A bonus post since I have free wifi at The Red Chilli campsite in Kampala, Uganda.
There was no doubt I was going to see the Serengeti when I signed on for this trip last year. However, after spending almost 2 months on the truck, and seeing every animal under the sun, the Serengeti didn't promise any sightings of new animals. What it lacked in newness though, it more than made up for it in the quality and quantity of animal activity.
Up until this recent 3 day safari, all of the other game experiences have been 1 day game drives through national parks. Some done from our truck, and others done on a tour group 4x4. This safari was a series of game drives that took place over the course of 3 days. It took us through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti.
Day 1 took us to Lake Manyara, which is this gorgeous lake inhabited by thousands of flamingos. Within the confines of the park are also found the standard game of elephants, zebra, hippos, antelope, giraffes, and various monkeys and birds. We were lucky enough to find a pack of elephants that numbered over 70. You may have heard of the famous wildebeest migration in the serengeti, but this was undoubtedly a migration of elephants. And it wasn't like we were viewing this from any great distance. Imagine yourself stopping at a crosswalk to allow for pedestrians to cross, but instead of pedestrians, you are watching elephants through your windshield. At one point, I uttered in a voice as if I was speaking AS the elephant, "Get out the road mutha f------." Apparently the big bull elephant, with his ivory tusks, thought I was talking TO him because he stopped right in front of our 4x4, turned and looked at us, swung his trunk and hit the hood of our 4x4 before finally walking away. That elephant could have crushed our car, but I guess since we were really really quiet and looked like kind hearted people, he let us live. Mind you, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. There have been many times on this trip where I have been that close to elephants, and other game like zebras, giraffe, wildebeest, and even lions, but never had I feared for my life like I did at that particular moment. Pretty memorable.
The nice thing about this 3 day experience is that we had people cook for us and put up our tents, so that when we arrived at our campsite following a day of game viewing, we didn't have to wait 2 hours for cook group to prepare our nightly meal, and take the time ourselves to set up our tents. We arrived to everything setup with drinks and snacks, and dinner within 20 minutes. Luxury living compared to our daily grind.
Day 2 was a 6am drive to the Ngorogoro Crater. Technically, it is a caldera because it contains living creatures instead of a crater like you find on the moon, but whatever it is, it is one of the most unique places on earth to view game because of the high concentration of animals that can be found within those crater walls. Our day went like this: The morning was cool and misty. As we ascended up to the top of the crater rim, a gorgeous lioness appeared on the road in front of us. We slowed to a crawl and followed her for a few hundred feet before she disappeared into the forest. Excited that our first half hour contained such an amazing sighting, we all were excited at the prospects of the rest of the day. As we reached the crater rim, the fog cleared, and below us appeared this amazing open landscape of savannah, lakes, and game as far as the eye could see. We descended into the crater and got into a staring contest with a herd of water buffalo as they frolicked in the water. Leaving them in our rearview mirror, moments later our driver stopped and spotted 2 beautiful male lions lurking in the grass, waiting patiently for the herd of zebra in the valley below to make their way to the water which they were carefully guarding. That is typical behavior for lions. They are fast powerful creatures but with very poor endurance. So they lie in wait near water sources, waiting for thirsty prey to make their way for a drink. Up ahead, a group of tour trucks were gathered alongside 6 sleeping lions trying to cool down in the tall grasses. They were so close to the road, you almost felt you could just reach out and pet them. Continuing along, our driver spotted a black rhino way off in the distance, that eluded my view even with binoculars. Before long though, we came upon a hippo pool where 3 more lions were sleeping with hippos, water buffalo, elephant and hyena all within eyesight. In the span of 2 hours, we had seen 4 of the Big 5 (lion, rhino, buffalo, elephant, leopard). The lake inside the crater walls also was home to thousands of flamingos, zebra, wildebeest, gnu, antelope, etc. A half day game drive jam packed with fantastic wildlife and all before lunch. A midday drive in the searing heat and dusty air brought us to The Serengeti in time for an evening game drive. (Given that animals seek shelter in midday heat, the early morning and late day are the best times to view game). About 6 weeks ago, when in Etosha National Park, I had spotted a leopard drinking at a watering hole around 3am. So I had already been fortunate see all of the big 5 in the wild. Most of my other friends had seen all but the leopard. Well, we were all on a mission to find a leopard and our driver knew of some places inside the Serengeti where we might find them in the trees. We weren't disappointed. In fact, we were all blown away by what played out before us. As we were driving along, we spotted a leopard in the tree that had just recently killed an antelope and carried it into the tree to enjoy his meal without fear of other animals stealing any of his dinner. When we initially came upon the leopard, he was sleeping off some the calories recently consumed. As we waited for 30-45min, he awoke, climbed down the tree and then jumped to the other side of the tree, where his kill was stashed, so that he could again rip into his kill for more sustinence. Even our driver was amazed at this sight. Truly a once in a lifetime experience to see this play out in the wild. A perfect sunset ended our day in style.
