Nungwe Beach and Saying 'Bye to Zanzibar

Timing, they say, is everything.

And, nowhere else can that be truer than travelling.

A place can be just heaving with tourists during the high season, yet be strangely and wonderfully peaceful just a month later.

So it was with Nungwe – the main backpacker resort on the northern tip of the island. In general, it acts as a magnet for most travellers, and is supposed to have beachside bars, loud music, and all the other key ingredients for a good party spot.


Wonderful – unless you're seeking to just chill out.

But, seeing as it was the low season, I decided to give Nungwe a shot, and then move on to the east coast if it was too rambunctious.

It turned out to be a great choice – I rolled into 'town' at 11, and met up with Pam and Kevan from the Spice Tour. Being so quiet, after a bit of negotiation, we ended up getting bandas (small cottages) on the beach for $20 a night, and we were good to go.

Some enterprising locals got us onto a dolphin/snorkelling trip and fortune smiled on us again – as we spotted a small pod of dolphins and immediately jumped in the water. We only got to snorkel with them for about 30 seconds, but it was still amazing – seeing them in their element at about 10 feet, including a mom and her baby!

They checked us out – drawn perhaps by my high pitched calls... I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, so I ended up trying to mimic Beaker from the Muppet Show. Sad, I know.

Rest of the day was spent chilling out by Cholo's bar, throwing the frisbee with Kevan, and devouring a massive burger at Paradise Hotel which quickly grew to be our favourite spot. Add in some card games and reading, and we had a recipe for spending a few days.

The next two days were pretty similar in fact. We took a day long snorkelling trip on a dhow that included a fish BBQ on the beach, then sailed back around four. Add in the requisite admiring of the sunsets, more card games and more beers, and that was a pretty great trip.


I headed back to Stonestown on the 21st and found an even better hotel – called Hotel Zenji. It was perfect, with free wi-fi, immaculate rooms, and welcoming staff for $30 a night. Unbelievable. It was one of those places in fact that would be perfect for romantic getaways – which, uh, I was unable to capitalize on. ;)

My last day on the island was spent, well, shopping – I had never really wanted to carry a bunch of stuff around Africa, so was holding off until the last day.

Bracing myself, I wandered into the twisting alleyways, and just went for it. There's a surprising number of really kitsch shops, all selling the same variants of stuff, but with a bit of concentration, you can find some good buys. I ended up with another mask for my wall, plus a few other odds and bobs – negotiation is fun, but I tend to lose patience when we get to the last dollar or two, figuring 'ah, what the heck – it means a lot more to them'.



Man, I wasn't kidding - they LOVE Obama. This is painted under a special Kenyan tree - and was the center of the party after the election results came out.

Dinner was meeting up with Jessica for drinks at the Africa House again (including a really strong African gin/campari cocktail), then more Zanzibar pizzas. This night, the market was much less crowded and we had some good smiles with the same cooks as we tried our pidgin Swahili... just a great night and a good last memory of the island.


The next day was an early ferry to Dar Es Salaam, and then a flight to Delhi via Qatar... as a sort of going away memory, my cheeky taxi driver had the nerve to try to renegotiate the rate halfway to the airport. Uh, no.

Zanzibar and Stonestown...

Ah Zanzibar. This amazing island, about 50 miles off the coast of Tanzania even just SOUNDS cool – and conjures up images of white sand beaches, spices, and sorts of exotic things.

And... that's mostly true.

I caught an early morning ferry – which while fast, continued my streak of having to watch really really bad movies. In this case, it was STEALTH – and if you had to choose between watching that and having a filling without drugs, I'd recommend the dentist. Bad, bad, bad film.

Right – but the good news is that the movie ended, and Zanzibar was just our windows. On arrival, we had to go through their own customs (they're a bit like Tanzania's Quebec – always threatening to break off to be their own country) and then brave another scrum of touts and taxi drivers.

Fortunately I had a hotel already lined up so I quickly started making my way around town. Now, Stonestown is called the Venice of Africa – I'm not really sure why since they don't have canals.

