Finally! My Trip Report Begins...Tanzania, March

Old Jun 16th, 2006, 11:20 AM
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Finally! My Trip Report Begins...Tanzania, March

After several subtle hints from fellow Fodorites, finally I will attempt to put into words the most fabulous experience of my life. I a 47 year old mother of three who grew up watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kindgom, Hatari, Born Free, etc. I have felt drawn to Africa from as far back as I can remember, yet never allowed myself to truly consider going until one day I finally verbalized my intense desire to my sister (who lives in the Midwest), I am on the SE coast. After talking with her and hearing her say..."Let's go", I was off and searching the web for as much information as I could possibly absorb about safaris. I kept coming back to one website, that being Thomson's Safaris and realized I could research this thing to death and never get anything done, or I could take a leap of faith, make a decision and book a safari. I booked in April of 2005 for a March 2006 safari in Tanzania. By the way, I didn't become a Fodor's addict until the fall of 2005.
Itinerary:
Classic Camping Safari:
Mountain Village Lodge, Arusha (one nite)
Tarangire Classic Camp (2 nights)
Gibb's Farm (one night)
Ngoronforo Classic Camp (2 nights)
Serengeti Lodge (1 night)
Serengeti Wildlife Camp (2 nights)
Mt. Meru Hotel (day room)

I could write volumes about the wonderful anticipation leading up to March 17, but will begin that morning. I remember opening my eyes, heart thundering in my chest and thinking ....I AM GOING TO AFRICA TODAY!!! Well, that was almost true! My sister and I met up in Logan airport only to discover our flight on NW to Amsterdam was delayed 24 hours, yes 24 HOURS! AUGH....we were SO disappointed, yet the excitement was afresh the next morning. I was worried about flying coach all that way, but must say we lucked out and were able to find enough empty seats so we could both stretch out. Our luck held with the flight from AMS to Kilimanjaro as well. Truly, it seemed like we were there in the blink of an eye. We were met at the airport around 9:30 p.m. by Willie, our guide. We loved our room and surroundings at Mountain Village Lodge, but it was a bit blurry as we were indeed very tired.
Now, to the safari. Let me preface this by saying part of my hesitation in writing this report is wondering how in the world I can put into words all that I had experienced. Understand this report will not do it justice, there just aren't words adequate, but I will give it my best shot.
We drove through Arusha the next morning on our way to Tarangire. Oops, need to back up just a bit here. I emailed Thomson's a few days before we left to see how many would be joining us, and when she told me it would just be me and my sister I couldn't believe it. We had booked a group safari, but were getting a private one!!!! Okay, back to Tarangire. First off, this park was beautiful. I will show my stupitidy here, I thought Africa would be one giant flat dust bowl! The beauty of the country would continue to astound me. Just inside the park gates I fly up out of my seat and exclaim "Elephants!" I knew I was going to Africa, and knew I would see animals, yet that first sighting was thrilling. To see these animals in their natural surroundings is such a treat. Impala and gazelles were never high on my list at zoo visits, yet seeing these beautiful creatures running, leaping, playing was fantastic. We also saw our first giraffe in Tarangire. We especially loved the giraffe. We would come around a bend and there they would be. Each and every one of them would stop (in mid chew)..and look at us as if to say "Hey, whatcha doing"? We continued thru the park making our way to camp and spotted baboons, warthogs, and one female lion in the distance. We were met in camp by our 8 attendants! This was a bit daunting, and were relieved when a family of 5 showed up a little while later. I never expected the amount of care we were to receive.
We slept on thick mattresses with luxurious linens, lulled to sleep by the sounds of Africa! I slept like a rock and missed all the goings on during the night. Apparently the vervet monkeys were playing a bit noisly near camp. The next night was to bring a bit more excitement that even I couldn't sleep thru, but I'll get to that in a minute.
We spent the entire next day on a game drive in the park , all the while enjoying the wonders around each bend in the road. I honestly didn't feel like I was in Africa yet, just not how I picuted it and I also think my senses were bombarded and only able to absorb so much. Around 4 p.m we arrive back in camp, met with warm, wet towels and juice. We adjourned to our tent to sit on the veranda. Our tent was placed next to a very dry, large riverbed. Sitting, relaxing we begin to hear thunder in the distance and we spot an elephant on the hill, just on the other side of the riverbed. The thunderstorm builds and we are forced inside the tent for about an hour. After the storm we venture back out on the veranda. Suddenly we notice the same elephant has now moved much closer to camp, but still remains on the other side of the riverbed. We watch, he saunters over to his side of the edge of the bed, he walks down into the bed and starts heading across. We get up out of our seats, as does the family in the next tent, to observe the elephant. As we are gathered together, watching him we look over our shoulders to see our staff of 8 quickly approaching from down the road. We quickly realize they have a much more serious attitude about the approaching elephant than the American tourists do! Even though this elephant is walking very slowly across the riverbed right for us, he is covering ground very quickly. He then walks up our side of the bed, just down the road, crosses the road and walks into the trees. We can't believe how close he is and contiune to crouch behind tents, vehicles, etc., to observe. In the blink of an eye, he turns, heads down the road heading straight into camp, ears out and begins thundering toward us! I found out something about myself, yes indeed I still can run fast, if needed. We all piled into the vehicles as waited to see what would happen. Luckily we had a park ranger in camp with us, he fired a shot in the air and away the elephant went. This was such a bonding experience between campers and staff, we took a "post elephant incident" picture! What fun!
That night we fall into bed again, we laughed many times about how tired we were at the end of the day after doing absolutely nothing but being driven around all day. My sister said "I almost don't want to fall asleep, it is so much fun just listening to the sounds of Africa at night." Another storm came thru and the dry riverbed was filled with rushing water. Around 2 a.m. I am sound asleep one moment and eyes wide open, awake, heart pounding, and paralyzed the next. I literally couldn't move a muscle, afraid even to speak. My sister whispers..."Did you hear THAT?" It took me a moment, but finally in the quietest of whispers I say "YES." There was a hyena right, and I do mean right outside our tent. He had just announced himself vocally, and we could now hear him walking around. This is what I came for, I absolutely loved it!
That's all for today, more to follow....
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 11:49 AM
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Thank you (as I sit back, relax and begin to read) -
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 12:00 PM
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Sounds marvelous!

