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Our luggage arrived about 9:30 last night so we are relieved and ready to start unpacking. It was a wonderful trip and one we will never forget.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Home Sweet home
We made it home this evening and oh how good it feels to be here. We loved every minute of the Africa adventure but we are tired and it will feel good to sleep in our own bed. To top the trip off. our luggage is lost again! somehow it does not seem as bad since we are home!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Good Night's Sleep!
We both enjoyed a great night's sleep and feel ready to face the day and the long flights home tonight. We are going to tour Nairobi today and we have a dayroom to freshen up before the flights. I will need to sit down with my thousands of photos so sort through them and pick more to put on here. We saw so many animals and I loved being able to stop and just watch them. Omari was wonderful at spotting them and I really enjoyed learning more about the habits and such of the animals. We just saw so much and seeing how huge the Maasai range, it is so important to understand their culture. We handed out some pens to small children as we wove our way across some of the paths and it was so special to interact with them and share with them.
We have wonderful stories to share and we look forward to getting home!
We have wonderful stories to share and we look forward to getting home!
Back to Nairobi
Today we made our way back to Nairobi. We were waked up at the tented camp at 5AM and we left at 6 for our small plane flight back to Arusha. Our pilot was a lovely lady named Liz who spent the night at our camp and ate dinner with us which was nice. The plane was a 15 seater and Liz was a great pilot. She took us over an active volcano so we could look inside the crater. unfortunately, Mt Killimanjaro was still behind the clouds. I am thankful for that one tiny peek we got last week. The ride from Arusha to Nairobi is long and at times rough because they are building the road and there is dust and construction everywhere. But it was nowhere near as bad as some of the discussion boards made it out to be. We stopped for a picnic lunch and we spent some time when we arrived in Arusha at the cultural center which was nice. Last night, we had a lovely rain that lasted several hours and the sound on the tents was wonderful to sleep by. It stopped after a few hours and was pretty today but it is wonderful for this part of the Serengeti. The wildebeests and zebra are returning to Tanzania from the Maasai Mara very early and and it is an awesome sight. Today we saw some animals along as we drove but most of us were tired enough and satisfied with what we had seen, that we were ready to put our cameras away. The border crossing back and forth from Kenya to Tanzania and all is interesting. We filled out the papers and waited in line and got our stamps and then went to the next station to enter the next country.
We are back at the Intercontinental here in Nairobi. We went down and had a very delicious marguerita pizza that we split in one of the hotel restaurants. It was so good and took little effort to get it just like we wanted.
Tomorrow we are shopping and touring a bit and then will come back to the hotel and get ready for our flights-go to a farewell dinner on our way to the airport. We could not have asked for better weather, people to travel with and an excellent guide who spotted more wildlife than I ever expecteded to see. I highly recommend this OAT trip for anyone who loves seeing wildlife.
We are back at the Intercontinental here in Nairobi. We went down and had a very delicious marguerita pizza that we split in one of the hotel restaurants. It was so good and took little effort to get it just like we wanted.
Tomorrow we are shopping and touring a bit and then will come back to the hotel and get ready for our flights-go to a farewell dinner on our way to the airport. We could not have asked for better weather, people to travel with and an excellent guide who spotted more wildlife than I ever expecteded to see. I highly recommend this OAT trip for anyone who loves seeing wildlife.
Last Day in the northern Serengeti
This tented camp is so nice. It is rustic, yes, but the difference in this one and the last one is huge. The staff is great and attentive and I feel safe here inside the tent whereas, I didn’t like having to unzip the tent to go out to the toilet in the last one even though it was enclosed and connected to the tent. This one is all one and it feels cleaner somehow. The scenery is gorgeous-we look out the tent at the hillside with wildlife in the far distance. Around the camp you can see the zebra and lions were in camp last night but I was pretty sound asleep about the time everyone that heard them said they were close. We slept with our fleece jackets on as the temperatures drop fast andgo from hot in the afternoon to really cool at night but there is plenty of cover and we sleep just fine. Thank goodness for the staff fixing up a battery for Jim.
