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During the Great War, fighting ranged all over the shop in East Africa and down into present-day Zambia and Mozambique as the British parried with Paul Von Lettow Vorbeck's small column of German troops and African Askaris. One place that saw a bit of a stoush was Tsavo.
This is the view from the hill of "Crater Fort", which the British used to keep an eye on the area and engage Von Lettow Vorbeck's force if it sought access to the Tsavo River.
Surrounded by all this interesting history and wonderful country, Trusty settled down comfortably for a few days in camp.
The next few days were kind of a combination of sitting in camp talking nonsense, a few drives around and serious daily consideration of where to have sundowners.
The lush growth from the rains meant that game was scattered and/or difficult to see, but that was no great hardship. The nice thing was just to be in the bush. Trusty enjoyed a few ambles on various tracks here and there and it was very enjoyable to just see the old car potter happily along at extremely civilised speeds.
Boxing Day meant exploring some amazing ash-cones (don't know if that's the right term....but they were hills of volcanic rubble) and some beautiful views around the area.
Meanwhile, back in camp...... clothesline duties....
Boxing Day meant a trip to Mzima Springs. If you've ever seen documentaries with hippos and crocs swimming around in crystal-clear water, odds on it was filmed there.
It's a gorgeous spot, with clear cool water arising from springs bringing water from the Chyulu Hills, where rainfall percolates down through the volcanic rock and ash and makes its way underground from there. Of the famous crocs and hippos, I only saw one of each.....but I did see the bluest catfish I have ever seen. Must have been Persians.....
Mzima Springs was wonderful. Only problem was I was unable to get any news of the Boxing Day Test Match there.
Game viewing wasn't maybe at its easiest, given that the rains had made for a lot of very thick vegetation, long grass and water everywhere. But we did see a handful of Lesser Kudu, Fringe-eared Oryx and Kongoni. On top of that, Dik Dik aplenty appeared to be enjoying all the long grass and thick cover. I didn't get many wildlife photos, but here are a few.
P.S. Yes, this is still a thread about a Land Rover
After five or six terrific days, it was time for Trusty and I to reluctantly drag ourselves out of Tsavo.
In the end, I headed back to Arusha via Taveta and Moshi and began contemplating the next move.
Here are some photos of a Land Rover in its natural habitat.
Traffic's got increasingly mental over time in Tanzania and the country has now been overrun by motorbikes (cheap imports from China, I believe). Driving in town now is bit like a dogfight, with motorbikes zipping in every direction on whatever side of the road seems useful, passing on any side the rider feels like and occupying every available bit of airspace. So, I decided to do something which I would never have imagined: fitted a dashcam. This little jobbie has lenses facing forward and rearward and a G-force sensor which is supposed to detect a crash and will automatically save any footage around that point.
The front camera just attached to the windscreen and I made up a wee bracket for the rear camera to peep out the back window, where it will hopefully pick up any Messerschmi- uh, motorbikes approaching at speed behind me.
That's where we'll be leaving the Trusty story for at least a while. Hopefully more later in the year...
Reunited with Trusty today. [smilebigeye]
I did think I would be back to drive her again in mid-2020, but, er, well, we all know what would have happened to that plan.
Anyway, she's looking pretty good. I haven't driven her again yet, but odds-on she'll be fine.
John
I didn't know Fringe-eared Oryx had tusks...Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnno1969
Sorry, a little late I know. Good thread.
Is Trusty still on The Dark Continent?