TanzaniaMaraKamunyongeMusomaMusoma Airport1°29’18” S 33°48’18” E
December 11, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Weariness had gathered around me like yesterday's storm clouds as I rose for another 6am start. In contrast, the weather outside had calmed and the Lake surface was still as pale blue glass, gently lapping and nudging the red sands. A small, pure white egret stalked along the shoreline and pied kingfishers hovered and dived into the milky, reflective waters. The distant, weather wipped, clouds glowed shades of pastel yellows, salmon pinks, and buff blues as the sun began to rise behind their tumolt. We had a quick breakfast of cereals and toast and then set off, without further ado, for our next destination, Kisii in Kenya. We passed bulbous rock formations that guard the lake perimeter, and rose up steadily into dense layers of yellowing mists, dividing the distances between the trees into different shades of green. We passed into rocky mountainous valleys with rounded domes growing all around. Wispy mists descended the slopes and the rising sun cast long shadows across the escarpments. Great rounded boulders balanced impossibly on high peaks. We descended into a vast open plain skirted by more mountains sunk in airy lakes of white clouds. The morning sun gained in strength and sparkled the passing trees, fields of corn and sunflowers with white reflected fire. Round, thatched, earthen huts sat in the landscape as if they had grown out of the dusty soil like termite mounds. Their doorways were often occupied by mother's cooking breakfast for their children who were running and playing in the front yards delineated by rough stick fences. We began to pass through small Tanzanian towns with the usual morning hustle and bustle. We reached the Kenyan border and had a relatively easy transit with friendly border officials asking me if I had enjoyed my safaris, and welcoming me back to Kenya. As we approached Kisii the road deteriorated badly where it was being resurfaced and we were all bounced around mercilessly which, along with breathing the dust thrown up from the mud surface, was very tiring. Cars and bikes overtook on all sides, and any rules of the road that exist in Kenya (of which there are few discernable, save driving on the left hand side of the road) seem to go out of the window. Eventually, and to everyone's relief, the road returned to tarmac, our purgatory was temporarily suspended, and we could make quicker progress towards our destination again. We stopped in a soapstone carving factory near Kisii where they showed us how local people make decorated soapstone carvings using stone from a nearby quarry. The local children asked for sweets and were given some. We reached the campsite/hotel, Itibo Resort, and the moment the truck engine stopped a torrential thunderstorm struck and we were all forced to upgrade to rooms. The daily rainstorms just as we are about to camp is definitely affecting my morale and my bank balance - it has been relentless since my arrival in Africa. There are reports of serious flooding throughout East Africa with landslides and many people killed. It seems that unheard of levels of rain are falling due to disrupted weather patterns over the Indian Ocean. It seems that climate change and extreme weather events are affecting Africa as well as every other continent in this world.Read more
KenyaBometAtebwo Sub-Location0°58’48” S 35°31’30” E
December 12, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
A pale yellow full moon graced the black, tree silhouetted horizon, and myriad stars blinked in the inky pre-dawn sky as I arose at 5am for our long day journeying to the Masai Mara for an eagerly anticipated safari drive in the late afternoon and evening. The horizon then turned almost imperceptibly into a translucent mango orange edged with strawberry pinks as the truck engine roared into life and we departed the Itobo Resort campsite for the next adventure. The headlights of the Kisii early morning rush hour traffic bounced and bobbed over the muddy road, with old style motorbikes, the vehicle of choice for young African men, along with vans filled to bursting with brave souls clinging to the outsides. African mornings are filled with a humming vitality of human life, people setting up their street markets, engaged in lively conversations and bartering their produce. The road then wound it's way up into the mountains and we looked down over valleys filled with billowing white cloud seas. We descended into thick mists as some of us travellers on the bus debated issues relating to the UK general election happening that day, ways of managing the economy and the NHS. We drew out of the morning mists and entered an area of large heavily cultivated fields stretching into long wide plains dotted with clumps of acacia trees, and the shadows of clouds beneath a strengthening sun. We arrived in Narok which seems to be a way-station for travellers to the Masai Mara, and had a large number of 'street cattle' mingling easily with the busy traffic. We bought lunch in a local supermarket and then boarded our safari vehicles, small green vans with lift up rooves for viewing the animals, and set off with our friendly driver. Alex, for our accommodation, Mara Springs Safari Camp, in the Masai Mara reserve.Read more
KenyaNarokEwaso Ng’iro1°8’53” S 35°46’8” E
December 12, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
