Getting to Arusha
 
Thursday June 26th - Paul, Monique and I take the bus to Montreal to catch our KLM flight to Amsterdam where we will make the connection for Kilimanjaro airport, the international airport near Arusha, Tanzania.  Lyne, Paul’s wife had to stay behind, but the plan is that she will hook up with us in Amsterdam after we come back from our safari experience.
 
All three of us lucked out and we get the best seats on the aircraft.  We get the last seats in the plane...you know the ones that don’t recline...We have a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam, just enough time to have a large ice cold Heineken in its land of creation.   What a treat…
 
We have about 9 more hours to get to Arusha…Guess what?  We get the same seats in the next flight…no reclining...17 hours of actual flight time, I guess it was practice for the safari vehicles we were going to be using in Tanzania to go game driving. I can sleep almost standing up in a plane…so it wasn’t too bad for me.  Anyway, KLM made up with their superb in-flight meals...those of you reading and have flown KLM lately know what I am talking about.  Great presentation...(fill in your own review here)
 
 
Arusha

Friday June 27th - we arrive in Arusha at night, almost 24 hours after leaving Ottawa.  It’s 8 PM, we’re tired and we have a long line to get through customs…where is the air conditioning.  We are greeted at the airport and driven back to our hotel, the Serena Mountain Village near Arusha.  Arusha being near the Equator, the sun sets early around 6:30PM.  While we don’t see a whole lot, we feel the roads a bit, but it’s just a teaser for what is to come in the next few days.  The reception at the lodge is very nice…champagne to celebrate our first night in Africa.
 
Saturday June 28th - We had planned to do a game drive in Arusha National Park on our own since the tour with Tauck did not really start until Sunday.  We had arranged for someone to pick us up from the same company that Tauck uses in Tanzania.  It is misty this morning...how could that be...it’s the dry season in Tanzania...It’s nine o clock and we have not heard from our driver or the tour company...the troops are getting restless...well I am.  Our driver shows up at 10 AM...we think…well I’m thinking I have already loss the day...we get to the park and we have difficulties paying our entry fees...it appears to be complicated to pay for entry fees in national parks in Tanzania...looks like they don’t like cash.  The guide and I have a little discussion about how the day is not going exactly as I am expecting...its 11:30 AM and we are not in the park yet.
 
Finally we get going...100 feet in the park he jams on the breaks and we get to see two majestic giraffe males neck butting.  Leonard, our guide, says as he sees the gleam in our eyes and hears the hoos and aaahhhs that we’re making: “it is probably faith that happened this morning with this little setback”.  This moment is our first introduction to the experience we are about to embark on...while the animals are what we all want to see, the guides really make the experience possible.  At that moment all the morning’s problems are forgotten and we are ready to enjoy our experience with our guide...these guys see everything that’s out there and they know an awful lot about their country and its fauna.  
 
On that day, we end up seeing a lot of wildlife, some that we would see further along in our safari...but others like the Colobus monkey, a real beautiful monkey with a long furry white tail, we never got to see for the rest of the safari.  When the sky clears up around 1 PM, we get to appreciate an exceptional view of Mount Kilimanjaro.  What a mountain...I tried to get it in the background of every picture I take from that point on…I even make an exception and let myself be photographed with the mountain in the background.
 
I come out of the park with an appreciation for a few things:
 
* giraffes are the most gracious animals on earth...their walk is just something to admire,
* Mount Kilimanjaro is a heck of a mountain, and
* TPS safari guides rock
 
As bad as I thought the day had started, we hadn’t missed a thing.  In fact we had seen things that we would not get to see again.  And all of this would not have been possible without our guide Leonard.  Leonard, if you ever get to read this blog...THANK YOU...and by the way, I’m not always like this...well maybe I am.

Arusha Photo Album

Tarangire National Park

Sunday June 29th – we wake up early, ready to go safari-ing...We meet our tour director, Rachel for the daily briefing...I think she has already pegged as the bad student in the class...you know, the one always looking for attention.  We met with some tour members last night but now the whole crew is there. We meet our guides: Sampson, Deo, Emmanuel and Hassan...While we do not know them, Leonard has set the bar pretty high...over the course of the excursion these guys would certainly meet and exceed our expectations.  If you ever head for Tanzania, you will not find a better foursome of guides, five if you count Leonard.  We had no idea of what we were about to embark on, but it was going to be great.
 
