The Long family - Steve, Nicole, Autumn, Zane, and Bryce - wander the Earth to live life, make friends, learn, and find things we didn't know we were looking for.
Nicole predicted 9 months ago that we would be totally exhausted at the end of our Safari. In fact, while I was trying to tack on more days in Rwanda, or Botswana, she put her foot down and suggested a five day, do-nothing-at-a-beach trip would be necessary. She was dead right.
The five nights following our Safari were spent doing more or less nothing in a remote beach town in Zanzibar called Paje in a beach bungalow called Ndame Beach Lodge. It's not exactly my style, but by the third day, I grew to appreciate the time out.
We pretty much sat under the left umbrella for four days.
Paje is on the East coast of the island of Zanzibar overlooking thousands of miles of endless Indian Ocean. It is protected by a reef about one mile offshore, and is subject to a huge change in tide. Between the reef and the line of make shift lodges lies a super flat expanse of perfectly white sand beach. We know it is a mile to the reef, because during low tide, you can walk most of the way without getting wet, and the rest you are only waste deep as you tip toe thru urchins and star fish. At high tide, the water is no more than 20ft from the lodge. Given the twice tolling of tide changes in a day, it was constantly changing and a bit awe-inspiring. Our days, except one, pretty much consisted of sitting in beach chairs and watching it unfold, while the boys either collected shells and hermit crabs when the tide was out, or body surfed when the tide was in.
Sunrise... We're facing East...
Low Tide
Low Tide
High Tide
Reef. 1 mile straight out from our Lodge. The walk was long, and a bit treacherous.
Bryce wasn't afraid of picking up some of the sea life.
This was our umbrella for four days.
The tire magically appeared on the beach one morning. Made for hours of fun.
I'm thinking about making some of these when we get back home.
1 foot of water for 1/2 mile!
We were in a shoulder season, so we pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves but for a handful of other lonely souls, the house dogs and cats, and a few groups just passing through. We befriended a splendid old chap from Bristol named Vic, retired and wandering the world to find remote coastal getaways.
Vic
It wasn't all paradise though. We're not exactly tropical folk, so the room without AC and only ceiling fans took some getting used to. Add to that, our room bordered the neighboring lodge which apparently hosts a beach bash to the wee hours of the morning on Friday night (our first night). This was the first time we strongly considered a change in lodging, but we decided to give it one more night. While it still wasn't exactly what we were expecting, we stuck it out, which was a good thing. The only other blip in paradise were the beach boys - not the Surfin' Safari dudes, but these super annoying people that walk up and down the beach dressed as Maasai (but with gaudy sunglasses, designer sandals, and man purses) trying to be your best friend to sell you trinkity crap. They backed off when Nicole told them about the two days we spent with real Maasai and Bushmen...
We extracted ourselves from our beach chairs for one day to travel to the opposite side of the island to visit Stonetown, the original town and once thriving trading center. Given it's location, Zanzibar was the clearing house of all manner of trade, including, most regrettably, the slaves. It is also a very eclectic town that marries many different cultures and religions. After a walk through the market place, we hopped on a Dhow boat (traditional fishing vessel) and motored over to Prison Island, once a quarantine facility for people with yellow fever and malaria, but now the home of 100 Giant Tortoise. One of the tortoise is 192yrs old!
Central Fish Market. Let's hope the cooking process will address the sanitary conditions.
The streets of Stonetown are narrow, only really allowing for Mopeds.
Our guide Yousef talking about the numerous Zanzibar doors. Borrowing from Persion and Indian customs.
View through the front end of our dhow.
192 years old!
Tortoise jam.
I Should have charged a portage fee.
Some rules are meant to be broken.
A new Chapter, Cape Town...
We are just over three months now on our journey around the world. So far, our longest stay at any one place has been six nights. As we kick off the second quarter, we've decided to pump the brakes a little, and we will be squatting in Cape Town for four weeks. It's our chance to fully unpack, put our luggage away, and live "normally" for a while. We'll take stock of our gear, recharge our batteries, get caught up on school work, and look a little further in to the future.
Our view for the next four weeks. Feels like being in Yosemite Valley, but with a white sand beach at the end.
