Safari!

Day 1

Lake Manyara

We got up at 7:30 am for breakfast at Backpackers, which was the usual disappointment, showered and changed to get ready for the safari. We were all refreshed and ready to go at 8:20am even thought we were told we'd be picked up at 8:30am, which is about 9 am Tanzanian time. As we sat down waiting, I was talking to my Tanzanian rafiki Sake and soon after he left we were approached by a small Chinese woman asking if we were going with African Smart Safaris. We said we were and she told us that she would be joining us. First fail. Actually, we weren't entirely bothered but when four close friends are spending four days cramped up in a Land Cruiser together, it must be hard for a fifth stranger to come in. It meant she had to make an effort to get to know us and we had to make an effort to include her in conversations. As bad as it sounds, the precise reason I was looking forward to the safari was to get away from all of that. Out of the three volunteers I was going with, I lived with one, saw another almost every day for the last month and a half, and had my induction way back in March with the final member. I knew that I would not have to make an effort to talk with them, because I knew I liked all of them and conversation came naturally. I would not have to portray a side of me that was always fun and talkative. I could change from the person everyone thinks I am. I could enjoy some peace and quiet, while also having time to mull over things in my mind. It sounds bad but, as much as I love the other volunteers and have hopefully made some friends I will keep for a lifetime, I just needed a break from it all, for various different reasons. But in the end I was not too fussed. She turned out to be from Hong Kong, was 34 (although she looked 12) and had been travelling in the Middle East and South America.

As we set off, we were all tired and a little frustrated that we had not, at least, been told we were having someone join. We were told before that we could have invited volunteers on the day of departure and that would have been fine. Apparently not and luckily we did not bring any last minute additions. The drive to Manyara was long and bumpy. The Tanzanian government has this great idea of putting the same speed bumps, that are painted yellow and black and put in car parks in England where the speed limit is 5mph, on their highway. The drive to Manyara was about two and a half hours and we went straight to the camp site to deposit our things. Afterwards, we opened to roof of the car and drove down to the national park and began our safari. Almost immediately, we were surrounded by baboons, including mothers with their children, and blue monkeys and the picture taking began.

The park itself was beautiful as you would expect, with the lake being surrounded by rolling grassland, which was in turn enclosed by dense forest. As we drove through the park closer to the centre the forest dropped away and was replaced by shrubbery where the Kirk's Dik-Diks hang out. Dik-Diks are tiny antelopes, growing to about 40cm high, and are pretty much like a safari version of a chihuahua. They were scattered around the park in pairs and we my favourite animals that we saw that day. We then visited a hippo pond, passing by zebras, wildebeest and water buffalo on the way. In the pool were some hippos and we stopped for some pictures and lunch. In the distance, as the shrubbery turned to open grassland, the lake was full of flamingos turning the horizon pink. It's hard to pick out certain highlights to tell you about. I am of the opinion that in order to fully experience the tranquility of being out in the vast open grounds of a national park, one must really escape from the images broadcast with Sir David in the background. Everyone should go on safari at least once to see the magnificence of all the animals from the giant elephants to the tiny Dik-Diks, the famous flamingos to the innumerable, yet no less beautiful, smaller birds.

As the day drew to a close we made our way out of the park towards the camp site, passing a couple of baboons getting down and dirty on the way. Always interesting to see. At the camp site, we were given dinner and were entertained by some dancers and drummers as well as an acrobatics crew. As we walked to our tents, we took some time to sit on the edge of the camp site, enjoying the clarity of the sky, unfamiliar stars dotted around the blackness.

Day 2

Serengeti

For the second day we had a long drive from Manyara through Ngorongoro Crater through to the Serengeti where we would do an afternoon game drive before settling down for the night at a campsite in the middle of the Serengeti. The drive to Ngorongoro was unremarkable. Long but on a smooth road which allowed us to get some sleep. The entrance to Ngorongoro Crater is a huge gated archway, without making any attempt to blend in with the natural beauty that lays behind it. After passing through the gate we were immediately faced with a cliff face dropping off to our left as the trees plunged into the crater. The drive itself was unremarkable, slow and cold but once we passed through the clouds and the rain we were granted a glorious view over the crater as the sun lit up the grasslands and the lakes. That was for the final day though and we continued past en route to the Serengeti. I had heard different things about the Serengeti, that it was the place to visit when doing a safari in Tanzania but also that it was too big, that the vastness of it meant long drives seeing nothing.

