Saturday, 15 September - Ngorongoro Crater

We decided to skip breakfast this morning, as we were both pretty full from the non-stop feeding. Although in retrospect we should have grabbed a yogurt or something, as we were both hungry well before lunch.

Every time we check in to a new lodge, I charge up the batteries. The power strip I plug into the adapter, and then plug everything into the strip. The stuff that needs power conversion (110 v 220) I charge later without the strip so I can use the adapter on the item.

We've done laundry twice now, once at Amboseli Serena Lodge and once here, at Ngorongoro Crater Sopa Lodge. Both times the clothes came back in excellent condition. I'm trying to avoid a third washing so we'll see how I do. (Aside - in the future, just do the laundry as needed, even every other day. It's very reasonable and the service is wonderful. It would save on packing. Since there were just one or two items I loved wearing, I would pack less and wash more.)

As I sat Sunday morning the 16th, writing in my journal, I took some time to just look around from me seat in the sun room at the Sopa and think about where I was. It was 8:48 am, or 11:48 pm in Colorado, where FSU was playing game 3 or so on the season. When we were in the crater Saturday, I didn't even begin to think about what was happening in the States, beyond thinking about Mom and the puppies at home (who were in my thoughts every day). I guess the truly important things come into focus at times of reflection.

Our wake-up call was not the three knocks, each louder than before, that we got in Tarangire. Instead, it was a hard rapping at 6:00 am. No jackals or hyenas, however.

Renny joined our car the entire day. He and Steven seem to make a great team. It's fun to watch them, and listen to tehm use Kiswahili, looking for the best game. I love how clear it is that they love doing this. It is clear that they love Tanzania, and want us to have an unforgettable experience.

Our drive into the crater, with me in the first row behind Renny and E now in the back with Betsy, (I'm thinking - OK, these girls are really hitting it off now) descends slowly through various areas, from teh montane forest down to the open savannah floor. (Savannah floor? Not sure, but that's what I thought of.)

We first spot a male lion in the distance, walking away from us out into some better hunting ground. Later we see three lionesses, each one apart from the other, but in the general area. One of them had her kill about 10 feet away from her resting spot in the shade of a tree. I was able to spot a jackal in the distance while the others were focuses on the lioness (way to go me). Renny had told us about how the aged elephants moved into the papyrus 'forest' to die. Sure enough, we saw an old bull, with long tusks, moving into the forest. Renny said the ele will make it no more than three months and then pass. The scavangeers will then move in and clean up.

Renny also mentioned that poaching has been significantly reduced here, thanks to increased security, ranger compensation (to combat graft), and international ivory trade bans. Those caught poching face seven years in prison mandatory.

We had lunch out on the lake, which I dubbed hippo lake. Apparently this is where all the tours eat, as all the safari vehicles were pretty much lined up around the shore. The Micato boys set up a beautiful red table cloth and china arrangement, all sorts of great drink choices, and delicious foods.

Looking back on it, I realize I saw more wildebeest and zebra than I've ever seen in my life (then again, given this was day six of the trip, that's a somewhat loaded comment). Apparently we should have seen even more flamingoes, but the soda lake had too much water and hence the crustacean population was not right. Renny was disappointed that we weren't surrounded by lions at times (from what I understand, that is not an uncommon experience). But none of us were in the least bit disappointed. We honestly couldn't have been more thrilled with everything!

After lunch we made it to the heavily forested area, where perhaps 20 to 30 cars were watching a black rhino. I got a quick shot of it on video.

On our way out of the crater we stopped and watching a cheetah, making her way around the cars toward a watering hole. Yet another feline experience to wrap up a safari locale. The next one would be even better....

A Great Article

Thanks to Jess215 on the Fodors forums for making me aware of this article about the Kenyan election this week. It speaks to some of my comments earlier about tribal v national attitudes, and how that may play out on Thursday.

A Question On Colors

I think I've said before that God must have been playing with his Crayolas when he got to Africa. I mean, that Lilac-Breasted Roller alone is enough to brighten any den. If I'm right, coloration usually has to do with either mating or environmental factors, yes? We know that the male ostrich turns bright pink during mating season, for example. But why the unique colors on the Agama? They don't seem to blend with the environment. Is it a mating purpose, then? Anyone have any idea? Maybe Alfred or Renny would know - I should have asked them.