Waiting for my own first safari in less than 2 months now - like you arranged a year ago.

Looking forward to the continuation of your experience very much!
 
Old Jun 16th, 2006, 12:03 PM
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Teri - Incredible - I felt as if I was right there with you watching that elephant. I've read how dangerous they can be and run if you see their ears flapping! Wow - exciting huh?

Hyena...sounds of Africa...keep it coming!
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 12:13 PM
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Great start! Keep it coming!
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 12:50 PM
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I don't know about doing it justice but you have me on the edge of my seat! Can't wait to read more! I'm going away for a week probably without internet access so am going to have to wait until I get back for more!

Thank you thank you and more please!
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 01:02 PM
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A great start! I remember our first trip we jumped out of our seats and screamed "zebra!" at our first sighting

What happened to your flight, weather delay? Were you originally scheduled to fly in a day early? It doesn't sound like you missed any part of your safari.

Great that you lucked out and ended up with a private safari. The elephant encounter sounded like an adrenaline rush. Can't wait for more!
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 01:47 PM
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Patty, I still do that! Although admittedly generally it's only for the first zebra of the day. Each day. What can I say? The pleasure just doesn't diminish!
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 04:57 PM
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The beauty of a tent, I doubt you'd get hyenas scrabbling at your bedroom door in a lodge...
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 05:09 PM
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My first few minutes in the Mara we were snapping pictures of zebra and wildebeest like crazy. Or guide told us that by the end of the day we will have seen so many of them we won't care anymore... 2 weeks later they were still great to see.

But the first sighting of a family of elephnts just walking along on the Mara was simply breathtaking. Yes after years of seeing elephants in tiny areas in zoos, to see a family of 15 just walking along on a sunny morning was unbeatable!

