Well, ummmm...since I last wrote I got up to something. I started talking seriously with a couple of tour operators and camps in East Africa. I had a budget in mind and a little more than a dream in my head of going back to Africa. Soon. Really soon. As soon as I could.
And I made that happen.
I talked directly to camps in Kenya, which I decided to focus on for their big cats (namely, lions, leopards and cheetah). Maasai Mara, an area in southern Kenya on the border of Tanzania, is world renown for its lions, in particular. I narrowed down my search to two camps, and ultimately worked out a nice itinerary at a very good price with one. I ran the idea past Kim, with whom I shared a tent in Tanzania, and she may be interested as well. Whether she goes or not, I can't shake this itch, so I said I'd hold a tent for her, and book away I did.
This trip already differs from Tanzania in that I am booked directly into camps run by one company. These camps are in conservancies, which are protected areas bordering national parks owned by the Maasai tribes and set aside for wildlife preservation. As there are no fences or structural borders between the national parks and the conservancies, the wildlife roam oblivious to whether they are in a national park or a conservancy, but the visitors to the conservancy benefit from staying there because travelers not staying in the conservancy aren't allowed into the area and those staying in it can drive anywhere they want, including off-road (which is usually not permitted in national parks).
Flying into Nairobi, I'll spend one night there and the next morning fly out I chose three camps around the Mara area. The first stop is the Ol Pejeta Conservancy which is known as a home to many black rhinos left in the world. It's actually Africa's largest black rhino sanctuary. This conservancy is located at the base of Mt. Kenya and actually tends to be quite cool even during the hot summers months when I'll be there.
After three nights, I'll fly on one of those tiny planes again to the Mara. I'll spend two nights in one camp and three nights in another camp in conservancies bordering the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Ol Kinyei and Naboisho Conservancies from one camp and Olare Motorogi Conservancy from another. While I will take game rides into the national reserve itself twice, I'll take advantage of the secluded conservancies for off-road game drives most of the time.
The other difference between this experience and that I had in Tanzania is that these camps have their own drivers and spotters (wildlife spotters that is) so I won't be with the same guide the entire time like we were with Said. Nevertheless. these drivers and spotters are Maasai tribesman who have lived and worked in this area, so all reviews I've read said they are quite talented at finding the game.
Prices for this are all inclusive, even the alcoholic drinks this time, so in theory other than tips, I shouldn't have to bring any more money. I also eliminated any shopping and cultural stops, just get me to the bush with the animals.
I grappled with the airfare dilemma, as I wasn't thrilled with KLM and Precision Air's unceremoniously changing my flight coming home from TZ, but in the end, while I at least had other options (through London or Paris) I decided transiting through Amsterdam again was my best choice at that time of year. I hope I'm right. Airfare to Kenya is about $800 less than it was to TZ. The visa fee is half what it was in TZ. So see, already I'm saving money!
So 8 months to wait now. I'll be sleeping in tents listening to the lions again. And oh, the Kenyan coffee!!!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Travel Void
For the first time in 10 months, I find myself in the Travel Void; that is, I have absolutely nothing on the agenda or even anything in the pipeline for a trip in coming days, weeks, months. It's an odd feeling. There's nothing to research, nothing to look forward to, nothing to dream of packing up and taking off for. Yet after the last few months, there is something grounding about being home again and not leaving the suitcase open and at the ready on the floor of my bedroom.
The insanity of my most recent travel schedule started with trips to follow Morrissey to Brooklyn, Atlantic City, Reading, PA and Port Chester, NY. Some of those places weren't necessarily tourist destinations, indeed we managed to only play tourist in Brooklyn, but still they were parts of the country we'd not seen before.
About 3 weeks after Port Chester, I was off on safari to Tanzania for two weeks. A mere 5 days after returning from Africa, I was off to Los Angeles for one weekend, followed by San Francisco for the next long weekend, ostensibly to follow Morrissey again, but his health allowed him to only show up for the first of those weekends. With concert tickets fully refunded for other shows we'd booked, we still had airfare to Chicago and San Francisco for Morrissey's shows in March and late April, so we decided to carry on in Chicago for another long weekend, and change the San Francisco trip to Los Angeles for 5 days. Somewhere in there we did a road trip to NYC for some serious museum going.
