5 Day Safari

After climbing Kilimanjaro, it was hard to think that anything could match it, but the safari was incredible - just a very different experience that's all! After our hot shower x2 (a few layers of dirt to get off *grin*) and comfy sleep, it was off for our 5 day safari. Our guide was Henry from Moshi and he was fabulous. Very quiet, but if you wanted to know anything, you just had to ask - he knew his animals, geography and history of Tanzania that's for sure. We were with another couple; Isa and Charlie. Although they were nice, it certainly was not like our group climbing up Kilimanjaro......I miss them =(

Over the 5 days we went to 3 National Parks; Lake Manyara, Serengetti for 2 days and then to Ngorogoro Crater (my personal favourite). The coolest thing and the thing that you keep having to remind yourself, is that the animals can roam anywhere; they are in their natural habitat, we are in the cage - nice change! The National Parks are protected, but depending on the time of year and the weather conditions, the animals can, and do roam from one National Park to the other, so you can actually see them in towns and fields as we drove through. When we were driving around, we were just part of their domain, they acted as natural as if we weren't there at all - as you will read, this is both good and bad for me; the predator and prey relationship, is all part of the animal world!

We were picked up from Springlands Hotel in the morning and we headed straight for Lake Manyara. We really had no idea what to expect or what to do, but that most likely we would be seeing animals of some sort *grin*! Before arriving at the National Park we stopped for our box lunch - not the best, but filled the spot - for the most part, I have low standards - as quoted from a good friend of mine that described her best friend; Ginnuess' eating habits, whatever starts with "F" and ends in "ood", I am okay with.........btw - her best friend was her dog - that's more than okay with me to be compared to a dog *grin*!!!! When we arrived at the park, there was the usual regulation crap...oops, was that my outside voice again - registration and payment to get into the park....ahhhhh...the government.....never too far away.....no matter where you are. Once Henry was back in the van, he flipped open the top (to accommodate the typical safari viewing) and headed into the wilderness - cool! Lake Manyara is approximately 1/3 the size of the Serengetti - small, but still very big (sorry, I don't have the exact facts with me - I will work on that). As you can imagine the first animal that we see - whatever it was - we were going to be excited.......and Baboons were it...."click, click, click, snap, snap, snap" of the cameras, like crazy - yes, I am such a tourist - ha!......big, small, families and loners......they were all there! Although for the most part the animals acted normal, the smaller animals were still understandably shy and skittish around the vehicle for the most part - we were big and fast - it was a threat - the bigger animals - not so much - they truly are the rule of the kingdom! Especially the lions - they were for the most part always sleeping and if anything at all, would give us the "Clint Eastwood" look...."Go ahead....make my day", but usually, just didn't care at all!

In all three parks; at different times of course, we did see the "Big Five" for the Tanzanian Parks; Lion, Black Rhino (only difference between black and white Rhino is not the colour, but the shape and size of their face - interesting - only black rhinos are seen in Tanzania), Elephant (Delia's favourite - I must admit they are impressive - if nothing, but for their size, but they are so darn cute too), Leopard (very difficult to see and we watched the leopard for awhile - cool) and the Buffalo. We also saw, and not limited to, cheettas, zebras, wildabeasts, hippos (again, smelly, but so darn cute), giraffes (my personal favourite - so graceful - something that I am not), jackels, hyennas (not so nice - bad hyennas!), many, many, many birds (flammingos, eagles, storkes (Abdmin), Black-Billed Corey Bustard, Lilac Breasted Roller, Ground Hum Billed, Falcons and others that I can't quite remember - I know pathetic), topi (Antelope), monkeys, more baboons, Gazels (Thomson and others), antelope, warthogs, dicy dick (the smallest antelope), E-Land Antelope, Orynx, Reback Antelope, Water Buck and really, a whole bunch more!!! We saw several of the Flat Top Acacia (trees), the ones that are iconic of the African safari as well as Kopjes (rock formations on the serengeti where the lions ususally hang out - good view of their prey). We also saw a lion eating a zebra - we did not see the actual hunt and kill, but the lion was panting and sitting by the zebra waiting to catch it's breath to eat - for some reason, I was okay with this. As Henry said, the lion and most cats will catch and suffocate the animal and wait until it dies before eating it - somehow this seems more humane. As opposed to in the Ngorogoro Crater we witnessed a hyenna hunt and kill a pregnant Wildabeast. I did find this very difficult to watch, but it was the "animal kingdom". No guns or other means of human intervention - just the natural, prey/predator relationship and the survival of the fittest. The hardest part is that the predator knows the weakest link and to watch from the sidelines it makes it sad. I am not a vegetarian, so I can't say that it is cruel, but I still found it hard - I always protect the underdog! Anyways, what happened (yes, I experienced it first hand - you will have to hear it), was the hyenna circled the herd and could pick out the weak...the pregnant female - 2 in 1 - and the chase was on. The herd attempted at all cost to protect all, but when it came down to it, they had to protect themselves so the weakest would enivitably be fighting on their own and hope for the unexpected - maybe, by some chance, they would get a break and be able to escape their own fate. In this case, not so much. What makes it worse is that the hyenna attacks the animals vital organs - impales the area and brings the animal down. Once down, the animal has no chance, but it is still very much alive, just no strength to fight. So instead of the hyenna waiting until the wildabeast dies...yes, that is right, the hyenna disembowels the animal - eats it from inside out - no wonder the hyenna gets a bad rap - they deserve it! They are awlful! As I write almost 2 months later it make me weep and wonder why life has to be so cruel. But even that, I am still not a vegetarian - if that did not do it - I am not sure anything will! What helped was the Henry remained calm. He did not rush to the site and get all excited and point as if watching a show, but rather he pointed out the chase and explained that this was all part of the life....and death in the Ngorogoro. Eventually the wildabeast did die and the process after that was much easier to watch. There were 2 hyennas, but there were no alliances - even though the wildabeast was too big for the one hyenna, they certainly were going to distract and fight off any interlopers until they were done. I say "they" as I have no idea if it was a female or male. The one hyenna took the fetus and took that for their own and the other hyenna stayed with the adult. Within minutes the scavengers started arriving - vultures, eagles, the second hyenna, etc - all trying to get their share. It was the shear savageness and gore that was incredible - the hyenna's whole body was covered in blood - they are a brutal type of animal. Well, it was an experience, but I truly had enough of that and I am sure more than enough for you - so on to the next!!! On a better note, we did witness a herd of zebras successfully fight off a hyenna that was attempting to kill a baby - yeah! "Hell hath no fury as a mother protecting her young".

