We arrived back in Dar Es Salam after a very interesting ferry ride. I've never seen so many people get sea sick; garbage cans and puke bags were getting filled at an astonishing rate. We passed the time not by vomiting, but by having contests to see who can stand on one leg the longest.
The next day was a long drive to Arusha- the second largest city in Tanzania. We passed Mt. Kilimanjaro along the way, unfortunately it was covered by clouds and we didn't get to see it. But as they say; "if you can't climb it, drink it". This is referring to a popular Tanzanian beer of the same name.
The next day we started our exciting, 2 night Serengeti experience. On the first day we drove through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and into the Serengeti. Along the way we stopped and had lunch; a box of assorted, day old deep fried meats and starches. We also met a local Maasai warrior. The Maasai are the people who live in the nearby villages and have grazing rights over the surrounding land. They are easy to spot; red and blue robes, shaved heads, stretched ear lobes, and a spear is the traditional attire. The warrior we met threw his spear a few times, thereby encouraging our guide to buy it off of him.
We made a quick stop at a local Maasai village. The locals danced, sang, and made us jump around like morons. They made fire with two pieces of wood faster than I ever thought possible. They then burned cow dung and lit everyones cigarettes with the flaming shit.
This stop was a little annoying to us seeing as we paid $450 USD to see animals, not local grass huts. We spent more time chasing around a Giraffe in the back yard of the village than we did listening to what the guides had to say.
We saw several different animals within minutes of being in the park, including 2 Cheetahs that marched right by our safari truck. More highlights of the day included seeing a big herd of elephants, and spotting an alussive leopard. This means that we have seen 4 of the big 5 to this point in our trip; elephant, leopard, lion, and buffalo.
That night we camped right in the park. This is a bit scary seeing as your tent is a stones throw away from wild Buffalo. If this wouldn't bother you, than waking up to Hyenas scratching at your tent probably will....
On Day 2 we got up early and went on a sunrise game drive. Though nothing really stood out, we saw tons of animals. By this point we had seen so many Zebras, Giraffes, Impala, Buffalo, Hippos, Donkeys, Lions, and Baboons that you rarely stopped or turned your head.
One of the high points of the day was briefly seeing a Black Mamba Snake. In a way its good it slithered away quickly; it's not the kind of thing you want to get to close to seeing as its the most dangerous snake in the world.
We didn't see many new or interesting game in the afternoon. This may have been the reason why we decided to start chugging beers on our long drive out of the Serengeti.
That night we camped on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. Our site was almost 3000m above sea level which meant it felt like Calgary in February. One nice part about the camp was that our tents were set up for us. We appreciated this because we were so full of beer and brandy that any such task could not have been accomplished.
Day 3: Another early morning. We drove down the steep road to the bottom of the crater. This is where the action really started.
1. We saw a baby cub lion for the first time; he walked behind Ma and Pa right by our safari truck. Our otherwise useless guide told us he was 2-3 weeks old.
2. We passed by several heards of Wildebeests. One heard must have had at least a thousand game.
3. Then came the highlight of our safari. We saw a White Rhino, thus completing the big 5 list. The best part is that he ran within a couple meters of our truck. Brad was a quick thinker and took a video.
4. Minutes after our Rhino experience, we stumbled upon a lion eating a wildebeest! This was incredible to see; it made the safari experience that much more real.
Did you know?
The animal characters in Disney's "The Lion King" are named after the Swahili words for each animal? Simba means lion cub, Pumba means wharthog, Zazu means bird, etc.
Serengeti out.
Greg
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