But, they do have windy twisty narrow streets – that will befuddle even the best nav sense.

So, spurning the need for a taxi to walk a 'mere' 500 meters, I waddled around town in my big backpack. And again. And again.

The locals started grinning as I walked past for the third time – asking with a smile if I was sure I didn't need help finding the hotel.

Nope – the stubborn male gene kicked in, and I was in for the long haul. Thankfully, the Clove Hotel was around the corner and I got situated no worries. This is a great hotel – simple, clean, with a sparkling personality and an amazing roof terrace for about $45.



So, naturally, I immediately headed up there for a cold beer (hey, it was just after 12:00, so I didn't feel toooo bad), and then met Jessica, who's a PhD student kinda sorta studying Swahili while her boyfriend is on tour.

We ended up checking out Mercury's – a famous harborside place that loves, loves, loves Queen (Freddie Mercury was actually born in Zanz of all places). So, fresh passion fruit juice and some fresh seafood stirfry, and we were chatting away, comparing travel notes.

The next day – we decided to take a chance on a “Spice Tour” that takes you out and about among the island's spice farms. Ever since the 15th century, this has been Zanzibar's claim to fame, so we took a chance on it.

… and had a great time.



It's funny when you travel – sometimes you just happen to find a very cool group of folks and 'click' with them. So it was on this tour – we ended meeting 4 UK/US med students, a girl who paints book-starved African schoolrooms with pictures, English/Swahili text and lesson plans, and 2 English guys who started a charity to build a school after a late night discussion fueled by one too many pints back in England.



As someone who was just travelling – I felt distinctly less useful!

The tour was interesting – we saw and tasted cloves, vanilla vines, nutmeg trees, plus a whole bunch of unique fruits that I can't remember the names of.

We were at our last farm when I decided to bring out the balloons animals for the local kids.

As you can see – I made a minor miscalculation. Initially, I saw two kids nearby, and figured “no sweat”. But as soon as the balloons were visible...







… I was swarmed.

We got them into a loose kind of order and I was tying as fast as I could – but the kids, they kept on coming and coming. Plus, we saw that some hid their first balloon in their house and ran back.





So, of course, when it came time to leave... it got a little chaotic. There was a near scrum over my last balloon for the girl I promised, and then we had to go.

It was a great experience, but it definitely highlighted that I need to be more careful on where I bring these out!

Right – enough of the balloons... a little delayed, we headed for lunch at the first farm, then down a winding 15 km road then narrow track, to arrive at our first beach.



I know – tough life ;)

We even got cold cokes on the beach, trekked in by a very friendly local guy who needed a bit of a course in capitalism. I mean... you have a group of Westerners that are hot, thirsty, and have a bit of cash. You've just hiked these in yourself – a not inconsiderable task. Your price for a soda?

$.50

Seriously – he needs to charge * gasp * at least 2X that... we'd pay in heartbeat.

We met up for drinks at a great bar called the Africa House for sunset...





… before heading to the local markets for dinner. On Kosi and Becky's recommendation, we all tried Zanzibar pizza.

Now – it doesn't look like much. It's not really even pizza but more like a unique version of African crepes. But, wow, that was one of the best meals we had – some batter, with chicken, onions, egg, Laughing Cow cheese, and chilis wrapped and fried inside.

Unbelievable, and only $1.50. So, naturally, we had to sample the dessert – bananas and chocolate sauce. Heck, that was so good – even I liked it, and I generally loathe all things banana-related.

Dar Es Salaam - Capital of Suckiness

There must be some sort of travelling law in East Africa. I don't know – call it the “The Bigger the City, the Suckier It Is”.

Profound, I know.

But seriously, first it was Nairobi (often called Nai-rob-me by tourists) that left me with a distinctly poor impression. I had higher hopes for Dar Es Salaam, since it was supposed to be more laid back and chilled out.

Sigh. Nope.

We rolled into Dar after a 7 hour bus ride, notable only in that the DVD player was thankfully broken so instead of overly loud local sitcoms or poorly dubbed B movies, we got to rock out to local reggae music.