I took A LOT of pictures. To make the process of showing them all to you shorter, I have created google photos albums of each day of the safari and each day of Zanzibar. I take a lot of photos, just a warning. You do not, in any way, have to look at all of them. ALL of the photos are mine, shot with either my Nexus 6p smartphone or my Cyber Shot Sony Compact Camera. I hope you enjoy the photos!
The links for each album are below (in chronological order from the end of the trip to the beginning):
Now, those are just pictures. I've been told many times that y'all love hearing my thoughts. So....here goes.
I have a list of things that I am now more grateful for than ever. Mom and Dad have shown me and told me how lucky I am since I was born, and so I thought I already knew how lucky I was. I was completely aware of other people on Earth that have less than me, and I felt bad for them, and I was grateful for what I had-to a certain level. This Tanzania trip has taken my gratuity to another level, a level an infinite amount of times higher. No one who hasn't been to an impoverished place in Africa (or any other 3rd world country for that matter) will EVER truly understand how lucky they are. I sure didn't. (Sorry for the complicated and confusing sentence, what I'm trying to say is hard to put in words)
Some of these things might seem silly, but I am truly forever grateful:
Seedless fruit (oranges, watermelon)
A clean place to live
Good infrastructure
Bakeries
French's yellow mustard
Books
Good public school
Being able to brush teeth with the tap/uncontaminated tap water
Wood or stone or linoleum flooring
Parks
Musical instruments (piano, flute, etc.)
Fresh fruit
Clean clothes/being able to afford new ones
Shoes that always fit
The ability to feel safe at night
A mattress
Tender meat
And so so so many other things, but I bet you're getting bored by now, so I'll stop.
I think that the African people are beautiful (So does my mom). Their braids and twists are so intricate and pretty, and they are all unique. So many colors of clothing go with their skin tone, and their features (eyes, lips, body shape) are beautiful as well. They also have amazing voices and rhythm (I got to experience this the multiple times when they sang for me for my birthday :) ). Both my mom and I agree that we completely do not understand how people are racist. The African culture is amazing, friendly, and just...beautiful.
During security at the Zanzibar airport, my piccolo almost got taken away. I kind of had a mental breakdown after the fact that that was possible, even though I eventually got to take it on the plane. The reason for this is because I love my piccolo. It allows me to be able to have a chance at doing marching band in high school, it reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa back at home, and it reminds me of all of the band people (especially Lizzy, Ella, Rachel, Lydia, Emmy, Analise, Molly, and Julie) (Hi guys!) back at home. It's one of the only extracurricular activities I do that I could take with me on this trip.
I don't really know what other thoughts to share...hmmmmmmm....if any of you reading this have any questions to ask me, feel free to ask! (about how I felt, how I thought about something, how a condition actually was etc.)
It's been some time since we last wrote, so this one will be a bit....Long (pardon the pun). This is not because we had no WiFi, quite the contrary. In fact, every lodge we slumbered at had internet, with the best WiFi speed in the middle of the Serengeti in a tent. We have not written because we were simply too tired. This is a bit odd considering we spent 12hrs of every day confined to a 6'x8' box (our safari truck), and effectively made no decisions. We were but luggage on a journey driven around by our guide, Endeni. He told us when to wake up, when to eat, where to look, and if we could relieve ourselves. Safaris are exhausting and not for the faint of heart. The roads are rough, the pace is quick, and by the end of the day, all you want to do is eat, then go right to bed. To cover the parks that we did, we covered a lot of ground. And given the road conditions, it was slow going.
For those that have the means and a Safari on your bucket list, great. For those that do not, get it on your list. I say this because it is more than just the animals. It is just so patently different in every respect from our daily life. The people, the guide, the landscape, the food, the accommodations, the pace, the exhaustion - all nothing like back home. But a word of caution, we suggest not waiting until you're retired. It's physically brutal bouncing and vibrating in the truck. As the guides say, you get free 4hr massages when going from one park to the next.
