Serengeti - day 2...

They say that travel in Africa requires a certain amount of flexibility. The roads are uneven at best, and throw in the occasional bout of civil disturbance or political unrest, and it's clear why all tour operators are quite clear in their literature:

“Itineraries in Africa are to be used as a guide ONLY.”



We encountered our first instance of this within the first hour of driving. Our driver slowed, then stopped behind a line of vehicles at the entrance to a village. Looking around, it was clear that people were, for the lack of a better word, were ticked off.

Turns out that in the early morning, a truck had hit a child crossing the busy 2 lane highway that also served as the town's high street, then kept going. The village had been asking for months for a series of speed bumps to slow things down, but had no luck. This time they took matters into their own hands, erecting a roadblock and demanding an immediate solution.

Even though it cost us a few hours waiting in a local shop/restaurant, we couldn't blame them – after an easily preventable tragedy, if this sort of disruption is the only way to get the gov't to move, then so be it.

Fortunately, the local police were able to calm things down with a firm promise of action – on the way back after the tour, we were able to see the speed bumps being made.

All of this disruption turned out to help us... the plan initially was to head straight to the Serengetti for three days. However, it turned out that we were going to move our final day's destination up a bit – and we headed instead to Lake Ngorogoro Crater.



The Crater is huge – an extinct volcano with huge steep walls all around. It protects its own ecosystem – with herds of animals, the odd lion or three, and a lake of pink flamingos.

Our campsite was stunning – stout tents under a massive tree overlooking the Crater. We had the late afternoon to ourselves. We brought out a disc at first...













...and then the soccer ball I picked up in Arusha. Wow – what an icebreaker... not everyone can throw a disc, but a soccer ball – that breaks every boundary.

Serengeti Safari - day 1...

Right – the first day of the safari...

Suprisingly, I had very few expectations of the trip. I knew that I'd see animals, including some of the 'Big Five' (elephant, leopard, lion, water buffalo, and rhino), and some African plains – and that this would be a good thing. But emotionally? I just wasn't really that 'amped' as we headed out for our first day.

That would change. Quickly.

Our first day included headed to Lake Manyara – a less well-known game preserve than its more famous cousins up north. But for us, it was perfect.









'course, to our tour guides, they must have been inwardly chuckling, as we were excited about literally ANY sort of wildlife. For instance, at the entrance to the park, a lone monkey brought us to a standstill – snapping away wildly, only to find that literally around the corner was a group of 40 more and that they were as common as peroxide blondes in LA.

It got worse (or better I suppose!)...

Driving into the park – we saw a ostrich at 200 meters and again had to do a 5 minute photo stop. A lone zebra a bit further on brought the same treatment.

Overall, we were thinking things were going really well, just as our Land-Rover rounded a corner of the dirt road.

And we saw elephants. BIG elephants (are there any other kind??), at VERY close range.





For literally 10 minutes, there was silence in the vehicle was stood up and watched amazed as a family of eight elephants plus two babies wandered with five to ten meters of us.














Seeing an elephant at a zoo is one thing, but watching the head female, with massive tusks, casually glance our way, well, let's just say that you have a new appreciation for our place in nature. Barring the use of tools, we don't come across as very intimidating.

The rest of the drive was a constant parade of new sights. Baboons, snow-faced monkeys, giraffes, and impalas were highlights, plus even the lowly dung beetle that enjoyed a subterranean existence in, well, poo.
















We were growing marginally more used to seeing so many animals – but Manyara would pull a fast one yet again. Taking a turn north, we came across a vast lake with mountains in the background. It appeared a bit cluttered at first glance, but as we grew closer – we realized... oh, that wasn't clumps of vegetation. Those were, literally, thousands of pink flamingos – flying and preening.











Rest of the night was city camping in town outside of the park... the pool was nice, but the cold beers were a bonus, especially as we knew that cold drinks were going to be at a premium out in the bush. The final touch? Teaching folks how to play Liar's Dice... which generally requires a keen sense of probability and straight out lying, only to see that Fiona “Intuition Girl” wreck havoc just going with what sounded good. * sigh *