Chuck's Travel Log
LAKE TANGANYIKA FOR ROOKIES
BY
CHUCK RAMBO
In the spring of 2001 my wife Carol and I had dinner with Steve Somermeyer from Indiana. He was out here on business and we had known each other for over 15 years from past ACA Conventions. While we were eating we got on to the topic of going to Lake Tanganyika with him and his wife with a group being led by Ad Konings. Estimated costs were between $3000 and $3500 per person. We were at a point in our lives were we could afford to do it and didn’t have any dependent children living at home so the timing seemed right and we began to plan to go to Africa and Lake Tanganyika. Steve had been there many times and he sure made it sound good. As we mentioned our plans to fellow aquarists there was lots of interest and many aquarists from the United States also wanted to go. Fellow PCCA life members Pam Chin, and Rich and Laura Bireley were able to go to Africa too. Unfortunately the group had gotten so large that it had to be broken down into two and Pam was set up on the first group and the rest of us were in the second. The dates were set. Now comes the planning.
Before the Trip
In the early spring of 2002 we had to come up with ½ of the money for the lodging at the lake. We would be staying in Zambia at Toby Veall’s Kalambo Falls Lodge and a 50% deposit was required. We would be staying for 13 days at $100 per day per person, so I had to come up with $1300 for the both of us. We needed to get our airfare soon too. As it turns out, it is less expensive to break the airfare down into two separate legs. The airfare from London to Lusaka, Zambia was around $750 per person. This was the important flight because British Airways only went to Lusaka twice a week and if we missed that flight we would miss all our connections to the lake. Once those we secured we worked on getting a flight to London. Since the Bireleys would be traveling too we decided to hook up and all go together. At the time airfare from both San Jose and San Francisco to London’s Gatwick airport were running around $1000. We decided that we would keep trying on the internet until we found a fare we just couldn’t resist. A few days later Rich had called me and said Laura found a fare for $550. It was on Hotwire. We didn’t know what airlines we would be taking, when we would leave or when we would be leaving. The price was right and we said go for it. It turns out we would be leaving San Francisco on US Air on a nonstop flight to London! Great! Unfortunately US Air went into bankruptcy two weeks later. We were assured everything was OK and there was no problem with the flight. We knew we would be spending a night in London both coming and going each way. Pam Chin had found a very reasonable hotel in London for around $100 per night. We were able to make our own reservations over the internet and we were in.
Going to Africa can be somewhat risky because of all the potential for diseases. So I we went to the local travel section of the County Heath Department to see what shots was needed. You get in and tell them where you are going and they look up the country on a computer and there is a list of recommended and required shots. I needed a polio booster, typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis A and tetanus. My shots cost $250 and Carol’s were $200 because she already had some before. $450 and I didn’t even feel any better! We had to get malaria pills too. You take one a week starting a week before you go, one every week you are in Africa, and once a week for three weeks after the trip. The pills cost $10 each and we each ended up taking them for a total of six weeks.
Now that we had all our travel plans and shots we needed to figure out what we needed to pack. Ad recommended that we take two large suitcases and two large plastic trunks. We brought all our dive gear because all they would have at the lake were the air tanks. Even though Carol and I are certified scuba divers, we hadn’t really done any serious diving in a few years and we not up to date with all the latest technology. So we enlisted in a scuba refresher coarse at a local dive shop. We needed to rent some gear to so this was a way to try things out at the same time. We packed an assortment of clothes and were ready for anything.
The Trip
We all stayed at a hotel
near SFO the night before the flight. It was a pretty good deal. You stay one
night at the hotel and the next day they shuttle you to the airport and park
your car for up to two weeks for free. We were all very excited and didn’t get
much sleep that night. The next day we got up bright and early to catch our
plane. When we got there we found out our non-stop flight stopped in Pittsburgh.
No problem, at least we had a flight. When
an airline declares bankruptcy you never know what could happen. It was your
standard cross-country flight with the usual amenities. We changed planes and
were on our way to London. The trans-Atlantic fight was great. It was like in
first class. Every seat had a movie screen on the back of the seat in front of
you. There were lots of movies to watch and music to listen to. This was a very
nice flight. We arrived in London at 5:30 a.m. the next day. The 17 hours seemed
to fly bye.
