The overnight was quiet as we settled in for our first long sleep in a few days. Long meaning past 6 a.m. I was out cold by about 9:30 pm and didn't hear much in the way of animal noises overnight, so either there weren't so many or I slept through it. We packed up and paid up for our bar tab and we were off with Said. He managed to squeeze in one more game ride before we got on our flight back to Arusha.
It seemed as though Said was visiting some spots of recent famous sightings as we drove along. He pointed out where he'd seen the pride we saw take down a buffalo a while back. No such luck today. The ride was pretty quiet for about an hour and a half as he quizzed us on types of birds and the difference between impala, Grant's gazelle and Thompson's gazelle. I'll get it someday. I think I have impala figured out. It was a gorgeous morning, warm and sunny with that blue sky with puffy clouds. Finally with only about a half hour left before we had to be at the airstrip, Said spotted a leopard in a tree. All left and right paws dangling on either side of a thick branch, this guy was down for the count. And out cold he was. His head was pointed the other way, so I was hoping he'd at least pop up for a stretch while I had my camera ready and before we had to go. No time for being patient and waiting him out today! This leopard was larger than the one we have seen the last two days so that leads Said to think it is a male. Finally he lifted his head and I got the shot I wanted. Handsome cat!
We got to the airstrip, which is literally a long mowed patch of grass. There were a bunch of 8-seater prop planes lying around and we were led to one. I've never been on a plane that wasn't a jet so this would be an experience. There was no security, no checking of tickets, no one even asked my name, they just took my luggage, shoved it into the nose of the plane and let us all stand next to the plane in the grass until everyone showed up. Finally we hugged Said good-bye and climbed aboard. Our pilot was a surly old man who barked a lot and smoked one last cig before climbing in. I sat right over his left shoulder and could watch his view and the instruments. I wasn't sure if that should make me feel better or not. Finally we were airborne, and cruising over the Ngorongoro Crater, which was massive. It made me feel so small when I realize we were one of those tiny dots cruising the roads around there just last week.
The pilot turned once and handed me a box of Cadbury eclair candies. That's the in-flight service, I suppose. He also would make motions like swerving or bumpy when we'd hit turbulence. I didn't enjoy making it through those fun white clouds that looked so pretty from the ground, but finally we made it and were on the ground in Arusha.
David from our tour operator picked us up and we're spending the afternoon at the Arumeru Lodge again, killing time until our late day flight. There are worse ways to spend the day...officially heading home now.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Safari Day Ten
Day Ten – Balloons, Leopard and Hippos, Oh My
This morning we were up even before the lions could really get started with their overnight roaring. That would be 4:15, which is an ungodly hour for anyone, but today we had a sunrise hot air balloon ride followed by a champagne English style breakfast. We were picked up first in the pitch blackness. On the way we stumbled into an impromptu game ride when we came upon a gorgeous leopard just meandering its way along the road. The driver of the van stopped so we could admire it until it turned into the bush. Just then, another vehicle came from the other direction at a very high speed. It either didn’t see the leopard, didn’t see our driver flash his headlights to slow down, or both, but it went right at the leopard. Thankfully the leopard made it into the bush, barely, but not without my letting loose a string of expletives that I think may have embarrassed my fellow travelers. It was another one of those moments where I thought to myself that maybe we shouldn’t be here.
Finally after picking up two other groups of tourists, we got to the field where the balloon inflation. By this point it was still totally dark but the balloons weren’t even close to inflated that we swore we weren’t going to make sunrise liftoff. It was pretty damn close, but we did just miss it. We were up just after the sun went over the horizon. But let me tell you, that balloon ride was pretty amazing. The basket was on its side and we all loaded in horizontally. Once the air got hot enough in the balloon, it pulled the basket upright and then off the ground. The guys working the ground untethered the basket from the jeep it was tied to and up we went, smooth as silk. We gained altitude and literally floated over the Serengeti. The air was clear and smooth and it was completely silent except for the occasional blast of hot air to keep the balloon rising. The pilot could rotate the balloon so we all got a good look at everything around us. From up there, we saw a bunch of giraffe, some elephants, a lion on a giraffe kill, impala and hippos. They were small from high up but it was kind of neat to see them from that angle. The landing was picture perfect, two small bumps and we were down after about an hour of drifting. This was one of the most impressive ways to see vastness of the Serengeti, though, and well worth the price and painful wake up call.
We were met with a champagne toast, which is tradition after hot air balloon flights since they were founded in France. Then we were shuttled to a breakfast under an Acacia tree, which was a traditional English breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, tomato and baked beans. More coffee and champagne flowed and we got to meet and chat with all of our fellow travelers.
Said picked us up around 10:00 and we went straight out on our game ride. He said our goal for the morning was to find that leopard again for a better look. True to his word, we had spotted the leopard within minutes. Well, it was hard to miss the poor thing because the leopard paparazzi had staked out the road alongside where she was sleeping in the tree. But as usual, Said’s experience and our patience paid off. While several other vans came and went, we waited. At one point the leopard yawned and shifted position and Said said “She wants to get up.” And we knew if we waited long enough, she would. Not 15 minutes later, she got up, stretched, and went head first down the tree. Said started the car and drove far down the road, further than any other vehicle. Next think I knew, the leopard was headed straight for us, walking through the thick grass. She passed us and he moved the car again, this time even with another tree, which of course she went right up. It was a great experience, certainly better than yesterday, but again, only made possible by Said’s expert guiding.
We came back to camp for lunch, which was spaghetti, onion bread, spicy ground beef and ginger ale for me. It was pretty good, even after the big breakfast we had late morning. I’m getting used to these multi-course meals three times a day, I don’t know how I’ll live without them.
On days when we have two game rides, we would either nap, read or play cards during the few hours between lunch and our afternoon game ride. Here the tents get incredibly warm during the day, even though we leave the place zipped open all day. So we usually lie here like sloths and complain about how hot it is, which makes going out again in the moving vehicle that much more enjoyable, as it’s so much cooler out there.
For our last game ride, Said said “my goal is to find you a hippo.” So off we went. And after an extraordinarily long ride, we finally saw a sign pointing to the hippo pool. As we’d passed a few of those with a handful of resident hippos during our balloon ride, we all just assumed it was one of those. But we were wrong. Like everything else Said has conjured up for us, this experience was beyond what we could have ever imagined. This pool was good sized, but what was unique about it was that there were over 100 hippos here. There were hippos of every size and age, all lolling about in the water, barking and howling at each other. Little babies followed their moms around, trying to nurse. Big males stretching their mouth open 180 degrees to yawn big dramatic, over-exaggerated yawns. It was all just so surreal, that this was all natural and not a zoo. I loved it, it was a pretty cool way to end the trip.
On the way back to camp we came upon a handful of zebra and giraffes munching away. There was a large, adult giraffe, a medium sized giraffe and two of the littlest giraffes we’d seen to date. We felt it a nice way to leave, seeing two of the gentlest of the safari beast so far.
Again we had another round of storms come through that we seem to have missed here by driving down to the hippo pool. Coming back after the hippo experience though, we again saw the best of sunsets around and also some fascinating heat lightning which lit up the clouds around it in an electric pink. I’ll miss seeing so much sky when I go home.
Dinner tonight was a nicely marinated lamb like we had at the last camp, rosemary potatos, a green bean and carrot casserole and a guacamole salad. Dessert was crème caramel. I had a Sprite and vodka to celebrate the end of the trip. I will really miss eating so well regularly!!!
Tomorrow’s a travel day but Said promised a game ride on the way to the airstrip. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve for us. As I write this, the lions are doing their best to serenade us to sleep for one more night. I’ll miss this too!
This morning we were up even before the lions could really get started with their overnight roaring. That would be 4:15, which is an ungodly hour for anyone, but today we had a sunrise hot air balloon ride followed by a champagne English style breakfast. We were picked up first in the pitch blackness. On the way we stumbled into an impromptu game ride when we came upon a gorgeous leopard just meandering its way along the road. The driver of the van stopped so we could admire it until it turned into the bush. Just then, another vehicle came from the other direction at a very high speed. It either didn’t see the leopard, didn’t see our driver flash his headlights to slow down, or both, but it went right at the leopard. Thankfully the leopard made it into the bush, barely, but not without my letting loose a string of expletives that I think may have embarrassed my fellow travelers. It was another one of those moments where I thought to myself that maybe we shouldn’t be here.
Finally after picking up two other groups of tourists, we got to the field where the balloon inflation. By this point it was still totally dark but the balloons weren’t even close to inflated that we swore we weren’t going to make sunrise liftoff. It was pretty damn close, but we did just miss it. We were up just after the sun went over the horizon. But let me tell you, that balloon ride was pretty amazing. The basket was on its side and we all loaded in horizontally. Once the air got hot enough in the balloon, it pulled the basket upright and then off the ground. The guys working the ground untethered the basket from the jeep it was tied to and up we went, smooth as silk. We gained altitude and literally floated over the Serengeti. The air was clear and smooth and it was completely silent except for the occasional blast of hot air to keep the balloon rising. The pilot could rotate the balloon so we all got a good look at everything around us. From up there, we saw a bunch of giraffe, some elephants, a lion on a giraffe kill, impala and hippos. They were small from high up but it was kind of neat to see them from that angle. The landing was picture perfect, two small bumps and we were down after about an hour of drifting. This was one of the most impressive ways to see vastness of the Serengeti, though, and well worth the price and painful wake up call.
We were met with a champagne toast, which is tradition after hot air balloon flights since they were founded in France. Then we were shuttled to a breakfast under an Acacia tree, which was a traditional English breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, tomato and baked beans. More coffee and champagne flowed and we got to meet and chat with all of our fellow travelers.
Said picked us up around 10:00 and we went straight out on our game ride. He said our goal for the morning was to find that leopard again for a better look. True to his word, we had spotted the leopard within minutes. Well, it was hard to miss the poor thing because the leopard paparazzi had staked out the road alongside where she was sleeping in the tree. But as usual, Said’s experience and our patience paid off. While several other vans came and went, we waited. At one point the leopard yawned and shifted position and Said said “She wants to get up.” And we knew if we waited long enough, she would. Not 15 minutes later, she got up, stretched, and went head first down the tree. Said started the car and drove far down the road, further than any other vehicle. Next think I knew, the leopard was headed straight for us, walking through the thick grass. She passed us and he moved the car again, this time even with another tree, which of course she went right up. It was a great experience, certainly better than yesterday, but again, only made possible by Said’s expert guiding.
We came back to camp for lunch, which was spaghetti, onion bread, spicy ground beef and ginger ale for me. It was pretty good, even after the big breakfast we had late morning. I’m getting used to these multi-course meals three times a day, I don’t know how I’ll live without them.
On days when we have two game rides, we would either nap, read or play cards during the few hours between lunch and our afternoon game ride. Here the tents get incredibly warm during the day, even though we leave the place zipped open all day. So we usually lie here like sloths and complain about how hot it is, which makes going out again in the moving vehicle that much more enjoyable, as it’s so much cooler out there.
For our last game ride, Said said “my goal is to find you a hippo.” So off we went. And after an extraordinarily long ride, we finally saw a sign pointing to the hippo pool. As we’d passed a few of those with a handful of resident hippos during our balloon ride, we all just assumed it was one of those. But we were wrong. Like everything else Said has conjured up for us, this experience was beyond what we could have ever imagined. This pool was good sized, but what was unique about it was that there were over 100 hippos here. There were hippos of every size and age, all lolling about in the water, barking and howling at each other. Little babies followed their moms around, trying to nurse. Big males stretching their mouth open 180 degrees to yawn big dramatic, over-exaggerated yawns. It was all just so surreal, that this was all natural and not a zoo. I loved it, it was a pretty cool way to end the trip.
On the way back to camp we came upon a handful of zebra and giraffes munching away. There was a large, adult giraffe, a medium sized giraffe and two of the littlest giraffes we’d seen to date. We felt it a nice way to leave, seeing two of the gentlest of the safari beast so far.
Again we had another round of storms come through that we seem to have missed here by driving down to the hippo pool. Coming back after the hippo experience though, we again saw the best of sunsets around and also some fascinating heat lightning which lit up the clouds around it in an electric pink. I’ll miss seeing so much sky when I go home.
Dinner tonight was a nicely marinated lamb like we had at the last camp, rosemary potatos, a green bean and carrot casserole and a guacamole salad. Dessert was crème caramel. I had a Sprite and vodka to celebrate the end of the trip. I will really miss eating so well regularly!!!
Tomorrow’s a travel day but Said promised a game ride on the way to the airstrip. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve for us. As I write this, the lions are doing their best to serenade us to sleep for one more night. I’ll miss this too!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Safari Day Nine
Day Nine – The Serengeti Lions
This morning I was awoken around 3:45 by the sound of lions roaring way off in the distance. I was transfixed by this so managed to stay awake and listen to them approach from the front to around the side of our tent. By 4:15 they were as close as they would get and it sounded like they were pretty darn close. I thought that there were at least two roaring to each other, but when I talked to one of the guys who work here, he said it was a big pride. It’s funny how people who work here can tell the difference.
On the way to breakfast, I saw the very top edge of the sun peeking up over the horizon. It took all of two minutes before it was fully up, I couldn’t believe how quickly it happened, and I could just stand there and take it all in. Tomorrow, we’ll be seeing it from the hot air balloon.
Breakfast was good, scrambled eggs, sausage, a pancake that tasted really cinnamony and toast. I woke with a fairly good case of intestinal distress, but like hell was I going to let that stop me, so I dosed up on Cipro and Lomotil and was on my way.
We left at 7:00 and I think we all had leopard on our minds. Said says the taller grass here is more conducive to leopards and lions, but as we saw yesterday, that means we hardly ever see them unless they stand up. If they’re laying down, we see nothing. The other thing that is quite different here is that because the migration is still in Ndutu, it feels as though there are almost no animals here at all.
This morning we drove for quite some time before seeing much of anything. The vistas are beautiful though and the weather here is gorgeous so it made it easy to just watch the world go by. I also downloaded an album of traditional African music that I listened to while we were riding. That way, when I listen to it at home, I’ll think back to everything I saw here.
So, early on, we saw an elephant, some solo jackals, a jackal family, two warthog. Then we came upon some Topi, which is the first we’ve seen here. They look like antelope with socks on. While scanning some rocks for either lions or leopards, we saw some hyrax, which looked like guinea pigs. Oddly enough, they are the most anatomical similar mammal to elephants. Said said they share the same type of incisors that are like tusks and have internal testicles like elephants. Odd that the smallest thing we’ve seen is so like the largest thing we’ve seen.
After a while, it got really slow in terms of seeing much of anything, but Said seemed to conjure up a female lion dozing in the grass. By her more or less bolting away from us, I think we clearly disturbed her, which is the first time I’ve felt that all this time. We took some photos and moved on fairly quickly.
Just past the lioness, we came upon six giraffe that we’d seen wandering further along the horizon. These passed right in front of and along our vehicle, so we got fairly close. They are very tranquil and relaxing to watch so we spent some time there.
Circling yet another rock formation for the same cats we had yet to see, I spotted a lizard that was half red, half green. Said said it was a male Agama lizard. That was about all the reptiles I’m willing to tolerate this safari, thank you very much.
