Well this is starting out as QUITE the adventure. I am sorry you missed India because I would love to read what you could write about it.

But great photos!

How fortuitous that you wrecked your Boxster just in time

This is looking to be longer than a David Foster Wallace novel. And just as entertaining.

You need to add some footnotes!

Only Rocco could manage this much before we've even arrived at the airport!

The only fact I question is the extraodinary statement "the last thing on my mind was my next safari"...come on Roccco we know better!

Great photos!

welltraveledbrit,

Okay, you got me...the truth is that I was terrified of Alexsandra!

A most excellent start sir, look foward to the rest.

Matt

A most entertaining report and we have not even set out for the airport!

Accidental is a good word for it.

...terrified of Alexsandra about the totalled Boxster or that you weren't going to Argentina and/or India???

I've been saving the longer trip reports and photo links to read at home. I'm reading BostonGal's now (at home). There was no way I could wait to read your report, Rocco! What a way to turn back luck (your poor car!) into good luck (a paid for safari!). Can't wait to read the rest.

ooh goody. Another juicy report for us to indulge in!
Keep it comin'!

Ditto Patty's comment!

I just wonder what the insurance value of my 92 Land Rover Discovery is? Trouble is I need to collide with a tank to do it any damage!

(And that has to cover the new digital bodies, the lenses and full trip inc Gorilla treks in Rwanda...)

Matt

Rocco, excellent introduction -- you have set a very high bar for yourself.

I'm off to Vancouver for the weekend, so may not have Internet access, but I will search out the rest early next week.

Roccco,

It looks like once this gets started it’ll become a very interesting trip report.

Amazing vultures and pretty hyena!

Funny how fate can step in and play it's hand when you need it the most.


The way this report started, I can hardly wait to read the upcoming chapters.

Sandi,

Terrified that I had to break the news to her that we were returning to Africa for the fifth time in less than five years. Turns out, however, that she loved East Africa more than any of our prior safaris.

Rocco -

Wow! that gave me a chill!
How wonderful. I just knew it.

Now, get on with the rest of your book! We're all waiting for the real details.

....she loved East Africa more than any of our prior safaris...

Alexsandra caught the same thing we all got. It is important that she returns soon and often. East Africa withdrawel symptoms can be tough on a marriage.

A common symptom of the disease is the constant use of the word "jambo".

Rocco:

Asante sana (so far). Can't wait for the rest. It will be hard to top your intro. It seems you really were the "accidental tourist". Knew you would love East Africa. Keep the story coming please!

Jan

And the moral of the story is:

Only those wealthy enough to drive a porsche can afford to go to Tanzania in peak season!!

Eben,

Jambo? No, she is well beyond Jambo. She took four days worth of Swahili instruction and has already started on Swahili classes in Los Angeles each weekend. She has really taken a passion to the Swahili language.

The best thing is now I will have a Spanish translator, an Assyrian translator (with a little Farsi thrown in) and a Swahili translator.

Mkhonzo,

Alexsandra and I work very hard and appreciate all the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. I am most proud, not of the safaris and luxury goods, but being able to care for 11 wonderful dogs who are either rescues, or the offspring of rescues.

Hey Rocco,

While I appreciate your appreciation of your blessings and all that, I keep checking this thread to see if you've added another installment.

C'mon! Inquiring and impatient minds want to know.

Leely,

I hear you...the next installment, however, will not follow until later tonight. An arteest cannot be rushed!

(Now I am seeing the value for an EDIT button on Fodors...let's try this again)

Mkhonzo,

And the moral of the story is:

Only those fortunate enough to crash a fully insured and paid-off porsche can afford to go to Tanzania in peak season!!

Glad you found the humour, wasn't questioning your values, but was having a go at the high season pricing in Tanzania.......

TANZANIA BLUES

Well, even though I could have chosen to sacrifice my deposit and still managed to go to Botswana, I just could not allow $3,750 to go up in smoke…at least I wanted the tour operator to work for their commission, rather than to just hand it over.

This was a bittersweet position to put myself in. On the one hand, I was not too happy about the cancellation policy, especially since I did not read it properly prior to booking. However, I made no bones about it…it was right there in black and white. On the other hand, it is never a bad thing to HAVE TO go on a safari!


COUNTDOWN

Between working on setting up my tour operation, twice weekly dance lessons with Alexsandra, a rash of weddings to attend (about three in four week and all out of town) and numerous boxing photography assignments, including San Jose, Central California, and a couple in San Diego, the last couple months leading up to Tanzania really flew by quickly.

I did make a few modifications to my itinerary. The biggest modification was to add a five night Zanzibar extension, calling on Sandi from Fodors (Africa Serendipity) to book 3 nights at the Palms and 2 nights at the Serena Inn. Although I have never really been a beach person, Zanzibar seemed like a fascinating destination and the Palms website is really quite seductive (www.palms-zanzibar.com) Furthermore, with only six villas, it was sure to remind me of an exclusive safari lodge more than a typical beach resort.

The lack of rains in late January to mid February was definitely a concern, and it did make me thankful that due to the Kiliminjaro Marathon, that by now had been abandoned, was in late February, causing me to push the trip back a couple weeks later than I otherwise would have.

After coming to grips with reality, I abandoned plans of even doing the Kiliminjaro Half Marathon…yes, I could have struggled through it, but after doing a marathon, a half marathon is nothing more than a failed attempt at a full marathon. As a result, I now had two nights too many in Arusha and I successfully added two nights at Tarangire Tree Tops to start my safari. Swala would have been my first choice, since it seems like the nicest option within the park, but it was not available for my requested nights. Tarangire Tree Tops was a nice consolation prize, although I had to get aggressive with my tour operator to book me into anywhere other than Mawe Ninga. Unbelievable.

Fortunately, because I was such a glutton for my September safari, there was not much that I really needed for this safari…I had all the lenses and camera bodies I needed, and that made it easier this time around. Ultimately, a trip to Marshall’s department store for a few items, a trip to Samy’s Cameras for a couple more camera batteries, 3 more Gigabytes of CF Cards and some other minor accessories, and a very expensive trip to PetSmart for four weeks worth of dog food for 11 dogs, was about all the preparation I needed to do for this safari.

There was just one final thing in the final night before my safari. A nagging ingrown toe-nail. Yech. I thought a trip to a Nail Shop for a pedicure would fix that, but when they saw my nail, it was already infected and there was nothing they could do about it. “Come back next month”, was their reply. Great.

Alexsandra insisted that I go to the Emergency Room at the hospital to seek medical attention. So, at 1:30AM, with a flight scheduled for 7:30AM, there I was at the hospital to get medical attention. After a minor surgery, I was out of the hospital at about 4AM, armed with antibiotics and Vicodin, returning home by 4:30AM with less than an hour to go before leaving for the airport.

