Safari

Maasai Market 2
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We arrived in Arusha on January 5th.  We stayed at the Impala Hotel for three nights.  We enjoyed our stay and mostly stayed around the hotel enjoying the pool and catching up from our long trip here.  We went to Roy Safaris office on the 7th for our pre-safari briefing.  Later that day one of their drivers took us on a bit of a tour of Arusha.

Day 1 of our 10 day Safari

On January 8th our driver, Salvatori picked us up at the hotel to start our 10 day Safari.  Our first stop was Arusha National Park.  Our first animal sighting was very emotional for Vicki, as she finally realized her life long dream of an African Safari.  We did a two hour walking safari in the park and walked amongst Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Wart Hogs and Bushbuck.   We walked part way up Mount Meru to catch the view of the area.  There was also a wonderful waterfall coming from the top of the mountain.  We had a wonderful stay that night at Ngordutu Mountain Lodge.

Giraffes
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Day 2

It was interesting to witness the Maasai people on our drive to Tarangire National Park.  They wear very colorful cloth around there bodies and homemade sandals and the men herd the cows.  The main goal is to find food and water for the cows.  They will travel sometimes for months with the cows and the 1st wife (the keeper of the cows) and walk miles each day, leaving the rest of the wives and children back at the family Boma (small grass, mud and cow dung huts with one hut for each wife).  The more wives they have the wealthier they are, as they have to pay  for their wives in cows.  Some of the wives spend the day gathering firewood.  They will walk many miles and at the end of the day they will come home with a bundle of wood, which they carry on their heads.  We saw one women walking up a very long and steep hill just before dark.  Our guide explained that she probably still had several miles to walk.  I asked if we could pick her up, but he said she would be afraid of the vehicle, as she had probably never been in one before.  Masaii people walk everywhere.  You will see the odd one with a bicycle, but that is it.  They can carry hundreds of pounds of fruit or vegetables or other things that they are taking to the market to sell on the back of their bicycles and almost as much on top of their head.  We also sadly witnessed them watering there cattle from the same mud hole that they were filling their canola oil containers with water for themselves.  This tribe is well know for jumping very high.  They chant and each male takes a turn jumping.

Maasai Boma
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When we arrived at Tarangire National Park we were very excited to see how many elephants and giraffes were in the park.  To our delight our driver spotted a leopard sleeping in a tree.  A few meters away he also spotted a pride of 10 lions feeding on a fresh kill of an adult male giraffe.   Tonight we stayed at the Tarangire Sopa Lodge and again were happy with our accommodation.  Here we had Hyrax, which look like a large rat without a tail.  Our driver swears they are the only animal related to the elephant, but I can't find anything that proves this.  I think he just didn't want me to freak out.

Maasai Herdsman
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Day 3

Today we drove to Lake Manyara, which is in the Rift Valley.  Our hotel was the Manyara Serena Lodge and is located on the edge of the Great Rift Wall.  This evening we toured Lake Manyara National Park and saw many baboons, elephants, hippo, and pink flamingos from a distance.

Day 4

Today we drive to the Serengeti (meaning endless plains in Maasai).  We drove along the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, which we will visit on our way back.  We stopped in a village along the way and went into a small cafe and bought some Samosas.  They were delicious.  We were also able to buy a SIM card and minutes for our cell phone here.  Our driver Tori, tells us that this road is excellent.  He says that last year it was impassible.  It seems pretty bad to us, but he says it is 1000 times better than it was.  There are many supply trucks broken down along the way and they literally have the entire vehicle ripped apart.  I'm sure some of them have been there for days, but they have no other choice but to try to fix the problem.  There is no one to help them, no tow trucks and no garages for miles.

Baboons
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We passed through Ndutu National Park along the way.  We witnessed the Wildebeest migration, with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra traveling to the southern Serengeti. They travel over 1000 kilometers to find grass and water.  We also saw 30-40 voulchers devouring a gazelle.  After a very long and dusty day we arrived at the Serengeti Serena Lodge where we would spend the next four nights.  The accommodations were great.  We had to be escorted if we went out after dark including to go to the dining room.  We enjoyed the pool overlooking the plains.  Animals could be viewed right from the lodge and I did have one snake come up to me when I was lounging by the pool.  Of course after screaming and jumping up on the chair the staff assured me that it was not a dangerous snake.  I am not sure if this was true or if they were just trying to ease my concern.

Spotted Hyena
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Day 5

Today we had an early morning game drive in the Serengeti.  We left at 6:00 so we were able to catch the sunrise.  What a beautiful sight.  Right after sunrise Tori spotted a cheetah in the grass.  The cheetah actually perched himself up on a termite mound as if he was posing for us.  This is the fastest animal on land.  It is strange being so close to something so powerful.  The cheetah has a smaller head and a longer body than a leopard.  We also saw hartebeest, hippo, crocodile and 4 lions and more wildebeest, zebra, elephants, giraffe and oh yah Teetsy flies (and they bite).  We picked up 4 stranded safariers on our way back to the hotel.  We left their driver to fix the flat tire.  Tonight there was an acrobatic performance in the hotel.  They were performing for about 20 people and they were so amazing they should have been working in Vegas.

