Our Last Days in Africa

Thursday September 29th John visited the Dassanech tribe, about an hour and a half drive from our base in Turmi, Ethiopia. They are nomads and are agropastoral. They grow sorghum, corn, pumpkins, and beans. They also raise cattle and goats. The morning we got there they were celebrating the marriage of six families daughters. Each morning for one month the mothers and fathers come out of their huts and put on special clothing made from animal furs and skins. All of the families and other tribe members gather to sing, dance and celebrate.

We started Friday September 30th with an explore of the local market in Turmi. It was fairly quiet in the morning, and we enjoyed walking around taking photos. While Sara was standing in the shade of a building a young boy of about 15 starting talking to her. Eventually some older men joined and asked if she would buy him a book. Turned out the young guy was in school and really wanted an Amharic-English dictionary. After some back and forth with a starting ask of $50 we had purchased the dictionary for $20 - the only cash we had on us. With frequent requests for money from people it was nice to help someone with their goals. 

John headed out later to camp with the Karo tribe. Sara, still not feeling great after four days started some antibiotics and stayed in the lodge. After driving about two and a half hours on dirt roads he arrived at Kara Dus, a Kara tribe village. Their village was next to the Omo river. The Kara tribe was John's  second most favorite tribe primarily because the men do some extraordinary body painting.

After spending the night trying to sleep with the noise of the screaming monkeys John headed back to the lodge for lunch before visiting the last tribe -  the Arbore. They have permanent villages and grow crops and raise cattle and goats. Their huts were made from long reeds which was the first time we had seen that approach. The black and white photos in the album are from the Arbore. 

Sunday October 2nd we were up at 5am to drive to Jinka, with two and a half hours on more mountain roads before arriving at the very small airport with plenty of time before the daily flight to Addis. We were sad to say goodbye to Fitsum, Israel and Tuko, especially John who had just completed a long time wish to visit the tribes of Ethiopia. 

After spending a leisurely Sunday afternoon in the hotel in Addis we had an early start on Monday to get to the airport for our flight to Zanzibar. After checking in our bags Sara went to try and retrieve Barry's binoculars from custody. After asking a security guard where to go he kindly walked her over to the other terminal and after asking several people and providing the required paperwork managed to find the right people to help. Unbelievably after paying about $30 the binoculars were found in what looked like a disaster of a storage room and returned to Sara. She was then personally walked back through the security lines and watched as we both passed through the immigration checkpoint to ensure no sneaking back into the country was achieved!

We arrived on the island of Zanzibar totally worn out and spent an entire week just relaxing, eating great food and enjoying our lovely beachside cottage. We also enjoyed a few days of scuba diving and plenty of sunsets over the Indian ocean - just perfect.

We left Africa on an overnight flight Monday Oct 7th, and after a 12 hour stop in Doha finally arriving in London late Tuesday evening.  A delightful four days followed staying in a rented farmhouse with Sara's mum Christine, sister Emma and partner Clive. We enjoyed some visits, walks and meals with her aunt Midge, cousin Jane and partner Sue who we haven't seen for many years. It was a wonderful way to end our extraordinary adventure in Africa!

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The Hamar Tribe

 

After spending the morning with the Suri face painting by the river we packed up camp and left for our next location - an arduous hot long 2-day drive south east of the Omo river. It had rained in the night and the forecast was for more rain so Fitsum wanted to get out of the mountain area since the trails become impassable in the mud. He mentioned having a vehicle stuck in the mud for three days with clients once. The drive started out on bumpy mountain dirt roads that included a fairly precarious river crossing. Our driver, Israel, was an absolute expert at navigating any difficult backcountry road or river and the scenery was beautiful.

We stopped for a late lunch in the tiny town of Tum - which consisted of one paved road for about a mile and dirt roads either side continuing on through the mountains. Fitsum said we would stay the night as there wasn't anywhere safe to camp between Tum and the next stop. We had a very basic hotel room with a bucket of water outside to wash in and some squat toilets at the end of the building. Sara was able to wash off her face paint, preventing further questions to Israel who had been asked if her face was actually that color.

October 26th is a religious holiday for the orthodox christian church and there was a big celebration in the afternoon finishing with a bonfire and fireworks. The Meskal celebration commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by the Roman Empress Helena (Saint Helena) in the fourth century after following smoke from a bonfire. We walked around in the late afternoon and were swamped by kids who were fascinated to see the strangers. Everyone was very friendly, and after the kids were reprimanded by Israel for pushing us we enjoyed talking to the adults about our trip and experiences in Ethiopia. It was definitely an interesting event.

Tuesday 27th was a long, hot demanding day. We started at 6am and after a quick breakfast were on the mountain roads again. The temperatures weren't bad initially since we climbed up to 7,000 feet, but then we dropped down to 1,500 feet and had to cross the long hot savannah of Omo National Park. The temperature was close to 100 degrees and the air-conditioner in the Toyota land cruiser didn't work. So for 6-7 hours we drove with the windows down in extreme heat that felt like a blow torch. Sara who does not tolerate heat well was suffering. A migraine headache usually follows extreme heat exposure and of course it did, so Sara who didn't feel well at the start of the day was suffering. We stopped in a small town mid afternoon for a quick break and someone after hearing we had come from the Suri asked "How was the crossing"? From that point on we nicknamed the drive the "death crossing". Turns out it is the second hottest place in Ethiopia and if you breakdown it can be weeks before someone else comes down the road. Later we found out Fitsum would call people he knew to let them know where we would be out of cell signal and they were to send a car to find us if he didn't call them back in a few hours.

We finally reached the town of Turmi and checked into the Buska lodge. Turmi is the central point to visit all the tribes on the east side of the river. We were happy to have a room with a shower and bathroom and electricity, even if it was only twice a day for a few hours.

