wanted to take a moment to give some general thoughts on our trip to Kenya and Tanzania before we start giving details about each of the specific locations that we visited. First of all, especially after over a year and half without travel, getting to go someplace was its own reward in many ways. This, however, was really a trip of a lifetime and if you’ve watched any shows about the wildlife of Africa, our trip was like all of them in many ways. We would, without a doubt, recommend to anyone who enjoys nature and wants to see animals in their natural habitat, going on a safari is something that you should definitely try to do at some point. It wasn’t just about the animals, though, it was about the people as well, especially our guides, Shabani, David, and Perminus who you will hear more about as we talk about the specific parks that we visited.

Fascinating Crowned Cranes of East Africa

One thing that is clear is that travel during the age of the pandemic is not as easy as it used to be. Despite flight cancellations, delays, and getting tested for COVID four times in seventeen days, the end result of the trip was well worth the struggles that had to be overcome. Going on a safari isn’t necessarily for everyone and we saw people during our trip that probably shouldn’t have been on one. It takes patience, isn’t always comfortable, and you spend many hours driving through the parks looking for some of the more elusive animals. We found all of that to be part of the overall experience and it shouldn’t deter you from enjoying such an adventure.

We said this many times during our trip, on our site and to ourselves, every day of our trip was literally a different experience. Part of that is due to the fact that the parks themselves are different from one another as well as we covered a vast amount of area during our tour that took us to different parts of each of the countries. Some were savannahs, some were lakes, and one was even the world’s largest caldera. The other thing that is hard to describe is the actual abundance of wildlife that we saw as we travelled to each of the various parks. Whether lions, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, elephants, or any other animal, it wasn’t if we saw a handful, but in some cases there were thousands of them. We even learned a little bit of Swahili and visited a Maasai village, which we weren’t sure was going to happen due to COVID.

One of the Many Colorful Birds that We Saw

There is no way to accurately describe what our trip was like in a single post, so we will be providing many details and specific experiences over the next several weeks. Now that we have had time to get some sleep, we return to “normal” life and this is one of those times where we really are still absorbing the trip as opposed to starting to plan our next adventure. The world certainly has not returned to normal yet and depending on where you might be some places are getter better and others are getting worse. We certainly hope that the world of travel gets better if not for the people like us that like to travel, but also for the people that run the lodges, camps, hotels, tour companies, etc. that are all hurting and we saw that first hand during our trip.

Bratislava Castle in Slovakia

On June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Slovakia5 Comments

Sitting on the hill above the city of Bratislava is the historic Bratislava Castle, the Bratislavský hrad in Slovak. The original castle dates back to the 13th century, but it was obviously modified many times over the centuries. By the early 1800’s, the castle was in a state of deterioration and was being used by the military for barracks. It was also damaged more during the world wars, but in 1953 the decision was made to restore the castle to its former glory and it is now a popular tourist site within the capital city of Bratislava.

We visited the Bratislava Castle in May, so the gardens were just beginning to bloom, but we can certainly can imagine what they must look like in the summer months. The castle itself is a rectangular building with four towers, one on each corner. Although there is apparently only a single window left from the original building, the castle is still quite beautiful. We spent about an hour walking the grounds and enjoying the wonderful views of the city below. There is also a statue of King Svatopluk that was added to the courtyard in 2010, which apparently caused some controversy.

Bratislava Castle as Viewed from the War Memorial

The history of the region, with its importance to Hungary and then recent gain of independence, the Bratislava Castle is a source of pride to the people of Slovakia. It is an interesting theme that we found during our tour of Bratislava of how the castle and the city were a seat of power for Hungary for centuries, which obviously is a frustration for Slovakians, but at the same time the country has recognized the importance of this period as part of their own history. Add to that the other occupations, including that of the Soviet Union, and the country has overcome a variety of historical obstacles. Needless to say, any visit to Bratislava should include going to the castle that overlooks the city.