The last four days we have been on safari in some of the
world’s best wildlife parks. Juliet & I got into the jeep in Moshi and
along the way picked up a Japanese backpacker Yaz, in Arusha along with a
French couple from Mayotte (an island off the coast of Madagascar). With our
local guide Peter that was our team and we were off on our safari adventure.
The drive to the national parks was what Peter described as
an African massage, which I can wholeheartedly agree with. Every organ and part
of your body vibrated along the bumpy road with such ferocity that when you
stopped it felt like you’d just done an aerobics workout.
Our first stop on our safari was Tangarire National Park;
this park is one of the smaller parks but is famous for its elephants, and by
golly we weren’t disappointed. Entering into the park I felt like I was in
Jurassic Park, the jeep, the scenery, the hunt for animals, I was like a kid
again. Every time I spotted an animal before the guide I gave myself a point,
and I had heaps. The giraffes were the first animals that we saw, and they were
just chilling roadside having a feed. I think I took about a thousand photos of
the one giraffe in my excitement. Then as I pulled my gaze from the enormous
giraffes, a herd of about 30 elephants came storming through on both sides of
our jeep surrounding us; I felt just like one of the herd. They didn’t feel the
same unfortunately and eventually moved on. There were obviously impala and Thomson’s
gazelle everywhere but as far as I’m concerned they are just food for the big
cats. Towards the end of the day we were hoping to see lions, and sure enough
there were three laxxing in the shade under a tree. They are just like your
standard household cats, hunt once a day, and then just lay about, but just
enormous and instead of hunting rats and birds, they hunt buffalo and
wildebeest.
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| This monkey raxxed those biscuits |
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| Our herd of Elephants |
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| Two Giraffes under the shade of a Baobab Tree |
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| Lazy lions chilling in the mud |
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| A herd of elephants on the dry river |
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| Juliets tasty local sweet treat, the berries inside are actually chron |
When we got to our campsite we met our cook Maurice. Now
Maurice had the deepest voice I’ve ever heard, like Vin Diesel on crack. That
of course didn’t affect his cooking, and somehow he managed with limited
supplies to cook us a three course meal. He was a brilliant alarm clock as
well, the following morning we had to get up early, sure enough he’d tap the
tent and say “hello, ten minutes to time” and you’d be wide awake. We left for
Serengeti National Park after a quick breakfast, which is on the other side of
Ngorogoro Conservation Area, so we got to drive around the rim of the crater.
We stopped off at the Maasai village on the way to Serengeti, they live in the
Ngorogoro Conservation Area which is an area on the other side of the crater
where they can live and graze their animals. The Maasai people are allowed into
the crater, but not the Serengeti according to the national park laws. When we
arrived they welcomed us with an elaborate song and dance. They played an
instrument like a didgeridoo, and the men sort of grunted at different pitches
while the woman hit the high notes and shook their jewelry. Their camps are
very basic, they are surrounded by a huge fence, and within that fence they have
a complicated array of circular cow dung dwellings, as well as a pen to keep
their animals. In each dwelling there is also added protection for more
livestock because of the constant danger of leopards, hyenas, and other
predators. I had a jump off with the Maasai men, and for a people known for
jumping I wasn’t that impressed. After I’d beaten the first guy, more of them
wanted to verse me, but I didn’t have the stamina, I was ruined. Juliet put on
the Maasai woman headdress as well as the necklace and joined in on the
singing, she blended right in (she’s the one 2nd to the left).
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| Maasai village on the Ngorogoro Conservation Area |
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| Juliet & two local Maasai from the village |
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| The Maasai welcoming dance |
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| The Maasai & I |
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| Traditional Maasai jumping |
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| Juliet blending in with the Maasai woman (second from the left) |
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| The white Maasai |
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| These two brothers showing us the way they live |
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| So many selfies |
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| If the Maasai had instagram, so many likes |
When we got to the Serengeti around lunchtime you really
felt like you were on safari, there were just thousands of zebra and wildebeest
as far as the eye could see, a lot of the time they were in the way of the jeep
and we had to give them a wee nudge. We learnt from our guide that wildebeest
and zebra have a mutually beneficial relationship. When they migrate the
wildebeest run in the middle and the zebra run along the sides, this is because
zebra have very good hearing, and can alert them to any dangers. This however
usually means it is the zebras that get picked off by the big cats. The zebras
follow the wildebeest because they are very good at smelling the rain, and
knowing where the green pastures will be. When the wildebeest cross the rivers,
the zebras always hold back and let the wildebeest get eaten by the crocodiles,
and then pass through when the crocodiles have been fed.
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| Two Superb Starlings |
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| Wildebeest and zebra |
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| A lone elephant on a mission |
Checking out a big tree on the plains from a distance we saw
two big shadows, and on closer inspection there were two huge lions having a
nap in the tree and enjoying the breeze. I don’t blame them; it was a scorcher
of a day. When we moved on from them we were passing another tree and saw a
huge black silhouette with a swinging tale, and realized it was a leopard. This
leopard played hard to get, it just wouldn’t turn around, no matter how much
meowing I tried it just sat and faced the tree. It had a very pretty back
anyway.
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| Tree climbing lions |
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| Anti-social leopard |
Our camp that night was on the outskirts of the Serengeti
with no fences. There was a dining area that was built like a huge cage that if
a wild animal came into the camp at night everyone had to run there. It was
exciting to lie in bed and listen to animals, mostly bloody wildebeest
grunting, but I secretly hoped something good would come in start some havoc.
