KENYA. April 2023. I slowly came to dislike Kenya – the corrupt police, the traffic, unattractive towns, and high national park fees. I think they have been spoiled by 2-week tourists willing to spend anything for a wildlife experience. I especially disliked driving. I rented a car and drove all over, but if you don’t drive, you may like it. The ordinary Kenyan is extremely nice and I had great interactions several times.
Police. As in many developing countries, government remuneration for public services is sometimes poor and they bribe to earn a more livable income. Few countries rival Kenya in police bribes. Travellers may be arrested for not carrying their original passport when normally a copy of the Bio page and your Kenyan visa page suffices. If you do have your passport, it is common for an officer to take up to 5 minutes meticulously going through each page to find fault or incite paranoia.
If you are pulled aside by an officer for something seemingly petty, there is a high chance they are simply seeking a bribe. Kenyans typically pay police bribes of 200-500 KS for traffic violations while foreigners have been asked for 5,000 KS (about $50 USD) or more and you should try to barter to a lower amount (1,000 – 2,000 KS). On the positive side, due to easy access to the internet and smartphones, most traffic police have been videotaped taking bribes leading to their dismissal. Most of them will be very conscious while taking bribes.
Never let police get into the car – usually, they want to drive you to the police station but this usually results in higher bribes.
My solution was to say that I had no cash, no Mpeza, and only a credit card. One accepted a 500 KS bribe, another 1000KS instead of a $100 fine for smoking while walking down a street, and another for pulling over and stopping on a main road through Eldoret (I wouldn’t let him in the car and argued so much, he let me go).
Driving in Kenya. Most roads are two-lane with narrow shoulders, and trucks go extremely slow (often only 25 km/hr, the ones passing 30 km/hr). Motorcycles and tuk-tuks never ride on the shoulder and obstruct half the lane. If passing, oncoming vehicles don’t slow down and rarely pull over onto the shoulder. Vehicles being passed also don’t pull over to the shoulder to give you more room. The many share taxis drive slowly and park on the driving lane. Most drivers are slow and timid passers.
There are vanishingly few speed signs, and virtually never the upper-speed limit.
Every town has two to four speed bumps, all car killers unlike the ones in Uganda that can be taken at speed. Some major highways have speed bumps with no buildings in sight. There is a solid central line almost everywhere and the police like to stop anyone passing.
Frequently police stand on both sides of the highways, sometimes with radar. They make trumped-up charges and demand heavy fines or threaten arrest.
It is astonishing how much traffic goes through Nyeri – everything from Nairobi (and the Rift Valley in between) and from the west and north of the country, must go through this city. The many trucks, many carrying containers, make for slow driving. The city is a bottleneck as there is no bypass.
Towns are frequent and extremely unattractive. On either side of the highway is a 20-30 m strip of dirt, grass or mud often with a drainage ditch between it and the small established shops. In this strip are small menial “shops” with poles supporting a galvanized roof for selling produce.
Street food is very uncommon, the only shops on the highways sell vegetables and fruit. The menus in most restaurants have little food that appeals to me. One good chain is Javas with a good menu.
Kenya is a very religious country. The churches are full on Sundays and the coastal area is strongly Muslim. The mini-vans are adorned with all kinds of Christian phrases: “With Jesus, there is hope”, “Without Jesus, you’re SINgle”.
TANZANIA
National parks are expensive. Tanzania has priced itself out of the national park business.
The one-day pass to enter Ngorongoro Crater is $422.20 – the gate is open for 12 hours and is closed from 6 pm to 6 am. If you want to stay inside the NCA, the most affordable option is Simba Public Campsite A, on the crater rim. The rest of the campsites on the crater rim are ‘special campsites, largely reserved by private safari companies, who bid on them for the season. As an individual traveller, you won’t be able to stay there.
I entered the park, drove around the rim (but not enter the crater itself), went to Olduvai Gorge (see the museum), saw the great wildebeest migration, returned the same day and exited the park within 12 hours. A Ngorongoro Crater tour is usually combined with a safari in neighbouring Serengeti National Park.
The government has sold large tracts of land (usually Masai land) to Arab royalty for their private use. The entire northwest of Tanzania is Maasai country. There are 56 Maasai villages in Ngorongoro Park. Maasai villages can be visited, they charge $20-25, $50 for Mzungas. There are two round stockades of rough poles, one for cattle and the other for houses – round mud/wattle walls and roofs on the perimeter of the stockade. The area around the village was open verdant grassland.
ISRAEL
Israel is a must-see country – it is the birthplace of three religions and the third most important site in Islam. Jerusalem should be on every traveller’s itinerary. When I arrived in 2016, I was excited to see all the country.
However, Israelis are not very friendly people especially if you are a Gentile. I experienced rudeness and had several bad experiences.