Wednesday 26th was an early start for John, leaving at 5:30am to visit a Hamer village. The Hamer are the largest tribe n the Omo valley. They are known for their distinctive hair style where they curl and treat their hair with a mixture of butter and red Ochre clay. Sara was dealing with a nasty intestinal issue and decided to rest for a few hours. John returned for lunch and Fitsum said he had heard about a bull jumping ceremony we should attend in the afternoon. We set out in the full heat of the afternoon and started walking through the bush, up and down and along a dried river bed. What hadn't been mentioned was the village was quite a way from the road. After walking for about 40 minutes we asked again how far, and on receiving the same answer of 20 minutes stopped to reassess the situation. Given the vagueness of how long to the village, and the fact we would likely be there close to sunset and need to return stumbling in the dark without lights we turned around before becoming a cautionary story to travelers!

Thursday was similar to the previous day, John left early for photography and Sara rested still not feeling well. In the afternoon we were able to visit a Hamer village this time without the long hike. A number of the tribes have customs that introduce young men into adulthood. Bull jumping is one of these. The family of the bull jumper hosts the event, which is a big deal with relatives and friends from other villages walking up to 100 kilometers to attend.

Another custom that is very strange and repugnant is whipping of the women who are relatives. This is something they do to honor the young bull jumper and the family. They actually ask to be whipped and show no displeasure from it despite the long bloody gash it leaves on their back. Our guide took us to a large gathering of people where the whipping was taking place. We didn't know that was occurring until we got there. We immediately told our guide we did not want to be around this ceremony. He said it's part of the culture and we said we don't care we're moving on now. So we moved on to another area where there was a lot of people gathered. Mostly the women were dancing and they were serving everybody coffee. This went on all afternoon. One of the young men came up to Sara and asked if she wanted to be whipped. With help from our guide translating Sara suggested maybe he give her the stick and she whipped him, which resulted in the young man quickly disappearing.

Everything was delayed because they didn't have the sacred bull who had to be rounded up and joined up with the other six bulls. All this process took so long that when the young bull jumper got his chance it was dark. They lined up the bulls side to side and the jumper has to run across their backs two times each way. The goal of course is to not fall and face ridicule. Although it was dark and only lit by car lights and our cell phones the young man did very well. He did fall a few times but was given some extra tries since he was doing it in the dark. We're sure the young man was glad the whole event was over and he had successfully completed the challenge!

Click here to see the photos and videos! 

Suri Face Painting and Stick Fighting

Thursday September 22nd was a long day of travel. We left Arusha for the drive to Kilimanjaro airport for the flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For many of the airports in Africa your luggage has to be put through the x-ray scanner before you can enter the terminal and check-in. This leads to a somewhat chaotic scene, with people throwing bags on the conveyer and then picking them off the floor on the other side as the bags get pushed through. Our flight and arrival in Addis was fairly uneventful until we tried to leave the airport. All luggage had to once again be scanned and Sara's carry-on caused some consternation with customs. Barry's binoculars were given a lot of scrutiny and we were informed they were not allowed in Ethiopia due to national security rules - likely related to the civil war that has been simmering off and on since November 2020. After passing over my passport to a number of people and getting a bunch of paperwork filled out we were allowed to enter, but with Barry's binoculars taken into custody!

Friday we were back at the airport at 7am for our domestic flight to Jimma - a small town in south western Ethiopia and the starting point for our cultural tour of the Omo valley tribes. We met Fitsum of Omo Valley Tours at the airport. Fitsum was born and raised in a small Omo valley tribe and has developed excellent relationships with local tribal leaders, critical to providing a tour in this remote and wild part of Africa. We met the rest of the team at the Jimma airport, Israel our driver and Tuko the cook. After loading everything and everyone into the Toyota 4x4 land cruiser we set off. The afternoon drive was on crazy roads, dodging potholes that looked like mortar strikes, cattle, people, donkeys and occasionally motorbikes and cars. There were also many police/army checkpoints, typically a rope across the road that required us to stop and Fitsum to produce the official forms preventing a full security search of the vehicle - important since we were fully loaded with 5 people, luggage, fuel, food, water and camping equipment. We stopped for an amazing lunch of Ethiopian food, a lentil stew eaten with a teff flour pancake using our hand, followed with some exceptionally good coffee. Ethiopia is the birthplace of both humanity and the coffee bean! 

The following morning (Saturday 24th) we left the hotel at 5:30am, it was dark and raining. After a few hours we stopped for coffee and breakfast of boiled eggs and bread.  By 9:30am we hit the end of the road and spent the rest of the day driving on hard packed dirt single track trails. The scenery was beautiful, we were in the heart of the Rift valley, surrounded by mountains, lush valleys and bird song. We were stopped in the middle of nowhere by a police group and the car was surrounded by eight men all carrying Kalashnikov rifles and very interested in the tourists in the back. A challenge of traveling and not understanding the language is you never know if you in danger or people are just curious. In reality it was a novelty to see white people in the area, and the fully loaded Toyota was also eye catching - so we were the entertainment most days. Fitsum got out and talked to the senior officer and after a lot of discussion we had an armed guard in the front of the car and Fitsum sitting in the back with us. Apparently it was Donga stick fighting month (more about that later) and the police chief was concerned it wasn't safe for us. There may also have been a bit of a need to provide employment for the local guards, we were not totally sure!

After a few more hours of driving on very rough up and down mountain trails we arrived at the Suri tribe where we would stay for the next three days. The Suri are an agro-pastoral ethnic group known for their decorative painting, natural foliage head dressings, scarifications and lip plates. We were lucky enough to camp right in their small village which provided unique access to the lovely people. 