Trusting Alexsandra, I didn’t even bother checking my luggage that she had packed. I just made sure that all my camera gear was there and satisfied that it was, we were off to the airport at about 5:15AM with my mom volunteering as our taxi.

For once we were not stressed out about making our flight, that is until my mom, lost deep in monologue, speeding down the 605 Freeway, first missed the 105 Freeway and then missed the 91 Freeway, taking us all the way down to the 405 Freeway! So, it was quite a tour of the Los Angeles freeway system, going on the 405 North back up to the 105. Even so, we still arrived to the airport just after 6AM, and because we were in Business Class, we didn’t have to worry about a long line and checked right in, this time without the indignity of putting on “The Vest” to harbor my photographic contraband.

And with that, we were off, for a nonstop flight…all the way to Atlanta, that is, with a three hour layover before connecting to Amsterdam. With frequent flier seats, you take whatever you can get!


(The good stuff to follow tomorrow and the juicy stuff to follow this weekend)

Hi Rocco,

Boy, can you drag it out! All I can say is "ARE WE THERE YET?"

Kind regards,
Kaye

KLM SCARE-A-PLANE

The flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam on Delta Airlines was mostly inconsequential, as was Delta’s Business Class service. Unlike South African Airways, there was no flat lying bed or video on demand.

The layover in Amsterdam was very short…only about 1 hour 45 minutes. To complicate matters more, while I flew on Delta to Amsterdam with frequent flier points in Business Class, my next flight from Amsterdam to Kiliminjaro was on a different airline, KLM, through economy seats that I purchased, not having the necessary miles to get all the way to Tanzania in Business Class.

Upon exiting the Delta flight, I spoke to one of the Delta representatives at the arrival gate who was responsible for directing people to connecting flights. She told us not to worry about our luggage, but instead to go right to our connecting flight, assuring us that she would make sure that our luggage made it on the flight. Because there were different airlines involved, we were unable to check our luggage all the way through, and not wanting to risk missing our flight to Kiliminjaro, we followed her instructions, only half trusting that our luggage would meet us in Kiliminjaro that same night.

The flight to Kiliminjaro was mostly inconsequential…until the last two scheduled minutes of the flight. As we were coming in for landing, one could see lightning all around when looking out of the plane. We were obviously in a thunderstorm, but it appeared that we were okay to land and we were going to do so right on time, at about 9:30PM.

However, just as we thought we were landing, instead the nose of the plane pulled up and the plane thrusted back up into the sky, acting more like a rollercoaster than a jumbo jet. After circling around for about 15 minutes, we were going to attempt another landing, although we could still see that there was a thunderstorm. Déjà vu all over again, as the plane again pulled up just as it seemed it was going to land.

An announcement was made to the dismay of most on board that we would abandon our landing attempt at Kiliminjaro and instead fly to Dar Es Salaam. So off we go to Dar Es Salaam arriving at about 11PM, only to be held in a roped off arrival gate where we sat without food or water until nearly 1AM.

At around 1AM, we reboarded the plane and returned to Kiliminjaro. During the flight we were told by the head flight attendant that KLM was doing us a great service by returning us to Kiliminjaro because they were supposed to pick up passengers from Dar Es Salaam and fly them to Amsterdam. Gee, thanks.

The storm seemed to subside and it now appeared safe to land, although it was now nearly five hours later than anticipated. Just as we are getting ready to land, unbelievably, the plane does an encore and again pulls up lame and elevates back into the sky. No worries, the storm is over, just a little problem with the LANDING GEAR!

By now, passengers are either scared or upset or both. One Angolan professional hunter (guide) that was seated near me is absolutely irate and has to be yelled at by the flight attendant over the loud speaker before he returns to his seat. Clearly the flight attendant seems stressed out, and this does nothing to alleviate the fear of the passengers, myself included. The pilot of the aircraft is behaving like a deaf mute and not once, to my recollection, does he address the passengers, instead, leaving this burden on the head flight attendant.

I am dreading a return flight to Dar Es Salaam and at this point, I just want to land, whatever the consequences. We go in for another landing and finally, on the fourth attempt, we make a successful landing. I had ideas of telling the pilot what I thought of him as I exited the plane, but the coward never showed his face, and passengers exited from the rear of the plane. Oh well, it was 2AM and I was exhausted, but at least I was finally on the ground in Kiliminjaro!

Next time fly to Heathrow and onto Nairobi via Air Kenya...

So things could only get better from now. Am I right?

Matt

Matt,

Yes, there are, quite literally, green pastures ahead!

Unsettling departure to say the least.

ohmygosh, I would NOT have been a happy camper either! Phew! What a way to start your trip!

I am chomping at the bit but as I don't have internet access at home, I will have all Rocco's excitement waiting for my reading pleasure on monday--i can't wait! enjoying the photos!

I wonder what was worse, all the problems with the plane or spending time on the Los Angeles Freeways

Seriously, I appreciate pilots being careful, but somethign really strange must have been going on in that cockpit and we will never know what

What a crazy adventure you've had so far! Can't wait to hear the rest!

Rocco -

Did you not check your luggage tags when checking in at LAX? That the tags were marked with the flights to ATL, AMS and JRO with the respective flight numbers.

Everyone, regardless where you're traveling should always ask to see these tags to be sure the agent is not sending your bags to Alabama (home of lost baggage). Most all major carriers have agreements for thru-checks, especially Delta and KLM. Unlike, some as Precision Air and KLM from TNZ.

Otherwise, sorry to hear of your rollacoaster almost landing at JRO, then DAR and back at JRO. My tummy was doing loops just reading this. Doesn't terra ferma feel good once you're on the tarmac? WOW!

Now, looking forward to read the good stuff.

Lord. I'm exhausted already!

Rocco:
This was fun to find after being off-line for a day--can't wait for the "juicy" stuff.

Rocco:

Keep it coming please! Can't get enough of it.

sandi - to add to your note people also might want to purchase a folder that you strap to your luggage giving all your fight numbers, times, hotels and itinerary. The only time I had a bag lost, by the time I went to the "lost luggage" desk in Nairobi they said my bag was already on the way from Amsterdam because of this folder. The tag applied by the airline had come off the bag and had I not had this folder with my itinerary the bag never would have found me. G Just remember to type up a new itinterary for each trip you go on and insert in the folder. Magellans carries them.

Jan

DUDE, WHERE’S MY LUGGAGE?

Upon disembarking the aircraft, it was every man & woman for himself/herself at the Visa window. There was no order whatsoever and instead of having single file lines, there was just a clump of at least 100 tired and agitated people all trying to get their Visas. The Tanzanian officials accepted no responsibility for restoring any semblance of order, and to make matters worse, instead of processing Visas on a first come first serve basis, they did so by nationality.