I miss the colors of Africa.

Friday, 14 September – Tarangire to Ngorongoro

Although we had ordered a 6 am wake-up by knocking, it wasn’t necessary. We awoke to the sound of barking. Yelp – yelp – yelp. I thought they were wild dogs. I sat up in bed, beaming, as was Betsy. Of course, when I mentioned to Steven that we had this experience, he corrected us. That noise, in fact, was a hyena. Now this was awesome! On our way to breakfast, and of course around the lodge, we saw the rock hyrax, which I took to be a cute rodent. It turns out that it is a member of the elephant family. What's neat when you leave is that all you have to do is bring your bags outside, and one of the porters will be waiting to take them away.

The breakfast included awesome pancakes, that were more like crepes. I didn't see any avocado juice this morning, though, unlike last night.

We took a picture with Steven in front of the car and began our trek into Tarangire. Little did we know we would be encountering a rather vocal pachaderm. About thirty minutes into the drive, we came across a young male bull, perhaps 15 years old, most likely recently removed from his herd. (As an aside we found out later tha elephants live to about 60 years old, losing their teeth every 10 years until at last no more come in. They then move to an area where papyrus is found, which they can chew on until they starve. Rather brutal, yet beautiful at the same time.) Anyway, this male was not happy to see us! He flared his ears, raised his trunk, made his loud noises, and 'charged.' OK, as far as Steven was concerned, it wasn't a charge. He can tell the difference. But to us it was fascinating, and a bit intense! He sort of would run to us a little bit, stop, run sideways, make more noises, then do it all over again. This continued for about 15 minutes. Eventually he settled down and took off.

The birds, antelopes, and other mammals were beyond amazing. I see now why birders love Tarangire, and why they all show up during the long rains, when it is cold north of the equator. After stopping for a drink and a snack, and a group photo, we finished our drive along the river. We came upon about nine lions fresh off a kill. Now, most of them were hidden in the bush, so it was hard to make them all out. Probably all females, most of them sleeping it off. We spent enough time there until everyone in the car spotted them all (Steven was great on this - he insisted that all five of us see them all before we continued on). Finally we all saw them, so we continued back to Sopa Lodge, for lunch by the pool, enjoying the moussaka and passion custars, and taking photos of all the Agama lizards.

Finally, we were off to the Crater, about a three hour drive, with an occasional stop to 'check the tire pressure.' We passed many towns and villages along the paved highway, built by the Japanese (?) and now maintained to promote tourism to and from the NCA (Nogorongoro Conservation Area). Betsy did some bargaining for a zebra mask, this time getting a great deal when she originally planned to walk away.

The Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge is on the rim of the crater. We stopped at the visitor's center to get a brief lesson on this large ecosystem (NCA) from Renny. Here I noticed that the other tour group was not with us (pretty much OK by us). We arrived at the lodge to welcome juices and yet another bottle of South African white wine (and a free mini-bar).

We had drinks upstairs in a private room, then proceeded to a fantastic dinner and desert. Finally, off to bed, prepping for huge day tomorrow in the rim....

Thursday, 13 September - Amboseli to Tarangire

We awakened this morning to the sounds of unidentified rustling outside our window. Breakfast once again was a buffet, which included an egg station serving brown hybrids that make the yolk white. This explains why my western omelet came out white. (A white-egg omelet, not an egg-white.)

Our final drive in Amboseli was on the way out of the park. We finally saw another cat, this time a cheetah. Actually two of them with a recent kill. I could sort of make out the dead wildebeest, but barely. Then we had to high-tail it to the border with Tanzania.

Near the border we had our first experience with haggling, at a shop that is supported by Micato. Bargaining is interesting. At first we got our starter price for a single item, but they insisted that we bargain all at once with other choices. After we picked our items, he offered 7,200 KSH, we offered a low price in return, and eventually we agreed on 5,000, about US$80.

We filled out papers on both sides of the border, meeting Renny at customs in Tanzania. When I mentioned I knew Lynda, he was thrilled – he gave us a big hug. He mentioned that he knew Jessica, too, which was great. We said goodbye to Joe and Martin, and said we would see Alfred in a week.