On the drive to the gates of the Serengeti, we drove past a herd of giraffes, long necks poking out into the blue sky but the most impressive viewing was the annual wildebeest migration. Hundreds, if not thousands, of wildebeest and zebras dotted the landscape, giving the horizon the impression of being a distant forest. Dotted among the vast numbers of wildebeest and zebras were pockets of Grant's and Thompson's gazelles. And then the dense herd opened up, forming a sizable circle around a lone male lion. He was just lying there, a fairly young male judging by his mane. As we approached the gates to the Serengeti we stopped for lunch, surrounded by dazzlingly bright blue and yellow birds. They were so used to humans and didn't shy away when approached. In fact, they seemed quite bold in trying to steal your food. One negative aspect of the trip to the Serengeti was the Maasai children and women who approached your safari car saying, "give me my money" and "give me my lunch". Having met and worked with some proud Maasai men and women, watching them ask for free handouts in this way was shocking and it was a good example of the negative aspects of Western tourism. These Maasai boys only do this because there are some Western travellers who do give them $10 or a bit of their packed lunch because they have rich man's guilt about having lots of money and flushing toilets and Nike trainers. Knowing the Maasai men and women that I do, few, if any, of them would resort to demeaning themselves by begging foreigners for food and money.

Anyway, we ate lunch and began our game drive. We saw many more elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and a few water buffalo too. But the inevitable highlight of the day was driving past a single lioness munching away on a recently killed wildebeest. We arrived as it finished feeding and began following it when it stalked off, heading through the tall grass before climbing up a tree. As we marvelled at a lion in a tree, off in the distance two more lioness had appeared out of the grass and were walking towards our car. As they moved across to the road, they were followed by six adorable lion cubs. Watching the cubs play and feed on the wildebeest was one of the best moments of the whole safari.

As the day drew to a close we headed for the campsite located in the Serengeti. On the way we were able to see a herds of elephants and impalas settling down for the night. Seeing over thirty elephants grouped together was an awesome sight to behold. However, one bull elephant took exception at how close we stopped to him and seemed agitated, ears flapping, stamping on the ground, our driver took us away at the request of the girls.

We drove into the campsite as the sun was setting and I helped put up the tents before dinner. As the sun set and darkness enveloped the campsite, a lightning storm periodically lit up the background. Flashes of purple and blue illuminated the dark clouds on the horizon in an awesome showcase of natural beauty. Apparently, there was a giraffe eating about 20 yards away from our tent in the middle of the night but I was too tired to go and have a look.

Day 3

Serengeti

We woke at 6 a.m. so we could experience the sunrise in the Serengeti. As we drove through the chilly morning air we managed to catch the unexpected speed of the sunrise. One moment it was but a bright speck on the horizon, the next a blazing ball of fire in the sky. We drove around the Serengeti in the cool morning air, the only car visible in the vast plains. We saw the lion family we had seen feeding yesterday and passed the remains of the wildebeest being stripped clean by huge vultures. We carried on driving through the endless plains.

And then we saw them. Three leopards walking down the open road towards our car. Three magnificent creatures, sleek, patterned skin, hiding rippling muscles perfectly designed by mother nature for to serve their purpose. Our driver was immediately on the radio letting the other safari groups know that there were three leopards here. In his six years of driving he had never seen this before, he told us. We watched and followed as they walked past, eventually stopping, two climbing into a tree and the mother searching the surrounding area.

As we left, we were all aware of how lucky we were to have seen these three creatures together. We drove some more, seeing hartebeest along with the usual wildebeest, zebras, elephants and giraffes before coming across two impalas fighting. Watching this was like being part of the crew filming a BBC wildlife programme. It wasn't long until we had to begin our drive back to Ngorongoro. As we drove back through the gates of Serengeti, we were able to truly get a grasp of the sheer numbers of wildebeest and zebras that were completing their annual migration towards Kenya. Like ants in your garden, hundreds if not thousands of animals littered the plains, occasionally allowing some green to show through the sea of brown, white and black.