I immediately caught a taxi into the center and ended up staying at the local YWCA, right downtown.

Again, this is where the LP's age hurt – since 3 years ago, the Y was extolled as spotless clean, cheap, and a great value.

… and they got 1 of the 3. It was cheap at $10, but very very grotty. (Mom and Dad – to give some perspective, it made my fraternity bathroom look luxurious. Seriously.)

So, let's just say I didn't plan on staying in my room much. I went out and wandered the sleepy downtown area before finding an air-conditioned Thai place – a nice change after Lushoto's filling but plain fare.

The evening was quiet – Dar doesn't really have places to go out, so I found myself in the local Movenpick hotel for a decent pizza and a few Kili's.

Just like Nairobi, the streets are really not safe after dark, so it was a somewhat nervous 300 meter walk back to the Y then bed.

The next day was pretty chilled out too – I braved the scrum of touts outside the ferry building to get a ticket to Zanzibar. One of them was astonishingly persistent – ignoring no less than 20 refusals, he just followed me and lurked behind while I got my ticket hoping for a commission, but I just shrugged at the agent – saying I had no idea who he was. No commission for you, sir!

The rest of the afternoon, I checked out the local fish market, where it would have been fantastic to take photos of the massive variety of fish on display. I figured that would have been a bit dicey so headed on my way and ended up at the Masani Slipway – a western-style enclave on the outskirts of town.

This was a good place to recharge the batteries and check out the local artists' co-op, so ended up with a pretty good fresh tuna steak sandwich and a beer, before heading back into town.

Dinner was at a locals' Indian place – Dar has a big Asian population, and then got back to the Y before dark, more than ready to get the heck out of town to check out Zanzibar in the morning!

Lushoto... the Seattle of Tanzania

Once in Lushoto, I was able to get a room at St. Eugene's the local monastery/school - an immaculate complex that did everything from growing/selling their own cheese and banana wine to operating schools and a hotel.

Chilled out the first night, and the next day I set out walking to town. Now, Lushoto is pretty well-known for its hiking – with local trails in the mountains that lead from village to village.

My plan was pretty flexible but I figured I'd take a day hike out of Lushoto into the surrounding hills.

One of the great things about visiting in the off-season is that tourists are few and far-between, which made me more of a novelty, prompting curiousity vs. “Dear God, not ANOTHER tourist”.

Lushoto is a smallish, mellow town, nestled high up in the remarkably green hills. It's pretty and genuine, with local farmers working their plots and then selling at the local market.



Oh, and it rains. A lot.

All in all – a fun place to wander around. I got turned around a bit, and ended up circling the town a ways, all the way punctuated by a stream of “Jambo” (hello) and “Habare” (morning) from the friendly locals I passed on the way in.

Some pretty heavy rain showers kicked in now and again – but that just took the edge off the heat.

There's not a great deal to actually DO, so I started hiking up to Irente View Point, a few kilometers outside of town. Again, being the lone white person was fun, and I had cheeful mini-conversations as I passed (or was passed) by the much fitter locals.



Hiked back to St. Eugene's, and the waiter Mafasa gave me a big hand. I needed to sort out a bus for the trip to Dar Es Salaam. Just like Mpemba, he took me under his wing, arranging for me to get the right ticket and a pickup the following morning at the monastery 2km outside of Lushoto.

By way of thanks, I bought beers at a VERY local bar – and we ended up playing pool against the resident pool sharks. The table was a more than a bit dodgy, with a cue ball that was about half the of the rest, and there were more slopes and tilts than even our decrepit old fraternity table (which I would have thought impossible). The other cool bit – they have a unique local tradition. Any time a player makes a good shot, all of the other watchers will lightly tap their hands on the table as a kind of applause. It made me blush the first time they did it for me – but soon enough I was doing the same.

Afterwards though, I found out about the downside of being in such a local farming town AND a monastery to boot – after hours social opportunities are a bit hard to find. So it was another quiet night and bed.

Moshi to Lushoto (with Obama as guest star!)