It makes you feel they should never be at zoos again!

Which leads me to want to post a follow up as a new post.

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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 05:57 PM
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Patty,
As far as why our flight was delayed 24 hours...good question. We arrived in Boston around noon, up until 8 p.m. they kept telling us the plane was still in Amsterdam with mechanical difficulies, but would be heading back for us soon! Finally they put us up in a hotel that night. Only when I returned home did I find out that NW had called my home around noon (same time I am trying to check in at Boston)spoke w/my husband and told him the flight was cancelled. NW agents were being extreemly tight lipped, and we really don't know what happened. Our travel insurance does not pay for trip interruption/delay if it is due to mechanical difficulties.
Our first day would have been a visit to a small rural village on the slopes of Mt. Meru and another night at Mt. Village.
At the time, it was very frustrating, but in the grand scheme of things it mattered little.
Now, on with the story....
We are still in Tarangire...it is 2 a.m., we are wide awake, both needing to go to the bathroom and both scared to go alone.This may sound silly, but the sound produced by that hyena was chilling to say the least, so two grown women head to the bathroom glued to one another. Our bathroom is attached to the back of our tent with a small breezeway in between. We are only 2 zippers and a few feet from the bathroom, and it is totally enclosed in canvas, yet we go together, trying desperately to keep our laughter down to a whisper so as not to alert the hyena. When we both leave the sleeping portion and enter the breezeway my sister says.."look up". Hyena, what hyena...the stars! Oh, what a beautiful sight. This wasn't a planetarium, it was real. The previous night it had rained and couldn't see the stars and earlier this evening it was cloudy as well, so what a wonderful, unexpected surprise. This was to be my first of many experiences I think people refer to when they say Africa will be life changing. Oh, yes there is indeed more to life than jobs, houses, cars, The Gap and Burger King.
Wednesday morning we head for Gibbs Farm. We stop at a shopping center for souviners and I made the mistake of buying too much, thinking I wouldn't have the opportunity again. Later I learned all the lodges have wonderful shops with much better prices. Oh well, live and learn. We arrive at Gibbs in time for lunch. Again I was astounded at the beauty of this place! It was from Gibbs that I sent my first email home. I so vividly remember sitting on the terrace in front of that computer, writing to my family and feeling a bit like Dorothy in Oz. The staff at Gibbs were outstanding (and here again, words just don't do justice). It is here, with a wonderful man named Richard that I begin to pick up on something Africans do differently than Americans upon greeting someone, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I begin to feel as if I am doing something wrong, yet these very respectful, gracious people aren't going to point it out to me, I must learn it on my own....and I do, a bit later. This is a good time to mention how much our attempts at Swahili were appreciated. Our guide taught and encouraged us along the way. I would have studied my swahili phrases a bit more had I known. Since we are touching on the language a bit I'll mention that every morning in camp you are gently awoken to the sound of "jambo, jambo"...I've tried and tried, but my husband just won't do it! Truly, what a wonderful way to start the day!
We spent one night at Gibbs and stayed for a hike to an elephant mineral lick the next morning. By far camps were our favorite accommodations, but boy does a nice long hot shower feel good every once in awhile!