Like I said, I think Rachel has pegged me the night before so she assigns me to the most senior Tauck guide, Sampson.  As we’re driving towards Tarangire National Park, I am amazed by the expanse of the landscape...we see a lot of Maasai taking care of their cows. We would find out a whole lot more about the Maasai further along the trip. We also find out on our way to Tarangire National Park that that Sampson doesn’t like to eat dust.   While content not to lead on the asphalt road, 500 yards before leaving the highway, Sampson makes sure to pass the leading truck before we hit the dirt road.  The rest is history...
 
We stopped at the entrance of the Tarangire National Park where Rachel proceeds to give us a short briefing of what we were about to experience.  It doesn’t matter how much people tell you how its going to be, there is no words to describe the feelings you get when you see your first pack of African elephants in their natural habitat.
 
As we make our way to the Sopa lodge, we end up seeing so much African wildlife that we started asking a lot of questions...did Tauck arrange for all these animals to be there to impress us...did Emmanuel or Deo tie down the animals until we got there...We have suspicions on Emmanuel...one day into the safari and we already know he is the trouble maker in the crew…Deo comes in second place…
 
Well we get to the lodge, check in...have lunch...photograph orange and blue lizards as well as the cute hyraxes...they look like rabbits without tails or ears, but they can snap off your fingers with one bite.  In the afternoon, our game drive is pretty productive, zebras, wildebeest, cape buffalos…and yes, a leopard...it was far from the road, but there it was lying on a branch in a big tree.  I could see it through the lens of the camera...looked small but I saw it...3 of the Big 5 in the first day...You got to be happy about that…On the way back to the lodge, a herd of cape buffalos crosses the road right in front of the lead truck…woke up some folks in that vehicle…these things are big and they look mean.
 
Monday June 30th - we have an early game drive but it isn’t too productive.  We get to see a new type of gazelle, a steinbuck...We had seen impalas on the previous day...the McDonald’s of gazelle...if you take a shot of their butt, it looks like the McDonald’s logo… must be a reason for this.....anyway, the steinbuck is a lot smaller than an impala.  Game driving in the afternoon…as we’re watching giraffes and zebras Deo says to us...”there is something of interest a bit further”.  
 
We get there in good time...so we eat a bit of dust...waiting for us there, is #4 on our list...a pride of lions just relaxing...they are really hard to see through the long grass of the savanna, but then at 5:30PM...baboons across the river bank start to party in a tree...They make so much noise that they wake up the lions and the photographers.  The rest is history…there must have been 10 vehicles out there and we were all taking shots.  Altogether we spend more than an hour at that site. 
 

Tarangire Photo Album

Lake Manyara

 
Tuesday July 1st - Canada Day…Paul brought a few Canadian flag lapel pins…we start the day by signing the national anthem of Canada in front the lodge. As luck would have it…and Rachel says she didn’t plan it...every passenger in the Land Cruiser is a Canuck…We find a flag for Emmanuel…he becomes the first Tanzanian Canadian TPS guide…we rock…we leave early and head for Lake Manyara…we do a bit of game driving on our way out of Tarangire National Park.
 
Out first stop is a Maasai elementary school…today is a holiday so only 4th and 7th grade students are in class…We drop the school supplies that we had brought specifically for the school…Roy and Teri have a duffle bag full of supplies…We get a bit of history of the school and the school system.  The Tanzanian government has legislated that all Tanzanian children should complete elementary school.  Traditionally the Maasai have not sent their children to school and are still not supporting of the effort.  The children do not speak Swahili and there are a number of other economic and cultural reasons for the reluctance.  We also find out that some kids have to walk 3-4 hours to get to the school.  Do the math…school starts at 08:30 AM…those kids would have to leave home between 4:30-5:00 AM to make it on time…they have to walk across areas where predators are present…imagine a 6 year old North American kid having to walk in a forest in the early hours of the morning to get to school…yeah…that’s right.
 
After the school visit we head to our hotel, the Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge at the top of the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley.  The view from the top of the escarpment is just awesome.  We get a great view of Lake Manyara at the bottom.  This is where we are heading this afternoon for our game drive.  In the Lake Manyara National Park we see a completely different ecosystem.  The forest in the park is fed by water streams coming from the top of the escarpment.  It’s very green and we get to see our first hippos…They LUV mud…must admit that while I heard hippos make noise on TV, there is nothing like being there…A lot of gases being passed…As we make our way back out of the park we get to this area where an large male elephant is trashing trees and branches on the side of the road…I guess he’s hungry and we disturbed his schedule…he doesn’t look too pleased…As he heads toward our vehicle, I say to myself that the situation doesn’t look too good, but the worst thing to do would be to make an attempt to leave the scene…so we stay…the elephant crosses the road right in front of our vehicle…I have never been closer to something this big…living that is…what a feeling…the look in his eyes said a lot.
 