After a late lunch Fitsum hurriedly told us to pack up and get back in the car. The Chief had told him there was a Donga stick fighting event happening very close. Donga is a yearly fighting tournament where each local village sends their top male fighters to fight each other for honor, showing their strength and masculinity. What followed was one of the craziest events we have ever witnessed. 

Each village also sends supporters for the fighters, and everyone forms a big circle and two or three groups of two men each will go to the center and try to beat the other guy into submission. It is considered a badge of honor for a man to have multiple scars on their head from stick fighting, and we saw a number of nasty injuries. The fighting goes on for about an hour and then they take a short break and do it again. Winners of each round are given a loop of beads, and the person with the most loops at the end are the overall winner. 

During the second half, all of the sudden everybody starting running away and getting down on the ground. This happened without any warning so we didn't have a clue why everybody was running away and were slowly trying to work out why we were the only ones still standing. With two knee and one hip replacements John doesn't run very well and finally was either run over or pulled down on the ground. Sara was also pulled down and was between two armed guards shielding her. Fitsum and the Chief hurried over and told us it was time to leave. Turns out there actually are some rules and a referee to keep some order. One of the fighters had broken the rules and tempers were getting hot. The men in the tribes no longer have spears for hunting or protection, about 10% of them are carrying AK 47s or SKS rifles. So the big stampede was because everyone feared there might be gunfire. Fortunately that didn't happen but apparently there have been cases in the past. In our evening discussion we decided our emergency response had been poor and resolved to do better in the future if needed - what an afternoon !!!

We had just crawled into our tent for the night (this was a backpacking tent, not the Tanzania glamping tents) when we heard some singing. We lay there for a while and then became so intrigued we crawled back out and in the pitch dark went to investigate. We found a group of young children dancing and singing and spent a delightful hour with them dancing and clapping. Sara's phone fell out of her pocket early on and some of the kids found it and started recording video, check out the album for the result.

Sunday 25th September was the start of the face painting photography. We were amazed how creative the young people were with their painting and head adornments of flowers. They had painted themselves that morning, and made the flower arrangements from what they found in the forest.  Everyone was keen to be photographed and they were natural models. John had many hours of work to ensure everyone had their picture taken. He also took time to show people the photos on his camera which everyone enjoyed. John spent some time afterwards playing with the children with some balsa wood airplanes he bought for them. 

Our last day we went down to the river which is close to the tribe village. They do a lot of the painting there because the paints are made with ground up rocks and minerals mixed with water. One of the young girls wanted to paint Sara's face which of course she was delighted to have done. We returned to the village to share our gifts with the Chief who would distribute them to the people who needed things the most. With advice from Fitsum before we left home we had purchased pain killers (ibuprofen), razor blades (for shaving and hair trimming), beads and coloring books/pencils for the children and small mirrors to be shared during face painting. We had a similar package for each of the tribes we visited. We said a few final goodbyes - and received a necklace gift for Sara before we headed out for the next location.

 What a memorable time we had with the Suri - We will never forget them.

Click here to see the photos & videos

Last Days in Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater

Sunday September 18th started very early when Sara heard a strange munching noise outside at 4:30am. She very quietly unzipped the bottom of the tent flap and stuck her head outside to see a hippo peacefully grazing 30 feet away! Startled John a bit since it was dark and he didn't know if someone or something was unzipping the tent to come inside! 

We headed out after breakfast with a stop at a local creek to video the sounds of the frogs. Sara particularly enjoyed the sounds of Africa whether it was the very loud frogs, the very loud morning birds or the lions we heard roaring every night. If you see a video with no real movement make sure the audio is turned up as it will be a sound recording.  After the frog stop we found a pride of lions on the remains of a zebra meal, and right after that a herd of understandably very agitated zebras. Listen to their barking sounds which we often mistook for hyenas. We really enjoyed watching the zebra and managed to get some videos of their carousing! It was a busy morning for elephants, we found a herd with a number of small babies. We stopped to photograph a lion in a tree and noticed the same elephant herd gradually grazing toward the tree.  The lioness stayed very quiet and still and looked carefully down as the elephants walked slowly under the tree. Since we had seen elephants chase a lion in Tarangire we were interested to see what happened, but the lion managed to go unnoticed this time. 

We stopped at a park museum for our usual enjoyable lunch time picnic, the Kon Tiki staff had the best lunches with rice and a vegetable curry for Sara and chicken for John and Ben.  We browsed the interesting open exhibit, accompanied by a very informative young guide who explained the park history, animals, plants and local tribes. We were able to see a good graphic of the annual migration and understand how important Serengeti is to the wildlife population.

Sunday seemed to be meal day for the lions as we found another pride in the afternoon eating a buffalo. We were also delighted to see more lion cubs and spent a lovely hour watching them playing with each other and the lionesses.  We headed back to camp a bit earlier than usual and enjoyed a relaxing sunset around the camp fire. 

Monday we sadly left the Kon Tiki camp, it was our favorite in Tanzania and the staff were particularly lovely. There are many options for camps on safari, and our choice was to stay with local run businesses as much as possible. The staff really work hard, living in the camp away from their family often for months at a time. 

It was noticeably greener after the rain from the previous day, it was amazing how quickly the grass and the trees grew with just a bit of rain. We stopped to watch a lone cheetah sitting on a termite mound looking out for a potential meal. The termite mounds are warm and provide a good vantage point. Speaking of termite mounds they really were interesting, each with different formations of large towers that the termites build to help cool the hive below. As an extra gift after the cheetah we noticed a beautiful serval cat hunting in the long grass. 

We began the long bumpy dusty drive out of central Serengeti to the incredible Ngorongoro  crater. To give you an idea of how bumpy there were many days our Fitbit trackers logged 25,000 steps, and all we really did was walk around camp and to the safari vehicle! At least it was good for core strengthening!