May 11 – I gotta admit...after getting back down the Kili, I didn't really think of anything past a long shower and a beer. The past few days, it was a bit like an ever-present mental carrot that kept dangling in front of me, step after step.

So, finally – when the moment finally came and I couldn't choose, I opted for both. A hot shower WITH a cold Kilimanjaro lager is the new 'best cure for tired legs' EVER. Well, barring a hot tub, massage, and so on – but still, it's in the top 5.

I must have crashed around 7 and slept right through til morning.

The next day I fell victim to 'Kili legs', where every step was punctuated by a little “ow” or weird involuntary old guy noises whenever I did anything as strenuous as getting out of a chair. It was only fair. On the safari, I had roundly heckled some of our team who were suffering from their own climbs – I was definitely getting a bit of my own back. Stupid poetic justice.

Anyways – I ended up just hanging out at our hotel and in Moshi the next day. I wouldn't say it was a destination town by itself, with wayyy too many touts angling for your business, but there was a great cafe called the Coffee Bean that supports the local orphanage. Fresh passionfruit juice (the locals often call it passion juice – which always prompts an inward chuckle) and fresh bagels are a great remedy, plus just relaxing in the shady courtyard getting caught up on the blog.

The rest of the afternoon was spent poolside at the the hotel – it was pretty funny, since some Western girls reading on the balcony above had found admirers in the local 10 years old boys, who kept trying to outdo each other dancing for their attention over the wall.

I also had a chance to 'pay it forward' – passing on the good tips I learned about hiking Kili to an American girl who was going up the next day. Travel's funny like that – there's a constant grapevine chain of advice that is passed from traveller to traveller; surprisingly accurate – it's a great resource since we're all generally in the same boat, arriving or leaving foreign destinations.

The next day was a transit one – I had decided to stop off in the Ushambara Mountains on the way down to Dar Es Salaam and Zanzibar for a few days.



I gotta admit – I wasn't really looking forward to the journey. Unlike most cities I've been to, where the long distance bus companies have their own offices, Moshi opted for a more free-flowing approach.

Some would call it chaotic/insane, but I'll just stick with, um, interesting.

Moshi central bus station is a multi-acre scrum of everything from multi-colored daladallas (local minivans/trucks) to buses of every make and state of repair. Add in dozens of taxis, plus hordes of food vendors, touts and passengers and it's more exciting that the Tube at the peak of rush hour. Any Westerner generally gets swarmed with enthusiastic offers for lifts, marijuana, and everything in between.

Sooo – I wasn't really looking forward to it.

Fortunately – I got a great assist from the Zara Tours, who I had climbed with. Mpemba gave me a lift over there, and then, recently broken foot and all, went out and lined up a good bus company for me. What a great guy – and a classic example of the warm hospitality I would experience over and over again in Tanzania.

The bus ride was pretty forgettable, and I got dropped off at Mombo – a transit junction. The plan was to catch a local daladalla to Lushoto – and Lonely Planet said that the hotel that served as a bus stop would have a stream of them coming by.

Alas, no.



NOTE: They love love love Obama here!!

One of the occasional problems of using LP is that it become quickly outdated as local conditions change. In this case, I ended up getting out and meeting blank stares when I asked for a ride into Lushoto.

But again, the warmth of the Tanzanians came to the rescue.

One nice guy offered to go out to the main road (in the rain no less!) to flag a ride to the NEW meeting point – while the manager of the restaurant kept me company and solicited the best info from the other locals. All the while, I'm just catching the odd “Mzungu” (term for foreign white person) and “Lushoto/daladalla”, standing there with a hopeful and kinda plaintive smile on my face.

Awesome. It all worked out and I was on my way.

Now, I probably should paint a better picture of your typical daladalla. They serve locals for the vast majority of travel, and are generally some sort of Toyota minivan. Now, orginally designed for the average family of 4 or 5, a dog and some groceries, these have been converted into holding no less than 17, in VERY tight quarters.

Add in the fact that the bus leaves only when full (and that's when the driver is sure that one more person can't be squeezed in somewhere), and you've got an interesting trip ahead.