When I tried to cross back from Palestine at the Jenene border, the pedestrian gate was closed. I tried to hitchhike the 100 m across the border. At least 150 cars going 5km/hour passed as they approached the checkpoint. I showed my Canadian passport. I am an old non-threatening man. No one picked me up until a Palestinian with a green license plate took me through the border. I immediately got out and hitchhiked to Nazareth.
I read “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Ilan Pappe which detailed the original plan by David Ben Gurion in 1948 to control 75% of the country despite the Palestinians having a right to 50%. Through the illegal expropriation of Palestinian land, they now control that 75%. Israeli settlers continue to take over Palestinian land illegally. Then I read “Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel’s Barrier Wall, For Fun” by Mark Adams, the real story behind the illegal occupation and systematic destruction of the Palestinian Territory.
Don’t believe what Israeli Jews tell you – the history books have been rewritten to leave this out. “The Palestinians didn’t live here before we came.” “They didn’t do anything with the land. Look what we have done.” It is all propaganda they have been fed since birth and learnt in school.
Poor Palestinian leadership has hindered progress. I don’t pretend to understand all the accords and failed attempts to create a two-state country. How Israel has treated Palestinians is immoral and illegal. Any other country would be under sanctions – Israel gets away with it because of the unwavering support of its patron, the US.
When I was in Tel Aviv, I stayed at a hostel where there were also several observers working for the World Council of Churches. They had all been hand-picked to not have any preconceived prejudice. What they saw in Palestine sickened them.
When I was in Nablos, I talked for a long time with a Palestinian. “15 years ago we thought terrorism would change things but that didn’t work. We then pursued peaceful methods. That hasn’t worked either.”
Nobody endorses the terrible killing of 1300 people in October 2023. I don’t understand Hamas. Their original charter for the complete removal of the Jewish state is crazy and unrealistic but is always brought up to condemn Hamas’ behaviour. In 2017, Hamas adopted a two-state solution.
However, I do understand the frustration of Palestinians. Israel is conducting genocide in Gaza – bombing hospitals, schools, ambulances, killing UN and health workers. 40,000 Gaza citizens have been killed, the majority civilians with a large proportion of women and children.
Israel has one of the most dysfunctional governments. Because there are so many parties, coalitions must be formed that usually include right-wing parties who will never give up until Palestine is eliminated or weakened to the point of nonexistence. The country has many individual groups each with its agenda. The ultraorthodox men don’t work, or serve the mandatory military service but still receive a lot of social support. The settlers are evil. A two-stare country will never happen.
Whenever criticism is levelled against Israel, they say you are antisemitic. I am not antisemitic in any way, but I am anti-Jewish Israel. How can a religion that has been persecuted forever now treat other people the way they treat Palestinians?
The international Jewish community wields immense power, especially in North America. Their only “solution” is the isolation, disenfranchisement, and elimination of the Palestinian people. Israel should be stopped. That won’t happen until the US stops its unfailing support and finally sanctions Israel for its atrocious immoral behaviour.
Iron ore train, Mauritania
At over two kilometres, this is one of the longest trains in the world. It leaves the iron ore mine in Zouérat, usually stops at Choum and continues to Noakachott on the Mauritania coast.
The train doesn’t have a strict schedule – it may not run at all or it may not stop in Choum, which seems to happen more often or the stop happens in the middle of the night. The stop in Choum has been in the late afternoon, just after dusk. If starting at dusk, you arrive at Noakachott at dawn.
Choum is extremely small and boring, not a great place to wait for a train that may not arrive or stop. As a result, more people are starting in Zouérat – you get on during the day, it is guaranteed to stop and you may have a nice sunset.
Much of the ride is in the middle of the night with stars the only thing to see. It can be freezing cold, And, with all the iron ore dust, passengers are guaranteed to eat a lot of dirt and make you dirty as hell. People routinely bring ski goggles, balaclavas or other mouth covering.
Why has the iron ore train become so popular, especially with the young “adventuresome” traveller? The trip has become a “cult” classic. The trip to Mauritania without riding the train would be incomplete. Some see nothing else in Mauritania. Riding a train is magic for some. Doing it in an open car may add to the magic – wind whipping your hair, your long scarf trailing behind you. Mauritania has many wonderful sites and it seems sad to reduce the country to a train ride.
A new rule as of the spring of 2024 is prohibiting passengers from riding in the ore cars. The only way to ride the train is in the single passenger car. What is the adventure in that? Some hide in the ore cars to evade the rule.
I find it highly overrated. I had a summer job as a brakeman on the Canadian Pacific Railway – the job was on a train. I have taken trains all over the world. I love trains but don’t need this experience to complete my train adventures. At 71, maybe I have outgrown this method of excitement.
Trans Siberian Railway. Moscow to Vladivostok is 9 days. I did Moscow to Irkutsk over 74 hours. The train is nice with comfortable beds. I did it alone and was the only English speaker on the train, Stops are less than 5 minutes – it is impossible to buy anything, so bring all your food. It is expensive, twice the price of flying.
