Previous: March 1	Journal Contents	Next: March 3

March 2

Arusha: Begin Wildlife Safari

I got up at 6 AM to have breakfast at 6:30, the same breakfast I had before the climb, but more relaxed since I wasn't desperately trying to fix my camera this time. At 7, a driver (not Mr. Shah) came to take me to Arusha. He first brought another man to the Moshi bus station and inquired about getting me on a bus, but we ended up driving to Arusha. On the way, we stopped for a relatively clear picture of Kilimanjaro, and picked up three passengers. A lot of people were looking for rides today because of the new regulation requiring speed governors in vehicles. I said I didn't know which hotel I would stay at, and would decide on the way after looking at my Footprints Guide. I said I wanted to shop for a safari, and the driver suggested staying near the market area. There are hundreds of safari companies in Arusha, so the choice can be daunting. As we entered Arusha, the driver asked if I wanted to start my safari today. I hadn't thought of this possibility, but he stopped and talked to a driver from A.J. Safaris, and he said he could get me on a camping safari today, so we drove to their office to discuss it.

A friendly, hefty Indian man met me and showed me the itinerary and a book of pictures and testimonials, and said I could join four people on a five-day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, and Tarangire National Park for $425 ($85 per day). That would include everything but tips and personal items. This sounded like what I was looking for, and the trip was leaving this morning at 9 AM, so I said fine. The others included Eric, a man from Seattle on a five month tour of Africa, a Peace Corps worker from Oregon stationed in Swaziland who was traveling with her daughter, and a young Indian-Canadian man from Calgary who was born in Dar Es Salaam.

We loaded into the safari vehicle at 9:30, a half hour late, and drove across Masai land toward Lake Manyara. The Masai wore bright robes and had large herds of cattle, and lived in bee-hive shaped huts. They wore elaborate ear decorations. The land was arid, and dust devils swept over the landscape. It is said there was rain yesterday, and some puddles remained. I saw a young boy drinking from one while tending a herd.

The villages here generally belong to one family: a man, his wives, and their descendents. We stopped at Twiga Camp near Lake Manyara. The men in our group went for a walk down the dusty street. Children often asked for pens, and a woman offered to pose for a picture for 100 shillings, something of a bargain since we had been told the going rate here is 200 shillings per person, or about 32 cents. I had no small bills and declined, but Eric took a photo.

Some herds of cattle went by, one led by a man with a bow and arrow. We returned to camp and walked around the grounds, which were beautifully landscaped and planted with flowers. We actually didn't have to camp tonight, since huts were available, with private baths, and we could stay in those. This was a really nice camp. We walked to the bar and met the ladies from Oregon on the porch and sat for a while until deciding at 2:00 to check on lunch. It was almost ready. We were served a large lunch of chicken, potatoes, and vegetables. Around 3:00, we boarded into the vehicle for a late afternoon game drive. A couple of my traveler's checks were used to pay the entrance fee for the group, so I had to go into the office to fill out the forms. (I had used these to pay for the safari, and they brought them along, without cashing them first.)

Baboons at Lake Manyara

Hippos at Lake Manyara

We raised the roof of the vehicle so we could stand for better views. The first animals we saw were baboons - lots of them, but smaller than the Ugandan ones, I thought. We drove through forest a while, seeing more baboons and some blue monkeys, named for the color of their testicles, though we never got a clear view of their bottoms to confirm this. Next, we saw some zebras, one of the animals I'd been hoping to see here. We saw impala, which are common here, then some giraffes, which were another animal I really wanted to see. There were lots of giraffes. We also saw warthogs, some elephants, a gnu with a baby, some tiny dik dik antelope, black-faced monkeys, and a pool of hippos.

Elephant with Baby

Crested Cranes

We saw some crested cranes, the symbol of Uganda, though I never saw any there. We drove out to the edge of the lake, which was now very empty: the water was far away, and through strong binoculars, we could see a huge flock of flamingos, which looked like a pink line with the naked eye. We saw many more giraffe, baboons, and elephants, including babies, and one elephant high on a hill dwarfed by a huge baobab tree. We saw some hornbills and some guinea hens, and "sausage trees" on the way out, leaving the park at 6.

Elephant and Baobab Tree

Back at camp, I had a warm shower, and dinner was served after dark at 8 PM: first soup, then minced meat in tomato sauce over rice. Dessert was a delicious creme caramel. We had a selection of soft drinks. The "Stonies", a ginger beer, were popular. The ladies had good things to say about Ethiopia and about Belize, as well as Guatemala and southern Mexico. Eric strongly recommended spending some time in Zanzibar, seeing Stone Town, and doing a spice tour. At least four days woule be needed for this, including one there and back, one for stone town, and one for the spice tour. I would have just enough time if I scheduled nothing in Kenya. If I've had enough of safaris after this one, I will do that. I went to bed around 10, but it was too hot to sleep comfortably.

Previous: March 1	Journal Contents	Next: March 3