After bumping through 60KM of roads we arrived at the crater rim and descended the 4.5Km to the floor. Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest inactive and unfilled volcanic caldera and was formed two to three million years ago when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself. The crater is about 260 sq km and has different eco systems with forest, swamp and savannah all supporting a rich permanent wildlife population. We slowly drove to the main picnic area next to the fresh water lake and enjoyed another lovely hot picnic lunch. The local birds were very naughty and swopped on John several times to steal some of his food. 

After lunch we stopped to watch a large group of very stunning grey crowned cranes. Sara was excited to see one of the males performing a courtship dance, a beautiful choreography of head bobs and wing flapping with some twirls to fully show off to the female. Sorry no video of this lovely experience. Sara commented that the girls have it wrong all these years getting prettied up for the men, we should be following the bird kingdom where the men are the brightly colored ones dancing for the women!

We stopped to watch a male and female ostrich, mainly because we felt we hadn't paid the ostriches enough attention. We were rewarded to see the pair perform a complex courtship dance with a lot of wing fluttering and strutting around. The male was successful in his wooing, but we're not sharing the photos to protect the privacy of their savannah romance!

Tuesday 20th September was our last safari day. We made the most of it with a 6:30am departure so we could arrive at the crater descent gate when it opened. After the 20 minute drive down the winding road we reached the floor and immediately saw a group of sleeping lions very close to the road. We then drove into the forest and Ben's sharp eyes noticed two black rhinos in the long grass. We were very lucky to see the mother and young calf as they are quite elusive. We enjoyed this special treat for about 15 minutes before they moved into the longer grass and out of view. We spent the day driving slowly around the crater, stopping to watch the large herds of zebra who came much closer to the vehicle than in the Serengeti. We were starting to head back when we were delighted to see a serval cat relaxing in the sun, and two jackals playing with each other -  it was a perfect day.

The next day we headed back to Arusha. We stopped at one of the many shops to look at the amazing paintings and souvenirs. The local artists and wood carvers join together to sell their products at these community shops, they are all very talented and we had an enjoyable time choosing some mementos of our incredible time in Tanzania.

We very sadly said goodbye to Ben, he was an excellent guide and wonderful person and we became very close during our adventure. 

Our next update will describe the extraordinary time in Ethiopia. For now enjoy these photos and videos of our last four days on safari.

Click here for the photos and videos

(The videos have a small play arrow in the top right, make sure the sound is turned on!)

Wildlife seen: giraffe, zebra, lions on zebra kill, elephants, lion in tree, lions on buffalo kill, serval cat, hippo, cheetah, hyena, jackal (side striped), jackal (black backed), grey crowned crane, helmeted guinea fowl, arrow-marked babbler bird, ostrich, black rhino, flamingos, wildebeest, gazelles, buffalo

Serengeti Shall Never Die

Thursday 15th September we left at 8:30am for a long day of driving. We stopped for gas and had both tanks filled up. The Toyota land cruisers used for safari are amazing. They are a standard land cruiser that has been heavily modified by cutting and extending the chassis to add an extra row, a pop up top for the entire length and larger windows. The vehicle is very rugged and reliable which is good because as we learned the roads are very bumpy and dusty - we saw a lot of broken down vehicles and Ben stopped to help a few folks get up and running again.

To get to Serengeti National Park you first pass through the Ngorongoro conservation area that surrounds the actual crater. This area has less restrictions than a national park and the Maasai tribe are allowed to live and graze their cattle in the area, this was a compromise when the Serengeti park was created and the Maasai had to leave the area. There is a drought in the area and we drove through a lot of dry dusty bumpy roads seeing a lot of young children driving their cattle and sheep looking for grazing. We stopped briefly to see the monument for Olduvai Gorge which is famous for the discovery of evidence of early human species about 1.8 million years old. After the official stop at the conservation entrance for Ben to complete paper work and passes we were lucky to get a clear view of Ngorongoro crater as it is often covered by clouds. We would visit this park after the Serengeti.  

We continued on the long dusty bumpy road with other safari vehicles and a few large blue local busses. The busses use the park road to get to villages on the other side which is quicker than going around the park -  we saw a few of these buses broken down also. 

The park is 14,750 Sq KM, with about half set aside as a wilderness zone with no roads. The entire Serengeti eco system is twice the size of the park and supports the largest unaltered animal migration in the world. The term Serengeti shall never die is the name of a German documentary from 1959 that had a big part in securing the future of the park after the death of 80% of the hoofed animals due to a virus from cattle.  Over a million wildebeest, zebra,  and gazelle complete an annual 1,000KM migration circle following rain and fresh grazing. We learned the wildebeest can smell the rain, so know when to head north, with the zebra following. The wildebeest however do not remember the way back home south, but the zebra do, so in turn the wildebeest following on the way back. Most of the migrating herd were still around the Kenya border when we arrived, but we started to see more returning as there was rain a few times and the area became greener and greener each day. 

Once we entered the park it seemed like all the other vehicles disappeared and Ben showed yet again he is a fabulous guide. We left the main road and explored smaller 'game drive' paths. The vehicles all have radios and there is great community spirit with drivers announcing special sightings. The key is to find out exactly where they are in relation to your vehicle, and decide if you want leave your current treat for something that might have moved before you get there! The views of the Serengeti plains were incredible and we were lucky to find a group of 3 lionesses and 2 young males sleeping in the sun. We spent some time watching in the hope they would wake up, but other than a few head raises there was very little activity. Clearly they were not bothered by the group of vehicles and camera shutter sounds! We saw an older male lion sitting in the middle of a open area just dozing a bit, all waiting for the heat to subside and the evening hunting to begin!

