Category: Tanzania

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Is this the real life, is this just fantasy…

We have finished our safari and took a plane to Zanzibar, a Tanzanian island.

We spent 4 nights in a guesthouse in the village of Jambiani where we spent most of our time relaxing, soaking up the sun, and watching the life on the beach unfold.
During our stay we became friends with the resident dog of our guesthouse.  We named her “Freddy” after her more famous island countryman.  She latched on to us after joining us for a 2 hour walk up the coast on the first morning.
On day 3, we got up before dawn and headed out on a boat tour.
We were supposed to snorkel with the Dolphins but there were a couple of things that made us wary.  First of all there was no guarantee that we were even going to see Dolphins, and secondly we were told that if there were too many boats like ours, that the Dolphins could feel harassed.  The idea was to get out earlier than anyone else, snorkel with some amazing animals and then return to shore.
After 2 hours of motoring around we still hadn’t seen hide nor blowhole of them.

We decided to head back to shore but wouldn’t you know it, along the way we finally ran into some Dolphins…  As did the other 20+ boats that were out that morning.

It was a sight to behold.  The Dolphins would surface, boats would rush in, sun burnt tourists would dive in and the Dolphins would disappear. And repeat.  I actually never did jump in.  I was kind of disgusted with the whole thing.  I’d like to think that the Dolphins were the ones in control. Maybe they enjoyed playing the cat and mouse game.  Regardless, we didn’t want to be part of the gross display of humans and headed for home.
On our final morning in Jambiani, we said goodbye to Freddy and headed to Stone Town, the birthplace of Freddy Mercury.
We enjoyed our time wandering the streets, admiring the amazing buildings, and browsing the shops.
Stone Town is known for its intricately carved doors.
On our final morning we took a spice tour and got to taste all the amazing flavours Zanzibar has to offer.
That’s the end of the 40th birthday holiday part 1.  Stay tuned for part 2, when I surprise DawnO with a trip to… Somewhere in the world!
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The Birds and the Bees and the Lions

We had the opportunity to visit a Maasai village, which turned out to be one giant family, 125 strong. The village leader, his 10 wives, and all of their children live in mud huts and subsist on only blood, milk, and meat, with occasional wheat and lentils. We were greeted by a welcome dance, which RobO got to participate in.

 

We then explored the inside of a mud hut, where the Maasai sleep on cow hides and cook on a campfire.

 

Our tour ended in the kindergarten, where the children ages 3-7 learn basic English and counting before they start walking 10 kilometres to school every day.

The Maasai rely on tourist dollars to be able to pay for essentials like water. It looks like they live a harsh life, but they were very proud of their culture.

After a night at the Rhino Lodge, we started today before sunrise to maximize our last day of safari. I had been most looking forward to the Ngorongo Crater, a volcanic crater that contains 4 different ecosystems. 

 

 

We were counting on seeing a rhino here to complete our ‘Big 5’ and though we saw one, it was very far away. I guess it’s good to leave us wanting more!

 

We continued to see many other animals and were lucky enough to see babies of almost every species.

 

In the Serengeti we had so many amazing lion sightings that I wasn’t sure we were going to top them. That is, until we happened upon the very rare mating time. We saw 3 different sets of lion couples, then witnessed the main event. Here’s how it went:
The lioness started walking with the male following.

 

The cue seemed to be that he would bite her tail.

 

Then… action.

It lasted about 30 seconds.

 

She would roll over and he would smoke a cigarette.

 

About 5-20 minutes later the whole thing would start again.
 
In the end I think we saw 5 or 6 encounters, which started to feel a bit pervy. Our excuse is that at the time Gerald was on the lookout for the elusive rhino.
 

Make no mistake about it, being on safari is not always glamorous. The large majority of our 5 days was spent sitting or standing in the jeep, driving over bone rattling gravel roads (Gerald called this an ‘African massage’). It’s hot, dusty, and tiring, and sometimes there are long breaks between wildlife sightings. But it is absolutely worth it!

 

Tomorrow we’re flying to Zanzibar for some recharge beach time.

 

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Serengeti

The latest chapter in my birthday safari took place in the Serengeti.  I think we were extremely lucky not only to see all the animals we did, but to get as close as we did to most of them.  I had a short list of animals I wanted to see, understanding that it wasn’t guaranteed.  The animals are all wild and could care less who had come to see them.

  As we entered the Serengeti I was pretty concerned that I wasn’t going to see much.  It reminded me of Southern Saskatchewan, a place where you could watch your dog run away for 3 days.  I might see a lion, but would it be worth it if we were half a mile away?  To top it off our guide, Gerald, said that the grass was very high this time of year so it would be tough to spot certain animals.  There went my hopes of seeing my favourite animal, the Cheetah.
  We saw a few of the standards along the way to camp like zebras, giraffes and gazelles, and even some “big 5” animals like buffaloes and elephants.  As I was preparing for disappointment we came upon 13 lions feeding on their latest kill.  This was foreshadowing of things to come.
  We reached camp which was what DawnO called “glamping” because it was quite glamorous to have a flush toilet in our tent.  We also had a hot shower which was quite lovely.  We were in the last tent which meant we were the closest to all the wild night traffic.  Last night a couple of hyenas woke me up because they were messing around outside our tent entrance.  Not to worry, like vampires, they vanish before the sunlight can get them.
Day two in the Serengeti was amazing.  We got up early in the morning to get a head start on the morning light and right away we saw so many beautiful animals within a few feet of our jeep.
  During our afternoon run we finally got to see a Leopard that was eluding us earlier in the day.  If you look closely at the next picture you can see a baby leopard climbing around the tree.  We also watched a lioness feed on a zebra.  Afterwards she walked right past us to get a drink from the nearby watering hole.
This morning we said goodbye to our camp and spent the rest of the morning getting some close-up shots of some exotic animals.  Within the hour we had come across two cheetahs.  They were chilling out under a tree beside the road.
Later, we captured a few more feline close-ups.
   I was recently asked where this trip ranks among all our trips to various places around the world.  Top 3.  And we haven’t even finished the safari.
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Jambo (‘Hello’)

On the highway leading to Tarangire National Park our safari guide, Gerald, was driving slower than most of the rest of the traffic. Safari jeeps filled with excited looking tourists kept passing us. When Gerald sauntered into the building to get our park permits, I could feel my toes impatiently wanting to start tapping. But I soon learned that Gerald’s calm and patience are ideal attributes in a safari guide. Several times we would be looking at animals amongst a group of safari jeeps. The others would drive off looking for the next animal sighting, while we would wait and keep watching. The majority of the time, this paid off, allowing us to see things that were likely missed by the others.

I guess it’s a lot like life. If we rushed through, checking off animal sightings like items on a grocery list, we would have seen lots of animals and birds, but missed the rich experiences: two impala males rutting, the 7 day old baby elephant hiding under the legs of it’s mom, the baby warthogs playing in the mud, and the 2 lionesses in the tall grass.

On a scale of ‘0 to Birthday’, RobO scored day one a solid 40/40. Tired and dusty, we settled into our impressive lodge for the night. We enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool, an outdoor shower with views of the park, and Maasai men accompanying us to our room after dark to ensure we were not a lion’s next meal.

This morning we watched the sunrise from our patio in the company of 2 dik diks, which are very tiny deer that are a surprisingly strong contender for my fave animal. Next up: Serengeti!