Now just recovering from jetlag from LA last weekend, I'm settling back into life without anticipation. For the moment it feels good. I'm recovering from a cold that I was stupid enough to fly with. All my "travel stuff" is safely stowed back in the closet and I'm done going through photos and tallying the damage in my checkbook. For now, I'm reveling in sleeping in my own bed tonight. And tomorrow night. And all of this week. It's good to be home. I logged about 34,000 air miles in the first 5 months of this year. Good glory, that's a record for me.
That's not to say I'm not getting itchy. I'm ready to go back to Africa and kicking ideas for that around in my head. Any trip to get me there is tempting, so seeing good deals on Facebook is really starting to wear me down. As in, going in the fall. I'd prefer to "do it right" and go back for two weeks next year but the lure is becoming hard to deny. I also am feeling the urge to go back to Amsterdam, which might make the most sense for a quickish (non-budget busting) trip this fall and save up for safari in 2014. I have enough miles on United for a free ticket anywhere in Europe, and going back to someplace I know well would make a longish weekend very doable. But I also am somewhat curious about Oslo after the Munch exhibition we saw in NYC. And then there's the possibility that Morrissey may tour again this fall. If he does, I'd at the very least like to see the Northeast and mid Atlantic shows. Not sure if I'd commit to airfare for him again. Spoiled for choice, I suppose. I'm going to sit tight until June and see how things progress.
For now, I'll relish the homebody life. For now.
The insanity of my most recent travel schedule started with trips to follow Morrissey to Brooklyn, Atlantic City, Reading, PA and Port Chester, NY. Some of those places weren't necessarily tourist destinations, indeed we managed to only play tourist in Brooklyn, but still they were parts of the country we'd not seen before.
About 3 weeks after Port Chester, I was off on safari to Tanzania for two weeks. A mere 5 days after returning from Africa, I was off to Los Angeles for one weekend, followed by San Francisco for the next long weekend, ostensibly to follow Morrissey again, but his health allowed him to only show up for the first of those weekends. With concert tickets fully refunded for other shows we'd booked, we still had airfare to Chicago and San Francisco for Morrissey's shows in March and late April, so we decided to carry on in Chicago for another long weekend, and change the San Francisco trip to Los Angeles for 5 days. Somewhere in there we did a road trip to NYC for some serious museum going.
Now just recovering from jetlag from LA last weekend, I'm settling back into life without anticipation. For the moment it feels good. I'm recovering from a cold that I was stupid enough to fly with. All my "travel stuff" is safely stowed back in the closet and I'm done going through photos and tallying the damage in my checkbook. For now, I'm reveling in sleeping in my own bed tonight. And tomorrow night. And all of this week. It's good to be home. I logged about 34,000 air miles in the first 5 months of this year. Good glory, that's a record for me.
That's not to say I'm not getting itchy. I'm ready to go back to Africa and kicking ideas for that around in my head. Any trip to get me there is tempting, so seeing good deals on Facebook is really starting to wear me down. As in, going in the fall. I'd prefer to "do it right" and go back for two weeks next year but the lure is becoming hard to deny. I also am feeling the urge to go back to Amsterdam, which might make the most sense for a quickish (non-budget busting) trip this fall and save up for safari in 2014. I have enough miles on United for a free ticket anywhere in Europe, and going back to someplace I know well would make a longish weekend very doable. But I also am somewhat curious about Oslo after the Munch exhibition we saw in NYC. And then there's the possibility that Morrissey may tour again this fall. If he does, I'd at the very least like to see the Northeast and mid Atlantic shows. Not sure if I'd commit to airfare for him again. Spoiled for choice, I suppose. I'm going to sit tight until June and see how things progress.
For now, I'll relish the homebody life. For now.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Now I know -- Safari Tips and Tricks that worked for me
Now that I've been on safari and survived, I figured I would compile the things that worked (and warn against what didn't) and share them with the world. Not that I know everything, by a long-shot, but when I do go on safari again, there are a lot of lessons learned that I'd take advantage of.
Pack lighter. I thought I'd gone pretty light, but I realize now that I didn't really need the fleece, or the spare pair of yoga pants. Or snacks for an army. Or 12 rolls of travel-sized toilet paper.