The Canuck truck suffered a setback as we were leaving the park…a little pebble had lodged itself between the brake disk and a protective plate…at first we thought we had lost our muffler…after taking the tire off, the pebble was retrieved and Emmanuel as well as the other Canucks on the truck got a bit of a ribbing.
 
Wednesday July 2nd - we start with a morning visit of Mto Wa Mbu, an agriculture village, also known as Mosquito Creek.  Our first stop in the village is the market where we see a lot of indigenous fruits and veggies.  Then we head for the banana beer brewery.  The brewing process is interesting but I can’t bring myself to taste it…Some of the more adventurous folks on the tour go for a sip…a few hours later we find out from Sampson that he would never touch the local made brew for fear of catching Typhoid fever…Some folks might be less bold on their next trip.  We proceed to visit a mill where flower and rice are processed.  We conclude with a visit of a family house of a local resident.
 
In the afternoon we make our way to Serena Ngorongoro Crater Safari Lodge where we are greeted by Maasai performing traditional dances.

Lake Manyara Photo Album

Ngorongoro Crater 

Thursday July 3rd - we have an early morning game drive down in the Crater, well it really is a caldera (the volcano collapsed on itself) for all the purists on the trip. But Rachel asks us to be nice and not correct her every time she uses the word crater to describe a caldera…so we oblige.  A few minutes after entering the Ngorongoro Crater National Park, we see our first cheetah…well we spend 5 minutes looking for it in the long grass…once spotted we start shooting…pictures that is.  That would be the only cheetah we would see on the expedition.
 
The scenery down in crater is unbelievable, especially with the early morning sun coming through the light clouds…more like thick fog…The lake in the crater is full of pink flamingos…and a few jackals decide to pick up their lunch at the lake…flamingo drum sticks…they ordered for pickup.  Driving around, we see a few hyenas…they aren’t  laughing and we decide that petting them would be a bad idea…they just aren’t  too friendly this morning…looks like someone is going to have a bad day.
 
Before lunch we see our first and only black rhinoceros…it is far from the road but I can see pretty it good through the zoom lens…what a sight…even from that far I can see the graciousness of this beautiful animal.  Then we decide to go leopard shopping…Rachel gets everyone excited when she mentions that we are going in an area of the crater reputed for leopard sightings.  All of a sudden everybody stops thinking about the box lunch we are suppose to have because we are hungry, and we all start looking for leopards in the trees.  The road is pretty bumpy and when we get there we are greeted by the lodge crew who has set up this beautiful hot buffet along with a cash bar right in the middle of the bush…not quite what we are expecting, but it is a heck of a great meal…and the Serengeti beer is very cold…needless to say that after this little episode we stopped trusting Rachel when she mentioned box lunches or leopards.
 
The rest of the game drive in the crater is very spectacular as we see a lot of different species of birds, gazelles, hippos and more lions.

Ngorongoro Crater Photo Album

Serengeti – Seronera Area

Friday July 4th - the vehicle rotation calls again for all the Canucks to be in the same truck.  I hope our fellow Americans have as much fun celebrating July 4th than we did celebrating Canada Day a few days earlier.  Without independent witnesses in their vehicles we can’t really tell.  We notice that no one volunteers to sing the Star Spangled Banner.
 
We leave the crater ridge and descend onto the plateau as we head towards the Serengeti.  Our first stop is the Maasai village where we are greeted by the villagers who perform traditional dances grabbing a few members of the Family Unit to join in (8 members of the same family traveling on the tour and led by the youngest tribal elders on the tour, Barbara and David, who’s role it was to be parents and grandparents to the Family Unit).  We get to visit the inside of a Maasai house…it’s small, dark and smoky but it does the job and it’s waterproof.  Once the house tour done we then head back to the center of the village where we get a demonstration on how to create fire from sticks…personally I prefer a lighter, but they’re good enough with those sticks that they will never be looking for matches.  We conclude our visit with a negotiation session with the village folks in order to bring back original Maasai souvenirs.
 
We leave the village and head for the Serengeti.  On the way there we make a stop at the Olduvai Gorge, the cradle of humanity, where we get a history lesson on the origins of humanity.  My DNA probably drove by there a few million years ago…do you ever get the feeling you been somewhere before…maybe it was just the heat…oh well.
 