I met a local chemistry teacher on the way over, and we can had a good chat comparing education systems – equipment is critically short in Tanzania, with 60-80 students a class, so his job made my worst day student teaching seem like a walk in the park!

Safari Highlight Video

Annnnd here are the highlights from my safari... there's a mix of silly music and sillier Mike commentary, so feel free to mute if you:

a) ain't a big fan of 80's stars Toto and/or
b) could do without 3X your daily allowance of hearing 'dude' peppering the spoken word commentary. :)

Kili Highlight Video...

Hi all -

Okay - this may come as a bit of a surprise. But actually - one of the more difficult things about this trip hasn't been the language (tho' that can be pretty entertaining), the dodgy transport, or even the odd wildlife sharing a tent with you...

Nope - it's more of a technology thing. For all of us online-addicted Western folk, at least there's email in the most unlikely of places... but a true FAST connection?? Yeah, let's just say that I've struck out everywhere from Kenya to Tanzania.

That means finding a way to upload and share some of my safari and trek photos has been a challenge.

But Nepal... Nepal has come closest yet. In the tourist quarter of Kathmandu, I finally scored (so to speak...) and got one highlight video uploaded

Sorry in advance for the cheesy music but I couldn't resist...

Kilimanjaro - the Summit! (Day 5 & 6)

The group split up at this stage – I was the only who had opted for the longer trip, giving me an extra day on the mountain to acclimatize. So the other guys headed up on Day 5 – and I had a night to myself on the mountain.





It turned out that I lucked out – they went up too quickly, so ended up arriving at the summit before dawn, and came back down in darkness. Plus, they would have encountered clouds at the top if they had stayed longer.

But – on my day to summit, it was an easy 2.5 hour hike to the last campsite, then lazing around until midnight when my guide Fausti and myself headed up.

Again, conditions really favored us – when I woke up, I saw that we had just a dusting of snow, draping Kili in a brilliant coat of white. Then to top things off, we were able to hike under a full moon, which was so bright that headlamps weren't even necessary. Stunning.

Now, this part of the trail was hard. We kept the same slow pace, and headed up 1200m over 5 hours. Drinking water was absolutely critical to avoid headaches or nausea – even our guide wasn't immune, as he started feeling pretty bad on the way up.

The hike seemed to last a very long time – I kept thinking that “oh, we must be coming to halfway by now”, only to see that the ridge line just kept on going and going. For some reason, the only song I could keep going in my head to pass the time was “Into the Dark” by Deathcab for Cutie... not the most inspiring or motivational song out there!

But sure enough – as my legs were getting pretty beat up, we finally crested the ridge at Stella Point, and it all became much easier. Uhuru peak – 5800 meters – was in sight, and we put on a final push of effort... arriving at the peak literally at the break of dawn.






No other tourists, very little wind – just a chance to sit and take it all in. 'course, pics were a bit difficult at -10 C – my fingers froze so I just took a few pics and called it a day.

After 10 minutes, we headed back down and were treated to the dawn lighting up the rest of the valley. With the streaming clouds wrapping around the mountain peaks, it was one of the most beautiful sights – so we paused for another minute or two.



Then, really tired and cold, we immediately headed back to camp. Funny how hikes work – it took 6 good hours to climb up, but only 2 to get back as we blazed back down the mountain.

A quick breakfast and a nap, and we then decided to head all the way back to Machame Gate so we could spend the night in town. That was actually pretty hard, as the next 5 hours of straight downhill really beat up my knees. 'course, the prospect of a cold beer, hot shower, and thankfully clean clothes were a good motivator and we got off the mountain at 3pm.

Seriously tired, but seriously happy at the accomplishment.

Right – here a few do's and don'ts I took from my trip:

DO:

Take the longest trip possible – every extra day gives you a much better chance to finish the trip. Altitude sickness has nothing to do with how fit you are – just how well genetically your body can deal with lower oxygen levels.

Take Diamox. Cheap and easy prescription but helps your body absorb a greater % of available oxygen.