After a bit more driving, we came upon a gathering of vehicles along the side of the road. From the midst of that, a female lion ran out and crossed the road right in front of us. We watched her wander off into the distance and then headed back towards lunch.
Fairly close to camp, one of us spotted a head go up under a tree just off the road to our left. When we followed up on it, it looked as if there was definitely one and maybe even two lions under that tree. On closer inspection, there were 21 (YES! TWENTY ONE!) lions lying there under the tree. There seemed to be two adult females and a whole slew of cubs. I think since it was a bit off road we weren’t supposed to be there, so we left pretty quickly and continued on, which was a HUGE disappointment, but my wish to see a pride had come true, however short-lived. We continued down the road and saw a pod of elephants crossing the road, and as interesting as that was, I just could not get into it after what we’d left behind. I think Said noticed that another vehicle had made its way to our pride, so he took us back. Soon there were 5 or 6 vehicles there and the pride got antsy and started to move to other cover further from us. But I got more photos and got to watch them and it was just an amazing dream come true. I never, ever thought I’d get to see so many at one time. It was blissful and then some. Finally the lions decided it was time to move on before they were completely encircled, so we left as well. I teared up as we pulled away, just completely overcome by something so fabulous. Despite a very slow morning overall, this was more than enough to justify going out early and being so very patient.
Back at camp it had warmed up some and lunch was ready for us. The cool gazpacho soup was tasty and so refreshing. There was a warm chicken salad in a creamy tomato sauce with carrots and onions and homemade French fries, which were wonderful. I had Sprite and ginger ale and returned to the tent to write up the blog and rest before we headed out at 4 p.m. for the evening game drive.
After our siesta, Said told us that the pride we saw was only part of the larger pride. The area we are staying in is called Turner Spring and the pride is local to this area, so it is called the Turner Spring Pride. He said we saw only 21 of the 35 known pride members. Even still, I’m impressed.
We had to go first to register for our hot air balloon ride so we got that out of the way and then were off to find the still elusive leopard. This was sort of a race against the clock because extremely threatening storm clouds were building on the horizon in two different directions. Said was skillfully driving us over the dirt and potholed roads before it even started raining. Finally he came upon an area where a few other vehicles had already pulled over. While we were taking photos of the ominous skies overhead, Said spotted a female leopard coming down out of a tree as the rain started to fall. I managed to snap a few photos as she disappeared into the tall grass. Just when we started to baton down the hatches and heavier rain fell, Said spotted a small cub, one of two he is aware of in this area, in another tree. I got a few better shots of him with my zoom lens. Unless we can get closer to these beauties tomorrow, those will have to do for now. But we have managed to spot all of the Big Five and the Big Three Spotted Cats of Tanzania, so big score for us.
The storm that passed through was very intense. The cloud deck fell so low and was so dark that it had an Armageddon feel to it. The rain fell hard and fast. The whole storm passed in maybe 15 or 20 minutes. But what is incredible about it is how intense it was and how you can easily see the entire cell of weather as it heads towards you. I’ve never seen anything like it.
We managed to see another elephant mini-migration with a few babies. And Said gave us another lesson on the differences between Thompson gazelle, Grant’s gazelle and impala. I think maybe in the next 24 hours we’ll get it right at least once!
On the road back to camp we stopped a few times to see the most incredible sunset with the dark storm clouds intermingling with the oranges and pinks of the sun going down. So I saw the sun coming up and going down today, and both were just as spectacular.
Dinner tonight was that wonderful pumpkin soup we had at the other camp, beef stew on rice, a type of cabbage slaw and really good homemade rolls. One of the other guests had a birthday so the staff made him a cake which we all had a slice of.
So another really good day in the books. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! It’s our last day on safari….
This morning I was awoken around 3:45 by the sound of lions roaring way off in the distance. I was transfixed by this so managed to stay awake and listen to them approach from the front to around the side of our tent. By 4:15 they were as close as they would get and it sounded like they were pretty darn close. I thought that there were at least two roaring to each other, but when I talked to one of the guys who work here, he said it was a big pride. It’s funny how people who work here can tell the difference.
On the way to breakfast, I saw the very top edge of the sun peeking up over the horizon. It took all of two minutes before it was fully up, I couldn’t believe how quickly it happened, and I could just stand there and take it all in. Tomorrow, we’ll be seeing it from the hot air balloon.
Breakfast was good, scrambled eggs, sausage, a pancake that tasted really cinnamony and toast. I woke with a fairly good case of intestinal distress, but like hell was I going to let that stop me, so I dosed up on Cipro and Lomotil and was on my way.
We left at 7:00 and I think we all had leopard on our minds. Said says the taller grass here is more conducive to leopards and lions, but as we saw yesterday, that means we hardly ever see them unless they stand up. If they’re laying down, we see nothing. The other thing that is quite different here is that because the migration is still in Ndutu, it feels as though there are almost no animals here at all.
This morning we drove for quite some time before seeing much of anything. The vistas are beautiful though and the weather here is gorgeous so it made it easy to just watch the world go by. I also downloaded an album of traditional African music that I listened to while we were riding. That way, when I listen to it at home, I’ll think back to everything I saw here.
So, early on, we saw an elephant, some solo jackals, a jackal family, two warthog. Then we came upon some Topi, which is the first we’ve seen here. They look like antelope with socks on. While scanning some rocks for either lions or leopards, we saw some hyrax, which looked like guinea pigs. Oddly enough, they are the most anatomical similar mammal to elephants. Said said they share the same type of incisors that are like tusks and have internal testicles like elephants. Odd that the smallest thing we’ve seen is so like the largest thing we’ve seen.
After a while, it got really slow in terms of seeing much of anything, but Said seemed to conjure up a female lion dozing in the grass. By her more or less bolting away from us, I think we clearly disturbed her, which is the first time I’ve felt that all this time. We took some photos and moved on fairly quickly.
Just past the lioness, we came upon six giraffe that we’d seen wandering further along the horizon. These passed right in front of and along our vehicle, so we got fairly close. They are very tranquil and relaxing to watch so we spent some time there.
Circling yet another rock formation for the same cats we had yet to see, I spotted a lizard that was half red, half green. Said said it was a male Agama lizard. That was about all the reptiles I’m willing to tolerate this safari, thank you very much.
After a bit more driving, we came upon a gathering of vehicles along the side of the road. From the midst of that, a female lion ran out and crossed the road right in front of us. We watched her wander off into the distance and then headed back towards lunch.
Fairly close to camp, one of us spotted a head go up under a tree just off the road to our left. When we followed up on it, it looked as if there was definitely one and maybe even two lions under that tree. On closer inspection, there were 21 (YES! TWENTY ONE!) lions lying there under the tree. There seemed to be two adult females and a whole slew of cubs. I think since it was a bit off road we weren’t supposed to be there, so we left pretty quickly and continued on, which was a HUGE disappointment, but my wish to see a pride had come true, however short-lived. We continued down the road and saw a pod of elephants crossing the road, and as interesting as that was, I just could not get into it after what we’d left behind. I think Said noticed that another vehicle had made its way to our pride, so he took us back. Soon there were 5 or 6 vehicles there and the pride got antsy and started to move to other cover further from us. But I got more photos and got to watch them and it was just an amazing dream come true. I never, ever thought I’d get to see so many at one time. It was blissful and then some. Finally the lions decided it was time to move on before they were completely encircled, so we left as well. I teared up as we pulled away, just completely overcome by something so fabulous. Despite a very slow morning overall, this was more than enough to justify going out early and being so very patient.
Back at camp it had warmed up some and lunch was ready for us. The cool gazpacho soup was tasty and so refreshing. There was a warm chicken salad in a creamy tomato sauce with carrots and onions and homemade French fries, which were wonderful. I had Sprite and ginger ale and returned to the tent to write up the blog and rest before we headed out at 4 p.m. for the evening game drive.
After our siesta, Said told us that the pride we saw was only part of the larger pride. The area we are staying in is called Turner Spring and the pride is local to this area, so it is called the Turner Spring Pride. He said we saw only 21 of the 35 known pride members. Even still, I’m impressed.
We had to go first to register for our hot air balloon ride so we got that out of the way and then were off to find the still elusive leopard. This was sort of a race against the clock because extremely threatening storm clouds were building on the horizon in two different directions. Said was skillfully driving us over the dirt and potholed roads before it even started raining. Finally he came upon an area where a few other vehicles had already pulled over. While we were taking photos of the ominous skies overhead, Said spotted a female leopard coming down out of a tree as the rain started to fall. I managed to snap a few photos as she disappeared into the tall grass. Just when we started to baton down the hatches and heavier rain fell, Said spotted a small cub, one of two he is aware of in this area, in another tree. I got a few better shots of him with my zoom lens. Unless we can get closer to these beauties tomorrow, those will have to do for now. But we have managed to spot all of the Big Five and the Big Three Spotted Cats of Tanzania, so big score for us.
The storm that passed through was very intense. The cloud deck fell so low and was so dark that it had an Armageddon feel to it. The rain fell hard and fast. The whole storm passed in maybe 15 or 20 minutes. But what is incredible about it is how intense it was and how you can easily see the entire cell of weather as it heads towards you. I’ve never seen anything like it.
We managed to see another elephant mini-migration with a few babies. And Said gave us another lesson on the differences between Thompson gazelle, Grant’s gazelle and impala. I think maybe in the next 24 hours we’ll get it right at least once!
On the road back to camp we stopped a few times to see the most incredible sunset with the dark storm clouds intermingling with the oranges and pinks of the sun going down. So I saw the sun coming up and going down today, and both were just as spectacular.
Dinner tonight was that wonderful pumpkin soup we had at the other camp, beef stew on rice, a type of cabbage slaw and really good homemade rolls. One of the other guests had a birthday so the staff made him a cake which we all had a slice of.
So another really good day in the books. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! It’s our last day on safari….
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Safari Day Eight
Day Eight – If It’s Tuesday It Must Be Lion Day
Last night right after lights out, one of the staff came to the tent to return cameras and batteries that we’d been charging in the main tent. Thank goodness he did, because he got me awake just in time to hear two lions roaring right behind our tent! It was spectacular, and try as I might, I couldn’t stay awake long enough to hear more. Yet another very restful sleep here in the great outdoors.
This morning we were up at 5:45 am to leave at 6:15. We skipped breakfast in lieu of a late morning brunch. We were actually on the road in the dark and went immediately to see if we could find the cheetah family right outside our camp. We weren’t successful, so we will never know how their stalking turned out for them last night. Said says that a mother cheetah with four cubs that size and age is very successful, because most cheetah litters don’t remain that size to adulthood. If they’ve made it to a year, they will most likely make it to independence. That made me feel good.
En route to the rest of our game drive, Said heard from another guide that two lions were feasting on a kill nearby. It turned out to be in the same area where we saw the two dozing lionesses last night, and indeed, it was them. They had hidden a wildebeest kill deep in a bush and were snacking on it. Said put the pieces of the puzzle together and reminded us of the circling vultures that we saw near them the evening before, and coupled with the fact that the cats themselves were uninterested in the parade of wildebeest and zebras that went by them, and add to that the utter stench of the kill which tells us it was not a fresh kill, he thinks that they’d killed the wildebeest last night and stashed it for a few days’ worth of meals. Interesting. We followed one lioness down to the bank along the riverbed where we took some photos and then left her to sleep.
I think Said had a mission to get us to see a wildebeest birth today. We rode around a whole bunch of wildebeests for a really long time, but the closest we got was to see one little guy just born on the ground, but we were in time to see his first very wobbly steps. That was a joy to see, honestly. That mom had him up and running within minutes of his birth, which is astounding, but it’s move or be eaten out here. Said later found us a placenta on the ground, which was interesting from a scientific point of view but not so much a photo opportunity. Yes, even I have limits on something like that.
With lesser luck seeing big game today, Kim and I resorted to bird watching, which is an Olympic sport here on safari. There are some hard core birders here, of which we are not two, but we give it a good shot. And sometimes we are right. I think Said is proud when we recognize a bird that he’d previously pointed out to us.
When I say “lesser luck” in terms of what we saw today, do not think we saw nothing. In terms of wildebeest and zebra count, we have to be close to a million by this point. They are everywhere, in astounding numbers. As much video or still photos I take, I don’t think any of them ever capture what we’re seeing here. At one point we stopped and there were wildebeest as far back along the horizon as I could see. It seemed to go on forever. It is a truly impressive sight. I also noticed today that some of the zebra and wildebeest would take an interest in us, stopping what they were doing to stare at us curiously. That provides for great photos, but also provides a laugh. I wonder what they think of us exactly.
We returned to the camp for brunch, which was fabulous as always. Meatballs (really like seasoned hamburgers), crepes, mixed vegetable salad that was like a salsa, pasta salad with hard boiled egg, zucchini salad, bread, fruit and a glass of wine. I could get used to eating like this. Kim and I asked to see the kitchen, and they gave us a tour before we left. It has a gas oven and two gas stove tops, two refrigerators and two prep counters. They only have room to serve about 20 people a night, so it’s a controlled environment, but I’m still amazed at how they manage to make such delicious food.
After brunch we packed the Land Cruiser and headed for the Serengeti. Said had expressed a bit of concern that with all the migratory animals near Ndutu (where we’d just been), that we might have a tough time in the Serengeti. Once we crossed over into the park, it was noticeable that the migration certainly was not here. Serengeti is derived from the Masaai words for “open space” and that is a vast understatement. Here more than anywhere we’ve been already, you can see for miles across vast flatness. This is the second biggest park in Tanzania and it shows. But it also appeared empty, so I was a bit hesitant about what we were going to see over the next three days. No sooner had I thought that than Said screeched to a halt and backed the vehicle up. Right next to the road in a bush was a female lion dozing in the tall grass. She obliged us with several photo opps before adjourning under a bush for the rest of her nap. Said pointed out that she had a large collar around her neck which researchers were using to track her. A bit further down the road we found a kill (wildebeest) in a bush that Said believed based on proximity was the work of this lioness.
We continued our drive through the Serengeti and I became completely transfixed by the clouds here. Against a gorgeous blue sky, they just seem to hang and not move. But even the dark storm clouds are interesting, because you can see the entire storm cell move because there is nothing else to block your view of it. I’ve taken more sky photos here than I ever have anywhere.
Said took a side road up and around a large rock formation and immediately pointed out two young male lions and an older female asleep on the top of the rock. The males barely had any mane grown in yet, and they had the all-pink nose of youngsters. The female may have been a mom or an auntie, Said explained. As they remain a family unit, that could have been any older female in the pride with them today. Around the other side of the same rock formation was a younger male and female sunning themselves.
Further on, and not that long after the rock pride, we came across another vehicle stopped alongside the road. Their guide said there was a sleeping lion in the taller grass. Said used his binoculars and said this was another “honeymooning couple” like we’d seen back in Ngorongoro, and that they’d be mating at regular intervals if we could wait it out. He knows by now that we’ll wait for just about anything, and we were rewarded with a lightning fast mating ritual that we only got to see from behind. But still, we got to see magic happen, so we moved on.
But not even 15 seconds down the road we saw yet another vehicle stopped looking the same way into the same sort of grass. We stopped too and within 2 minutes, the female rolled on to her back, paws up in the air, which is the lions’ way of saying “I’m ready” and the male sat up, yawned, stood up and made motions to get the business of the moment done. This guy knew what he was doing, and we were treated to a fairly expert display, complete with growling, neck biting and a swat on the head. It was an excellent show. For a lover of big cats, I’m just in heaven over all this. We were not even 30 feet away from all this.
