'I know were Leopard is; I drive like Michael Scumacher' ...

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Day 4 - Arusha (Tanzania) - 2/8/09

Arrived at Hotel Boulevard for the departure of the tour, which left Nairobi at 0930. We stopped off for some last minute supplies and made our way to the Tanzania border. The roads were awful, shaking us around like rag dolls, up and down, up and down in the truck. On the tour there’s 23 of us picking up a couple of extra people in Zanzibar. Eventually after much staring out of the window we arrived at the Kenyan border. We all got out, filling in our departure record to be stamped out by a really jovial guy who obviously enjoys his job! After visiting the bureau de change, we walked over to the Tanzanian border to be stamped into Tanzania; this process took for ever as some people needed to get there visas on the border.

Again, I went to staring at the scenery as the truck started its journey though Tanzania, the soil was red to start with, changing to a grey dust colour again as in Nairobi; it’s a winder anything or anyone can actually live in these conditions! Hours and hours passed, all the scenery looking the same until we stopped for a goat that was just standing in the middle of the road and it wouldn’t move, eventually it did and we were on our way!

The next stop wasn’t till a lorry ahead of us was stuck, apparently too big to get though, allowing smaller cars and vans to dart though. We got passed eventually not being completely sure what the delay was actually for. We reached the campsite, put up the tent and unpacked; it was 2 people to a tent but because we had an odd number I got a tent all to myself. It took me ages to put up the tent as it has been years since I put a tent up! During the trip everyday we have a number of jobs - cooking, cleaning and security. My first job was security; basically we made sure that all the windows and the doors were locked and the truck was swept and clean. After doing this we relaxed and had a few drinks in the bar!

Day 5- Arusha - 3/8/09

After waking up and having a freezing cold shower, I packed my rucksack and packed my day sack and headed up to the Serengeti National Park. This morning, we were going to Arusha but before this we had to take down our tents. This was more difficult then it sounds, I had (once again) no idea how to do it until Moses, one of the tour leaders came over to help me do it.

In Arusha, we had an hour and a half to wonder, I spent it with a New Zealand couple, Maria and James who wanted to go to the central market. We made our way over there and we were befriended by 3 locals who took it upon themselves to be our tour guides; we quite clearly stated at the start that we wouldn’t be giving them any money for their help. The market was bustling and busy, everybody tried to get us to buy stuff; from tat to medicine, to food and live chickens! It was really intense! Eventually we made our way to the truck where our tour guides started to ask for money. Maria and James gave in and gave them something, whilst when the opportunity presented its self, I darted away into the truck, they waited calling out my name in a vain attempt to get some money out of me.

We got back to the campsite and waited for the jeeps to take us to our next campsite. Whilst we were waiting we went to have a look at the snakes display, it also had lizards, turtles, birds and crocodiles as well. The jeeps all turned up and we pilled bags, tents and chairs into the back of them. The jeeps took as to a campsite an hour outside of the Ngorongoro crater. We put the tents up (it still took me a while as I was by myself still), as soon as it was up we went to the Happy Days Inn for a few drinks, not too many though as it was an very early start tomorrow morning!

Day 6 - Ngorongoro Crater / Serengeti National Park - 4/8/09

I love the feel of the wind though my hair as I stand on the seat of the jeep with my head out of the roof as we speed thought the Serengeti. This evening was spent chasing big cats and it paid off by seeing a leopard that was in the tree; most of the other jeeps had left by the time the leopard jumped out of the tree and proceeded to wonder though the bush, crossing the road in between the few remaining jeeps and walking inches past our jeep! It was so exiticing to be so close to such an animal!

The day started early as we made our way out to the Ngorongoro Crater, when we where there I was asked to swap jeeps; we took off and I fell asleep to the journey to the crater its self. We raised the roof and stood on the chairs. The scenery was amazing; I cant really put it into words; it was truly out of this world! We drove around for hours and hours, taking pictures of zebras, warthogs and some hippos. All this said the highlight of the crater was almost seeing a kill, a pack of lions were stalking a pack of zebras and they all most got a kill, would have been better if they had!

After lunch we climbed the mountain to reach the Serengeti, the road was awful (like most in Africa!) and this seemed to last for hours and hours; my bum was killing me by the end of it! Very sore!

After tracking the cats we had to put our tents up in the campsite, had beers and a very late dinner and eventually went to bed as tomorrow is another very early start

Day 7 - Serengeti National Park - 5/8/09

Last night got woken up by some rustling in the bush, apart from that I got a very good night sleep, though it could have been better if I wasn’t getting up so early! Jumped into the jeep with Kopa, our driver and we were off with sun rising over the bush. Beautiful! I just wanted to see a cheeter. We started off by seeing some wilderbeast then some zebras, to be honest that didn’t interest me too much. We stopped after seeing a male lion that came about a foot away from the jeep; I was taking photos like a madman! Then this male called for the female; allowing me to get photos of them both together followed by another male attacking them briefly before wondering off. We didn’t see much for a bit, just driving around then all of a sudden Kopa shouted “I know cheeter, I drive like Michael Schumacher” With that Kop[a put his foot down and we bobbed up and down with aching asses for ages. We got to the cheeter and parked up like everybody else and waited. The cheeter was laying down doing nothing; all of a sudden he sat up and then he sat laid down again. We drove back to the camps, had lunch, packed and took the tents down and headed out of the reserve. On the way out we saw another cheeter heading towards the one bush; I stuck my head out of the window to take a picture, turned on my camera and my lens jammed by which point the cheeter had taken shelter in the bush. I felt like I had been cheated by the cheeter! The drive home was long, like 5 hours to the campsite. The funniest bit of the drive home was all the drivers taking a short cut on the dirt and dust. Kapo lost the front end a couple of times and almost got stuck in it. A couple more days we will be in Zanzibar

Day 8 - Pangani - 6/8/09

Today, was back to the normal routine; up, eat breakfast and take down the tents. Actually, it was a pretty boring day with very few highlights - a) actually got to have a shower today, getting rid of 3 days of dirt and dust b) finally get to leave the Arusha area though we did have to go back there today. My plan was to get money and use the internet. All the internet terminals were being used so we decided to go to Barclays bank, my card got declined. I phoned Nationwide, my bank and they said that there was nothing wrong with my account and something may be wrong with my card; I really hope not, that’s got all my money on for my trip! Got back on the truck and drove for hours and hours. Dusty plains where replaced with lush green vegetation splattered with the occasional wood house and village. Eventually we arrived at the campsite and set up our tents. I told Moses, the tour leader that I wanted to go to Zanzibar a night early, so this time tomorrow, I’ll be there!

The night however ended on a sour note when I got told off by the staff of the campsite for drinking as it was a Muslin campsite and we weren’t allowed to drink; I was a bit pissed as there were no signs and as the whole of Africa isn’t a muslin country they shouldn’t expect that people know that!

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Photos

Zebra Crossing
In The Ngorongoro Crater

Cheeter
Sitting Up Looking Like It Was Going To Move ... Did It? No