hi there folks....finally getting some time to update my blog post to include the most recent trip to tanzania with my good friend wendy....she traveled all the way from the states for a one week vacation with me at one of our bucket list destinations.....now that is dedication.....the pictures below will speak for themselves and once again on safari, in the past three months, i have seen the big 5 and then some....i do have a ranking system now though....so the next safari i take will be compared with kenya and tanzania....which are both pretty amazing in their own right....
for lions & leopards i would choose the better views in tanzania...one of which i couldn't get on my camera, as it was too far away, and my camera is now officially dead....so everything was taken by phone this time around...but in the serengeti....yeah....that serengeti....the one from out of africa and the amazing imax film....we saw a leopard actually carry it's prey into a tree and leave it there for later....that was mind-blowing....we also saw in ngorogoro crater and lioness defend her zebra kill from 40+ hyenas....talk about scaredy cats....it was wild....
for rhinos and cheetahs, i would choose masaai mara....as you saw from my last update....simply incredible shots close up and personal for both.....the elephants, giraffe, zebras, thompson gazelles, hippos, birds, birds, birds, wildebeests, impala, cape buffalo, etc, were about equal in both parks, but really anything in either place is incredible...i mean....really....are you kidding me?????
after 4 days of safari we headed to zanzibar, an island off the coast of tanzania....which was lovely, but i have to say i was not super impressed with stone town....if i went back i would head for the beach and go snorkeling every day.....we did that our last morning, and it was amazing.....now....on with the shots....hope you enjoy them :)
after wendy flying two days to get to tanzania and me coming from ghana....which is longer than you think, because its like flying across the US....we finally made it to our first destination....lake mayanara....known for the tree climbing lions....of which we saw none....but we did stop and watch this family of elephants playing in the river for a good half an hour....they were having so much fun, and even though the light was not at its best...it was a signal that our trip was going to be all right.....we did have a problem with the tour company, and i have to say i would not recommend them, as we got charged more money than expected....so if you are planning a trip...my recommendation, do not use leopard tours....we also found out they are in a law suit with the tanzanian government for not paying back taxes or something like that....anyway...not a recommendation from me for this.....
we chose to do the camping aspect for this trip....and here is our home away from home....it was a glam tent and we thought all was going to be smooth sailing after our first night in the front yard of a hotel...little did we know....but we had comfy cots and chairs to chill on the porch with and even got hot water in the basin to the right every morning to start our day....swanky.....no bathroom included and that was interesting for later....when we were not in the front yard of a hotel.....
from lake mayanara we needed to drive around ngorogoro crater to get to the serengeti....this place was simply amazingly HUGE and stunning....this crater was formed when a volcano blew....a long time ago (3 million years ago)....later in the week our last stop was the bottom of the crater....so much life in one place....one of the lakes here is freshwater, the other is salt and they are never completely dry, so the animals that are here, stay here....simply breathtaking....
these are stacked cape buffalo skulls in our public camp ground....in the background you see the mess hall - which has nothing - you bring it all...table, chairs, plates, etc....and to the right you see the kitchen...again, nothing here, you bring it all....stoves, water, food stuff for a few days....literally bring it all....we had an interesting run in with a male baboon in the mess building this particular morning....everyone else who had camped had left, except wendy and i....so we were finishing up, when in strolls a male baboon....and i mean literally, strolls....it was crazy....we both stood up, i saved my coffee, and he ran for the table....like a sneaky kid and started grabbing what he could from the table - toast, fruit, crepes - until i starting stomping my feet, yelling and waving my arms....it was intense....but funny as well....as we walked out with the remaining foodstuffs for the kitchen, we looked around and saw his entire family was enjoying our leftovers from breakfast....definitely not a hunting and gathering difficulty for the morning meal from what i could see.....from then on, we were wary of baboons and breakfast...
our first morning in the serengti we caught up with this lovely lioness who was out for a stroll....she turned around and just stared at us from her perch on this little rise, where she was watching a herd of zebra....after the stare down, she turned around and sauntered into the very high grass where we lost her...never did see her make a kill or even do a chase, as the grass was so high....we never caught a kill this time around, but we did see the aftermath....sometimes just moments after the kill had happened....you could tell by the smell.....