Since we probably would not make the effort if it wasn't for the animals, I'll say this... While I appreciate a good zoo and their effort to promote the preservation of all creatures of the Earth, I see now how they are still only giving us a glimpse of what these animals are all about. The vastness of the open space of the African terrain promotes constant motion and freedom. The only animal that seems to mirror their captive cousins is the motionless crocodiles. Elephants don't swing back and forth, they move long distances as families in constant search of water and food. Lions, while still lazy in the wild, are scanning the horizon and occasionally wander for a different view. Leopards are cunning hunters, and Giraffes graze the treetops in a constant pursuit of elevated cuisine. The flamingos don't just stand on one leg and look bored, but take majestic flight just above the water and come to a dramatic stop. The Zebra, seeming so exotic in the zoo, becomes as unique as a cow in the wild. I had no idea I would come to love the warthogs (the guides all call them Pumba) and the hyenas, nor did Nicole and Autumn expect to be enamored by the playful hippos (we would still be at the hippo pool today if the boys would allow it...).
The following is loosely chronological, and, having had some time to think on the trip, I will try to summarize the essence of the experience.
For reference, here is a map of the area we traveled. Flew in to Kilimanjaro Airport, home-based in Arusha, went to Arusha NP, Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Visited Mto Wa Mbu, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Eyasi. Looks all very close on the map, but don't let it fool you, it's a long way from point to point.
Our mobile wildlife viewing habitat for 11 days. The tops pops up for great views.
This is pretty much how we spent our 11 days....
Endeni and the Guides
First and foremost, the success of a safari is all about the guide. Our guide, Endeni, was with us everyday from 7am to 7pm for 11 straight days. His mission was to ensure we were enjoying our once in a lifetime experience, and aligned our trip with our expectations. He was awesome. A little tough to understand at first, but awesome. He is a father of three (7, 4, 4mn), and his poor wife was home with the baby with a terrible flu the entire time while he carted us around all of northern Tanzania. He has an entrepreneurial spirit, and has a keen understanding of how the world works. But most of all, he was an encyclopedia of knowledge about Tanzanian culture and wildlife. As a father himself, he did a great job of connecting with our kids. I can always sense when Bryce is uncomfortable with someone, but that was not the case with Endeni (at least within a couple days). As a bonus, I finally felt tall for once in my life.
Endeni was more than just someone that knew a thing or two about animals, he could drive too. He had wizardlike skills to navigate the brutal roadways and simultaneously spot the tiniest of tiny birds sitting on a branch about 50yds away. Ahead of our two night stay in the Serengeti, it rained hard, leaving the roads a slippery, muddy mess. During one harrowing slog where we nearly got stuck, Endeni paused halfway through. I was thinking that he was plotting his exit from the mud pit. He calmly points out the window, and says, "Look, there's a White Headed Fish Eagle over there." Then he puts it in low gear, and floors it! He also had some kind of internal GPS system. Google maps isn't exactly reliable in the bush, and as we came upon random forks in the road, he unflinchingly turned left, right, right, and left until we magically appeared at our destination. He also had an uncanny knack of putting our truck right in the perfect pathway of a wandering Leopard, or pair of Cheetahs.
While I would like to think Endeni was one of a kind, I suspect that most of the safari guide community is of similar caliber. Every five minutes or so, we would cross paths with another truck, the guides would stick out there heads, yell "jambo, bata wata simba wata boobity boo....." for about 3 minutes and depart laughing. Endeni tells me they are giving each other the latest skinny on where to find a Lion, or Cheetah, but sometimes I get the impression they were making fun of their cargo. Meanwhile, the passengers just stare blankly at each other with our heads poking out the roof saying absolutely nothing. It was actually very peculiar behavior. It became a game with Nicole to smile at the others, just to see how often it would be returned....rarely. At some point, I began to see the guides as this huge fraternity having a grand old time wandering around the bush in their super awesome 4x4 trucks loaded with hapless cargo. But in the end, I'm convinced that all the guides wanted was for everyone to have a great time, and they shared their knowledge to ensure we all got to see as much as we could.
Star-crossed guides, passing each other in the bush, sharing secrets of wildlife whereabouts.