Every so often an insolent tour group leader would push to the front of the line. When I dared take my rightful place in front of one such tour group leader, a French woman of about 50, I can only imagine the sweet nothings she was shouting at me in Frenglish. When I dared hand my passport and money to the customs official, she then laid into the customs official in Frenglish, but it was to no avail...it appears that even with all the languages in Tanzania, Frenglish just has not caught on yet!

Just another Ugly American I must have appeared to be, daring to take my rightful place in line…the nerve!

Once I had my Visa in hand and I proudly showed it off to my newly made French "amie" (anything to improve U.S. – France relations), I then proceeded to look for my luggage, although I didn’t really expect it would have made it onto the plane. At least with such low expectations, there was little disappointment when the luggage did not show.

After a quick visit to the lost luggage department, I filled out the necessary paperwork and was promised that the luggage would arrive on the following night’s KLM flight. However, this meant that I would not actually get the luggage until the morning of Day 3…wool pants and a long sleeve button up shirt it was for my first two days of my summer safari!

Rocco, definitely next time fly to Nairobi and catch the Precision air turbo prop to Kili: only four people alighted before it flew on to Dar and we were through the Visa section in a matter of minutes. And our luggage awaited us folornly alone on the conveyer belt.

Matt

PIMP MY RIDE

(My apologies for terms that may be foreign to some…there is a reality show on MTV called Pimp My Ride, that takes someone’s beat up old car and during the show the car is restored, sometimes to a ridiculous level, like spending $25,000 on a car that is worth $1,000)

We were met at the airport by our guide, Alex, from Mt. Kiliminjaro Safari Club (MKSC). As promised in my ATR (www.africatravelresource.com) itinerary, I was provided with a Land Rover 110. However, as an added bonus, MKSC was thoughtful enough to provide me with a vehicle with two broken side windows in the rear that did not open, and for added comfort threw in bolted down armrests for the middle seats, making these seats useless for a couple big boned Americans, and for good measure, the front passenger door rattled incessantly and even flung itself open on a couple occasions while Alexsandra was seated in the front seat. Given the fact that the seatbelts were also inoperable, it was a good thing that Alexsandra was not leaning against the door but was usually turned 180 degrees to shout at me in the third row of the vehicle, as would be the case for our entire seven days in this vehicle.

We arrived to the Moivaro Coffee Lodge at nearly 3AM after driving through a constant drizzle from the airport. It seemed nice enough for one night, but definitely not as nice as the Arusha Coffee Lodge appeared to be. See, the Arusha Coffee Lodge is part of the Elewana group of properties, http://www.elewana.com/ the upscale branch of the Sopa properties, owned by the son of the owner of Sopa. Unfortunately, however, ATR seemingly has a policy that has them steer their clients away from any property that goes against one of their preferred properties. So, while I did initially request Arusha Coffee Lodge, I naively believed my agent when he said that Moivaro Coffee Lodge was just as nice. While this was not a problem, given that I stayed all of 6 hours in my room, it would have been a big problem had I stayed my originally planned 3 nights. Now there is nothing, per se, wrong with Moivaro, it is just not in the same league as Arusha Coffee Lodge. http://www.elewana.com/acl.html The strange thing is that I basically gave ATR a blank check to allow them to put me up at the best possible places, but it was not enough to convince them not to try their hardest to put me up at MKSC properties and at Moivaro Coffee Lodge.

The next morning, during a mediocre breakfast, I was met by the Arusha representative for ATR. I reported the problems with the vehicle but I was again bamboozled and asked to “give the vehicle a chance.” Once the vehicle was emptied of the luggage, it was reasoned by the coy ATR rep, it would surely be much more comfortable. Besides, I was told, there are no other spare vehicles at the moment, but one should become available within the next day or two, and if I still wanted to switch vehicles, it would not be a problem and one could be delivered to me. (And this is the part of the cartoon, where am transformed from a human to a big red sucker (lollipop)).

Rocco - the stories get better and better! Loved your Franco-American relations at the airport. At least you kept your sense of humor about you (or at least saw the humor in these mishaps in retrospect!). Great reports - keep 'em coming.

Sharon T

"Give the vehicle a chance!"

What a beauty!

This is a really good read.

Rocco!
This is great stuff! You are quite the author-Bill Bryson better watch out! I love the titles to each section. Get this printed out in book form and I'll be the first buyer!
Eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Lily

Oh man, I am having some serious belly laughs.
Rocco rocks!

jan -

I have just that same tag on my bags. My full itinerary is inserted in the plastic with flight numbers, hotels, incountry contact. Also the same itinerary inside my bag. And, yes one has to definitely insert the new itinerary wherever it is that you are traveling next.

more fun and the safari has not even started yet--thanks, rocco. [come to think of it the only rude person we met during our almost 3 weeks was a French woman at Ronjo--it was kind of bizarre. She kept pushing her chair away from her table into Mark's back and making annoyed noises. Mark tried to get out of her way in the limited space that he had but she kept doing it and I finally asked if there was a problem and her male companion quickly said no.]

Rocco,
Hey, it's been almost 20 hours since the last chapter of your trip report. We want more NOW.
regards - tom

Usually over on the Europe board but popped over here to take a look and glad I did. Great report so far. Your pix are amazing especially the big cats, loved the ones of the lion in the tree. after seeing all those beautiful animals I think I have just become a vegetarian.

CARJACKING OF A DIFFERENT KIND

Off we went on the road to Tarangire. Arusha was much bigger than I was expecting and there was actually traffic in the streets as we left Arusha.

On the way to Tarangire, we stopped at a giant tourist trap/curio shop, Cultural Heritage, I believe it was called. Overpriced items from the cheapest little souvenirs to large Tanzanites priced at $10,000+. I bought a t-shirt and we were off.

Once we reached the small wooden sign reading “Tarangire Tree Tops”, I figured that we were almost there, but we were still more than an hour away at that point. On the dirt road to Tarangire, every now and then we would pass a Masai with his cattle or goats, but there was not really any wildlife. The only notable wildlife that we encountered on the way to Tarangire Tree Tops was a Chameleon crossing the road. This sigting, alone, however, was a real highlight for me, as it was the first time I had seen a Chameleon. With no other wildlife around, I was able to get down from the vehicle and take all the time I needed with my photographs.

By this point, after traveling all day in the MKSC vehicle, I felt that I had given the vehicle a chance. I was still not happy so again requested a new vehicle. I had decided that the following day I was going to use the lodge’s open sided vehicle for my game drives during my stay. As a result, my guide, if necessary to avoid sending a second person out with the other vehicle, could return to Arusha to switch vehicles. MKSC and ATR, however, had other ideas.