We again had some trouble finding the camp, apparently the park administration didn't like the signs put up by the local camps and wanted to install more natural looking signs. In the meantime there was quite a bit of driving up and down roads and stopping to ask other drivers or rangers. Ben finally worked out we needed to turn down the path with the silver stone to find our home for the next 5 days - our favorite the Kon Tiki tented camp.  

Friday 16th was the start of many extraordinary days, so many the three of us had to work on new adjectives other than incredible and awesome! We started with a visit to the hippo pond and were enthralled to see the hippos bobbing in the water, with the occasional yawn and outbreak of  honking to we assume either greet a friend, or warn off an enemy. 

We spent some time quietly watching a leopard in a tree when Ben heard a report about a small group of cheetahs. (Our Swahili is limited to a few basic words, definitely not enough to understand a radio report). We arrived to see a mother cheetah and three almost fully grown cubs. The mother was walking alongside a group of antelope looking for a likely dinner choice. With the element of surprise gone the four cheetahs obligingly sat on a termite mound for us to view for a while. Suddenly the mother started walking again and Ben (who must be a mind reader of animals) moved the vehicle ahead of everyone else. Within the space of 15 minutes we saw a blur of action. The mother caught a large reedbuck, with a lot of jumping around the adolescent cheetahs killed the poor reedbuck and settled down for a meal while the mother watched and recovered from the run. Then out of nowhere a pack of hyena appeared, chased off the cheetahs and ate the whole reedbuck in about 5 minutes. We will spare you the photos of the horrific event, just know hyena would not make good dinner companions. Cheetahs lose their meals frequently to either hyena or lions.

Apparently it was dinner day on the Serengeti as we next saw a female lion trying to creep up on some zebra and a male lion fast asleep on his back with the remains of a zebra in the grass next to him. As with every day we saw many different birds, small and large and of course plenty of zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and antelope. At the end of the day on the way back to camp, after turning at the magic silver stone we saw a very large bull elephant very close to the road. While we were delighted to stop and watch he was quite irritated at our presence and gave us the warning shake of the head. Good thing Ben is a professional and knew this meant "be quiet and leave me alone otherwise I will crush your tiny vehicle!". 

After two very busy days we split Saturday the 17th into a dawn start, and a long lunch at camp instead of staying out all day. Nature gave us a real treat this day with a superb sunrise and an exceptional time watching a lioness and her six cubs. When you look at the album be sure to turn on the volume for the videos to listen to the delightful baby sounds! The adult lions are very comfortable walking past the vehicle, and actually use them as a shield when hunting zebra. The zebra know this so rarely come close to the vehicles.  

After a delightful lunch of fish masala (the food was amazing coming out of a bush kitchen) we headed out for a cooler late afternoon drive. We rarely left with expectations of seeing specific animals, apparently many people do which leads to disappointment. Instead we just drove around to see what was happening. We were lucky again to see a leopard in a tree and a rather cheerful looking hyena just passing by. We started to drive back to camp and were captivated by a magnificent sunset over the mountains. So captivating we stopped for photos and then had to drive quickly back to avoid the night curfew and a possible fine by the rangers. It really isn't safe to be out in the dark in case there is a vehicle issue - makes perfect sense, but hard for us as we didn't want the day to end!

Click here for the photos and videos

(The videos have a small play arrow in the top right, make sure the sound is turned on!)

Wildlife seen: male lion, 5 lions in group, secretary bird, grant gazelle, kori bustard, thompson gazelle, tawny eagle, saddle billed stork, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, black headed heron, sacred ibis, hypo, egyptian goose, jackal, hyena, slender mongoose, hartebeest antelope, leopard, baboons, cheetah (mother and three adolescents), reedbuck, vultures, young male lion, lioness hunting, male lion sleeping, elephants, cape buffalo

Tarangire and Lake Manyara

Sunday September 11th we left Arusha and drove for about 3 hours to Tarangire National Park. We ate lunch at the park gate picnic area since once inside the park there are limited options for getting out of the vehicle - wild animals and picnicking tourists don't work well together.  

We immediately started seeing a lot of animals. Zebras, impalas and wart hogs grazing. Elephants digging for water in the dried river bed which was fascinating. There were some very large bulls and also tiny baby elephants. We saw a lot of brightly colored birds which were delightful. Around 5pm we started to head for the camp, which was a bit hard to find since the mobile tented camps move around. The tented camp was considered fairly basic, but was far above our normal camping experiences, with a king sized bed, a flush toilet and hot/cold shower! Since it had been a hot and dusty day we enjoyed a cold shower and then joined everyone in the main dining tent. We had an enjoyable meal and finished off with very memorable and moving singing and dancing with the six staff members who ran the camp. They even persuaded Sara to participate in the dancing!

Monday 12th we headed out for a day that ended up defying description it was so incredible. We drove to a different area of the park which had a swamp/lake area and was full of wildlife. There were an amazing number of elephant herds, many with tiny babies a few months old, all which came very close to the car as they grazed. We noticed the majority of animals were always moving as they continually searched for food or water. We saw a lion resting under a tree and were amused to see an elephant herd chase the lion off – all in a line with their ears flared and trunks and tails up, even the tiny baby following its mother at the head of the line.

At the end of the lake we saw a specular flock of pelicans fishing and flying. A great way to end the day before beginning the search for the next camp. We arrived a bit late after receiving bad directions from the rangers and driving up and down the bumpy roads. The camp was incredibly luxurious, a massive tent on a raised platform with a delightful dining area.

As we headed out of the park the next day we were treated to the view of a lioness sitting in a magnificent acacia tree. We spent plenty of time watching her, before moving on and then finding four lionesses in a tree, just taking it easy. We spent over an hour with both locations, it takes time for John taking often 100+ photos waiting for perfect shot. Sara enjoyed watching using great binoculars which used to belong to Barry, her sadly deceased brother-in-law. Barry’s binoculars really made the trip for Sara, which along with a bean bag support from John enabled many hours of delightful viewing. Tip for anyone going on Safari – invest in good binoculars!