As we bump along on teeth rattling roads leading into the crater I am wondering if it could possibly be all that I have expected. The first glimpse was breathtaking, and once it finally opened up in front of me it seemed surreal. There were many times on safari I found myself thinking...am I really seeing this! We head for camp, this one in a thick forest, unlike the openess of the first. Very different surrounding, new staff, same tents. We notice our tents are placed much closer together, almost uncomfortably so...especially when dashing to and from the shower with nothing but a towel wrapped around you. We have a Massai Warrior in camp, and we enquire about the closeness of the tents as well as "Mr. Kebe" and are told both are for our protection. Protection from what I ask? Are there lions lurking in those trees? We are told we are being protected from the Massai, whose land we are camping on. Apparently there have been problems with theft, so Mr. Kebe stays awake all night so we can sleep soundly. From time to time we do see Massai herding their cattle through the trees. Again, part of the adventure. Due to the closeness of the tents we (my sister and I) had to keep our giggling down at night, but of course knowing this made it all the harder to do so. What fun we had.
We head out for our first descent to the crater floor and once we land on solid ground are speechless. We are in the land that time forgot! Everywhere you look there are animals of one species or another. What fun to see all the youngsters leaping, running, playing. We come upon a large pride of lions having an afternoon nap (lions do alot of napping). We immediately comment on how beautiful their coats are and how much healthier they appear than the lions in zoos. I don't know what it is about cats, but it was especially thrilling each time we came upon them. Most of the animals we encountered showed atleast some sort of interest in us or another. Lions, just like my house cats had such an attitude. Often times they would be passed out and wouldn't so much as twitch an ear when we sat staring thru the lens of our cameras waiting for a great shot. I especially loved the "looks" we got from many of them, as if to say...Ugh, more people, why can't they just leave us alone. I loved the cats! After an our afternoon drive we head back up to our camp. Thundershowers passed over earlier, the roads are rutted, muddy and we learn VERY slippery. We did just shy of a 360 degree turn. WOW! By the time I realized I might perhaps be a bit scared, it was over and we rocked back into place. Our guide felt terrible, and it was then we realized how very much we trusted this man. A bit about our guide, or perhaps guides in general? Willie was a very traditional African man, and I must admit I was a bit uncomfortable at first. We met one of the other guides early on in our first camp, he was much friendlier, easier to understand, more outgoing, etc., and I began to wish we had him instead. My sister and I discussed this and we realized the other guide was simply more Americanized. It wasn't long before I realized what a gem we had in Willie. You spend your days in the vehicle with your guide and eat every meal with them as well. He took his job very seriously, and to him that meant keeping us safe, showing us his beautiful country and all it had to offer, and educating us along the way. By the end of the journey I had learned so much about respect and honor from this man, but we as well had rubbed off on him a bit. Our final evening spent dining in camp had him clutching his napkin to his mouth trying to contain his laughter. The cultural exchanges would be my second item that falls under the category of life changing. And I thought I was just going to see some animals!
The crater was amazing, my expectations were exceeded by leaps and bounds. Watching lions vs. cape buffalo was fantastic...the buffalo won. Spotting our first cheetah, coming upon a beautifully maned lion passed out in the road, only to come back by 6 hours later to find he had only moved 10 feet! Ostrich, wildebeest, hyena, hippos, and on and on.
Saturday morning when we crossed the crater and began or ascent out to the Serengeti I began to feel sad, but quickly focused on how very fortuate I was to experience something so incredible.
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Old Jun 16th, 2006, 07:03 PM
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Counting this is just the most marvelous trip report that I have ever read. You make it come alive! OH! I can't wait!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you !!!!!!!!!
 