Bring as many layers of clothes as you can. Seems weird, as the first day begins in a rain forest, but the last two nights and the summit make these critical. Key items – VERY warm gloves and socks. Even with 2 pairs of socks and liners, my feet were freezing.

DON'T:

Forget to drink as much water as you can. Easy to forget as the first days' hiking aren't that tiring, but you should drink about 4 liters a day AT LEAST. Makes getting up in the middle of the night to pee fun, but again, really helps with the altitude.

Pass up on bringing a deck of cards. Each day finishes around 2pm, so you have lots of extra time to faff about.

Finally – with digital camera batteries, on the hike to the summmit, don't forget to keep them very warm, and next to your body. Lithium-ion batteries lose their charge very easily in the extreme cold – and it would be a bummer to miss that 'once in a lifetime' shot!

Kilimanjaro - Size Matters (Days 2 to 4)

The 2nd day marked the start of the 'real' hike in my mind. We started around 3000 meters, and our guide Frankie started us out with a very slow pace, so we could get used to the altitude. The plus side is that we never really got tired – we were taking a step, pause, step, pause... probably around ½ normal walking pace. Sometimes excruciatingly slow, but we all knew it was for the best.

The landscape got much better as well – we were able to see a teasing glimpse of Kili's peak, and then moved into more of a scrub brush environment. Kili is rare in that it features almost every type of climate on its slopes, from desert to glacier to rain forests, so you're never bored for variety.



The other plus side was that we were treated to a far 'greener' look than normal... the rainy season meant that flowers were blooming all over, so we were lucky.

The campsite was a nice surprise as well – the Machame route is based on having us hike high during the day, and then come down slightly to sleep... that's supposed to be the best for AMS.

Brace yourself – it seems that each of our campsites treated us to amazing views of the surrounding peaks and valleys, plus we were above the clouds.



In my little videos I'll be uploading once I find a @#$! decent connection, embarrassingly for a liberal arts dude, I always seemed to get stuck with 'amazing' and 'gorgeous' – Kili really cries out for a much wider range of adjectives, but 'fab', 'gnarly', and 'wicked' didn't seem to fit ;)

Day 3 and 4

The next two days went pretty third day was were we started to settle into a routine... we woke up as usual 'round 6:30, had a full breakfast, tea, and ulagi (porridge), and were on the trail by 8.



They weren't actually that tiring – we'd put in about 5-6 hours on the trail, then wind up in camp around 2. Some tea, popcorn and lots of card games rounded out the afternoon – the guides/porters really kept us super fed – and we lazed around until dinner at 6, and were in bed by 8. Not really the rock star lifestyle, but once the sun went down, our body clocks seemed to tell us it was time to crash.

Kilimanjaro - Size Matters (Day 1)

Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Kili.

Loosely translated – it means “big @!#$! mountain”, and it's the tallest point in Africa, at around 19,000 feet.

So, yeah, it lives up to its name...






















After the safari, I had signed up to try my luck at climbing it. Kili is called the “poor man's Everest”, meaning that you don't need any special equipment to get to the top. You literally can just walk all the way up.

'course, it's not really the fitness factor that is the hard part – it's the altitude. Most tourists opt for a 4 night trek up, and the success rate is only about 50%, since many don't acclimatize enough, and end up with excruciating headaches, nausea, and other fun stuff.

Since time wasn't really an issue for me, I opted for a more leisurely approach – and ended up taking the Machame route over 6 days.

I was a little nervous heading into it, wondering who I'd be hiking with – a week with some strangers could end very badly if we didn't get on too well. What if they weren't in good shape and dragged us down? Heck, what if they were just dull?

Turns out that this wasn't going to be a problem... Gavin and Louis were both ex British Royal Marines, and were more than accustomed to 30+ mile hikes over minor obstacles like Afghani mountains. Kili wasn't going to daunt them - and they brought some world-class banter to the table, so our nightly card games were punctuating by serious heckling.