The Culture and the People
When we first rolled in to town, and passed thru the Central Market of Arusha, I was shocked at how undeveloped everything appeared. But I was remiss in not paying enough attention to the people, and only focusing on the condition of things. Having spent nearly two weeks with Endeni, learning about the culture, and looking back on the people in our pictures, we came to realize that there is a real sense of pride, togetherness, and happiness of the Tanzanian people. When we rolled back in to town after our Safari, the scenery had not changed, but our perception was decidedly more positive.
Tanzania has embraced their tribal diversity and have learned to live peacefully together. Christians and Muslims live together harmoniously. Different rural tribes with different means of living coexist across fuzzy territorial lines. Unlike our two party system, there is no majority, and people support leaders based upon ideals and policy. It's unfortunate that they have not yet figured out how to harness their natural resources, but I sense, and Endeni senses, it is all going in the right direction. It will just take time.
The Safari
Now, on to the parks. We ended up visiting five parks, each offering something unique. Between Autumn and I, we took about 3,000 photos, so it will be hard to pair it down for this blog, but I'll do my best. For the unabridged version, I'll post a link later.
Arusha National Park
Given the largely forested landscape, it's all about the monkeys - Baboons, Blue Monkeys, Vervet monkeys, and Colobus Monkeys. Arusha National Park is a smaller park that gives a flavor of all the other big parks in northern Tanzania.
It was a good start to the adventure as it was very close to our starting point in Arusha (pretty much where all safaris start in Tanzania). Arusha gave us the opportunity to get out of the truck for a guided walk thru the bush, and thru a herd of Cape Buffalo, one of the most feared animals in Africa. We learned that most animals will give you a sign to back away before they attack. The Cape Buffalo will, without warning, run you down. Endeni says you just have to run in a zig zag pattern...
After lunch we went canoeing on a lake. Frankly, it was nothing special and we spent most of our time battling the wind and trying to stay on course. Our destination was a small family of hippos (the most deadly animal in Africa). Considering Endeni doesn't like water and can't swim, we were guided by a younger fella that seemed more interested in American Life than showing us the local flora and fauna. When we finally arrived to the hippo habitat, he looks over and says, "huh, never seen them out this far, you'd better paddle backwards." Given the hippo grunting, we obliged quickly.
Arusha definitely lived up to the monkey reputation and we had our fill. It took some time, but we finally found the elusive Black and White Colobus. Bryce's favorite. Some of our favorite giraffe moments were also in Arusha.
An aside... Bryce has herculean healing powers. The night before our Arusha Park visit, Bryce got a legit fever - the shivering, the aching, the whole bit. Not good. He awoke still in some agony and we were prepared to divide and concur. But Bryce rallied. He seemed determined to go. We pilled him up with ibuprofen, got him some juice, and off we went. Within two hours, he was fit as a fiddle, bouncing off the walls. If only we all had his immune system.
I little disconcerting walking between two competing herds of Buffalo
Canoe guide. Nice young man.
View of hippos from water level.
Took this guy a good five minutes to spot his landing point before taking his leap of faith.
Tarangire National Park
Our next two days were spent in Tarangire National Park, home of Elephants and Baobab trees. Not having ever heard of this park, I wasn't sure what to expect, and thankfully we had two days here. They ain't kidding, Elephants galore. Zane loved it (well, we all did, but he was particularly looking forward to this). Two moments in particular will live in our memories forever, when a family casually strolled by our truck with two youngsters in tow, and coming upon a wall of giant Elephants protecting a new born behind. Intimidating.
There are two iconic trees when you think of a Safari, the acacia (flat topped tree), and the Baobab, the tree with the super fat trunk and out of proportion spindly branches. I found these trees magnetic and couldn't keep my eyes off them. Unlike most trees being largely identical in shape to every other tree, not one Baobab looks like another. There are faces in the light grey bark, and the fruit produces a wonderfully sweet and sour seed that you can suck on. They get beat up by the Elephants, and are hollowed out by poachers to create hideouts (but yet remain alive). Given the decreasing rain in this area, the saplings are eaten by animals for moisture, and they are dwindling in numbers. Insert sad face here.
Tarangire is a big park and offers a similar animal encounter to the Serengeti. We nearly ticked off all the animals we hoped to see in this park. Some of the other cool animal scenes included a tree that was downright lousy with baboons (We sat there for 20 minutes just taking it all in), and watching the curious mating ritual of the ostrich.