the serengeti had a ton of giraffe, everywhere we went....i love watching these animals walk along looking for food....they are just crazy looking....beautiful too, but how in the world did they evolve this way, just wild....these two giraffe hung out together for quite a while and the guide said they were in the process of getting ready to mate...didn't see that, but did like the crossing of the necks and such....
this is was i meant by showing up at the end of a kill...this male had a lion in his mouth...it had been dropped off to him by some females of his pride, who were headed back out to hunt when we first showed up....a few stuck around and tried to eat some of the zebra, but the male was just not having that and kept dragging the kill around....there were some cubs who also tried to have a taste, but the male was not having any of that either....such an interesting set up...one male, many females, many cubs...one zebra...male first, females and cubs second.....not my style, but interesting none-the-less :)
at the top of one of the rock formations, where sometimes lions gather, luckily no lions when we got to the top....we saw these cool white divots in the rocks.....our guide bill explained that if you pound on the rocks in those white divots it makes gong sound...hence why they are called gong rocks, and they are the way the masaai communicated between families and tribes....
so of course i needed to pound a gong rock...and really, they sound like a gong and i guess the sound would travel really far...here i am trying to communicate with the world via gong rock...at this point i also am trying to communicate with my luggage that still had not made it to me...that i was really tired of wearing the same two t-shirts and sweats...but in the end, the luggage, not the world heard me....it arrived on the seregenti airstrip near where we were camping....simply amazing how those gong rocks work ;)
above is the pop-top 4x4 we used to travel in tanzania and for the safari....very different from the one in kenya.....this was definitely not open sides, but i did like the open roof idea....made for a good breeze when you were standing on a seat....even though its hard to see, inside are wendy, bill the guide/driver and me....under a cool candelabra tree....they are cool cactus that grow in east africa.....
of course, one of the main things we wanted to see was the migration....so our second day was spent going across the serengeti, where we caught the wildebeests and zebras congregating to get ready to start moving.....there were so many of them.....and they make very different noises....the zebras actually bark and sound like dogs....wild....in the picture above, all the little dots you see to the horizon are either wildebeests or zebra.....soooooooooo many... with a controlled fire burning in the distance....
it is said the migration happens because of lack of grasses....but this year, they have been having tons of rain (attributed to el nino)....so guides were a bit nervous in both parks that the migration would not happen....in the previous picture if you look at the horizon, you might be able to see smoke, and that's because the park was doing controlled burning....it is helping the grass and making sure the migration actually starts.....so i guess humans are somewhat in control this year.....the shot above is where all of the wildebeests and zebra would come running into and then slow down....they depend on each other i guess....or the wildebeests depend on the zebra, as everyone was saying, because the wildebeests are not very smart....
elephants were everywhere in the seregenti....and many times up close to the 4x4....this was a family getting ready to cross the road behind us...tons, and tons of babies were everywhere....and not just of elephants....it must have been a good mating season is all i kept thinking, with all of the healthy babies running around.....
i love this picture and call it "hippo in thought"...it is just chillin' in the water and looking out towards the sunset....the hippos were huge, but this was the only one we ever really saw close up.....
back at camp, before it was dark, wendy and i hung out and had a beer....this was before our guide and cook told us we were not allowed to go away from the tent in the night to go to the bathroom.....ummmmmmmm, what?!?!? there were no guards, no fences, no guns, no nothing....so if you went out to the bathroom, you could run into a baboon or a lion or a cape buffalo or what was around our tent continuously....hyenas.....and this was not a joke....so fair warning if you stay in a public camp ground in tanzania....bring a pee bottle....we had a few frights the first night because we were not prepared....cape buffalo next to the tent, hyenas calling to each other, baboons ransacking the garbage.....after someone tells you that you cannot pee, all you want to do is pee....let's just say not much sleeping was had the first night.....
but this was our sunrise.....so really, was it worth it....maybe :) as you can see, we had an amazing view....and of course were the furthest tent from the bathroom....of course.....second night we stayed, we knew better....but another group of folks that night did get surrounded by hyenas....luckily there were a lot of them and they started yelling and screaming and that ran them off....definitely an adventure.....
as we headed back to arusha, we had our afternoon in ngorogoro crater....and it was incredible....this elephant had literally propped its head up on the river bank next to the 4x4....perfect picture shot....there was a ton of grass to eat here and the elephants seemed quite happy......
