I am not usually too stressed out about travelling. I always figure things will work out….even after I had to rebook 21 people from a western Mexico cruise to an eastern Caribbean cruise three weeks prior to departure - all due to the Swine Flu!
However, there were several things that made me apprehensive about this trip. First….the flights. I’m a well-seasoned flier, and would actually prefer to fly to Carlin rather than drive the 18 miles! I booked our entire safari trip through a company out of the U.K. - Africa Direct. It was recommended we fly Ethiopian Airlines rather than Kenya Airlines due to a significant cost difference. I really didn’t think either one sounded better, and I was worried that I was saving money ahead of safety. It’s funny, because I really never give that a thought in the U.S. Of COURSE, I’m going to choose the cheaper flight!
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| Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Airport |
I guess being American, I have a skewed idea of Ethiopians, and didn’t really have much confidence in the airline. Dave, being his witty self, asked out loud, “I wonder if the people on board will look hungry.” Valid question, and no….they didn’t. Regardless, this whole trip was completely out of my comfort zone, but I tried to put on a brave face, and boarded the plane.
The other reason I was pretty apprehensive about this whole trip (again, unlike me), is because I had placed all of my trust in a travel agent and maintained very little control over the trip. Our flight to Tanzania was NOT a simple one. After leaving Accra just after noon, we landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia six hours later. We then boarded a smaller plane that set out for Mombasa, Kenya at 10:30 p.m., landing at around 1:30 a.m. While some people deplaned, we didn’t. We also picked up several new fliers, and were in the air just 45 minutes later, bound for Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. It is now 3:30 a.m. Tanzania time, which is 10 hours ahead of those living in the Pacific Standard Time.
According to the itinerary, we were to picked up at the airport and transferred to the Meru Hotel in Arusha for breakfast. Honestly, I was shocked to see our name on a placard as we exited the airport terminal before the dawn has even broken. We were all exhausted, and since it was still dark, the road was a bit bumpy, we all nodded off…until Kim, our driver, would randomly point out something, which we really couldn’t see because it was dark!
After about an hour’s drive, we arrived at the Meru Hotel where Kim deposited us and our bags, and informed us that another Africa Direct representative would be meeting us at about 8:30 a.m. to provide us with further details. We were told that we could eat breakfast, but the restaurant didn’t open until 6 a.m. I was absolutely exhausted by now, and just needed to lay my body down for just a few minutes. We found a relatively quiet area in the lobby, just off the front desk.
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| Taking a short snooze after a long flight from Accra. |
I’m sure the owners of the hotel wouldn’t be too happy seeing the homeless travelers sprawled out on their couches, but fortunately there were very few people moving through the lobby at such an ungodly hour.
After a pretty tasty breakfast, we were met by our next Africa Direct representative, Kahlil, who basically took us over our itinerary for the next week and answered any of our questions. He then introduced us to our driver, Mbaga (em-bah-guh), who would be taking care of us while on safari.
We drove through the town of Arusha, which is pretty similar to driving down the streets of Accra. There is lots of dirt, people, chickens, goats, and stands where folks sell their wares. We did make an unexpected pit stop so Mbaga could pick up some medication (random).
It was fairly difficult to engage Mbaga in any meaningful conversation. We were pretty tired ourselves, so the effort seemed that much harder, I suppose. About an hour or so into our drive, Mbaga slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. (By the way, Tanzania’s drive on the opposite side of the road!) We had a flat tire. He walked over the guard rail and down the hill a bit; first to take a leak (yes, folks….he had to take a leak), and then to pick up some sagebrush like looking bushes, which he used as red caution cones. No, they were NOT red. They were sagebrush-colored. Regardless, it worked. Passing vehicles moved to the other side of the road, although most of them did not slow down.
Two other guide vehicles stopped to help Mbaga change the flat tire. It was obvious that this was a common occurrence. After about 15 minutes, we were back on the road. We quickly learned that the Maasai tribe is one of the oldest and most prevalent in Tanzania. We passed several young boys who were dressed in black garb, with their faces painted black and white.
According to Mbaga, these are Maasai boys who have recently been circumcised. When the boys are ready to become a warrior (Moran), all boys of the same age group (ages 9-14) get circumcised, after which they dress in the aforementioned manner for approximately three months. After this period, they officially become a Moran.