Finally we headed for camp as a lot of strong thunderstorms looked as if they were moving in. On the way, Said pointed out a serval cat in the road, which disappeared so quickly none of could get much more than a quick glance at it. It is not much larger than a house cat and spotted. It was one of three spotted cats in Tanzania, after the cheetah and the leopard. We also got to see an animal new to us, the Coke’s hartebeest. This is a large antelope with horns that sort of twist upward like they could almost form a heart.
The Serengeti Wilderness Camp is pretty much like the one we left in Ndutu, and run by the same people. We’re looking forward to whatever we hear tonight!
A bit about the weather here. Initially it was pretty hot when we landed and the first couple days out. Since then it seems to have settled into a pretty comfortable 80-85 and dry. The only time it gets terribly hot is when I’m in the direct sun. I will say I have gotten great color here, and even while wearing SPF 30! The mosquitoes and Tse Tse flies seem to have become a non-issue since we left Manyara, it is just pesky regular old flies that bother us here, and they are more a nuisance than anything.
Before dinner Kim and I stopped for a drink. They had no Bailey’s but they did have Amerula, which was very similar, so I had that. Dinner was a starter of potato and leek soup, and the main course was the meat and vegetable lasagna we had at the last camp with mixed salad and a carrot pound cake. The soups here are just amazing. I have no idea how they are so damn good.
Last night right after lights out, one of the staff came to the tent to return cameras and batteries that we’d been charging in the main tent. Thank goodness he did, because he got me awake just in time to hear two lions roaring right behind our tent! It was spectacular, and try as I might, I couldn’t stay awake long enough to hear more. Yet another very restful sleep here in the great outdoors.
This morning we were up at 5:45 am to leave at 6:15. We skipped breakfast in lieu of a late morning brunch. We were actually on the road in the dark and went immediately to see if we could find the cheetah family right outside our camp. We weren’t successful, so we will never know how their stalking turned out for them last night. Said says that a mother cheetah with four cubs that size and age is very successful, because most cheetah litters don’t remain that size to adulthood. If they’ve made it to a year, they will most likely make it to independence. That made me feel good.
En route to the rest of our game drive, Said heard from another guide that two lions were feasting on a kill nearby. It turned out to be in the same area where we saw the two dozing lionesses last night, and indeed, it was them. They had hidden a wildebeest kill deep in a bush and were snacking on it. Said put the pieces of the puzzle together and reminded us of the circling vultures that we saw near them the evening before, and coupled with the fact that the cats themselves were uninterested in the parade of wildebeest and zebras that went by them, and add to that the utter stench of the kill which tells us it was not a fresh kill, he thinks that they’d killed the wildebeest last night and stashed it for a few days’ worth of meals. Interesting. We followed one lioness down to the bank along the riverbed where we took some photos and then left her to sleep.
I think Said had a mission to get us to see a wildebeest birth today. We rode around a whole bunch of wildebeests for a really long time, but the closest we got was to see one little guy just born on the ground, but we were in time to see his first very wobbly steps. That was a joy to see, honestly. That mom had him up and running within minutes of his birth, which is astounding, but it’s move or be eaten out here. Said later found us a placenta on the ground, which was interesting from a scientific point of view but not so much a photo opportunity. Yes, even I have limits on something like that.
With lesser luck seeing big game today, Kim and I resorted to bird watching, which is an Olympic sport here on safari. There are some hard core birders here, of which we are not two, but we give it a good shot. And sometimes we are right. I think Said is proud when we recognize a bird that he’d previously pointed out to us.
When I say “lesser luck” in terms of what we saw today, do not think we saw nothing. In terms of wildebeest and zebra count, we have to be close to a million by this point. They are everywhere, in astounding numbers. As much video or still photos I take, I don’t think any of them ever capture what we’re seeing here. At one point we stopped and there were wildebeest as far back along the horizon as I could see. It seemed to go on forever. It is a truly impressive sight. I also noticed today that some of the zebra and wildebeest would take an interest in us, stopping what they were doing to stare at us curiously. That provides for great photos, but also provides a laugh. I wonder what they think of us exactly.
We returned to the camp for brunch, which was fabulous as always. Meatballs (really like seasoned hamburgers), crepes, mixed vegetable salad that was like a salsa, pasta salad with hard boiled egg, zucchini salad, bread, fruit and a glass of wine. I could get used to eating like this. Kim and I asked to see the kitchen, and they gave us a tour before we left. It has a gas oven and two gas stove tops, two refrigerators and two prep counters. They only have room to serve about 20 people a night, so it’s a controlled environment, but I’m still amazed at how they manage to make such delicious food.
After brunch we packed the Land Cruiser and headed for the Serengeti. Said had expressed a bit of concern that with all the migratory animals near Ndutu (where we’d just been), that we might have a tough time in the Serengeti. Once we crossed over into the park, it was noticeable that the migration certainly was not here. Serengeti is derived from the Masaai words for “open space” and that is a vast understatement. Here more than anywhere we’ve been already, you can see for miles across vast flatness. This is the second biggest park in Tanzania and it shows. But it also appeared empty, so I was a bit hesitant about what we were going to see over the next three days. No sooner had I thought that than Said screeched to a halt and backed the vehicle up. Right next to the road in a bush was a female lion dozing in the tall grass. She obliged us with several photo opps before adjourning under a bush for the rest of her nap. Said pointed out that she had a large collar around her neck which researchers were using to track her. A bit further down the road we found a kill (wildebeest) in a bush that Said believed based on proximity was the work of this lioness.
We continued our drive through the Serengeti and I became completely transfixed by the clouds here. Against a gorgeous blue sky, they just seem to hang and not move. But even the dark storm clouds are interesting, because you can see the entire storm cell move because there is nothing else to block your view of it. I’ve taken more sky photos here than I ever have anywhere.
Said took a side road up and around a large rock formation and immediately pointed out two young male lions and an older female asleep on the top of the rock. The males barely had any mane grown in yet, and they had the all-pink nose of youngsters. The female may have been a mom or an auntie, Said explained. As they remain a family unit, that could have been any older female in the pride with them today. Around the other side of the same rock formation was a younger male and female sunning themselves.
Further on, and not that long after the rock pride, we came across another vehicle stopped alongside the road. Their guide said there was a sleeping lion in the taller grass. Said used his binoculars and said this was another “honeymooning couple” like we’d seen back in Ngorongoro, and that they’d be mating at regular intervals if we could wait it out. He knows by now that we’ll wait for just about anything, and we were rewarded with a lightning fast mating ritual that we only got to see from behind. But still, we got to see magic happen, so we moved on.
But not even 15 seconds down the road we saw yet another vehicle stopped looking the same way into the same sort of grass. We stopped too and within 2 minutes, the female rolled on to her back, paws up in the air, which is the lions’ way of saying “I’m ready” and the male sat up, yawned, stood up and made motions to get the business of the moment done. This guy knew what he was doing, and we were treated to a fairly expert display, complete with growling, neck biting and a swat on the head. It was an excellent show. For a lover of big cats, I’m just in heaven over all this. We were not even 30 feet away from all this.
Finally we headed for camp as a lot of strong thunderstorms looked as if they were moving in. On the way, Said pointed out a serval cat in the road, which disappeared so quickly none of could get much more than a quick glance at it. It is not much larger than a house cat and spotted. It was one of three spotted cats in Tanzania, after the cheetah and the leopard. We also got to see an animal new to us, the Coke’s hartebeest. This is a large antelope with horns that sort of twist upward like they could almost form a heart.
The Serengeti Wilderness Camp is pretty much like the one we left in Ndutu, and run by the same people. We’re looking forward to whatever we hear tonight!
A bit about the weather here. Initially it was pretty hot when we landed and the first couple days out. Since then it seems to have settled into a pretty comfortable 80-85 and dry. The only time it gets terribly hot is when I’m in the direct sun. I will say I have gotten great color here, and even while wearing SPF 30! The mosquitoes and Tse Tse flies seem to have become a non-issue since we left Manyara, it is just pesky regular old flies that bother us here, and they are more a nuisance than anything.
Before dinner Kim and I stopped for a drink. They had no Bailey’s but they did have Amerula, which was very similar, so I had that. Dinner was a starter of potato and leek soup, and the main course was the meat and vegetable lasagna we had at the last camp with mixed salad and a carrot pound cake. The soups here are just amazing. I have no idea how they are so damn good.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Safari Day Seven
Day Seven – The Cats Are Back
What an absolutely incredible overnight experience. We all crashed early, by 9:30 or so, and slept the best sleep of the trip so far. However, that doesn’t mean I missed the overnight activities. At one point I woke to hear the distinctive sound of clumps of grass being pulled up right outside our tent. I think it was most likely wildebeest grazing there, because I heard the moo-like sound coming from behind our tent. At another point, I heard what sounded like a stampede right through the center of our campsite. Said confirmed this morning that some species was here running around during the night. At any point I awoke, I heard the calls of wildebeest, zebra or hyena. Now this is camping!
We were up at 5:15 and ready to hit the road by 6:30. No shower early, just a quick wet down of the hair, throw on some clothes, apply sunscreen and insect repellant and we were off. I’ve given up trying to look even remotely presentable here. Neither Said nor the animals care, and it sort of adds to the relaxation level not to worry about that too.
Breakfast this morning was pretty good. We all had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and a pancake, with toast, OJ and coffee. It was a great way to start the day and would last us well.
On the ride out to where we would eventually find our main attractions of the day, we saw more wildebeest and zebras than we could ever even imagine. It is easier to enumerate the places where there weren’t any of them. As far as I could see in just about any direction, nothing but wildebeest and zebra. Said told us that his goal was to have us see a wildebeest give birth, and indeed we came so close three times early today. Each time we came upon a newly born wildebeest, still wet from emerging from its mother, placenta about to drop. The moms were licking the calves and nudging them along. Within minutes, they were running alongside their moms, some more wobbly than others, but in any event ready to try to evade the predators.
A couple hours passed and we continued to bump into some wildebeest births, some pretty cool birds (eagle, vultures) and a few hyena. Said all of a sudden turned toward a mini-swarm of other vehicles that were all looking at one thing in particular. When we got upon it, we found a lone jackal feasting on a fresh wildebeest kill. Just nearby were a dozen or so vultures waiting to step up. We all wanted Said’s opinion on what happened here, and he said there are two deaths here, either a natural death or a kill. He thought initially this was a natural death. It wasn’t until I happened to look behind us and see a few vehicles looking under a nearby tree that I saw a cheetah walking away. Said turned the vehicle around and we followed them.
The cheetah brothers were working in a coalition. Said recognized the pair from previous visits and knew they were brothers from the same mother. Cheetah males will only form hunting coalitions with their own siblings, and originally this pair had been part of three brothers. One brother has been killed by a lion in the past. We followed the cheetahs to the next tree where they laid down. Close-up view by either binoculars or my zoom lens revealed blood on the chin of one brother, so it was obvious that they had made the kill. Both males had very distended stomachs, which was further proof that they’d gorged on their kill before that jackal had gotten to it. So we’d missed the kill probably by less than an hour, but at least now we’d seen two more cats. The brothers settled down to sleep off their meal and we continued on after getting our fill from about 30 feet away.
Somehow Said knew where to find the next big event of the day and it was probably the highlight of my trip so far. We came upon a mother cheetah and three one-year old cubs. They were walking through the grass with a long, single-file line of migrating wildebeests just past it. It didn’t take long to realize the mother cheetah was sizing up the line of migratory beasts, looking for food for her family. Compared to the brothers we just saw, these cats were very thin and apparently hungry. It was interesting to see how they followed her until she was ready to hunt. Then it was as if she’d sent them to huddle down together out of the line of fire, and they did as she told. She watched the line of wildebeest for some time, passing up several calves which would have been easy kill if she’d tried. It seemed like she hadn’t deemed any one of them worth a try. All of a sudden though, one of the cubs got antsy and went for it, bursting out of his hiding spot with his brothers, then making the mistake of hesitating, which gave the wildebeests just time to realize what was going on. The cubs tried to pursue after the false start but came up empty and gave up the chase. It was fascinating to see, and makes me wonder if the mother was training them to hunt or if that one cub was just over-eager. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to see the kill. It was all so exciting and some what disappointing that they weren’t successful, although I know from my reading that they are successful only about 20% of the time.
It seemed like a good idea now to head back to camp for lunch. On the way though, Said spotted two male lions asleep under a tree, and he pulled our vehicle right up next to them. We were no more than 15 feet from two sleeping lions! We waited long enough for one to raise its head, pose, stand and stretch only to lie down next to his brother again. Unlike cheetahs, male lions will only hang out with brothers from their pride, but they don’t have to be brothers from the same mother. Just past these two guys was a female who was soundly sleeping belly up under another tree.
We definitely had worked up an appetite with all this excitement, so we headed back to camp for a hot lunch, which was pizza, a green been, carrot and onion casserole and a mixed salad, with apple caramel for dessert. I washed it all down with a Tangawizi, of course. During lunch Said gave us the option of a bush walk or an evening game drive, and we chose the latter unanimously. So we took a break until 4 and headed out again to see what else Ndutu had in store for us. Kim and I played Uno and drank beer or Baileys and listened to the animals. I could get used to this life.
Promptly at 4:00 Said loaded us in the car and we took off. Right outside our camp, he came across 5 cheetahs, a mother and four 1-year old cubs. We found them walking and followed them to under a tree where they sprawled out. They didn’t seem to be doing much of anything but lying there, but sitting and watching five cheetahs is heavenly, and I have the pictures to prove it. Once we ascertained that the weren’t up to much just yet, we moved on.
Next we happened upon 6 giraffe, two of which were very short juveniles who were munching on the foliage near the sandy beach areas around the river. We watched them amble around a bit and moved on again.
Just past the giraffes, we came upon two female lions who were sleeping soundly under a tree. We sat and watched with our usual patience and were rewarded after close to 45 minutes when a line of a couple hundred zebra and wildebeest made their way from the beach up the hill in the line of sight of the lions. Even though Said thought that they looked as if they had eaten recently, they paid careful attention to everything that went by them. That got them up and awake enough to take some excellent photos. Then they flopped back down and took more of a cat nap. One of the lions snored loudly while the other was having kitty dreams of some sort, twitching and she dozed away. Once again though, our vehicle outlasted about 8 others who came and went while we sat there. We are the masters at the waiting game, and it always seems to pay off.
Said told us that lions noses start to turn black after they turn five years old. Before that they are mostly pink. As these two lions had noses just starting to turn black, he said they are probably just over five. Each also had four teats, which is standard for lions, regardless of how many cubs they have.
Letting sleeping lions lie, we moved on and rode around through more masses of wildebeest and zebras again. I think Said really has his heart set on showing us a birth. I’d love to see it, but I think so far we have just missed quite a few!
I took a few wonderful shots of the sky and the light here today. The clouds here seem to just hang in the sky and never move, which I think is due to there being such an expanse of sky over us and no frame of reference like buildings to track the movement. And I caught a wonderful moment just before sunset when huge rays of light broke through a cloud and streamed down to earth. It really was more poetic than I am doing it justice.