Bring a few different camera batteries, a charger and a memory cards. You know, just in case. I always wanted two back-up batteries for each camera. I took a slew of photos a day (3700 shots over 12 days) and never wanted to miss one because I was low on power. Same with the memory cards. I also split photos up into logical segments by card. Tarangire on one, Manyara and Ngorongoro on another, Serengeti on another. I also found a battery charger would charge my camera battery faster than leaving it in the camera (and freed me up to use my camera while the battery was charging).
Take the best camera you can afford. The best thing I did was buy a new camera about 8 months before the trip, and learned how to use it well. You won't regret it, I promise.
Don't bother with "insect repellant" clothing. Seriously, the one day that I wore the insect repellant pants, my legs got eaten alive in Manyara. You STILL need insect repellant spray or lotion. Believe me. Paying extra for these pants was not worth it.
Go with sports bras. No matter how well-endowed you are, or not, sports bras provided better....coverage, shall we say, on the very bumpy roads of Tanzania. The one day I wore a regular bra, I was pulling the straps up all day, as they kept coming loose and falling down. I wore sports bras the rest of the time.
Shower before dinner. We learned quickly that we'd be sweaty and dirty from just about the moment we set out in the morning. By riding in an open topped, open windowed vehicle on dirt roads all day in the beating sun, you just don't have any other options but to be dirty. If we showered right before dinner (when the game drives of the day were done), we would be cleanest longest, clean for sleep, and ready to spring into action first thing in the very early mornings with minimal prep time.
Reconcile yourself to not looking gorgeous. You're on safari in the bush. With the top up and windows down, the wind's going to be blowing as long as you're moving. To think your hair can keep up is silly. To think that make-up is not going to get covered up with sweat and dust is sillier. Just don't bother. The animals don't notice anyway, and they don't know how dolled up you usually are at home!
Take binoculars enough for everyone. Sure the vehicle will have a pair or two, but I found that on the important sightings where we'd wait for a while for some action, it was difficult to want to (or have to) share. Everyone should really have their own pair, I think.
Don't bother with guidebooks. I would say that if you're only going on safari and not doing any independent city travel, you don't need a guidebook at all. Your guide will more than cover whatever you're seeing in the parks and conservation areas....however.....
Take a wildlife guide. I took Wildlife of East Africa and loved it. It is just big enough to contain great color photos and succinct descriptions. It is well-organized and thorough (there was nothing we saw that wasn't in the book). Our guide had a book too, but this was a nice supplement.
Keep a wildlife log. I took a very small notebook and a pen out with me on each game ride. I started a new page for each day and wrote where we were, the date and then listed every wildlife sighting in order. This made it easy to figure out "what that is" when I was looking at my photos when I got home.
Take TP, hand santizer, baby wipes. I'm normally a hypochondriac traveler, always afraid of catching something, but more so in Tanzania, all of this stuff came in really handy. Travel-sized rolls of toilet paper (which come in handy plastic cases) were helpful not only when we'd stop to go in the bush, but also in the few permanent facilities we came across that weren't stocked up. The hand santizer is a no-brainer, before and after bush toilet breaks, before eating, etc. The baby wipes were surprisingly useful, especially to freshen up a bit during mid-day siestas when it was too early to shower but we were already feeling grimey.
Bring a travel mug. If you love coffee, you will absolutely adore Tanzanian coffee. Every morning we left early for a game ride, I wished I'd had a travel mug to take it out on the road with me. This is one thing I MUST do next time!
Take a day bag. This may or may not be your carry-on on the plane, but this was the bag that went out with me every day. Its contents: cameras, batteries, memory cards, wallet, hand sanitizer, TP, wildlife guide and notebook log, binoculars, bug spray, sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, light rain jacket, anti-diarrheal, allergy and other medications, snacks, lip balm (SPF 30), kleenex, iPod.
Music. On some of the longer drives, I'd put my iPod on and listen to a soundtrack I'd prepared at home. Now when I listen to that same playlist, I get carried back to that drive and that scenery in my mind.
I hope this helps others getting ready to go.
Pack lighter. I thought I'd gone pretty light, but I realize now that I didn't really need the fleece, or the spare pair of yoga pants. Or snacks for an army. Or 12 rolls of travel-sized toilet paper.
