Lake Victoria Tour

by Joseph Mkamba
(Tanzania)

A Kenyan living in Nairobi, I was asked by some good friends from the UK if I would plan a safari for them, and go along as their driver. We spent the first two nights in Glen Cottar’s ‘homestay’ on the edge of the Masai Mara, where during the day we made walking safaris with local Maasai warriors as our guides.

Next morning, crossing into Uganda, we drove towards Kampala, pausing only for a photo-stop at Jinja and Owens Falls, the source of the Nile. We arrived in Entebbe in the afternoon and checked into The Boma guesthouse. Next morning we continued our journey to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

After two nights camping at Mweya, with game drives and a launch trip, we set off again, crossing the Tanzanian border en route to Bukoba. That afternoon we loaded the Land Rover on to the ferry for the night crossing to Mwanza.

We soon joined the Western Corridor. This road is a raised, single-track with ditches and water run-offs on either side. We ran into a heavy thunder storms with torrential rain, and were suddenly confronted with another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. Trying to pass each other on the slippery narrow road was impossible in this weather.

I reversed to a water run-off that cut through the ditch, then drove into it at full speed and up onto the grass on the far side, but realised that the grass covered Black Cotton Soil. Fortunately, I had read about this in the book below so using the techniques I learned, we cut vegetation and filled furrows and slowly edged the vehicle across this twenty-metre quagmire. Reaching the next run-off I was able to drive into it at top speed and regain the road once more after three hours. We were soaked through, black with mud, tired and hungry.

We eventually arrived in Seronera, but my friends were too tired to put up tents on the campsite in the pouring rain so at we checked into the Seronera Lodge. The next day the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the Serengeti in its full splendour, and after camping for two nights there and having some great game drives, we moved on to Arusha via a half-day trip into Ngorongoro Crater. We then spent a day in Arusha town before driving back to Nairobi and the end of our safari.

Steve Foremans Book

The handbook I mentioned in my trip report is called, How to plan and survive safaris, camping trips, and expeditions in Africa by Steven Foreman.

I took it with me on the trip, as we were passing through unknown regions and would be driving in unfamiliar conditions. I dipped into it frequently as it is full of useful information and titbits.