Once the history lesson complete we get in the trucks and head for Serengeti National Park…Not far from the entrance of the park we stop at a little oasis…well not really a oasis, but they sell wine pretty cheap there, so we load up.  We also had lunch there…a real box lunch this time.
 
After lunch we make our way towards the Serena Serengeti Safari Lodge.  On our way there we see more wildlife and we stop by a hippo pool which according to Mike, a water engineer, is the nastiest body of water he has ever seen…he thinks that with enough money it could be recovered.  Mike is also very impressed by all the gas being generated in that pool.  Once at the lodge we are greeted by the lodge manager who is very adamant that we do not walk on the grounds after dark without being escorted by lodge personnel.  The squirrels out there are big enough to eat people…ok…maybe they’re not squirrels.
 
Saturday July 5th - we get up real early, like 4AM, to go balloon riding over the Serengeti…as we make our way to the launch site, a hyena jumps in front of the vehicle and shows us the way to the launch…I don’t think these things get ever tired of running.  At the launch site they explain to us that the basket will be resting on its side when we board it…while I am a bit skeptical on how I will get into this small piece of real estate while lying on my back…I became a true non believer when I find out that there will be another guy my size sharing that same piece of real estate with me...and I was right…the pilot signaled me to wait for the basket to be upright before I got in…landing would be a different story.
 
The view from up there is majestic…when the burners are not firing, all you hear is complete silence.  As we make our way over a hippo pool, you can tell they are extremely annoyed by our presence.  The burners give us away…what a feeling to be up there and seeing this beautiful paradise which is the Serengeti.  After we land we are immediately picked up by Serengeti Balloon Safaris personnel (lions could have been 10 feet away and we wouldn’t have known) and brought back to the road where we popped some champagne.  The official champagne ceremony over we head over to another location in the bush were we are served a hot breakfast and yes, more champagne. We then head back to the lodge where some folks go for a champagne induced snooze.  Paul and I go to the pool for a polar bear dip…just because it’s Africa it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t heat the pool.
 
We go for an early afternoon drive where again we see more amazing wildlife.  We come back to the lodge where we have a July 4th party on July 5th.  Well it’s not a July 4th party…Hassan, one of our guides is getting married next week and Rachel organized a party to celebrate the event.  Only, Hassan doesn’t know that and he comes to the party wearing a God Bless America T-Shirt ready to celebrate the 4th of July.  We had a good laugh especially after he read the inscription on the cake.

Serengeti Seronera Area Photo Album 

Serengeti – Kirawira Area

Sunday July 6th - we leave early for a long drive to the Kirawira Luxury Tented camp.  When we get there just before lunch, we again get instructions related to the giant squirrels and a special guest, a wild African cat-like animal that might visit the dinning room at night and we are told that we should not try to pet it because it’s wild. We then head for our rooms…don’t need keys…a zipper will do. We set our stuff in the room and I decide to take a picture of the great view that we have from the deck of our tent.  I ask Monique to stand on the deck so that she can be in the picture.  As she stands there, I hear a nervous Monique call...Guy…Guy come here…Guy come here…When I get on the deck she directs my attention to the Genet cat, the so-called special guest…it’s lying on the beams of the canvass roof serving as double roof to our tent…Got the shot…that’s all I cared…We never did get a visit from the cat…In the afternoon we go to the pool where I order a Safari beer.  The waiter informs me that they have a saying in Tanzania that says something like: one safari leads to another…and he was right…heard that a few times in Kirawira.
 
After another Polar Bear dip…this time Monique joined us…we go for a late afternoon game drive. This time we see larger herds of wildebeest and cape buffalos.  After a nice 5 course sit down dinner we head to our rooms to go to bed.  When you sleep in a tent, you can hear things getting killed out there.
 
Monday July 7th - this morning we have an early game drive.  It’s a beautiful morning…a great sunrise is throwing orange and red light all over…great light for shooting…pictures that is.  We’re standing in the vehicle looking at a herd of animals when we hear one of the loudest sounds I have ever heard.  Now I know why one should be afraid of lions.  We never see the lion but if he is a big as he sounds I’m not sure how safe we are in the truck…we just look like food in a can of sardines…this is the kind of sound that makes you shake in your boots…It’s the first time we see vultures, buzzards and Marabou storks gnawing at a dead wildebeest.  We also get to drive under a tree where a leopard’s kill, the skeleton anyway, is hanging…a bit disturbing…but I had to take the shot.
 