Just a bit of information on the parks - I love to hear people talk about history, but my memory is not that great unfortunately, so the information here is very limited. Serengetti was actually named Sergeti by the Maasi meaning, "endless plains" - also known as the "ocean of grass" and it truly was......land forever. But over time the European's mispronouncation of the park to Serengetti, stuck. The Maasi were granted freedom in the Serengetti Conservation Area to live and hunt; as an agreement between the government and the Maasi. As you can imagine, it would be difficult living for the Maasi as their cattle would be a pretty easy kill for some of the animals as well as their own lives were at risk, but they do a pretty amazing job at it. Lake Manyara was a result of a volcanic activity, but unlike the Ngorogoro Crater, the land did not sink. Although all the parks were beautiful and the animals were stunning, Ngorogoro Crater was outstanding and was my personal favourite. We drove from the top down to the bottom so we got a good view as we drove down. From the crater floor to the top it is 610m and the crater floor is 16 km x 19 km. The top of the crater is 2240 above sea level. Ngorogoro Crater was so lush and vast - I guess that is why it impressed me so much - it just looked prettier. The safest park for the animals is the Serengetti, but if there is no rain or food is scarse, the animals will travel to the Ngorogoro Crater where it is always lush. One reason that the animals don't stay in the Ngorogoro is that it is not as safe, they are more exposed to predators especially during birthing. We saw the s/e side of the Serengetti - the north side requires a special permit - not sure why other than I think that it is less travelled and more dangerous.

During our safari we stayed at the Highview Hotel for 2 nights and in a camp on the Serengetti for 2 nights. Both very nice, but the camp in the Serengetti was awesome. We were in tents, but the tents had beds, lights and in the back had a pit toliet and a makeshift shower. The staff would bring in the hot water in the morning and pore it into a bucket, rig the bucket above and using gravity - vola - shower. We had our meals in a kitchen tent and all the meals were outstanding. Other then our first box lunch - we had hot lunches. The breakfasts and dinners were also very good. We were actually on the Serengetti on Christmas Day - VERY COOL! As you can imagine, it didn't feel much like Christmas and it didn't bother me too much, but I did miss our family and friends. The only time that it really hit me hard was on Christmas eve night, Henry had Bing Crosby singing, "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" on the radio - I did miss home then. On Christmas night the staff dressed up like Santa Clause and sang, "We wish you a Merry Christmas" - too funny!

On the last day, in the Ngorogoro we were getting in our last glimpses of the animals . We had thoroughly enjoyed our whole trip. The parks and animals were awesome and it really is an experience that we don't get in Canada - Africa is awesome! Getting near the end of the day, although we were happy with our experience, Delia was somewhat disappointed that we did not see an elephant up close. We did see serveral and they were awesome, but they were far away and we did not experience the massiveness of the animal close up........when all of a sudden, this huge, massive, grey moving wall walked past our vehicle - yeah, an elephant. It was so close that I could see it's eyes and toes. We were so close that I could not even get a picture as I had my zoom lense on and I could not zoom out enough - too funny! It was spectacular and well worth the wait! They are big, but so graceful - really! I mean I wouldn't want to be underneath their feet, but he was so quiet and looked so gentle. Ahhhh, perfection - we saw everything now!

Africa truly is an awesome continent and a place that I think everyone should experience. The beauty, the resources and the people. There are different cultures for sure that may be hard to understand, but I think as humans it is our responsibility to learn and know - ignorance is not an excuse! We headed back to Springlands Hotel to get ready to leave Africa and head to Austrailia - I am looking forward to our next experience, but I will miss Africa - definitely a place to come back to!!!