The Serengeti: How many wildebeests can you see at once?

Our Regional air flight to Seronera stopped first Lake Manyara, then at Klein’s Camp then at Grometi, and finally at Seronera. We flew over Ngorogoro crater and surprisingly saw quite a bit of game from the plane, including zebras, giraffes, elephants, and wildebeests. Just before landing at Seronera, we saw a long column of animals in a V-shaped formation heading north. I wondered, was this the migration? Arriving about 11am we were met by our guide, Lucas from Tanz. Photographic Safaris. Before going any further, let me say he was great…from beginning to end. His first task was to inform us that he had decided not to take us directly to the mobile camp, but to see some stuff and have a picnic lunch first. We readily agreed. He asked us what we’d like to see and we all answered in unison..”the migration!” Ok he said, lets see it. Right from the airport we saw lots of zebras, topi, etc. We even saw a leopard in a tree within half a mile from the airport. We had a nice picnic lunch and while eating saw a long line of hartebeest, zebras, etc. This was the actual migration. So after lunch we started west and caught the western spur of the migration. It’s hard to describe what this is like. You simply can’t count the number of animals. Also, the sounds are overwhelming. Dust everywhere. Your eyes dart all around. What to look at now? So after maybe an hour of watching, we started up to our mobile camp, stopping along the way to see lots of other things. Here’s a list of what we saw that first day. Then I’ll get to a description of the mobile camp.

Zebra
Topi
Hartebeest
Superb starting
Yellow weaverbird
Leopard
Hippos
Egyptian goose
Lion in sausage tree
White backed vulture
Hartebeest
Love birds
Lesser masked weaver bird
Tsetse fly (the only ones of the trip)
Rufus tailed weaver
Ostrich
Thompson’s gazelle
Maribou stork
Hooded vulture
White backed vulture
Girffon vulture
Giraffe
Baboons
Impala
Pigmy mongoose
Wart hogs
Magpie shrike
Elephant
And did I mention zebras & wildebeests!

Welcome back and keep it coming! Any photos? Were you on a private safari, btw? (I know it probably says in the other thread but...)

Yes we were on a private safari...just the 2 couples. And what a difference that made. As you shall see later, we decided exactly how much time to spend on each thing. I'm working on setting up a web page with photos. As we speak, my computer is crunching away on a DVD so I can show folks my pics. Over 2000, so it will take some time. I'll post a link soon.

Hello and welcome back Marty,
So far I'm enjoying your report and can't wait to hear more. We also stayed at Kikoti and used Tanzanian Photographic and loved them. Our guide Bericke was very knowledgable,personable and always set us up well for shots. He always seemed to keep us away from the hordes of other safari goers.

If you want to see some Kikoti shots go to;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4&tid=34817288

Look at the beginning batch of pics.
Sherry

Thanks for your report. Looking forward to more.

Mobile Camp & Day 2 of the migration

So we arrived at our mobile camp…signposted by a red plastic cup hanging from a tree branch--two tracks through the tall grass to a high point overlooking the plains. The plains were filled with animals, all moving north. Tents set up for us, one for each couple, then maybe four more—a dinning tent, a kitchen tent, and two for the staff. A staff of 7 plus our guide! What a setting. We first had a tour of the tents. Something like 4 rooms (depending on how you count). King-sized metal framed bed, chests to hold things, a separate room for sink and storage area, a toilet that flushes (still can’t figure out how they did that), an undressing room, and a shower. Both the sink and shower had reservoirs, which were filled with hot water. This is not your old-fashioned camping out thing…this is luxury!

We dropped our stuff and sat around a nice fire on comfortable chairs and had a nice bottle of South African red wine and snacks. Now this is living--a nice hot shower and then dinner. Dinner and all other meals were cooked on a metal box filled with coals. Some of the best food we had on the whole trip. Dinner the first night was tilapia and so on…very nicely done. I later found out they had a freezer on site power by generator. We finished our wine by the fire and watched the sunset and listened to the mewing of the wildebeests. They sang us to sleep that night, along with an occasional lions’ roar and the sounds of hyenas. Could this get any better?

Woke up in the morning to freshly brewed coffee and sat on our “verandah” for a while before having a great custom cooked breakfast. Then it was off to the show.

We drove north toward Kobo, detouring around several kopjes in search of lion and then we caught up with the migration. They were everywhere; heading north. At one point we inched through the wide swath of animals who parted to let us through, and then we stopped and the wave passed around on both sides of us. We were in the middle of migration, literally. Dust, sounds, frantic male wildebeests rounding up females, fights with other males, zebras baying away…you name it. I took some video and tons of photos. It’s utterly hard to describe. I couldn’t believe we had arrived in the area at just the right time. We hadn’t planned our trip specifically to catch the migration, but catch it we did. Fortunately, I had read on Fodors about the Serengeti and we had extended our stay there. Thank you Fodorites. Later we spent a while watching a family group of baboons. It was great seeing the interaction between males, females and babies. Got lots of great photos here. Then we were off to Kobo Lodge to use their bathrooms and watch the whole migration pass over their football field! Back to the camp for lunch, nap and then out again in the afternoon.

