The Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Mt. Kilimanjaro

  Arusha, Tanzania
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

After returning from the Masai Mara National Reserve I met up with the group that I will be traveling with for 21 days to Victoria Falls. We are 16 in total plus a tour leader, driver, and cook in a big vehicle that is sort of half bus and half semi-truck. The vehicle sits 30 so there is plenty of space for everyone on board. We all have jobs on the trip and work in groups --- I am part of the group they call the "Dogs Bodies", which has to set up the tables for lunch and dinner as well as pull all the tents and luggage from the vehicle when we arrive at camp. Other groups include cooks helpers and dishwashers.
Our first day we set out for Arusha, which is a 6 hour drive from Nairobi and in the country of Tanzania. We would be based there for the next 4 nights as we head off to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The camp at Arusha was cool, except for the part that the campsite was mostly rocky and not grassy (good thing I brought an air mattress and battery operated pump with me). It did have a proper pub-like bar with music and a dart board that provided good times in the evening. The next few nights however would be quite an adventure as we would be camping in the bush amongst the animals.

Our Group to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

Once again an early morning start was on the schedule as we would drive through the Ngorongoro Crater to get to the Serengeti and start a 3 day safari. For the trip we broke into 3 separate Landcruiser 4WD vehicles and headed off on the adventure. I was in a vehicle with Shawn and Aaron (England), Johan (Norway) and Lotta(Sweeden).

On the rim of the crater

Entrance to the Serengeti

Not long after entering the Serengeti we came to a screeching halt as there was a lioness and 3 little cubs 10 feet from the road. Our driver, Isaac, told us the cubs were probably about 3-4 weeks old. It was cute to sit there and watch the cubs playing around with each other and then one at a time walking over to mama lion let her smell them and then going drinking for milk. Johan was especially happy because now he had seen all the Big Five, so we all gave him a congratulatory high five.

Lion Cub 1

Lion Cub 2

Lion Cub 3

Lion cubs feeding on mom

After awhile we continued on with Isaac telling us we had a 50% chance of seeing something special up ahead. Apparently another driver had told him there was a leopard in a tree with its freshly killed gazelle.

Leopard

Leopard's Kill

Leopard and its kill in a tree

That's 4 down and 1 to go ---All I need is the Rhino. After the leopard sighting we continued on to camp.

Rules for Camping in the Bush: 1)No food in your tent 2)Shine your flashlight around to look for animals before leaving your tent in the middle of the night 3)No food in your tent!

As I pitched my tent at camp I could see Zebras and Wildebeests grazing 50 feet away and hoped there weren't any lions around. Our tour leader told us that she had never heard of a lion attack, but elephants once picked up a tent and moved it with its trunk. I figured I would be just fine because I was going to follow the rules. The night was pretty uneventful as we just sat around the campfire drinking some beers and listening to the hyenas yelping in the distance.

Serengeti Bushcamp

Serengeti Campfire

The next evening we camped at the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. The campsite ground was covered in what I thought was cow manure so I found an isolated place that was clear and pitched my tent. I was separated from everyone else but was quite happy to be clear from all the shit on the ground.

Buffalo Shit in the Camp

Unfortunately it probably wasn't a good idea to separate myself from all the other tents keeping with the old Asian passage "If you leave the group a wolf will eat you". That night as it was getting late and most people went to sleep there was a few of us still around the campfire keeping warm due to the freezing conditions at the 8000ft above sea level crater a buffalo came into the camp. This is when I realized it wasn't cow manure but buffalo shit all over the place. This when one of the women told us they come in here every night to graze and you would here them all night chomping on the grass. She also told us that a buffalo killed a Masai a few weeks back when it charged him. I'm thinking great I got a huge buffalo 20 feet away chomping on grass and moving closer. This is when Isaac, our driver, ran off to find someone to help only to come back with some guy carrying an AK-47 and big rock to through at the buffalo.

AK - 47 Security at the Ngorongoro Crater Campsite

He got close to the buffalo and told us to get in the landcruisers as he was going to try and scare it away. We were all just laughing are asses off as we figured the last thing this guy needed to do was through a rock at it and agitate it, fortunately when he through the rock it charged off in the opposite direction. At was at this point they recommended we go to our tents. I got over to my tent and noticed that some young idiotic Canadian girl (not in our group) had pitched a tent near mine and was shining a bright flashlight at the buffaloes. Yes, buffaloes, there was about 4-5 buffaloes grazing in the campsite and she wanted to get real close to them. An African guy was telling her to get in her tent but she persisted to wanting to get closer. I told her this wasn't a petting zoo and the buffalo were one of the big five. "The Big Five, What is that?" she said. "Five of the most dangerous animals in Africa" I told her. She finally gave up and went in her tent and I just thought what an idiot and wondered if she was stupid enough to take food in her tent. I went in my tent and tried to fall asleep when I felt the side of my tent pushing on my head. Oh Shit, there is a Buffalo brushing against my tent as he chomps away on the grass. I just curled up in the fetal position holding my head lamp in my hand and waited for it to go away when I saw other side of my tent pushing in. All I thought about was a new African passage "If you leave the group a buffalo will trample you in your tent". I don't know how I fell to sleep but I woke up 6 hours later still curled up in the fetal position and freezing my ass off, but relieved a buffalo didn't trample me. It was still a little dark outside so I screamed out is anyone out there and are there any buffaloes still grazing around?

Serengeti Sunrise 2

It was an great experience and I am glad I went through it, unscathed of course and able to tell you about it. Overall the 3 days were fun-filled and exciting. I've seen about every animal out there now, even got to see a couple of feedings (pictures in the album), finally saw a Rhino, even though it was through binoculars (All Big Five!), and more fantastic landscape. I was glad to get back to the Arusha camp and use a toilet and take a shower (none at the campsites as it was true bush camping).

Settin up my tent at the camp in Arusha

The next morning 5 of us got up and headed to Kilimanjaro Airport for an early flight to Zanzibar. We decided to forgo 2 days of uneventful driving and camping for a 50 minute flight to Zanzibar and a couple of extra nights there. It was well worth it as I was able to get some clear photos of the mountain (it was covered in clouds later in the day when the vehicle drove by) and then fly over it in the plane.

Mt. Kilmanjaro

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the plane