The name 'Masai Mara' itself evokes our images of wildest Africa and it was impossible not to be excited to visit this legendary place. After a while we descended into a vast plain with high escarpments of the rift valley on the horizon. We began to see people with the distinctive red and black checked shawls of the Masai tribe. Alex, the driver, informed me that predatory animals fear the Masai and run away when they see the red shawls. We then started seeing the animals - an ostrich walked nonchalantly by close to the passing van. Herds of wildebeest and zebra appeared in the distance. We saw a giraffe, its enormous neck bowed, and two vultures in a nearby tree. We passed a big Masai cattle market thronging with tall, lean people looking elegant and dignified in their wraparound Masai shawls. This seemed like a people that still walked proud and adhered to their cultural traditions. We entered another vast flat plane of low trees and grasses, surrounded by high hills of the rift valley. We arrived at the camp lodge down a long bumpy path and settled into the safari tent we'd booked which was quite basic with a few insect visitors and geckos already in residence. Thunder rumbled ominously around the campsite as we waited to depart, hoping the weather would be kinder to us this time. A tame family of vervet monkeys frolicked in the garden including a very cute infant gaining confidence to leave his mother's side.
The Masai Mara driving safari started at 3pm and we headed off in two vans down a very bumpy mud track past many Masai men, women and children. One Masai warrior walked past in impressive full dress, adorned with earrings and his hair folded at the front into a bulging fringe and royal blue wraparound. We passed through the gates of the park guarded by a man in uniform and with a gun, and drove out into the open country of the reserve. I was struck dumb by the awesome vista before us. The grassy plains stretched out below us to impossibly vast distances to rises that seemed hundreds of miles away. I have never seen a comparable view in my life before. As we drove on into the park along muddy, riven tracks, great skies filled with huge storms heightened the overwhelming sense of vast expanses of nature. Very soon we began to see wild animals. Herds of Thompson's gazelle, topi, impala and eland browsed near the track as we passed. Suddenly, we saw an adult cheetah lying relaxedly in the grass, tail swishing. Then in the distance I saw my first African elephants - there was quite a large herd of ten or more including young elephants and at least one big male with white tusks gleaming in the sun as he vied for dominance with another male. You could hear their loud trumpeting even at a distance. Next we came across about four adult giraffe very close to our track, bending their long necks low to feed on the brush below. Further down the road we saw two ostriches close by, one raising its wings in a 'can-can' style display. After the other van got stuck in the mud a couple of times and had to be towed out, we entered an area teeming with antelope, gazelles, zebra, eland and warthogs all grazing together on either side of us. We saw a large, gloriously named, 'Glorious Bastard' bird stepping through the grasses. Then things got really exciting - the driver got a tip off on his radio and headed off at break neck speed down miles of very wet muddy tracks, slipping and sliding and almost getting stuck on several occasions. As we came over the brow of the hill we understood, to our astonishment, the meaning of all his efforts - a large pride of lions were hunched over a zebra kill, feeding lustily. There was a large male, several females and younger lions watching on. Behind us sat a jackal and a vulture waiting for their turn to feed. We watched this primal scene of lions feeding for several minutes before the storm looming over finally began to pelt us with huge drops of rain. Reluctantly, we left the lions to their meal and embarked on another hair-raising journey back up through the wet muddy tracks in pouring rain, lightning flashing in the distance. As we drove up to the rise, the rain abated and we saw a fantastic illuminated rainbow on the horizon. The driver managed to do a 360 degree spin in the mud which made me feel like we were in a 'dodgems' ride in a vast fairground. Then, just when we thought we were done for the day, we came across five cheetah walking purposefully through the grass in the evening light. We managed to drive off road right up to them and I had a precious moment with a cheetah walking past a few feet away from my open window - I could see her chest moving and sense her sentience and breath of life - it was a humbling, emotional and unforgettable moment. But the Masai Mara was not yet done with us - moments later in the fading light we saw a herd of elephants, including young elephants, close to the road. We watched a large elephant cross the road in front of us, shaking his head, ears flapping, as he headed off into the evening gloom. As we returned through the park the cloud filled horizon turned burnt orange with the setting sun and we had the final classic image of an acacia tree silhouetted against an African sunset sky. We returned to the Mara Springs Safari Camp having witnessed far more than we ever imagined. We had a good meal cooked for us by a chef who joined our party especially to cook for us. Over dinner we recounted and reminisced our experiences of the day. I retired early to bed to write my journal, and could hear hyenas mewing in the dim distance as I turned out the light to sleep. Wild Africa seemed all surrounding and filling my dreams.