Here’s the new stuff we saw on this day:
Secretary bird
Coqui sunbird
Grant’s gazelle
Guinea fowl
Tawny eagle
Pigmy falcon
Hildebrandt’s starling
Lappet faced vulture
Agama lizard
Sooty chat
Rock hyrax
Leopard turtle
Lilac breasted roller
White-headed buffalo weaver
Klipspringer
Black backed jackal
Martial eagle
Bateleur eagle
Elephant in musth

Next, Day 3 in the Serengeti and the drama of the waterhole.

What luck! Looking forward to the contiuation!

Wonderful! Great trip so far. Thank you for the added info on visa and Yellow Fever Certificate.

Action in the Serengeti

On Day 3 in the Serengeti we traveled to the central and western regions. We jokingly said to Lucas that we’d had enough the migration…show us something different! Anyway we spent a leisurely down to the central region stopping to observe family activity in elephants and giraffes really close. Took lots of quality pics as the light was superb. Also got good looks at Cape buffalo interactions. Then we happened across a waterhole where huge numbers of zebra and wildebeests were drinking—like a rest area along the interstate. We were perfectly positioned for watching and photos as perhaps 100-200 animals took turns coming in to drink. First zebras, then wildebeests, and sometimes mixed groups. Lots of action as inevitably some would spook and masses would run out of the water while others came in. Dust everywhere and really exciting to watch. Then we noticed a solitary large bull elephant approached from another direction. Lucas said to note that he was in musth and to note the urine on his hind legs. He decided that he didn’t want us there and walked right towards us. We backed away pronto. Lucas said you don’t fool with these guys. After he walked by, we returned and watch some more. We also spent quite a bit of time looking at great birds. Near the end of the day we stopped at the hippo pool and watched a giant male mate with a female (good good pics) and then have a great poop (also got pics!).

New species this day:
Cape buffalo
Vervet monkeys
Crocodile
Hamerkop
Black crowned night heron
Gray hornbill
Hooded kingfisher
Long tailed shrike
African hoopoe
Silverbird
Kori bustard
Eastern pale chanting goshawk
Crowned cranes
Beffasa waterbuck
Yellow bellied oxpecker (on buffalo)

Next Day—The long drive

I've put up a few pictures. Just a quick job and I'll add more later:

http://web.mac.com/mstickle/iWeb/Marty%27s%20Site/Photos.html

One word Martyn..... STUNNING!!!
How far away were the Amahoro Group?? That baby is SOOOO cute... I would love to visit them!
And that lizard - such beautiful colours.
The Eagle in flight - such a difficult shot!
In fact ALL of your photos are amazing... I'm envious!
Imelda

Thanks for the compliment Imelda. I meant to write something about photos in general, so here it is. I used a Canon Rebel XT with 17-55 and 100-300 USM lens. More importantly, I used the Safari Sack recommended on Fodors by several folks. It was supurb. We got rice at our first stop and donated it at the last. It provides a stable platform on the car roof to shoot away, even if you're in motion, although it's almost always better to stop and have the motor switched off, which we did most of the time. I had 6 megs of CF cards with me, but I downloaded the pics to my ipod each evening anyway. The ipod is not the perfect instrument for this, but it worked. It's slow and it drains the battery each time you download a card. Still it worked and also provided me with music for the long flights. When I got home, I attached the ipod to my computer which immediately said, "would you like to download 2200 pictures?" Of course I said yes, and off we went, filling up the hard drive.

Back to photos: I found the 300 mm lens adequate for most things. Only a few times did I wish for a longer lens. In fact, with the Amahoro gorilla trek, I had the long lens on and was unable to photo right away because we were too close. I used my wife's point and shoot with great results. She had a Kodak 10X zoom which sometimes got shots that I couldn't. The pic of the golden monkey was taken with that and with flash. I didn't bring my big camera because I doubted I'd be able to get anything. For the gorillas we used both cameras and took some video (which I'll post later) with the Kodak. It's amazing what you can get. To directly answer your question (I do ramble, don't I?) we were so close to the Amaraho group that I could scarcely breath. But that comes later in the story...keep tuned.
Marty

Oh Martyn, I can't wait for more!!
I just bought a Panasoinc FZ30 for this trip (we're leaving 3 weeks today and Rwanda is first stop ). I'm at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to photography but I'm hoping that the FZ will get some decent shots with just a 'little' (VERY little!!) manual adjustment. So it's good to hear that the Kodak with 10x zoom got such good shots.
I am also taking 2 x1GB cards plus my new Epson-2000 (which I LOVE by the way).

