Day0

Set off from a freezing cold Manchester on January 10th 2007 for Nairobi, Kenya.

The warmth was the first diference I noticed once I had disembarked at Nairobi Airport! After loosing my luggage (grr BA - not recommended), I finally arrived at Heron Hotel after midnight. I would definately recommend this hotel, the staff are very friendly, there is bar, swimming pool, restaurant with great food (found good food hard to come by in Africa once I had departed on the Trek!)

Day 1

Sat by the pool all day panicing that my bag wasnt going to arrive before I set off trekking the next day. Thankfully I met 5 others taking my trek who loaned me some of the neccessities! Ventured up the main road, but was warned not to go any further! At 1am I finally got my bag ( hopeless set up)

Day 2 Jambo!

Up for breakfast at 7am, met with tour leader and the rest of the group. A lively friendly bunch, who I was very pleased to meet. We set off around 10am ( nothing happens on time in Africa I have learned) and headed due south to the Kenya/ Tanzanian border, passing Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance which was a great photo op! The scenery was amazing, from rolling plains, to seeing children hearding animals, or just groups of tribesman waving to us on the truck, everyone was smiling. On route we stopped for lunch at a roadside food vendor - not the best idea!! This was when I also got to exerience toilets "Africa Style" NOT GOOD!! When we got to the boarder, the visa issuing went quicker that we thought (2hours!!!), so we made it to our destination in Arusha, TZ. We were camping at Snake Park, on arrival we were greeted by a prepared BBQ and the opportunity to peruse the caged snake collection which included the black mamba. After eventually figuring out how to put our tent up, we tried to get some sleep as the next morning was an early start to head toward the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and ultimately the Serengeti.

Day 3 Karibu!

The 4 of us loaded our gear into the 4x4 and made for the Ngorongoro Crater, after approx 2 hours of driving we arrived at the conservation area where we stopped for lunch adn had th opportunity to see baboons up close and personal, too much so that one stole my packed lunch!!! The weather was glorious approximately 27 degrees. After entering the conservation area we drove to the rim of the crater which gave spectaular views across it, breathtaking. With the use of binoculars it was possible to see some of the animals grazing there such as buffalo. As we headed further towards the Serengeti, the weather started to change, and a thunderstorm brewed the sky went charcol and the rain pelted down but within 30 mins it cleared and became sunny again!! It was around this time we started to see the types of wildlife we had expected to encounter but and we tried photgraphing everything our guide kept pointing out that once in the serengeti we will be able to get very close to the animals - fantastic! but I was still amazing to see an abundance of zebra, giraffe, wildebeast, impala,gazelle, various birds. After a further 2 hours we arrived in the Serengeti - there was no obvious boundaries, however the further inside the national park you go the more densely populated with animals it was. We were all by this time eager to see the cats. as we werent on our game drives until tomorrow we had to be content with what we did see and head to the campsite to pitch up and enjoy a prepared dinner ( so not all bad!!)

Day 4 Hakuna Matata!

