SAFARI

02/09/2011 - 05/09/2011

SAFARI...Yeh man.

So we made it in time, plenty of time on the Friday night to pack all our stuff together ready for that treachorous trek across Lake Victoria.

The journey to the ferry terminal was entertaining to say the least as we all crammed into Will I AM's car, luggage and human beings en route to the ferry.
Perhaps being late was the least of our worries as I think William would probably have had the power to tell the boat to do an about turn and come back for us.
Everyone knows who William is.

Hakuna matata.

We'd gone for a 2nd class cabin this time round - sharing 6 persons to the cabin as there were 6 of us.
There seemed little point in paying for 1st class, though I could understand it if there were randomers in the cabin.
We managed to bag a meal in the first class restaurant though.

It was really sad saying goodbye to William and his wife - though William was a businessman through and through, he was extremely hospitable and it was very tough leaving him.

The cabin was such a squeeze, especially with our enormous backpacks, and I have no idea how anyone was ever meant to get a decent sleep on the beds. Aside from being hard, they were exceptionally thin, and I'm a small person.
We went through the same stop/start business and even wondered if we'd struck an "iceberg" equivalent at one point.  Heart in mouth moment when the engines stopped and we had no idea what was going on.
T.I.A.

We woke up early (if any of us had actually had any sleep at all) to see the sunrise.
I absolutely love taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets - this was something else, across a Lake as we were about to embark on an adventure.

Arriving into Mwanza was the expected chaos, but there 8 Mzungos, counting Jash and Bernie and we all assertively managed to find our way to our guide without too much trouble.

A lengthy stop for breakfast, before we were finally on our way.
Lion King songs lasted for a short while before all of us were fast asleep - not exactly missing much en route to the Serengeti from Mwanza.


We arrived at the gate of the Serengeti at lunchtime, where we stopped for lunch and photos - including of the sign.  The sign which said we'd arrived.
Then the tour began.

The great thing about the bus was it had an open top if we wanted, so we could drive slowly through the reserve, catching the sun and gazing into the park at the nature.
The Serengeti goes on and on and on, and is mostly wildebeast and gazelle.  But we also saw zebra.

As the journey progressed we also saw giraffes.

I was definitely getting fed up of the wildebeast and very keen to see elephants.  Definitely elephants.

There are loads of tour buses, but you rarely end up in each other's way and the great thing is that the tracks are close enough to the animals but not on top of them.

The guides do have radios which they use to contact each other if there is a particularly rare, unusual sighting.
This was helpful as we were able to see leopards and cheetah which was very exciting.

Later into the afternoon we saw a beautiful pride of lions, absolutely glorious in the afternoon sun.
They were clearly very satisfied with themselves.


The evening came and we drove up to the campsite we were staying at.  This was all rather daunting, aside from the fact that we were camping in the middle of the Serengeti, under canvass.
I get the romance of it, but seriously - any wild animal could rock up.

We had a bit of a wait for dinner as there was limited seating, but it was definitely worth it, before resting for the evening as we were incredibly exhausted.

04/09/2011

We were up very early today for a morning drive and although it was freezing at this point in the morning, it was so worth being up to see the sun rise.
We saw more lions including a lion cub...SIMBA!!!!!!

Later that day we got to see elephants, which was such a highlight for me.
They are such magnificant creatures.

We also stopped off by the water, where we saw hippo and apparently there were crocs in the river. eeeek.

I am so in love with the Serengeti.

After lunch we left the Serengeti, driving onwards to Ngorogoro.

The plains became more barren as we drove, turning to dirt tracks, and we could see mini tornados on the way - dust storms that occur when there is dry land.

We passed Masaai settlements as well - I have no idea how they survive out here.

In the middle of the afternoon something began to sound unwell with the engine.
We were all concerned that we had another day of travels and quite a distance before we reached our point for the night, and that we were in the middle of the Serengeti.
The bus began to wind down slowly until it gave up completely when we were on a hill.
There was a heart in mouth moment as it almost started to roll back down the hill again. And I'm one who panics at any car related stuff.

Yep, the bus had truly broken down.

The chef is clearly a trained mechanic as well. So he and the driver got out of the bus to have a look to see what the problem was.
We were acutely aware of our location and proximity to wildlife. A lion could be in the bushes and it was pretty scary business.

A really helpful Masaai came and helped and eventually the bus was fixed.

We weren't too far from our base for the night when we got a puncture.  At least we're used to these by now! (And there weren't any animals nearby either...)
Finally we rocked up at the camp ...but the drama wasn't over at all.

Ngorgoro is freezing.  If Africa is warm most of the time, this was the artic in comparison.
All warm clothes were needed!

When we were finally able to be seated for dinner (everyone was milking the opportunity to be in the warmth) we made the most of it.
Then Karina disappeared.  She'd gone to the bathroom, and we realised she was missing for ages.

We went to go and check on her a while later and it transpired that a buffalo had chased her into the bathroom. She was terrified. (So would anyone!)

Yes wild animals do come into the camp.

No-one wanted to go anywhere alone that evening...in the middle of the night I needed the loo.
There was no way I was going to walk all the way to the bathroom.
In the end I tried to go outside, when I saw something lurking in the shadows.

It looked like a lioness, I am not kidding - and it was about 50 / 100m from me.
I jumped back into the tent, petrified.

I thought there were meant to be security guards outside for this kind of thing.
None of us slept the rest of the night.

Next morning we deduced that my encounter was in fact the guard dog which looks like a lion...or was it?...we'll never know.
We all made it through the night alive.

05/09/2011

Ngorogoro is stunning.  The scenary is breathtaking.

But driving to get down there is heart in mouth, as you skate the rim of the crater.

Once down, it is every bit worth it.

We were on the hunt...(I hesitate as obviously not literally) for the rhino.  We thought we might have seen one in the distance, but it could well have been a rock.

We also got the completion of the Lion King (having seen pumba earlier on) with hyenas and even can you feel the love tonight from some lions.
Beautiful, although it's very very quick...

And then it was time for a long drive to Arusha for the night.

Safari.  Safi sana.