One more question (I just can't wait for you to get to it ), how long did it take you to get to the group? Were they high up?

Thanks again for such great information and pics.
Imelda

Great report Marty and excellent pics! thanks!

Thanks for sharing the pics - that one of the cheetah cubs following mum is just magical! What a sighting!

Thanks all for the comments on the pics. More to come, I promise.

Imelda: For the first trek we did (Sabyinyo), it was about a 30 minute walk through muddy farm fields and then we were at the wall. The gorillas were within 5 minutes of the wall. The second one (Amahoro) it was a 45 walk through farms and then one and a half through the forest. A bit taxing, but they go as fast as the slowest person, so no fear.

Thanks Marty,

I'll wait for the rest of the trip report before I ask any more questions
Imelda

The Long Drive

So after a wonderful breakfast at our camp, we packed up and began the long drive down to the southern Serengeti stopping at a Maasai village just south of the park. I had expected this to be commercialized, but it didn’t seem that way. Our tour company gave the village chief some money, but otherwise it seemed quite non-commercial. They did some dances for us, we visited a hut and their school. Then we made another stop at Olduvai Gorge and looked over the museum there. Then it was over the ngorogoro highlands with stops to look into the crater, then down and all the way to Tarangeri National Park. We had a nice leisurely game drive through the park, seeing lots of baobab trees and game. Then we arrived at Kikoti Lodge where we stayed for 2 nights. I found the lodge just ok. The food was adequate and the newly redone housing units were nice, but we never got a hot shower in the entire time we were there. Management was apologetic and they tried to fix things, but they were having problems with our unit, I guess. At this camp Maasai warriors carrying spears or guns must walk you around after dark--a bit of a bother. During the two days here, we had some pleasant, low key game drives, seeing elephants in the swamps, for example. We also saw a lion pride around an eland kill. On the second day, we saw the same kill and the pride challenging and protecting their kill from hyenas.

Here are the new organisms we saw at Tarangeri:
Yellow-throated spur fowl
Dik dik
Brown snake eagle
Woodland kingfisher
Saddle-billed stork
Red-throated spurfowl
White-breasted bustard
Matabelle ants
Red-billed hornbill
Orange-bellied parrot
White-bellied go away bird
White browed coacal
Purple roller
Steinbok (finally, a new antelope) We chased this guy at about 40 mph down the road!
Yellow-collared lovebirds
Pied kingfisher
Blacksmith plover
Von der dicken’s hornbill
Rock pigeon
Tawny eagle
Southern red bishop
Pin-tailed wydah (one of the most spectacular birds in flight)
African hawk eagle
Ground squirrel (hey, big deal…must be complete)

We did a night game drive here and saw a leopard (100 meters from camp) and one chameleon—that’s it.

Next, the border crossing and on to Kenya.

Enjoying your report and photos. I kept coming back to the golden monkey. Amazing!

CW

Great report, thanks for sharing. I'm tuned in and looking forward to more.
Siro

Any pictures of the lions battling hyena for a kill? That sounds amazing.

And a leopard 100m from camp... getting a little close for me.

Kenya at last

After a lunch at the Arusha Hotel, we headed for the border at Namanga. What bedlam. On the Tanzanian side, things were calm and we did our exit papers and then proceeded over to Kenya where we were to meet up with our Kenyan guide. Chaos rained supreme. Hundreds of trinket sellers descended on us and we had trouble saying goodbye to Lucas. The Kenyans didn’t want our $100 bill for 2 visas because it was made before 2000, but we insisted and they took it. We finally meet our guide David from Origins safari and made a quick get-a-way from the border and headed for Amboseli. Along the way we drove across a dry lake bed seeing lots of Maasai cattle and then various antelopes and elephants before entering the park and heading to Tortilis Camp. This was the nicest camp we stayed in. Lovely setting, great service, good food. Has it all. By the way, the word Amboseli means dust devil and we saw lots of them. Very dry conditions and David told us stories about lots of cattle dying during the drought.

The highlight of our two days in Amboseli was the one-hour we spent watching a female lion and 5 youngsters hunt zebra and wildebeests. We watched as the female held back and directed the youngsters who were crouching in some grass. Slowly the zebras got closer and closer until one youngster stood up too soon and they ran off. They continued hiding and then a group of wildebeests creep up, but they too got wind of the lions and left. Finally Mom gave a grunt of some kind and all the youngsters got up and joined her and they walked away. This is the beauty of a private safari as it’s up to us how we wanted to spend our time and we really enjoyed watching the drama and interaction between the organisms. It’s not just seeing animals that’s exciting, but seeing how they live and interact which really interests us.