After an interesting night in the wilds of the Serengeti ( with no barriers between the animals and our tents) we were up at 5:30am to view the sunrise over the plains, it was breathtaking. The game drive was going to last all day which almost guaranteed we would see a large array of wildlife – we were not disappointed. After only an hour on the game drive and we saw 2 male lions in the long grasses, our guides came off the track into the grass are we were parked up right next to these magnificent animals, they didn’t seem phased by our 3 vehicles and were relaxed basking in the sun. The Lions were amazing to look at and seemed very docile, I was surprised at their size, I imaged them to be bigger. As we continued we often found ourselves within just a few meters of the herbivores such as giraffe, impala, Thompson gazelles, topi, warthog, waterbuck, zebra, heartybeast, elephants, baboon, jackal, bush babies. The warthogs ran away whenever the 4x4’s came close. When they runaway they lift their tales, its so cute! They are often referred to as Pumba’s (as in the character from the Lion King). The male giraffes can be distinguished from the females by the fact their horns have hair on. Then by 10am the sun was getting very warm and we were able to remove the roof of our 4x4 and get a good look out. We were lucky enough to see a large heard of elephants, and many groups of buffalo, crocodiles, hippos lolling in the pools, cheetah in the distance, leopard snoozing After lunch we encountered a female cheetah stalking some gazelles, she was walking on the track right in front of the truck, I couldn’t believe we were within just 2 meters from this splendid creature. A lion & lioness could be seen playing together, they put on a bit of a show for us! There was also an abundance birdlife to be viewed such as secretary crane bird, steppe eagle, Egyptian geese, ducks and blue eared glossy starling. A lone male lion was spotted on the horizon and he gradually made his was towards us and stopped at the puddle where are vehicle was stopped and started drinking, the sound was so loud, it was the closest we got to any of the animals, he looked us right in the eye at first I was worried and felt a little intimidated, but the guide assured us we were perfectly safe with the roof off and I managed to et some spectacular photos. Really was one of the highlights of my day. Considering the Serengeti is a world famous, and renown for fantastic game viewing, its surprising that that you don’t feel like you are in a tourist area. During our afternoon and evening game drives we didn’t see any other trucks on along the tracks. Being among the 14000 square kilometres being the only 3 people in sight is a an incredible feeling. At then of the drive we encountered the spotted hyena, much prettier than I expected!! Sylvia and I enjoyed a candle lit dinner and waiter service back at the campsite as were just the 2 of us for the afternoon and the following 2 days of our safari (as we chose to do a second optional night in the Serengeti) This allowed us to make friends with the guys who service the campsite and learn about their lives and Tanzania. During the night Hyena clawed at our tent, but just shining our touches scared them off – you really are in the wilds!!

Day 5

After a bit of a lie in (7:30am) we jumped into the 4x4 and headed out to the vast Serengeti plains once again, it was a little chilly, but that didn’t interfere with the enjoyment! There were many more Zebra, Giraffe, hippo, topi, heartybeast, black face velvet monkey, warthogs, buffalo, waterbuck, grants gazelle. Together with an variety of birds including ground hornbill, secretary bird and crane bird. The scenery alone was amazing so immense and peaceful. Around lunch time we went back to camp to eat and say goodbye to the friends we had made, it was time to leave the fabulous Serengeti and make our way towards the Ngorongoro Crater Simba Campsite where we will be spending the night. Copa our guide and planned a fantastic route off the beaten track, we didn’t pass another truck until we spotted a large heard of elephants, we were able to get within a couple of meters of the lead elephant, you can differentiate the females from males as they have longer tusks. There were over 30, including babies. The lead elephant was only about 4 meters from us, scratching on rock, its not easy to equate the size of these beasts on television, but in the flesh they really are huge - 50 tonnes. We were lucky to witness the trademark line up of elephants as they congregated together, it was truly out of this world. Once a couple more vehicles arrived the elephants began to feel threatened and the leader trumpeted her trunk a few times and the entire heard stopped deadly still and starred at us all. It was pretty intimidating, but as the vehicles didn’t move away, the lead female began to charge towards us, until we all reversed back! They can actually move pretty fast!

We it the dirt tracks, passing acacia trees which have been flattened by the elephants, and witnessing hundreds of thousands of Zebra, gazelles, wildebeest, as far as the eye could see, some were stampeding through the area. As the vehicle drove through the dirt, the animals would quickly move away. It was strange to also see Hyena living amongst their prey. We heard wildebeest make their sounds which was a cross between a cow and goat, hyena was as I had expected, the lions sort of howl! Also in this area were groups of Ostrich, the males and females look distinctly different, the males are black and females are brown with longer feathers. You could also tell is there had been a killing by the gathering of Vultures circling the area.

As we headed towards the lake area, we were luck to encounter a pride of lions snoozing. There were 4 female and 1 male. We got up close and personal with these relaxed animals, the lionesses stared right into my eyes and stayed fixated on me. I felt immediately nervous, but it was worth it, to get so close and get some remarkable photographs. As usual the male was nonchalant by presence, and practically posed for the photos! Behind us in the lake were masses of pink flamingo which brightened up the landscape. Again we saw more bird species such as bustards, tawny eagle and more secretary birds.

