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Published: November 3rd 2009
9th August Wednesday DAY 19 NAIROBI to ARUSHA
A great way to start the morning is being forced to have a cold shower when you have to also wash your hair. Brrrrr. Good news was that the radio on the truck was now fixed so the new group jammed along, passing into TANZANIA and had our lunch stop in Arusha where I pigged out on a massive macon, egg, beef, hash brown burger and chips. Tried to get more money again and got a photo in the centre of Africa, between Cape Town and Cairo! The name Tanzania comes from the joining of the two former countries of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. (The two united in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which later the same year was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania.)
Some of the group stayed in town to watch a soccer match and the rest of us went shopping for supplies and Robin and I got measured and picked up some local material to get 2 skirts made up. On the way to our next campsite, called The Snake Park we passed some amazing scenery with some beautiful markets alive with colours
and people! The new group seems very girly and very young, but I’m yet to really talk to anyone so we will see. After setting up our tent, Robin and I checked out the actual animals in the Snake Park being snakes (obviously), lizards, birds, crocs and turtles. The snakes were huge and gave me the heebee jeebee’s although I found out Robin loves them! We started to get attacked by mozzies so headed back and had our massive buffet dinner. Afterwards we got into the drinks and it ended up being a full on night, emotionally and alcoholically. Helen started off by buying us all ACACIA ANIMAL shots (our tours run through all the time obviously) and with a few beers I was on my way. I also inappropriately had a bitch to Oli about the Swiss girls which was not a good idea, blame the alcohol. I have had issues with these bloody Swiss sisters since they arrived so I just needed to vent! I was checking out a guy across the room and I told the girls but he came over and talked to Fiona and she flirted with him even though she knew I was keen
on him! He ended up coming over to talk to Paul and myself later (then Paul left me and again I was not included for the rest of the night!) but I did get talking to the cute guy. But when I came back from the toilet he was again with Fiona, so I took off to bed with the shits. I have no idea what time it was and Robin wasn’t in the tent (ahem tent madam!!!) so I was definitely alone tonight. (But you go Robin!)
10th August Thursday DAY 20 ARUSHA to SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK (6 months away also)
Woke up and Robin still was not in the tent, well then! Although I found out later that she had come back so don’t worry, she is alive! I had obviously passed out till morning. And oh the hangover, shit! I was able to eat breakfast but when it came to waiting for our 4x4 jeeps I felt absolutely terrible. In my 4x4 was Robin, Bron, Al, Laura and of course we were waiting for Dave (again) who was fluffing around in his usual ritual! It was difficult to understand our driver (as Tanzanians have trouble
The centre of Africa
We were halfway between Cape Town and Cairo. Copyright Robinpronouncing the letter R) and when he introduced himself to us I thought he said Lowlands, which I though was a highly appropriate name for an African, but it ended up being Laurence!
So we are off to the Serengeti, (minus Helen and Pat who stayed at the Snake Park and she was throwing up all morning) something I have been dreaming about and I am with a hangover! What a smart move. I tried to sleep on the way but there was no success. Making our way up the mountainside I saw my first Baobab tree, which was hugely impressive (my second favourite tree after Acacia), along with the view of Lake Manyara NP. At the gate as we were about to officially enter THE Serengeti NP I was still feeling shit and like chunder town was going to pay me a visit!
We arrived at the crater rim and the view of Ngorongoro Crater was absolutely stunning and even better then I expected (considering I am one of high expectations!) The crater is World Heritage Listed with a huge salt lake in the middle. It’s completely amazing to think of this ecosystem thriving in an extinct
volcano that erupted 3 million years ago. We could see the dust spreading from the cars below but not the cars themselves, and some of the buffalo in big herds but that was about it. A fair dinkum, no doubt about it, highlight to this trip. From the crater rim lookout to the official entrance of the Serengeti Park we passed through 6 different ecosystems that I noticed. Once inside the park the road got even bumpier and dustier and at the permit point we had a 360º view of the park with the local Giraffe and Agama lizards. It was stunning and from here you could understand the parks name Serengeti, coming from the Maasai word “Siringet” referring to an ‘endless plain’. As far as the eye could see was yellow grasslands and it sounds boring but it was absolutely stunning. This vastness contains one of the greatest concentrations of plain animals on earth.