Here’s a list of new things that we saw in the two days in Amboseli:

Crowned plover
Pale chanting goshawk
White-headed buffalo weaver
Red-bellied weaver
Taita fiscal shrike
Stripped swallow
Speckled mousebird
Fan-tailed widow
Malachite kingfisher
Sacred ibis
Yellow bishop
White-necked cormorant
African jacana
Apalid harrier
Spur-winged plover
Buffalo (mating—got graphic pictures)
Yellow billed oxpeckers (on buffalo)
Cattle egrets
African fish eagle
Long toed plover
Pin tailed wydah
Common squcco heron
Glossy ibis
Bloohoo reed buck
Goliath heron
Fringe-eared oyrx
2-banded couser
Fischer’s Sparrow Lark
White pelican
Chestnut-bellied sand grouse
Wire-tailed swallow
Gray heron
Kittlitz plover

Next it’s flight time to Lewa Downs
Hope you-all are not too bored with the names of all the birds.

The Kenya/Tanzania border is complete bedlam. it is a wild west town. Pickpockets run rampant there. We saw one get caught and the whole crowd beat him up.

Then the police took him away for some "education"

Flying North

We said a temporary good-bye to David and boarded our AirKenya flight from Amboseli to Wilson and then connecting for the flight to Lewa where we were met by our guide for the next 2 days, Peter. He is the co-director of Lewa Camp and a most pleasant and knowledgeable wildlife biologist and guide. Right away he told us of his trip to the US to visit zoos and other wildlife facilities. He even was in Asheboro, NC about 3 hours from us near Asheville. I was a little hesitant about being in Lewa since it’s in effect a giant zoo itself. But the animals do have a gap in their northern fence where the is only short wall which allows all animals to go in and out except for the rhinos, which they keep very close tabs on. They have a large population of both white and black rhino. There are rangers assigned to keep tabs out in the field for each area where there are rhinos. The other neat thing about Lewa is their links to the local communities and schools which is very strong. Virtually all the employees, even management types like Peter are local Maasai and other groups. I kept looking for fences, but I never saw any. The place is really huge. Conditions are very dry. They didn’t get much rain last rainy season since they are in the Mt. Kenya rain shadow. We had an opportunity to see close up some rare species like Greevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe. They’ve had such success with the giraffe that they did an experiment last year in trying to capture and relocate some of the giraffes to prevent overgrazing. After spending lots of money and effort to relocate them to nearby conservancies, they all had come back within a couple of months. The next step is to move them further away.

Here we had an opportunity to closely observe 3 cheetah brothers who live and hunt together. The first evening we saw them take down and devour a waterbuck youngster and watched this with the parent waterbucks looking on…really a weird feeling. The next day we also got an extended close look at the brothers after they had cleaned up. What spectacular animals they are.

We also had a chance to take a nice long walk with Peter, had a lovely sundowner atop a hill, and a night drive where we saw a Serval Cat.

New Species seen at Lewa:
Greevy’s zebra
White rhino
Black rhino
Bessa ornyx
Hartebeest
Plain-backed pipet
White-bellied bustard
Kori bustard
African spoonbill
Red-bellied teal
Morning dove (these followed us from home, no doubt)
Frankalein
Silver-backed jackal
cheetahs

Next to the Mara

Forgot another list of new things at Lewa:

Black hadada ibis
Yellow-billed stork
Red-billed teal
Quail finch
Brown parrot
Emerald spotted wood dove
Crested francolin
Rufus chatterer
Rock marten
Namaqua dove
Common moorhen
Black crake
Common drongo
African long-crested eagle
African water rail
Pangoni long claw
Sand grouse
Reticulated giraffe

Marty,
I am just catching up on the reports and photos: yours is definitely a highlight. What can I say? I am extrememly envious. And I wish I had half your organizational skills. I didn't write down a thing we saw!

Thanks so much for sharing. And of course I'm thrilled you had such a good time.

Waiting for more.

Leely,
Quit reading and get busy writing

The “dotted plain”—The Maasai Mara

So it was takeoff on Safari Link Air from Lewa to the Mara. First, we had to chase the zebras off the runway and then it was 65 minutes in a single engine plane over the mountains to the Mara. We sat in the first row (first class?) and the pilot turned around to talk with us frequently. He pointed out Mt. Kenya and other things and then proceeded to read his newspaper, especially an article on maintaining a good marriage! I have a picture to prove it!

