Post #5 - Tanzanian Safari

S&P Bloggers,

Let us say straight away that we just completed of the best week's of our lives. Seven days through Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti NP, Manyara NP, and Tarangire NP. What really put it over the top was the amount of luxury we experienced it in. We splurged a bit and it was worth every penny. All in all the safari was fantastic value as Simon, the owner of the top-notch East African Safari and Touring Company, knocked off five hundred dollars each since we were volunteers. 

We made our way to Arusha from Moshi (less than two hours) as it's the gateway to the northern Tanzanian parks. The next morning our personal driver and tour guide, Innocent Frank (yes, his first name is Innocent), picked us up in a beast of a Land Rover. This thing could go anywhere, and the top came off for ideal nature viewing. It was amazing. We made our way first to the Ngorongoro Crater, an ancient and extinct volcano that has one of the densest animal populations in the world. We didn't see much besides Wildebeest and Zebra (we saw hundreds of thousands of these throughout the week) before lunch, but got a lifetime of "big five" experiences afterwards. Immediately after finishing our boxed lunches, we ran into a pride of female lions, one of which was sunning herself in the road. Immediately after that we got insanely lucky, spotting a couple of very rare black rhinos playing in the plain. In 1970 there were as many as 65,000 of them, and now it is down to 2,700! There are 18 in the crater itself, so it is here where you have the best chance to them (due to the relative small area inside the crater). They were fairly close, maybe three hundred feet, and most visitors to Africa do not get to see that. Leading up to the trip, Pat was most excited to see the black rhino, so it was a great moment all around. In contrast, Shauna liked the warthogs the best. Immediately after that, we had a ridiculous encounter with two fully grown male lions. We asked Innocent if all this was normal and he assured us it was not. The two males were right there in front of us, just relaxing in the shade during the afternoon heat. All of a sudden one of them got up and showed off, walking around here and there before sitting down again to stare at us. We were floored - what a first day. We also saw a lot what is everywhere throughout the parks; namely buffalo, hyena, warthog, the biggest bird you've ever seen in the ostrich, several species of gazelle, impala, and of course zebra and wildebeest. Our first night was spent at the lovely Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, where we had the best view from a hotel room in our lives (or so we thought). It overlooks the crater, sitting just on the edge of the rim. The restaurant/bar area's balcony is gorgeous, and we sat in peace and talked about the perfect timing of the trip. Everything except alcohol and souvenirs are included in the safari price, including meals and accommodation, all of which were choice. 

The trip got even better as we made our way to the famous Serengeti NP for three nights in a mobile luxury tent. Tent is a bad noun, it was more like a canvased home. It started with a covered "veranda" where we had two chairs, a portable sink they would put warm water in each day after safari, and a hanging mirror with soap holder attached. Unzipping the tent you were greeted with an amazing wrought iron double bed with a night stand on either side. Behind that and another zipper, there was the "changing room" with a larger table to put whatever toiletries or clothing on. Behind that (and another zipper) was the covered bathroom (top half open to the elements). There was a shower that could hold twenty kilos of water at a time, and they would fill it up each evening with hot water. On the other side was an actual toilet, and they dug a deep hole beneath it, covering it each morning after we left. There was a separate mess tent where we ate our impressive breakfasts and dinners. Most days we had a boxed lunch. The whole thing was incredible. We were in a remote part of the Serengeti listening to hyenas and lions stroll past our tent at night while lying in a plush wrought iron bed! 