Today we left pretty early to go over to the Mara river to see if we could catch the wildebeest migrating across the river. We saw some just after they had finished but we did not see them crossing the Mara-but we did see them going across a smaller river and some of the dry gulleys of the river. There were thousands of them. It is early but the rains have started-which we did not expect. It is great to get to see this. They come in droves and the zebra come with them, though right now it is mostly wildebeest. The grass is green around here unlike the southern plains where it is still brown. There are huge crocs in the Mara and they eat a lot of the wildebeest and a lot drown, unable to get up on the other side. So I was rather glad we saw what we did-the PG version of the migration where no one was killed! No picture can do it justice. They follow each other and go for miles.
The hippos in the Mara are huge and there are so many of them. We enjoyed watching them sun themselves in the afternoon sun. We had a picnic lunch out under a tree and just had a very pleasant day. We are all tired and we have to get up early in the morning to catch a 7AM flight to Arusha and then we have a long long drive back to Nairobi. We have enjoyed this camp but it will feel good to be in a regular hotel with a regular bed and shower that we can stay in as long as we want!
After our drives we come back to our tents and take our showers and get clean and it feels so good. Then we go down and have a campfire and talk and Omari gives us instructions for the next day and gives us information about the region and all. Then we eat supper in the dining tent by candlelight and are walked back to our tents. By 9PM we are in bed. There is noit much light for anything but we are tired and ready for sleep anyway.
It has been an absolutely incredible experience.
This tented camp is so nice. It is rustic, yes, but the difference in this one and the last one is huge. The staff is great and attentive and I feel safe here inside the tent whereas, I didn’t like having to unzip the tent to go out to the toilet in the last one even though it was enclosed and connected to the tent. This one is all one and it feels cleaner somehow. The scenery is gorgeous-we look out the tent at the hillside with wildlife in the far distance. Around the camp you can see the zebra and lions were in camp last night but I was pretty sound asleep about the time everyone that heard them said they were close. We slept with our fleece jackets on as the temperatures drop fast andgo from hot in the afternoon to really cool at night but there is plenty of cover and we sleep just fine. Thank goodness for the staff fixing up a battery for Jim.
Today we left pretty early to go over to the Mara river to see if we could catch the wildebeest migrating across the river. We saw some just after they had finished but we did not see them crossing the Mara-but we did see them going across a smaller river and some of the dry gulleys of the river. There were thousands of them. It is early but the rains have started-which we did not expect. It is great to get to see this. They come in droves and the zebra come with them, though right now it is mostly wildebeest. The grass is green around here unlike the southern plains where it is still brown. There are huge crocs in the Mara and they eat a lot of the wildebeest and a lot drown, unable to get up on the other side. So I was rather glad we saw what we did-the PG version of the migration where no one was killed! No picture can do it justice. They follow each other and go for miles.
The hippos in the Mara are huge and there are so many of them. We enjoyed watching them sun themselves in the afternoon sun. We had a picnic lunch out under a tree and just had a very pleasant day. We are all tired and we have to get up early in the morning to catch a 7AM flight to Arusha and then we have a long long drive back to Nairobi. We have enjoyed this camp but it will feel good to be in a regular hotel with a regular bed and shower that we can stay in as long as we want!
After our drives we come back to our tents and take our showers and get clean and it feels so good. Then we go down and have a campfire and talk and Omari gives us instructions for the next day and gives us information about the region and all. Then we eat supper in the dining tent by candlelight and are walked back to our tents. By 9PM we are in bed. There is noit much light for anything but we are tired and ready for sleep anyway.
It has been an absolutely incredible experience.