Finally, just outside camp again, we happened upon the same five cheetahs we saw earlier. This time they were watching a herd of wildebeest move into the area. We watched the lie together for a while and two of the cubs play fought with each other, just like our housecats do. I couldn’t tell for sure how serious the mother was about actually hunting tonight, but after a bit of a wait, one cub decided to make an approach on his own. He walked away from the group and I thought maybe no one had noticed, but finally when he took up position to observe the wildebeests, the others seemed to take notice and move in with him. Said called it a night as it was getting terribly dark and we wouldn’t be able to see much more anyway. Hopefully we can bump into the group tomorrow and see if they are noticeably fatter or not.
Back at camp we had dinner. How they manage to pull of such good meals is beyond me. Tonight we had cream of pumpkin soup, marinated lamb (which was fabulous), grilled potatoes, mixed vegetable, salad and a chocolate cake with white sauce. We split a bottle of chenin blanc and some water. It was a delicious meal and no one can say I’m not eating well in Africa.
Early to bed tonight again as we’re up at 5:45 for a 6:15 game ride!
What an absolutely incredible overnight experience. We all crashed early, by 9:30 or so, and slept the best sleep of the trip so far. However, that doesn’t mean I missed the overnight activities. At one point I woke to hear the distinctive sound of clumps of grass being pulled up right outside our tent. I think it was most likely wildebeest grazing there, because I heard the moo-like sound coming from behind our tent. At another point, I heard what sounded like a stampede right through the center of our campsite. Said confirmed this morning that some species was here running around during the night. At any point I awoke, I heard the calls of wildebeest, zebra or hyena. Now this is camping!
We were up at 5:15 and ready to hit the road by 6:30. No shower early, just a quick wet down of the hair, throw on some clothes, apply sunscreen and insect repellant and we were off. I’ve given up trying to look even remotely presentable here. Neither Said nor the animals care, and it sort of adds to the relaxation level not to worry about that too.
Breakfast this morning was pretty good. We all had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and a pancake, with toast, OJ and coffee. It was a great way to start the day and would last us well.
On the ride out to where we would eventually find our main attractions of the day, we saw more wildebeest and zebras than we could ever even imagine. It is easier to enumerate the places where there weren’t any of them. As far as I could see in just about any direction, nothing but wildebeest and zebra. Said told us that his goal was to have us see a wildebeest give birth, and indeed we came so close three times early today. Each time we came upon a newly born wildebeest, still wet from emerging from its mother, placenta about to drop. The moms were licking the calves and nudging them along. Within minutes, they were running alongside their moms, some more wobbly than others, but in any event ready to try to evade the predators.
A couple hours passed and we continued to bump into some wildebeest births, some pretty cool birds (eagle, vultures) and a few hyena. Said all of a sudden turned toward a mini-swarm of other vehicles that were all looking at one thing in particular. When we got upon it, we found a lone jackal feasting on a fresh wildebeest kill. Just nearby were a dozen or so vultures waiting to step up. We all wanted Said’s opinion on what happened here, and he said there are two deaths here, either a natural death or a kill. He thought initially this was a natural death. It wasn’t until I happened to look behind us and see a few vehicles looking under a nearby tree that I saw a cheetah walking away. Said turned the vehicle around and we followed them.
The cheetah brothers were working in a coalition. Said recognized the pair from previous visits and knew they were brothers from the same mother. Cheetah males will only form hunting coalitions with their own siblings, and originally this pair had been part of three brothers. One brother has been killed by a lion in the past. We followed the cheetahs to the next tree where they laid down. Close-up view by either binoculars or my zoom lens revealed blood on the chin of one brother, so it was obvious that they had made the kill. Both males had very distended stomachs, which was further proof that they’d gorged on their kill before that jackal had gotten to it. So we’d missed the kill probably by less than an hour, but at least now we’d seen two more cats. The brothers settled down to sleep off their meal and we continued on after getting our fill from about 30 feet away.
Somehow Said knew where to find the next big event of the day and it was probably the highlight of my trip so far. We came upon a mother cheetah and three one-year old cubs. They were walking through the grass with a long, single-file line of migrating wildebeests just past it. It didn’t take long to realize the mother cheetah was sizing up the line of migratory beasts, looking for food for her family. Compared to the brothers we just saw, these cats were very thin and apparently hungry. It was interesting to see how they followed her until she was ready to hunt. Then it was as if she’d sent them to huddle down together out of the line of fire, and they did as she told. She watched the line of wildebeest for some time, passing up several calves which would have been easy kill if she’d tried. It seemed like she hadn’t deemed any one of them worth a try. All of a sudden though, one of the cubs got antsy and went for it, bursting out of his hiding spot with his brothers, then making the mistake of hesitating, which gave the wildebeests just time to realize what was going on. The cubs tried to pursue after the false start but came up empty and gave up the chase. It was fascinating to see, and makes me wonder if the mother was training them to hunt or if that one cub was just over-eager. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to see the kill. It was all so exciting and some what disappointing that they weren’t successful, although I know from my reading that they are successful only about 20% of the time.
It seemed like a good idea now to head back to camp for lunch. On the way though, Said spotted two male lions asleep under a tree, and he pulled our vehicle right up next to them. We were no more than 15 feet from two sleeping lions! We waited long enough for one to raise its head, pose, stand and stretch only to lie down next to his brother again. Unlike cheetahs, male lions will only hang out with brothers from their pride, but they don’t have to be brothers from the same mother. Just past these two guys was a female who was soundly sleeping belly up under another tree.
We definitely had worked up an appetite with all this excitement, so we headed back to camp for a hot lunch, which was pizza, a green been, carrot and onion casserole and a mixed salad, with apple caramel for dessert. I washed it all down with a Tangawizi, of course. During lunch Said gave us the option of a bush walk or an evening game drive, and we chose the latter unanimously. So we took a break until 4 and headed out again to see what else Ndutu had in store for us. Kim and I played Uno and drank beer or Baileys and listened to the animals. I could get used to this life.
Promptly at 4:00 Said loaded us in the car and we took off. Right outside our camp, he came across 5 cheetahs, a mother and four 1-year old cubs. We found them walking and followed them to under a tree where they sprawled out. They didn’t seem to be doing much of anything but lying there, but sitting and watching five cheetahs is heavenly, and I have the pictures to prove it. Once we ascertained that the weren’t up to much just yet, we moved on.
Next we happened upon 6 giraffe, two of which were very short juveniles who were munching on the foliage near the sandy beach areas around the river. We watched them amble around a bit and moved on again.
Just past the giraffes, we came upon two female lions who were sleeping soundly under a tree. We sat and watched with our usual patience and were rewarded after close to 45 minutes when a line of a couple hundred zebra and wildebeest made their way from the beach up the hill in the line of sight of the lions. Even though Said thought that they looked as if they had eaten recently, they paid careful attention to everything that went by them. That got them up and awake enough to take some excellent photos. Then they flopped back down and took more of a cat nap. One of the lions snored loudly while the other was having kitty dreams of some sort, twitching and she dozed away. Once again though, our vehicle outlasted about 8 others who came and went while we sat there. We are the masters at the waiting game, and it always seems to pay off.
Said told us that lions noses start to turn black after they turn five years old. Before that they are mostly pink. As these two lions had noses just starting to turn black, he said they are probably just over five. Each also had four teats, which is standard for lions, regardless of how many cubs they have.
Letting sleeping lions lie, we moved on and rode around through more masses of wildebeest and zebras again. I think Said really has his heart set on showing us a birth. I’d love to see it, but I think so far we have just missed quite a few!
I took a few wonderful shots of the sky and the light here today. The clouds here seem to just hang in the sky and never move, which I think is due to there being such an expanse of sky over us and no frame of reference like buildings to track the movement. And I caught a wonderful moment just before sunset when huge rays of light broke through a cloud and streamed down to earth. It really was more poetic than I am doing it justice.
Finally, just outside camp again, we happened upon the same five cheetahs we saw earlier. This time they were watching a herd of wildebeest move into the area. We watched the lie together for a while and two of the cubs play fought with each other, just like our housecats do. I couldn’t tell for sure how serious the mother was about actually hunting tonight, but after a bit of a wait, one cub decided to make an approach on his own. He walked away from the group and I thought maybe no one had noticed, but finally when he took up position to observe the wildebeests, the others seemed to take notice and move in with him. Said called it a night as it was getting terribly dark and we wouldn’t be able to see much more anyway. Hopefully we can bump into the group tomorrow and see if they are noticeably fatter or not.
Back at camp we had dinner. How they manage to pull of such good meals is beyond me. Tonight we had cream of pumpkin soup, marinated lamb (which was fabulous), grilled potatoes, mixed vegetable, salad and a chocolate cake with white sauce. We split a bottle of chenin blanc and some water. It was a delicious meal and no one can say I’m not eating well in Africa.
Early to bed tonight again as we’re up at 5:45 for a 6:15 game ride!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Safari Day Six
Day Six – Minor meltdown and then a really good game drive
Having slept again without assistance, I woke happy that I’d slept but sort of wishing that I had another couple hours. I was up before the alarm went off at 7:15 but wished that was 9:15 instead.
Breakfast was great, and what has become my standard: omelet with tomato and cheese, a muffin, pancake and a sausage. The coffee continues to be stellar here, and this one in particular is grown on the lodge’s farm, as are all the vegetables (carrots, eggplant, tomato, leeks).
We left a little before 9:00 for a village tour with a guy who we saw singing here at dinner the other night. Paulo (yes, it does sound Italian) led us around his village, showing us some highlights. Whatever image you have of a village in Africa, is probably completely accurate when it comes to this: ramshackle two room buildings with dirt floors, laundry hung along a thin clothes line with chickens and goats running amok. Little kids running around with no shoes, the girls wearing traditional long printed skirts. It was very overwhelming initially, walking the red soil road, leaving a trail of red dust behind us an taking this in. Paulo greeted us and asked us about ourselves, always reaffirming that he remembered our names and where we were from.
He led us to the village brickyard, where we saw the entire process being done by teenage boys. They chop the dirt down for clay, add water, pour the wet clay into brick molds and turn upside down on to the ground for drying. The dried bricks then are stacked into a kiln which is covered with mud and let burn for 3 days, then cooled. The mud is chipped off the kiln and then the bricks are done. I was surprised how young the boys were doing what is extremely manual labor. But Paulo explained to us that the work is best done by the young, and men only. Women have their place, if not nurses or teachers, at home with the kids.
Paulo took us to his home, which was a single story with a living room and kitchen with a dirt floor and single layer of brick wall. He lives here with his wife and 6 kids and they sleep in another building nearby. Paulo let us ask a bunch of questions about his life and told us how he met his wife and that he prizes her for her good behaviors over her beauty. He says beautiful women can be crazy and you wouldn’t want to be stuck with that type of wife.
His wife brought in a casserole of traditional breakfast, with silverware and plates. We were to share in their breakfast, and I have to admit the hypochondriac in me really reared its head. I wanted neither to eat food I didn’t know the origin of nor wanted to eat off plates from a kitchen with no running water, let alone dish washer. However turning it down seemed rude. I ate a few bites and spent quite a while afterward regretting that. So far I haven’t gotten sick, and I would like to keep it that way.
Paulo, his wife, two of his daughters and his son played music and sang and danced for us. Then the daughters dressed us in traditional skirts and we sang and danced with them. It was a nice experience and let us see part of their lives we might not have otherwise.
My favorite part of the visit was when we went to their church where the Sunday service was in progress. Paulo’s son took us and he joined the singers at the front of the church, where some very spiritual singing and dancing was already going on. While my travel mates joined him up front, I stayed back taking video and photos of them and the congregants. Suddenly, the cutest little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old caught my eye and smiled. I took her picture and then showed her the picture on the playback display on my camera. She responded with the biggest smile and then she blew me a kiss. This was all so spontaneous and genuine that my heart just melted. I took some pictures of some other little kids and showed them, and they all seemed generally surprised to see what they looked like, and fascinated by my camera.
I ended up hanging at the back of the church and dancing with my new little friend. She would mimic whatever movement I did and she smiled the whole time. I think that face is one I’ll always remember when I think back on this trip.
By now it was about noon time and we’d spent nearly 3 hours there, and we realized we still had to eat and drive to Ndutu before our game ride of the day, and Ndutu, according to our itinerary was 3 ½ hours away. This would be tight. I started to get frustrated because the time at the village went longer than it needed to and was cutting into what I felt was the purpose of our day. Said didn’t seem concerned, but to add insult to njury when we got back to the farm house for our hot lunch, they didn’t know anything about our meal. I asked Said to sort it out but felt that our ride in what was supposed to be in the best area for migration now was slipping away and I was a little more than cranky about it. We had a heart to heart with Said about this and he made magic happen and delivered not only on the hot meal but also one of the best game rides of the trip. Of course, we should have known he would.
The area around Ndutu is completely different from where we’ve been already. It is absolutely flat for miles with nothing taller than 6-8 inch little patches of scrub bush as far as the eye can see. With that come more wildebeest, zebra and Thompson gazelle than you will ever be able to count. Some in single numbers, some in larger herds, some in the trademark migratory single file lines. Many times it was so hard to pick what to look at where, because all around us there was something going on. The best part though is that vehicles can go off-road here, so we could drive right up to herds or something of interest. And the herds hardly even give us any notice. In fact often times they would not even attempt to move as Said drove right up to them.
We happened upon several giraffe at different parts of our ride, and managed to get close up a few times. Said also found a different type of jackal than the ones we saw the other day, bat eared foxes and a couple more hyena.
I think what we all found most fascinating though was a wildebeest that had just been born. We missed the delivery by mere minutes, because when Said pulled up to it, it was still shiny and wet, with an umbilical cord still attached. The mom also still showed signs on her rear quarters that she’d just given birth. Said explained that when wildebeest are born, they need to be up and walking within minutes to avoid predation. The mother will drop the placenta quickly and move away from it, giving her time to clean up and get the calf walking by the time any hyena or other predator gets done with the placenta. It’s all really incredible if you ask me.
Mother wildebeests will lick clean the calf to imprint and remember the scent of the baby. The baby will also learn to recognize its mother’s sound. Zebra babies recognize the particular stripe pattern of their mothers. Again, this is stuff I want to know! Said seems to know everything.
There is something that is inherently liberating watching these animals running freely and unconstrained for as far as the eye can see. We stopped and did just that more than a few times this week, and it is a gorgeous site, whether it’s just one playing on its own, or playmates or an entire line of migrating beasts. Just to see them where this is all that is natural and good is incredible.
I have decided that I’ll never be able to explain the scope of what we’re seeing here. The vistas are beyond enormous and impressive. The fact that every one of the millions of specks we see from here to the horizon is an animal that most people get to see maybe one or two of in a zoo, is a privilege. Today we were easily in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of animals here. It is awesome, and I mean that in the “full of awe” way.
We arrived at the wilderness camp just as the skies unzipped and let unleash a quick moving thunderstorm. First order of business was to get batteries recharged on the only charging station in camp. I’d gone through two today. The camp has about 10 large camps, with twin beds in them and enclosed shower/toilet facilities. As I’ve never even seen a tent before, this is an experience.