“The plains were formed 3-4 million years ago when ash blown from volcanoes in the Ngorongoro highlands covered the rolling landscape. These thick layers of ash preserved traces of early man, and established the rich soil, which supports the southern grass plains. From this
early beginning, man and wildlife have shared this magical place. The combination of Serengeti National Park and its buffer zones of Ngorongoro Conservation Area, four game reserves, one game controlled area and Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve make up the largest single movement of wildlife on Earth between them. Each year the Serengeti National Park generates more revenue than it spends; the remainder goes to support other national parks which are not yet self sufficient.” Brochure
Back in the 4x4’s about to embark on our official game drive we got to pop the tops and were on our way. The driving itself was awesome, and I tried to take it all in. I felt so free with my hair blowing in the wind getting all tangled, so alive with the dust in my eyes and satisfied with the dirt in my mouth. I could do this for the rest of my life and be highly satisfied.
Our first big sightings were 10 elephants grazing away on the side of the road, and this was the first time I felt like I wasn’t in a zoo watching, and all the jeeps actually stayed on the road. We weren’t imposing
on their day and there weren’t a stupid amount of cars watching, I guess it’s a slightly bigger park at 14,763 km2 (roughly the same size of Northern Ireland) compared to 1,510 km2 for Masai! We didn’t watch them for too long before we were off again scanning the horizon. Pumba’s and Gazelle’s were everywhere and when we stopped at the watering hole we spotted hippos having a soak. If scanning the horizon doesn’t seem to be working the same rule applies as in Masai: follow the other cars and look in the directions they have their cameras pointed. This worked for spotting our first, and very elusive LEOPARD in amongst the Acacia trees. Robin was the first again in our group to actually see it (she must eat a lot of carrots) and she was down on a fallen tree eating something, so we had again missed the kill, but none of us had seen a Leopard before so we were all very excited. Out of the big 5 this is the hardest animal to spot. We watched for a while and it ended up dragging its kill up the tall tree and into the canopy where it was
impossible to see, had it not been for us following it. We drove round to the other side of the trees to try and get a better look and we then couldn’t find it again, until Robin again (are you secretly a hunter?) spotted it. She was hanging over a branch, completely motionless apart from her tail swinging from side to side.
Laurence decided it was time to get back to camp as it was getting late and on the way I noticed Dandy in another jeep with his big ass lens out taking photos of what looked like a lion close up. And it was so we pleaded with Laurence to take us there but he wouldn’t crack. We started to chant Laurence, Laurence, Laurence then Li…on, Li…on, Li…on with us laughing in between. We came to the junction in the road where the last chance to see the Lion and we egged Laurence on more and it was cheers all round when he chose the Lion for us, driving like a mad man to get us there, almost hitting some guinea fowl on the way. The Lioness was sitting on a mound right next to the road
so elegantly, but to be in Dandy’s jeep would have been awesomely close with her easily being able to jump in for a ride, or dinner! She was wearing a collar so she must have been part of some research. When she was done with our excitement she slowly walked off into the distance, then we charged to the camping ground admiring the magnificent sunset of pinks lighting up the sky.
Our campground was right in the park with no fences or barriers against the wild wild world of animals in the park. Dinner was shit (as too the toilets) but we sat around the fire, most people talking, but Robin went to bed early and I sat up hypnotised by the fire and hoping to hear a lion roar. I slept with only the flysheet closed, in the hope of seeing some animals walking past our tent.