So – the trip was off to a good start; with another Gavin, from Australia, the four of us had a total of 9 people supporting us, from 2 guides, a cook, and 6 porters. Unbelievable how fit these guys were – carrying big loads on their heads up the mountain, week in and week out.



Our first day was pretty tough – we hiked up through the rain forest portion of Kili, with a series of seemingly never-ending stairs. Plus, as we were stuck in fog for much of the day, it was actually fairly dull visually.





However – we got to the first stop and had a great surprise... the rangers sold ice cold beer!!!



Alas, I had to pass... alcohol is a big no-no when trying to get used to altitude. For the record, saying no to such a tasty, cold, delicious beer has got to be one of my major tests of willpower. :)

Serengeti - Last Day (sigh)

It was a pretty good feeling, waking up on the last day of the safari with absolutely no expectations. We had seen pretty much everything we'd hoped to, plus had amazing weather even in the wet season, with only a few other tourists to boot.

Perfect.

Soooo, when the Serengeti surprised us with an amazing last game drive – who were we to complain?

We left the camp around 7:30am for another early morning drive – after a slow start, we struck paydirt, with another sighting of our elusive leopard. Unlike last time though, we were able to get within 50 to 75 meters, which is actually remarkably close for this type of, well, scaredy-cat ;)

Catching him in the early morning, he was content to just laze on the branches, and we all got our fill.



Next – we started slowly meandering out of the park, on the way to head back to Arusha. Adam, our amazing guide, spotted some vultures circling and took a small side path.

It paid off – first, with a group of well-fed lions, with even a few cubs to boot, lounging by a river. But, the best was yet to come.

Now I'm not normally one for vultures – they do a necessary task of cleaning up the environment, but aren't, well, the most aesthetically pleasing birds out there.

But, this was different.

We came across a group of about 15 birds clustered around the remnants of the lions' recent kill. They were a noisy bunch, and were distinctly anti-British in their approach to queuing up for the spoils.



Lines? There was no line – it was all about the biggest bird.

We were in a perfect position – catching an early view of the late arriving birds swooping in to join the party.



Finally, we had had enough, and decided to head for the gate, but the Serengeti had one more surprise in store.

Just as we joined up with the main road out of the park, we came across two young male lions, just lounging by the side of the road. It could have been lethargy from the sun, but they were content to just lay there while we shot away.

There was a little thrill involved too – because these guys were definitely in their element, and at times when something grabbed their attention, their eyes became incredibly focused and feral. It was at these moments that our open-sided van seemed more than a little flimsy protection!





That was about it though – we said good bye to the park, driving through herds of zebras and wildebeests, then took a few hours to get back to Arusha, where it was time to prepare for the next trip – climbing Kilimanjaro!

Serengeti - Day 4

This marked our 'full' day in the Serengetti, and started early at dawn to catch animals at their most active.

Our early start paid off quickly, as I spotted a pair of hippos paralleling the road. They looked the worse for the wear, showing the signs of several wounds, and they were single-mindedly looking for the safety of water, at one point passing directly in front of the car. It turns out that while fearsome submerged, the vegatarian hippos need to range far and wide at night for food... and to catch a pair vulnerable in the daylight is pretty rare.



It got even better, with a bunch of ostriches and other animals – but then we spotted another vehicle near a stand of trees. There was a rare leopard up in the branches – just resting and checking out the area. They're notoriously skittish, so we were well content with the sighting... even if pics were a near impossibility, beyond being able to point to a few visible spots between the leaves!

So there we were – feeling pretty happy. Good weather, a surprising lack of tourists, and some great sightings...

This would change – for the better, as we came across a well-known lion spot. On a rocky outcropping rising from the plains, we spotted a lion. Just like the last couple of days, when the first instance of an animal appeared, we thought that this could be the best we'd get. Ten minutes and 50 pics later, and we moved 30 meters along the road.

Where we promptly saw a full pride of lions, including two cubs, at about 30 meters.















Unbelievable.

They were well used to vehicles so just continued to soak up the rare shade – although one small cub was a keen explorer of his environment, even if he hadn't quite acquired the legendary cat grace and agility. We got some great videos of him slipping, sliding, eventually falling off a small rock – whereupon he promptly looked around with a near human expression of “hey, I planned that” and ducked into a bush!