The toilets are flushed with a hand pump. The showers are filled from the outside and provide about 2 minutes of water. The beds are amazingly comfortable though, just as all of them have been so far. There are battery lights in the room, but no other power. But, we are IN the Ndutu conservation area. Tomorrow’s game drive starts at 6:30 am from right outside our camp. What that also means though is that as I sit here typing this at 9:30 at night, I have already heard hyena, wildebeest and I think a warthog very nearby. I hope to hear a lion, just to know they’re out there. But not terribly close!
Dinner tonight was impressive. It was served in the mess tent and was lasagna with salad and cream of vegetable soup, and crème caramel for dessert. It was wonderful.
Going to sleep early tonight, as we are up so early. Also need to conserve battery power on the laptop so it makes it to Friday when I can recharge again.
Having slept again without assistance, I woke happy that I’d slept but sort of wishing that I had another couple hours. I was up before the alarm went off at 7:15 but wished that was 9:15 instead.
Breakfast was great, and what has become my standard: omelet with tomato and cheese, a muffin, pancake and a sausage. The coffee continues to be stellar here, and this one in particular is grown on the lodge’s farm, as are all the vegetables (carrots, eggplant, tomato, leeks).
We left a little before 9:00 for a village tour with a guy who we saw singing here at dinner the other night. Paulo (yes, it does sound Italian) led us around his village, showing us some highlights. Whatever image you have of a village in Africa, is probably completely accurate when it comes to this: ramshackle two room buildings with dirt floors, laundry hung along a thin clothes line with chickens and goats running amok. Little kids running around with no shoes, the girls wearing traditional long printed skirts. It was very overwhelming initially, walking the red soil road, leaving a trail of red dust behind us an taking this in. Paulo greeted us and asked us about ourselves, always reaffirming that he remembered our names and where we were from.
He led us to the village brickyard, where we saw the entire process being done by teenage boys. They chop the dirt down for clay, add water, pour the wet clay into brick molds and turn upside down on to the ground for drying. The dried bricks then are stacked into a kiln which is covered with mud and let burn for 3 days, then cooled. The mud is chipped off the kiln and then the bricks are done. I was surprised how young the boys were doing what is extremely manual labor. But Paulo explained to us that the work is best done by the young, and men only. Women have their place, if not nurses or teachers, at home with the kids.
Paulo took us to his home, which was a single story with a living room and kitchen with a dirt floor and single layer of brick wall. He lives here with his wife and 6 kids and they sleep in another building nearby. Paulo let us ask a bunch of questions about his life and told us how he met his wife and that he prizes her for her good behaviors over her beauty. He says beautiful women can be crazy and you wouldn’t want to be stuck with that type of wife.
His wife brought in a casserole of traditional breakfast, with silverware and plates. We were to share in their breakfast, and I have to admit the hypochondriac in me really reared its head. I wanted neither to eat food I didn’t know the origin of nor wanted to eat off plates from a kitchen with no running water, let alone dish washer. However turning it down seemed rude. I ate a few bites and spent quite a while afterward regretting that. So far I haven’t gotten sick, and I would like to keep it that way.
Paulo, his wife, two of his daughters and his son played music and sang and danced for us. Then the daughters dressed us in traditional skirts and we sang and danced with them. It was a nice experience and let us see part of their lives we might not have otherwise.
My favorite part of the visit was when we went to their church where the Sunday service was in progress. Paulo’s son took us and he joined the singers at the front of the church, where some very spiritual singing and dancing was already going on. While my travel mates joined him up front, I stayed back taking video and photos of them and the congregants. Suddenly, the cutest little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old caught my eye and smiled. I took her picture and then showed her the picture on the playback display on my camera. She responded with the biggest smile and then she blew me a kiss. This was all so spontaneous and genuine that my heart just melted. I took some pictures of some other little kids and showed them, and they all seemed generally surprised to see what they looked like, and fascinated by my camera.
I ended up hanging at the back of the church and dancing with my new little friend. She would mimic whatever movement I did and she smiled the whole time. I think that face is one I’ll always remember when I think back on this trip.
By now it was about noon time and we’d spent nearly 3 hours there, and we realized we still had to eat and drive to Ndutu before our game ride of the day, and Ndutu, according to our itinerary was 3 ½ hours away. This would be tight. I started to get frustrated because the time at the village went longer than it needed to and was cutting into what I felt was the purpose of our day. Said didn’t seem concerned, but to add insult to njury when we got back to the farm house for our hot lunch, they didn’t know anything about our meal. I asked Said to sort it out but felt that our ride in what was supposed to be in the best area for migration now was slipping away and I was a little more than cranky about it. We had a heart to heart with Said about this and he made magic happen and delivered not only on the hot meal but also one of the best game rides of the trip. Of course, we should have known he would.
The area around Ndutu is completely different from where we’ve been already. It is absolutely flat for miles with nothing taller than 6-8 inch little patches of scrub bush as far as the eye can see. With that come more wildebeest, zebra and Thompson gazelle than you will ever be able to count. Some in single numbers, some in larger herds, some in the trademark migratory single file lines. Many times it was so hard to pick what to look at where, because all around us there was something going on. The best part though is that vehicles can go off-road here, so we could drive right up to herds or something of interest. And the herds hardly even give us any notice. In fact often times they would not even attempt to move as Said drove right up to them.
We happened upon several giraffe at different parts of our ride, and managed to get close up a few times. Said also found a different type of jackal than the ones we saw the other day, bat eared foxes and a couple more hyena.
I think what we all found most fascinating though was a wildebeest that had just been born. We missed the delivery by mere minutes, because when Said pulled up to it, it was still shiny and wet, with an umbilical cord still attached. The mom also still showed signs on her rear quarters that she’d just given birth. Said explained that when wildebeest are born, they need to be up and walking within minutes to avoid predation. The mother will drop the placenta quickly and move away from it, giving her time to clean up and get the calf walking by the time any hyena or other predator gets done with the placenta. It’s all really incredible if you ask me.
Mother wildebeests will lick clean the calf to imprint and remember the scent of the baby. The baby will also learn to recognize its mother’s sound. Zebra babies recognize the particular stripe pattern of their mothers. Again, this is stuff I want to know! Said seems to know everything.
There is something that is inherently liberating watching these animals running freely and unconstrained for as far as the eye can see. We stopped and did just that more than a few times this week, and it is a gorgeous site, whether it’s just one playing on its own, or playmates or an entire line of migrating beasts. Just to see them where this is all that is natural and good is incredible.
I have decided that I’ll never be able to explain the scope of what we’re seeing here. The vistas are beyond enormous and impressive. The fact that every one of the millions of specks we see from here to the horizon is an animal that most people get to see maybe one or two of in a zoo, is a privilege. Today we were easily in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of animals here. It is awesome, and I mean that in the “full of awe” way.
We arrived at the wilderness camp just as the skies unzipped and let unleash a quick moving thunderstorm. First order of business was to get batteries recharged on the only charging station in camp. I’d gone through two today. The camp has about 10 large camps, with twin beds in them and enclosed shower/toilet facilities. As I’ve never even seen a tent before, this is an experience.
The toilets are flushed with a hand pump. The showers are filled from the outside and provide about 2 minutes of water. The beds are amazingly comfortable though, just as all of them have been so far. There are battery lights in the room, but no other power. But, we are IN the Ndutu conservation area. Tomorrow’s game drive starts at 6:30 am from right outside our camp. What that also means though is that as I sit here typing this at 9:30 at night, I have already heard hyena, wildebeest and I think a warthog very nearby. I hope to hear a lion, just to know they’re out there. But not terribly close!
Dinner tonight was impressive. It was served in the mess tent and was lasagna with salad and cream of vegetable soup, and crème caramel for dessert. It was wonderful.
Going to sleep early tonight, as we are up so early. Also need to conserve battery power on the laptop so it makes it to Friday when I can recharge again.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Safari Day Five
Day Five – Animals In flagrante delecte and other cool things
Last night I actually fell asleep without pharmaceutical assistance, which is a great thing. I slept fairly well and when the alarm went off at 5:15, I leapt out of bed. I knew that since today is our visit to the Ngorongoro Crater, this was my first really good chance to see some big cats. My hopes were high. Before we set out, I asked Said “Big cats today?” and he said “you can never predict…” So we went out at 6:30 with a hope and a prayer.
The crater itself is 269 square kilometers of space, which, let me tell you folks, is a pretty dam big space.. We drove along the rim of the crater for about a half hour before we started the descent down to the floor. Once on the floor, it was nothing but flatness with animals as far as the eye can see. I felt as if I’d turn in any one direction and would see specks on the horizon and would have to compute that those are herds of cape buffalo or herds of zebra, herds of wildebeest. At some point, you just have to stop counting. To say we saw hundreds of either is sufficient for me, but I will never be able to explain the scope of the animals that were just there. Or explain the scope of how big this crater was. It is completely, entirely inexplicable.
To start the day, we saw a whole lot of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, some waterbuck, cape buffalo. Can you tell that I had my mind on other things? Our first significant stop was when Said spotted four black rhino. There are only 20 in the crater altogether, so to see four right in front of us was fabulous. So now we has spotted three of the big five on this trip (The Big Five are: lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard).
Continuing along, we managed to see a hippo pool where we watched five hippos float around and interact. This was an improvement upon the hippos we saw yesterday in that they were so much closer, and we could hear them honk and blow off air underwater. It was pretty cool. Sadly, we moved further along and saw a hyena snacking on a baby rhino kill, which was sad but fascinating at the same time. Hyena are scavengers, so whether the hyena killed this itself or found it as leftovers is a question we won’t find an answer to.
Finally, finally, finally, after about 3 hours out in the crater, Said spotted two lions dozing about 75 yards from the road, and through the binoculars, it appeared to be a male and a female. There were a whole lot of other jeeps around, but we managed to out-wait them. Said said they were probably “honeymooning” as they were alone and not part of a larger pride. This meant that they were in the process of mating, which can happen repeatedly every 10-15 minutes or hours over the course of a week or so. After a few false starts when either the male or the female would get up to stretch of change position, our patience paid off and the pair mated. It was over in a flash, but we all felt like we’d seen something really unique, and it was just us in the jeep and the loving pair. Once it was over, they laid down again to snooze and despite us waiting a bit longer, they did not go for it again.
Just past that, we came upon two more black rhino, so now we’ve seen five of the 20 in the crater, which is sort of spectacular if you think of it.
We lunched near another hippo pool where there were several hippos floating about right outside our jeep. Lunch today was a box lunch that we put together before we left the lodge this morning. I had a tomato and cheese sandwich, a piece of spinach quiche and a piece of spice bread.
Right after lunch, Said with his eagle eye again spotted a pride of lions. This time it seems we happened upon a pride. My count was one male, four adult females and 3 older cubs (not tiny but still young enough to have their baby spots and stripes). We watched them for quite a while as various combinations of them would move, roll, stretch, but for the most part it was one big pile of lion. I was in heaven, no complaints here.
Just down the road, Said spotted a solo adult male lion sleeping alone. He said due to the proximity to the pride we just left, it was probably part of that pride just choosing to be on his own for a bit.
After 7 hours in the crater, we started to climb back up to the rim and head out. Along the way we encountered jackal, a warthog family with 4 piglets, a lot of really colorful birds. But all of a sudden we came upon a zebra pair who were just about to start mating. Of course we stopped to watch, and they performed spectacularly for us, although both looked at us awkwardly when they were done and I almost felt bad about it. Except it was really a privilege to be there.
All these encounters managed to be just us and the animals. Other than lunch and once at the hippo pool, we were always alone, no other vehicles distracting us or the animals. In many cases, like wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, gazelles, hyena, buffalo, we can pull up right next to them and they don’t even flinch. I resist the urge to reach out and touch them almost every time. Already this has surpassed my expectations. I cannot believe I still have a week left here. How much better can it get?
I go off the grid after today. No internet until Friday....let the withdrawal begin!
Last night I actually fell asleep without pharmaceutical assistance, which is a great thing. I slept fairly well and when the alarm went off at 5:15, I leapt out of bed. I knew that since today is our visit to the Ngorongoro Crater, this was my first really good chance to see some big cats. My hopes were high. Before we set out, I asked Said “Big cats today?” and he said “you can never predict…” So we went out at 6:30 with a hope and a prayer.
The crater itself is 269 square kilometers of space, which, let me tell you folks, is a pretty dam big space.. We drove along the rim of the crater for about a half hour before we started the descent down to the floor. Once on the floor, it was nothing but flatness with animals as far as the eye can see. I felt as if I’d turn in any one direction and would see specks on the horizon and would have to compute that those are herds of cape buffalo or herds of zebra, herds of wildebeest. At some point, you just have to stop counting. To say we saw hundreds of either is sufficient for me, but I will never be able to explain the scope of the animals that were just there. Or explain the scope of how big this crater was. It is completely, entirely inexplicable.
To start the day, we saw a whole lot of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, some waterbuck, cape buffalo. Can you tell that I had my mind on other things? Our first significant stop was when Said spotted four black rhino. There are only 20 in the crater altogether, so to see four right in front of us was fabulous. So now we has spotted three of the big five on this trip (The Big Five are: lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard).
Continuing along, we managed to see a hippo pool where we watched five hippos float around and interact. This was an improvement upon the hippos we saw yesterday in that they were so much closer, and we could hear them honk and blow off air underwater. It was pretty cool. Sadly, we moved further along and saw a hyena snacking on a baby rhino kill, which was sad but fascinating at the same time. Hyena are scavengers, so whether the hyena killed this itself or found it as leftovers is a question we won’t find an answer to.
Finally, finally, finally, after about 3 hours out in the crater, Said spotted two lions dozing about 75 yards from the road, and through the binoculars, it appeared to be a male and a female. There were a whole lot of other jeeps around, but we managed to out-wait them. Said said they were probably “honeymooning” as they were alone and not part of a larger pride. This meant that they were in the process of mating, which can happen repeatedly every 10-15 minutes or hours over the course of a week or so. After a few false starts when either the male or the female would get up to stretch of change position, our patience paid off and the pair mated. It was over in a flash, but we all felt like we’d seen something really unique, and it was just us in the jeep and the loving pair. Once it was over, they laid down again to snooze and despite us waiting a bit longer, they did not go for it again.
Just past that, we came upon two more black rhino, so now we’ve seen five of the 20 in the crater, which is sort of spectacular if you think of it.
We lunched near another hippo pool where there were several hippos floating about right outside our jeep. Lunch today was a box lunch that we put together before we left the lodge this morning. I had a tomato and cheese sandwich, a piece of spinach quiche and a piece of spice bread.
Right after lunch, Said with his eagle eye again spotted a pride of lions. This time it seems we happened upon a pride. My count was one male, four adult females and 3 older cubs (not tiny but still young enough to have their baby spots and stripes). We watched them for quite a while as various combinations of them would move, roll, stretch, but for the most part it was one big pile of lion. I was in heaven, no complaints here.
Just down the road, Said spotted a solo adult male lion sleeping alone. He said due to the proximity to the pride we just left, it was probably part of that pride just choosing to be on his own for a bit.
After 7 hours in the crater, we started to climb back up to the rim and head out. Along the way we encountered jackal, a warthog family with 4 piglets, a lot of really colorful birds. But all of a sudden we came upon a zebra pair who were just about to start mating. Of course we stopped to watch, and they performed spectacularly for us, although both looked at us awkwardly when they were done and I almost felt bad about it. Except it was really a privilege to be there.