By late afternoon we arrived at a remote Maasai Tribes village, called Elarai and for a mere 10000tzs we were able to enter the village, learn about the maasai values and customs, take photographs and generally mingle with the locals. They gave us a personal welcome dance ‘karibu’ which we joined in. It was great and very enlightening, we were shown round the entire village including inside the houses, which the women build, they are made of sticks and cow dung to hold them together. The space inside is so limited approximately 3 square meters. These homes accommodate 5 people and a calf! Teaching was taking place in the Kindergarten, the children were demonstrating counting to 10 in English, extremely impressive. The ladies don’t have shoes, but they do all the cooking, making the clothing, jewellery, build the homes. The men are warriors and make their shoes from tyres, they hunt for food with spears. Children advance to warrior status when they are 10 years old. The tribe leader pointed to my sunglasses asking what they were for, he tried them on and just commented “aw dark”. Things we take for granted, we gave some of them crisps and sweets and it was the first time some of these guys had eaten such food.

As we came into the Crater area, we passed many tribes people washing in the ditches at the side of the road, totally naked!

We arrived at Simba Campsite, quickly got the tent up and enjoyed a prepared dinner and got an early night. It was been said that elephants regularly pass though this campsite during the night.

Day 6

After a freezing cold night at 2400ft at the crater rim, it rained all night. There was no decent shower facilities at this camp, so 3 days without a shower! After breakfast we headed out the campsite we came face to face with a buffalo, which was interesting at 6am! We descended into the crater, knowing we were looking for Rhino, more cats, and hippo in closer proximity. Once in the Ngorongoro crater, it was possible to rationalize the actual size of this area, compared to the Serengeti plains it seemed so small which is fantastic for game viewing. Lake Magad (salt)is central to the crater and makes a beautiful picture postcard with the collection of pink flamingos at the waters edge whilst groups of Hippo stand off against elephants deterring them fro entering their lolling area!

It was possible to get very close the all of these animals are they don’t migrate through the year are very used to the safari vehicles. There was a family of black rhino (only found here), herds of elephants, groups of hippo, hyenas scavenging on a buffalo carcass, (they sound like cats), buffalo, wildebeest, antelope, elant, gazelle, male and female ostrich. We also encountered a pride of lions, again 4 lioness and 1 lion. True to form they were not phased by us taking photos of them, until a van full of Maasai came past, the lions ran away, this was noticeable to the tourists and the reason being that Maasai hunt Lions for their teeth and skin, and obviously they have a different scent to the tourists. Birds abundant in the crater were flamingo, ogre buzzard, ostrich, vultures and geese. On leaving the Crater we passed through a picnic area where there was approximately 20 black face velvet monkeys, who were very tame and came a sat on our 4x4!

On the way back to Arusha Snake Park we stopped at some bazaars for souvenirs.

What a relief to get a shower and use a regular toilet! But I was sad the Safari part had ended, but had Zanzibar to get excited about.

Day 7

We packed up our tents, for what ended up being the last time (yippee!) at approximately 5:30am. We loaded the truck and geared up for an extremely long journey ahead. Today we were heading to Dar Es Salaam, 11 hours away. The roads were even more terrible and bumpy than I had expected, at one point we were stuck in the middle of the road as the truck couldnt pull itself and 12 lethargic travellers up th incline, thankfully our trusted driver had plenty of experience of the Tanzanian roads!

Having to endure many attrocious toliet stops and a dodgy road side cafe that makes The Little Chef look like a palace, the food was terrrible and very Unhygienic.

We arrived to our Campsite on the beach in Dar es Salaam by approximately 6pm, - wow it was fantastic. There were a few beach huts to snag, luckily I ran to the bar and was able to reserve us one for the night at $5 each, Bliss. The huts overlooked the indian ocean, the water was just lapping up to white sands, pure heaven. There was even a swimming pool and a very well stocked bar. We were presented with a delicious seafood BBQ, consisting of swordfish, shrimp and red snapper - yummy. Highly reccommended.