I slept well, and got up at 5am for a second early morning safari. The large, nearly full, moon was pristine white in the silky pre-dawn sky. The air was cool and refreshing. After a quick cup of tea we started our second safari drive. As we entered the park, the sun was already catching fire to the pre-dawn clouds over the far hills and the pale yellowing moon descended towards the horizon behind silhouettes of acacia trees, creating another classic African scene. The views over the endless plains in the dawn light, with rising mists in the valleys were breathtaking and you could feel the ancient spirit of this ageless land. Impala, Thompson's gazelle and topi began appearing, munching through seemingly inexhaustible grasslands. We saw two wildebeest, dark and rugged, with their long shaggy neck hair blowing in the morning breeze. We were rewarded with more spectacular views over the plains on all sides. We saw two giraffes close by the road - one was a small, slight and paler youngster, looking at us seemingly dumbfounded. We worked our way across marshy tracks to where lions had been spotted - I caught a tantalising glimpse of a lion moving through bushes but nothing more. As we drove back up the incline we passed some marshy ground where a loud chorus of frog song filled our ears. As the drive progressed we realised that we weren't going to be treated to such a wildlife spectacle as the previous evening. It seemed that a lot of the bigger mammals had retreated to the bush to shelter from the strong morning sun. We therefore had to content ourselves with the awe inspiring views over the plains, which were brought into wonderful relief by the low sun, and the occasional antelope and warthog. On our return to the campsite we were provided with a nice cooked breakfast of omelettes and beans which we gulped down gratefully as we had only had biscuits and tea before the drive. We then faced a five hour drive back to Karen Camp which was the first campsite in Nairobi that we stayed in 18 days ago when we arrived in Africa - it felt more like six months ago with all I had experienced since then. The Masai Mara had been a deeply affecting wildlife and landscape experience which would never be forgotten. The image of a cheetah moving past me writhin a few feet kept recurring in my mind as we wound our way towards Nairobi.Read more
KenyaKiambuNgarariga1°3’54” S 36°36’6” E
December 13, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We set off back to Karen Camp, passing several Masai settlements and a whole village that was apparently on the move. The look of the Masai people is very striking in their strongly coloured red, blue or orange checked robes, the men carrying long sticks which, I imagine, would once have been spears. They are often very lean and tall people with long, thin, almost gaunt, faces, often with quite large protruding front teeth which doesn't detract from their handsome and dignified appearance. We returned to the main road and more familiar African towns with their multitude of shop fronts and strange names written in English above the door. I was feeling tired and quite 'travelled out' so sat quietly writing my journal as the five hours of travel slowly passed. After a couple of stops for food and refreshments, we approached Nairobi with Mount Suswa looming impressively ahead of us, cloud shadows skating down its vertiginous, jagged sides and a huge flat plain before it, accentuating its rugged grandeur. We then climbed up a very long incline behind slow lorries up to over 2300 metres with epic views over the rift valley plains far, far below. Street sellers had built fires under small, rickety wooden shacks to roast sweetcorn which they then precariously sold to lorry drivers by jumping up onto their cabs as they drove by. Sadly, we saw the result of the road traffic, 'no rules', chaos in Kenya when a poor woman stepped out in front of a van travelling on the wrong side of the road and was hit full square in the back - the van was not travelling quickly so hopefully the woman wasn't too badly injured but we couldn't stop to find out. We eventually arrived back at Karen camp and I set up my tent. It was nice to meet some of the staff again after my arrival over two weeks ago, which now felt like six months ago with all I'd experienced since then. We will have several fellow travellers leaving at this point of the trip and they will all be missed as it's been a very nice group to travel with. I said my goodbyes to those that are leaving and said hello to one of the six people who are now joining our trip for the next stage.Read more
KenyaNairobiLang'ata1°22’36” S 36°44’48” E