All these encounters managed to be just us and the animals. Other than lunch and once at the hippo pool, we were always alone, no other vehicles distracting us or the animals. In many cases, like wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, gazelles, hyena, buffalo, we can pull up right next to them and they don’t even flinch. I resist the urge to reach out and touch them almost every time. Already this has surpassed my expectations. I cannot believe I still have a week left here. How much better can it get?
I go off the grid after today. No internet until Friday....let the withdrawal begin!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Safari Day Four
Day Four – A Masaai is turning down my bed
After a good night’s sleep during which I think I heard zebras outside our cabin, we had the same breakfast this morning. Said wanted to be on the road by 8, which was later than a game ride day but still a bit early. I was having trouble getting to sleep without Ambien, so took one late and woke up groggy. I also think the adrenalin rush from the first few days has worn off and I’ve settled into a routine here and am actually starting to feel tired rather than just raw excited. Not that that is a bad thing, just that the travel and experience may have caught up with me. But hot damn, I’m still in Africa.
Our first stop this morning was a Masaai village. This particular village had 10-15 circular huts for the 85 family members living there. The Masaai leader came out and introduced himself and asked the four of us to line up. Next thing I knew, there were about 12 men and women from the tribe parading out in front of us, singing a welcome song just for us. It was mostly rhythmic chanting and African instruments. It was actually really impressive that they came out for us. Then, as if this isn’t enough entertainment, they invited us into the camp and put traditional neck pieces on us and made us stand and dance with them! As a white girl with no rhythm this was an embarrassment but I figured I had to do it. The women mostly danced while the men did that really high jumping that you always see them do.
They are fabulously dressed, with that really bright jewel toned fabric robes. Some of the women had dresses on but all of them had wonderfully beaded jewelry or copper bracelets.
Once we were thoroughly embarrassed by the dancing, one of the tribe leaders took us on a tour of the village. We went into one of the huts, which we maybe the size of two to three phone booths at home and completely pitch dark inside, but remarkably cooler than the hot sunlight of mid-morning. There were two narrow beds made of what felt like thick branches and small fire with two pots was smoldering on the floor. I was unsure exactly how a family of four or more would have been in there eating and sleeping together. The hut itself is an Acacia frame with plaster walls made of dung and straw and dung roof. Oddly enough the women are responsible for building the huts and keeping them up in terms of filling holes, patching ceilings. As a migrant people, they move often and when they do, they just leave these huts for whomever may pass by.
The guy who was taking us around was 23 years old. He let us ask him anything, so I asked him if he was married and how that worked. He said they don’t marry until 25 and at that time his father will go out and strike a deal for a woman for him.
After the hut tour, we were taken to the school, which was about the same size as the huts only made only of Acacia branches. There were about 10 little kids, mostly toddlers, inside. They were all pretty dirty with runny noses and were wearing rundown clothes but they were so happy. The smiles I see here on the kids are heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The teacher got them to sing us a welcome song and then one little guy took the pointer to a chalkboard and led the class through reciting numbers one through 10, ten through twenty, the alphabet and vowels all in English. It is sort of funny that they sing the same alphabet song that we do.
After the school, there is a market of sorts run by the women of the village. It has a lot of bead and wood and copper works on display. We both picked out a few items we were buying not really because we wanted them but because we wanted to support them and the school that the older kids go to. The leader took us aside to offer us the “best price”, which came out to an exorbitant $250 for the mere 5 handmade items we’d found. We both laughed, having been to countries that bargain as a matter of course, but we felt that even with bargaining, starting this high was ridiculous. In the end we talked him down to about $150, but that was still a bit uncomfortably high. We just chalk it up to supporting the locals.
As we left, the tribe leader tried to “sell” us four of the almost eligible males in the tribe for just a dollar. We laughed and headed back to the jeep.
I enjoyed the visit but as time passes and I think about it, I’m more and more struck by the disparity between my life and theirs. Probably I will need to think on this more, because once the “cool” factor of being there wears off, I think I may find it more depressing than I do right now. While I learned a lot and learned to appreciate their lifestyle, I think it was also really a reality slap.
Our next stop was Lake Manyara National Park, which is known for its lush forests and vegetation. It was such an extreme contrast from the flat openness of Tarangire, and also attracted a different type of wildlife. Here we saw so many more baboons and monkeys, probably because of the more forested landscape. Manyara is also known for its tree climbing lions and leopards, but as we arrived around noontime, which is the known siesta for most cats, we didn’t see one at all.
The trip through Manyara was not a total bust, as we saw three hippos out in the hippo pool (rare to hit that right, Said said). We also got to see maybe a dozen elephants so close today that I could have reached out and touched them from my seat in the Land Rover. I am getting utterly spoiled by how close some of the animals are getting. It is so difficult to resist. I think we had to have sat and watched at least 150 different baboons on three or four different stops. They are fun to watch as they sit and pull up vegetation and chomp it down, or chase each other through trees, or pick bugs off each other. The interactions are just so human-like, it is amazing. There were also a fair number of vervet monkeys, which are the same as we saw at the entrance to Tarangire, but just in larger numbers. It is an awesome experience to sit in the middle of the path as these monkeys are climbing, playing, chasing and eating all around us, yet they hardly give us a second glance.
Today we also spotted about 6 more giraffes, but not very close up, and quite a few warthogs. Random impala, wildebeest and zebras too, but I think Said is skipping those as they are more of a highlight of where we are going next than they are at Manyara. I won’t say Manyara was a bust, but after the absolutely breathtaking two days we had at Tarangire, it was a bit of a letdown.
Lunch today was a box lunch we prepared this morning after breakfast. Mine was a chicken sandwich with lettuce, onion and carrot on a delicious homemade brown bread. Throw in a cookie, a donut and a pineapple juice and that is a great picnic lunch.
We spent from noon to about 5:00 in the park and then retreated for our next accommodation, which turns out to be the very lush Ngorongoro Farmhouse. We are again sharing a building (not a tent) with Connie and Marcia, with the separate units but shared porch. The grounds are immaculate and the room is really nice and modern. After we arrived we had cocktails on the deck outside the dining room and then headed in for a buffet dinner. The salad buffet was to die for, with a wonderful creamy potato salad, buffalo mozzarella, pasta salad, antipasto and regular salad. I could have eaten only this, but I did indulge in beef stroganoff on rice, a “bananas and vegetables” casserole and lemon tart and a brownie for dessert. I had a pina colada before dinner and sauvignon blanc with dinner, so I’m living and eating well. And they are obviously serving us foods we’re used to, which makes me wonder if that is to keep us from getting ill. All the food is fresh, the vegetables and fruits are wonderful and they reassure us that everything is washed with mineral water, to prevent us from getting any water-borne illness.
A Masaai escorted us to our room with all of our bags. He unlocked the door, gently unloaded all the luggage and then proceeded to turn down our beds and adjust the mosquito nets. Then he pulled the windows shut and let down the curtains. I was flabbergasted; a Masaai was turning down my bed for me!
Today was hot. I’m guessing it runs in the high 80s to low 90s every day but not humid like it can get at home. I sweat but not excessively so. The park today was cooler due to a lot of shade from the trees. Up here in the farmhouse, which seems to be quite elevated, it is much, much cooler, but a very vicious rainstorm passed through after dinner and really made it quite comfortable in our room here, so that we don’t need a fan and can keep cool with the windows open.
One mistake I made was to think that because I wore long pants today, I didn’t need insect repellant on my legs. Somehow the mosquitos made it into both pant legs, and I have upwards of 30 bites on my legs. Note to self, always use repellant. I.’m swimming in hydrocortisone now to get it under control for tomorrow.
Off to bed…
After a good night’s sleep during which I think I heard zebras outside our cabin, we had the same breakfast this morning. Said wanted to be on the road by 8, which was later than a game ride day but still a bit early. I was having trouble getting to sleep without Ambien, so took one late and woke up groggy. I also think the adrenalin rush from the first few days has worn off and I’ve settled into a routine here and am actually starting to feel tired rather than just raw excited. Not that that is a bad thing, just that the travel and experience may have caught up with me. But hot damn, I’m still in Africa.
Our first stop this morning was a Masaai village. This particular village had 10-15 circular huts for the 85 family members living there. The Masaai leader came out and introduced himself and asked the four of us to line up. Next thing I knew, there were about 12 men and women from the tribe parading out in front of us, singing a welcome song just for us. It was mostly rhythmic chanting and African instruments. It was actually really impressive that they came out for us. Then, as if this isn’t enough entertainment, they invited us into the camp and put traditional neck pieces on us and made us stand and dance with them! As a white girl with no rhythm this was an embarrassment but I figured I had to do it. The women mostly danced while the men did that really high jumping that you always see them do.
They are fabulously dressed, with that really bright jewel toned fabric robes. Some of the women had dresses on but all of them had wonderfully beaded jewelry or copper bracelets.
Once we were thoroughly embarrassed by the dancing, one of the tribe leaders took us on a tour of the village. We went into one of the huts, which we maybe the size of two to three phone booths at home and completely pitch dark inside, but remarkably cooler than the hot sunlight of mid-morning. There were two narrow beds made of what felt like thick branches and small fire with two pots was smoldering on the floor. I was unsure exactly how a family of four or more would have been in there eating and sleeping together. The hut itself is an Acacia frame with plaster walls made of dung and straw and dung roof. Oddly enough the women are responsible for building the huts and keeping them up in terms of filling holes, patching ceilings. As a migrant people, they move often and when they do, they just leave these huts for whomever may pass by.
The guy who was taking us around was 23 years old. He let us ask him anything, so I asked him if he was married and how that worked. He said they don’t marry until 25 and at that time his father will go out and strike a deal for a woman for him.
After the hut tour, we were taken to the school, which was about the same size as the huts only made only of Acacia branches. There were about 10 little kids, mostly toddlers, inside. They were all pretty dirty with runny noses and were wearing rundown clothes but they were so happy. The smiles I see here on the kids are heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The teacher got them to sing us a welcome song and then one little guy took the pointer to a chalkboard and led the class through reciting numbers one through 10, ten through twenty, the alphabet and vowels all in English. It is sort of funny that they sing the same alphabet song that we do.
After the school, there is a market of sorts run by the women of the village. It has a lot of bead and wood and copper works on display. We both picked out a few items we were buying not really because we wanted them but because we wanted to support them and the school that the older kids go to. The leader took us aside to offer us the “best price”, which came out to an exorbitant $250 for the mere 5 handmade items we’d found. We both laughed, having been to countries that bargain as a matter of course, but we felt that even with bargaining, starting this high was ridiculous. In the end we talked him down to about $150, but that was still a bit uncomfortably high. We just chalk it up to supporting the locals.
As we left, the tribe leader tried to “sell” us four of the almost eligible males in the tribe for just a dollar. We laughed and headed back to the jeep.
I enjoyed the visit but as time passes and I think about it, I’m more and more struck by the disparity between my life and theirs. Probably I will need to think on this more, because once the “cool” factor of being there wears off, I think I may find it more depressing than I do right now. While I learned a lot and learned to appreciate their lifestyle, I think it was also really a reality slap.
Our next stop was Lake Manyara National Park, which is known for its lush forests and vegetation. It was such an extreme contrast from the flat openness of Tarangire, and also attracted a different type of wildlife. Here we saw so many more baboons and monkeys, probably because of the more forested landscape. Manyara is also known for its tree climbing lions and leopards, but as we arrived around noontime, which is the known siesta for most cats, we didn’t see one at all.
The trip through Manyara was not a total bust, as we saw three hippos out in the hippo pool (rare to hit that right, Said said). We also got to see maybe a dozen elephants so close today that I could have reached out and touched them from my seat in the Land Rover. I am getting utterly spoiled by how close some of the animals are getting. It is so difficult to resist. I think we had to have sat and watched at least 150 different baboons on three or four different stops. They are fun to watch as they sit and pull up vegetation and chomp it down, or chase each other through trees, or pick bugs off each other. The interactions are just so human-like, it is amazing. There were also a fair number of vervet monkeys, which are the same as we saw at the entrance to Tarangire, but just in larger numbers. It is an awesome experience to sit in the middle of the path as these monkeys are climbing, playing, chasing and eating all around us, yet they hardly give us a second glance.
Today we also spotted about 6 more giraffes, but not very close up, and quite a few warthogs. Random impala, wildebeest and zebras too, but I think Said is skipping those as they are more of a highlight of where we are going next than they are at Manyara. I won’t say Manyara was a bust, but after the absolutely breathtaking two days we had at Tarangire, it was a bit of a letdown.
Lunch today was a box lunch we prepared this morning after breakfast. Mine was a chicken sandwich with lettuce, onion and carrot on a delicious homemade brown bread. Throw in a cookie, a donut and a pineapple juice and that is a great picnic lunch.
We spent from noon to about 5:00 in the park and then retreated for our next accommodation, which turns out to be the very lush Ngorongoro Farmhouse. We are again sharing a building (not a tent) with Connie and Marcia, with the separate units but shared porch. The grounds are immaculate and the room is really nice and modern. After we arrived we had cocktails on the deck outside the dining room and then headed in for a buffet dinner. The salad buffet was to die for, with a wonderful creamy potato salad, buffalo mozzarella, pasta salad, antipasto and regular salad. I could have eaten only this, but I did indulge in beef stroganoff on rice, a “bananas and vegetables” casserole and lemon tart and a brownie for dessert. I had a pina colada before dinner and sauvignon blanc with dinner, so I’m living and eating well. And they are obviously serving us foods we’re used to, which makes me wonder if that is to keep us from getting ill. All the food is fresh, the vegetables and fruits are wonderful and they reassure us that everything is washed with mineral water, to prevent us from getting any water-borne illness.
A Masaai escorted us to our room with all of our bags. He unlocked the door, gently unloaded all the luggage and then proceeded to turn down our beds and adjust the mosquito nets. Then he pulled the windows shut and let down the curtains. I was flabbergasted; a Masaai was turning down my bed for me!
Today was hot. I’m guessing it runs in the high 80s to low 90s every day but not humid like it can get at home. I sweat but not excessively so. The park today was cooler due to a lot of shade from the trees. Up here in the farmhouse, which seems to be quite elevated, it is much, much cooler, but a very vicious rainstorm passed through after dinner and really made it quite comfortable in our room here, so that we don’t need a fan and can keep cool with the windows open.
One mistake I made was to think that because I wore long pants today, I didn’t need insect repellant on my legs. Somehow the mosquitos made it into both pant legs, and I have upwards of 30 bites on my legs. Note to self, always use repellant. I.’m swimming in hydrocortisone now to get it under control for tomorrow.
Off to bed…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Safari Day Three
Day Three – Big Cats and Elephants as far as the eye can see
This morning we were up early so that we’d be on the road by 6:30. Breakfast was good, an omelet and pancake and some fresh fruit. Again, the coffee here is incredible. We all wished we had a travel mug to take a cup on the road.