The drive to Arusha was about an hour and a half, through the countryside. Renny gave us a wonderful talk about Tanzania, its history and people. This was pretty neat, after discovering the secrets of Kenya a day before with Alfred. It’s amazing. There is a common culture, and a common commerce, and a common geography between these countries. But what I find fascinating is how a simple piece of history has changed so drastically their development. Kenya grew out of an English colonization; Tanzania, out of a German foundation. Whereas the resulting Kenyan independence led to a people identifying themselves with a tribal association ahead of a state identity, the eventual Tanzanian (or Tanganyikan perhaps) state grew into one of national identity first, then tribal. This makes sense – England v Germany, representation v socialism. Not that either identity is any less important than the other, of course. But it’s fascinating how the chance of colonization changed the evolution of a society. I am fascinated by this.

We arrived in Arusha, driving past Mt Meru along the way. Renny told us that Arusha is the host of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which has had a great economic impact on the city. We ate lunch at the hotel, a buffet.

We made it to the airport, though the plane wasn’t there yet, so we had to chill outside and wait. Finally our wings appeared. Already on board was the group from the Heart of Tanzania and Kenya tour. Five guests – Mr. Las Vegas, The Colorado Couple, and the Winnebago Family.

Betsy got in ahead of me, then when there were just two seats left, E offered me the front seat with Renny. I asked her if she would rather sit with Betsy – of course she would! (This was awesome. I’m so glad she spoke up. They really hit it off, and the result was a new friendship.) I liked it, too, since Renny and I could talk for a while.

When we landed, we headed toward Stephen’s car. Renny climbed into our vehicle, and we drove to Tarangire NP. On the way we identified tons of trees (including the whistling thorn acacia), the regular elephant sighting, and more birds than one can imagine. I see now why bird lovers go to Tarangire. With 1,500 species, you can’t go wrong. It looks like God started having fun with his Crayola 64s, but being omnipotent and all, he started blending them into shades entirely unique just for Africa. I expected not to be that high on TNP, but I’ve since changed my mind (despite the tsetse flies).

Ah yes, the tsetse flies. I had always heard about them, but of course having never seen one I didn’t know what to expect. They are big, about the size of a Florida love bug. The reason you need bug repellent is not because of sleeping sickness (rare occurrence if at all). It’s the pain of their bite. It feels like a needle in your arm. Most unpleasant.

We made it to the lodge, and were welcomed with juice, room keys, a hot towel, and a bottle of wine. We were escorted to our room by the porters. We then headed back down to the common area to talk a bit about what our Tanzanian experience may be like, and to plan for the next day.

We had a nice dinner, socializing with B&M. Eventually we headed back to the room, to enjoy mosquito nets, bookmarks from the Pintos, a random spider, clothes placed in a cupboard, and windows open. And then much-needed sleep.

Wednesday, 12 September 2007 (Amboseli)

After getting my first solid sleep since we arrived (OK, now that I look through my journal, I guess I was restless for a while), we awoke at 5:30, not to coffee and tea but to birds and insects outside. All the rooms face the park, so you can hear the sounds of nature. We left the back door open with the screen closed, and didn’t bother with the mosquito nets around the bed. Actually, beds – two twin beds pushed next to each other.

(As I made my notes for this entry in the afternoon, we were sitting at the pool. A black-faced vervet monkey was staring at me in my lounge chair, while Betsy took a dip. He’s a bit nervous, because at any time one of the Maasai that stroll the lodge will come along and shoo it off with their sling shot.)

I don’t imagine I can ever think about Africa again and not smile. I’m having a hard time not laughing once a day at the thought that I’m actually here.

The drive this morning was great. The highlight was the young female lion with her fresh zebra kill. Fascinating because last night the cars were zipping around like vultures on a kill when word got out that there might be a lion. Speeding on the roads and even off them to get past us. Joe and Alfred decided we couldn’t make it. They understand patience. This morning we patiently waited for the lion to appear. We saw the zebra but couldn’t make out the lion. The driver behind us (definitely NOT Micato) starting shaking keys trying to get the lion to move. We are not going to do that. Micato (and several other outfits, of course) respect nature and the environment and recognize that we are intruding, and must allow things to happen in due course.