The two iconic trees juxtaposed.
The Elephants dig wells in the dry river bed to suck out buried water.
Fun with binoculars and a cell phone.
We saw so many baby Elephants. The parenting instincts were fascinating.
They're really quite big when you're 6 feet away!
Typical day... Autumn and I holding up the show for just "One more shot. Hold on!"
I could, or rather Nicole could, write a separate blog just on the birds we saw. This was one of our favorites, the Lilac Crested Roller. When it took flight (which I could never get a picture of), it was brilliant.
Cheetah kids are cute.
It's difficult to see just how many Baboons are in this tree. The video below helps a little.
The Baobabs get pretty large. Some are hollowed out.
Our guide said it was pretty rare to see this so clearly.
As we approached, they formed a wall.
The baby was likely only days old.
Pumba! A rare look at their face. They are either head down eating, or running away. Our joke was, "There goes another Pumba butt."
One of the greatest things about a Safari is seeing all stages of life.
Our view from the back of our bungalow at Tarangire. Not totally visible here is a herd of Elephants just past the bushes.
Manyara National Park
Birds, birds, birds... and Tse Tse flies. If you're a birder, this is the park for you. Manyara National Park is mostly made up of a brackish lake, and it's surrounding forest. This is the home of flamingos, storks, pelicans, eagles, and countless other small birds feasting on the algae and other small creatures living in the reeds.
Our journey in the park took us thru a marsh being surrounded on all sides with thousands of different birds, and a family of hippos being groomed by the oxpeckers. We were warned prior to this day that we might encounter the dreaded Tse Tse flies (standard sized flies, but with a nasty bite). Yep, we did. Fortunately, Endeni came armed with an electrified tennis rack to lay waste to the little suckers. But those little guys don't go down without a fight. On average, they needed to be zapped a full seven times before they perished. Made for quite the ride. We ended up at the far end of the lake, and strolled out on a boardwalk to watch the flamingos and storks take flight.
Unfortunately, this was the height of Nicole's headache issues (side effects from the Malarone, exacerbated by hours of vibration therapy), so she couldn't fully take in the magnificence of this park.
Because they have no neck, the Pumba walk around on their front knees to eat.
You pretty much can't get away from the wacky baboons. They show up everywhere and typically hold council in the middle of the roads.
Blue Monkey
Vervet Monkey with baby
The flamingo is a filter feeder and drags it's beak through the water to eat algae.
Dinner time at the lodge.
We weren't exactly roughing it at the lodges...
Mto Wa Mbu and the Maasai
One of my goals of the trip was to take in more than just the animals. I wanted to ensure our kids could see how most of the world gets by. Our Safari included a one day stop in the town of Mto Wa Mbu, and a Maasai village.
The town of Mto Wa Mbu is prospering from the continuous fresh water from the nearby Ngorongoro mountain and the agriculture it affords, and the continuous stream of tourists that have to pass thru town to get to the Serengeti. It is a multicultural town of Christians and Muslims living together and sharing in their prosperity (still quite impoverished by American standards). We caught a glimpse of the rice fields and banana farms, strolled thru the earthen homes, the boys got to play a bit of soccer with some local kids with their handmade recycled plastic ball sewn together, and we had a local lunch. I sampled the locally brewed banana beer, with some major hesitation after seeing the conditions under which it was brewed. It's a stretch to call it beer, more like a barely alcoholic brown smoothie. Apparently it takes ten liters to feel the effects.... Uh, no thanks. We got to see how they hand carve the rock hard Ebony wood in to intricate sculptures.
By the time we were done with the town tour, we were a bit spent, so it made it difficult to then head in to the desolate countryside to visit with a Maasai tribe. But hey, when in Tanzania... It seems they exist to increase the population of cows and goats, with their net worth and family size based upon how many cows they own. No small task given the fact that they walk their herd literally eight hours everyday to the nearest watering hole, and at night they have to fend off the hyenas and lions. We had a chance to sit in their round shelters, and join in for some traditional jump dancing. The women clearly bore the burden of building and maintaining the homestead, while the men occasionally went hunting, and made fire. Bryce took the opportunity to part ways with some of his Legos to the Maasai children, which, upon review of the pictures, may not have been the most appropriate offering.