But wait, there's more. Day 3. Fatigued from the action of yesterday, there really wasn't anything that could have topped the events and game viewing of day 2. But it came awfully close. I have gone on just about every game drive offered, because even if all I see are animals doing things I have already seen them do, there is always a chance of seeing something incredibly unique. Day 3 offered up one of those unique encounters. We came upon a watering hole early in the morning and saw 7 lions lying in wait. Also within view was a hippo and a water buffalo. The water buffalo was clearly aware something was about to go down, so he kept a safe distance and eventually left the party. A couple of the lions sprinted towards the hippo and nipped at his tail, but were really biting off more than they could chew, so the hippo trudged away with nothing but a few scratches. So the lions waited. Eventually a pack of about 10 elephants came to the watering hole. All 7 lions surveyed the oncoming elephants and hid in the weeds. But the elephants were no dummies. They outflanked the lions and walked towards them, trumpeting that unmistakable elephant noise, and chasing the lions away. Human and baboon spectators were treated to an amazing display of beautiful and majestic creatures doing what they do on a daily basis to simply survive. Our game viewing ended as we exited the park, but not before seeing thousands of zebra and wildebeest on their migration. Imagine a traffic jam from Baltimore to Washington DC of zebra and wildebeest just walking from one part of the Serengeti to another in search of water.
This was a perfect trip with rare sightings even for our tour guide who has run this trip dozens of times. Pictures really can't do this type of experience justice, which is a good thing since upload times are about 1 picture an hour in most of these places. It is something that really needs to be seen first hand. A safari in the Serengeti is something that everyone reading this post can experience. It doesn't require any type of fitness. Just a beating heart and a set of eyes.
A July 4th encounter with mountain gorillas is the next big ticket item on this 4 month journey of mine. Let the fireworks begin.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
This is Africa
That is a common saying amongst the locals and tourists alike when power outages occur, hot water is no more, tv's don't work, water isn't drinkable, buses don't show up on time, etc. For the sake of this post, I will describe what my life has been like in Africa to date.
I live on a bus or a truck depending on who you talk to. A big yellow bus-truck. There are steps that fold up/down off the back of the bus and when you enter the cab you have recycled bus seats to your left and right facing each other. There are 10 seats along each side of the bus, under which are deep lockers that are room enough for 2 people to store all of their luggage. On the aisle between the seats are floorboards that conceal 3 large spaces with all of our food and spices that were loaded on the truck at the start of the trip in November. At the front of the truck are 4 more seats that are facing the back of the truck and a raised area behind those seats (called the beach) with cushions that serve as both our tour leaders' bed and a space where us travelers can sit/kneel during the day with our heads poked out of the roof to view the passing scenery. There are no windows, which is a good thing. Behind our seats are just big open spaces that allow for unobstructed views of the landscape playing out before us. We can kneel on our seats and look out these spaces, wave to the African kids that are so excited to see us passing through their villages and admire the scenery. There is also overhead storage to keep small items that might be needed during the day to combat the constant climate changes. If it does start to rain, we cover the beach with a tarp and fold down tarps to cover the cabin 'windows'. It is nice to be facing your fellow travelers during the day instead of sitting on forward facing seats that most buses have. It allows for much better conversation and you don't have to turn your head to admire the scenery, which is good because you spend alot of time on the truck, I mean alot of time. There are days when we leave one campsite at 7am and don't arrive at the next until 7pm. We stop whenever we need to in order to pee in the bushes. We stop to make lunch and stop to shop for groceries. Other than that, we just sit. Some people read, alot of people sleep. I typically just stay awake and admire the scenery no matter how redundant it may be, because I am in Africa and I paid alot of money for this trip.
