Safari Squad

Hi there!

I need to start this post by saying that when I came here, I was not intending to go on a safari. They are relatively expensive (even the super budget ones) and since I had already seen the majority of the safari animals at Etosha National Park in Namibia, I didn’t think it was wise to spend my time and money doing it again. For that reason, there were some items that I consciously did not bring with me such as camping gear (headlamp, warmer layers, etc) and my good camera. (I actually remember seeing it while packing and thinking ‘Should I bring that? Nah, my phone camera is fine,  it’s not Iike I’m going on safari or anything…’) Now fast forward to me actually being here. Here I am, in Tanzania, home of the Serengeti - the epitome of picture perfect African savanna. Can I really be *this* close and not go? Of course not! It took my friends a grand total of about 3 minutes to convince me to drop $700 and join them on their four day trek to three of Tanzania’s most famous parks: Tarangerie, Ngorongoro Crater (though to be the birthplace of humankind), and Serengeti. I will now do my best to give these parks their justice while also not writing the longest blog post ever. Here goes nothing.

On Wednesday night, the safari tour operator came to hostel to brief us on the plan for the next four days and to collect our payments. I only mention this because, due to the exchange rate (USD$1=2280 Tanzanian Shillings) and the fact that the largest bill they print is Tsh10,000, we were each holding a large stack of bills totaling about Tsh1.6 million. We obviously had a blast fanning our money around and pretending to be super rich haha. We also learned that in addition to the five of us (me, the other Jamie, Dajon, Liselot, and our volunteer coordinater Rosie), we would be joined by another couple to fill the other two seats in the car. Thursday morning the car came to pick us up and after getting the other couple and making a quick stop at the car, we were off.

The safari cars are modified Land Rovers. There’s a seat next to the driver in front and then three rows of two seats in the back with an aisle in the middle so that everyone gets a window seat. They also have a roof that lifts up so that everyone can stand up to see out of the top of them. The first park we went to was Tarangerie, which was about a 3 hour drive away. We pulled in and put the roof up. The first thing I noticed were a large number of massive, ancient baobab trees. We

soon started seeing some animals including a group of mongooses, some zebras, and lots and lots of gazelle and antelopes. As we drove on we saw some elephants and giraffes as well. One thing that you quickly learn is that when a bunch of safari cars are driving and passing each other on sandy roads while your head is sticking out the roof of a car, you end up inhaling a lot of dust! Oh well, it was worth it. We drove on for a bit longer and then stopped at a picnic spot for some lunch. All the food is included, so we had an nice boxed lunch while looking out over a gorgeous vista. We also had to fend off the bunches of cheeky monkeys that were not at all shy about stealing everyone’s food! After we finished eating, we drove around some more, hoping to spot some lions. At one point we saw a group of safari cars congregated, which is usually a good sign that there’s something particularly interesting to look at. We heard that there may be a lion, but we couldn’t spot it. Soon enough there was a HUGE line of cars blocking the whole road—talk about a traffic

Tarangerie Traffic Jam

jam! Eventually we got a the right angle and through a pair of binoculars we could just see some shadows on the bank that were probably lions, though it was hard to tell. After a bit more driving around, we left to drive a bit further on to the shores of Lake Manyara where we would be spending the night. Because this was a budget safari, we knew that we would be camping, so imagine our surprise when we pull in and find lots of little cabins with actual beds, bathrooms, and showers in them! It was a lovely surprise (though we were assured that we would be really camping for the next two nights). We had a nice family style dinner, spent some time around the campfire and then went to bed early as we knew we had an early morning and a busy day ahead of us.

We woke up around 6 and had breakfast before packing back into the safari car, this time with our additional camping supplies loaded on the roof. We set off for our drive to the Serengeti which would take us around the the edge of the Ngorongoro crater (though we wouldn’t go into it until the last day). Fairly early on in the drive, we stopped at a large souvenir shop (a typical stop, though none of us were actually planning on buying anything as it was all ridiculously overpriced). We did spot a family though that was decked out head to toe in matching khaki safari outfits and we could not stop laughing about it (we would run into them at other places on our trip and the giggles would resume every time). We soon started winding our way up the mountains, spotting lots of baboons. At the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, we even saw an elephant right outside the window in the bushes! We kept winding up the steep, narrow road and eventually came to a lookout spot where we got our first glimpse into the massive crater 2000 feet below. The crater is actual a volcanic caldera with an area of about 100 square miles. We snapped some pics and continued to drive. As we drove around the rim, we were passing through Maasai tribal lands. We spotted men and boys hearding cattle and women carrying water on their heads. One village was perched on a slope over looking a pond with mountains in the background. The sunset over the lake (on our return trip) was one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. After a very

Looking out over the Serengeti.
Photo credit: Jamie Katz 

long, bumpy, and dusty ride, we entered the Serengeti.  For a long time, all we could see around us was flat grasslands spotted with the occasional gazelle or zebra. Not a tree or a hill in sight, save for the mountain range a hundred miles away. Turns out the name Serengeti - Maasai for “endless plains” is spot on. As we drove closer to the center of the park, there were more trees, small ravines, and kopjes (small rocky outcrops). As the sun started to set we saw some more zebras, a few hyenas, a group of hippos in a mud bath and even some giraffes on our way to the campsite. We arrived at our campsite, which was right in grasslands with no fence around it or anything. It was just some flat area for tents, a bathhouse, a big kitchen building for the chefs, and another empty building where groups set up their tables and chairs to eat. We pitched our tents, had some dinner, played some cards and fell asleep to the sound of hyenas barking.