Serengeti Day 3
On to another mobile tented camp in the northern Serengeti. We left camp and did a game drive for a couple of hours, seeing the family of lions that we saw yesterday. There are about 8 -10 of them and today they were at the watering hole and the babies were all lapping it up from the bridge that had a stream flowing over it. They were so cute! By the time we left, the best viewing was over as they were snoozing under a nearby tree. But there were about 14 vehicles who had gathered to watch them. We moved on as Omari had heard there was a leopard nearby! My oh my, I will never ever spot a leopard by myself. It takes me so long to even find it after they spot one. This one was low on a tree and he blended so well that I don’t see how anyone could have spotted it. He must have lifted his head for someone to spot it. His head was hidden from us but his body was beautiful spread out on the tree limb. I can’t believe we did not have one leopard sighting before and this trip we have seen 4!!! I love it. We later spotted a mother and baby giraffe. The baby was only a few hours old and still had her umbilical cord dangling on her! She was still wobbly and following along behind her mother. It was so sweet! We saw more hyenas and jackals today-it was the silver backed jackal this time. We also spotted the small antelope that is found up here that we had not seen before okapi. We saw lots of Topi as well. We left the Serengeti national park and went through an area that is inhabited by a tribe that kill game to eat. They were given land just outside the Serengeti and they are trying to move them farther away and get them to stop the slaughtering which they are making progress with. We stopped in the town of Mowomo? To get a Coke and for Carolyn to use the internet. She was not successful so we moved on but it was fun to sit and watch the the people go about their business. We took a small dirt road back east across the land to the park again. Then we went on to our camp. It is better than the last one for sure. The tent has 4 separate areas. It has where the bed is, then you go through a curtain and there is a dressing room where we have our bags. Then you go through another curtain and you are in the toilet and sink area. The shower is right outside and you unzip to go out there. We have to take our showers in the afternoon as this camp has lots of lions around it and the workers can’t fill up the tanks after dark. We can both take a nice hot shower on the one tank of water. I have to say, I don’t think we have ever roughed it quite this much but we are doing fine. The dining hall is a tent and the meals are cooked over a fire. The last camp was poorly managed and there was only one man, Martin, who seemed to do much work-besides the chef. So I was ready to move on. Omari says this camp is much better run. So far it seems like it is. They both have taken care of us well in terms of supplying us with a battery to run Jim’s CPAP machine. What a difference this makes. We sent a shirt and pair of pants to the laundry at the last camp-thinking they were $1 each as that is what the other camps had been. Nope, there is a basket and the basket is $10. That is fine if they had told us but they didn’t. So it was a bit of a shock to pay that for the two items. Omari talked to the camp director and told him that he did not tell us that and we had no reason to expect it to cost that much so he reduced it for us. But for future OAT tented campers, beware that the mobile camps are $10 a basket if Legacy Safari is running the camp. This has been the most fantastic trip but I have to say I am getting tired. We have one more day of game drives and then we will fly back to Arusha and drive back to Nairobi from there. The rains have come early and this part of Tanzania is already pretty green. The wildebeest are coming back from the Masi Mari and we are seeing them in large groups. We are to the point that whatever we see if just gravy-we could not ask for more!!
On to another mobile tented camp in the northern Serengeti. We left camp and did a game drive for a couple of hours, seeing the family of lions that we saw yesterday. There are about 8 -10 of them and today they were at the watering hole and the babies were all lapping it up from the bridge that had a stream flowing over it. They were so cute! By the time we left, the best viewing was over as they were snoozing under a nearby tree. But there were about 14 vehicles who had gathered to watch them. We moved on as Omari had heard there was a leopard nearby! My oh my, I will never ever spot a leopard by myself. It takes me so long to even find it after they spot one. This one was low on a tree and he blended so well that I don’t see how anyone could have spotted it. He must have lifted his head for someone to spot it. His head was hidden from us but his body was beautiful spread out on the tree limb. I can’t believe we did not have one leopard sighting before and this trip we have seen 4!!! I love it. We later spotted a mother and baby giraffe. The baby was only a few hours old and still had her umbilical cord dangling on her! She was still wobbly and following along behind her mother. It was so sweet! We saw more hyenas and jackals today-it was the silver backed jackal this time. We also spotted the small antelope that is found up here that we had not seen before okapi. We saw lots of Topi as well. We left the Serengeti national park and went through an area that is inhabited by a tribe that kill game to eat. They were given land just outside the Serengeti and they are trying to move them farther away and get