So it begins

Elephants are awesome

Published Date : December 29, 2004

We were up at dawn this morning, eager to continue exploring after yesterday’s success.  The storm last night passed us by with no more than a few claps of thunder and some brief showers.  The weather was still unsettled though, the air heavy and humid as dark grey clouds drifted by overhead.  Hopefully, it stays dry for us today.

Less than 20 minutes after leaving camp, we came across our herd of elephants again.  Just off the road in a clearing they were on the move again, headed out across the plains.  Elephants really are gentle giants.  They move so gracefully and quietly for their size, I could spend hours watching them.

This morning was all about the predators.  We paused to watch a pair of lions stalking an antelope through the trees until they wandered out of sight.  Continuing out into the open plains, Livingstone hit the brakes as a flash of orange exploded out of the ditch in front of us and streaked across the road.

“Cheetah!” 

We were all standing in an instant, tracking the cat across the plains.  It’s one thing to know that cheetahs are fast, but to actually see one in action was amazing.  The explosive power as they accelerate is incredible to watch.  Its target, a lone antelope, never saw it coming.  It put up a struggle when the cheetah latched onto it, but before long it was brought to ground.  We watched for a while longer as the cheetah ate its fill and a pair of vultures landed nearby waiting for their turn.  Within a couple of hours the carcass would be picked bare as the other scavengers picked up its scent.

As the morning wore on, the day grew quieter as the animals went to ground.  The rain finally caught up with us, so we headed for our next campsite to enjoy a hot lunch.  With the rain showing no signs of letting up, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the camp.   

By the time dinner rolled around, the rain had escalated into a violent thunderstorm.  Taking shelter in the covered eating area, we had a delicious stew for dinner as the lightning crackled overhead.  The storm finally abated in the evening and the sun returned just in time to set.

It was promising to be a quiet evening, but a lone elephant came by to entertain us.  It strolled casually into camp as we all watched, headed directly to the shower block and turned on a tap with its trunk!  After drinking its fill, it continued on into the bush on the other side of camp.  Clever thing.

Ngorongoro Crater

Published Date : December 30, 2004

It was cool and foggy as we packed our tents this morning.  Starting the journey back towards Arusha, our destination for the morning was the Ngorongoro Crater.

The Ngorongoro Crater is all that remains of a volcano that erupted and subsequently collapsed 2-3 million years ago.  A completely separate ecosystem from the nearby Serengeti, the crater is host to almost every species of animal found in East Africa.

Despite the dreary day, the crater did not disappoint.  Immediately on arrival in the caldera, we were greeted by a flock of ostriches scattering from the roadside as we drove past.  The ever familiar wildebeest and zebra were in abundance, but the big sightings for the day were several prides of lions, including some large males, and a black rhinoceros in the distance. 

Most of the animals were content to snooze away the morning.  Apart from the ostriches, the only real activity we saw all morning was a lone jackal chasing flamingoes while a vulture looked on.

Leaving the crater behind, we headed to a nearby Maasai village.  We were greeted by the women who performed a welcome dance for us.  Then the men showed off their jumping skills for us.  After the traditional greetings were done, we were invited to look around the village and see how they lived.   The village was simple with its wooden fence and mud huts, but it was evident that they took great pride in it.  Before leaving, we were given the opportunity to buy some of their crafts.  I ended up buying a cow-hide shield for about US$30, but I have no idea how I’m going to get it into Australia with their quarantine laws.  That’s a worry for another day though!

After another excellent lunch prepared by our guides, we continued our journey back to civilization.  It was slow going.  With all the rain over the last few days, once dry river beds were now full of flowing water and the roads were pools of mud.  We ended up with another flat tire just before leaving the park, but after a quick change we were back in business.

Returning to the Snake Park campsite in Arusha, we were welcomed back with another delicious spit roast dinner.  Taking advantage of the last of the light, I took the opportunity to explore and went for a walk around town.  It seems strange to me to be hearing the call to prayer in the middle of Africa, but Tanzania is a predominantly Muslim country, so I guess that’s to be expected.  In addition to the call to prayer another mainstay of the Arab world seems to be aggressive touts.  With the constant aggressive sales pitches being thrown at me from all directions it felt like I was back in Aswan again.  Not feeling entirely comfortable on my own in this town, I opted to retreat back to the campground before dark.

Auld Lang Syne

Published Date : December 31, 2004

It was a bit of a disorganized start to the day.  Tonight is New Year’s Eve and Anton gave us some options on how best to spend it.  We could either stay another day in Arusha at the Snake Park, or we could endure a long drive through to the capital Dar es Salaam.  The campsite at Dar is located right on the beach, plus our reward for the long drive would be an additional day on the island of Zanzibar.  It was a no-brainer. 

Over the course of our 13-hour drive, we passed through some beautiful scenery.  We were all hot and cranky by the time we reached Dar though.  Crawling our way through the city traffic, we had a two-hour wait for the ferry out to Kipepeo Beach Campground.  While we waited, Anton took Tristan to the hospital for a malaria test.  Tris had been feeling unwell for most of the day so they decided to get him checked out while we were in a major city. 

Finally reaching the campground, we found it in a sorry state.  Speaking to the staff we learned that just days earlier a tsunami had hit the east coast of Africa.  The last time I had spoken to my parents they had mentioned that a devastating earthquake and tsunami had occurred in South East Asia, but there had been no mention of Africa being hit as well.  There was sand and debris everywhere and many of the simple wooden shelters at the campsite had been damaged or completely destroyed. 

They had been very lucky though.  At only 1m, the wave hadn’t been large enough to cause any major damage to the coastline.  There were reports of minor injuries and a couple of missing fisherman, but nothing like the chaos that had struck in Asia.

Anton and Tris soon arrived back from the hospital with good news.  No malaria for Tristan, just dehydration. 

There were 10 overland trucks at the campground, but only two other groups were actually present, the rest were on Zanzibar enjoying some rest and relaxation.  Dancing away the night on a white sand beach on the shores of the Indian Ocean, it was a fantastic way to ring in the New Year.