Great First Game Drive

Jambo, again, Rafiki (Friend)!

Davis' Land Cruiser

So we have had an interesting two days.  We left our hotel in Arusha in a van driven by our driver for the week, whose name is Davis. Our group is in three Toyota Land Cruisers provided by Ranger Safaris. They are very comfortable,  and need to be,  as we will be spending a lot of time in them.

Robert’s Tribal Colors 

Our first stop was at a place to see a demonstration of how Tanzanite is mined and produced, and, of course, to sell us some. A couple of our group bought some but it was a bit rich for what was left of my budget (rarer than diamonds), so we moved on.

We headed west and south from Arusha on a road that had miles under construction and had quite a few "diversions" on to what was supposed to be a graded parallel. The road was dusty and REALLY bumpy. Davis told us it was our first (of many) "African massages." Not very comfortable,  and a bit tough on the back,  but many of the roads we will be on this trip are not paved,  so hakuna matata,  I guess.

We had a great picnic lunch under the shade in a banana plantation at Mto Wa Mbu ("Mosquito River"), moved on to climb the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley,  overlooking Lake Manyara National Park . The damage from the floods from last month is still very evident, but there have been enough repairs to let traffic through,  albeit at a snail’s pace. And there was where we saw our first "wild" animal, a baboon,  of course.  Then there were five baboons,  then ten,  and so on.

That first baboon 

We arrived at our latest home away from home, the Lake Manyara Serena hotel, another great spot in a stunning setting at  the top of the grade.  Each room, again, is designed in a truly African style.  The decor for this one is baskets:  basket ceilings,  light fixtures, etc.  Very cool.

And they have the most amazing infinity pool.  Because this lodge is built on the edge of a huge cliff, the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley, and the pool is right on the edge,  the pool truly disappears into the horizon. So we arrive at the hotel,  check in, and then Robert takes us on a nature walk around the grounds, accompanied by a couple of guards, just in case the wrong animal wanders by. We have had a bushbuck (antelope) visit while we were at the pool, and a family of baboons descend upon the lawn during breakfast.

Our Leopard,  Courtesy of Jan Spooner

After breakfast,  we load up the vehicles and head out on our first game drive,  several hours at Lake Manyara NP.  During our incredible drive today we saw more baboons,  blue-back monkeys,  warthogs,  flamingos, hippos, wildebeest, impala, glimpses of each of two different elephants, and the highlight of our day,  a beautiful leopard, sleeping in a tree, spotted by our eagle-eyed driver, Davis the Great.

What a day!  Many visitors never see a leopard, and we see it on our first game drive!!

Back to the hotel for a quick lunch (I'm done raving about the food.  Suffice it to say that each meal is terrific!),  and then Robert , who is himself a Maasai chieftain, took us to visit the nearby village of a Maasai friend.

We were treated to a Maasai welcome song and dance, the famous warriors' dance that includes a leaping contest straight up into the air, a lesson about how the women construct their huts from mud, cow dung, and water, and finally a tour of the chief’'s hut, where the fire pit inside both warms and provides smoke to keep the mosquitoes away. We bought some hand-made souvenirs at outrageous prices (just consider it a donation), and listened while the village pre-schoolers demonstrated their mastery of the ABC song.

As we headed back up the escarpment one last time,  we felt satisfaction that we had had a very rewarding day.

Sunday morning brings check out here and a drive to the rim of the world famous Ngorongoro Crater, which should be one of the true highlights of the week.

Asante Sana, again, for putting up with all these words. I hope I am giving you a true picture of how awesome this experience is. Hope all is well with you all.

Jay