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A Lion of a New Years

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Day 275

We weren’t getting the early start I thought we would today, I was eager to get into the Serengeti as soon as possible. The reason thoughdid make sense. The permit for being in the park is valid for 24 hours from the time you enter. So if we entered at noon today then we would have to be out by noon tomorrow. After breakfast the truck was loaded and just after 9am we were off. We passed through some scruffy villages, stopped for fuel and a drink. Actually our driver stopped for a drink, he then got back in the truck and drove off. Never asking if we wanted anything or even telling us what the stop was about. Matter of fact he didn’t really talk to us much at all.

W e entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stopped of for an amazing view of the crater below. We would be back here tomorrow night to camp on the craters rim and then do a game drive the following morning. We continued on towards Serengeti, and soon the road wound it’s way down to the plains below. They seemed to stretch forever in the distance. We saw zebra and wildebeest in groups moving along the plains and a few giraffe. It was amazing, we weren’t even in the park yet. We also saw several Maasai locals walking with their cattle, dressed in their traditional clothing. They would wave at us and shout things, mostly hello, other times to stop and buy something from them. The The Maasai may be semi-nomadic and still very traditional but they aren’t stupid and know how to make a buck from tourism. They sell all kinds of tourists souvenirs, I think they may be semi-nomadic in the sense that they move to where tourists are. The entire trip made for some excellent photos.

Mid-afternoon we reached the gate to the Serengeti, snapped a photo and started our drive in the park. It was very flat here with rocky outcrops spread amongst the plains. A scene straight out of the Lion King, heck I was waiting for the theme music to kick in and a lion to be peering out off one of those outcrops. We saw thousands of zebra and wildebeest moving along the plains. I think part of the annual migration, but I’m not sure since our “guide” had no clue either. Either way it was quite a sight to see so many animals all moving in the same direction. We turned off the main road onto a smaller dirt track while some dark rain clouds gathered in the distance.  We put the roof on anticipating a downpour soon.  Just minutes after doing this we saw it, finally our first lion sighting!  Not one but two lions lying in the grass next to each other no more than 10 meters from us.  I looked at Jordana and she just laughed, it was such an incredible sight to see.  We stayed just watching the lions for a good 10 minutes, I must have taken 20 photos.  You know the way it is the first time you ever see something, besides it’s a lion!  Eventually we moved on when not more than 30 minutes later we came across another lion, no wait we came across another 3 lions!  2 large females and a small younger female.  They stared at us and then they rose and walked right across the road in front of the truck.  So large and powerful looking, and so close it’s tough to describe how it feels to see a lion this close.

We continued the drive and saw 2 more lions, several giraffe, buffalo, thousands upon thousands of zebra and wildebeest crossing the plains and of course impala.  The scenery was tremendous and as good as Kruger was it was hard to compete with what we were seeing here today.  A few hours before sunset we arrived at our camp for the night.  This was more what I had in mind for this safari.  A cleared out spot right in the middle of the Serengeti with a few trees about.  No fences here like in Kruger, animals can and have wandered right through the camp.  As interesting as that sounded I was kinda hoping they would just keep their distance tonight.  Maybe they had a new years party to go to, hopefully.

Well we didn’t have a party to attend and our New Years consisted of the 5 of us drinking some ridiculously warm beer that we had packed in our bags and some kongyagi.  A pretty decent Tanzania spirit made from sugarcane that the Swedes pulled out of their bag.  It was surprisingly smooth.  I’m hoping to be able to find it at the LCBO back home, if not I’m thinking I should start importing it.  It may sound like we had a big drink up for new years but in fact we shared the 6 cans of Castle lager between us and then rationed the Kongyagi as well.  It was far from a drunken new years and by 9:30pm we were all in bed.  It was the first new years I can ever remember when I wasn’t awake at midnight, but it didn’t matter.  Camping in the Serengeti for new years sure beats any drunken night out at a bar.  Now a drunken night of camping in the Serengeti?  hmmm, maybe next year.