December 14, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We met up with the six new travellers joining our trip in the morning, and headed out in taxis for the Giraffe Centre which is a sanctuary for the preservation of the Rothschild giraffe which is critically endangered in Kenya. In the centre there are a number of rescued giraffes which we were able to feed up close as they leaned down to take small food pellets from our hands. Some fed the giraffe pellets from their mouths, which seemed to me, a strange thing to do, but each to their own. It was a bit of a tourist photo opportunity, but the giraffe centre is involved in giraffe conservation helping to raise the number of Rothschild giraffes in Kenya from around 100 up to 700. We also had a presentation about three of the nine total species of giraffe in Aftica - The Masai, Rothschild and Reticulated giraffes who all have distinctive and different patterning and only produce barren offspring, like mules, if they hybridise. We met a very gentle and friendly female giraffe on the ground which bent down to take the pellet from my hand. It was lovely to get so close to these large animals. The giraffes have different personalities and one dominant male at the centre was more aggressive, head swiping tourists occasionally on a higher balcony. But on the whole, giraffes feel like very gentle souls up close and delicately take the food from your hand with their long (50cm in adults) sandpaper like tongues which are tough and quick healing for negotiating the acacia thorns when eating their favourite leaves in the wild. There was also a younger giraffe which had to reach up to feed from our hands on the balcony. After feeding the giraffes we were given a short talk about them and the conservation work of the giraffe centre.
We then drove on to the David Sheldrake Wildlife Trust, which is a sanctuary for orphaned elephants. We were ushered into a large roped, muddy arena surrounded by about a hundred tourists. About seven young orphaned elephants were feeding on branches with leaves, and moving around the arena. At times an elephant would come close enough for us to stroke its hide which was surprisingly soft and hairy to the touch. A member of the trust gave a talk about the elephants' history of being orphaned by poachers and the care and rehabilitation they receive at the centre. Over 200 elephants have now been rehabilitated and returned to the wild. At times the elephants became playful or boisterous and pushed towards the crowds, closely followed by their keepers trying to usher them back into the arena. The first elephants were then taken out of the arena and some larger youthful elephants were brought into the arena. These older elephants were fed milk from supersized bottles which one elephant held with its own trunk to drink. The elephants gave a rumbling purr of enjoyment as they drank the milk and one elephant that was wanting more milk made a bit of a frustrated charge towards one of the keepers which was rebuffed by the other keepers. It was special to see the young elephants at such close quarters for an hour and to get a feel for their intelligence, sensitivity, different personalities, and deep inward soulfulness.Read more
KenyaKajiadoNgatataek2°15’0” S 36°47’54” E
December 15, 2019 in Kenya ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
I got up early again, packed up the tent, had two fried eggs for breakfast and got ready for our long anticipated trip to the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro Crater. We said our goodbyes to Smiley, the Kenyan driver that drove most of us from the airport to Karen Camp and was a very 'smiley', amusing, gregarious, and friendly character. We wound our way out of Nairobi with the welcome quieter traffic on a Sunday morning. We passed a large shanty town area of 'cheek by jowl' rickety shacks which was a sobering view of the extreme poverty, contrasted with the backdrop of skyscrapers in the centre of the city rising high in the morning haze. We got to know our six new fellow travellers who were starting their trip that day as we passed out into the Kenyan countryside of low trees and scrubland. The views opened out into the now familiar wide open plains with distant hills skirting the skyline. The truck came to a sudden halt because our tour leader, Jemma, had spotted a small tortoise on the road which she got out to rescue from his otherwise inevitable demise under car tyres. We reached the border with Tanzania and passed through with a lot if queueing but without too much difficulty. We stopped for lunch under the huge presence of the magnificent Mount Logindo, its steep sides covered in trees with a sheer, silvery