while in the crater we also watched a lioness defend her kill of a zebra from 40+ hyena....this was one of the ones who did not stay, and we got a great shot as we left the area....but the lioness was amazing....she was literally surrounded, but the hyenas were about as organized as kindergartners....they would start to creep close on one side...she would stand up and look at them and they would scamper off....none of them would come from the other side, even though they were standing there.....then a few would go play in the river, chase the babies in the area or chase one of the hyenas they didn't like.....and then it would start again.....we arrived when there were only 5 or so hyenas....it grew to over 40...and everyone thought the lioness and her kill were toast....but we stayed 1.5 hours, and they never got the meal.....she even took a nap for a bit....again, horrible hunting techniques on the hyenas part.....in the end we heard she never gave the zebra up....simply incredible....40+ to 1!!!!!
this was our cook yusto....it was amazing what he could make with this set-up.....this last night we camped was insane....we stayed with about 150 other people.....with only 3 toilets for the women and a complete downpour for the night....talk about gross....but what impressed me was that all of the cooks were men....and the meals they were bringing out were incredible....we had samosas and empanadas, and spaghetti, and fruit tart, and crepes, and quiche, and the best macaroni salad, and....and...and....it was wild....yusto was our breath of fresh air and led to a full stomach for every meal :)
on our way back to arusha from the national parks, i decided to take some road shots....to show that tanzania is very similar to ghana....colorful containers along the road selling everything...only difference is that the highway to the parks is amazing!!!! and in the best condition....this is one other way that going to the serengeti was much better than going to masaai mara....the road was in incredible condition....good, i mean....also, just like in ghana, stores had funny names - there was even an obama bus....very cool.....
from safari we flew to the island of zanzibar....you even have to go through customs to get in....the republic of zanzibar, even though it is part of tanzania....what a beauty of an island....but really hot and sticky.....we stayed in stone town....which is a quaint, old city, with a ton of hawkers and people that have to make comments, especially men to women....which is really tiresome.....not a place i need to return to.....although i did love the doors....but i did not want to buy any cds or drugs or baskets or bags or anything.....bleh..... we did make it to the northwest beach you see above....which was very nice, but the water was super warm....like swimming in a bathtub....didn't really escape the heat that way.....but the landscape was stunning and there was no one else on the beach.....
here is one of those amazing doors from stone town....they must weigh a ton, as they are all carved wood, with very intricate designs and the knobs poking out are made of metal....the doors were orginally burma/mayanmar teak, but these days they are east african teak....the one above is an example of an indian or gujarati door, done in the old style, with no semi-circular area above the door itself...the carving around the door frame is amazing.....they also have arab doors, but i did not get a picture of one of those, as we never saw one....the doors were amazing....
this was the beautiful shot of the waterfront of zanzibar as we were leaving on the double hulled catamaran back to dar es salaam.....there is a dhow boat in the harbor....which i loved watching - it is the one with the sail....simply lovely....and the colors for this shot turned out well.....it was a beautiful day :)
in dar we met up with my friends jeff and anita and had dinner with them along the beach at an outdoor place....they both seem quite happy to be working in dar and seem to have a great life, especially since they go sailing/snorkeling a lot and they can bike to work....seems like a good deal and that both of them are happy....it was terrific to catch up :)
i figured the last shot should be of wendy and i....traveling together once again....it is hard at times to find the right folks to travel with, and i think wendy and i are a great match....we will meet somewhere in the world again and do some crazy things and have some great adventures....it was a terrific trip, with all of those things this time around....and i am so grateful she was willing to meet me in africa to do this one.....
so there you have it....tanzania....wow....what an adventure....saw amazing animals - both on land and in the sea...incredible vistas - again, on land and the sea....met some cool folks along the way....and had a few scary moments - always important for an adventure....all-in-all...awesome!!!!
so i am now in my last two full months here in ghana...i did hit country number 76 - togo, over easter weekend....but i think that may be the last on this tour.....i am headed back to the states via paris in june....but who knows what will be next....my last update or updates from here will be a smidge of togo and some final things from ghana....hopefully you enjoyed this update....there were so many more pictures i could have put here...but i felt 27 was almost too much....next update in a month or so....and i hope everyone is having a good start to spring/fall, depending on which hemisphere you live in....til i write again.....thanks for reading.....and
have a fab day :)
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