Old Jun 16th, 2006, 08:08 PM
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countingdown,

It was a pleasure and a privilege to read such a passionately written trip report. You really seemed to soak up Africa and it was great to see your excitement pour out in your writing.
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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 02:54 AM
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countingdown

Your trip report is WONDERFUL! You have managed to capture all the feelings I experienced and put them into words.From dreaming of Afica but never believing it will be a reality, to the giggling at night and the impact of the cultural experience (I also thought I was just going for the wildlife) Reading your report has triggered so many "flashbacks" that I am sitting her giggling about it all!
Thank you!

Lily
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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 04:09 AM
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I know I'm smiling and reliving my own "first safari" experieince when reading trip reports from first-timers. They're so personal and honest. This is wonderful. Thanks.
 
Old Jun 17th, 2006, 05:16 AM
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Wonderful storytelling, Counting. I enjoyed every line. Thank you!
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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 05:18 AM
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Countingdown,
What a perfect description of a first safari! Asante sana.
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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 06:16 AM
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Great report!

I hope you know such reports save countless dollars in psychotherapy for those of us between trips.
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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 11:14 AM
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Well, this has been a learning experience…I posted a lengthy part 3 early this morning only to find it never showed up. This time I will write elsewhere, cut and paste. If the other one shows up, please don’t sift through both. AUGH…Here goes AGAIN….
Saturday morning, after one long last look at the crater we begin our long journey to the Serengeti. I am experiencing a bit of weariness but am very excited at what the day may bring. I found the drives between camps to be very enjoyable, they are filled with all sorts of things I’ve never witnessed before. Massai dot the landscape, their brilliant reds and blues stand out on the barren landscape. We passed many children, very young children, standing by the side of the road waving, we waved back. Many of these children simply waved, others would wave and then quickly turn their wave into a palm’s up position, begging. It was sad to see and our guide did not seem pleased, we believed him to be embarrassed by this behavior. Today we were going to visit a Massai village, something I was very much looking forward to. Growing up my favorite movie was Hatari, and so vividly remember watching Dallas dance with the Warusha women and thinking (at 10 years of age) how wonderful that would be. I really had no idea what to expect, other than we were going for a visit. We pulled up next to the village, got out of the vehicle and the Massai began to parade directly in front of us, dancing, chanting, jumping. Fascinating! Once the dance ended the Massai women encircled us and brought us forward through the gate (branches) into their village. Just inside the gates the women gather even closer to us (us being the female tourists) and one woman places her necklace around my neck. I am trying desperately to absorb this, but I feel sensory overload coming on. I wanted to be able to take this all in, but it was so vastly foreign to me I found myself having a hard time. If they were close before now we just seem to be one, all packed tightly together. The woman whose necklace I am wearing is holding my left hand. I notice a shy, younger girl to my right and just before we begin the dance I extend my right hand to her. She hesitated briefly, her face lit up with a beautiful smile, we grasped hands and began to dance (jump). I was laughing so hard, just having fun, but also realizing these women are making fun of me. I couldn’t get that blasted necklace to go up and down anywhere near as good as they could. They are shouting at me, and I understand not a word of it, all the while all of us laughing. Just girls having fun! After we dance we are led (in a huddle) to one of their huts. All 5”2” of me has to crouch down to enter. Once inside we are seated on the bed, this being one bed made of cowhide for 5 family members! Guess privacy isn’t an issue for the Massai. We are in the smoke filled hut for just a few minutes, but long enough for my teensy bit of claustrophobia to kick in. I suddenly find myself wanting OUT. Once outside the hut we are herded to a fence adorned with beaded trinkets. Each person is trying to get you to buy their beads and it is difficult to focus due to their salesmanship efforts. I find some bracelets for my daughters and then decide I had had enough. I am SO surprised at my reaction to the visit, I posted on it earlier, and think perhaps now it was just too strong of an invasion on my personal space. We leave thru the gate and are directed to the school. I was disappointed, feeling it was a mock school for our benefit. I was able to snap some photos here and remember two beautiful young girls standing together. I tried to convey how beautiful I thought them to be. I later wondered if beauty mattered to these people, thinking perhaps other qualities might be more important to them. I doubt our anorexic Hollywood idols would be held in such high regard with the Massai. Hmmm, #3 in the life changing category. Once back in our vehicle I turned to my sister and said “So, did you enjoy your visit to Mars”? Truly, you might have well of plopped me down on another planet!
We stop at Olduvai/Oldupai Gorge on the way to our lodge, perhaps it was my weariness, or the sensory bombardment, but I wasn’t as awe struck as some. We now head out on rapidly deteriorating roads that seem to go on forever. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not unhappy, just a bit tired. We reach the entrance to the Serengeti and our guide tells us it is okay to pop out for a photo. As my sister is snapping a photo of me standing under the sign I again find myself thinking…am I really here? Did I truly dance with the Massai, am I in the Serengeti??

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Old Jun 17th, 2006, 11:33 AM
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A very interesting and honest reaction to a totally different culture. I must admit that I was wondering about that. Thanks for being so open about a confusing situation.
 

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