Every now and then the lion would pop up his head, then lay back down (zebra tryptophan?). Eventually a jackal came wandering over to try and get some meat. Needless to say, this girl was not pleased. After a few stares, she stood up and walked to the other side of her kill. This of course got a huge reaction from all of us, as this was the most feline excitement we had had yet.

Frankly, I was as much taken in by the jackal as I was the lioness. One of the things I was really looking forward to was seeing wild dogs and other canines. I’ve always been a dog person, so this was a real treat for me. There are times when I see the little ones at home and think about what dogs and wolves are like in the wild, when their pack behavior takes over. I see the kids behave like pack animals, and I’ve always wanted to see it for myself. In this case, at least I was seeing what a solitary would do. That little guy (girl?) would sort of just walk slowly over a little bit, pause, think about it, then come closer, keep trying to get a bite. I really kept staring at the jackal rather than the lioness. But of course, eventually she shot up to protect her lunch, and that made us all gasp with delight.

Alfred mentioned yesterday the concept of the stupid wildebeest. You can see one, lone gnu just standing out in the open, staring into space. Waiting to be a meal. Not really, it’s usually a male just asserting territory, but he stands there, staring into nothing. I haven’t quite figured this out yet, but it’s funny.

After the morning drive we returned for breakfast. This included a fantastic omelet station, with peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cheese, and jalapenos. All sorts of breads and jams, meats and cheeses, and French press Kenyan coffee.

At 11, Alfred led us in a lecture/discussion on East Africa history, culture, and society. All about the tribes, languages, politics, and customs. I found this really fun to hear and to talk about. I think he realized that we would enjoy this type of experience, given the enthusiasm we had shown, and I think he was right. None of us are here, for the sake of saying that we’ve done it. We’re in Africa because we genuinely want to be here, to experience this. Are we all kindred spirits? Maybe sort of – or at least we all have a common appreciation for what the world can provide, for those who just take the time to see.

Betsy spent some time during the afternoon to swim with the monkeys. OK, not literally, but she wanted to say that she swam while the monkeys were out. And sure enough, those vervets were all over the place, including up in the trees around the pool. I thought it was too cold to swim, but hey, how often can you do this!

Before the evening drive, everyone gathered out on the veranda, to have coffee and biscuits. I think this is a common thing, at least at this Serena lodge, to provide refreshments to the guests before they head out for the drive. (I think I’ve mentioned before how neat it is to see all the safari vehicles lined up outside, waiting for their charges. I wonder what the lodge looks like during the drives. I imagine it’s pretty sparse.) Anyway, earlier in the afternoon Betsy and I enjoyed a coconut latte. This thing is fantastic. It’s a latte, served with a jigger of coconut flavoring, for about 200 shillings, or roughly $3. Frankly, you’d pay more than that for a specialty drink at Starbucks. So having had that already, I stuck with one small cup of coffee not wanting to need a bathroom while out in the park.

The evening drive was warm, and the animals showed it. They were mostly lying around with dust swirling around them. Our crew was still hanging tough, R&B in the middle, E up front, Betsy and I in the rear. As always, I’m wearing my hat on my head and the glasses around my neck. I felt real!

The Micato vans are pretty neat. Plenty of room to stand up and hold on. It feels like something out of a movie to be standing up in the back of the van, with the glasses, looking front, back, everywhere, like I’m some sort of expert!

Our goal was to venture off away from the crowds and find some leopards. This didn’t happen (although we didn’t know at the time that we would have success later). But we did get more elephants, the occasional Japanese rhino (aka warthog), and some fast-moving ostriches. There is a unique elegance to that bird. And in dryness like this, they really kick up the dust. We saw five of them taking off across the landscape, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

Eventually we stopped at overlook hill, ostensibly to get a view of the surrounding area from a great distance. We were let out to start walking up the small climb. Betsy and E needed the facilities, so they decided to check out the hole in the ground. I missed out on this life-changing experience. Apparently, this was one of the worst smells on the trip. Sorry I missed it. This was nothing more than an outhouse with a huge hole in the ground. There were two ladies from another tour that skipped this and went straight to the bush loo – this was the preferred option.