them to stop the slaughtering which they are making progress with. We stopped in the town of Mowomo? To get a Coke and for Carolyn to use the internet. She was not successful so we moved on but it was fun to sit and watch the the people go about their business. We took a small dirt road back east across the land to the park again. Then we went on to our camp. It is better than the last one for sure. The tent has 4 separate areas. It has where the bed is, then you go through a curtain and there is a dressing room where we have our bags. Then you go through another curtain and you are in the toilet and sink area. The shower is right outside and you unzip to go out there. We have to take our showers in the afternoon as this camp has lots of lions around it and the workers can’t fill up the tanks after dark. We can both take a nice hot shower on the one tank of water. I have to say, I don’t think we have ever roughed it quite this much but we are doing fine. The dining hall is a tent and the meals are cooked over a fire. The last camp was poorly managed and there was only one man, Martin, who seemed to do much work-besides the chef. So I was ready to move on. Omari says this camp is much better run. So far it seems like it is. They both have taken care of us well in terms of supplying us with a battery to run Jim’s CPAP machine. What a difference this makes. We sent a shirt and pair of pants to the laundry at the last camp-thinking they were $1 each as that is what the other camps had been. Nope, there is a basket and the basket is $10. That is fine if they had told us but they didn’t. So it was a bit of a shock to pay that for the two items. Omari talked to the camp director and told him that he did not tell us that and we had no reason to expect it to cost that much so he reduced it for us. But for future OAT tented campers, beware that the mobile camps are $10 a basket if Legacy Safari is running the camp. This has been the most fantastic trip but I have to say I am getting tired. We have one more day of game drives and then we will fly back to Arusha and drive back to Nairobi from there. The rains have come early and this part of Tanzania is already pretty green. The wildebeest are coming back from the Masi Mari and we are seeing them in large groups. We are to the point that whatever we see if just gravy-we could not ask for more!!
Serengeti
Serengeti day 2
Today we left at 8 AM for our game drive. Del and Carolyn went on the balloon ride so we had to pick them up at 10. So we searched for game for two hours on the way. The animals were slow to come out today and we did not see too much. But it was fun to see the gazelles and the zebras and the giraffes and the things that are easy to spot. I know that this is bold print but doing this in a tent with no lights I can’t see the keyboard and hit something by mistake. We picked up Del and Carolyn and off we went on about 3 more hours of game viewing. We came upon a lion crouched for a kill but I think the vehicles kept that from happening. There were about 3 or 4 lionesses who were together and so after awhile, we went on. Down the road we came upon a lion pride where the mama lion had made a kill of a Thompson’s gazelle. She was not sharing with her babies or anything. There were about 3-4 big lions and about the same number of babies. We stayed and watched for a long time and before it was over, the big lion went down to drink at the water and then came up between the cars and plopped down under a tree in the center of a little circle of road. The babies got adventurous and got under a couple of cars and everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching them. We saw hyenas, hippos, giraffe and so much more. But we did not in general see what we saw yesterday. We came back to the camp for lunch which was not good at all to me. Then we had a couple of hours to rest, take our showers since they have to be done before dark so the guys can fill up the buckets safely. Then at 4, Del and Carolyn and Jim and I went on an afternoon drive with Omari. It was excellent. We saw a big male lion, a rhino which is rare to see in the Serengeti (Omari said one tour in ten sees one) and I saw a female lion walking along about 20 ft from the road as we raced back to the camp. I could not believe I spotted one and Omari thought I was joking so didn’t stop. Our favorite thing of the drive was spotting a mama jackal with babies. She had made an old termite mound into a home and the two little pups were eating around the entrance and they were so cute. The Mama watched from a distance after we drove up. I don’t even mention the elephants, the cape buffalo, the zebra, the gazelles, the topi, the hartebeest and other things we saw. Another great day.
I have to say that these tents are a bit too rough for me. There are no lights except run by battery so are very dim and you are encouraged to use them as little as possible. But they have hooked Jim’s CPAP up to one so I can’t help but appreciate the staff for that. The generator to charge batteries doesn’t work but a few hours a day so it is more difficult than in some camps. The bed is lumpy and not comfortable and there is no chair inside to sit in at all. You can’t walk anywhere except in the center of the camp so there is not much to do during the down time. Last night we had them roll up the sides of the tent so we could hear the noises and there was a stampede of zebra about midnight right by our tent. It woke me up and I could hear them in front of the tent and one beside the tent. I heard a hyena and a few other sounds as well. Wonder what I will hear tonight.