A vehicle had “just become available” but if I wanted to switch vehicles, it was going to be a small fee of $150 extra per day. It would be delivered the following day and with five days remaining by then, I was looking at a $750 charge.

I was very disappointed with the position of MKSC and ATR, and I mention both, because both had their hand in it, making frequent calls to my guide to discuss the issue.

It was a non-issue to MKSC/ATR that my provided vehicle was unsafe with its front passenger door and its busted rear windows made it uncomfortably hot and inadequate for photography. Although Alexsandra was furious, I calmed her down and politely declined the petty offer to switch vehicles.

After what seemed to be about a 5 hour drive, including a couple stops, it was nice to finally arrive at Tarangire Tree Tops. We were welcomed both my the management and by a couple Masai Warriors, who when not busy posing as Masai Warriors, also act as bellboys, swimming pool cleaners and many other odd jobs around the camp.

After a welcoming drink and signing our waiver, Alexsandra and I were shown to our room, room #20. We were both extremely pleased with the accomodations, a beautiful room measuring 850 sq. ft. with a huge balcony and an incredible shower for two, with two shower heads directly overhead and a stainless steel backsplash. The kingsized bed was heavenly and perfectly positioned to offer the best vantage point overlooking the vista from the opening of the tent onto the balcony.

Given the comfort of our room and our jet lag, we had no desire to force in a short afternoon game drive. Instead, we were happy to soak in the environment of our room and just rest up for our long journey that had really only been broken up, thus far, by six hours at Moivaro Coffee Lodge. The extra five hours of travel, due to the KLM Scare-A-Plane problems, really took its toll.

Although the lodge has 20 rooms, it does not feel like such a big lodge, as the rooms are nicely spaced from each other. However, it was still apparent that it was a bigger lodge than we were accustomed to in South Africa and Zambia, and that, and seeing my French “amie” with her tour group, persuaded us to enjoy dinner privately on our balcony.

Our dinner, and the rest of the food at Tarangire Tree Tops, was excellent, with our only complaint being the Diet Coke. It just wasn’t as sweet as we were used to, and this led Alexsandra, for the remainder of the trip, to ask for half Diet Coke and half regular Coke, or half & half’s as they eventually came to be known. Myself, I just switched to regular Coke’s.

Although it had rained earlier, shortly after dinner, there was a wonderful thunderstorm and from our bed, overlooking the horizon, we enjoyed the frequent lightning, knowing that this was good news as the rains were likely also showering the Serengeti.

The following morning, following an 8 o’clock breakfast at the lodge, we made off for a full day game drive within the park. Being less than happy with the MKSC vehicle, I gladly forked over $30 per person for a game drive in the open sided Elewana vehicle. We had the vehicle all to ourselves, making a true bargain.

It was a tediously long drive, with not much wildlife outside the park, although I was told that between July and September, the area surrounding Tarangire Tree Tops is teeming with wildlife. The landscapes were interesting but not overwhelming and unfortunately the Baobab Trees all had leaves, making them a bit “unbaobabish” in appearance.

Near the entrance to the park, a great looking lodge was being built, named Boundary Hill Lodge. Located within about five minutes to the entrance of Tarangire National Park, it features an excellent location.

http://www.tarangireconservation.com/boundary.htm

Once inside the park, there was sufficient wildlife but nothing that was especially mindblowing, probably about the equivalent of the Sabi Sand but without all the predators in plain sight. There were quite a few elephants and zebras at a couple locations, and the occasional ostriches and warthogs.

There were not many other vehicles, but it was odd to have vehicles and not know where they were from. Also, with so many different companies, it didn’t seem that there was much camaraderie between the different vehicles. At one sighting I was enjoying with elephants and zebras near a huge watering hole, a couple fully packed minibuses from Predators pulled up. I was just outside the vehicle taking pictures, as I had been for the previous few minutes, when I was asked by a young German woman if I minded moving, since I was in their picture. Not a very motivating request, I didn’t move, and as a result, they took the hint and exited their vehicle to start taking photos with their 5x zoom point and shoot cameras.

On another occasion, after we passed a couple safarigoers in another vehicle, waving hello, and not receiving a response, Alexsandra half-joked that from now own we should just give everyone a one finger salute as we passed them. Hmmm, not a bad idea, I thought!

It was great to be back in Africa, but we were not exactly seeing anything we had not seen before, and not packing a lunch, we cut our drive off at about 1PM, arriving back at the lodge by 2PM for lunch.

I had signed up for a night game drive and although this would be in the area around Tarangire Tree Top, I was still looking forward a nice night game drive in warm weather. The game drive took place after dinner, and Alexsandra sat this one out. For $30, I enjoyed about a 2.5 hour night game drive, seeing nocturnal animals such as springhares, scrubhares, genets, mongoose and a few others. Nothing extraordinary, but a good little warmup for the masses of animals that I knew would be seen in the approaching days.

Despite limited gameviewing, Tarangire Tree Tops was the perfect way to kick off our safari. The down time allowed a good rest, allowed our luggage to be delivered by a KLM driver and allowed me the opportunity to expirement a bit with my cameras. Although Tree Tops was very nice, we knew the best lodging was about to come with Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Best of all, each lodge would have their own vehicles for my use. In retrospect, a fly-in safari would have been nice.

laartista -

Welcome to Africa!
Maybe this will be your next adventure. Try it, you'll like it.

Hey, guys you've got to read her trip report on the Europe board... the funniest for a gal traveling on her own through Provence to Rome.

rocco:
Thanks for the next installment.

Rocco, to quote a certain UK crdit card add...

Porsche Boxster - 15,000 dollars
African safari and a lifetime of memories - priceless.

I'm glad despite the setbacks you had such a great time - indeed perhaps the problems only added to the sense of adventure?

What dismays me somewhat is the service provided by A.T.R: having researched a little I thought they offered only the best and yet it seems you were treated poorly in some respects. I'd like to know (at the end of the report) just what your overall impression was of them as a company.

Anyway, keep it coming.

Matt

ditto what Matt from England wrote.

What "crdit"

LAKE MANYARA TREE LODGE


Another long drive was in store as we left Tarangire Tree Tops to Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. As we would come to learn later, our guide, who was very capable, had a hard time telling us the truth on the true length of time of our transfers. I think he was just trying to sugarcoat things a bit for Alexsandra, but we could count on each transfer taking about an hour longer than he had stated.

