The Orphans Birding Club Goes on Bicycle Safari in July 2007

We had an exciting week on a cycling and birding expedition with a group of five orphan boys. We rode bicycles all the way from Arusha to Lake Natron, the great soda lake in Tanzania with a remarkable breeding population of water birds. The lake is close to Oldoinyo Lengai, an active volcanic mountain.  Also there was a number of wildlife all the way and around Lake Natron.

Our intention was to make a wildlife count and study our environment while riding by our own energy.  On our bicycles we carried drinking water, food, one shared tent, first aid kit, bicycle repair kits, and a GPS device which we borrowed from Dorobo Safaris.  We observed the land and water, counted birds and other wildlife, discussed community issues, collected photographs, and shared the experience of climbing an active volcanic mountain.  This is part of our long term education of the orphans, to instill a love for their environment and a sense of responsibility for maintaining it.

None of us feared anything because we know we are part of wildlife creatures.  We passed across a population of wildlife several times and we were able to observe a pride of lions before we got to Engaresero.  We wore green leaves around us and were able to get close to two male lions.  Further ahead we saw a huge population of impalas.  

Then our plans were challenged by a series of earthquakes close to Oldoinyo Lengai.  When the huge earthquake occurred, the mountain sparked out fire and hot gravel like lava and knocked out flakes of stones.  Some of the cliffs on the rift valley were collapsing.  All of us were wondering if we had provoked God's anger.  This volcano is sacred to the Maasai as the home of God, Engai.  When the volcanic activity started again, we thought that ashes and lava were going to cover us, and we could be a subject of human history in the next million years.  Kassimu, one of our orphan boys, said he was doubting we could escape from the eruption.  He really thought death was inevitable because nature is supreme.  "No where to run but just leave your footprints and skeleton on the hot ash for the next generation.  We are victims to volcanic events," said Joseph, one of our secondary school students.

None of us had ever experienced this before.  Flakes of stones were coming downhill, and a herd of zebra and wild ass were flushed out.  The wild animals were all running toward us to get away from the showers of stones.

  
Suddenly Kassimu's tyres got punctured from sharp stones on the road.  We were in the process of fixing the flat tyres when another earthquake scared us again.  No sooner we heard a lion roar. We had no extra tyre, so we had to cut down leg parts of Kassimu's trouser and fix it in the old tyre as a reinforcement gaiter.  Our plan worked perfectly and we got to a small town called Engaresero where we could buy food and water, and camp.  Next day we took a hike from Engaresero to Lake Natron through the sandy woodland.  The natural phenomena brought much discipline, so everybody followed my leadership and obeyed everything I said.  Everybody was full of different queries.  

To leave there was really another story.  Kassimu's tyre was not good in rough roads of over 110 kms long, so we tried to ask for help from tourist vehicles, because there were no passenger vehicles in Engaresero.  None of the tour drivers would even listen, and some didn't believe that we came all the way from Arusha.  Fortunately we were able to get on a big lorry from the Malambo weekly market carrying some flakes of soda bars from Lake Natron, market supplies and sixty people clinging on it.  We hung our bicycles on the carrier sides and some of us sat on each other.  Most of the people in the open lorry were market people with their items in the carrier, such as domestic animal skins.
Each of passengers disturbed the others and we heard a lot of murmur from people who trod on each other, because there was very limited space and we were packed in cramped positions.  One passenger sat on my shoulders.

The lorry left Engaruka in the evening and to us it was a kind of night game drive.  Lionesses, hares, jackals and zebra were common all the way to Mto wa Mbu.  After that some of us rode the lorry to Arusha and the rest dropped off with our bicycles.  We did another ride from Makuyuni to Tarangire junction, where we saw a population of wildebeest, Thomson gazelle, and zebra migrating from Tarangire to Manyara Park. Finally we got back to Arusha.  Everybody enjoyed this trip, which is a good story and valuable learning experience for the future.  Above all, it's a great bond between us that we will remember all our lives.