We landed at Kichwa Tembo airstrip and were met by David who seemed so glad to see us, there were hugs all around. He was so excited and said to come on, be quick I’ve found a cheetah ready to hunt. So it was off to the hunt, literally. We drove about 3 or 400 yards from the airstrip and there she was, a female cheetah and 5 cubs. So we watch them stalk some zebras, then some gazelles and finally she left the babies in the tall grass and stalked away. In a flash she was off and we followed, bouncing along the grass and got up close to snap her giving the death grip to the throat of a young gazelle. She then surprisingly to me (but not to David) brought the gazelle over to our truck and put it down in the shade of our vehicle. The cheetah was really winded, but soon she called the cubs, who did not come. David said, “see that tree over there, I’ll bet she’ll take it there”. So we drove over and waited and soon enough here she came followed by the 5 cubs. (You can see some of the pictures of this on the link I provided earlier.) We watched her and the cubs chow down and then headed over to Kichwa Tembo to check in and have lunch.

Kichwa Tembo would be our home for three nights. I found the tents too close together, but the food and service were good. The first night we had to put up with a giant business meeting of some internet folks who made quite a bit of noise. We were glad to see them head back for Nairobi the next day.

We enjoyed the scenery in the Mara and saw a number of new things, especially birds. But on our second day, we headed over to the area around Governor’s Camps and ran into a large pride of lions. We got good views of them, but then they crossed over a big ditch. The other vans left, but David said, let’s go out and around and see if we can see them again. So we left the gate, drove off into the bush and settled down to wait. Gradually the whole pride came out, sent marked a tree near us and then walked right by our car. I mean we could have spit on them if we’d been of mind to. Great job David!

Here are the new things we saw at Kichwa Tembo:
Rufus napped lark
Coke’s hartebeest
Green momba snake
Little bee eaters
African fire finch
Common bulbul
Red-eyed dove
Blue-eared wattled starling
Black-crested snake eagle
Deadly nightshade (growing along the roads)
White-browed coucal
Gray-backed shrike
Yellow-throated long claw (same as meadowlark at home)
Common waxbill
Gabar goshawk
Yellow-billed stork
Greater white eggert
Golden palm weaver
Woodland kingfisher
Donalde Bobbie bird
Bushbuck
Ground hornbill
Black headed heron

So it was finally time to say goodby to David and board a flight to Nairobi. There we had lunch at the Carnivore and then headed over to the International Airport and the flight to Rwanda and gorilla experience. More from Rwanda.

Man, I wish you could edit your posts on this board. I should have said scent marked, not sent marked. What a dork!

Patty, I was just lol from your post. You shamed me into it tonight.

Going Ape in Rwanda

Sorry, couldn’t resist the title.

We arrived in Kigali on Rwandair Express, a pleasant flight from Nairobi and were met by our driver from Primate Safaris Alex who took us directly to the Novotel in Kigali. We had dinner, plugged in our things to be charged and turned in early for our 3:45AM wake up call! The phone rang soon enough and we were off to Rungheri after a couple of fresh croissants and coffee. Less than 2 hours later we were at the headquarters and Alex requested an easy hike for us that day. So it was off to the Sabyinyo family. A bumpy ride (we call it the African massage) to the start off, gather our porter and off we go through the muddy farm fields for about 30 minutes to the wall There we got our instructions and we climbed the wall and whammo there are the gorillas. I mean they were within sight of the wall! We had a nice hour with them, some close encounters and lots of difficult photography. The light is very difficult. Deep shadows and bright sun. I jacked by camera up to 1600 ISO and still had trouble. But I did get a few decent shots which required some color correction (see my photo link). We got so muddy and brushed with stinging nettles, but it was fun. The guide and trackers work so hard to ensure that you have a good experience. At one point my wife was brushed on the trail by a mom & baby on her back. She could have petted the baby, but wisely chose not to.

So then it was off to the Gorilla’s Nest. The setting is beautiful and we had Sigorney Weaver’s cabin, which she used during the recent filming of her TV special about the Gorillas. We missed it as it was on while we were there on Animal Planet. It turns out that Alex was her driver during her stay as well and he had some nice stories. Anyway we went into town for lunch (Hotel Alhumbra) and this is definitely a good option while staying at the Gorilla’s Nest as the food is mediocre at best. The staff there is great however. One man got all of our very muddy boots cleaned up for us. After lunch we drove up to the Vorunga Lodge, which is situated high up on a mountain with lovely views of two lakes. Very rough road up there though.

The next day we got to go to the Amahoro group with only 7 of us. Our 4 + a nice Australian couple we met the previous day + an American guy who is teaching in Ghana. We had a 30-minute hike through farm fields, then the wall and then 1.5 hour hike through the forest which was very beautiful. The altitude was high (over 8000 ft.) and I did feel the lack of air, but it was great. We had a great encounter with the family, getting a really close view of one 1.5-year-old youngster showing off for us in a tree right over our heads. We even got to see the old man silverback mate with a female. Very quick and believe me, no foreplay at all! Really loved this experience. At one point, the guide wanted to show us the inside of a fruit, but no machetes were around, so the military guy used his bayonet to open the fruit for us.