rock summit and rivers and waterfalls cascading down its sides. I feel that this must be a sacred mountain to the local maasai people as it made a deep impression on me with its rugged beauty. We parked by an acacia tree filled with social weaver birds nests and the little brown speckled birds whizzed in and out with expert flying acrobatics. Some local Maasai boy, goat herders joined us as we made our lunch on a table by the truck - they smiled shyly as we said hello and gratefully sucked on the pineapple slices we gave them. After lunch, the land opened out into a vast plain and far in the distance we saw the gigantic, legendary foothills of Kilimanjaro rising into it's own created clouds. The expanse of the foothills at the base was almost hard to take in - it seemed to stretch for hundreds of miles with sizeable ranges of hills at its foot dwarfed by the enormous conical volcano. We journeyed towards another large mountain under which our next campsite, 'Meserani Snake Park' near Arusha sits. This campsite is run by a 70 year old feisty character that everyone calls 'Ma'. There is a snake and bird sanctuary there for these rescued creatures, and a treatment centre for local people who suffer snake bites. There is also a museum which educates about the Maasai culture and history which I planned to explore the following morning. I walked up to the small village near the campsite, with roadside stores and friendly Maasai store owners and some nice locals in a sim card store for the local phone operator, Airtel, managed to get my Airtel sim card to work which I'd been trying to do since I bought it over a week ago during our last excursion in Tanzania. We had a nice evening meal and I watched the cool, clear night sky filled with its pantheon of constellations and saw a shooting star before I retired to bed.Read more
TanzaniaArushaKisongo3°23’18” S 36°32’54” E
December 16, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We had a rare leisurely morning on the campsite with a later breakfast of cereal and cinnamon fried bread at 9am. I packed my tent and possessions for the three day safari in the Serengeti. One vehicle took our tents on ahead which they would pitch at the camp ground for our arrival. After breakfast, we sauntered up to a big display of live rescued snakes and were shown man eating sized pythons and other extremely poisonous snakes like the puff adder and the lethal Black Mambo. It left us all not wanting to stray too far into the long grass on our forthcoming safaris! It was wonderful to see the beauty of these remarkable creatures up close though. We then moved on to see the rescued birds including two eagle owls, a vulture and a stunning looking goshawk. We also saw monitor lizards, several crocodiles, tortoises and turtles. Our final wildlife encounter was to be able to hold one of the harmless snakes and feel its soft, cool, muscular skin and body move through our hands. It was wonderful to see and handle these creatures up so close and the guide was very knowledgable and answered all our questions. Then we were handed over to a Maasai guide who took us through a museum of Maasai culture which was equally informative and fascinating. He showed us a traditional wood and mud daubed Maasai house, the clothing and implements worn and used by the Maasai, how the Maasai pierce the jugular veins of their cattle to draw blood into vessels to drink without harming the cattle in the longterm, and also the initiation rights such as male and female circumcision (female circumcision is no longer widely practiced because it is outlawed) which is traditionally followed by a big celebration. We saw the famous Maasai spears and how they use acacia thorn enclosures to protect their livestock and themselves from predators. We then moved on to a wonderful double row of traditional mud and wooden roundhouses full of colourful jewellery and crafts made by local Maasai women who looked beautifully tall and elegant in their Maasai traditional clothing, with a deep soulfulness that is hard to describe in words as it is a presence only witnessed in the meeting of them. I asked one particular woman, with a deep, dignified presence, if I could take her photo and she kindly assented. We returned to the campsite, had a pasta lunch, loaded the 4x4 safari vehicles and set off for the Serengeti across low tree filled plains dotted with many Maasai herders with their flocks of goats and herds of cattle. We stopped briefly at a Maasai market which was a blazing riot of colour with vivid oranges, yellows and blues of the Maasai clothing combining with the bright colours of the fruit and vegetables. We passed some very large termite