I was amazed at how nice the tarmac road was between Tarangire and Lake Manyara. Every couple minutes we would pass other safari vehicles going the opposite way. Ranger Safaris (marked with an offset RS), Predators and Leopard Tours seemed to be the most prominent. When I commented on this to Alex (our MKSC guide), he responded that having so many vehicles also diluted the quality of the guides…so much that eventually they will hire anybody with a drivers license. While they would be able to identify the obvious, they usually had very little background with flora & fauna.

Alex, on the other hand, had spent many years as an ecologist for the national parks, prior to being gored by a buffalo. After spending four months in the hospital and returning to the job, he perceived mistreatment for not being able to be as mobile as he was before the accident. As a result, he left his career as an ecologist and became a guide. He prided himself on his ecologist background, however, and while this did seem to make him very knowledgable in one respect, in another respect, it seemed that he did not have his heart 100% into guiding, almost as if it were beneath him, especially given the lack of experience and training of many other guides. However, MKSC, he claimed, as well as Nomad and one or two other companies, really paid their guides better than the bigger companies.

Nearing the entrance to Lake Manyara, at Alexsandra’s request, we did stop at a place where there were rows of curio shops inside an alley to do a little shopping. It was unbelievable how aggressive these curio shop owners were. “Number three, come inside number three and see my shop…just have a look…okay, promise me that on your way out you will have a look in number three!” This was typical of the curio shop owners. Also, the owners of these shops were quite good at blocking the exit, once you were inside.

All the shops were basically the same. Carvings of Masaii in their different roles, wooden bowls with decorative designs, wooden carvings of animals, napkin or candle holdhers with different African themed designs. Whatever price was initially offered, if one could not buy it for half the price, then the price was too much. While I bought a few things, spending about $70, Alexsandra didn’t buy a thing. It seems that they were trying to charge her even more than they were charging me, and they did not budge on their pricing to her, the same way that they had for me.

As we were leaving this place, every curio shop owner that I had told I would visit on the way out, reminded me “Remember me…number three...you promised me that you would look in my store…please come in number three”, adding to the time it took to finally leave. Seeing my Expodisc Custom White Balance Filter on its neckband, and confusing it for some fashion accessory, I was offered various items as a trade, none of them good enough to tempt me, however. Next on the list was my olive green baseball cap that caught their attention with its red rubber tag on the side marked “Prada.” “Prada…is that American…trade me this hat for your hat” they would ask, offering me a New York Yankees baseball cap. Again, not quite tempting enough!

Once able to escape, we were not far from the entrance to Lake Manyara. As we waited for Alex to do the necessary paperwork, we went down to have a look at the monkeys that lived in the little forest that had been built into a big display, with various signs providing information about Lake Manyara and its flora and fauna. Also there was a small souvenir shop operated by the national park. Within its walls were many of the same items we had just seen at the curio shops we had just visited. The pricing was the same or better than the final numbers we were able to negotiate with the vendors!

Entering the park, there were baboon troops all along the road, along with the occasional blue monkey. Also very well represented were giraffes, probably more giraffes than I had ever seen. As we made our way out along the lake, it was apparent that the park was really suffering from drought. The road that likely previously hugged the lakefront, was now nearly a kilometer back from the receding lake. Unfortunately, the wildlife mostly chose the lake over the road, a quite rebellious stance to take, completely shunning their paying guests!

As we made our way deeper into the park, the majority of vehicles disappeared, and the rode hugged the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Klipspringers, Waterbuck and various types of Eagles were found partially up the escarpment, but no predators were spotted. The 80-400mm ultrazoom lens was definitely a necessity as it allowed me photos of the Klipspringers and Eagles.

Nearly three hours after entering the park, along with a few stops for photo opportunities, we finally arrived at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. Given its distance, it is most appropriate for guests staying a minimum of two nights.

The entrance to the lodge was beautiful, with dugout canoes featured in an artistic way, stood up by each other on each side of the path from the drop-off point to the lodge. We were met by the manager, Julius, a couple porters and our “butler”, Adam. After a welcome drink, signing the waiver and the handing out my business card (“Yes, our Johannesburg offices have already advised us of your arrival”), arrangements were made to have a private CCAfrica opensided vehicle and CCA guide for the short duration of my stay. Fortunately, the only extra charge was for the night game drive, as this fee went to the national parks.

Arriving at 5PM, there was little desire for a game drive, and after finishing our welcome drink, we were shown to our room by Adam. The room was absolutely stunning, beautifully decorated, generously sized, featuring a huge bathtub, an outdoor shower, and a huge balcony that wrapped around the room about 270 degrees, extending from the outdoor shower on one side, to the length of the room, back to the entrance of the room on the other side.

Shortly after we were in our room, it started pouring rain, but I used the little shelter there was and enjoyed a Kiliminjaro Beer on the balcony. Kiliminjaro Beer, at least to me, tasted exactly like Budweiser, but being a good sport, I drank it down anyway, although I much preferred the Mosi brand beer I was accustomed to in Zambia.

With ample time to rest before dinner, we arrived refreshed to a beautiful scene of a lantern and torch lit boma, with our fellow guests already dining at their own tables. There were 10 other guests in camp, consisting of a party of six Americans doing a tour with Micato, and a couple our age from Los Angeles who was dining with an older French couple (he about 60, she about 40). Arriving later than the others, and not having drinks at the bar before dinner, it did make us feel a bit distant from the other guests, but that did not deter us from soaking up the wonderful atmosphere.

Having seen the movie “Darwin’s Nightmare” with me, Alexsandra was very interested in the dinner menu that included Nile Perch fish as a possible entrée. I opted for the first what would be the first of about a dozen “beef fillets” on this holiday. While Alexsandra wasn’t so keen on the Nile Perch (too steaky, she said), she did enjoy the rest of the food, as did I.

During dinner, one of the torches was a bit too close to our table, attracting insects, so had we had the staff move it back about five feet. While this was happening, the French woman had excused herself from her table and upon returning, walking with her head down, she came inches from walking into the torch. “Shit!”, followed by a bit of nervous laughter on my part, followed by a “careful” suggestion. She laughed it off and returned to her table, depriving us of what could have been a real dinner show.

The following morning, we enjoyed a very early morning game drive, leaving at about 6AM. While there seemed to be more wildlife near the entrance to the park, we did see more of what we had seen on the way to the lodge the previous day. We also visited the hot springs that were not too far from the lodge. The viewing was again, however, affected by the drought, as the wildlife was just too far from the road, making the majority of our sightings along the escarpment, rather than on the other side of the road where the lake was now far away. Again, however, there were plenty of giraffes and elephants, to help compensate for the wildlife that preferred the lakeshore.