So I have now seen all of the BIG 5, being Buffalo, Rhino, Lion, Elephant and Leopard. The Big 5 are not ranked by size or most popular, they are actually the Big 5 in terms of how hard it used to be to hunt them! I have also now
seen the Big 9, which is ranked in terms of game viewing, that being the big 5 just mentioned along with Cheetah, Wildebeest, Hippo and Giraffe.
11th August Friday DAY 21 SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK to NGORONGORO CRATER
Up at 6am and left the campsite last due to bloody Dave! This time I got in the front and it was much better as I could hear Laurence and there was no one obstructing my view. It was freezing cold so we all had to layer up, but it was worth it just to see the beautiful sunrise, amazing and what I expected from the Serengeti. First sighting was a lone buffalo and then there was a lone Lion spraying a tree and doing lots of sniffing. It was good to see a Lion up and moving around instead of lying around. We thought we had lost him in some marshland but he ended up coming out the other side so we went and watched him some more. Later we came across a Cheetah sitting on its own with another Cheetah sitting a few hundred meters off. The furthest one chased the closest one off and we thought that they
The Baobab Tree
Adansonia is the genus of Baobab trees which contains 8 species of trees, native to Madagascar, mainland Africa and Australia. might have wanted to mate, who knows. We got a heads up about some Lions and went to check it out and there was one Lioness just chilling out by the road. Then we spotted about 10 Elephants, one was a huge male who was actually a little agro, flapping his ears and shaking his head, I think he thought we were trying to separate him from his heard.
Later we saw an awesome sight of about 26 Elephants all walking in a long line. The Serengeti Visitors Centre was awesome and very informative, with a 45min stop not nearly being enough. Robin was happy, as there were Dassies everywhere.
After Lunch and packing up the tents we left the Serengeti ☹ to make our way to the crater ☺, where I had a little nap and almost ended up on Laurence’s shoulder, which would have been pretty funny as Robin thinks he has a crush on me!
Before The Ngorongoro Crater we stopped of at the Olduvai Gorge (originally called Oldupai Gorge after the vegetation in the area but misheard by white people). It was here that Dr. Louis Leakey discovered
the remains of Homo Habilis or Handy Man regarded as mankind's first step on the ladder of human evolution, with the famous fossil footprints left behind 3 million years ago by humanoids. Many more fossils have been discovered here including those of prehistoric elephants, giant horned sheep and enormous ostriches.
“But when, fifty years from now, a lion walks into the red dawn and roars resoundingly, it will mean something to people and quicken their hearts whether they are Africans or Europeans, or whether thy speak English, German, Russian or Swahili. They will stand in quiet awe as, for the first time in their lives, they watch twenty thousand zebras wander across the endless plains.” Bernhard Grzimek, 1959. Quote from Olduvai Gorge
Closer to the crater the sky was absolutely awesome with a huge flat-bottomed cloud covering the top of the crater; I could have sat there for ages watching it. We collected some firewood along the way (trying to forget it actually) and set up camp right on the craters rim. Robin and I had a Serengeti beer to celebrate as we sat around the campfire singing Disney songs with everyone like Lion King, Aladdin and then
Old McDonald but with Elephant and Lion noises. One of the guys came back from over near the bushes after taking a leak and told us he heard some noises that freaked him out a little. So some of us went to investigate with a torch to find a bloody huge Elephant with massive tusks just eating away at the vegetation, he was right on the other side of the road, so about 3 meters from us, what an awesome feeling! I was so tempted to take a photo but the flash would have been a death sentence, so we watched him for a while under the moonlight that we also watched come up from behind a cloud. We still felt a little left out so we went to bed and had a good chat and got all excited when I thought I heard a Lion, but it ended up just being a snorer from the group! Robin almost fell asleep while I talked about a boy! Ha.
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Robin
non-member comment
I wanna go back!!!
My god, Africa was amazing! It's great to re-live the experience in photos, but I wanna do it again for real. Hopefully my long distance wildlife spotting eyes last longer than my failing close up reading eyes :-) But, who would have thought it could get so bloody cold in Africa, the Crater was absolutely freezing!!!