Bring a few different camera batteries, a charger and a memory cards. You know, just in case. I always wanted two back-up batteries for each camera. I took a slew of photos a day (3700 shots over 12 days) and never wanted to miss one because I was low on power. Same with the memory cards. I also split photos up into logical segments by card. Tarangire on one, Manyara and Ngorongoro on another, Serengeti on another. I also found a battery charger would charge my camera battery faster than leaving it in the camera (and freed me up to use my camera while the battery was charging).
Take the best camera you can afford. The best thing I did was buy a new camera about 8 months before the trip, and learned how to use it well. You won't regret it, I promise.
Don't bother with "insect repellant" clothing. Seriously, the one day that I wore the insect repellant pants, my legs got eaten alive in Manyara. You STILL need insect repellant spray or lotion. Believe me. Paying extra for these pants was not worth it.
Go with sports bras. No matter how well-endowed you are, or not, sports bras provided better....coverage, shall we say, on the very bumpy roads of Tanzania. The one day I wore a regular bra, I was pulling the straps up all day, as they kept coming loose and falling down. I wore sports bras the rest of the time.
Shower before dinner. We learned quickly that we'd be sweaty and dirty from just about the moment we set out in the morning. By riding in an open topped, open windowed vehicle on dirt roads all day in the beating sun, you just don't have any other options but to be dirty. If we showered right before dinner (when the game drives of the day were done), we would be cleanest longest, clean for sleep, and ready to spring into action first thing in the very early mornings with minimal prep time.
Reconcile yourself to not looking gorgeous. You're on safari in the bush. With the top up and windows down, the wind's going to be blowing as long as you're moving. To think your hair can keep up is silly. To think that make-up is not going to get covered up with sweat and dust is sillier. Just don't bother. The animals don't notice anyway, and they don't know how dolled up you usually are at home!
Take binoculars enough for everyone. Sure the vehicle will have a pair or two, but I found that on the important sightings where we'd wait for a while for some action, it was difficult to want to (or have to) share. Everyone should really have their own pair, I think.
Don't bother with guidebooks. I would say that if you're only going on safari and not doing any independent city travel, you don't need a guidebook at all. Your guide will more than cover whatever you're seeing in the parks and conservation areas....however.....
Take a wildlife guide. I took Wildlife of East Africa and loved it. It is just big enough to contain great color photos and succinct descriptions. It is well-organized and thorough (there was nothing we saw that wasn't in the book). Our guide had a book too, but this was a nice supplement.
Keep a wildlife log. I took a very small notebook and a pen out with me on each game ride. I started a new page for each day and wrote where we were, the date and then listed every wildlife sighting in order. This made it easy to figure out "what that is" when I was looking at my photos when I got home.
Take TP, hand santizer, baby wipes. I'm normally a hypochondriac traveler, always afraid of catching something, but more so in Tanzania, all of this stuff came in really handy. Travel-sized rolls of toilet paper (which come in handy plastic cases) were helpful not only when we'd stop to go in the bush, but also in the few permanent facilities we came across that weren't stocked up. The hand santizer is a no-brainer, before and after bush toilet breaks, before eating, etc. The baby wipes were surprisingly useful, especially to freshen up a bit during mid-day siestas when it was too early to shower but we were already feeling grimey.
Bring a travel mug. If you love coffee, you will absolutely adore Tanzanian coffee. Every morning we left early for a game ride, I wished I'd had a travel mug to take it out on the road with me. This is one thing I MUST do next time!
Take a day bag. This may or may not be your carry-on on the plane, but this was the bag that went out with me every day. Its contents: cameras, batteries, memory cards, wallet, hand sanitizer, TP, wildlife guide and notebook log, binoculars, bug spray, sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, light rain jacket, anti-diarrheal, allergy and other medications, snacks, lip balm (SPF 30), kleenex, iPod.
Music. On some of the longer drives, I'd put my iPod on and listen to a soundtrack I'd prepared at home. Now when I listen to that same playlist, I get carried back to that drive and that scenery in my mind.