From a passive glance, it may look rough, but when it boils down to it, they have food, water, shelter, and the freedom of beliefs. It's all there, so life's good for these folk.
Speaking of water, the vast distances, and time it takes to fetch of pail, sure seems to hamper their progress. Nicole and I wonder why the Tanzanian government cannot seem to focus their resources on making this one natural resource more accessible. It's not a lack of rain (they get as much as California), it's what they do with it when it falls.... Nothing. It's complicated, as Endeni says.
... Post Safari note ...
As I write this, we are recuperating on a beach in Zanzibar (more on that in the next post), and it has become more clear to me what is contributing to the slow development of this country. The leadership lacks a long term vision. There is no investment in the future, only the instant gratification and needs of the present. Everything is a band aid fix. Add to this the Pole Pole (pronounced polay polay, meaning "slow") attitude, and you get half built buildings everywhere, and culverts to divert the water, not collect it. Our numerous conversations with the guides and locals all point to the same thing, and they just shrug and say Hakuna Matata (BTW, it's said here a lot).
Zane chips in to help sculpt a wooden bowl.
The Ebony heart wood is naturally black with a yellow outer layer.
Regardless of the field, footwear, or the condition of the ball, people love futbol.
Nothing but smiles and happiness from all the children.
Maasai dancing
Bryce doing his best to show the Maasai children how Legos work.
Time will tell if this was a good gift or not. But I was proud of Bryce to part ways with them as he was actually using them during our trip.
Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti is the main event, and for good reason. It's all about the Big Cats here - Lions, Leopards, and Cheetahs. They thrive here because of the vast plains leaving the prey exposed for the hunt. Admittedly, my vision of the Serengeti was a bit misguided considering it was mostly from the movie The Lion King. As it turns out, it's flat, real flat. The word Serengeti actually means "endless plain". In some cases, it's so wide open, you feel like you're lost in a sea of golden grass. Every so often, the landscape changes, with randomly placed rock formations, a watering hole, a rolling hill, or a meandering river lined with palms and acacia trees. The rutted dirt roads zig zag across the landscape with no particular plan.
But the Serengeti's lack of peaks and valleys is more than made up by the numbers and diversity of animals. It's a zoo out there, so to speak. As you drive around, a new scene unveils itself at every turn. Now we see Lions perched on some rocks, now a Leopard stalking his prey, now a pool of hippos, now some crocodiles getting some sun, now a flock of vultures finishing off a gazelle, only moments later to find the cheetah cooling down from that kill.
The recent rains, according to Endeni, were a real anomaly, and created a temporary reverse migration of the Zebras, Gazelles, and other beasts in search of green grass, which was now growing behind them. While I can't be sure, I suspect this afforded us an increase in watching the hunting behaviors of the Leopards and Cheetahs, which was fascinating, if not a little boring (even the animals take a Pole Pole attitude to their stalking so as not to frighten their unsuspecting prey).
We opted for the second tier "comfort level" of accommodations, which turned out to be far better than we expected, even in the middle of the Serengeti. All accommodations in the bush are "tent" camps that are off grid. As it turns out, the "tents" were hardly "tents", but rather two bedroom plush apartments with running water, power, and internet! They just happened to be made of canvas. In fact, of all the places we stayed, this was certainly the most comfortable. Granted, we needed an escort to go to dinner, and the lion and hyena sounds at night are a little disconcerting.
Even before we entered the park, at the picnic site, there was some cool to see. This is an Agama Lizard.
It's not all about the cats. Plenty of cool birds too.
As though staged, this pride was perched on a hill of rocks overlooking a vast plain. First encounter in the Serengeti.
It was raining pretty good when we arrived. Cats would prefer not being wet.
Strike a pose
Per Endeni, this is one of the bigger prides in the Serengeti. There must have been 20 lions milling about in this shot.
They really seemed quite loving and cute to me.
The hippos were incredibly playful, and had a sort of smile going the whole time.