On the third day we did a golden monkey hike with the same Australian couple and the 4 of us. It was a pleasant, low-key hike and we had a good hour with the monkeys who stay in the trees. You are allowed to use flash to photograph them, and using my wife’s point and shoot camera I actually got some good shots.

That afternoon we drove back to Kigali and the Novotel. We gave a ride to a Kenyan man who was a trauma surgeon in Nairobi. I’m an EMT and the other woman on the trip is a trauma nurse, so we were well equipped to handle any emergency. Sure enough on the way we happened on a police car that had just flipped over on the side of the road. The dust was still rising as we arrived. We jumped out and helped 3 police officers out of the car. They were uninjured so we gave them some water and they thanked us.

Next: The Genocide Museum and our trip back + general thoughts. Thanks for reading.

Brushed by a gorilla, that must have been incredible! Thanks for continuing.

"Very quick and believe me, no foreplay at all! Really loved this experience."

Is that so, Marty?

Really great reading. I'd better save my pennies for this.

OK, I am laughing my head off in my office! People are walking by wondering what is wrong with me.

It seems old man Amaharo is quite the... character.

Martync, did you get one of those gorillas carved out of hardwood? I have one sitting on my desk.

3:45 to leave Kigali. UGH! I would have voted for driving straight to the Gorilla's Nest from the airport.

Rwanda probably has the most beautiful countryside in all East Africa.

Everyone keeps saying how bad (or mediocre) the food was at the Gorilla's Nest. I guess I have just blanked it out. I don't remember anything about it.

Martync, do you have a receipt or anything with the contact number of the Gorilla's Nest?




-------
Leely
Date: 07/05/2006, 12:50 pm
"Very quick and believe me, no foreplay at all! Really loved this experience."

Is that so, Marty?

Oh my God, can't believe I set myself up so easily for that one--no foreplay is right. I think the whole thing took about 10 seconds. That's all folks. We joked with the guides afterwards about having to pay extra to see that. Oh, I forgot, we saw golden monkeys by accident at the wall on the way to the Amarharo group. There was a bit of joking about having to pay again for that.

Wayne: Let me look for a contact number for you. I might have such an animal. No, Wayne, I did not get one of those carved gorillas.

Wayne: I don't have the contact info, but here's what climbhighsleeplow posted in a recent post:

gorillanest@yahoo.fr
250 546954

I thought I might have a credit card receipt, but then I remembered they don't take credit cards. Had to fork out fast running out cash. A bit galling to be charged $40 for a South African bottle of wine that we had paid $20 for at Tortillis and other places.

Genocide Museum and the long flight home: Final Thoughts:

After a relaxing evening at the Novotel, drinking French wine, etc., we repacked all for the trip home and had a leisurely breakfast. We were picked up by our driver who took us to the Genocide Museum. What really interested me was that the process of reconciliation and the process of prosecution are still going on. On the drive from Rhungerhri to Kigali we passed a sort of court of inquiry going on. About 100 people were seated outside under umbrellas to shield them from the sun and we were told they were carrying on a sort of local court in which evidence of the perpetrators of the genocide were being exposed and prepared for prosecution. At the Genocide Museum a large parade was going on and we were informed that they were having a funeral for some victims recently found in a new mass grave. The museum itself was powerful, with very well written and presented exhibits. It’s hard to keep a dry eye here. What interested me was how they tried to put the Rwandan genocide in perspective to other genocides, including the European holocaust, the genocide in the Balkans, etc. It was extremely moving. Every Rwandan we spoke to said “it’s over”. I hope so, but I can’t help wondering what will happen the next time there is a political upheaval.

After the museum we had a quick driving tour of Kigali and then it was off to the airport for the check in for our flight to Nairobi where we were scheduled for a 5-hour layover. We were met by someone from Paragon Air who took care of getting our checked baggage, escorting us to the VIP lounge and while he took 2 hours to do this and bring us our boarding passes for the KLM flights, we had a nice bottle of wine, watched a movie and used the free internet in the lounge. Finally we went through security and began the endless flights to Amsterdam, then to Detroit, then to Charlotte and then the 2-hour drive home.

In closing, it was a fantastic trip. It met our expectations and the long months of anticipation were definitely worth it. Highlights for me were definitely the mobile camping in the Serengeti and the migration and the gorilla experience in Rwanda. For those of you who are planning your own safari, my advice is to do a private trip with a good operator. You then have the flexibility to tailor the trip to your own taste. Also, read this board for lots of great advice. I know it helped us and it’s an invaluable resource. So thanks to all and I hope you enjoyed my miserable attempt at a trip report. It was fun on the trip and fun to write the report.