I hope this helps others getting ready to go.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Life Post-Safari
My day bag still lies on the floor of the second bedroom, binoculars, camera and the unused pack of baby wipes still in it. I notice it every time I pass through, it's just there open, ready to be topped off again and taken back out on a game drive. I doubt I'll use that bag again for anything but a safari. First, it's filthy dirty, and second, it's really not appropriate to lug anywhere but into a Land Rover for a day's worth of sitting, waiting and watching for wildlife.
And so life is post-safari. I've been home nearly 8 weeks now and not a day, not an hour, goes by when I don't think back on it. I've finished my photo album, gotten prints made and hung, and even put away most of my travel gear. Except the day bag. That sits there on that bedroom floor as a reminder of what was, and what will be again.
You see, safari has gotten under my skin like nothing else. Never, ever, in a million years would I have thought that I could stop my Type A personality and get it to slow down to the point where sitting for over 2 hours to watch hundreds of elephants frolic and drink around a watering hole was so utterly enjoyable. Or quite eagerly sit for over an hour waiting to see if a leopard would awaken, a family of cheetahs would hunt or if two sweet little lion cubs would come out of hiding after a pod of elephants passed by. And what I wouldn't give to wake up in the middle of the night to hear a stampede of zebras run through the camp or a pride of lions roar across our camp to each other, just to remind themselves, and us, that they are there.
Couple the incredible animal experiences with the gorgeous landscape and the warm, sunny days and it really is nirvana. I quickly learned to overlook the "being dirty" dusty and and sweaty feeling, the endless mosquito and tse tse fly bites and the less-than-ideal showering conditions as a trade off for what was otherwise nirvana. I missed it all before I left it, and I miss it more as it starts to feel like a dream rather than an actual trip of a lifetime.
All this said, I've already started to lay groundwork for the "next" safari, most likely in 2014. While I would love to revisit Tanzania and ride along with the same guide again, I remember what my guide in Russia told me: "Never try to repeat perfection, you will only be disappointed." So I've started to investigate other countries in Africa, like Botswana, South Africa and Kenya. I'd really like to try a volunteer vacation of some sort, and have found a lion research group that looks for volunteers like me. It's something to fuel my passion and keep me motivated while I'm busy doing other things.
So the day bag will sit there, as is, waiting for me to go again. Tanzania was indeed my first safari, but it most definitely won't be my last.
And so life is post-safari. I've been home nearly 8 weeks now and not a day, not an hour, goes by when I don't think back on it. I've finished my photo album, gotten prints made and hung, and even put away most of my travel gear. Except the day bag. That sits there on that bedroom floor as a reminder of what was, and what will be again.
You see, safari has gotten under my skin like nothing else. Never, ever, in a million years would I have thought that I could stop my Type A personality and get it to slow down to the point where sitting for over 2 hours to watch hundreds of elephants frolic and drink around a watering hole was so utterly enjoyable. Or quite eagerly sit for over an hour waiting to see if a leopard would awaken, a family of cheetahs would hunt or if two sweet little lion cubs would come out of hiding after a pod of elephants passed by. And what I wouldn't give to wake up in the middle of the night to hear a stampede of zebras run through the camp or a pride of lions roar across our camp to each other, just to remind themselves, and us, that they are there.
Couple the incredible animal experiences with the gorgeous landscape and the warm, sunny days and it really is nirvana. I quickly learned to overlook the "being dirty" dusty and and sweaty feeling, the endless mosquito and tse tse fly bites and the less-than-ideal showering conditions as a trade off for what was otherwise nirvana. I missed it all before I left it, and I miss it more as it starts to feel like a dream rather than an actual trip of a lifetime.
All this said, I've already started to lay groundwork for the "next" safari, most likely in 2014. While I would love to revisit Tanzania and ride along with the same guide again, I remember what my guide in Russia told me: "Never try to repeat perfection, you will only be disappointed." So I've started to investigate other countries in Africa, like Botswana, South Africa and Kenya. I'd really like to try a volunteer vacation of some sort, and have found a lion research group that looks for volunteers like me. It's something to fuel my passion and keep me motivated while I'm busy doing other things.
So the day bag will sit there, as is, waiting for me to go again. Tanzania was indeed my first safari, but it most definitely won't be my last.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Safari Day Eleven
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.
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.
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….
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