London was very nice. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. We saw the London Aquarium, Buckingham Palace, ate at a pub and took a double deck bus tour of London. I would definitely return to London for a vacation. The next morning we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and checked in to go to Lusaka, Zambia. British Airways has some size and weight restrictions for passengers originating in England, but we showed them our American passports and we had no problem with our oversized trunks full of dive gear. British Airways is very prompt and actually starts boarding its planes about one hour before it leaves. Carol went back past the security gates to mail some postcards and was detained by security as she tried to get back to catch her plane. We were at the gate and they were making the final boarding call and Carol was nowhere to be found. A few stressful minutes later she arrived. The security at the main gates only let her through after they heard her paged by the gate attendant. It was a very close call. If we missed this fight we would have to catch the next one two days later and would miss all of our connections to the lake.
The 10-hour flight to Lusaka was also very nice. I love British Airways. They had very comfortable seats, nice meals, friendly staff, and once again every seat with its own mini movie theater. On one channel you could see the details of the flight. There was even a map that continually changed and showed the planes position as it crossed Europe and Africa.
We landed in Lusaka around 8 P.M. We found out that the truck that the first group took broke down and Toby had rented a van to take us to the lake. The van cost everyone an additional $100 each way. We never saw Pam Chin from the first group. We heard her yelling with the rest of the group out of a second story window at the airport as we were loading the van. They were going to take the same plane out that we came in on. The van took us to the Chita Lodge. There we had a chance to freshen up and have a bite to eat. We left at around 11 P.M. for the lake. I sat in the front with the driver. We only had eleven people in our group, but with our entire luggage it was crowded. The road trip was long. We traveled non-stop for 18 hours. Being interested in herps I really looked forward to riding in the front so I could spot any reptiles that might have come out onto the roadway to warm themselves on the hot blacktop. Unfortunately I only saw one small chameleon crossing the road at about two o’clock the next day. Strangely enough I probably saw thousands of people on the roadways all night and all daylong. We were hundreds of miles from any major towns or cities and people were always on the road walking or riding their bikes. We noticed very few cars on the road but many lumber trucks. There was always a smell of burning wood in the air. In many areas the people practice a cut and burn technique to farming. Sometimes it seemed like the fires and smoke was everywhere. Along the way there were numerous checkpoints were army guards, policemen or immigration officials would stop the van and check our passports. Our van only broke down once in the middle of nowhere after our exhaust system fell off onto the road. To tell the truth I didn’t notice any change after they tied it back on. The Roadway ranges from a fairly modern paved road where we probably traveled at 50 mph to a very slow crawl over dusty pothole laden dirt roads were you could probably get out a walk faster. The ride was pretty much the same until we drove down into the rift valley. It was definitely warmer and seemed much less windy. As we neared the port city of Mpulungu, hundreds of natives would come out to see who was in the van and wave to us Mzungu (white people). We drove through town to the dock were we were greeted by some of Toby’s men. They loaded our entire luggage in one boat and we sat in the other. We were finally on our way to the Kalambo Falls Lodge. We left San Francisco on the Thursday morning at 7 A.M. and arrived at Lake Tanganyika on Sunday afternoon around 4 P.M.
Kalambo Falls Lodge
The boat trip took about 45 minutes. The lodge is located just south of the Tanzania Zambia border. As we approached the lodge we could see that the hills on the eastern side of the lake were very dry. When we got closer we could see the main house, the sunscreen over the fish hatchery and lots of lush growth in and around the lodge. Ad Konings and Toby Veall came down to the docks to welcome us. We were finally here. Toby’s men carried our luggage to out chalets. When we walked in to our stone mortared cottage we immediately noticed the grass thatched roof and two rather large bats resting in our vaulted ceiling. As we unpacked they soon flew away out of the window. We had windows and a door but the windows have no screen or glass covering them, so when the shutters are open things can come and go as they want. The rooms were very nice with comfortable beds complete with mosquito netting, bedding, and a hot shower with flushing toilets. Not to bad for being so far any major city. That night I paid Toby the other ½ of the money for the lodging. I had been carrying around almost $2500 in cash the whole trip and was relieved to finally get rid of it.
I would normally wake up at first light. Not because I love to get up early, but because at first light the cicadas, (Big Bugs) that lived in the tress, would start to pulsate this eerie noise throughout the area, in an attempt to attract a mate. It sounded like an antique ray gun toy from an old Sci-Fi move from the fifties except they were very loud. With the big bugs sounding off, the birds would then come out to find the bugs to eat. The birds were very territorial and as they were chasing bugs other birds would chase them themselves. After awhile I got to expect the little drama every morning and looked forward to waking up and seeing all the wildlife in action. At that time I would either walk down to the lake to bath or go up to the main house to get some tea or coffee. One morning I went down to the lake to bathe and a small boat with local fisherman was coming by to set their nets. I thought nothing of it and began to bathe and then eventually wash my hair. As I was lathering up my hair I noticed the three fishermen had stopped and were gawking at this Mzungu probably wondering what was this white foamy stuff on my head. After awhile I heard them talking and laughing among themselves and they eventually took off.