We had a fast drive on the bumpy roads to the gate as we had to be out 48 hours after entry to avoid a fine. This became a common theme for all the parks as we kept seeing something interesting to stop and view. Good thing Ben was a fast driver on tough roads!  After an easy tarmac drive we arrived at Lake Manyara National Park. A very different eco system, with a large alkaline lake surrounded mostly by jungle. Enjoyable for Sara, less so for John who isn’t overly fond of jungles. We saw elephants up close again which never gets old. Some hippos in the distant lake and many many baboons. Sara was excited to see a horn bill bird feeding its chicks through a crack in a tree, they seal up the nest to protect from predators. 

After an evening drive through the rift valley mountains we arrived at the hotel happily exhausted, about normal for most of the trip. The following day we took it easy in the morning, to rest up for the Serengeti as Ben suggested. We returned to Lake Manyara in the afternoon to enjoy the cool temperatures under the magnificent acacia trees, listening to the noises of the jungle – lots of birds and insect sounds and the occasion young baboon shriek as it was disciplined for some naughty behavior.  John found a small pearl spotted owlet to photograph, which obligingly sat still. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the large baboon families as they went about their daily browsing. The babies were very entertaining playing with each other, and we saw a long line of baboons walking down the road with a baby riding on its mothers back like a rodeo rider. Amusingly when we stopped to watch the baboons they became interested in the truck and started climbing on the back, the driver behind knew Ben and sent him the photos.

Next up will be our time in the Serengeti, which deserves an entire post. For now enjoy these photos.

Click here to view the photos

Wildlife seen: Impala, baboon, zebra, wart hogs, elephants, ostrich, bare face go away bird, bee eater bird, superb starling, tree hyrax (in tree at camp), tawny eagle, lilac breasted roller bird, ground horn bill, lion, marabou stork, goliath stork, banded mongoose, fish eagle, steppe eagle, jackal, pelicans, blue monkey pearl spotted owlet

 

Africa 2022 - Orphan Elephants and Arusha National Park

In 2020 we planned a trip to Africa to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary. Covid caused a 2-year delay, so we were very excited to finally started our African adventure on Tuesday 6^th of September. The journey includes 2 weeks in Tanzania on safari, 10 days in Ethiopia with local tribes, a week in Zanzibar relaxing and 4 days in England with family, will be quite a trip!

We didn’t arrive in Nairobi, Kenya until midnight on Thursday 8^th. What should have been 2 days of travel took 3 due to a ticketing snafu with American Airlines that wasn’t identified until we tried to board the Qatar flight in Washington DC. Not an experience I want to repeat, but it worked out with only losing a rest day in Nairobi so could have been worse. Qatar airlines is incredible, and the lounge in Doha is magnificent – a good thing since we had 12 hours there. Well worth using the miles for the business class.

Friday, we visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage to join the midday feeding of the 30 young elephants who have lost their mothers and families typically due to human wildlife conflict. Sheldrick has perfected the art of raising elephants as young as 1 month and releasing them to the wild about 8-10 years later. A few years ago Sara adopted Olorien who is now 3 years old. Incredibly Olorien stopped in front of us while Erwin the chief keeper was introducing her to everyone! Sara chatted to Erwin afterwards and learned Olorien is doing much better after some struggles over the last few years.  She should move to the integration unit in Tsavo park soon to continue her journey back to the wild. Sheldrick is a wonderful organization, check out their history and work : Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

After the nursery visit we said goodbye to Lucy our agent in Kenya who had arranged our entire trip, it was lovely to finally meet her after our 2 years of planning. Patrick our driver began the trip to Arusha, Tanzania. Quite a long journey with the obligatory delays at the Tanzania boarder, similar to our transfer in 1998. We did stop for some souvenir shopping in Kenya. A bit early to start shopping, but the one regret from our 1998 trip was not buying some souvenirs at a local shop when we had the chance. We finally got to our lodge around 9pm, about 3hrs later than expected, so after a quick dinner we fell into bed exhausted – a pattern to be repeated!

Saturday 10^th September we met our guide for the next 12 days. Ben is one of those people you like instantly, and he quickly showed he is an excellent knowledgeable safari guide. We spent the day in Arusha national park. Although a small park there were plenty of animals, birds and several lakes, all nestled in woodlands at the base of Mount Meru. Sara took a 1-hour walking safari which she has long wanted to do. Three hours later she returned after seeing cape buffalo, giraffe and warthogs up close, as well as a water fall and many interesting trees.  John and Ben waited in the very comfortable Toyota land cruiser and fended off the blue monkeys who tried to get in the truck through the open roof, they were after the ginger snap cookies carelessly left in Sara’s bag.

It was late afternoon, so we headed to a lovely viewpoint over the lake and enjoyed a hot picnic lunch, another pattern repeated most days. We ventured up the road to an alkaline lake and were treated to the sight of hundreds of flamingos one of John’s favorites. We spent over an hour taking photos and then slowly drove back to the lodge, stopping of course many times for more photos. Luckily Ben likes guests who want to stop and take their time viewing the animals and taking photos. A good thing because that is exactly what we planned for every day. The next post will talk about our four days  in Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks. Might be a week or more before we have Internet access again as we are heading to Serengeti, so in the meantime enjoy the photos so far!