It got better.

On the way back, we came across a roving cheetah that was on the prowl. We quickly stopped to just watch and listen, and it came within 10 meters before disappearing in the bush. Gorgeous, gorgeous animal with a magnificent coat.













We headed back into the bush around 3:30 to catch the afternoon activity once the heat died down. There weren't amazing animals at first – we were exploring the light forest at the southern edge of the park. However, once we rounded by a pond, we came across a pod of hippos – active and getting ready for the nights venture on land. Many were fearsomely yawning, a sign they were hungry and ready to eat – which resulted in some great shots.





Finally – we got a bonus. Coming across a dead hippo calf in the water, we were startled to hear a “whoosh, whoosh” over our head. A giant fish eagle swooped down over the water – an amazing sight, and very reminiscent of the American bald eagle. A few frenzied shots, and it was gone.














Two funny bits too – turns out that when we spotted the cheetah, my sunglasses had fallen off to the side of the road. I was prepared to write them off – but turns out that our driver Adam secretly went above and beyond to drive out 20km to get try and find them.
As I was napping, he gave them to the group, who then conspired to play a trick on me – on the afternoon game drive, each hamming it up and trying to clue me in that Roland was wearing them on his head.

Seriously clueless – I only got it once he said, very slowly, “Gee, look how much more CLEARLY I can see with these.”

The other funny bit... I was slightly dozing when we hit a bump. I opened my eyes, and was amazed to see something completely unexpected – I immediately shouted “Gorilla!!!!” That prompted a sudden stop – and serious heckling when it turned out to nothing more than a baboon, and not a big one at that. Add in the fact that gorillas are only found in Rwanda and Uganda, 1000 miles west, and I was more than a little embarrassed!

... and day 3 "Tatu" - Ngorogoro Crater

Today dawned bright and early... with everyone piling into our vehicle at 6am, to head down into the crater for dawn.



The early start paid off – we had the place to ourselves, and were blown away by the wildlife out every window. From impalas, water buffaloes, antelopes, to the odd elephant, they were everywhere. It was a magical 'enclosed' feeling – at all points, you can see sheer cliff walls rising up 500 meters.



The rest of the morning had a few surprises... we spotted lions at 500 meters, but were disappointed as they were little more than dots. “Oh, well,” we thought. “Our one sighting was still pretty cool.” Days four and five would make us feel a bit silly.

The odd rhino and hippo, wildebeests plus two hyenas and a serval cat rounded out the morning...





...we then headed out to the Serengetti, where we distinctly underwhelmed.

For the first hour, we just drove arrow-straight across a featureless plain with no animals to be seen anywhere, which caused a few of us to mentally question if we'd see anything at all.

If the plains had a voice – I'm guesing that it would say... “oh ye of little faith!”

Immediately right through the formal entrance of the park, and it all began to change. The odd impala or antelope started popping up here and there. But it was only as we came to a rise that we really got a sense of the vastness and the scale of the Serengetti.

There were herds and herds of wildebeests and zebras – EVERYWHERE. Thousands and thousands, just slowly heading north, as part of the great annual migration to Masai Mara in Kenya.



Jaws dropping, cameras clicking (of course), we were right in the midst of it. Turns out that that the zebras have a better sense of direction than the wildebeests, who in turn provide some protection against predators.

We kept driving into the plains – at nearly 15,000 sq km, we weren't in any danger of running out of space!

Just as we were about to head to our campsite, we came across another vehicle who told us that some cheetahs had been spotted just over the hill. Excited, we drove slowly keeping an eye out – and were rewarded with watching a cheetah teaching two cubs to hunt a group of massive impalas. They were a fair ways off – it was never intended to be successful as the animals were far larger than the cheetahs' normal prey, but we were able to just sit and watch the lesson...



Camping was a great experience – we were the midst of the wild, and could hear hyenas and other animals in the dark. Made for some interesting, and slightly unsettling dreams ;)