On most nights we sleep in established campsites. Other nights, we sleep along the road somewhere and bush camp by the fire. Those nights are the best. Chatting the night away by the campfire, playing campfire games and sleeping under the stars is what I envisioned every night to be. Most campsites have tv and very slow internet speeds. Most of them don't have hot showers, and if they do have hot water, it last for about 2-3 people. Water pressure is a luxury. I have gone at least a week without a shower on occasion and 1-2 weeks between underwear and sock changes. It may sound gross, but when you don't have laundry facilities, and the humidity keeps handwahsed clothes from drying before they must be packed, it's just easier to be dirty.
We get $30 for grocery shopping to feed everyone on the truck for 3 meals, which essentially works out to about $1 to feed each person 3 meals. Try doing that in 1st world conntries. Usually some form of meat with rice/pasta/potato and veg for dinner. Bread, cereal, fruit for breakfast. Leftovers and other random foods for lunch. Cheese and eggs are luxury items that aren't typically bought unless with money from our own pockets. The beer sucks. Admittedly, I'm not a huge lager fan, which is unfortunate, because essentially,that is all that Africa produces. A bunch of lagers that all taste the same. At least it only costs $1-2 per beer at campsites. To be fair, the beer is drinkable and some are tasty like Pilsner Ice, Safari, and Kilimanjaro, but if you blindfolded me and put all of these beers in a taste test lineup, I probably wouldn't be able to distinguish one from the other.
The tents are roomy enough for 2 people with some personal belongings. I have a tent to myself for the rest of the trip, but have shared with 2 other people and it works out just fine. Sometimes there is snoring or malaria medicine induced nightmares that wake people up around our tents, but we are all pretty understanding people.
All in all, it has been a good time and a really interesting social experiment that would make for a good thesis for a psychologist major.
I live on a bus or a truck depending on who you talk to. A big yellow bus-truck. There are steps that fold up/down off the back of the bus and when you enter the cab you have recycled bus seats to your left and right facing each other. There are 10 seats along each side of the bus, under which are deep lockers that are room enough for 2 people to store all of their luggage. On the aisle between the seats are floorboards that conceal 3 large spaces with all of our food and spices that were loaded on the truck at the start of the trip in November. At the front of the truck are 4 more seats that are facing the back of the truck and a raised area behind those seats (called the beach) with cushions that serve as both our tour leaders' bed and a space where us travelers can sit/kneel during the day with our heads poked out of the roof to view the passing scenery. There are no windows, which is a good thing. Behind our seats are just big open spaces that allow for unobstructed views of the landscape playing out before us. We can kneel on our seats and look out these spaces, wave to the African kids that are so excited to see us passing through their villages and admire the scenery. There is also overhead storage to keep small items that might be needed during the day to combat the constant climate changes. If it does start to rain, we cover the beach with a tarp and fold down tarps to cover the cabin 'windows'. It is nice to be facing your fellow travelers during the day instead of sitting on forward facing seats that most buses have. It allows for much better conversation and you don't have to turn your head to admire the scenery, which is good because you spend alot of time on the truck, I mean alot of time. There are days when we leave one campsite at 7am and don't arrive at the next until 7pm. We stop whenever we need to in order to pee in the bushes. We stop to make lunch and stop to shop for groceries. Other than that, we just sit. Some people read, alot of people sleep. I typically just stay awake and admire the scenery no matter how redundant it may be, because I am in Africa and I paid alot of money for this trip.
On most nights we sleep in established campsites. Other nights, we sleep along the road somewhere and bush camp by the fire. Those nights are the best. Chatting the night away by the campfire, playing campfire games and sleeping under the stars is what I envisioned every night to be. Most campsites have tv and very slow internet speeds. Most of them don't have hot showers, and if they do have hot water, it last for about 2-3 people. Water pressure is a luxury. I have gone at least a week without a shower on occasion and 1-2 weeks between underwear and sock changes. It may sound gross, but when you don't have laundry facilities, and the humidity keeps handwahsed clothes from drying before they must be packed, it's just easier to be dirty.