Betsy and I walked up with R&B to grab a picture together with Mt Kilimanjaro in the background, plus a few landscape shots. Back at the foot of the hill, we had our first bush drink. Alfred, Joe, and Martin had set up a table with wine, drinks, chips and nuts, to toast our first taste of wild Africa. We toasted our experience. I had to stop and look around me, realizing I was having wine at the foot of the Mountain, my mountain, acacias around me, wildlife moving to their chosen resting location, sun setting on the horizon. Very rarely does reality even match fantasy. We tend to take the images we gather over time and blend them into an expectation of our own true account, should the opportunity arise. It was while we were out here that I realized – this is what I pictured! This was a fantasy come true. All of it matched what I had imagine it would be like. My God, I am blessed.

Given that all parties are supposed to be out of the park by 6:30 every night, Joe hightailed it through one of the many “very good” roads leading out of the park proper, taking us along the back way, past one of the local Maasai villages towards Serena lodge. This was our first African massage, what we were supposed to find out later is a common experience on the road to Arusha.

Back at the room we had waiting for us two beautiful eyeglass holders, hand made by local Maasai. We cleaned up and headed back to dinner.

On our way we discovered a group of impalas, perhaps 30 or so, hanging out inside the grounds, grazing. They were still there after dinner. This was the second of the our neat lodge animal experiences. The first was before the evening drive, when the vervet monkeys, one in particular, attempted (and often succeeded) to steal whatever snacks could be found un-attended on a plate. It was while this little guy was working the crowd that I got a great shot of him, standing not but two feet away from me. I understand that they are pests and cause problems for the staff, but for us newbies they are a cute addition. Or at least to me they are.

At dinner B joked that she would start auctioning off her 33 pounds of plane space, since her KLM luggage had not arrived yet. We got a good laugh out of this, and she seemed to be taking everything in stride.

We headed back to the room to pack up our stuff for tomorrow’s journey to Arusha, Tanzania. Once again, we crashed pretty quickly.

Today's pictures.

Tuesday, 11 September 2007 (Nairobi - Amboseli National Park)

Before I begin, I should add one more individual to the cast of characters. My sister, Betsy. Thanks to Mom for pointing that out to me this morning. (Oops.) And to clarify who everyone is, just in case.

I was up at 4 am this morning, ready to go. (OK then, so perhaps early-on during the safari, my sleep was unusual, but this morning the cause was excitement, not jet lag.) We had trouble with the air conditioning, but the fantastic staff brought fans, two of them actually, and it really helped. I would have been up anyway, I was ready to go! We left our bags in front of our room around 6, with the door slightly cracked open (I have this American fear about leaving bags unattended anywhere that isn’t secured). Sure enough, the porter was by promptly to take them to the bus. At 6:30, we gathered at in the lobby, some of still shaking the sleep out of our eyes. We were on the bus at 6:45 and we were gone.

The trip to Wilson airport was fairly quick, maybe about 15 minutes. Wilson is more like a landing strip – well, no, better than that. Probably more like a local airport in the States like PDK, but with a bit more traffic. We thanked our Nairobi driver, George, and proceeded to the security area. Security consisted of a hand-check of our carry-ons and a walk-thru machine. The bags were weighed while Alfred oversaw the operation. I didn’t think weight would be an issue, since we were short one bag thanks to B’s lost luggage. As expected, we had no problems in this area. And as it turned out this would be the only time the bags would be weighed anyway. (And as a plus, the carry-ons don’t get weighed, which meant all the camera equipment was excluded from the calculation. This was excellent, and as I had hoped based on some comments on various sites.) Boarding passes are just a laminated card of a particular color. Today, we were handed a yellow card (insert soccer joke here). When the time came, we walked through the door, handed the ‘gate agent’ our little yellow card, and walked out to the twin otter, 18 seat prop.

After buckling up, Alfred handed out little Micato pouches, with gum and ear plugs inside. And the on-board refreshments provided by the airline are a little box of mints/candies for the trip. I think this is kind of neat. It was pretty overcast outside, so we really didn’t see anything until we got low. But as we descended, I noticed the small hills. Well, I thought they were hills, but they were really trees. No, my mistake, those are clearly bushes. And they are moving. Wait a minute! I’m seeing African wildlife!