Click here to see the photos of Sheldrick and Arusha

Wildlife seen: Orphan elephants, giraffe, cape buffalo, wart hogs, dik-dik (small antelopes that mate for life), blue monkeys, impala, zebra, black faced vervet monkeys, saddle billed storks, lesser flamingos (more pink), greater flamingos (white with pinks wing tips)

 

 

Norway - Fjords & Mountains

After we said our goodbyes to Lennart and the Sampi Nature Camp we headed west to Abisko a small mountain town close to the Norwegian border. It was a beautiful location, on the edge of a lake surrounded by  mountains. We woke to a cloudy snowy day, with a forecast for more of the same all day. Hard to take landscape photos in a white out, so we spent the day relaxing and working on photos. Sara went for a short walk on the lake - it was beautifully quiet in the snow.

Saturday 12th of March we started the 400km drive to our next location - Lofoten Islands, Norway. It was a beautiful day, and the drive was full of stunning views. We stopped for a picnic lunch to eat the sandwiches we'd picked up at the grocery store in Sweden, right before driving into Norway. We had been advised to get groceries there because it was cheaper than Norway.  This was a common theme, apparently Norwegians who are close to the border drove to stores in both Sweden and Finland to take advantage of lower prices. After lunch we continued the drive, which was really pretty, but full of narrow, twisty roads, with the sun now low enough to blind us!  We arrived at our cottage after 8 hours, having stopped numerous times to take advantage of the great weather and take photos.

We settled into our cabin, part of an old fishing camp in the tiny village of Hamnøy. We were on one of the small islands at the tip of the Lofoten island chain. The fisherman cabins are called Robu's, and are typically red. The camp had been remodeled to accommodate guests and was very comfortable. We particularly enjoyed the heated bathroom floors that were in all our rooms in Scandinavia. When we originally booked the cabin we had called and asked for one that was north facing so we could easily see any northern lights and for a little additional cost ended up with the most perfect location - well worth the extra! Around 10pm we popped outside to the deck in case there was any aurora out and we were treated to an incredible hour of lights, with the stunning backdrop of the mountains and fjords. We hadn't expected to see any lights in Lofoten as it is often cloudy on the coast, so this was a real treat!

Sunday we had an easy day, driving about 35km to the tip of the last island and exploring the small village of Reine.  Monday the 14th we explored the small villages north of us, enjoying the stunning beaches and watching some  brave people surfing in the arctic water. We drove back to Reine after lunch to take the ferry into one of the fjords. The captain must have thought crazy tourists, cause we sat outside in the biting wind to take videos and photos while the ferry completed its one hour round trip to pick up a few people from the tiny communities on the edges of the fjord. Although it was a cloudy day the views were still stunning. 

Tuesday we explored the fishing village of Nusfjord which includes a lovely café for lunch, and renovated buildings from the 1800's when fishing was the primary activity. It was a beautiful sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering around. Nusfjord is on the east side of the island, and we next headed to the west side to check out the beaches. We visited Vikten and Utakleiv, where we stayed to enjoy a magnificent sunset. It was quite cold and windy, but the experience was too lovely to hurry, so we stayed until the light was totally gone by 7pm. By the time we got back to our cabin it was quite late, and after a quick dinner we were thinking about calling it a day. Sara popped out to the deck to check for northern lights since it was clear, and saw what looked like the beginnings of something. John hurriedly joined her and we were treated to a stunning display of lights! What a perfect end to the day, we fell into bed around 1am exhausted but very happy!

Wednesday was our last full day and we spent the time returning to a few spots for additional photos, and then drove to Samsund, about 75km north east of our location. There were some fascinating views of the rocky fjords and bays at low tide. It was a rather cloudy day with rain on and off, but we still had an enjoyable time. We had an amusing time in a grocery store after buying a few items and using the self checkout. After walking into the exit barrier which didn't open we realized the receipt needed scanning. Not speaking a word of Norwegian Sara tried to scan the receipt and promptly had hand sanitizer squirted on the paper. Blast! By the time the scanner was found the hand sanitizer had blurred the bar code, so we still couldn't get out. Luckily an employee just waved us out the other side, Sara told her we were stupid tourists, to which she replied "You are not the worst". Just one of the funny experiences from our travels. We returned to the cabin and enjoyed a lovely meal at the local restaurant, including a Lofoten beer.

Thursday 17th of March was a long day of driving. We left our comfy red fisherman's cabin before 9am and drove the 515km to Senjafjord Hotel. It was a tiring 8 hours of driving, with driving rain and snow most of the way. We were extremely glad we had the little VW Polo since the roads were so narrow, and there was frequently large trucks coming towards us. A nasty weather pattern had settled over our part of Norway and the forecast was rain and snow for the rest of the week. We had been so lucky with the few days of clear weather we had in Lofoten. Senja is Norway's second biggest island at 1,580Sq km and is an area definitely worth exploring. Sadly we only had one night, but thoroughly enjoyed the comfortable hotel.

Friday was our last day on Norway. We spent the morning packing our bags trying to ensure each bag weighed less than the required 23kg (50lbs). It is very tough to pack light when you are spending three weeks in the arctic circle! We drove 235km to the town of Tromso. Weather was still terrible with driving rain and quite a bit of snowy roads in one area - good thing we still had our trusty VW Polo with the ice studs. We enjoyed a really fabulous meal at a restaurant just 3 minutes walk from our hotel -  Mathallen in case you are ever in the area!

Saturday 19th of March we flew to England to spend the week with Sara's mum and sister (Christine and Emma). We had an incredible time in Scandinavia - the whole trip exceeded our expectations and we have so many unforgettable memories. 

Click here to see the photos and videos!

 

 

Sweden - Sámi & Reindeer

Saturday 5th of March was our travel day to Sweden. Europcar luckily had the car ready for us by 3pm. Originally we were told 7pm, and we really didn't want to drive 270km in the dark and snowy conditions. We picked up our little VW Polo and managed to stuff all our bags into the back and set off. The roads were covered in hard packed snow most of the way, but it was surprisingly easy driving. We arrived at the Reindeer Lodge in Jukkasjärvi, near Karuna just after dark. 

