Safari Day 3 – Lake Manyara

 After an amazing night spent in a lodge on the rim of the crater with amazing views, we packed up for our last day and headed to Lake Manyara.

"The picture picture Lake Manyara as presented by my lovely assistant.."

The park covers 205sq km of which 125sq km’s is covered by the lake. Such beautiful scenery awaits inside because of the lake feeding the grounds around the whole area is so green. And because of the lake, it is home to some large water birds such as Pelicans, Cormorants and Storks.

Our first stop within the park was by the Hippo Lake and we were lucky enough to find them out of the water eating.

Breakfast time for these hungry hippos

walking along with small birds on their backs

We had an incredible encounter with a few elephants when we stopped by an area where they were eating. There were a few grown ones and a couple of babies, when they decided to cross the road infront of us. This was fine but one huge elephant with tusks that would make you shiver, stopped mid-crossing and turned directly to face us head on….Jamaica whispered ‘be silent and don’t move’….

Would you wanna mess with her..?

 It flapped its ears and gave us a look that scared the life out of J and me, all I could focus on was its enormous tusks – I could be a kebab special!! Then after what seemed like ages it turned and continued crossing, followed by its baby who through all this time waited patiently by the side of the path for its mummy to let him know it was ok to cross…J caught it on camera and we watched over and over again although on film it doesn’t last that long although for us it felt a very long time!!

Jamaica knew the best routes to go..

Suddenly I lost my appetite..

Just before our lunch we came across and a group of vultures feasting on the carcass of a wildebeest.

 Our lunch was spent out in the open, which had Jason rather fidgety as we were told large animals have been known to wander through, although a park ranger with a gun was nearby. It was particularly amusing when in the far distance a large group of wildebeest that were passing by, suddenly all began running as if being chased by something…..however after a couple of minutes it was all good. 

A Roebuck, I think..?!

Lake Manyara is the only park to have the tree climbing lions but we didn’t manage to spot one…boo who.

 However this safari has been amazing and we feel blessed to have experienced it. We have been fortunate enough to see the big 5 as they say – Lion’s, Elephants, Rhino’s, Buffalo and Giraffes however some say the big 6 if you include the Massai, as some say they are half human, half animal!!

At the entrance gate to Lake Manyara

Safari Day 2 – Ngorongoro Crater and Conservation Area

The view to the left of the crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is amazing. A natural wonder of the world, approx 2 million years ago it was an active volcano then 600, 000 years later it collapsed making what is known as a ‘caldra’. It’s a vast area covering 250sq km, the crater rim is approx 3600m above sea level (Mt Kilimanjaro stands at approx 5800m above sea level) with a depth of 600m. 

It is home to 20 – 25,000 animals and has the largest concentration of predators on the planet! The Ngorongoro Crater has a unique eco-system of forest, lakes, plains and swamps.

The right side view

Outside of the crater there is the Ngorongoro Conservation area, covering 8300sq km, which is home to the Massai and 9 other volcanoes however only 1 of them still active – Oldonyo Lengai (‘Mountain of God’ as the Massai have named it), which last erupted 3 years ago killing a lot of Massai tribesmen, livestock and animals.

Standing at a viewpoint on the crater rim – you feel in awe of nature and humbled at God’s creation and design for the planet. It is truly spectacular, staring down at the lakes and swamps, the sheer magnitude of the crater touches you spiritually, sadly the photo’s do not do it justice. While standing there Bryson even commented “Is this in Tanzania” as he could not believe this existed in his country.

 
Driving down the crater rim was exhilarating; you had to go down ‘pole, pole’ (slowly, slowly) and once on the craters surface looking up at the path we just traveled, its hard to believe we made it!

We spent the whole day driving around the crater. We came across a large family of Olive Baboons having breakfast and cleaning each other. 

 
The mothers had the babies either wrapped around their tummies, while older ones were carried on their backs. Some were playing and chasing each other but boy do they make a racket!!

 Again, we saw all kinds of animals, stopped at many zebra crossings…(get it!!) and birds including Herons and Horn Billed birds.

These herons had a crazy red mohican!

We came across some real cute Vervet Monkeys, one of them seemed to like our company so much that it even took the time to pose for several pictures for us…

How about this pose..

My casual pose..

Whats my motivation..

On the lake there was so many beautiful Flamingos’ while several, Spotted Hyenana’s walked nearby…

Male impala, almost cuter then Bambi!