We awoke early for a light breakfast and then rushed into the car to catch the sunrise. We saw

some Cape buffalo (one of the Big Five) and the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen. It was

like a picture out of National Geographic. Though I was able to get some decent pictures of it on my phone, I really wished I had my good camera with me. Though not having it probably meant I was able to actually enjoy the sights more rather than worrying about taking the prefect photo. We drove around for the whole morning, but unfortunately, didn’t see all that many animals (aside from the literal thousands of gazelles that are *everywhere*). We were able to see a cheetah that was sunning itself on a rock close to the road which was really cool. At one point we saw a group of cars and found out that there had been some lions in a tree but they had climbed down and were now strolling away though the tall grass almost out of sight. We kept driving and looking for other animals but we were running out of time before we needed to leave the park. We went back to the campsite for brunch and then hit the road again. Funnily enough, we saw lots of animals on our way out! We saw a group of elephants, some more giraffes, and best of all, a group of about 9 lionesses napping under a tree on the side of the road! After snapping a million pictures, we

continued to drive. I was able to listen to all of the podcast The Habitat that we will listen to with our students for ChangeMakers. (For anyone interested in space travel at all, I highly recommend it!) It’s about a group of people who volunteer to spend a year in a Mars simulation dome in Hawaii. One year in a 30 ft diameter dome with 5 strangers and you can’t even go outside unless you’re together and in a space suit. It was fascinating to listen to, especially while sitting in a cramped safari car with 7 other people while outside a vast, foreign landscape stretched out around us. We encountered a few more giraffes on the way, and one even crossed the road right in front of us! We drove back though the Maasai lands, past the gorgeous pond and then arrived at a our next campsite on the rim of the crater (unfortunately by the time we got there, it was too dark to get a good view). We set up camp again and waited until dinner, frantically charging out devices that had all died over the past 48 electricity free hours. We had a late dinner and even a little bit a of

wine from another safari goer who offered the rest of her unfinished bottle! It was really cold up in the mountains, but a perfectly clear night, so after stargazing for a bit, we snuggled into our sleeping bags to prepare for another early morning.

Another 5:30 wake up. Another quick breakfast. We piled back in the car one last time for our decent into the crater. After a really slow ride down (not complaining, it was STEEP and a little scary at times) we reached the bottom. You could see sunbeams shining though the clouds and herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle everywhere. It is very flat and there are very few trees in the crater, and those that are there are along the edge, so it’s pretty easy to spot animals. We soon saw a couple of lionesses resting in a patch of grass and some ostriches grazing. We drove up a hill that is believed to have been the summit of the volcano before collapsing on itself and from there were able to spot three elephants and a rhino way off in the distance below in some bushes. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a closer look as there was no path to drive on. We were able to drive around pretty much the whole crater. We stopped at a hippo pool where you could see the eyes and ears of about a dozen hippos peaking out the water and then a little further on, saw another group of them out of the water. Man,

those things are HUGE. We saw some zebras fighting (a male was trying to mount a female and she kicked him in the head before running away haha!) and then saw another large group of cars. At first we heard they were looking at a rhino but we could only see a faint gray blob in the distance, even though the binoculars. Then we heard someone mention lions and we saw a small clearing in the grass where a male and a female were laying together. It was the first male lion we had gotten a good look at (there had been some others earlier but they were lying down so it was hard to see) and we tried to take good photos through the binoculars, but they were so far away, it’s hard to make them out. I got a sort of decent one though. We completed our circuit of the crater and started our ascent. To our relief, it was on another paved road so it wasn’t quite as terrifying driving out as we had anticipated. In fact, it offered some stunning views. We settled back in for the long ride back home and arrrived at the hostel a few hours later dusty, dirty, sweaty, and exhausted but grinning ear to ear. It had been a great trip and I don’t regret a second of it.

Well I’ve now written a complete novel, so I’m going to sign off now. I’ll write another post in a few days with some more updates from around Arusha. Here are some more safari photos. It’s a bit of a pain to put them in order and add captions so I apologize for the randomness but if you have any questions about what/where they’re of, just ask in the comments! (The other Jamie had a good camera and will share her photos when we’re all back in the states, but these should be good enough for now!)