Returning from our game drive at about 11AM, we had a chance to meet some of our fellow guests, including the Angelenos (Los Angeles residents) who were about the same age. Two different worlds…they from Santa Monica, and on a rushed 11 night trip before returning to their jobs, us from the Pasadena area, self employed and on a 23 night trip. I get over to Santa Monica about as often as I get to Africa, and the Los Angeles that is featured in movies and television is not usually the Los Angeles that I know and live. To make a sweeping generalization, people that live outside of West L.A., in my opinion, seem to be much more down to Earth and not so self-important. So, while it seems that we would have something in common with this other couple, there was really little or nothing in common, and we were relieved when they chose to eat dinner again with the French couple that night.

Prior to dinner that night, I went out by myself on a night game drive in the CCA vehicle, leaving the lodge at about 5:30PM. It did get dark by about 7PM, and my brain not quite firing on all cylinders, did not think to use my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens as it was getting dark, missing a few photo opportunities.

It had been a pretty quiet drive, and I didn’t have very high hopes, but just then we came across a lioness crossing the road. We waited and listened and we were able to hear that she was in some nearby bushes. Given that the bushes were just beside the road, we went in for a little peek, and found the lioness with another lioness on a day old buffalo kill. We watched for about 30 minutes but the lions were mostly illuminated with the red light that CCA uses, although the guide did agree to use his small flashlight when I asked, although this forced me to use a very slow shutter speed of about 1/20th of a second, not making for very sharp photos. Returning to the lodge, we did come across a Giant Eagle Owl and a Bushbaby, two lesser seen sightings that I photographed.

Returning to the lodge at nearly 9:30PM, Alexsandra waited for me and we enjoyed a very late dinner. Lake Manyara Tree Lodge has a great Tandoori oven, and I enjoyed some sort of curried chicken, with naan bread. Before we could finish dinner, we were rained out from the Boma and had to seek shelter in the breakfast/lunch area to finish our dinner. With such a late night and not scheduled to do a Crater game drive until two days later, we arranged for a late departure from Tree Lodge, hoping to leave around 11AM.

The next morning, we were in no hurry to wake up, and we did not do a game activity. Instead, we lazed around, and eventually had breakfast at around 11AM. Not even packed yet, we then returned to our room and it wasn’t until about 1PM that we finally were ready to leave.

Despite less than ideal conditions, due to the drought, we loved our stay at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and thought the staff and management was fantastic.

Only once we are on the road did Alex advise us that we may have to pay an extra $50 in cash because we were supposed to be out of the park by Noon, although he said he would try his best to get the fee waived but because we were so late, it would be a challenge.

Upon arriving at the ranger station/exit gate, our paperwork was checked out and we were waved through by one of the male rangers. Just as we were driving away, however, after just about 5 meters, another official, a big woman, who seemed like the enforcer of the bunch, shouted at for us to stop. Busted, I thought, prepared to pay $50.

The female official approached the vehicle and was not very pleased with Alex, seemingly scolding him and pointing to her wristwatch. The exchange was in Swahili, but Alex said he would have to go inside to talk to “The Boss.” After a couple minutes, The Boss approached the vehicle and with a smile on his face he asked Alexsandra why we were so late leaving the park. Having no idea what excuse Alex had given, Alexsandra had to improvise, claiming that she was not feeling well that morning and it was for that reason that we were late. He responded that Alex had mentioned car problems and which was it, being sick or car problems. “Both” was the response by Alexsandra, and with that response he smiled knowingly and handed us back our passports and waved us through. Alexsandra responded with an "Asante Sana" and we were off to the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge.

(Correction...the name of the manager of Lake Manyara Tree Lodge is Francis, not Julius)

Being online almost 24 hrs per day I am privileged to be reading your reports hot off the press. From what you say of Manyara the drought has really affected things since I was there in Jan 2005. From what you say though it was worth the expense of the night drive to see the lions at the kill site.

Where you were seemingly "fleeced" sounds like the town of Mtu Wa Mbo (Mosquito River) - I actually stayed here for a couple of days and wandered through the town with a cultural guide and found it very interesting as can be seen in some of the photos here:

http://clubs.wanadoo.co.uk/pictures/openalbum.cfm?GID=3070834&AlbumID=5280137

From the way you write I can imagine you to be very good company on safari - who knows, one day in the future a Fodors safari club with annual trips?

Take care

Matt

Rocco, don't stop now, your report is great!

Matt and Raelond,

Thanks for your kind comments.

Perhaps I will have to start planning to lead a Fodorite tour for 2007 to Zambia? At least they have good beer in Zambia!

Rocco,
Really enjoying this, of course. Although I have some friends in the Santa Monica area with whom I will NOT be sharing your opinions.

Will we ever get Alexsandra's version? Even as a kind of coda or addendum???

And Kili as Budweiser? Pshaw, it's more like Miller High Life, which is, as everyone knows, the champagne of beers.

Leely,

Alexsandra, on her own accord, has said that she intends to write a trip report once I complete with my own. (I would never urge her to write...I am afraid of what she may write!)

NGORONGORO CRATER LODGE

It was a beautiful drive from Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro Crater. As we exited the park, and were approaching a very scenic spot overlooking Lake Manyara, Alex asked if we minded pulling over so he could eat his box lunch. So we stopped and enjoyed the scenery while Alex ate his lunch and Alexsandra and I, not being big fans of boxed lunches, gave ours away to two teenage boys who were trying to sell souvenirs.

After that, we drove through areas that must rival Tuscany for its beauty. Everything was so lush and green and the Masaai and their animals who were fortunate enough to live in these parts did not seem to struggle one bit. I was amazed at how well the cattle and goats seemed to do around the traffic, never wandering into the highway, but instead always hugging the road.

As we stopped for fuel at a filling station, there were young boys standing just off the property trying to get our attention with a back and forth hand motion. Although I realized what they wanted, I was trying to ignore them, trying to protect the valuable assets that I knew they wanted. “What are they trying to say?”, Alexsandra asked me. “I have no idea”, I responded.

Once Alex was back in the vehicle, Alexsandra asked him the same question, and he told her that they were asking for pens. And with that, Alexsandra dug in and gave out our only two pens to them, only for Alex to then tell her they don’t really need pens, but they just try to get as many as they can, more a hobby than a dire need for them. Consequently, for the remainder of the trip, we scribbled anything we needed to write with a pink highlighter.

The closer we got to the Ngorongoro Crater, the more scenic it became. Alexsandra was freaking out that the elevation was going to be too much from her, after hearing horror stories from our Santa Monica friends back at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. Apparently, anything more than sea level felt like being atop Kiliminjaro to them. I assured Alexsandra that if she could survive El Tatio Geysers above the Atacama Desert of Chile at nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, she was going to be able to survive a couple days at half the elevation while at the Crater Lodge. As it turned out, she had no problems with the elevation.

