The Sandmark Hotel
There was really no way to make a journey to Ikoma – on the northern edge of the Serengeti National Park – in a single day from Chato. It would be about 600km or so and the second half would be on pretty poor park roads. Fred’s first stopover choice, the Speke Bay Lodge, was booked for the required dates, so he opted instead for a nearby alternative.
The entire 350km or so of the trip would be on good roads, the main highway on the southern edge of the lake. The only deviation would be the few minutes on the ferry at Busisi, just south of the big town of Mwanza. The twin ferries are being replaced (or augmented) by a substantial cable-stay bridge across the inlet, but I don’t think it will be ready for another year or so.
Long drives like this are just that: long. There’s plenty to see in town and village life as you drive past, but the wildlife is minimal and the small villages blend into each other as the kilometres roll along. Waiting for the ferry to be ready and then getting to see the work on the bridge is a welcome break from the endless distances.
We are scheduled to stop for two nights at the Sandmark and it takes my google-based phone GPS to locate. Fred’s Garmin mapping suite simply doesn’t have it listed in its smaller unconnected database. We’ll never convince him of the advantages of having a mobile phone with him, but sometimes he begins to see the point a little better.
The Sandmark is build right on the shore of the lake – close enough, in fact, to be protected by a set of proper rock and cement defences. They were being worked on whilst we were there, which was a bit of an inconvenience. The buildings are modern and the room was well-appointed and spacious.
My only major gripe would be, as is so often the case the world over, the desk was too high for me to type at comfortably. This is a very minor thing for most, but it is important to me when I am typing these journals. I’m not doing tens of thousands of words like I would be at home, but I do struggle if the surface is too high and also can’t work comfortably with the laptop actually on my lap. Surely, there are thousands, if not millions, of business travellers who actually use the desk space to work? It’s another example of those solved problems we have already talked about.
There is the compensation of a comfortable sofa in the room and it can be nice to relax with the earphones on for a change. I never feel that I’m in one place long enough to worry about unpacking, but it is good if the facility exists never-the-less.
Fred had explained that his decision to stay for an extra day was partly to give us a chance to see if we could explore some of the conservancy and reserve areas near to the Ndabaka Gate and the western corridor of the Serengeti. Emmy was keen to point out that this wasn’t necessarily as simple as it appeared. There were likely to be gatekeepers and we would need to either pay a considerable entry fee or get arrested again for taking photographs without a permit.
As a compromise, we had a quiet morning at the lodge and, after lunch, went out for a bit of a drive towards Ndabaka. Emmy took the road inland, towards one of the conservancy gates. The gatepost was unmanned and the gate was wide open. One has to logically assume that this is an invitation to enter, doesn’t one? I mean, there were wildebeest at the gate and impala just inside, so somebody should check that the rest of the wildlife was safe, shouldn’t they?
Working on the premise that it is better to apologise than to ask, we set off slowly down the only track. There were plenty of birds and quite a few more wildebeest and dozens of gazelles. According to the GPS, the track runs right up to the southern boundary of the national park. We travelled quietly for several kilometres until we came to a stretch of track that Emmy judged was too muddy and deep to risk. The sun was only an hour above the horizon anyway, so we turned around and headed back.
As we made our closest approach to the park boundary, maybe a couple of kilometres from the conservancy gate, we spotted three big bull elephants that were probably just inside the park. They were quite happy to stand and browse as we sat and watched then for a few minutes. The setting sun cast them in an incredibly soft light and they were close enough to give excellent viewing and photos.
Sadly, we couldn’t stay with them for too long, as the light was fading fast and we had more than 40km to drive back to the lodge. Fortunately, the gate-post was still empty and open. The run back to Sandmark, in the dark for the second half of it, was a nightmare. Now I know why nobody likes to drive in the dark in Africa. The lights are dazzling, motorbikes have no rear lights and bicycles have none at all.
By an interesting combination of skill and good fortune, we managed to hit nothing and even found our turn-off in the dark. Once a trip is enough for me though. We’ll try our best to not let it happen again.
Being a bit late for dinner doesn’t seem to be a problem when you are the only guests, so we were soon fed well and returned to our rooms. I’m not used to having a bat hunting around my ankles while I eat, but they really are a very good mosquito repellent.
I could really Like Sandmark. If they could sort out a few issues and get the power a little more reliable, then they could be a pretty good stop-over for anyone on the road from Rubondo or Burigi-Chato and bound for the Serengeti. As they stand, the food was good and the beer was mostly cold, so it is a place where one can at least survive for a night or two in relative comfort.