Lunch had to eaten in our car that day, as the birds were notorious for swooping down and taking it from you not to mention the numerous Guinea Fowl running along the ground trying to take the scraps!

Give me your lunch..

We learnt how Zebra’s and Wildebeest often move together as they use each other’s abilities such as Zebra’s have good sight while Wildebeest have good smell to move around safely.

Imagine our delight when driving along we came across 2 Lions, just lion around (excuse the pun!!) They were unfazed by the jeeps parked around them. Then one lion got up and walked over to our jeep and decided to take a nap against the side of our wheel! Jason, felt the animal charisma and went for a stroke! Jokes!

It was like it was waiting for us in the road....hmm, are we their lunch?!

Jason's moment of bravery, they don't come often..!! LOL

Check that out!

It is so hot doing a safari we even found a Giraffe hiding under a tree to avoid the sun- it was so cute! We saw more elephants casually crossing the road between parked jeeps and a male and female Ostrich having some lunch.

Spot the Giraffe!

The lion buffet..!

Suddenly, while driving along a Park Ranger’s jeep speed past us to approach another vehicle that was pulled over – we were not sure what happened but assumed the driver was in trouble, however as they drove off together, we watched them with curiosity. Bryson suddenly had a feeling, saying follow them! We drove as close as we could get to them however they drove off the path into area’s we were not allowed to go…

Sure enough Bryson’s instinct was rewarded when in the far distance an elusive Black Rhinoceros stood up, from lying down in the long grass! It is so hard to spot Rhino’s as due to poaching their numbers have drastically reduced. They are hunted mostly for their horns, which is used for Chinese and Japanese medicine. The park rangers went off the track to show the guest in the jeep a closer look at the rhino. The guest in the jeep turned out to be the Tanzanian Ambassador for Norway – those lucky VIP’s!

Did you know that when a rhino is asleep it's horn goes soft..! Ooh er missus!

Another great day to be alive!!

Going on Safari!!

 Ok, so you cannot come to Africa without seeing some wild animals and I’m not including myself before breakfast..!

Eagerly on the lookout!

Jason and I got involved in a 3 day safari, taking us through 2 national parks, Tarangire and Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater – (booking safari’s can be a headache so we were sure to do some research but it’s soooo worth it!!) We would have loved to have done the Serengeti however costs were spiralling..

We took Bryson (from Camp Kili) with us on our safari. Bryson became like Jason’s younger brother (you got some competition Jonny!) who looked up to Jason. Bryson is a very unique individual, he is very intelligent, knowledgeable, spiritual and passionate about his country, which drives him to be ambitious.

 He used these phrases or comments that made sense but would crack J and me up – our trip was definitely blessed having him there.

No animals are getting away from us!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And off course I have to mention our safari driver as well, who was just awesome - a Tanzanian Rastafarian named Jamaica! This man was so cool, he knew so much, was so down to earth and nothing was too much of an effort – ‘hakuna matatta’ (no worries/problem!) Jamaica has climbed Kilimanjaro over 100 times and climbed Mount Meru (TZ’s 2^nd highest mountain) countless times, to the extent he now refuses to take climbers up the easy routes but only the challenging ones! He has conducted safaris’ across Kenya and all of Tanzanian’s major parks loads of times coming ‘up close and personal’ to the animals, so we knew we were in good hands. Even if his 4x4 jeep had seen better days – handbrake problems! Almost seeing Jason drive us into a bush onetime and another almost seeing Bryson and me roll back into a busy road…jokes!! 

Bryson in yellow, Jamaica at the far end.

Safari Day 1

Tarangire National Park is based around the Tarangire River and during August – October (the dry season) has the largest concentration of wildlife where the animals roam freely and find themselves here due to the park’s extended eco-system and is apart of the northern-circuit safari’s.

Did you know that no two Zebra's have the same stripes..!

Pumba was looking for Timone!

I cannot tell you how excited we both were, having done a safari before in Kenya, the thrill you get from spotting and seeing wild animals doing their thing as God intended is EPIC so being in the land for safari - home to the biggest migration of animals on the planet had us syked!

 

At one point while driving around we stopped to view something in the distance, when Jamaica suddenly dropped his binoculars and began reversing, all of us were like ‘what is it..??!’  A family of Cheetah’s were resting underneath a tree so well camouflaged that none of us had spotted them…! 

 They were pretty close for viewing even without binoculars!