The Old Switcheroo

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Day 274

The day had finally arrived, our safari into the Serengeti. This was the most definite of activities before we left home. There were other things we thought we may do or activities that we didn’t plan on that we have done but a safari here was a sure thing. When most people dream of Africa this is the Africa they dream of, so there was no way we were missing out. We signed up for a 4 day safari, beginning in Lake Manyara National Park. Then onto the Serengeti and finishing with the Ngorongoro Crater.

Jordana and I waited in the lobby of the Arusha Naz hotel, the mornig air still cool. We had just finsished off a large breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, fresh juice and a Spanish omelet. For some unknown reason the Spanish omelet appears on almost all hotel breakfasts in Tanzania. We were waiting to be picked up by Nature Beauties, a tour company we booked our safari with. The Lonely Planet and various message boards had recommended them and at $560 U.S. each it was the cheapest tour we’d found. A man came in to fetch us and led us outside to the waiting safari truck. This truck looks old and crappy! Wait a second, Hartebeest Tours? This isn’t us, must be another Mike and Jordana. Damn it, it IS our tour. Yep, we’d had the old switcheroo pulled on us, something the Lonely Planet claimed no reputable company would do without informing you. Believe me when I say we were not informed. We were informed that our driver would “of course” speak English. Almost everyone in the tourist industry does speak English here so I wasn’t worried about that much. Well I should have been. We drove off to pick up a Swedish couple and a lone Aussie guy called Vorn, pronouced Vaughn. Aussies are always a bit different aren’t they? On the way it became quite apparent that our driver/guide was just going to be a driver for the next 4 days. English was far from his first, second or third language. As frustrating as our start was we were finally off and driving towards Lake Manyara the first stop on our safari. The 2 Swedes were friendly and the oddly named Aussie reminded us of our friend back home, Jeff Harris. So we had a good group at least and it looked like it would be a fun 4 days.

We all thought we were driving straight to the park and that we would be camping in tents just outside the parks gates tonight. Instead about 2 hours after Arusha we stopped in a small town at a basic hotel just outside the park, our driver told us we would spend the night here. The rooms were decent so it wasn’t a bad thing, although I would have preferred to be out in the wild camping. Isn’t that the whole idea of a safari? We had lunch and then finally convinced our driver to head into the park for an afternoon drive. He had been telling us we should wait to later and took off for a nap. When you work for tips this was not a good start my friend, lazy bugger. The park was only 10 minutes away and as we climbed the Rift valley escarpment we were given a fantastic view of the plains and Lake Manyara. It was the first time all day I stopped worrying about what was wrong with this safari and was blown away by the beauty. Manyara is famous for it’s elusive tree climbing lions. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see a tree climbing lion. The top of the truck is open, we stand on the seats with our heads poked out of the roof looking for wildlife. Do I really want a lion on top of me in that position? No.

The drive started through an area of dense woods with huge trees. It was a welcome change from the brown and arid landscape of Tanzania. We all poked our heads out of the roof taking in the woody damp smell of the rainforest. Quickly we passed some monkeys, Vervets. They are everywhere in Africa, sort of like macaques in Asia. Then we found a huge group of baboons scattered all over the road. There must have been over a hundred of the large monkeys just walking along, in and out of the forest. We stopped there, with our engine running. Oh did I forget to mention that? Yeah, our truck cannot be turned off unless we are on a slope where we can get a rolling start and pop the clutch. Great safari truck eh? Right, so back to the baboons. They just walked by the truck, looking up at us but not really concerned much by our presence. Then a few of the larger ones started a comotion and we heard loud yelps. About 10 baboons tore across the road chasing a few others, the howl and growl was frightening. They sounded like lions, real vicious animals when they want to be. The baboon being chased was up a tree and soon they all calmed down and went back to doing whatever it is they were doing.

