The Dark Continent - Safari Part 5 - on to Tanzania

East African Safaris continue...
 
From the Mara we traveled to Nairobi where I was to say goodbye to the Dragoman group. Several were staying with the truck as it continued on its way towards Cape Town. Others were heading home, and still others, like me, were heading off to join different safaris.

I spent five days in Nairobi, expecting the worst, as it has a reputation of one of the most crime ridden and violent cities in Africa. Even in the local press it is widely referred to as ‘Nairobbery’. I stayed close to the downtown and was more than pleasantly surprised at how nice the city seemed, I suppose partially because the previous ones had been so desperate. Nairobi has lots of high rises, trees, flowers, and parks, most men wear business suits and ties, traffic is orderly, and from what I was told, crime is being brought under control. As recently as five years ago it was unsafe to walk on the streets, even in daylight, carrying a bag or wearing jewelry.

In Nairobi I joined my next safari group, one organized by Imaginative Travel, a travel company that specializes in trips to Africa. Actually, Imaginative contracts the safari part to African Adventures who are very similar to Dragoman, using a purpose built big truck, this one affectionately known as ‘Half Pint’, but in this case there were only 9 of us on the safari (oddly, 6 Canadians, 2 Aussies, and a Swiss guy) so it seemed quite luxurious with all the space.

But the other fundamentals were the same, tents, sleeping on the ground, campsites sometimes without showers (You don’t realize how much you appreciate a cold shower until you have no shower at all.), breakfast in the dark, make your sandwich for lunch from cucumber, tomato, or mystery meat, early departures, and then travel and game viewing before setting up camp in the dark. Comfort stations are often few and far between, so that, combined with dietary changes, requires major strategic planning and significant attention to the coming day’s routing. Having to resort to the ‘garden trowel port-a-potty’ and heading into the bush is no one’s first choice.

Welcome to Tanzania

From Nairobi we headed directly south to the Kenya/Tanzania border town of Namanga and on to Arusha, the major safari center in Tanzania, where me made camp at Maasai Camp. Arusha is centrally located for visits to nearby Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and several other major parks.

Our leader for the Tanzanian safari was Justin, a soft spoken, funny guy from the Kikuyu tribe, the dominant tribe in Kenya. He was very modest, representing himself as a simple bushman, completely overlooking his own travels and the sophistication he had gained leading thousands of clients from all over the world to view Africa’s wildlife. His extensive knowledge of animals, birds, trees, etc., was, however, acquired completely firsthand as a youth living and observing in the bush. Our cook this time was Elizabeth, also Kikuyu, charged with making camp food interesting. With only 9 of us to feed she was able to run the camp with less militancy than Vesh.

In Arusha we were again to be transferred to two 4 Wheel Drive Land Cruisers. One of the expected jeeps did not arrive. By 8:00AM, well after our planned departure time, we set out with one Land Cruiser and Half Pint. We sped along the best highway I had seen in East Africa, the “Supa Highway”, as Justin called it, and just as we were about to leave it our missing Land Cruiser showed up. Along the way Justin had been speculating as to what had happened to our missing vehicle and driver.

“Maybe he got caught up with a sket weh-aah (skirt wearer) to eat some cabbage together.”

We skirted the edge of the Ngornogoro Crater which we were to visit on our way back, and as we passed the rim, the Serengeti plains stretched out before us, a magnificent sight. It is a vast treeless plain which, including the Maasai Mara, is larger than Rwanda; and it is a seasonal home to nearly 2,000,000 hoofed animals. Although we had seen wildebeest, zebra, and giraffes in the Mara, we now saw thousands as we made our way to Gnili Camp where we were to stay for two days. As there is less grass in this area of the savannah, predators can be more easily spotted so wildebeest and zebra congregate here at this time of the year to birth young, an average of 8,000 per day in the case of the wildebeest. We saw many calves and we had not gone but a few miles into the park when we saw a calf, no more than moments old, as it struggled to get to its feet while the mother nervously ran back and forth away from it. A hyena was skulking about not far off and I’m not sure if the little guy made it. Forty percent of calves die within the first three months.

