Safari Serengeti

No Internet for a while, so this is a catch up posting...  Sunday we flew from Camp Town > Johannesburg > Dar es Salaam and ultimately to Kilimanjaro airport near Arusha where we joined 13 friends and family from all over the US for our safari.  We are in the "real Africa" as promised.  The streets are filled with people walking, riding motor cycles (dim headlights and no tail lights), and bicycles.  Picture an old man in full Masai dress riding a bicycle.  The streets are lined with small shops selling everything from tires to bottled water to used shoes.  The day markets team with live chickens, fruits, vegetables, housewares, used clothing - virtually anything people need for their daily living.  Just getting our visas at the Dar es Salaam airport was a 1.5 hour administrative nightmare followed by 3 security checks, none of which caught Rand's artificial knee with the metal detector!  Only the third X-ray point noticed I had a bottle of water in my backpack.  I was told to please drink it before boarding my flight and passed on through.  So much for security...

The trip started gently as we were all pretty road weary.  We spent the first day in Arusha where we visited the Shanga River House, a coffee plantation that has expanded to include a workshop for handicapped people who make products for sale.  We met people who were deaf, blind or otherwise physically handicapped who had jobs making jewelry, weavings, glass beads and blown glass from recycled bottles, and multiple products from used beer cans.  Without this workshop these people would be at home without a livelihood.  The grounds included a lovely restaurant where we were treated to a cooking demonstration and a delicious lunch of traditional Tanzanian food.  Our visit ended with a trip to the gift shop where in addition to purchasing products made here at least one of us bought a lovely tanzanite, the beautiful blue/violet, precious stone found only in Tanzania.  One more stop at a huge African art gallery where I believe I may have seen a couple more pieces of tanzanite purchased.  I drooled but did not buy.  Rand smiled!

This day was very special for the four of us who were in Tanzania 14 years ago as Julius Lasier, one of our guides from our prior trip, joined us for coffee, dessert and recounting of wonderful memories from our previous visit.  I expect we will form the same kind of lasting bonds with our current trip leader David Mollel an our guides Lonnie and Lucas, all three Masai tribesmen.  A good night's rest and we were ready to head out into the bush, but not before breakfast and greeting 14 more friends who arrived the night before for a safari that follows ours by one day.  If you put all of us in one group we'd be 29, too many for a single safari group, so scheduling on successive days means we are in the same lodging several evenings and can all share the trip while enjoying the intimacy of traveling in a smaller group.

The Valley of the Elephants

We stopped at a large supermarket to stock up on essentials (wine, gin, and granola bars) before heading out of town. I was surprised by how modern and well stocked the indoor market is - quite a contrast to the street markets.  Then we hit the road for Tarangari Park, the first of the parks we'd visit.  No sooner were we through the gate than we encountered zebra, impala, giraffe, and elephants.  The lions proved a bit more elusive but we found them as well that afternoon.  We've noticed improvements in the roads and toilets since our last visit but are pleased to see that the animals are as charismatic as before!

We enjoyed a warm shower then "sundowners" and dinner on the deck overlooking Lake Burunge before a good night's sleep in a lovely hut.  Today we re-entered the park in the early morning for more game viewing.  Since game is more active before the heat of the day we saw even more than yesterday.  The highlight was the Tarangari River flood plane where we saw elephants in all directions.  There must have been hundreds of them - all sizes, all ages.  Some were almost close enough to touch from our seats in the Land Rover.  So far we've seen 2 of the Big Five - elephant and lion .  We've yet to see the rhino, the leopard or the Cape Buffalo since arriving in Tanzania.  I'm sure we'll find them on the Serengeti or the Ngorongoro Crater.

Since we stayed in the same place two nights, last evening the other group caught up with us and we celebrated Africa in style with a cocktail party on the deck before dinner.  I reveled in enjoying my favorite place with my favorite people.  It was pure bliss.

This morning we visited a Masai boma and enjoyed their singing and dancing before we were clothed in native dress and persuaded to participate in their dancing and daily tasks.  Three of us even helped mud the walls of their hut with a combination of dirt, water and cow dung.  Of course the family members who live in this boma are paid for entertaining tourists, but their friendly greeting and enthusiastic interaction with us made the experience exceptional.  Our three Mass guides added to the experience by helping us understand the the strong Mass cultural heritage.

We had been told our accommodation had been upgraded for the evening and were not disappointed by the Kitela Lodge when we arrived!  Our room is huge with an over sized king-size bed, fireplace and sitting area overlooking the valley below.  Our bathroom even includes a soaking tub with the same view.  After a swim in the lovely pool, we're enjoying the quiet comfort of our room before dinner.  Tomorrow we head to our private tented camp in the Serengeti for 4 nights.  We'll have no Internet so this is my last posting for several days.