Out of the forest we emerged on the golden coloured plains with the lake in the distance. We passed several impala, one time we couldn’t figure out why we weren’t leaving after viewing some impala that had long disappeared into the woods. Looking down Jordana told our driver we were ready to go, he was busy texting on his mobile! As we drove along the dirt tracks we came upon a watering hole that was fronted by a large muddy area. This was quite the scene, the quintessential African safari scene. Hippos lay in the mud, to the right was a group of Zebras with several warthogs in between them. In the distance behind the hippos were wildebeest and buffalo and just to the left were some large ugly storks and next to them 2 beautiful crested cranes. We were actually able to get out of the truck here for pictures. Amazing! In South Africa at Kruger it was a very rare thing to be allowed to leave your vehicle. Far in the distance was the lake, a sea of pink. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of flamingos. So many that from here the entire lake looked pink.

We drove off, following the track to a large group of Buffalo and then stopping to view some elephants and giraffes in the distance. Sure we had seen these same animals not long ago in Kruger but the scenery here was just stunning. We stopped to observe a lone giraffe walking slowly across the plains. I love the way giraffes walk, so graceful. This had to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in the wold before. As the sun began to go down we entered the woods again and came across an elephant that was no more than 5 meters from the truck. There was a baby and mother, but they were tough to see since they quickly hid in the bushes. We drove past some more baboons and then drove up the steep escarpment for a spectacular view of the lake and plains far below. So peaceful and beautiful it made us all completely forget the state of our truck or the lack of guiding from our guide.

In the evening we waited quite awhile for our dinner but when it came it was a decent enough and at least a bigger portion than the very tiny lunch we were served. It was a good end to a good day. I wasn’t sure I would be able to say that when we began this morning. Most important was that our group got along well. Imagine having a crap guide and then the three others on the tour were just as annoying? At least we didn’t have to worry about that. We tucked in our mosquito net and hit the bed early, tomorrow was sure to be more exciting as we drove into the Serengeti.

Sweating to Arusha

Sunday, December 28th, 2008
Day 272 Yesterday we caught the ferry back to mainland Tanzania and spent another night at the Safari Inn in Dar es Salaam.  We learnt our lesson last time here and spent the extra $3 on an a/c room.  A/C made ... [Continue reading this entry]

No Boxing Day Sales Here

Friday, December 26th, 2008
Day 270 We planned on spending 4 or 5 nights on the beach here but with the jacked up price of accommodation for the holidays we have decided to head back to Stone Town today. Bwejuu has been a relaxing ... [Continue reading this entry]

Do They Know its Christmas Time?

Thursday, December 25th, 2008
Day 269 Nope, we we know it is but it doesn't feel like it.  Do the Zanzibarians?  Sure but do they care?  They are muslims, probably not considering they don't celebrate it.  The rest of Africa?  Yeah they know, it doesn't ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Zanzibar Christmas Carol

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Day 268 Waking up under a mosquito net in a bed wet with my sweat from the heat of the night isn't exactly the way most Christmas eve's begin.  Outside Jordana and I sat down for our big fruit and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Looks Like a White Christmas

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
Day 267 We left Florida Guesthouse at 8am for the hour or so trip to the east coast beach village of Bwejuu. We plan to spend the next few days here. Christmas in Zanzibar? It promises to be ... [Continue reading this entry]

High on Stone Town

Monday, December 22nd, 2008
Day 266 Breakfast at the Florida Guesthouse is huge, like an all you can eat in the U.S. A Spanish omelette, toast and the largest plate of fruit you can imagine. Enough papaya, mango, watermelon and orange on a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Exotic Zanzibar

Saturday, December 20th, 2008
Day 264 "This isn't much of a breakfast is it?" I said to Jordana as we sat in the somewhat depressing Safari Inn restaurant. Actually I don't think you could call this a restaurant, it was a concrete room ... [Continue reading this entry]

A True Budget Safari

Friday, December 19th, 2008
Day 263 Up at 6am for the 7am bus to Dar es Salaam it felt like all we've done in the last while is full day bus trips. I think its starting to wear on us, travel all day to ... [Continue reading this entry]