Said expertly navigated our way back to Tarangire for the parts of the park we hadn’t seen yesterday. Right outside the gates to our camp, there were about 2 dozen zebras and a dozen wildebeest. I mean, right outside our camp, as in close enough to have in for a drink last night. I have neglected to mention to this point that at night, the Masaai will walk us back to our cabin. We are in the middle of wildlife and a team of about 6 Masaai will meet and relay us from one to the next as they escort us back to our cabins. That they are carrying bow and arrow, spear or dart gun will give you a gentle reminder why that may be. Slightly unsettling but pretty cool at the same time.
Anyway, back to our ride to Tarangire. Not so secretly, the hope was to see big cats, finally. I know it is only day two, but I won’t kid you, that’s why I’m here. I love the other animals, but please, throw me a bone here. Find me a cat.
We were at the park just after the sun came up and Said started cutting a path to parts unknown. Right off the bat, the visit here started off differently, with over 100 Cape buffalo. These are one of the “big five”animals that safari-goers strive to see while they’re here. They’re pretty angry looking and one of the few things that will give lions a run for their money. We hadn’t seen one yesterday and here they were, well over 100 of them just off the roadside. Said stopped the car and let us photograph to our hearts’ content until he said “Ok, ready?” which meant he was starting the car again and we’d be moving on.
Next up we came upon six ostriches, just pecking away at the low grass. We also saw six banded (striped) mongoose. So far, so good. All animals new to us. But would the elusive cats continue to elude us? We’d joked with Said yesterday that he was texting the animals just ahead of our passing by and we hoped he’d texted the cats this morning. You know, just to let them know we were coming. He shrugged and said he had, but got no reply from them. No pressure, Said. But how about those cats?
It seemed we never drove more than 5-7 minutes without seeing something for the first hour, and then we hit a dead spot and started chatting amongst ourselves because we weren’t seeing anything. Enough time went by that I contemplated pulling out the Kindle (ok, not really, it wasn’t even 10 minutes) but suddenly Said screeched to a halt and pointed up the hill to our right saying “Cheetah”. We all saw nothing. I mean NOTHING. Then he told us where to look, and on a termite mound about 50 yards up from us were three cheetahs, lying there regally, surveying the area, sniffing and just lazing about. I was beyond excited. Said said they were either a sibling coalition or a mother and two older cubs. Whichever, we must have sat there for about 45 minutes, just the five of us humans and the three of them, before other vehicles pulled up to see what we were so intently watching. It was SO NICE to have them to ourselves, without hoards of others around making noise or otherwise distracting us or them. Finally after about 90 minutes we realized they were going no where fast so we moved on.
Just around the bend, believe it or not, was a lioness lying right out in the open in the sun on the bank of a shallow stream. Said pulled to a stop and said “and two cubs.” Again, we all saw nothing until we looked closer, and there were a pair of the cutest little cubs right behind their mom in some shallow grass. Patience paid off as they finally popped up heads, came out and climbed on mom, and then encouraged her to let them nurse. At this point, she moved to the shade of a large bush to indulge them out of the heat of the day. Said said this mother had probably introduced the cubs to the rest of her pride, but was keeping them separate for now for safe keeping. Just about the time he said this, a group of about 8 elephants approached from the left, piquing her curiosity. Elephants will crush things like baby lions if they think the lions are threats to their own young, so this lioness stood up and shuffled her cubs off and away to a distant bush. Once the elephants passed, mom came back but her babies remained hidden. I don’t think the elephants even really knew she was there, but she knew of them and took steps to protect her babies.
As if this wasn’t enough, we came upon a herd of about 10 elephants who were speeding their way toward a stream bed on the other side of our vehicle. We of course came to a halt to let them pass. Then we followed them down to the stream bed, where there were already dozens of elephants drinking, bathing, rolling in dirt and play fighting with each other. It seemed every 10 or 15 minutes, another herd of 10-20 would show up and do the same thing. At one point, there were more elephants than I could count right in front of me, and more coming from every direction. This watering hole was very popular. As they came and went, they would pass right by our vehicle, sometimes under 30 feet from us. Said warned us to stay quiet and not make fast movements as the elephants are easily disturbed. There were several very small babies and many youngsters as well as females and older males (which were gigantic!). We stayed here well over an hour taking it all in. It was a panorama I never could have imagined a week ago. Bumper to bumper elephants, endless elephants. More elephants than I ever imagined I'd see in once place at one time.
At this point we’d been out for over 6 hours and the heat of the day was setting in. We also hadn’t had a stop for a toilet, so Said found one for us quickly. We’d decided to do the early half day of safari and spend the rest lounging at the lodge, so we returned here for lunch.
Lunch was buffet salad and dessert and family style main course. There was spaghetti with meatballs, a leek quiche, lentils, spinach and rice. It was all really good, and I think it helped that we were all pretty starving by the time we ate at 2. Dessert was rice pudding and a brownie and fresh local pineapple and mango, which was delectable. I’d been told by another A2T traveler I know to try the tangawizi soda, which I did. It’s like a more sugary ginger ale and really hit the spot after a long warm morning.
Here at Maramboi Tented Camps, all the tents are elevated and open but with a solid framework. As I sit here now on the communal deck in a large overstuffed chair, I’m looking out at the land we’re on and about 50 yards away are 25 zebra munching away. On the horizon I see three giraffes. On the other side is a herd of wildebeest. All of this is completely normal here. And it’s like this every day. This is so hard to believe.
We’re just hanging out this afternoon and having dinner at 7:30. I think an entire day in the land rover would be oppressive, both from a personal and physical standpoint. Its sort of nice to have this time to relax and have quiet time.
Technical notes…my binoculars are awesome, so props to Mom for picking out a winning pair. I’m able to get right up in the faces of everything I’ve seen and they are light and hardly noticeable in my bag. My camera rocks. The zoom is just enough to get me what I need and I am getting to be old hat at shooting totally manual. There is NO WAY my old point and shoot would keep me happy here. If I were to repack for this trip, I’d bring more shorts and none of the coats I brought. But it’s still early and I may be happier with what I have at some point.
This morning we were up early so that we’d be on the road by 6:30. Breakfast was good, an omelet and pancake and some fresh fruit. Again, the coffee here is incredible. We all wished we had a travel mug to take a cup on the road.
Said expertly navigated our way back to Tarangire for the parts of the park we hadn’t seen yesterday. Right outside the gates to our camp, there were about 2 dozen zebras and a dozen wildebeest. I mean, right outside our camp, as in close enough to have in for a drink last night. I have neglected to mention to this point that at night, the Masaai will walk us back to our cabin. We are in the middle of wildlife and a team of about 6 Masaai will meet and relay us from one to the next as they escort us back to our cabins. That they are carrying bow and arrow, spear or dart gun will give you a gentle reminder why that may be. Slightly unsettling but pretty cool at the same time.
Anyway, back to our ride to Tarangire. Not so secretly, the hope was to see big cats, finally. I know it is only day two, but I won’t kid you, that’s why I’m here. I love the other animals, but please, throw me a bone here. Find me a cat.
We were at the park just after the sun came up and Said started cutting a path to parts unknown. Right off the bat, the visit here started off differently, with over 100 Cape buffalo. These are one of the “big five”animals that safari-goers strive to see while they’re here. They’re pretty angry looking and one of the few things that will give lions a run for their money. We hadn’t seen one yesterday and here they were, well over 100 of them just off the roadside. Said stopped the car and let us photograph to our hearts’ content until he said “Ok, ready?” which meant he was starting the car again and we’d be moving on.
Next up we came upon six ostriches, just pecking away at the low grass. We also saw six banded (striped) mongoose. So far, so good. All animals new to us. But would the elusive cats continue to elude us? We’d joked with Said yesterday that he was texting the animals just ahead of our passing by and we hoped he’d texted the cats this morning. You know, just to let them know we were coming. He shrugged and said he had, but got no reply from them. No pressure, Said. But how about those cats?
It seemed we never drove more than 5-7 minutes without seeing something for the first hour, and then we hit a dead spot and started chatting amongst ourselves because we weren’t seeing anything. Enough time went by that I contemplated pulling out the Kindle (ok, not really, it wasn’t even 10 minutes) but suddenly Said screeched to a halt and pointed up the hill to our right saying “Cheetah”. We all saw nothing. I mean NOTHING. Then he told us where to look, and on a termite mound about 50 yards up from us were three cheetahs, lying there regally, surveying the area, sniffing and just lazing about. I was beyond excited. Said said they were either a sibling coalition or a mother and two older cubs. Whichever, we must have sat there for about 45 minutes, just the five of us humans and the three of them, before other vehicles pulled up to see what we were so intently watching. It was SO NICE to have them to ourselves, without hoards of others around making noise or otherwise distracting us or them. Finally after about 90 minutes we realized they were going no where fast so we moved on.
Just around the bend, believe it or not, was a lioness lying right out in the open in the sun on the bank of a shallow stream. Said pulled to a stop and said “and two cubs.” Again, we all saw nothing until we looked closer, and there were a pair of the cutest little cubs right behind their mom in some shallow grass. Patience paid off as they finally popped up heads, came out and climbed on mom, and then encouraged her to let them nurse. At this point, she moved to the shade of a large bush to indulge them out of the heat of the day. Said said this mother had probably introduced the cubs to the rest of her pride, but was keeping them separate for now for safe keeping. Just about the time he said this, a group of about 8 elephants approached from the left, piquing her curiosity. Elephants will crush things like baby lions if they think the lions are threats to their own young, so this lioness stood up and shuffled her cubs off and away to a distant bush. Once the elephants passed, mom came back but her babies remained hidden. I don’t think the elephants even really knew she was there, but she knew of them and took steps to protect her babies.
As if this wasn’t enough, we came upon a herd of about 10 elephants who were speeding their way toward a stream bed on the other side of our vehicle. We of course came to a halt to let them pass. Then we followed them down to the stream bed, where there were already dozens of elephants drinking, bathing, rolling in dirt and play fighting with each other. It seemed every 10 or 15 minutes, another herd of 10-20 would show up and do the same thing. At one point, there were more elephants than I could count right in front of me, and more coming from every direction. This watering hole was very popular. As they came and went, they would pass right by our vehicle, sometimes under 30 feet from us. Said warned us to stay quiet and not make fast movements as the elephants are easily disturbed. There were several very small babies and many youngsters as well as females and older males (which were gigantic!). We stayed here well over an hour taking it all in. It was a panorama I never could have imagined a week ago. Bumper to bumper elephants, endless elephants. More elephants than I ever imagined I'd see in once place at one time.
At this point we’d been out for over 6 hours and the heat of the day was setting in. We also hadn’t had a stop for a toilet, so Said found one for us quickly. We’d decided to do the early half day of safari and spend the rest lounging at the lodge, so we returned here for lunch.
Lunch was buffet salad and dessert and family style main course. There was spaghetti with meatballs, a leek quiche, lentils, spinach and rice. It was all really good, and I think it helped that we were all pretty starving by the time we ate at 2. Dessert was rice pudding and a brownie and fresh local pineapple and mango, which was delectable. I’d been told by another A2T traveler I know to try the tangawizi soda, which I did. It’s like a more sugary ginger ale and really hit the spot after a long warm morning.
Here at Maramboi Tented Camps, all the tents are elevated and open but with a solid framework. As I sit here now on the communal deck in a large overstuffed chair, I’m looking out at the land we’re on and about 50 yards away are 25 zebra munching away. On the horizon I see three giraffes. On the other side is a herd of wildebeest. All of this is completely normal here. And it’s like this every day. This is so hard to believe.
We’re just hanging out this afternoon and having dinner at 7:30. I think an entire day in the land rover would be oppressive, both from a personal and physical standpoint. Its sort of nice to have this time to relax and have quiet time.
Technical notes…my binoculars are awesome, so props to Mom for picking out a winning pair. I’m able to get right up in the faces of everything I’ve seen and they are light and hardly noticeable in my bag. My camera rocks. The zoom is just enough to get me what I need and I am getting to be old hat at shooting totally manual. There is NO WAY my old point and shoot would keep me happy here. If I were to repack for this trip, I’d bring more shorts and none of the coats I brought. But it’s still early and I may be happier with what I have at some point.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Safari Day Two
Day Two – Elephant Day
Our night at the Ameru River Lodge was really good. Of course it being the first horizontal sleep I got in 24 hours probably helped. Both twin beds were covered with mosquito net, which is a must here. There was a ceiling fan, but no A/C. It was warm but not unbearable, but after an Ambien I was out cold from 11 to 8:30 so nothing much mattered.
Breakfast here was good. I had scrambled eggs and thick toast with marmalade and a yogurt. The coffee here is to die for, a nice Arabica which is so very far from my beloved Starbucks I may never go back.
We headed out for our drive to the Tarangire National Park around 10:30. The drive would take about 3 hours, but it was just spectacular scenery. Yes, the same vast open, CVS-free, Starbucks-free nothing. But the clouds are spectacular and watching rain storms pass off to the side is like nothing I’ve seen any where else.
Every where we went today seemed to me to be like getting dropped into an episode of the Amazing Race, and one that usually has me saying “I’ll never go THERE”. All along the road, women were carrying large hands of bananas or buckets of food or supplies balanced on their heads. One one side street of white washed shops with handpainted signs over the doors, men sat at table covered with raw Tanzanite stones, dealing, cutting and selling them (not a safe market for we white girls!) Also along the way, we’d pass kids and they were just beautiful and hilarious. They clearly know we don’t belong, and would wave and shout at us with big smiles. This was both from school kids in matching uniforms and Masaai kids in robes like their parents. I started feeling like Princess Diana after a while, waving to all these kids, but it made them happy and it made me smile.
All along the route we found Masaai tribes people. They tend to live in round huts made of earth and straw. Both men and women wear vibant robes of either bright red or purple. Occasionally we’d see a teenage male wearing all black with face painted white. Finally we asked Said and he said that that male had just been circumcised and he could neither shower nor wear anything but black for three months. However now that he’d reached manhood, he could shake hands with elder men in the tribe.
We stopped at one cultural center where I actually managed to shop. I didn’t think we’d have the chance, but we lucked out. There was a tanzanite shop but I didn’t see anything I liked more than the tanzanite I already have at home and I felt that even bargaining the prices were not spectacular. I did buy some wooden products and tshirts. That should be the extent of the shopping, I think.
There were long periods of silence in the Land Rover so I decided to listen to some tunes. I started with Where the Streets Have No Name by U2, if only because it was what Bono wrote after his first trip to Africa. And I’ve loved that song for so long and liked it for so many reasons, but today with the windows down and the song blaring, it made a completely different sense to me. The landscape is beautiful, the people are as well. To me, the song just made sense. Again.
Arriving at the park, we were greeted quite literally by a family of vervet monkeys. Said had to move the Land Rover away from them or they’d climb in and have their way with our stuff. They seemed fearless and certainly not threatened by us. Once we got into the park and started driving around, we came upon zebra pretty quickly. They were doing their zebra thing just munching away. Then came our first herd of elephants, for which Tarangire is known. We’d come upon several more groups before the day was over, mostly family units, but once we found two teenage males fighting for dominance, and we sat and watched for a while. Said is good, he popped the top before we went in and he’d stop and turn off the car for photos, waiting until we were done to move on.
At one point Said spotted two trees full of vultures, and it nagged at him that there must be a reason, a dead reason, why they were nearby. He maneuvered the car until he could look down off the cliff, and there was a somewhat fresh carcass of an elephant down below, which the vultures were freely tearing into. Cycle of life, cycle of life.