Today we left at 8 AM for our game drive. Del and Carolyn went on the balloon ride so we had to pick them up at 10. So we searched for game for two hours on the way. The animals were slow to come out today and we did not see too much. But it was fun to see the gazelles and the zebras and the giraffes and the things that are easy to spot. I know that this is bold print but doing this in a tent with no lights I can’t see the keyboard and hit something by mistake. We picked up Del and Carolyn and off we went on about 3 more hours of game viewing. We came upon a lion crouched for a kill but I think the vehicles kept that from happening. There were about 3 or 4 lionesses who were together and so after awhile, we went on. Down the road we came upon a lion pride where the mama lion had made a kill of a Thompson’s gazelle. She was not sharing with her babies or anything. There were about 3-4 big lions and about the same number of babies. We stayed and watched for a long time and before it was over, the big lion went down to drink at the water and then came up between the cars and plopped down under a tree in the center of a little circle of road. The babies got adventurous and got under a couple of cars and everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching them. We saw hyenas, hippos, giraffe and so much more. But we did not in general see what we saw yesterday. We came back to the camp for lunch which was not good at all to me. Then we had a couple of hours to rest, take our showers since they have to be done before dark so the guys can fill up the buckets safely. Then at 4, Del and Carolyn and Jim and I went on an afternoon drive with Omari. It was excellent. We saw a big male lion, a rhino which is rare to see in the Serengeti (Omari said one tour in ten sees one) and I saw a female lion walking along about 20 ft from the road as we raced back to the camp. I could not believe I spotted one and Omari thought I was joking so didn’t stop. Our favorite thing of the drive was spotting a mama jackal with babies. She had made an old termite mound into a home and the two little pups were eating around the entrance and they were so cute. The Mama watched from a distance after we drove up. I don’t even mention the elephants, the cape buffalo, the zebra, the gazelles, the topi, the hartebeest and other things we saw. Another great day.
I have to say that these tents are a bit too rough for me. There are no lights except run by battery so are very dim and you are encouraged to use them as little as possible. But they have hooked Jim’s CPAP up to one so I can’t help but appreciate the staff for that. The generator to charge batteries doesn’t work but a few hours a day so it is more difficult than in some camps. The bed is lumpy and not comfortable and there is no chair inside to sit in at all. You can’t walk anywhere except in the center of the camp so there is not much to do during the down time. Last night we had them roll up the sides of the tent so we could hear the noises and there was a stampede of zebra about midnight right by our tent. It woke me up and I could hear them in front of the tent and one beside the tent. I heard a hyena and a few other sounds as well. Wonder what I will hear tonight.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Lazy Day
Today has been a restful day and a chance to catch up on both rest and internet (free) and to just relax and enjoy this lovely camp. We got up early to go on an early game drive. This tented camp is right in the corner of the southern part of the serrengeti and is adjacent to the park. This time of the year, the majority of the animals have migrated to the north so there is less to see here this time of year. But there are still animals and it is nice in a different sort of way. There are dikdiks all over this camp and they are the tinest of the antelopes and are so fast that they are difficult to spot when out on a drive. We have seen a lot on this trip but to walk out the door of the lounge area and see a dikdik standing there looking at you is special! There are also cape buffalo that roam the camp, especially at night and leave evidence of their being here. The staff heard a lion last night but we didn't-we were sound asleep.
On our drive, we saw spotted hyenas that Omari drove right up next to and they just looked at us. I had never seen hyenas before til this trip and today was our closest encounter. There are so many pretty birds here. My favorite is the Fishers Lovebird that is like a tiny parrot-about the size of paraqueet or smaller.
We saw elephants, warthogs, zebra, cape buffalo, several giraffe, lots of gazelles-the Thompsons and the Grants, hippos, tons of birds, good sighting of the banded mongoose. So it was a great drive even if the wildlife was more scattered. We came back to camp and had a nice lunch and have had the afternoon free to rest and recoup. Cokes are free as well as the internet so that has been nice. On this trip, even the water at the meals has been extra except in a couple of camps.Our vehicle is ancient but we really like it. We take off our shoes and we can stand in the seats to look out the roof when the roof hatches are open on drives. It has individual seats and we are rotating well. So even though the vehicle is well worn, we like it and the bumpy rides have not been nearly as bad as we had expected. We had brought inflatable pillows and we do not need them at all. The dust is the worst part of some of the drives and we brought masks, at the advice of friends (thanks, Lynn, David and Carol!). I have enough for everyone and we have worn them. We brought pens to give out to children after we read the book TALES OF TANZANIA and the children on the drives have been so excited. They run to meet our vehicle. Most are Maasai but some are other tribes and they are out tending the goats. We walked through one village this week and it was so sweet. At one house there was a little brother and sister-about 2 and 3, I would guess. At first they are very shy but after we visited a while, he asked our guide how we got our white hands! He asked if we had had our skin taken off to get it so white! He just kept wanting to hold our hands and look at them. Precious precious children.
