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Having waited almost a year for
this trip, it was great to finally set foot in Tanzania and what an experience
it was going to be... here the story of our 5 day safari (and yes, bear in mind that we already
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| Our ride for the coming 5 days |
1: Moshi – Karatu
The animals we saw were fantastic but the
surroundings and people we saw en-route to Tarangire NP left the greatest
impression. The contrast with our daily life couldn’t be bigger. During the day
there are lots of people around the main road of which a large portion seems to
do absolutely nothing but lean back on their parked motorcycle taking a casual
nap.
Bizarre is also the difference between the
Maasai cows grazing on the dusty shoulder of the road and the well-nourished
animals of the National Park often surrounded by lush vegetation.
2: Karatu – Ikoma
Started at 08:00. Today was our transfer to
Serengeti with game drive on the way. Our driver warned us that today would be
a long drive. It took some 3 hours to drive to the gate of Ngorongoro park,
drive up to and over the crater rim in order to go down again at another side
of the crater. Then over a very “bad bad bad” (our driver’s words) bumpy road before
we finally entered Serengeti National Park. After which it took another hour
and a stop for lunch and some more paperwork (registration) at the park
entrance, to at last get to a less arid portion where animals appeared in abundance
we hadn’t expected.
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Some of the highlights of today’s game
drive: two male Lions resting some distance from their half eaten
Buffalo-lunch; driving through plains covered with Zebra as far as the eye
could see; and our favorites: Hippo’s residing in their “pools”, bathing,
farting and making odd noises. These animals are gigantic but in some strange
way also a bit cute...
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| Ikoma tented camp |
3: Maraa River- the Great Migration
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| Eating dust :-) |
Michiel woke up with a Frankenstein-like
eye: all swollen eyelids and a bloody red eye. (we’ll spare you the details
about his eyelids sticking together with yellow mucus..;-) Turned out that
standing with your head out above the jeep (the safari jeeps all open their
roofs when in the parks) when driving 70km/h in a dusty place like the serengeti does not neccesarily
do your eyes much good, especially not when wearing lenses....
Anyway, today we would keep our head down a
little more and set off on the search for “the great migration”. Our drive to
the Maraa river takes us past Serengeti park offices at the old Ikoma military
base, then further over a shear endless “bumps road” to Mugumbu where we turn
right towards the gate of the Park. After passing the gate and driving another
30 minutes, we finally arrive at the Maraa River.
After an entertaining stop to help out a
Land Rover stuck in the mud, we quickly find what we are after: Tremendous
herds of Wildebeast waiting to cross the river. We watch in awe! The spectacle
of the animals crossing the river took at least half an hour but felt like an
eternity.
One Wildebeast lost it after failing to scramble up
the other bank. After trying several times in vain, he turned back and crossed
the river again. Back on the side where he had started he encountered the same
problem and again turned. Reaching the middle of the river the Wildebeast seemed
to ponder the situation, looking at both sides and eventually chose to give the
bank he had initially come from another shot. At last, he climbed up on the
bank and ended up exactly where he had started and had made the treacherous
journey for nothing...
Today I asked Isaac, our driver, about the
Tanzanian school system. He told us a little about Foundation School, Secondary
School and University. The first has school fees, with government support, of
150 Shilling/year ($0.10); the second 300 000 Shilling/year ($175) for public
school or 700 000 shilling/year ($410) for private. As a result, he told us,
most people do primary school. If your parents are poor, it probably stays at
that. If your parents can afford it you will be able to finish secondary
school. However, even though you might attend public secondary school, $175 is
still a lot for a poor Tanzanian family. This started to explain the sight of
so many people doing nothing in the villages; they just don’t have the
knowledge or skills to do work or think of some enterprise.
4: Ikoma – Ngorongoro
Mesmerised! Not primarily by the animals
today, rather by our visit to the Maasai. The welcoming visit we had, although
commercially very attractive to them, gave a great insight into how these
people live, even today in 2014.
The Maasai live a polygamous life. Each
wife builds her own house, which the husband visits upon invitation. When I say
house, I mean a clay hut no higher than 1.5m with two “bedrooms” (fitting just
a bed of twigs) a central open fire and vented walls to let out the smoke. Male
Maasai live a life most men only dream of: a diet of only meat (as they believe
that vegetables should only be food for their cattle) and lawfully having
several wives.
The contrast could not be bigger when we
arrived at our lodge for the night: Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, perched on the
rim overlooking the crater, our room giving a full view of the crater below.
Having seen the Maasai still living happily, more of less like they did
centuries ago, the frills of a luxurious hotel seem completely ridiculous. The
thought occurs to me that it would be interesting to live with the Masaai for a
week of so... On the other hand, the hotel also has it’s basic side: in the
evening the temperature in the lobby is 12 degrees C and the Japanese are
having dinner in their down jackets...
5: Ngorongoro Crater
Got up early and met Isaac at 07:00.
Driving down into the crater gave a magnificent view and we had a Jackal
running in front of the car for several minutes... not the brightest animal.
Goal for today was to see a Rhino.
Unfortunately we did not get to see one. Even though we spent quite some time
staring at what might be a Rhino (or was it a Buffalo?) through binoculars, we
decided to call it a day and enjoy some of the other animals in closer range
After four days we are getting noticeably
blasé about the animals. Before Isaac gets the chance to ask “It’s OK?” we
usually indicate that he can drive on.
Guess it's time to return to the Logde and start preparing for our treks...
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| elephant with an itch |
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| I scratch your back...you scratch mine? |
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