Marty

Bravo, Marty.

Very helpful and extremely interesting.

I've read some articles (BBC online or allafrica, can't recall) about whether it is or isn't "all over" in Rwanda.

Thanks for writing this.

Marty, thanks for your awesome trip report! My wife and I leave San Francisco tomorrow night and we'll be in Rwanda by Saturday evening. We're doing a golden monkey trek on Sunday and then a gorilla trek on Monday. Then we're off to Tanzania a week from today.
Darren

Sigh.... I am sad the journey is over.

Great report Marty

Thanks for sharing, Marty..I thoroughly enjoyed your report!
Teri

Marty-
Thanks for taking the time to write your report. Just two quick questions for ya'. Were you at Kichwa Tembo tented camp or Bateleur? What time were you done with the gorilla trek to the closer group? I'm trying to do some scheduling for a Rwanada trip and if possible would like to catch a 5pm flight out of Kigali after doing a trek in the am.
Thanks for sharing

Cruisinred

cruisinred,

I saw both groups that Marty did back in October. On a Sunday, the Sabinyos had actually climbed over the wall, so they were just a few minutes walk from the car.

We were back at the Gorilla's Nest WELL before noon. This includes time buying my carved gorilla and getting our certificates. We had packed the night before, so we got our things and ate.

We drove back leisurely to Kigali, including severla photo stops and I still think we were at the Mille Collines before 3PM

So a 5PM flight is doable. I am sure you will be a bit less leisurely than we were.

Marty,
Thanks for your report. Luxury mobile camping sounds like the way to go. I loved your photos, especially the cheetahs, the “lion lookin’” and the baby gorilla.

Really enjoyed your entire report. Thanks again!

Marty,
Thank you SOOO much for posting, it sounds like an incredible trip - what sightings!
As per usual I have questions -
Was it just the food at Hotel Alhumbra that was better then Gorillas Nest do you think?
All things considered, if you had to chose to visit only one of the two Gorilla groups, which one would you chose and why?

I think I would LOVE to see that 'toddler' in the Amahoro group but I'm not very fit and am concerned I'll struggle to reach them. I know you say that the group only goes as fast as its slowest member,( which I just KNOW will be me!) BUT I really don't want to hold everyone up. I'm not overweight but am definately not what you would consider fit .... thoughts please.
Wayne, if you are reading, would you mind answering the same question please.

Thanks again,
Imelda

From what I have read on this group and other emails, the Sabinyo group seems to be one of the consistently closer groups.

About 3/4ths of the time I hear someone mention the Amaharos they were within a 1/2 hour. BUT...

that other quarter of the time they seem VERY far. I have heard people talking about STRUGGLING for 2 hours before reaching them.

I think the best bet is when you go on your trek to get to the launching site EARLY. Be the first ones there and maybe your guide will be able to ask which group is closest and you can get that one.

Thanks all for the nice comments. Now to try to answer the questions:

Wayne has hit it right on the head about timing. With the Sabyiyo group, we were back at the Gorilla's Nest by 11am. The second day we did the Amaharo group and that was a different story. We were not back until about 2:30--too late to get to Kigali for a 5pm flight.

As to which one to do? For me, the longer hike to Amaharo was a highlight. The forest is beautiful and we had great view into the Congo and of the volcanos. Plus the family was a hoot to visit. One of the females even grabbed some people, just for fun. If you're not fit, then I would say if at all possible, do it anyway. The group will wait for you. There's not too much up and down, just long. It was about 1.5 hours from the wall to the group. Of course their particular location might change from day to day. When we came up to the Sabyiyo group right after climbing the wall, I was disappointed. I wanted the experience of the forest which I got the next day.

Crusinred: We were in Kichwa Tembo, not the Bateleur camp. We spent quite enough money on the rest of the trip (ha ha).

OnlyMeOirish
I saw the gorillas in 2003 and I was also very worried about the hiking. There was a woman in our group who hadn't been feeling well before the hike and we had to keep stopping to wait for her. I'm sure she felt bad, but about it, but it was actually a relief to have an excuse to stop! If I remember correctly I think I even thanked her! So don't think that you are the holding everyone else up...you're actually giving everyone the break they need but are afraid to admit it because they don't want to be the "slow one." Just remind yourself that it isn't a race and you'll still get your full hour with the gorillas.
At one point I was so tired of tripping over my own feet that I actually began to wonder if it was worth it. Well...needless to say it was worth every step!
Another benefit of going slowly is taking time to really enjoy the forest. Just being able stop and take it all in is very special. Climbing over the wall into the forest reminded me of when Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz landed and opened the door of her house to see the land of OZ. It was a magical moment.
So try not to worry, and just remember that if you are the "slow one" there are others in the group who are thanking you!
Lily

Lily: You have it exactly right. I'm with you 100% And I was the slow one on the way back. So they put me in front. No problem.