Moving camps every two nights has been more tiring than the trip to Botswana was but we are seeing so much. Each place has been different. Laundry is done for $1 a piece except for one of the first camps that charged $2. We have used it a lot for pants and shirts as that is just so reasonable. The last lodge was the Tloma lodge and it had the best food for me-most of the time I have had to be very picky. They cook things for me without the garlic and onions but it is not my taste. Omari has gone out of his way to assure that Jim has power at night. He even says he can get them to hook up a generator in the mobile tented camps. I hope so. He rests so much better with his CPAP. But we are loving this adventure and can't wait to share photos when the journey is over and I have time on my computer!
On our drive, we saw spotted hyenas that Omari drove right up next to and they just looked at us. I had never seen hyenas before til this trip and today was our closest encounter. There are so many pretty birds here. My favorite is the Fishers Lovebird that is like a tiny parrot-about the size of paraqueet or smaller.
We saw elephants, warthogs, zebra, cape buffalo, several giraffe, lots of gazelles-the Thompsons and the Grants, hippos, tons of birds, good sighting of the banded mongoose. So it was a great drive even if the wildlife was more scattered. We came back to camp and had a nice lunch and have had the afternoon free to rest and recoup. Cokes are free as well as the internet so that has been nice. On this trip, even the water at the meals has been extra except in a couple of camps.Our vehicle is ancient but we really like it. We take off our shoes and we can stand in the seats to look out the roof when the roof hatches are open on drives. It has individual seats and we are rotating well. So even though the vehicle is well worn, we like it and the bumpy rides have not been nearly as bad as we had expected. We had brought inflatable pillows and we do not need them at all. The dust is the worst part of some of the drives and we brought masks, at the advice of friends (thanks, Lynn, David and Carol!). I have enough for everyone and we have worn them. We brought pens to give out to children after we read the book TALES OF TANZANIA and the children on the drives have been so excited. They run to meet our vehicle. Most are Maasai but some are other tribes and they are out tending the goats. We walked through one village this week and it was so sweet. At one house there was a little brother and sister-about 2 and 3, I would guess. At first they are very shy but after we visited a while, he asked our guide how we got our white hands! He asked if we had had our skin taken off to get it so white! He just kept wanting to hold our hands and look at them. Precious precious children.
Moving camps every two nights has been more tiring than the trip to Botswana was but we are seeing so much. Each place has been different. Laundry is done for $1 a piece except for one of the first camps that charged $2. We have used it a lot for pants and shirts as that is just so reasonable. The last lodge was the Tloma lodge and it had the best food for me-most of the time I have had to be very picky. They cook things for me without the garlic and onions but it is not my taste. Omari has gone out of his way to assure that Jim has power at night. He even says he can get them to hook up a generator in the mobile tented camps. I hope so. He rests so much better with his CPAP. But we are loving this adventure and can't wait to share photos when the journey is over and I have time on my computer!
Lake Masek
We had a great three hour game drive early this morning. We saw a lot of things even though these were sort of spread out. We laugh that we have gotten very jaded about seeing so much and expecting them to just come up to the road in a line for us to see. I think my two favorite sightings were the two sets of spotted hyenas we saw that we were right next do and they just looked at us and let us take their photo. We also saw a great elephant family with several babies and they entertained us for awhile as they moved across the road in front of us. Right now, the hippos in Lake Masek are entertaining me as I write this. Our tents here are so nice. They are huge and have both a tub and a shower. The shower is outside-a cement sided shower with a door into our tent. It is actually really nice but it is still a little cool here at night so it was a little brisk shower! The tub felt mighty good too. We said we were the dirtiest yesterday that we had ever been on this trip. We had driven for several hours over one lane dirt roads that were SO dusty. It just caked us all.