As we drove back towards Ngorongoro, we could see dark rainclouds on either side of the road and rain pouring down, even though it was sunny along the road. When we got to the campsite, my camera ran out of battery and my phone was close to doing the same. Disaster on the crucial last day of the Premier League season! I was getting updates on my phone until it ran out of battery in, roughly, the 90th minute. Having to borrow one of the other volunteers phones, I almost cried when one particular staff member texted me that Arsenal had lost, Tottenham had won and we were 4th. That despairing feeling lasting for ten minutes as he texted me again to tell me he was just screwing with me and we had made it. I think I disturbed a good number of people by jumping in the air yelling "I'm going to kill him!"

As we lay down to sleep in our tents, we heard something seemingly pull up some grass, followed by munching. It turns out that about fifteen water buffalo had made their way into the camp and were having a midnight snack. An odd way to drop off to sleep.

Day 4

Ngorongoro Crater

The drive down was cold. And wet. Driving down through the clouds, the car was cold and visibility was low. All of us were tired. The morning was slow going, seeing the same animals again, zebras, wildebeest, a few elephants in the distance. Rain surrounded us, while never quite falling on us. Hyenas dotted the landscape in between the herds of gazelles. We were on the lookout for a cheetah and a rhino. The morning was taken up by seeing much of what we had seen before as we drove around the crater. It was suprising how accustomed the wildlife here was to the noise and presence of the safari cars. On the way to the Serengeti, the zerbras would run away as soon as the car pulled up; in Ngorongoro they would simply stand there and watch you. One cool thing that the zebras would do though was stand side by side facing opposite directions so they can watch each other's backs for predators.

As the early morning cloud dispersed, the sun began to shine over the crater and the view opened up. When in the middle of the crater, one could see all the way to the edge in a three hundred and sixty degree arc, all eight and a half thousand square kilometers of it. Green grass stretched from one side to the other, encircled by the high remains of the mountain that once stood, rivalling Kilimanjaro as the tallest peak in Africa. It was a truly undescribable experience.

We continued with our hunt for a cheetah and a rhino and, on two separate occasions, we thought we had spotted them. Or at least, our guide thought he had seen them. For the rhino, the driver told us he was driving round to get us a better view, which never materialised and, for the cheetah, the driver kept pointing and telling us it was lying down in the grass. Now, as we are not professional safari guides, it was going to take us much longer than it took him to find it. However, he decided to just drive on. Either he was frustrated at us for not seeing it, or what he saw was actually the rock we saw.

Finally, we spotted two rhinos about 200 meters into the distance. From the car, they simply looked like a big rock but on closer inspection with the binoculars, you could make out their features, although you couldn't see the tell-tale horns. Until they stood up. Then they were clearly rhinos. There was something about being unable to take any pictures, due to the lack of batteries. that allowed me to really focus on seeing the animals for the brilliant creatures they were.

As we moved into the latter part of the day, we ate lunch at a hippo pool. Moving swiftly on, we headed to see the flamingos and went on one last drive. We stopped the car to view a herd of wildebeest. Then, to the left, three lions appeared, stalking through the grass. We followed them; until they vanished. Eventually, we caught sight of them once again as they popped their heads out of the grass, much closer to the herd than when they disappeared. This continued for about half an hour when we noticed that four other lionesses had been approaching from the rear. It was fascinating stuff. Watching, waiting. Unfortunately for us, the driver told us that the lions would wait until one wildebeest made a mistake and, if the wildebeest didn't, the lions might just go home without starting a chase.

Soon after we began the long, long drive back to Arusha bringing an end to a truly spectacular four days.

My personal top five moments in no particular order:

The lightning storm in the Serengeti
The lion cubs feeding
The three leopards
The view around the crater when it cleared up in Ngorongoro
The Impalas fighting