🙂 The vast plains of the Serengeti…. Ngorongoro is Noah’s Ark. Big 5.
🙁 TERRIBLE photos – we had a tiny camera! LOL
We arrived in Arusha after taking the ferry from Zanzibar to Dar-es-Salaam and then a bus to Arusha – 24 hours of travelling – hectic! Stayed at Midway Hotel which was clean but had an external shower and toilet. Booked a 5 day safari for the next day with Sunny Safaris. Enjoyed a decent chicken curry and met Christo and Fokko, two Dutch boys that we would be spending the next week with on safari.
Set off at 07h30 after breakfast..stopping at ridiculously expensive curio shops where I bought candelsticks! LOL. Had lunch at Jambo campsite and found another shop where I bargained for a sarong and a lovely Makonde carving.
Lake Manyara spectacular! Great pics of hippos with open mouths. Two huge male lions, one with a gaping wound on chest. Fantastic game drive.
Back to camp where we enjoyed spag boll and fruit salad and a beer – stuffed! Woken at 04h30 by a commotion – apparently one of the guests had tried to get into the tent with the Ranger for sexy time and he was trying to get her out! LOL> Khaki Fever at its best!
Up at 06h00 for breakfast and headed off .Had great views of the Ngorongoro Crater.
Delicious lunch in Serengeti of cheese and tomato sandwiches and chicken, roast potatoes and boiled eggs – yum. Started to rain…headed to hippo pools… then came across a pride of lions who had obviously just gorged themselves on a kill as their stomachs looked ready to burst!
Then we found the remains of the zebra that they had feasted on and a hyena was crunching on the bones.
Another rainstorm which turned the dirt road into a river making it touch to drive! Got to camp site and pitched our tents. Had tea and the baboons gathered to join us! Then we had some Castle beers while chatting away. Hyenas were very interested in us … we heard them calling all night! Paul had to wee in a bottle and I wee’d in patio of tent as too scared to move!
Woke at 05h45 and left fro game drive at 06h00. Giraffe
.. and then two lions – I leaned out to take a photo and one closed me and his eyes turned orange as he snarled at me and got up!! Yikes.
We continued a quiet drive and were about to give up when we saw a cheetah make a kill on an impala … Watched for ages as she called her cubs and then they ate … amazing sighting!
Back to camp for lunch – rested… and then watched dung beetles and showed Christo and V
Fokko ant lions.
The afternoon drive yielded another lion sighting… back to camp for dinner and beers. Woken at 03h30 by the sound of lions right outside our tent… they knocked over the kettle and crunched a wing mirror … Chris and Fokko were clearly completely unaware as we heard their tent being unzipped and them having a wee while we were calling in whispers to be careful!! The hyenas the took over from the lions and also made lots of noise – so a sleepless night! But fun!! Finally fell into a deep sleep at 06h00 – only to be woken to get ready!
Headed off on our game drive and noticed that the impala were snorting and looking very skittish – Paul spotted a leopard! Hoorah! It was quite small and very nervous and ran off…but a leopard sighting none the less! Only one fleeting pic as we were so excited we forgot the camera! But evidence! Yay – the Big 5 – tick!
Enjoyed a huge breakfast before taking down our tents and heading to the Ngorongoro Crater Rim – Simba Camp Site.
Huge and delicious lunch! Showered. Relaxed, read and enjoyed another huge and delicious dinner! Hyenas and baboons everywhere! Chatted around campfire until 21h00. Bed!
Woken at 05h00 by John’s pots and pans…lovely breakfast – warm and sunny for a change!
Not one of the 4x4s would start so we helped everyone to bump start! Left for crate – loads of Masai dressed up for photos.
Hassan worried us by ‘pretending’ to lose his permit – Paul felt that his tip was reducing by the minute! LOL. He pointed out a ‘gory bastard’ which was in fact a ‘kori busted’ which is the largest flying bird in Africa … the initial name has stuck forever! LOL.
WOW. This place is amazing. Several different biomes – each with own vegetation and wild life – incredible. It is an extinct volcanic caldera measuring 16Km across over an area of 264 square kilometres. A real Noah’s Ark…. a magical experience.
In the marsh we saw a herd of elephants and a pod of hippos.
In the salt pan we had a grumpy black rhino approaching the car less than 5m from our jeep!
We had flamingo in the lake….lion and white rhino in the plains grass not to mention ververt monkeys in the forest and a plethora of other game including buck, warthog etc…amazing.
We left the crater with heavy hearts as we could have stayed forever – and break down near the lodge! We walked in for the toilet and bumped into a ‘dagga boy’ … I nearly had a heart attack as they are so dangerous …but apparently this chap is well known and accustomed to humans …Yikes.
The next morning we hastily packed up camp and headed back to Arusha. We all agreed that Hasan had been a terrible guide so we gave him a terrible tip – he was NOT happy but neither had we been… so tough. We did give Chef John a generous tip though as his food was amazing!! We bade farewell to Chris & Fokko and checked into a hotel with lousy food…our next adventure was Malawi!
Go to: Tanzania
