East Africa 2001

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These photos are from my two week trip to east Africa in February 2001.

After my Tanzania safari, to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, I planned to do another safari in Kenya. But it wasn't the best time for animal spotting. It had rained in January and so the grass was longer than it should have been at this time of year.

Although we had seen plenty of animals (including the migration between the Ngorongoro conservation area and the Serengeti plains) the cats were hard to spot. A guy on the safari with me was planning to go to Uganda to see the gorillas and he asked me to join him. I was reluctant because I would have needed all my remaining days to get there and back and I was also looking forward to seeing the Masai Mara. It wasn't like me to wing it like that, but I took the risk anyway and it paid off.

As well as the wildlife, I also gained an interesting insight into east African traditions and cultures. It was good to get away from the big cities and, while we were visiting Lake Manyara, a local showed me around Mtu Wa Mbu village where I got to see how Africans live away from the more touristy areas.

My journey to Bwindi Impenatrable National Park in south western Uganda took me though plenty of villages and through some of the most amazing scenery I've seen.