Safari

After four days of safari we’re back in the real world again. It was a lot, almost too much to soak in. Kind of comparable to a week of fulltime culture in Rome. At this moment we’re driving on the first kilometers of tarmac road, so weird and sweet after all those bumpy dirt roads… Looking forward to a hot shower; I’m gonna try to wash of the dust once we arrive back in the capital city of Landrovers (so many azungus here!). I taste dust when I lick my lips, I smell dust when I scratch my face and my eyes hurt from all the dust that’s in there. Maybe I’m gonna try to brush my hair too…
The roof of the Landrover is down now, so we have to sit back and relax. All the kilometers we traveled in the past days, I was standing on my seat trying to spot wildlife or anything else interesting. Focused all the time, so nothing would be missed. Here’s a list of all the different animals we’ve seen, tiny birds are not included.

- elephants (closest was 15 m. from the car)
- giraffes (one big group of 15 animals, with babies)
- buffalo (we scared one on the road)
- hippos (grazing ones and sleeping ones)
- wildebeests (lots with babies, these are able to run within minutes after birth)
- hartebeests
- impalas
- Thomson gazelles
- grants gazelles
- dikdiks
- warthog families
- topi
- one reedbuck
- jackals
- zebras (many with tiny babies)
- some waterbuck
- mongoose
- big baboon families
- vervet monkeys
- blue monkeys
- spotted hyenas (carrying dead prey around)
- lots of lions
- a serval
- even a spotted leopard (lucky us)
- a crocodile
- two snakes
- agama lizards
- a monitor
- ostriches
- flamingos
- pelicans
- herons
- hamerkop
- storks
- ibis
- marabou
- spoonbills
- secretary birds
- bustards (heaviest flying bird on earth)
- vultures (gathering around leftovers from predators)
- African harrier hawk
- long-crested eagle
- guinea fowls
- crane
- love birds
- kingfishers
- bee-eaters
- barbets
- ground hornbills
- different types of weavers

That’s about it : )

We left Tuesday morning, the three of us, a Russian and an American lady, the driver Michael and our cook; Chief. We had something what looked like trouble the night before; we got picked up by the ‘wrong’ safari company, who somehow got my name and our phone number. Thinking everything was okay we left some of our luggage at an office and got into a taxi, on the way to the bank. Just seconds before we would have left the car park, another guy shows up at our window, knowing my name and everything, saying he is the right guy from the right company… Sow… We arranged the safari in Dar, with a guy named Innocent, so after some phone calls with him we wanted to leave, but some guy was blocking the door, saying we owed him money, talking about hotel reservations, bla bla bla. Anyway, we got out, finally, with itching hands and boiling inside, and only seconds later the taxi driver is blocking the way of the Landrover we hopped in, lying that he drove us all over… After some help from policemen we were finally out of trouble. Pfieu.
But. The safari. After a couple of hours driving through Masai-land we had a fancy lunch at an even fancier campsite, complete with swimming pool. Entered bushy Lake Manyra National Park early afternoon, till around sunset. More colorful Masai and their beautiful cattle herds the next day, also after entering Ngorogoro Conservation Area. As a result we saw Masai herdsmen with their cattle and a group of zebras a bit further on the endless plain. We entered hot and dusty Serengeti National Park (and I was thinking Canadian plains were empty…) in the afternoon, where we camped at a real campsite. Went on a game drive at sunrise on Thursday and after a brunch we headed back towards cold and misty Ngorogoro. Went into the Ngorogoro crater this morning; cold, misty and full of wildlife.

Oh my gosh! (Sorry, spend too much time with an American) I saw a male elephant eating some leaves thirty meters away from our tent. I saw big herds of wildebeest mixed with zebra herds; the tail of the big migration in search for water. I saw a male lion 25 meters away from us, trying to make a move towards the female. They ended up fighting, roaring, grumpy. I saw running giraffes. I saw a leopard sleeping in a tree. I saw a lion enjoying a zebra. I saw the sun set on the Serengeti. I slept in a tent on a non-fenced campsite in a wild park. I saw, I did, I enjoyed…. It was so much I can go on for hours.

Enjoy the pictures! Thanks for previous comments, I love to read them…

Lokte



Last night on Zanzibar

Leshoto; Rain. Mist. Africa??


Remember this one?

Leshoto area

(Weet je dit nog? Ik mis je zusje...) Viewpoint Leshoto

Serengeti, taken while standing straight in the car

Ngorogoro

Serengeti = endless plain in Swahili

Serengeti

Waterbuck


Busy? Why?

Serengeti; serval

Serengeti; leopard


Manyara NP

Manyara NP

Manyara NP

Masai land; village


Ngorogoro; wildebeests

Ngorogoro

Ngorogoro; elephant and wildebeests