In the afternoon, Paul, Monique and I head for the pool where we meet Al and Patty.  Patty goes for a Polar Bear Dip…A baboon pays us a little visit…and I get to photograph a Green Mamba…well it was more like a garden snake…but you can’t tell on the picture…After our dip in the pool we head for last game drive, where we will get to see our biggest croc of the trip.  What a sight!!!  We then head back for the lodge for our farewell evening where we share our memories of the last 10 days.  It’s a nice evening, but it occurs to me that it’s almost over…wish it would go on for a few more weeks.
 
Tomorrow we start our journey back home…

Serengeti Kirawira Area Photo Album

GOING HOME
 
Grumeti River Airport – Kirawira, Serengeti National Park

Tuesday July 8th - we have an early flight for Arusha…bush planes are picking us up at the local airport.  We need to be there 3 hours before the flight to clear security…got you…We get there, the plane lands and we take off 5 minutes later…The flight back to Arusha is interesting…the landscape is incredible…we see an active volcano.  In Arusha, we visit a coffee plantation where we get an explanation of how coffee beans end up looking like they look and tasting like they taste.  We also get a course on how to make the perfect cup of coffee.  Picking a nice looking coffee maker is not the way…We then go back to the hotel to change and freshen up…we also prepare ourselves in anticipation of the great KLM food that we are about to experience…in other words we stop at the dinning room for a large hamburger that will fill us up for 15 hours…I am glad I don’t eat salad.
 
The KLM flight is late…the rest is history.
 
 
Amsterdam

Wednesday July 9th - to break up the trip, we had planned to stay a few days in Amsterdam.  We met up with Paul’s wife, Lyne, at the airport.  Her plane arrived less than 20 minutes before ours.  We head for downtown Amsterdam and checkin at our hotel.  We go for a walk around Dam Square.  We’re not out on the streets for more then 10 minutes when we meet Al and Patty, two other Tauck tour members from Texas who were also spending a few days in Amsterdam.   We spend the whole day walking around this old and beautiful city.  The night before in Arusha, we had made plans to meet with Al and Patty and two other members of the tour, Mike and Penny from California, who were spending the day in Amsterdam before heading back home to Arcadia.  I introduce the whole group to a favorite Dutch drink of mine called Bols Corenwyn Jenever matured in oak barrel.  Every time I have been to Amsterdam, I go to this little bar near Dam Square where I first got introduced to Corenwyn.  The owner has been there for 32 years.  He doesn’t recognize me, but I do…curious.  We all have a good time before heading to a restaurant near by where we all enjoy a nice Dutch meal.  We then say our goodbyes and head each our own way...Hopefully we will get a chance to meet again.
 
Thursday July 10th - we spend the day doing museums.  It pours rain all day...couldn’t have asked for better day to visit museums.  First we head to the Ann Frank museum.  A few minutes in there are enough to see the misery that afflicted her and her family during the Second World War.  I have been in Amsterdam before but never made it to the museum.  I would certainly recommend it to anyone going to Amsterdam.  The Rijksmuseum is always interesting and the Rembrandt paintings are really something to see.  Then we visit my favorite Amsterdam museum and possibly, for me, the best museum in the world, the Van Gogh museum.  There are so many masterpieces in this museum, it’s just amazing…got to see my two favorites again: the Yellow House and the Bedroom.  Vincent van Gogh certainly had all his proportions figured out (inside joke, you had to be there...Paul might explain one day). We end the day with another traditional Dutch meal, a Rijsttafel (rice table), and a visit to the infamous Amsterdam Red Light district...I will leave it to your imagination as to what we actually saw there...they’re might be kids or relatives of mine reading this trip blog.
 
Friday July 11th - The third day is spent walking and canal boat touring around Amsterdam.  First we walk about, what seemed to me 40 miles, looking for the only place making pancakes in Holland before noon.  The two ladies accompanying Paul and myself have decided that they wanted pancakes for breakfast...That’s when we find out that most pancake places do not open for breakfast...We finally get our pancakes and declare victory.  We finish the day with a beautiful dinner at a nice Italian restaurant not far from the hotel.
 
Saturday July 12th - it s raining again...we leave Amsterdam to go back to Ottawa where I will be thinking about the amazing experience I had in Tanzania.  What a place...it’s hard to imagine that I will not see another giraffe or African elephant in their own environment again.  But I will always be able to say...I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world for having been there…and I will keep dreaming about returning to this paradise. 
 
Going Home Photo Album