The Serengeti by day did not disappoint either. Our first day we stopped literally next to a tree with five lions lounging in it. We were so close. They were in such contorted positions it didn't seem comfy, but who are we to question lions? There were two females sleeping close by and they gave us our only proper lion roar. That was awesome in itself. We also got up close and personal with some giraffes. They more than any other animal made us think of Jurassic Park (in the gas powered jeep, of course, not the automated ride with electric fences that fail). They are just so big and methodical. They are odd yet majestic in their movement, they reminded us of the brontosaurus. Our second day we found the last of the big five - the leopard (others are lion, elephant, rhino, and buffalo). Becoming more and more rare, we were lucky to see two throughout the day, albeit at a distance and in a tree not moving. Nevertheless we saw them, and we were happy about it. Our second day was also when we went to see the "great migration", an event that plays out every year and involves two million wildebeest and six hundred thousand zebra, along with many others and the predators that eat them. They basically continually move to greener pastures, from the Serengeti in the south to southern Kenya in the north. The bulk of the wildebeest we did not see for whatever reason (although we still saw thousands of these everywhere), but we did catch the zebra. It was breathtaking. There were zebra for as long as the eye could see, until they plain was just a sea of black and white. It made us think that that's what the American plains used to look like with Bison before we killed them all. It truly was a spectacle, and we feel so lucky to have seen it, as in all of the other experiences described. As if this wasn't enough, we also had our best elephant encounter on this day. A mama and her two children wanted to cross the road but got nervous by our presence. It's too bad we can't share the video here but it was great. Shauna yet again ran away from a wild animal (as she did with the bear in California) to the other side of the truck, behind Pat. Mama stomped her feet and for a second we thought she might ram the truck, but thankfully she did not. Our third and last full day was memorable for the last of the big animals we had yet to see - the cheetah. After hours of searching we finally found one, and then three, at a considerable distance. It was on our third day also that we saw possibly the most "National Geographic" moment of the safari. We ended the day at a large hippo pool, and there was a new bull in town trying to take control of the group. The current dominate male did not take kindly to this, as you could imagine, and challenged the newcomer shortly after we arrived. Again, it's too bad we can't show you the video. You can get the idea from the pictures. Normally hippos just look like big black rocks in the water, and the fact we witnessed the altercation was beyond lucky and fascinating to watch. The morning after we were on our way out of the park when we stumbled into yet another unforgettable encounter with a leopard. A full grown male had dragged an impala up a tree and was eating it not fifty feet from us in plain sight. He then stashed some of it high up in the tree when he had had his fill, cleaned himself off, and gracefully sauntered into the plain. Again we were floored. We could not and can still not believe our luck, and we are so grateful to have seen it all.  

After a brief two hour safari in Manyara NP (known for its different types of trees and thousands of flamingos), we made our way to Boundary Hill Lodge, owned by East African, our tour company. The rich kept getting richer for our final two nights. It is now the slow season and Simon surprised us by providing the honeymoon suite for our use. We thought we wouldn't get a better view than the Ngorongoro Crater, but we were wrong. We enjoyed a huge balcony that sat on top of Boundary Hill overlooking a vast African plain below. Words cannot describe how happy/grateful/appreciative with life we were. We watched giraffes feed from our bed. Enough said. The room itself was amazing, being built into the rock, everything catering to that awe-inspiring view. The pictures do not do it justice. There was a working bathtub on the balcony for Christ's sake! We now know where some bigwig marketing jerk for GlaxoSmithKline came up with those ridiculous commercials for Cialis. One night we simply sat and split a bottle of wine amid the sights and sounds of the African bush. We will never forget it. The rest of the lodge is incredible as well. The pool is carved out of the rock, and the food they cook is fantastic. The staff are all Maasai men who look after you with the utmost attention. The Maasai are one of the biggest tribes in East Africa and have many traditional customs they still follow today. A man with a weapon, usually a traditional Maasai spear, would come and collect us for our meals. We were in the middle of the bush and shared it with the animals, so the protection was merited. We took a walk through the bush early on our last full day, and for that we needed two bodyguards. One of the men, Dada, had already killed two lions - and he is only twenty-five. He demonstrated how to accurately throw his spear, and we were thoroughly impressed. They only kill if necessary, when the lions attack their cattle. They live in relative peace with the animals, and have no need or desire to kill for any other reason then to protect their livestock. After the walk we did nothing but read and enjoy the room and its panoramic views. That night we took a drive which was different and fun. The stars out there, as every night on safari, were flawless. The only comparison might be our time at the Tiger reserve in India, Rathambore NP. On our seventh and last day we drove through Tarangire NP, known for its elephants and baobab trees. There were plenty of both. The baobab is ridiculously large, able to live over a thousand years old. It is in a baobab that Rafiki (meaning friend in Swahili - Simba means lion, fyi) lives in The Lion King. 

No words can appropriately end such an epic seven days, so we will leave it at that. We're in Arusha, the largest town in the area, just to see it since we haven't yet. Tomorrow we go back to Moshi to prepare for graduation and the remaining two months of our journey...

Until then,

S&P