Breakfast was usually served from around 8:30 until 10:00. The main dining hall was very nicely decorated and very airy with lots of tropical flowers all around. We usually had eggs, sausage, toast and fruit. At this time the generator would be fired up to pump the water from the lake to the lake storage tank on top of the hill. Toby would fill a 10,000-gallon water tank each morning and it would take three hours or so. At this time we had electricity and would be able to recharge batteries for camera or laptops. The crew would run the compressors to refill the dive tanks for the days dive. After breakfast we would usually have time to stroll over to the hatchery and watch the crew change water on all the concrete vats.
Since electricity is limited the hatchery has no pumps or filters in any of the vats. Every day his staff siphons out approximately 40% of the water out of each vat. The water runs down the aisles like water falls down to the lake through little troughs in the walkways. The water from the large storage tank runs down through large pipes by gravity down to a series of hoses that refills all the vats. Very labor intensive but it works. Most of the fish are fed a starch root type of paste. The tropheus get a lot of algae growing on the sided of the vats. Predatory cichlids such as altolamprologus get cut up earthworms.
Things To Do
When the boat is ready Ad yells out and gets everybody loaded up for the days dive. We would be out from 3 to 8 hours each day depending on the location. Each actual dive could take up to two hours because the air tanks were very large. On the boat we would drink a local bottled beer or soda. I brought beef jerky and sunflower seeds to snack on while Carol brought some granola bars and nuts. We were very glad we did because diving makes you very hungry. All the dives were great and Ad is very helpful to have around because he knows what to expect and tells us what to look for.
After one dive we went through a little lakeside village called Kapata to see a local waterfall. The village people were very curious about us and soon the whole village seemed to be following us around. They really loved to have their pictures taken and then played back for them on our digital cameras so they could see themselves. Ad had to negotiate with the chief of the village to let us through. After a few minutes Ad came back saying we owed the chief 15,000 kawacha (Zambian Currency) and he wanted 5,000 kawacha each for three of his guides to take us there. So we paid the 30,000 kawacha ($6 US), and were on our way. The waterfall was very beautiful and it was a very enjoyable little side trip. The natives were trying very hard to see eyes through our sunglasses, especially the blondes on our trip. It turns out that many of them had never seen blue eyes before and wanted to see what they looked like.
When we got back to the lodge there was usually some time to kill and we would hike around the lodge, go snorkeling or swimming. Some would take naps read or just relax. On one of my hikes around the lodge I found a long skinny twig snake in the bushes. I immediately called Rich to come and help identify the snake for me. Both he and I had never seen this little skinny snake with a green head and a grayish brown body that looked exactly like a stick. Rich assumed that it was a lizard-eating snake that preyed on the many skinks (Local Lizards) we had seen around the lodge and that it was rear fanged and probably mildly venomous. Toby was in town and was unavailable to help us identify it. So I proceed to pull on the snakes tail and of coarse it got very agitated and very aggressive. It was just then that Rich suddenly remembers that the snake he was thinking of actually comes from Asia and not Africa! Based on this new enlightening information I decided to leave the snake alone, take some pictures and try to identity the snake when we got back home.
Toby kept Nile crocodiles on site in a little pen by the fish house. Rich (Croc-Hunter) Bireley, decided one day that he wanted to hold one of these reptiles. Toby told him what to do and all of Toby’s men gathered around to see this crazy Mzungu pick up a crocodile. After Rich jumped in the pen he tried to throw a cloth bag over one of the croc’s eyes to calm him down. Rich threw the cloth, he missed, the croc’s all jumped and nobody was calm. Eventually, with Toby’s assistance, Rich covered one of the croc’s eyes and was able to subdue one of the crocs long enough for Toby to tie some string around its mouth. Rich proudly held up the magnificent animal, as villagers were astounded at his apparent stupidity.
One day we did not
dive and went on the Kalambo Falls death march. Kalambo falls is the second
highest waterfall in Africa. They sent us with a couple of guides and a 5-gallon
water jug. The first hour of the hike was almost straight up out of the rift
valley to the hilltops. We saw a few natives along the way to the falls. The
hike took about three hours to get there. Once we were finally there the falls
were very beautiful. But on the way back it got much warmer and we ran out of
water. The trail was very rocky and unforgiving. Many of us had blisters and
were dehydrated. It got much hotter in the afternoon sun. We finally made it
back but we were all very sore for the next few days.