We were staying in one of five idyllic cottage with a wood stove to keep warm, and access to a log cabin for food preparation and separate buildings for showers and bathrooms. The facilities are run by Nutti Sámi Siida, a family run Sami company who organize experiences based on Sámi culture. They offer this special lodging close to reindeer so there are opportunities to interact with these lovely animals. We fell asleep to the crackling of the wood fire, just delightful. 

The next morning we started the day learning about the relationship between the reindeer and the Sámi people who are an indigenous people who inhabit Sápmi, the areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. We learned the term Lapland is regarded as offensive and often used as an insult by others, so we will use Sápmi going forward. Sadly the story of their treatment, including loss of land, culture, language and overall way of life is very similar to Native Americans and other indigenous people. Traditionally the Sámi were semi-nomadic reindeer herders, following the reindeer as they migrated during different season. Climate change is significant enough even this far north that the reindeer's winter food source is impacted, and the reindeer were starving so the reindeer encounter and the lodging is source of income used to provide supplemental food for the family's reindeer herd. 

After fun feeding the reindeer, with promises for more interactions later we headed out to visit the Ice Hotel. Since 1989 the ice hotel has been creating an entire ice structure with rooms and hallways for people to use overnight. There are rooms with the standard bed of ice and deluxe rooms magnificent sculptures made by artists from all round the world. We had a wonderful few hours looking at all of the rooms, now minus the people who had spent the night sleeping on a bed of ice! We had considered this option, but decided the cost of $500/night too much for a cold night! We did finish off the visit with a drink at the ice bar, including glasses made totally of ice.

We returned to the cabin for a quick lunch, then started our reindeer encounter. Our guide, a young Sámi lady also called Sara picked us up along with several other guests from the Ice Hotel. We enjoyed a 30 minute snow mobile ride through the snow covered forest - and then realized we were back at the Reindeer lodge! As promised we were able to feed the reindeer again - that experience never gets old - and had the opportunity of reindeer sledding. This was a bit different to the dogs, we knelt or sat on a sled, and then with much whooping and hollering, ran round a large circular track. The reindeer started out fast and then slowed to walk which is more their natural pace. We finished up sitting in the lávvu (a tent structure similar to a teepee) with a large fire, and Sara talked about Sámi life while she prepared a traditional meal of flat bread, fried reindeer meet and lingon berries. It was a fun experience and we really enjoyed getting to know Sara and hearing her stories. 

Sadly we left the reindeer on Monday the 7th and headed 120km to the town of Gällivare to meet Lennart owner of the Sápmi Nature Camp where we were staying for the next three nights. Lennart grew up in a reindeer herding family, and wanted to to create sustainable tourism that doesn't threaten the reindeer and the herding, but instead shares knowledge about Sami life – both past and present. Little did we know what an amazing experience we would have over the next three days. We drove 70km to the camp, which offers a personal off the grid glamping experience for a few guests. Our lávvu had a full size bed, a wood burning stove for the day and automatic heater for night and solar powered lights. It was incredibly comfortable experience and we loved getting the fire going in the morning and nights and just sitting there together.  

We quickly learned Lennart is an incredible chef, and he provided three fabulous meals every day. The meals included fish, moose or reindeer, all caught and prepared by Lennart. Even Sara eat a little of the moose and reindeer, instead of staying strictly vegetarian. Meals were cooked and eaten in the log cabin, all very cozy along with fascinating conversation with Lennart. After a walk down to the lake for some sunset photos we enjoyed a very comfortable first night, and determined the lávvu stayed warmer in 24F temperatures than our house in Dallas!

Tuesday we drive about an hour west to Stora Sjofallet national park. The views were incredible, and we were lucky enough to see a moose mother and calf on the lake. We learned that the hydro electric dam built starting in the 1970's destroyed a large area of the reindeers traditional summer grazing - sadly even a renewable energy has impact. We returned to camp late afternoon and met James (UK) and Anna (Czech Republic) who were the other guests for the next two nights. After another fabulous meal and more great conversation we all rolled into our lávvus for the night - we could get used to this level of luxury, and very impressive given the whole camp is off grid!

Wednesday the 9th of March was an incredible day. We started off with the unbelievable experience of spending time with the reindeer herd belonging to Kenneth who is Lennart's brother. The reindeer need to be kept in pastures and fed supplemental food to ensure they survive the winter. Traditionally the reindeer would dig in the snow to find lichen, but climate change has caused warmer temperatures that melt the snow during the day and then freezes into ice at night. The reindeer can't smell the lichen through the ice so can't get enough food. It is very expensive to feed the reindeer all winter, and visits like ours helps provide income for the feed. Sara helped Kenneth feed the 300 reindeer. The bucket of feed was much heaver than it looked, and Kenneth said he uses about a ton of food with the two daily feedings. It was a magical experience just to stand and watch the reindeer, as well as listen to the musical sound their hooves made in the snow. 

After our unforgettable experience, Lennart had one more treat in store for us - a wood sauna and wash. First he showed us how to drill a hole in the ice and pump the water. Next the water had to be carried to the sauna and the hot water tank filled, and the wood fire lit. Two hours later we were ready! We sat in the sauna for a while enjoying the view of the lake, then it was time to jump and roll in the snow - we were threatened with a restricted breakfast if we didn't try this Sámi tradition. No pictures of this cause we held hands and ran out, rolled and ran back inside - plus we were naked!  It was surprisingly refreshing, enough that Sara who typically doesn't enjoy sauna's did it twice! After the snow jumping we washed up in the sauna, using the very hot water now heated by the wood fire. It was a perfect way to end an amazing day.

Thursday morning we sadly said our good byes and headed to our next location. More about that in the next post!

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