mounds by thre roadside. We continued through lush green countryside towards the enormous escarpment at one edge of the rift valley with very high sheer cliffs which we climbed in the safari vehicle for quite some time, looking back over huge forested plains leading to lake shores on the horizon of shimmering turquoise, greys and pinks. We passed enormous baobab trees that must have been hundreds of years old. As we crossed over the other side of the escarpment, we arrived at our next campsite, Flamingo Safari Lodge, where our tents were erected in neat, regimented rows. We settled in to the nice campground where dinner was prepared for us by a chef. There we rested until dinner was served. The three course meal was delicious, with soup followed by fish, vegetables and roast potatoes with fruit slices for dessert. I had a cold shower and retired to be ahead of a 4.30am rise for our morning safari the following day.Read more
TanzaniaArushaGanako3°15’54” S 35°34’24” E
December 17, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
I arose at 4.30am, with a bright moon shining in a clear, starry sky, and sat down for an early, hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, pancakes with honey and a strange sort of savoury, eggy biscuit, all washed down with fruit juice and tea. Fully satiated we set off for the Ngorogoro crater under a brightening, clear pre-dawn sky, with the horizon going pale yellow ahead of the rising sun. The red soils of Africa painted a reddish pink light along the side of the road and the sky turned to salmon pink in sympathy. An orange, blazing sun began to break the fiery hills, just as a large troop of baboons, with infants clinging to their mother's backs, and large thick-set males, walked purposefully down the road towards us. We stopped in the information centre at the park gates, before driving up the outside of the crater through thick forest and arrived at the most astonishing viewpoint over the crater that I have ever seen. We looked out into an enormous green saucer of plains, rising up through misty clouds to the circular rim of the ancient caldera. In the enormous bowl of land before us we looked down over a large lake filled with the bright pink flocks of flamingos, and the small dark shapes of two elephants at the bottom of the crater rim. The scene was so epic and ancient that the mind's eye struggled to accept that it could be real and not some fantastical dream to wake up from. We then picked our way down rocky roads to the bottom of the crater with wonderful views of the crater all the way down. When we reached the crater floor we were met with the most incredible scene - the crater seemed filled with animals of all kinds like some kind of latter day Eden. Herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and antelope stretched out as far as the eye could see. The spaces were filled with ostrich, warthog and trotting jackals. We were surrounded with life with animals right next to the safari vehicle. We saw large elephants with long tusks and large flapping ears. We continued on through plains of animals with the constantly stunning background of the enormous green, wooded crater sides. We then drove up to an awe inspiring sight of three adult female lions lounging lazily on the road in front of us. They actually got up to actively seek the shade of our safari vehicle and one lioness laid down directly below the window of the car so that I was literally a few feet away from this magnificent animal, gently breathing with her paws stretched out and her tail gently swishing. Then she got up and moved on and another female lion did the same. With this proximity I was able to feel the sentience, breath and spirit of this great predator of the plains. Reluctantly, we moved on and then saw a number of large elephants in the distance. We turned off to a small lake filled with hippos dipping and breathing above and below the water's reflective surface. I stood under a large tree to film them with many tame small birds flying around me and a large kite landing in the tree. When the hippos surfaced in a group of four or five, they made a resonant sound akin to a loud rumbling frog call. We had our lunch looking over the lake with the high crater rim as the backdrop. We drove on to another area where there were large elephants with one very large old male with massive tusks making his way along the edge of a large marsh. We continued past vast herds of animals on the plains and then saw three rhinos in the far distance. We had reached the end of this amazing adventure and climbed out of the crater with more spectacular views over the crater as we left this wonder of nature.