Over the next two days we went on our game drives seeing more of everything (except leopards and rhinos) including hunting cheetahs. Every night after dinner, regardless of how well or badly the day went, Justin would give us a brief talk. They all started the same way.

“One minute. Okay. So, today I think we had a perfect day. And tomorrow will be another.”

All animals are Mister - Mr. Hyena, Mr. Hippo, Mr. Baboon etc. And he would explain their various habits. For example,

“Okay. So. What does Mr. Hyena do? Thaah’s right. He use his coconut (tapping his head) and he waits…”

And he would go on to explain how Mr. hyena would share in Mr. cheetah’s kill by waiting till the cheetah was finished (cheetahs only eat fresh killed meat, nothing over 30 minutes old).

Or, explaining why wounded buffalo are so dangerous,

“Okay. So. Mr. Buffalo he not use his coconut (tap, tap). He just want to hurt somebody.”

.

Justin spoke slowly and softly and he always made all poly-syllabic words into a combination of single syllable words. Coconut always came out as ‘co co nut’. Sometimes he spoke with great gravity, other times he twists into a full body grin of delight at his cleverness. He was not to be rushed, everything was undertaken “Pole, pole” (Slowly, slowly). Likewise, it was always “Hakuna matata”, “No problem”. He could not have been more engaging.

The Maasai believe they were put on this earth along with cows, goats and sheep. Explaining this to us, Justin told us they therefore believe they own all those animals wherever they are.

“You have cows in Canada?” he asked me. I agreed, “Yes we have”.

“They are Maasai cows” he said, and twisted into his smile.

On our way back out of the Serengeti we stopped at Olduvai (or Oldupai, depending where you read it) Gorge. Ancient hominid skulls and footprints over three million years old have been found in this area. Remains of Homo Sapiens dating 100,000 years have also been found here making this the ‘cradle of humanity’. No matter where you are on this earth, or what your lineage, your gene pool will lead you back to this spot.

We spent almost a full day in the Ngorongoro Crater, a very popular spot for up-close animal viewing and we weren’t disappointed, lions, buffalo, antelope, wildebeest, elephants, wart hogs, and a large number of flamingos in the soda lake, Lake Magadi. In mid afternoon we had a breakdown with one of our jeeps, the U bolt holding the springs together was broken off on a rock. It is amazing how much abuse these vehicles take. I thought we would be waiting for a replacement jeep, but no. A spare U bolt was on hand and within two hours we were set to go.

My last day of safari was a visit to Lake Manyara National Park. Animal viewing is always a bit hit and miss anywhere. I spoke to others who had visited Manyara and they had really seen few if any animals. On our visit we were treated to the full array of Africa’s wildlife, a fitting end to four fabulous weeks.

In addition to all the species I have noted above, I have seen countless birds, as well as hartebeest, topi, cokes hartebeest, tree lions, monkeys, baboons, mongoose, bat-eared foxes, dik-diks, klipspringers, oryx, kudu, and eland. And did I mention rock hyrax? Hyrax is small rodent-like creatures about the size of a pudgy guinea pig. They are the closest relative an elephant has. One clue to this kinship is apparently the similarity of their skeletons. The proof though is that he has no external jumblies, he has the meat but his two veg are internal. Just like a bull elephant. I bet you didn’t know that about elephants. And I bet you look next time you see one.

We made our way back to Maasai Camp in Arusha and set up tents for the last time. As with most nights, I have a Tusker beer. While chatting with Justin he tells me his name is not really Justin. That was the name that stuck after one of his clients called him ‘Just in time’. Whatever, he is the best guide I have had anywhere.

I will have many great memories of this trip, obviously the up-close views of some of the world’s most beautiful and spectacular animals, I have really seen them all. Unforgettable is the sight of thousands of wildebeest racing across the horizon. But also the night skies in the middle of the savannah, with absolutely no ground light anywhere to be seen, is likewise unforgettable. And the whisper soft soaring overhead in the balloon was marvelous. I might say,

“Okay. Thaah’s right. So, I think I had a perfect safari. And tomorrow will be another adventure.”

“Asante sana, Justin” (Thank you). I hope you are all well.

Merv.

Tanzanian Safari Photos - Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Manyara