We finally arrived to Crater Lodge at about 5PM, and we were both very pleased with the lodge. Yes, it was very “over the top”, and one, if beamed into the lodge by some science fiction device, would have never guessed they were in Africa, but that did not bother us in the least.

It was very cold upon our arrival, and although there was already a fire in our chalet’s fireplace, the room was still pretty chilly. We were in Room #4, the closest chalet to the dining room, but with buffalo on the property, we did not mind being close. There were beautiful views of the Crater right from our room, but being literally a mile high, it is much the same view as from an airplane, nice to look at, but you are not really going to see anything.

For the first time, we made it a point to dress up for dinner, arriving early to enjoy drinks and socialize with the other guests. It was as if we were at a dinner party in some fancy Penthouse, given the views and atmosphere. We saw the group of six Americans who had been at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and had a chance to talk to them for the first time. They were all from New Jersey and this was their first time to Africa, and they were celebrating a couple special occasions (a 35th anniversary for one couple and a 60th birthday for one of the women). The birthday girl kept going on and on about how happy she was with her tour operator, who happened to also be there doing an educational visit, repeatedly whispering to me in hushed tones, “She is a Safari Specialist!” Amused by this after she said it about three times, I could not resist pulling out my business card, with my name and the same qualification, “Safari Specialist.”

At dinner, it was a very formal occasion, and there was beautiful music being played, primarily a CD by the Soweto String Quartet that I had bought on a prior visit. My head swelled when I both recognized the music and then surprised the waiter by correctly identifying the music.

An early morning wakeup call of 6AM was setup for the next morning in order to get into the Crater early. After an early breakfast, we left for the Crater at about 7:30AM, arriving at the entrance gate at 8AM. There were only two other vehicles in front of us, so it took us all of about two minutes to enter.

It was a bumpy ride down into the Crater and, surprisingly, somewhat of a slow start to the morning. There were not too many vehicles in the Crater, but I knew that the majority of the vehicles were yet to come. Expecting wildlife from wall to wall, I was surprised at the lack of wildlife. Yes, there were zebras and wildebeest, but where were the predators?

Finally, after about 90 minutes, we saw our first lion pride, about 10 lions, including cubs. Unfortunately, the lions were quite a distance from the road, so we moved on after a few minutes. The gameviewing quickly picked up after then. Those lions were just the first of at least five prides we would come across in the next few hours.

By about 11AM, there were many more vehicles, and Alex had said that traffic was still only about 50% of the busiest times of the year. Even so, at one lion pride sighting, there were 17 vehicles surrounding the pride, amused that the lions were sleeping under the vehicles.

It was a bit annoying watching one of the vehicles as the guests hung out from the vehicle and were doing whatever they could to get the lions to look at them in order to get a good photo. Once the lions tails started wagging, I was hoping to see a little demonstration by the lions that may make it onto a show called “Africa’s dumbest tourists”, but it was not to be.

At about 1:30PM, we went to the lake area to have our picnic lunch, joining about 50 other vehicles surrounding the lake. It was a great lunch provided by the Crater Lodge, with chicken, potato salad, stuffed bell peppers, and brownies for dessert. At one point, a huge bird, whose name escapes me, but definitely in the raptor family, came sweeping down, and seeing it only at the very last second, I had just enough room to stumble out of the way, as it was trying to steal the food right out of my hands. I was lucky to catch my balance, as I was sure I was going to fall on my face and make a fool of myself. These raptors were to the picnic area of the Crater what the baboons are to Cape Point…just waiting for the opportunity to steal food from any unsuspecting people.

Following lunch, we saw a bunch of vehicles pulled over to the side of the road. Everyone was looking in the same direction and it was then that we saw there was a black rhino in the distance. Although it was pretty far off in the distance, and nobody else was using a camera, only binoculars, I used the opportunity to slap on the 1.4x teleconvertor to my 80-400mm lens, getting me to an effective 896mm’s. I knew that most of the shots would be garbage, but if I took enough that there would be a couple photos that were acceptable.

There was a tremendous variety of wildlife in the Crater, but the tradeoff was all the other vehicles and the inability to drive offroad. Also, there were some guides who seemed less than professional, including one who we saw rolling a “joint” (marijuana cigarette) as he blasted reggae music from the vehicle with two young women. With so many vehicles and so many guides, there is just no way that the guiding in East Africa, as a whole, could measure up to their Southern Africa counterparts.

We left the Crater by about 3PM, although I would have liked to have waited a couple more hours to get better light for my photos, but understandably it was a very long day. It was nice to have the Crater Lodge right at the exit of the Crater. While Sopa Lodge may have the benefit of being right near the entrance, I much preferred to be right at the exit after such a long day. Upon returning to our room, Alexsandra was thrilled to find a hot bath had been drawn for her, with five dozen roses and rose petals all over the bathroom floor.

Dinner that night had a whole different atmosphere to it. Checking into the lodge that night was a group of six guests on a Micato safari, and they were seated at a big table next to us with their guide. As opposed to the previous night, with this group, the restaurant was very loud. Being a little later to dinner on this night, we did not have a chance to meet this group before dinner, but by the end of dinner, we were invited to join their table. Like the other group of six from the previous night, and still here for this night, there were mostly New Jersey residents at this table, with the exception of a 65 year old married couple from Tennessee. They had done some awkward sounding safari that had included Amboseli, the Masai Mara and was going to conclude with the Western Serengeti, far away from the Migration. While they were enjoying their safari, they had no idea that they were in all the wrong parks, and I saw no point in breaking it to them.

They were a really fun group, especially the oldtimer from Tennessee. He was a great storyteller, didn’t mind telling a dirty joke in front of strangers at such a haughty lodge, and made the most priceless facial expressions. When I introduced myself as Rocco, he worried that there was an Italian at the next table and he didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire of a Mob shootout, but it was all in good fun.

At the other end of the spectrum, although a nice guy, there was a New Jersey physician in the same group, matched together by Micato, who cringed everytime his girlfriend, 15 years his junior, admired Alexsandra’s jewelery.

Just before dessert was to be brought out, the lights went out and we figured there was a blackout. Instead, in an incredible display, nearly the entire staff of North Camp, draped in Swahili cloths, came out singing in Swahili a beautiful Happy Birthday song. While it would have been easy to make it a short little exhibition, they circled the entire restaurant numerous times and sang for about 10 minutes and all of us were very entertained by the entire show. Then, birthday cake was passed around to each and every guest, rather than to just the table with the Birthday Girl celebrating her 60th birthday.