It seemed that just about wherever Said looked, he made animals appear. Mostly impala, who are friendly, happy go lucky deer, but also waterbuck, larger deer like creatures, and warthogs, the mean tusked furry pigs. He even pointed a monitor lizard out that all of us missed at the top of a termite mound.
For the most part, the animals are fairly close. If they seem far off, Said would almost always manage to find a way to get closer. The baboons and impala were almost uncomfortably close. It is definitely a vast improvement on seeing the same animals in a zoo. Here they are on protected land but they have free reign.
No big cats today, although they are out there. But no snakes either, so big score.
I managed to spot two giraffe off in some high brush. Not close enough to be really excited about, but still cool that I saw them.
So far I’m doing well with this roughing it. I didn’t bring make up and when I couldn’t find a hair dryer this morning I gave up on my hair. But sitting with all the windows down in the jeep all day would make whatever I did to it fruitless. And covered with sunblock and insect repellant, Im a big sweaty greasy mess all day anyway.
Lunch today was a box lunch from our hotel, mostly things leftover from dinner, I think. A crepe, a dumpling, some cookies, a donut and pineapple juice.
Our new lodgings for the next two nights is at Marmaboi Tented lodge, which look like the elevated cottages in Dirty Dancing only with screened walls. A nice big bathroom and a living room that we share with the other two women on the trip. It’ll be interesting to see if I can sleep with all these damn crickets. It may be another Ambien night. The silence is deafening.
Dinner tonight was a buffet. I had ratatouille, barbecue chicken of some sort, rice, zucchini and a carrot salad (They assured us all vegetables were washed with mineral water). Dessert was chocolate bread pudding and linzer tort. Yum! White wine to wash it down.
Sitting now on the patio with Kim nursing a glass of wine. Way off on the horizon is either thunderstorm or heat lightning. Its cooled off some so should be a good night to sleep. We’re up at 5:30 tomorrow for a predawn game ride.
Our night at the Ameru River Lodge was really good. Of course it being the first horizontal sleep I got in 24 hours probably helped. Both twin beds were covered with mosquito net, which is a must here. There was a ceiling fan, but no A/C. It was warm but not unbearable, but after an Ambien I was out cold from 11 to 8:30 so nothing much mattered.
Breakfast here was good. I had scrambled eggs and thick toast with marmalade and a yogurt. The coffee here is to die for, a nice Arabica which is so very far from my beloved Starbucks I may never go back.
We headed out for our drive to the Tarangire National Park around 10:30. The drive would take about 3 hours, but it was just spectacular scenery. Yes, the same vast open, CVS-free, Starbucks-free nothing. But the clouds are spectacular and watching rain storms pass off to the side is like nothing I’ve seen any where else.
Every where we went today seemed to me to be like getting dropped into an episode of the Amazing Race, and one that usually has me saying “I’ll never go THERE”. All along the road, women were carrying large hands of bananas or buckets of food or supplies balanced on their heads. One one side street of white washed shops with handpainted signs over the doors, men sat at table covered with raw Tanzanite stones, dealing, cutting and selling them (not a safe market for we white girls!) Also along the way, we’d pass kids and they were just beautiful and hilarious. They clearly know we don’t belong, and would wave and shout at us with big smiles. This was both from school kids in matching uniforms and Masaai kids in robes like their parents. I started feeling like Princess Diana after a while, waving to all these kids, but it made them happy and it made me smile.
All along the route we found Masaai tribes people. They tend to live in round huts made of earth and straw. Both men and women wear vibant robes of either bright red or purple. Occasionally we’d see a teenage male wearing all black with face painted white. Finally we asked Said and he said that that male had just been circumcised and he could neither shower nor wear anything but black for three months. However now that he’d reached manhood, he could shake hands with elder men in the tribe.
We stopped at one cultural center where I actually managed to shop. I didn’t think we’d have the chance, but we lucked out. There was a tanzanite shop but I didn’t see anything I liked more than the tanzanite I already have at home and I felt that even bargaining the prices were not spectacular. I did buy some wooden products and tshirts. That should be the extent of the shopping, I think.
There were long periods of silence in the Land Rover so I decided to listen to some tunes. I started with Where the Streets Have No Name by U2, if only because it was what Bono wrote after his first trip to Africa. And I’ve loved that song for so long and liked it for so many reasons, but today with the windows down and the song blaring, it made a completely different sense to me. The landscape is beautiful, the people are as well. To me, the song just made sense. Again.
Arriving at the park, we were greeted quite literally by a family of vervet monkeys. Said had to move the Land Rover away from them or they’d climb in and have their way with our stuff. They seemed fearless and certainly not threatened by us. Once we got into the park and started driving around, we came upon zebra pretty quickly. They were doing their zebra thing just munching away. Then came our first herd of elephants, for which Tarangire is known. We’d come upon several more groups before the day was over, mostly family units, but once we found two teenage males fighting for dominance, and we sat and watched for a while. Said is good, he popped the top before we went in and he’d stop and turn off the car for photos, waiting until we were done to move on.
At one point Said spotted two trees full of vultures, and it nagged at him that there must be a reason, a dead reason, why they were nearby. He maneuvered the car until he could look down off the cliff, and there was a somewhat fresh carcass of an elephant down below, which the vultures were freely tearing into. Cycle of life, cycle of life.
It seemed that just about wherever Said looked, he made animals appear. Mostly impala, who are friendly, happy go lucky deer, but also waterbuck, larger deer like creatures, and warthogs, the mean tusked furry pigs. He even pointed a monitor lizard out that all of us missed at the top of a termite mound.
For the most part, the animals are fairly close. If they seem far off, Said would almost always manage to find a way to get closer. The baboons and impala were almost uncomfortably close. It is definitely a vast improvement on seeing the same animals in a zoo. Here they are on protected land but they have free reign.
No big cats today, although they are out there. But no snakes either, so big score.
I managed to spot two giraffe off in some high brush. Not close enough to be really excited about, but still cool that I saw them.
So far I’m doing well with this roughing it. I didn’t bring make up and when I couldn’t find a hair dryer this morning I gave up on my hair. But sitting with all the windows down in the jeep all day would make whatever I did to it fruitless. And covered with sunblock and insect repellant, Im a big sweaty greasy mess all day anyway.
Lunch today was a box lunch from our hotel, mostly things leftover from dinner, I think. A crepe, a dumpling, some cookies, a donut and pineapple juice.
Our new lodgings for the next two nights is at Marmaboi Tented lodge, which look like the elevated cottages in Dirty Dancing only with screened walls. A nice big bathroom and a living room that we share with the other two women on the trip. It’ll be interesting to see if I can sleep with all these damn crickets. It may be another Ambien night. The silence is deafening.
Dinner tonight was a buffet. I had ratatouille, barbecue chicken of some sort, rice, zucchini and a carrot salad (They assured us all vegetables were washed with mineral water). Dessert was chocolate bread pudding and linzer tort. Yum! White wine to wash it down.
Sitting now on the patio with Kim nursing a glass of wine. Way off on the horizon is either thunderstorm or heat lightning. Its cooled off some so should be a good night to sleep. We’re up at 5:30 tomorrow for a predawn game ride.
Safari Day One
Day One – The getting there
Somehow I look back on this day and I was in darkness on a plane for most of it, it seems. I left Logan last night around 6:30. We were blessed with the pull of the blizzard we were hit with over the weekend, and ended up getting pulled across the Atlantic nearly an hour quicker than we were supposed to. So early that we had to kill time in Boston before we left so as to avoid the curfew fine if we’d arrived before 7 a.m.
So with a quick less than 6 hour trip to Amsterdam under my belt, I geared up for the longer flight to Kilimanjaro. This ended up being about 8 hours all told but starting with the first flight it was a bit much. I dozed off and on and appreciated the landscape as we flew down over Africa. We landed here after dark, and when I say dark, I mean DARK. The bright lights of big cities that I’m so used to seeing when we land somewhere are non-existent here. The first real light I saw was when we touched down on a runway. But the stars are incredible. Just thousands of them, a blanket of stars all across the sky, like I’ve never seen before.
We disembarked the plane and it was 34 degrees Celsius, which was a slap in the face having just left winter a mere 18 hours ago. We did the cattle call for visa and passport control, with no air conditioning and electricity fading in and out periodically. Said says that's to alert tourists that we are actually in Africa. My luggage made it, which is always a good sign.
Our guide Said met us outside baggage claim. He’s a sweet guy who looks all of 20 but says he’s 48. He likes to joke with us and was pointing out what little we could see of banana and coffee plantations on the ride to our first lodge.
Arumeru River Lodge is off this tiny dirt road and it has about 20 little cabins with thatched roofs. It will be interesting to see it in the daylight tomorrow and explore the grounds a bit before we head out. Said said tonight he’d like to do the afternoon game ride tomorrow in Tarangire. Animals are generally out early morning and late day avoiding the midday heat, and as Tarangire is 3 ½ hours from here, if we head out mid-morning we’ll be there as they rise up for the afternoon.
Looking forward to a good sleep.
Somehow I look back on this day and I was in darkness on a plane for most of it, it seems. I left Logan last night around 6:30. We were blessed with the pull of the blizzard we were hit with over the weekend, and ended up getting pulled across the Atlantic nearly an hour quicker than we were supposed to. So early that we had to kill time in Boston before we left so as to avoid the curfew fine if we’d arrived before 7 a.m.
So with a quick less than 6 hour trip to Amsterdam under my belt, I geared up for the longer flight to Kilimanjaro. This ended up being about 8 hours all told but starting with the first flight it was a bit much. I dozed off and on and appreciated the landscape as we flew down over Africa. We landed here after dark, and when I say dark, I mean DARK. The bright lights of big cities that I’m so used to seeing when we land somewhere are non-existent here. The first real light I saw was when we touched down on a runway. But the stars are incredible. Just thousands of them, a blanket of stars all across the sky, like I’ve never seen before.
We disembarked the plane and it was 34 degrees Celsius, which was a slap in the face having just left winter a mere 18 hours ago. We did the cattle call for visa and passport control, with no air conditioning and electricity fading in and out periodically. Said says that's to alert tourists that we are actually in Africa. My luggage made it, which is always a good sign.
Our guide Said met us outside baggage claim. He’s a sweet guy who looks all of 20 but says he’s 48. He likes to joke with us and was pointing out what little we could see of banana and coffee plantations on the ride to our first lodge.
Arumeru River Lodge is off this tiny dirt road and it has about 20 little cabins with thatched roofs. It will be interesting to see it in the daylight tomorrow and explore the grounds a bit before we head out. Said said tonight he’d like to do the afternoon game ride tomorrow in Tarangire. Animals are generally out early morning and late day avoiding the midday heat, and as Tarangire is 3 ½ hours from here, if we head out mid-morning we’ll be there as they rise up for the afternoon.
Looking forward to a good sleep.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Bags are packed and by the door
The title says it all...I'm just about out the door. After my somewhat anxiety-stricken blog from Friday, I've settled into a bit of calm and am just rolling with it now. The overwhelming emotion I have now is expectation and incredulity. I cannot fathom what it is I'm about to see, and cannot believe where I'm going.
Africa...my third continent visited, and first below the equator.
Africa...where it's summer time now and so very, very far away from freshly fallen 6 foot snow drifts.
Africa...home to the big cats I dream about (and quite possibly a snake or two, but I have to think that everything else I'll see will outweigh that possibility).
I wonder what I'll be posting over the next 12 days and how I'll feel about it all when I return.
According to flight tracker, the incoming flight from Amsterdam is just about to arrive. That's the plane I'll take out tonight.
Off to have lunch and start my anti-malarial meds (that sounds so exotic!). Talk to you from Africa!
Africa...my third continent visited, and first below the equator.
Africa...where it's summer time now and so very, very far away from freshly fallen 6 foot snow drifts.
Africa...home to the big cats I dream about (and quite possibly a snake or two, but I have to think that everything else I'll see will outweigh that possibility).
I wonder what I'll be posting over the next 12 days and how I'll feel about it all when I return.
According to flight tracker, the incoming flight from Amsterdam is just about to arrive. That's the plane I'll take out tonight.
Off to have lunch and start my anti-malarial meds (that sounds so exotic!). Talk to you from Africa!
Friday, February 8, 2013
The second to last page is turned
I sit here now, with work far behind me, a nice coffee steaming on my desk, and I realize that all that remains between me and Africa now are three days at home.
The last 10 days or so have felt like the travel gods have been conspiring against me, once again. A minor health scare, a pretty serious head cold looking a lot like a flu and now the snow storm of the century have all made an appearance while I count down my last days. Believe me, at one point last Monday night, as I wrapped up in blankets and shivered my way into a feverish semi-coma, Africa felt like it was never going to get here.
Now as my last load of pre-trip laundry tumbles around in the dryer (gotta take advantage of electricity before we lose it) and I wait for Logan to reopen two days from now, I wonder what sort of imprint Africa is going to leave on me. I know, I do this with every big trip. This trip, more than any, is way outside my comfort zone. Hell, I don't even think I've ever even SEEN a tent, let alone slept in one in the middle of the Serengeti!
On the one hand, I suppose I'm about to see a third world country and everything that comes along with that. On the other hand I am sure I will see wide open space, nothing but air nature and animals as far as I can see. You mean no CVS, Starbucks, or gym on every corner? And for the last half of our trip, no internet, electricity or running water? Yikes. But does it sound odd if I say that that is extremely anxiety provoking for me?
Now I have to remind myself, this is why I travel. I want what I can't see, have, touch, feel, smell at home. I want the experience to be different. I want something that will stop my world, erase the hassles of every day life and make me stop and think. Gain perspective. Create distance from my every day life. I think, most definitely, chasing the migration in the Serengeti might just do that.
All that's left is the final packing, shoveling about 2 feet of snow, and getting myself to the airport. Nearly there...
The last 10 days or so have felt like the travel gods have been conspiring against me, once again. A minor health scare, a pretty serious head cold looking a lot like a flu and now the snow storm of the century have all made an appearance while I count down my last days. Believe me, at one point last Monday night, as I wrapped up in blankets and shivered my way into a feverish semi-coma, Africa felt like it was never going to get here.
Now as my last load of pre-trip laundry tumbles around in the dryer (gotta take advantage of electricity before we lose it) and I wait for Logan to reopen two days from now, I wonder what sort of imprint Africa is going to leave on me. I know, I do this with every big trip. This trip, more than any, is way outside my comfort zone. Hell, I don't even think I've ever even SEEN a tent, let alone slept in one in the middle of the Serengeti!
On the one hand, I suppose I'm about to see a third world country and everything that comes along with that. On the other hand I am sure I will see wide open space, nothing but air nature and animals as far as I can see. You mean no CVS, Starbucks, or gym on every corner? And for the last half of our trip, no internet, electricity or running water? Yikes. But does it sound odd if I say that that is extremely anxiety provoking for me?
Now I have to remind myself, this is why I travel. I want what I can't see, have, touch, feel, smell at home. I want the experience to be different. I want something that will stop my world, erase the hassles of every day life and make me stop and think. Gain perspective. Create distance from my every day life. I think, most definitely, chasing the migration in the Serengeti might just do that.
All that's left is the final packing, shoveling about 2 feet of snow, and getting myself to the airport. Nearly there...
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