Nightlife
When darkness approached we witnessed some awesome sunsets. We would watch the sun go down across the lake and fishermen would head back to their little villages along the lake. We would hang around the main house and look at fish books, and tell stories about the fishes we saw on that days dive. Fortunately we would see all the photos that Ad and Steve Somermeyer took during the day. They took digital underwater photos and we cleaning their pictures up and storing them on their laptops. Eric Gabrys from Belgium brought an underwater digital video camera that was very enjoyable to watch.
Dinner was always excellent. Three nights we ate Nile perch. One night we ate Boulengerochromis and another we ate one of the crocodiles that Rich wrangled. The food was top notch because Toby had hired a chef from the one of the big major restaurants in Nairobi Kenya to cook for us. To drink we had four items to choose from. You had two different kinds of beer. Mosi and Castle are African beers, with Castle being the better of the two. For soft drinks there were cokes and sprites. You could always drink the lake water too. After dinner there usually a game of hearts going on or Toby telling us some stories about some fish he caught or saw. Usually around 9:00 P.M. or so we would slowly one by one return to our rooms get under our mosquito netting and go to bed and wonder what we would see tomorrow.
The
Return Trip
It was sad to leave. We had become very friendly with Toby’s staff and gave them our old T-shirts and clothes we no longer wanted. They were very grateful. I gave one fellow a sleeping bag I had brought. He was teary eyed and didn’t even want to set it down to help carry our luggage to the boat. It turns out went he is out on a collecting trip for many days at a time they bring nothing with them. They drank the water from the lake and ate fish they caught. At night they would bundle up some bushes and leaves to sleep on. The sleeping bag would be a major step up.
We left the lodge at 11:00 P.M. The bus ride back seemed longer that the one coming to the lake. There was not much to see coming back. We went back to the Chita lodge to take a shower a get cleaned up for the flight back. When we got to the airport in Lusaka, the British Air ticket agent had no record of us having a ticket. She gave us a seat assignment and told us a supervisor would page us when it was all figured out. It was a very good thing we had made copies of our itinerary. We never got a call from the supervisor and we had begun to panic and wonder if we were ever going to get out of Africa. We went looking for a supervisor and were told that they would figure it all out in London. We were very relieved to find that we had seats on the plane and were soon on our way.
We stayed in London for a day and went to the Tower of London. I think Carol went past the Crown Jewels three or four times. The suits of armor were very interesting for me. They had many things to see and do and we had another great day in London. The trip back to the states was good. By this time we were all very tired and ready to go home. The last leg of the trip was especially difficult just because the planes got smaller, the service was nothing special, and we were just plane worn out.
Recommendations
Would I do it again? I would go back but to a different part of the lake. The trip is long, especially from the west coast. The bus ride to and from the lake kills two of the days you are there. Toby is currently building a new lodge in Tanzania that is close to some national parks were you can go on safaris and see some animals. When that is up and running I would seriously consider going then. Once you get there it is nice. Very good diving and lots of cichlids.
If you decide to go I would recommend reading all the books you can get your hands on about Lake Tanganyika. Pierre Brichard’s books are very helpful in learning about the lake while the Konings books are very good about the observations of the fish. Scuba training is not mandatory but is very helpful. Diving at depth can be dangerous if you don’t know what to do or have the right equipment. If you want to see frontosa they are usually very deep and would very unusual to see on while snorkeling. Bring snacks too. You will get hungry and there are no local stores to get snacks before dinner. We were able to catch lots of fish but bringing them back is impractical due to the long trip home and luggage restrictions. You need to go with a group. Cichlid Press.com, Ad Koning’s website has all the info you will need to get ready to go on a cichlid safari. Travel by car in Africa is difficult and expensive. The group typically is safer and cheaper too. Toby will be speaking at our own PCCA meeting in June. Ask him all your questions then you can go to Lake Tanganyika too!
P.S. When we got home I showed the picture of that snake I was playing with to Robert Shield, another avid herper. He immediately identified it as a Twig or Bird Snake. It turns out that this snake is a member of the boomslang family and is very venomous and has no antivenin. The snake’s venom actually prevents your blood from coagulating and you eventually bleed to death. The only treatment is to give you blood transfusions to replenish the blood you have already bled off. Probably not a good thing since we were so far away from a hospital and with HIV being so common in Africa your chance of getting aids is almost assured. Bringing along a good snake book along might be a good idea too!