We have a free afternoon today and it sounds pretty nice. This camp is new and everything is so nice. The eating area and verandah are nice to sit and birdwatch, read or watch the hippos below. We have slept well but we have been on the go constantly. We could take a walk this afternoon but I think we will pass on it and just relax. The birds here are gorgeous. We have seen so many and have some great photos. Well they are calling me for lunch so I will close and send this for now. Since internet is free here, I will get on again and try to send some photos though so far, none has sent.
We have a free afternoon today and it sounds pretty nice. This camp is new and everything is so nice. The eating area and verandah are nice to sit and birdwatch, read or watch the hippos below. We have slept well but we have been on the go constantly. We could take a walk this afternoon but I think we will pass on it and just relax. The birds here are gorgeous. We have seen so many and have some great photos. Well they are calling me for lunch so I will close and send this for now. Since internet is free here, I will get on again and try to send some photos though so far, none has sent.
Lake Masek
Ngorogoro Crater
Today we left our lodge and went the short distance to Ngorogoro Crater. Wow. What an interesting place that is! We journeyed down the windy road to get to the bottom of the crater and then we did a long game drive. There is so much game in the crater and it stays fairly constant. We saw a golden jackel on the side of the road as we started. He was lying in the road and did not move when we drove up and stopped and took all the photos we wanted. Next we spotted a pair of female lions who were sleeping up on a hillside. Then we saw a number of vehicles parked and we knew something was up. It was a pair of lions mating. The male was a big guy with the black mane. Later we saw a pair of ostrich mating so we had our biology lesson for the day. We spotted two big male lions with the black manes resting near a stream. They are just beautiful animals. We saw hyenas sleeping two or three places. They are so much bigger than I expected. We saw a silver backed jackal and of course we saw “the usual “ cape buffaloes, zebras, gazelles of all kinds and wildebeest. It was a really neat game drive.
When we left the crater, we stopped for a picnic lunch on our way out of the park-with zebra grazing nearby and birds waiting for us to drop crumbs. Then we drove to Oldvai Gorge where the bones of early man were found.
Then we drove on to our tented camp, Masek Tented Camp. It is a pretty new camp and is very well done. The tents are huge and have double sinks, a tub, and an outside shower-where you can shower in private with just the stars above.
Today we left our lodge and went the short distance to Ngorogoro Crater. Wow. What an interesting place that is! We journeyed down the windy road to get to the bottom of the crater and then we did a long game drive. There is so much game in the crater and it stays fairly constant. We saw a golden jackel on the side of the road as we started. He was lying in the road and did not move when we drove up and stopped and took all the photos we wanted. Next we spotted a pair of female lions who were sleeping up on a hillside. Then we saw a number of vehicles parked and we knew something was up. It was a pair of lions mating. The male was a big guy with the black mane. Later we saw a pair of ostrich mating so we had our biology lesson for the day. We spotted two big male lions with the black manes resting near a stream. They are just beautiful animals. We saw hyenas sleeping two or three places. They are so much bigger than I expected. We saw a silver backed jackal and of course we saw “the usual “ cape buffaloes, zebras, gazelles of all kinds and wildebeest. It was a really neat game drive.
When we left the crater, we stopped for a picnic lunch on our way out of the park-with zebra grazing nearby and birds waiting for us to drop crumbs. Then we drove to Oldvai Gorge where the bones of early man were found.
Then we drove on to our tented camp, Masek Tented Camp. It is a pretty new camp and is very well done. The tents are huge and have double sinks, a tub, and an outside shower-where you can shower in private with just the stars above.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tanzania
Today we are at Tloma lodge which is on a coffee plantation and they grow their own food and man, is it good! I think it is the best so far,food wise. No animals around though., We spent the morning going to the Iraqw tribe that is all around here and it was very different and a lot of fun. This afternoon we took a tour near here to the elephant caves where the elephants dig out the caves with their tusks to get to nutrients they need. It was, for me, a pretty strenuous climb but I made it and it was so interesting.
I am going to try to put on a few photos as there is not too much to write tonight. Well they won't do because the internet is so slow.,
I am going to try to put on a few photos as there is not too much to write tonight. Well they won't do because the internet is so slow.,
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