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Published: September 17th 2006
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Snake Park
Day 1 - a visit to the snake park adjoining the camp ground. I held a Nile crocodile (only one year old so not really dangerous!) as well as this little fellow. The title of this blog is the same as the bumper sticker on one of the land cruisers my tour group spent the best part of week travelling around in and it truly became our motto for the week.
There was never a hurry and there was never a problem ("hakuna matata")!
I have excluded the details of the first 36 hours in Africa (from my arrival in Nairobi through to my entry into Tanzania) from this blog simply because it was entirely painful - switching hotels, transfers not on time etc. Thankfully, once in Tanzania, the trip was very smooth.
My tour group included me, 2 Americans and 5 Canadians so it was small but relatively cohesive group.
And just so many highlights to share.
We visited Lake Manyara for our first safari and saw what we thought were heaps of animals - but the best was really yet to come. Lake Manyara was teeming with bird life - the most spectacular avian aerial display I have ever seen, elephants, gazelle, baboons, monkeys, 2 lions (so far away but at least we sighted our first ones there), zebra, wildebeest, and hippos. It was lots of
Lake Manyara
Day 2 - Awesome sight of hundreds of birds (mostly storks) in flight with zebras and wildebeest below. And heaps of hippos too - just not in this photo! fun and got us in a really good wildlife spotting mood.
Next, the Serengeti. Just what I expected it to look like. It had the endless plains that it is named for, lots of wildlife, both birds and animals, and great sunsets. We went on a total of 5 game drives and saw something unique and entertaining each and every time.
The giraffe were awesome, the ostrich very large, the zebras, gazelle and wildebeest in droves, saw a cheetah unsuccessfully chasing some gazelle, saw a leopard eating a gazelle (see photos), and a lioness trying to raise some interest from her mate (not the other way around!)
Our final wildlife spotting mission was at Ngorongoro crater. We spent a night at the rim of the crater where some unfortunate campers in the tent next door were visited by a very hungry bush pig at 3:00 am. Their tent was wrecked and lots of screaming from the male of the couple, followed by the arrival of the ranger, finally got rid of the pest. Sleep was difficult after that but the morning visit of a male elephant to the camp was fantastic. I first spotted him trying to
Lake Manyara II
Day 2 - Bull elephant crossing between our groups 2 land cruisers! get some water out of the water tank! He then just wandered around between the landcruisers before heading back to his preferred environs.
In the Ngorongoro crater itself, we saw 2 cheetah just lazing by the side of the road, heaps of lions, including one lioness who decided to have a rest in the shadow of our landcruiser, masses of wildebeest and zebras, and a rhino. The highlight, however, for me was watching the hyenas, jackals and finally vultures, fighting over the lions' leftovers. To see a hyena running off with the head of an unfortunate beast in its mouth and laughing at the same time was so cool.
Of course, no trip would be complete without seeing the warthog. So funny those guys. Their characterisation in 'The Lion King' was spot on. Needless to say, the appropriate lines from 'Hakuna Matata' were sung on many occasions. "When I was a young warthog......."
Finally, non-wildlife highlights included (i) visiting a Masai village and being treated to dancing, singing, and a tour inside their temporary homes and (ii) visiting a Chagga village where we tasted banana beer and banana wine and saw a lovely waterfall.
As 3
Serengeti sunset
Day 3 - Just perfect! of the girls on tour (see the "Green machine" photo) had successfully climbed Mt Kilimanjaro the week before, I also got some great information about the trek and what to expect. Came in very handy - thanks Shannon, Janice and Jennifer!!!
Kili blog coming your way soon!
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Heather and Bernie
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Nice!
Ahhh, my dream holiday. Perhaps one day. Loved every comment and pics were fantastic. Keep them coming. Hope you are keeping safe and well. Love Heather, Bernie, Oscar and Ben.