Mbaga told us a little bit about the Maasai people, which we found to be fascinating. They are a somewhat nomadic group of people located in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. They have very distinctive customs and dress, and usually live very close, or even on the game reserves. I’ll go into more detail about the Maasai in my next blog as we had a unique opportunity to visit a Maasai village.
After several hours we came upon the entrance to the famed Ngorongoro (in-gore-un-gore-oh) Crater.
Our paved roads were now gone, as the next part of our trip would be on bumpy, unpaved roads. Before Mbaga went to pay our entrance fees into the park, he told us to make sure we rolled up our windows as the many baboons in the area were quite adept at stealing tourists food and whatever else they could get their hands on. Well, we all rolled up our windows and got out to stretch our legs. Mbaga, however, did NOT completely roll up his window, and a baboon quickly took advantage. Fortunately, we were able to scare him away.
On our way to our hotel, we stopped for our first look of the Ngorongoro Crater. Basically the crater was formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself 2-3 million years ago. Mbaga called the crater a volcanic caldera. According to my research, approximately 25,000 large animals live in the crater, although the population changes based on the migration patterns of the zebras and wildebeests.
Here, we are standing on the rim of the crater. It was a spectacular view.
After MANY, MANY hours on the road, Mbaga dropped us off at our hotel, the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. 
The lodge was very basic, but clean. We were all thrilled just to take a shower, and then we headed to the restaurant for a bite to eat and a few drinks. It took all that we had to stay awake until 7 p.m. (especially poor Benjamin who was slouching in his chair looking as Japanese as I’ve ever seen him look). The view from the lodge, overlooking the crater was magnificent!
After a peaceful sleep, we were at the lobby at 6 a.m. to begin our first real day of safari! The nights in Tansania were fairly cool (jacket weather), and this early morning was no exception. It was also quite foggy and I was really glad I wasn’t driving the narrow and bumpy roads that curved along the rim of the crater. I was staring out the window, mostly still asleep when out of the fog I saw a giraffe. “Giraffe,” I yelled. Mbaga stopped and I pointed it out to everyone. It was surreal. It was like something out of a movie. This picture is somewhat blurry, but it’s one of those that I will have imprinted into my mind forever. It continues to be the first thing I think of anytime I think back to the trip. It was an breathtaking way to begin our first day.
Next, we came upon a male lion just snoozing away. Other safari jeeps were driving by him, and it was obvious that he was quite used to the traffic.
I like how he is holding his paws in this picture.
Not far from the first male, we came upon several jeeps stopped, and we quickly saw why. The pride had killed a zebra that night and were having a bit of breakfast.
I’ll never get over these pictures. It was strange, because if I would have heard about this, I would have thought it was gruesome, but being there; experiencing it live....it wasn’t gruesome, it was just nature. It was very quiet, so we could hear the cracking of the bones as the lions ate. We even watched the male lion "lovingly" lick the zebra's head, and then pull out its tongue and eat it! Can you see the zebra's teeth?? CRAZY!!
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| Can you see the cub? Three of them got in on the action! |
Below are pictures of several birds we encountered on our trip. The birds in Tanzania were very colorful and many were enormous.
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| Some sort of eagle with a very strange bird call. |
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| Had no idea ostriches were native to Africa. |
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| Secretary Bird |
Soon after seeing the lions eating the giraffes, we stopped for a box breakfast at a hippo pond. As you can tell from our jackets, it was still pretty cool at this point. Those mounds in the back of us are actually hippos - they just look like rocks.
Here is a picture of the first hyena we saw. Let me tell you, he was a scraggly, ugly looking thing. I called him, “Ed.” J
We saw lots and lots of baboons, usually the closer we got to lodges or people. The babies ride their mommas like horses.
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| This one totally looked like an alien monkey! |
Here was our first picture of an elephant. We were heading back to the rim of the crater when we came upon him on the right side of the road. This is a magnificent picture. I would guess we were 30-40 feet away. There were two or three others on the other side of the road.
After spending most of the day in the Ngorongoro Crater, we were off to the Serengeti, where we would stay that evening.