Bryce loved these five birds sitting above us at lunch.
Just a typical shot of an animal paying no attention to the road or large truck.
Gorgeous animals.
The Leopard was using the truck brigade to hide from the unsuspecting gazelles in the field.
Most permanent "portable" home I have ever seen.
Serengeti Sunset
Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area
Upon our first descent in to the crater, I was a bit disappointed. Again, my vision was a bit cartoonish, with lush forests, palm trees lining crystal clear pools, every kind of animal milling about to the sounds of melodic African tunes. Yeah, a bit crazy. But after some time, it didn't disappoint (except for the music, but that's my fault - we could have used my portable speaker).
Given the crater - technically a caldera - creates a natural barrier, there is a wonderful concentration of all the animals mashed together and huddled around the dwindling water supply - Whereas the other parks seemed to have a more segregated feel. Ngorongoro is kind of the Cliff's Notes version of everything else.
The other striking characteristic was the color palette and landscape. There is a kind of layering of earth tone colors from the forefront all the way back to the crater walls, and then up to the vibrant blue sky with white cotton clouds. Each layer contained it's own off colored animal. Add in the faint dust kicked up by the trucks and animals along the horizon and it all looked to be steaming.
When I booked this adventure 8 months ago, I knew we would be celebrating Autumn's 13th Birthday at some point during the Safari. Fortunately our guide timed the precise moment perched atop the crater within the crater looking out over the entire Ngorongoro plain. Happy Birthday Autumn.
Our success in getting close up shots of the Big 5 (Lions, Cape Buffalo, Elephants, Leopards, and Rhinoceros), was hinging on finding a Rhinoceros in Ngorongoro. Despite Endeni's concerted effort to "hunt" the Rhino, we left Tanzania with a reason to return.
The rim of the crater is about 7,000ft, so when you arrive early morning, it's very cloudy and cold. It creates a cool misty look to the Acacias.
The Corrie Bustard.
As I mentioned in the first part of the blog, Lions are lazy. This male was walking along a plain and stopped every quarter mile for a nap. One of the naps happened to be in the middle of a Safari jam.
Hippo pool. I love the faint dust on the horizon.
Again, we weren't exactly roughing it.
Autumn turned 13 at the bottom of Ngorongoro Crater
The lodge was so nice and treated Autumn to a traditional Birthday song and dance.
Bushmen and the Datoga
Our final day was another day of culture. We awoke before day-break to spend the morning with bush men to observe how they hunt for their food. Admittedly, we were not sure why we had to sacrifice a couple hours of sleep, as we spent the first bit watching them make arrows and sit around a fire. They had speared a Dik Dik (tiny antelope) the day before and spent some time cleaning and skinning it. Of course, they took the opportunity to grab the unsuspecting tourist (me), to help with the last part of holding the head while they ripped the skin off the carcass.
Then, without warning, they handed Zane and Bryce a bow and arrows, and said, "let's go. We hunt". We nearly had to jog to keep up with the three bush men as they wandered through the bush in search of game. Turns out they mostly hunt small birds in the trees, shooting them with their arrows. If it were a baseball stat, I'd say their average was somewhere around .025, but at least it's not zero, which was clearly our average. Perhaps we're a bit too pragmatic and we don't really understand the nuances of shooting birds with arrows, but it all seemed very haphazard, and we wonder if they would be better off bringing the birds to them with seeds or something, not aimlessly wandering the bush in search of them.
Following on the morning hunt, we visited a village of the Datoga tribe. They are known for their smithing skills and would gather scrap metal from the city, smelt it, then make jewelry and hunting equipment. Contrary to the nomadic life of the Bushmen following their game, the Datoga established permanent residence and provided the goods to the other tribes. When surveyed what tribe we would like to live in, we all thought the Datoga had figured out the right formula, except Zane, who preferred the Bushmen (he needs more practice though).
It's an interesting moment to see a boy of similar age come strolling up with a speared Dik Dik draped over his shoulder and shake the hands of your not-so-hardened children....
Off we went, in search of.... well.... we weren't sure. We were just trying to keep up.