The only scare I got was Juliet sleep talking waking me up in the middle of the
night in a panic not knowing where she was, and I had to explain she was on
safari (I left out the fact that there weren’t any fences).
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| Me reading excerpts from my diary to the masses |
We had Maurice the alarm clock wake us up early the next
morning to do a game drive across the Serengeti. Upon leaving the campsite we
were instantly greeted by giraffe and elephants, and as we moved from the trees
to the plains there were more and more zebra and wildebeest. Far in the
distance where we were headed I spotted my favourite animal, the hyena. Once
closer we found a family of twenty or so hyena getting ready for the day in the
shade of a tree. They were laughing away, having a ball. The zebra and
wildebeest gave them a wide berth, but they didn’t seem that worried by them.
We were watching them when over the radio I heard “…..simba….nyati….” in an
excited voice, and saw Peter put the jeep in gear as we span around, and hooned
off into an unknown direction. Peter knew where he was going, and after 10
minutes we were there, and sure enough there were three young male lions lazily
ripping into a buffalo under a tree. On our way back to camp we saw a tail
moving in the tall grass, and then boom, a cheetah climbed onto a rock on the
roadside looking longingly out across the plains. It then stretched, posed a
couple of times and then moved on.
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| Sunrise on the Serengeti |
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| Zebra....so Africa! |
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| A zebra checking out a hyena, dayum |
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| Wildebeest being very cautious of the hyena |
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| Three young male lions enjoying a buffalo |
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| Cheetah having a stretch |
We were camping on our last night on the edge of the
Ngorogoro Crater which overlooked the entire crater. On the way up to the
crater edge our car overheated and turned off and we were stuck there alone
with the wild giraffes outside, so although Juliet & I weren’t allowed to
leave we decided to sneak out and take some photos. One of the things that I
love about Tanzania is that everyone is so helpful, we waited about 10 minutes,
and every single safari car that passed us, the driver got out and came over to
our car to help. There were about 15 people there in the end when we got the
car going again.
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| Giraffe having a feed |
At camp we couldn't get an unobstructed view of the crater
above all the trees and although all the signs said not to go beyond, and Juliet
and I were on our last warning for wandering off, we decided to do it anyway. The
views were pretty awesome, and we snuck back into the camp without anyone
noticing. As we were getting ready for dinner we heard some commotion up by
where our “dining cage” was, and as we approached we saw a huge elephant
standing by the jeeps, trying to get to our water tank. It had already charged
the local dog, I’d say probably scaring it half to death, so the elephant was
on edge so we were very cautious as we approached for a photo op. It really
just wanted to drink, and then as soon as it had its fill it went back into the
jungle, no worries (hakuna matata). That night it was freezing, we were
polypropped up, beanies, and sleeping bags, it was actually quite a nice change
but a shock to the system.
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| At our campsite on the Crater |
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| Looking out to the Ngorogoro Crater with some Maasai |
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| Juliet in front of the crater with two Maasai boys |
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| Juliet and the friendly looking elephant that wandered into our camp |
On our final day we descended into the crater, which was a
dramatic experience in itself, with steep cliffs, and tight bends. The crater
(or technically caldera) was unbelievably scenic though, it was completely lush
with vegetation, and very green. There were huge mountains on all sides, and
from what I understood from the guide all the animals with the exception of the
elephants remain inside by the formation of this caldera. In the wooded areas
we saw elephants, and monkeys, and then exiting the wooded area onto the
grasslands was our first (alive) experience with buffalo. They are enormous,
and it makes you understand why they are considered one of the most dangerous
animals in Africa. There were more lions in the crater but again, they were
lounging like house cats in the shade of the reeds. We had a toilet break down
by the lake, and realized it was full of hippopotamuses. Now there was a bit of
a peninsula where you could get close to them from, so I decided that I’d try and
get a nice close up photo. Now I’m not the smallest dude, the lack of exercise
and high carb diet has affected my summer figure, I’ll admit, but I shouldn’t
be able to intimidate a close to two tonne animal, but I scared the bejesus out
of all of them. All thirty something hippos let out a panic grunt and fled away
from me.
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| Looking across Ngorogoro Crater |
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| Elephants, zebra and wildebeest in the crater |
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| Two hippos |
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| These scaredy cats (about 30 hippos) |
The rest of the afternoon we had to see a rhino, so when we
heard over the radio one was spotted we gapped as fast as we could.
Unfortunately, it had parked itself right in the middle of the no drive zone
(which carries hefty hefty fines, I know, I tried) so we couldn’t get great
photos of it. The last animal we had to check out was the flamingos. I’d had an
elaborate plan since packing that I wanted to get a photo wearing my flamingo togs
next to some flamingos, and I’d even pre planned the hashtags and everything,
but it just didn’t work out.
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| A gutted Nick, filled with disappointment; great shorts though |
We left safari that afternoon, caked in dirt and in
desperate need of a shower and a good mattress. The experience was something
I’d recommend to everyone, it’s one thing seeing these animals in the zoo, but
seeing them in the context of the Serengeti plains takes it “to a whole nother
level”. When I got back to Moshi, post shower I wasn’t the lovely chocolate man
that entered it, most of my tan had washed away.
And we were off first thing in the morning to Dar es Salaam
to start backpacking!