Hi Martync:

What a great report - thank you! I think we saw the same leopard in the same tree near the Seronera airstrip way back in February - makes me wonder...is it real???

Your pictures are great - and you promised to put up more...I've been checking....

The Cheetah with her 5 cubs is my favorite - really beautiful!

Re: getting to the gorrilas - what's "the wall"?

Thanks again, Martync!

Cyn

Cynstalker,
Sorry about the vague reference to the "wall."
The "wall" is a man made stone wall that separates the farmers' fields from the protected forest. The farmers are so desparate for more land that if the wall wasn't there they would just keep on clearing and planting into the protected areas. I believe Waynehazel may have some pics with the wall included in them. It's only about 3-4 feet tall and easy to climb over.

Lily

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bj3iyjv5.80regsah&x=0&y=-zhp6sb
pictures 10 -13

A wonderful report Bill!! Thankyou so much for writing this, it is full of great info and wonderful pictures. I 'saw' the cheetah mom and her cubs too - but there is a story to that, once I get to mara portion of my trip. I really enjoyed your photos as I did not get any photos of them.

Just as an aside though, when you mentioned the visa 'cards', I thought I should possibly throw in my 2 cents worth here - those cards may not be for a visa. We had our TZ visa, in our passport before leaving, but we ALSO had to fill out those cards, each and every time we entered or left TZ. (which seemed a lot of times). Even the first time when we entered we had fill them out and hand them in with our passport and our visa. They kept the card, someone matches them up later with your departure card is what I understood. I will turn that thought over to someone like Sandi with more expertise than me though - but I do believe you still need the form filled out that you had for your visa, as well as the card. I could be wrong though!

We didn't need the visa application form on arrival in JRO either, just the landing card which BTW Precision Air didn't carry onboard so we just picked them up at the airport counter on arrival.

In Kenya, we needed both the visa application form and landing card. I saw a few people show up at the visa counter at NBO with only a landing card, and they were asked to come back when they'd completed the form.

Leaving Kenya, you fill out a departure card and this gets taken at the passport check before you head upstairs to the gates at NBO.

Leaving Tanzania, we were the only two passengers who appeared to be filling out our departure cards at JRO. It turned out that no one was manning the passport check after security and consequently we still have ours. They obviously don't keep very good track of those

Patty,

I'm no expert, but I'm sure that many folks getting off the plane at JRO did not have visa applications but just got by with the arrival card handed out on the plane. It didn't seem to make one bit of difference. However, maybe the next day it did, so who knows.

When we left TZ at Namanga, we filled out a departure card and then at the Kenya side, they did accept our pre-filled out Kenya applications.

LyndaS: Who's Bill?

Imelda: With respect to the hiking: Can you do a 3 or 4 mile hike through the woods at home? You don't have to carry anything since the porter will carry your daypack. Also, the Sabyiyo group hike does not require too much up and down. Now maybe there's another group that would give you a glimpse of the forest but wouldn't be as long a hike. I would suggest that you begin to do some local hiking now. When are you going? You could start out with a 1 mile hike and work up. It's great exercise and fun also. We belong to a hiking club at home and hike every week with them. It really helps.

Marty,
Others (besides you and me) have also reported not needing the visa application form when purchasing a visa at JRO, so I think Tanzania immigration simply doesn't bother.

Sorry Marty! I read your report on the bus this morning going into work, and then started Bill H's report after I finished yours. I posted my comment at lunch - I guess I was REALLY out to lunch! Sorry!!

Wayne, Thank you very much for your reply. What time do you suggest we be at the launching point?

Martyn, Thanks again for your comments. I think that if there's not too much 'up and down' as you put it, I should be OK - long I can do. And I think, like you, I would like to experience the forest. As for hiking here, I'm afraid forests are few and far between. I do enjoy going for walks through the woods though but they are small and it is a short walk (only about half an hour).

Lily - Thank you so much for your kind comments - you make me feel so much better. A couple of years ago some friends convinced me to climb a very well known mountain here in Ireland(Croagh Patrick - 2,500ft!!)with them. I struggled pretty badly (especially the last few hundred feet ar it was pretty vertical) and wanted to turn back because I didn't want to hold them up but they waited for me and encouraged me and although I felt bad for slowing them down I felt really good having achieved it.

I will definately be at the meeting point early and will ask about the distances of the groups and will decide from there. Thanks again Wayne, Martyn and Lily for all your help and advice. I'm sure, no matter which group we see, it will be memorable.

Thanks again,
Imelda