Once shot, the tiny birds are strung around their neck. This next sentence is a little disturbing, so if you don't care to read, scroll on. To fully kill the birds (the arrows really just stun them), they put the little bird head between their teeth and crunch their skulls. We were not warned of this process and were simply admiring the plumage when it happened., so it came as a bit of a shock.
Zane got to work the bellows a bit to melt the metal.
Nicole helping to grind the corn for their maize.
Some other random observations
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The Tanzanian people understand the value of education. Universally, all the children attend either government (aka public), or private school with an emphasis on learning English. Regrettably, they don't have the environment to utilize their education. University degreed people walk the streets looking for work, with the worst education in the hard sciences. Because they have no real industry, those that serve tourism and politics become the upper class. It sort of makes you wonder, which should come first, education, or industry.
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The past three months, exacerbated by the past two weeks, has really peaked my curiosity about how the world works and why certain countries thrive and others flounder. Perhaps a topic for a later blog when we've gathered more experiences.
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The kids were totally awesome on the trip. Sure, there were some moments of frustration, but by and large, they put up with a lot of stuff and got along really well.
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If you think you are just wandering around an open prairie without a soul in sight on a Safari, I'm afraid you would be disappointed. We were not even in high season, and we certainly found ourselves in a handful of safari truck jams, and crowded picnic areas. If you're looking to Safari, and want to avoid the crowds, Endeni suggests the best time is September, or May/June. You'll miss the great wildebeest migration, but apparently it's a crowded zoo anyway.
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Kiswahili is a pretty fun language. In addition to the prolific use of the word Jambo (hello), our favorite term was Sawa-Sawa (loosely meaning, "it's all good"). Whenever we wanted to move on (after some animal observations), we would tell Endeni, "Sawa!" Wrap up
Our time in Tanzania, while totally exhausting, was completely worth it. I sensed we all grew even closer together, and the kids, somewhere along the journey, said how fortunate we are to live in the States. Mission accomplished.
Family Q&A
Favorite Animal
A. I didn't not like anything. But hippos or baboons I could sit and watch all day.
Z. Cheetah, Leopard, or hyena, because they are always active
B. Colobus Monkeys, because they fly
N. The hippos, duh...
S. Warthogs. They just just sort of show up everywhere and have such a funny jaunty kind of run.
Favorite animal scene or experience
A. I really liked the baby baboons in tarangire tree, the Elephants by the car, and the Leopard that Endeni anticipated so well.
Z. The baby Elephants right next to the car.
B. Flying monkeys in Arusha.
N. Definitely the hippo pool in Serengeti. But I also liked the Serengeti day with the lion families, on the rock and in the bush.
S. The Leopard hunt, and the Elephant wall protecting their young. Hanging out with Autumn at the end of the boardwalk and taking pictures of the flamingos.
What is something you learned about Tanzanian people
A. They don't like swimming and they're afraid of water
Z. There are a lot of painters in Tanzania
B. [Bryce had no answer, but I will say this... The Tanzanian people sure loved to rub his head, and bend down really close to ask him how he was doing. It was like he was some kind of good luck charm.]
What would you tell others about what to bring in Safari? What not to bring?
A. Definitely bring a camera with the best zoom possible. Make sure you have dark colored socks so that they don't look as dirty when you take you shoes off in the truck. Definitely bring a jacket. Don't bring anything you're afraid of getting dusty. Don't leave long pants behind. Basically, use common sense+make sure you're prepared for anything when deciding what to bring.
Z. Bring a bandana, glasses, and a hat. Don't bring thick stuff.
B. Don't wear black and blue clothing because the tse tse like those colors.
What were you surprised by?
A. How close the animals get to the trucks. How nice the lodges were - I was definitely not expecting that.
Z. I didn't expect the Serengeti to be so flat and the lodges to have WiFi.
B. The WiFi in the middle of the Serengeti.
N. It was so exhausting. Didn't expect the tough ride. Didn't expect how good the food was - how fresh and well prepared. Surprised at the ease of which it was too see the animals.
S. That it was a largely shoeless experience. The entire time in the truck, you had your shoes off so you could stand on the seats. The temperature and humidity were actually quite bearable. The lack of mosquitos and bugs in general.