We saw loads of animals such as Zebra’s, Wildebeests, African Buffalo’s (which became known to us as just, Soldiers whenever we sighted them due to Mr Marley’s song – ‘Buffalo Soldier..’), Impala’s, Gazelle’s, Dic Dic’s, Giraffes, Zebra Mongoose, Baboons and loads of birds and even the elusive Monitor Lizard. Trust, some of these animals we didn’t even know about!

Later that day we were lucky enough to view a family of African Elephants taking mud baths, rolling around and spraying themselves, even the noises they made had you hooked watching them! 

 

The biggest highlight of the day came for us in the late afternoon when we met the King of the Jungle and food chain – the mighty Lion. Who had taken his lioness away from the pack to basically get jiggy for the day or a couple of days. We were told usually Lions would only do this after they had made a few big kill’s (of buffalo’s, zebra’s etc) to gain enough energy to last them their ‘honeymoon’ (if you know what I mean..!). During their honeymoon, if they got peckish the lioness would then get them something smaller to eat. 

When we came on the scene the lioness was lying on her back resting while the male was also resting however had his head up, watching us. We were told they had gotten ‘busy’ twice before we arrived. However after 10-15mins he went for it again while we watched – Lion porn!!  Lasting, maybe a minute if that…LOL, what kind of King is that? LMAO

Lion porn!

A brilliant first day!

Orphans of Mount Kilimanjaro

One lazy afternoon while sitting in a muzungo (European traveller) restaurant we were approached by a young Tanzanian man named Bryson who advised us of a camp based on the slopes of Mt Kili that organises voluntary work and has accommodation that all the profits, go to orphans. To persuade us further we met the founder – an American, Texan, ex-Peace Corps man named Robert, known here as ‘Babu Bob’ (Babu meaning grandfather ) who had been living in Tanzania for 17 years. – This man was character if ever you met one, his life fascinated us both to the point I encouraged him to write his biography!

Aged well into his 60’s, a tall, well built man with a head of white hair and beard to match, (like Moses from the Bible) never without his Indianna Jones style hat and long wooden staff, Babu Bob makes a formidable character with stories to tell!

We shared a few meals (and lots of drinks..!) with him where he told us about his love/hate relationship with the country. His frustrations with the corruption, policies and politics and some people, who have taken voluntary sites and homes away from him however he would then express his many joys with the country the welcoming nature of residents, the children, who he has put through education (here and abroad) and the many orphans he has helped exclaiming he will die in this country.

Everywhere we went everyone knew him and would approach him. This man has led quite a life, avoiding the Vietnam war due to medical reasons (but which he was grateful for as he strongly opposed it) He has worked for Nasa, major arms industries including being involved in designing stealth jet technology, his friend even embalmed Lee Harvey Oswald! At some point he reviewed his life and felt the need to take it, in a different direction, which we are thankful he did.

Anywho..


We thought Camp Kilimanjaro was perfect for our next adventure so we made our way up the mountain with Bryson and another Camp Kili helper, Moses assisting us with putting our suitcases on the roof – yes, the roof of the bus as we travelled up the mountain, passing beautiful scenery to the camp accommodation.





 

Mama Flora runs the camp with the help of Mary, Jackie and the boys – Moses, Rapheal and Silas, who are so friendly and served some of the best food we’ve had so far! (Silas’s pork had Jason going for 2nd and 3rds!!) We also met 3 American girls – Becky and Alyssa from Rhode Island and Regina from San Francisco committed to long term projects there. It was so great speaking with them and sharing our stories and experiences of Tanzania while discussing fond memories of home and the everyday problems we face in society.



Mama Flora dressed all in white and the rest of Camp Killi gang.



Unfortunately Jay and I didn’t have enough time to get involved with a project but in staying there we were supporting the ‘cause’.



What type of bridge is this!!!



Sam crossing stream to get to the waterfall.



During our time there Bryson and Moses took us to see many natural beauties on the mountain such as the banana, coffee, pumpkin aloe-vera plants and trees while trekking to visit beautiful waterfalls and the first gate, where people all over the world come to climb the mountain to its snow capped peak named Kibo.

Should not of ate them beans
 last night!!

Kilasiya waterfalls

We were even involved in a birthday party, which saw Moses turn 24. Moses kindly named Jason and me to take part in his ceremonial tradition of being fed cake! (one tradition I could get used!!! LOL)

Being fed cake by the birthday boy..

Leaving the camp was actually quite emotional, as we had grown attached to everyone there although we wish them well with their future travels..

J and me at entrance to Kili

At the starting point to climb the mountain.