Cheetah
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Day 6

We were met by our driver and group at 4:30 am to head off for our Hot Air Balloon ride.  On the way we saw wild cat and hyena.  After receiving our briefing we entered the basket of the balloon.  It is on the side so we have to lay down to start.  There were 16 of us.  After the pilot inflated the balloon the basket stood up and we were off.  The pilot moved the balloon up and down through the air coming very close to the tree tops and actually touching the leaves a few times. We spotted many animals and it was just a great experience soaring through the air, so quiet and peaceful.  Before we knew it our hour was up and we were landing.  A couple of bumps, but nothing major and we were down.  We were greeted with champagne and later driven to the third Baobab tree for an amazing breakfast in the wild.  Complete with our own loo with a view (a three sided tarp with a porta potty).  We met up with our guide Tori, who took us on a game drive.  We spotted our first male lion and were very excited when he got up and walked in front of us.  Lions only live 15-20 years.  The males are very lazy.  The females do all of the hunting.  The males are the first to eat after a kill.  There is one male for every pride and the males will kill each other to take over a pride.  They will also kill the babies of a pride if they are not theirs.  We had another great day in the Serengeti.

Balloon inflating
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Day 7

Today we travel to the western corridor of the Serengeti.  We traveled along the Grumeti River and saw some of the largest crocodiles in the world.  Crocodiles can go one year without eating.There were many hippos as well.  The river is full of cat fish therefore attracting many types of animals and birds who feed off the fish.  Tori spotted a cameleon and stopped for us to take pictures.  It was a beautiful green colour and quite unique looking.  Cameleons change from green to red when they get scared.  Tonight when we went to supper all of the staff were parading around the restaurant singing and packing three heart shaped cakes.  We thought that there were several birthdays until they came over to our table and sang a farewell song (amazing voices) and gave us a cake with "bye bye" on it.  It was very sweet.

Serengeti Sunrise
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Day 8

We leave the Serena Lodge on our way to Ngorogoro Crater.  On our way we saw a leopard in a tree.  He had just killed an impala and had drug it up into the tree.  We also spotted three male lions lazing under a tree.  This was absolutely amazing, as Tori was able to get the vehicle within about 10-15 feet from the cats.  They were so lazy they just sat there looking at us.  To think that we could be this close to something that looks so gentle, but is so powerful.  We crossed the border into Ngorongoro Region and Tori spotted three Cheetah right on the side of the road.  We watched in amazement.    We continued on over the bumpy, dusty road and soon we were driving on the rim of the crater.  You can see the Ngorongoro Crater on one side and the Great Rift Wall and Valley on the other side.  We arrived at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge and were very happy with our accommodation.  The view is amazing.

The Great Migration
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Day 9

We descend into the crater at 6:00 am.  We saw many elephants on our decent.  There are some of the oldest elephants living in the crater.  Some of their tusks actually drag on the ground when they walk.  The elephants are very destructive and can knock down whole forests looking for food.  We saw 7 lions today.  Some of them were mating.  To our excitement we saw 3 black Rhino.  They are very rare and are endangered (this completed the big 5).  There are only 20 in Tanzania and 13 live in this crater.  The crater is abundant with spotted hyena, who like to prey on the baby Rhino.  There were hundreds, maybe thousands of pink flamingos in Lake Magadi.  What a site.  There were also two hippos out of the water walking amongst the flamingo.  The hippos are the most dangerous animal in Tanzania.  It is hard to believe, as they seem so slow and subdued, but they can run up to 40 km/hr.   We also saw a small herd of Eland Antelope which are very hard to spot, as they are very shy.  They are the largest antelope and the older ones have white stripes down their back and belly.  We saw many babies with their mothers including gazelle, black back jackal, zebra, wildebeest and more.  The Crater is the only Caldera in the world that is still fully intact.    We were sitting by the pool in the early evening when we noticed a campfire.  It looked very inviting and reminded us of home so we went down.  It turned out that we intruded on a private party.  It was a family from Zambia and Tanzania.  There was the grandfather, children and grandchildren.  Four year old triplet girls and a 6 year old boy.  They welcomed us to join them.  It was a very nice time.

Cameleon
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Day 10

We did a morning drive through the crater and then ascend the crater up a very windy, steep, scary road.  Our drive back to Arusha was eventful.  We stopped at a Maasai market and enjoyed that very much.  The people were very sweet and we enjoyed giving them some presents that we had.  We bought some necklaces and salad spoons to help support their tribe.  Tori also stopped at a village on the way, as he had to pick up some charcoal for his home.  It is nice to drive into the villages and see the people.