We get $30 for grocery shopping to feed everyone on the truck for 3 meals, which essentially works out to about $1 to feed each person 3 meals. Try doing that in 1st world conntries. Usually some form of meat with rice/pasta/potato and veg for dinner. Bread, cereal, fruit for breakfast. Leftovers and other random foods for lunch. Cheese and eggs are luxury items that aren't typically bought unless with money from our own pockets. The beer sucks. Admittedly, I'm not a huge lager fan, which is unfortunate, because essentially,that is all that Africa produces. A bunch of lagers that all taste the same. At least it only costs $1-2 per beer at campsites. To be fair, the beer is drinkable and some are tasty like Pilsner Ice, Safari, and Kilimanjaro, but if you blindfolded me and put all of these beers in a taste test lineup, I probably wouldn't be able to distinguish one from the other.
The tents are roomy enough for 2 people with some personal belongings. I have a tent to myself for the rest of the trip, but have shared with 2 other people and it works out just fine. Sometimes there is snoring or malaria medicine induced nightmares that wake people up around our tents, but we are all pretty understanding people.
All in all, it has been a good time and a really interesting social experiment that would make for a good thesis for a psychologist major.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Pretzels
I turned 33 yesterday, but you'd never know it because I look good for my age. I am also modest beyond my years. I am told by others on this trip that 33 is supposedly the best year of your life. They read it in a newspaper article that may or may not have been written by a 33 year old man. Regardless, I won't argue with that notion. The 2 other guys on this trip that are 33 haven't worked a day since reaching that milestone, and for the first 6 months of my 33rd year I won't be working either. Instead, I am currently 'roughing' it on the island of Zanzibar. It was pretty tough spending my birthday on white sandy beaches, swimming with dolphins and other tropical fish, and going on a sunset boat cruise, but I was up to the challenge. It actually was a bit difficult spending my first birthday away from home. I enjoy having my mom cook a birthday dinner and spending time with family. There are definitely times on this trip when I have felt lonely despite all the fun I am having, and even though it was my birthday, yesterday was one of those days. That is, until I was given the gift of pretzels. You know, for all that is great about Africa, they don't sell pretzels. Cookies, chips, and crackers...yes. Pretzels....no. I had mentioned a few weeks back, that I didn't want a birthday cake. I just wanted some pretzels. Our tour leader left us a week ago to fly home to England for a wedding. She returned a couple of days ago to join us in time for Zanzibar. So as they were singing happy birthday to me on our boat cruise, she had me close my eyes so she could give me a birthday present. That present could have been just about anything, but she then asked me to open my mouth and fed me a pretzel. She had gone to 4 different grocery stores in London in search of pretzels to bring back to Africa for my birthday. Penn State was the brand of pretzel. Made in England and meant to pay homage to the place where pretzels are correctly made in the USA. They were delicious. That was an amazing birthday present and definitely put a smile on my face for the rest of the night.
So we head back to mainland Tanzania tomorrow and I will be heading to the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti over the coming days. Hope all the fathers reading this post have a fun Father's Day, and may the Baltimore Orioles keep on winning. Cheers.
So we head back to mainland Tanzania tomorrow and I will be heading to the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti over the coming days. Hope all the fathers reading this post have a fun Father's Day, and may the Baltimore Orioles keep on winning. Cheers.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Tom
A bit of background info for all of you. I have an uncle at home and his name is Tom. Among the many positive adjectives that can be used to describe him, he can also at times be a bit stubborn and cantankerous. He has also owned and raced horses. An unfortunate combination of those qualities recently occurred that reminded me of my uncle Tom.