The view outside the window doesn’t change for 74 hours – not a hill, flat, birch trees turning yellow, unattractive soviet cities, impoverished farms.
The travellers who loved the train were usually in groups and drank a lot of vodka.
Boating the Amazon. Manaus in the centre of the Amazon rainforest is 1,450 km upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. More than once I have had fellow travellers think this would be the ultimate adventure. The river downstream from Manaus is at least two kilometres wide and the boat usually isn’t next to shore. When near the shore, there isn’t much excitement in the jungle. Maybe a great place to read several books, peace, quiet, nothing to see – this has all that.
I took the boat from Santarem to Manaus – 595 km, 48 hours. The boat was full – all the regulars had a hammock. I bunked out on the floor next to the bar.
The first deck had about 160 hammocks slung out cheek to jowl in four rows. Everyone’s luggage was on the deck below them. The second floor had another 100 hammocks.
The cost of the ferry was 150 BR (US$30)
I put my pack next to the outside wall on the second deck, bought a beer, and nestled myself on a bench with a bunch of nice Brazilians enjoying themselves drinking beer, my computer plugged in and all set to go. I have wifi tethered to my smartphone network, but am soon out of reach of a signal. I recently downloaded four books from Amazon so have lots of reading.
The Amazon here is muddy brown and very wide. I guess it must be at least 2 km between the shores. The nearshore is fields and second-growth bush. The Amazon has many channels with islands in the middle.
At 3 am, we stopped at Juruti and picked up passengers. I gave a guy some money to get some smokes, he ran like hell but didn’t return before we left. Oh well.
The Enasal Expresso Ana Beatriz caught up to us and let off a passenger. This must be the nine-hour daily trip between Santarem and Manaus.
At 08:30 in Parintins, a large town, we stopped for 3 hours and unloaded all the fruit (bananas, plantains, apples, grapefruit), vegetables (onions, potatoes, cabbage), and a whole bunch of chairs.
The river continued to be a muddy brown and the same width. During the day, there were multiple rainstorms. We played cards until 2 am when we stopped at Itacoatara for over an hour.
Boating down the Amazon would never be my dream trip but I had fun with a nice bunch of Brazilians. We finally arrived at Manaus.
Countries whose attractions are resorts, beaches, expensive restaurants, golf, drinking a lot and a chance to rest from your hectic life at home. Cost isn’t important – treating yourself should be a priority. Get a tan. (I have put worthwhile sites in brackets).
– Seychelles – Just finding accommodation outside a resort is difficult. Nothing is cheap.
– Caribbean – Generally short on attractions. Beaches and resorts in the northern winter are attractive. All have a colonial history, and some have good natural adventures,
Virgen Gorda on the British Virgin Islands – explore the ‘Baths’
St Lucia – climbing the Pitons
Bonaire – Diving
Haiti – The Citadel.
Cuba has an interesting history, culture and economy. Few places are as vibrant as Old Havana. Casa particulars (homestays) are cheap and a great opportunity to spend meaningful time with locals. Avoid the resorts of Varadero.
– The Least Visited Countries – Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (Nan Madol), Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu (Tanna).
Tonga was great – I had Toni of Toni’s Tours take me everywhere. A funny guy. Tonga has more than its share of attractions.
– Others –
Countries with few attractions, are corrupt, or have a population that makes it difficult to have authentic experiences.
– Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar (Islamic Museum), Andorra – little to see.
– Central African Republic. (Dzanga-Ndoki National Park forms the Sangha Trinational protected area, World Heritage Site 2012)
– Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, most of Guinea Conakry, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland.
Countries that are large and have limited attractions
Russia. St Petersburg and Moscow are the main draws. Areas of the Caucasus are worthwhile. Then skim many thousands of kilometres to the Kamchatka Peninsula, a wonderland of volcanoes and wildlife. The Trans Siberian Railway, although it sounds romantic, may be the most boring train ride in the world. It is also expensive and has logistical issues.
Canada. Most of Canada is missable. Newfoundland has great landscapes on the East Coast Trail and Gros Morne NP and a unique culture. Ferries to St Pierre and Miquelon, a territory of France are from Newfoundland. Quebec City is the only walled city in North America. Montreal is a lovely cosmopolitan city. Niagra Falls is the largest waterfall by volume in the world. Skip the next several thousand kilometres to reach the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, possibly the only reason to come to Canada.
Public transportation is nonexistent to poor. Renting a vehicle may be the only viable way to explore.
Australia. Except for the Great Ocean Road, aboriginal culture and Uluru, don’t bother coming. To be fair, there are some nice landscapes – the Bunga Bungas, forests in the southwest, the Nullabar coast, and gold towns). I drove 25,000 km around the entire country. It wasn’t worth it. Liking beaches, beer and bars would help.
Brazil. A lot of rainforest and flat agricultural land.
Alaska. A lot of bush (Denali NP).