Holy cow! We arrived at Amboseli NP, and the cars were waiting along the strip. It was so exciting to see the Micato vans sitting there, two smiling faces waving. There were two drivers greeting us, Martin and Joe. We chose the latter, for no real reason other than the name! When I mentioned my name is also Joe, he gave me a hug. Serving hot coffee and tea right there on the strip was a nice touch, too.

Kilimanjaro was waiting for me! It was peaking out of the clouds, however briefly. Fortunately, I would see more of it later in the day.

Betsy and I sort of gravitated to travel with R&B, so they joined us in the vehicle. We sat in the back, R&B took the middle, and E joined us in the front. So that left an extra seat for shifting around as we wanted to. And we enjoyed moving every now and then, just because.

Seeing that little warthog go running off like there’s no tomorrow was awesome. Joe said (maybe it was Alfred) that it is a rather stupid animal. In fact, pumba (pumbavu) is Kiswahili for stupid. The reason being, they will go running off away from a predator, then stop and forget why they were running. Sort of like “Run away! Run away! Run…oh look – food.”

I saw wild elephants! My god, they are beautiful. It looks neat seeing them in the waters, they come out with a black marking from the water level, like someone was painting them and couldn’t reach the top.

The drives are great. With five people there is room to stand up (actually, even with six there would be room) and shift for photos. We all tended to make room for each other, to make sure everyone got a good picture. Water is always available in the vehicles, as well as very strong Micato binoculars.

Just on day one, we saw:

v Saddle-billed Storks
v Spotted Hyenas
v Blacksmith, Spurwing, and Long-toed Plovers
v Ostriches, both male and female
v Hippos
v Wildebeest
v Cattle Egrets
v Burchell’s Zebra (Plains Zebra)
v Cape Buffalo
v Elephants
v Yellow Baboons
v Egyptian Geese
v Reedbucks
v Grey Crested Crane (national bird of Uganda)
v Grey Herons
v White-bellied Bustard

I remember being worried at the time that we would get too used to seeing some of these animals, sort of de-sensitized to it all.

Our morning drive was basically the commute from the landing strip to the Amboseli Serena Lodge. A rather roundabout commute, though. I love going on a drive when we’re actually headed to a destination. We arrived at the lodge, and the staff was waiting for us at the drive. We received a warm jambo (and cool washcloth to wipe off the dust). Inside we all received a drink (a fantastic juice of some kind, frankly now I can’t remember). We were handed our keys with a schedule to return shortly for lunch.

Lunch was buffet style. Choices included roast goat, roast beef, salad bar, desert bar, pasta bar, etc. Actually, I eventually realized I couldn’t keep up with all the choices of food, so I stopped trying to write it all down. Just know that there was always an option, and you would never be hungry. In the immortal words of R (R&B), “God forbid you have a hunger pain.”

My plan for journaling in the afternoon fell apart when I fell asleep instead. But there was something that felt so good about being there and seeing Africa with my own eyes that brought me great comfort – I think I had already reached a state of serenity. Napping was easy now.

The evening drive was neat from the start. All the vehicles left at the same time from the lodge, making it feel like a race. Of course, it felt like a race when, all of a sudden, some vehicles go whizzing by on radio talk of a lion spotting. (I was just waiting for Wilson to come over the radio and tell Ms. Jobson to slow down.) Alfred and Joe decided we couldn’t make it to the supposed location without jeopardizing the safety of the wildlife. I admire that. (Alfred was in our vehicle for Tuesday evening drive. He shifts between the two drives everyday.)

I’ve seen the African sunset on television and in books, but it is something that must be experienced to truly understand. If I face one direction, a see the blue and purple skyscape of Kilimanjaro. If I turn 180 degrees, I see the red and orange horizon of the setting sun. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – the same sky, two completely different sets of colors. Every time I would look up at that mountain, I just started smiling. Isn’t that what a vacation is supposed to do to you?

Dinner was very enjoyable. The food was wonderful, as expected, but the company was even better. Very quickly I felt comfortable with this group. I don’t think that always happens – this turned out to be a blessing, having such a wonderful set of companions.


We eventually rolled back to the room, completely wiped out from our experience. Our turn-down gift was a hand-made journal, bound in what I assume is cowhide. This and all gifts would be locally made. This was a nice touch, and would come in handy when I needed to make a quick note. We fell asleep quickly, ready for our first full day out in the parks.



And the photos from today's safari.