I thought that this was the end of the day's adventures, but little did I know. We continued down the other side of the crater past traditional Maasai round houses and some kind of local celebration with people in colourful Maasai dress. We also had more wonderful views and saw ostrich and several giraffes together feeding from the trees. Then we started to cross the endless flat plains towards the Serengeti. We saw more vast herds of wildebeest, zebra and antelope. This was the last remnants of the great wildebeest migration heading west. We stopped at a monument on an enormous flat plain where fossils of ancient hominids were found and is believed to be the cradle of humanity. I took a moment to look out across the plains and imagine how distant ancestors had lived out countless generations among the animals on a long, long journey towards the human race- it was a deeply moving experience to be in such a place. We then passed more vast herds and rose up into the Naadi hills which is an ancient outcrop of volcanic mantle that has been weathered down and has more trees than the surrounding plains which have thin soils which don't allow trees to grow. We then drove through the Serengeti and more vast herds of animals. The stormy weather began to deteriorate with heavy rain ain falling and the road suddenly turned to rivers which the driver had to bravely negotiate. As the rain fell, we slowed to investigate a rocky outcrop for leopards, but instead we found two large male lions with wet manes, yawning and then standing and walking down the wet road. This was another wonderful lion encounter. We thought we were done for the day and saw some wonderful birds such as vultures, a falcon and a hooded eagle, but then we had the final wondrous highlight when we came across a very large herd of elephants right by the road. We were able to watch them for a long time very close up as they moved past us. Several males were chasing the females in an aroused state. There were young elephants staying close to the protection of their mothers. We watched the elephants bend down to dig for mud and then used their trunks to throw the cooling mud over themselves. You could see the eyes of the elephants looking at us. The elephants came so close that you could hear them blowing and breathing and feel their calm gentleness of spirit despite the feistyness of some of the males chasing the females. It was a moving and unforgettable experience to spend this time amidst such a large herd of elephants. We then drove on to our wild camp, Nguchiro Public Campsite, deep in the Serengeti park with no barriers between us an the animals. Our tents had already been erected for us. We saw antelope in the brush by the campsite and saw a baboon come up to the toilet and shower block. It was therefore with some trepidation that I went to get a cold shower before dinner, but fortunately the only animal encounters I had were with the moths and beetles. There was a gorgeous orange sunset which seemed to illuminate the entire horizon with oranges and pinks. We then had dinner which was prepared for us. As I went to my tent to write my journal and sleep, stars filled the sky and shooting stars fell through the black. Great lightning flashes from distant storms illuminated the night. As I settled into my tent the distinctive wooping calls of hyenas could be heard nearby and I felt in the midst of the deepest wild, evoking some form of ancient ancestral memory of living with such wild animals. I slowly fell to sleep, with crickets chirping and hyenas wooping bringing the timeless rhythm of the African night.Read more
TanzaniaMaraIkoma2°25’17” S 34°51’57” E
December 18, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
I heard hyenas wooping close to the tent during the cool of the night and when I got up in the starry pre-dawn sky my head torch caught the eyes and then the form of a hyena on the edge of the brush. The half moon created a nice halo in the mist and we had a cooked breakfast prepared for us. The sun rose brightly into the sky illuminating the thin white clouds. We drove out into the Serengeti which was wet and muddy from the overnight storms. The animals were noticeably less apparent than yesterday, which seems to be the way with morning drives, as the animals retreat to shelter from the hot African sun in the brush. We saw a few hartebeest by the road and a jackal in the long grass. Then we saw a special sight - a hyena mother and her four young cubs, sheltering in a hollow by the road. It was wonderful to see a hyena family with the siblings play fighting and muzzling each other. We then visited a few large rocky outcrops looking for leopards but instead saw the smallest antelope, the dick-dick. We saw a very rare eagle? in a tree by the road. We spent some time trying, and failing, to rescue a stricken vehicle trapped in the mud, its occupants trying to make flight which they inevitably missed. Further down the muddy road, one of our fellow travellers, Grant, who is an excellent wildlife spotter, saw a cheetah in the long grass. We followed it, and then we saw two