Flash forward to Antelope Park in Zimbabwe, where I recently spent 4 days. It is a park that is working towards the preservation of lions and breeding them with the intent of re-introducing them into the wild. Among the many activities they have for people to do at the park, is a game ride on horseback. Most of you know that I am not much of an animal person, and I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of times I have ridden a horse in my life. I decided to do this game ride with some of my friends from the trip in the hopes of getting to see some amazing wildlife up close and personal. The horse that was given to me as my ride just happened to be named TOM. Tom and I initially had a good relationship. When I kicked him, he moved quicker. When I pulled back on his reins, he stopped. He followed the horses in front of him and everything was going smoothly. Then Tom got spooked by a giraffe and may also have gotten bitten by something around his nose region. For about 30 min, he was the most annoyingly stubborn and cantankerous horse the world has ever known. If the other horses in the group were going left, he went right. If I pulled back on the reins, he would start doing the moonwalk instead of stopping. He tried to buck me off at one point as he raised up on his hind legs. And if that wasn't enough, he walked me right into an Acacia tree which has thorns that are longer and sharper than the knife that was pulled on me by that street thug in South Africa. It left me with scars on my wrist that look like I unsuccessfully tried to slit my wrists. They ripped my shirt, poked holes in my pants, and left me in a foul mood. Did I manage to take even 1 picture on the trip? Yes, but I deleted it because Tom was too busy sneezing and rubbing his nose on the ground to allow for a clear picture. We got as close as 15-20 feet on this trip from giraffe, wildebeest, zebra. But did Tom allow me to take pics of these animals against the backdrop of a blue sky with just the right amount of clouds. No, because he was too busy being spooked by animals he walks amongst everyday. And then to top it all off, I switched horses to the one the guide was using, and he also had a mind of his own. He just wanted to trot the whole time, while I wanted to meander at a nice leisurely pace and enjoy the scenery. Needless to say, I won't be naming my first born child TOM after this experience. Who would have thought that walking with lions the following morning would have been the safer animal experience between that and a horse ride?
In the coming days we will be heading to Tanzania and the Serengeti. I will actually be in Zanzibar for my birthday on the 16th. I think there was a song I used to listen to as a kid that was written about Zanzibar. Should be alot of fun.
Flash forward to Antelope Park in Zimbabwe, where I recently spent 4 days. It is a park that is working towards the preservation of lions and breeding them with the intent of re-introducing them into the wild. Among the many activities they have for people to do at the park, is a game ride on horseback. Most of you know that I am not much of an animal person, and I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of times I have ridden a horse in my life. I decided to do this game ride with some of my friends from the trip in the hopes of getting to see some amazing wildlife up close and personal. The horse that was given to me as my ride just happened to be named TOM. Tom and I initially had a good relationship. When I kicked him, he moved quicker. When I pulled back on his reins, he stopped. He followed the horses in front of him and everything was going smoothly. Then Tom got spooked by a giraffe and may also have gotten bitten by something around his nose region. For about 30 min, he was the most annoyingly stubborn and cantankerous horse the world has ever known. If the other horses in the group were going left, he went right. If I pulled back on the reins, he would start doing the moonwalk instead of stopping. He tried to buck me off at one point as he raised up on his hind legs. And if that wasn't enough, he walked me right into an Acacia tree which has thorns that are longer and sharper than the knife that was pulled on me by that street thug in South Africa. It left me with scars on my wrist that look like I unsuccessfully tried to slit my wrists. They ripped my shirt, poked holes in my pants, and left me in a foul mood. Did I manage to take even 1 picture on the trip? Yes, but I deleted it because Tom was too busy sneezing and rubbing his nose on the ground to allow for a clear picture. We got as close as 15-20 feet on this trip from giraffe, wildebeest, zebra. But did Tom allow me to take pics of these animals against the backdrop of a blue sky with just the right amount of clouds. No, because he was too busy being spooked by animals he walks amongst everyday. And then to top it all off, I switched horses to the one the guide was using, and he also had a mind of his own. He just wanted to trot the whole time, while I wanted to meander at a nice leisurely pace and enjoy the scenery. Needless to say, I won't be naming my first born child TOM after this experience. Who would have thought that walking with lions the following morning would have been the safer animal experience between that and a horse ride?
In the coming days we will be heading to Tanzania and the Serengeti. I will actually be in Zanzibar for my birthday on the 16th. I think there was a song I used to listen to as a kid that was written about Zanzibar. Should be alot of fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)