Wildlife Safari:

March 16th, 2007 - March 18th, 2007

Hamjumbo!

We are 'free' on the weekends so a group of 7 of us set out on our Safari on Friday afternoon. Our first stop was not far from Arusha. We went to Lake Manyara National Park, which is a small game park but we soon found out that it was filled with animals. We saw baboons, monkeys, dik-diks, gazelles, impalas, hippos, giraffes, and elephants. We were able to get close to most of the animals, but we got especially close to the elephants that were blocking the road. The elephants were feeding on the trees along the road and decided that they would move when they were finished.

We spent the evening at some basic guesthouses in a campsite and had a feast including local fish, which is tilapia. We spent the night around the table telling stories and enjoying the amazing thunder and lightning show which light up the African sky. It also poured rain for nearly an hour.

We set out early on Saturday morning for the Serengeti National Park, passing the Ngorongoro Crater along the way (we would pass through on our way back). The Serengeti was drier than the Manyara, but animals were aplenty including the zebras and the wildebeests, which were migrating. We were able to see plenty of giraffes and we also saw our first lions.

We found a little pond beyond some rocks and we came upon two male lions who were resting. Clearly, they had eaten recently because they were tired. We got extremely close to them but they didn't move. They simply continued to relax, one of them rolling over and yawning several times to find the right position to rest.

After a long day in the Serengeti we decided we wanted to make a final stop at the Hippo Pool, a place where the hippos spend most of the day in the water to avoid the heat from the sun. En route, it began to rain and the dirt roads became slick. We came around a corner in our Land Cruiser and began to slide. The truck lost control and went flying off the road to the right and into the tall grass. Our driver overcompensated and we went flying back across the road to the left. We were fishtailing and had lost control and we were heading for the embankment on the left side of the road.

I was sure we were going to hit the embankment left wheel first and the whole car was going to roll over on it's back. However, somehow the car was able to go up this fairly high embankment. It slowed us down with a jolt and we stopped just short of a tree! We were all ok, but the car was in a bit of a jam (see attached photo). I should mention that I took one step onto the road to take a photo and nearly fell ass-over-tea-kettle as the road was as slick as a fresh sheet of ice. Finally, we got the car out of the muddy embankment.

We did make it to the hippo pool, which had close to 50 hippos bathing in it, and we got some fantastic photos.

The wet roads may have been foreshadowing for latter that night. We checked into our campsite in time to see a beautiful sunset. However, what followed after may have been the worst camping experience of a lifetime. As mentioned, it rained the previous night. That turned out to be nothing compared to our night in the tents.

Not long after going to sleep the thunder and lightning storm began. Soon came the rains which made us feel like were in a hurricane. Within minutes our tents flooded and we were soaked. I only had a rain jacket (no pants) so it was the most uncomfortable, wet, cold sleep I have ever had. By 4:30am I had given up and just went and sat by the fire that the cook was preparing.

Sunday morning could not come soon enough and we passed back through the Serengeti en route to the Ngorongoro Crater. We descended into the crater and it turned out to be an unbelievable concentration of wildlife. We saw Buffalo, herds of elephants, and even our first Rhinoceros.

The highlight may have been seeing a pride of lions including both female and male lions lying by a water source. These lions, like the others, had just eaten and were resting.

Here is where I almost lost my new hat, for good. I was prairie-doggin' out of the Land Cruiser's roof to take photos and the wind blew my hat off and it landed 15-feet from the resting lions. I thought it was lost for sure, but our driver maneuvered the truck right next to the hat and he quickly opened his door, reached out, and grabbed the hat. Lesson learned for me was to keep the string of the hat firmly on below my chin.

We saw plenty more animals through the crater including a warthog, which may be the funniest looking animal. We also got a taste of the monkeys. I was trying to talk to them when one charged at me. I ran straight then made a 90-degree turn towards my truck. The monkey kept going straight, leaped up onto the other truck in our group, and in one motion snatched a chocolate bar out of the hand of one of the girls. The monkey landed on the ground and ran up a tree and unwrapped and ate the whole chocolate bar.

All in all, the safari was a success. The only place that can somewhat, but not really, compare to Africa is Saskatchewan. This is due to the great plains and the 'living sky' at night with all the lightning storms.

I hope this finds you well. More next week.

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