cheetahs stalking through the grass which then crossed the road in front of us. We drove on and past a beautifully coloured bird, the Lilac Breasted Roller, in a small tree, as it took off, it formed a bursting kaleidoscope of colours. We next found two lions under a tree in long grass. A poor sighted warthog foolishly came within close range of the lions, but fortunately for him the lions were inexperienced and made a fairly pathetic attempt at a chase it which sent the warthog scampering away through the grasses. We then stopped at a tourist centre for refreshments and on the way out we saw several lionesses resting in a tree which is a fairly rare sight in Africa - the Serengeti is one of the few places where it happens. We watched them climb, move between branches, lounge with their tails dangling down and then descend the tree to lie in the grass.. As we drove back towards the park gates we came across a number of hippos in a pool. A bit further on from the pool we saw a large, maned, male lion panting next to a small hippo kill. Two lionesses, who probably made the kill, were sat in the foreground. Just to add to our embarrassment of riches with lion sightings, we then came across a large lioness by the roadside a little further along the road. It was astounding how many lions we saw on this two day safari. After stopping at some park toilets for lunch with impossibly distant views over the endless plains, we careered over dusty, bumpy roads to, and through, the park gates. We passed mile after mile of plains filled with wildebeest, zebra and antelope. It was an awe inspiring sight to see such a mass of life on these seemingly endless plains of the Serengeti. We began to climb the huge rim of the Ngorogoro crater again with views back to the vast Serengeti plains we had just left. We stopped at the spectacular viewpoint over the Ngorogoro crater again, and the sheer beauty of the crater was still difficult to take in even though we had now visited it's natural wonders. We were able to trace out our route around the crater the previous day and see that the small lake with the hippos which we'd visited was right in the centre of the crater. We said our goodbyes to this garden of eden and the cradle of humanity in the Serengeti and returned to the Meserani Snake Park campsite at Arusha on welcome smooth tarmac roads. Returning to the campsite, it felt like I'd been away for a week rather than a couple of days, as we'd experienced snd and witnessed so much in that short space of time.Read more
TanzaniaKilimanjaroKilema KusiniKilema Pofo3°23’48” S 37°31’60” E
December 19, 2019 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
We had a more leisurely breakfast and left on the next leg of our journey ar 9am. The skies were clear blue with some clouds on the horizon and the sun was strong even in the early morning. We stopped at a wonderful place called 'Shanga" in Arusha (which means glass beads) which is an arts and crafts project set up for people with physical disabilities who work in teams with able bodied local people. They had improvised looms with bicycle wheels on chains, weaving their own cotton blankets. They had built ovens out of concrete blocks and were blowing glass in small teams. They made necklaces and bracelets out of small glass beads. They also used recycled glass and materials for their products. The whole ethos of the project was wonderfully inspiring. Then we headed over to a craft centre where they sell rare Tanzanite cut stone and gave us a demonstration of the stones which can be worth millions of pounds. There was a small band of friendly musicians who were playing African instruments which I was able to record. Next to the craft centre was the most magnificent art gallery of animal and tribal art on five levels. The artwork was superb, very inspiring and I found a new favourite artist, Mile Ghauli, who makes evocative watercolours of African animals. After having lunch in a small, friendly cafe, we headed off through the town and out into the countryside. As we left the town, I was waved to by a particularly enthusiastic young child as his mother smiled at her son's unboounded enthusiasm also. The countryside was very cultivated with fields of blooming sunflowers in their bright, yellow sunny full bloom. As we continued the enormous base of Mount Kilimanjaro came into view, its upper peaks shrouded in clouds and covering most of the horizon. When we approached our campsite in Marangu, the clouds gave up some of Kilimanjaro's mystery, and showed its highest peak glistening with snow in the bright sunshine. We were elated that this great mountain had showed itself to us as it is more often hidden by thick clouds of it's own creation. We stopped at a viewpoint to take photos and then drove on to our campsite, in the grounds of the Marangu Hotel, where we cooked dinner and settled in for the night.Read more
Hi Scott, just catching up on your travels... what an adventure! Beautiful photos and great writing. Glad to hear/see you are having an amazing time. Love these photos around Lake Victoria, that sky! Take care, Beth xx