It was a great way to end our visit to Crater Lodge, but who needs Crater Lodge when we had Olduvai Camp to look forward to the next day…after all, my trustworthy tour operator rated it “supreme” and their “favourite camp in the Serengeti.”

http://www.africatravelresource.com/africa/E/tanzania/accommodation/N/T51-serengeti-short/03/TOLD/TOLDa.htm

OLDUVAI CAMP

I woke up early the next morning to force in my second visit into the Crater. I really had my fill from the earlier day, but since I had paid for it, and I was there to take as many photos as possible, I was not going to sit this one out, although Alexsandra did just that and chose to hang around Crater Lodge.

There were a few good sightings, including hyenas on a wildebeest kill that included the dominant female putting on a nice display of her power over the other hyenas, allowing only her cubs to eat while chasing away all other hyenas. Also, there was another black rhino but, unfortunately, it was even further than the one from the previous day. Basically more of the same as the day before, but unfortunately, I found myself constantly looking at my watch, as we were supposed to check out of Crater Lodge by Noon, so I definitely wanted to be back to the lodge by no later than 1PM.

Conversation seemed a bit forced without Alexsandra in the vehicle, the first time that Alex and I did a drive by ourselves, and really only the second drive that we had done, other than those on transfers, on this our seventh morning together. I did find this on MKSC’s website and considered their statement about their vehicles to be farcical:

http://www.tanganyika.com/acccueil/safari-tanzania_en.php

To quote, “our comfortable vehicles modified for safari, driven by professional and friendly Driver-Guides, are all in excellent mechanical condition.”

I was fortunate enough to be in a position to use the vehicles from Elewana and CC Africa, and this was the saving grace of my time with MKSC.

Upon returning to the lodge from the Crater, I enjoyed a very nice lunch with Alexsandra. As we were eating lunch, Alexsandra was showing the manageress of Crater Lodge, Irene, a cookbook she had bought at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. The cookbook featured recipes from the different CCAfrica camps and it was authored by CCAfrica’s head of hospitality, Yvonne Short. Coincidentally, as we learned from Irene, Yvonne Short just happened to be at Crater Lodge on a short break from putting the final touches on the Tanzania Under Canvas safaris that were just being launched.

After seeing how passionate Alexsandra was about the book, Irene put in a call on her two way radio, and a few minutes later, Alexsandra was meeting face to face with Yvonne Short and having her book autographed.

Alexsandra had already translated many of the recipes into Spanish for our housekeeper/dog nanny/chef, and Yvonne seemed to be very honored to have such a huge fan of her work.

It was sad to be leaving Crater Lodge, and after experiencing the very best, we expected the very worst at Olduvai Camp. I kicked myself for allowing ATR to convince me to book a night at Olduvai, as I was originally hesitant, and I had been warned by a couple other Tanzania experts on Fodors that I was making a mistake but did not listen.

After getting a very warm sendoff from the staff of Crater Lodge, we were off to Olduvai. The drive was fantastic and about halfway to our destination, we came upon this wonderful large plain, and there were about 15 giraffes in the distance, crossing the plain. I found this fascinating and asked if I could get down from the vehicle. Not asking and not caring what my guide had to say about it, I walked off on my own, never looking back, approaching the giraffes as close as possible. I had never seen so many giraffes all at once, and there were just more and more that continued to cross the plain. I am sure there were two dozen of them altogether.

As I was getting closer to the giraffes, they altered their path to avoid me, never allowing me to get within about 100 feet away from them. As this was happening, there were also zebras that happened upon the plain, racing by me within about 50 feet. Meanwhile, it started raining and it was the most perfect moment…walking out on this plain, a good 1,000 feet away from the vehicle, with giraffes and zebras scattered about, the rain coming down, and Masaai approaching in the distance with their cattle, singing their song as they approached.

Once the rain was getting too heavy and I feared for my camera, shielding it under my vest (not “the vest”, but rather another much smaller and stylish vest that I received for Christmas), I summoned the vehicle to come and get me from under the Acacia Tree where I sought shelter. This whole experience was about 20 minutes and it was one of the highlights of my safari.

From here, it was about another 45 minutes to Olduvai Camp. By the time we arrived, it was raining very hard, and we found ourselves trapped in the vehicle. Despite Alex radioing the camp while we were just minutes away, nobody came out to meet us on our arrival. After waiting in the vehicle for nearly 15 minutes, Alex finally got down to find help and look for umbrellas.

Olduvai Camp enjoyed the most enviable position possible, with views of the Serengeti on one side of the camp, and views of the NCA highlands on the other side. Given its positioning, I found it to be the biggest waste of potential of any camp I have ever visited. What an amazing camp could be built in this location, had anybody wanted to make the investment and commitment to running a top notch camp. Instead, however, I found Olduvai to be decrepit, and I was worried about sanitation issues at this camp, both with the food and with the actual rooms.

Now one of the charms of Olduvai was supposed to be that it was run by Masaai people. However, if you stop and think about it, Masaai live in huts made with cow dung and human dung, and their favorite form of nutrition is cow blood & milk!

The tents used at Olduvai were little different than the tents I had seen used at, for example, Kasaka River Lodge, a luxury tented camp in Lower Zambezi, Zambia. Perhaps the tents were more worn at Olduvai, but basically the same style. The difference, however, was in the cleanliness of the interior of the tent, the small wooden deck in front of the tent, the rug within the tent and especially the bathroom. Basically, I thought everything should be burned and replaced, and the chemical toilets were a real turn-off. At a minimum, everything needed a very good scrub down.

It seemed that the bedding was dirty and had not been changed since the last guests, or who knows, maybe from the last few guests! I was not expecting luxury, but at least I was expecting clean bedding. I complained to the assistant manager of the camp about the bedding and it was changed at my request. Even so, I did not trust to lie my head down on the pillows and instead draped my pillow, as Alexsandra did, as well, with clean clothes from our suitcase.

One of the attractions of Olduvai Camp, and the selling point most used by my ATR agent, was having the opportunity to do a sunset walk with a Masaai guide. However, when I enquired about the walk, I was told that there would not be a walk, as it may rain. The rain had subsided an hour earlier, and it did not appear as if it was going to rain. Even so, I had to insist on the walk, telling the assistant manager that I would have never even stayed at Olduvai if not for the walk, and it was only then that he agreed to provide me with a guide for a walk.

Although I shouldn’t have had to demand it, the walk was very nice. Alexsandra, Alex, the Masaai guide and I walked up to some kopjes that offered an amazing view of the Serengeti. It was not far, perhaps a 1 kilometer walk, but the landscapes were incredibly scenic, and having the Masaai youth leading their goats and/or cattle around, made it incredibly serene.

It was very interesting to learn from our Masaai guide that they have different songs that they sing, and they are singing to their livestock. Perhaps one song when they were taking them out in the morning, a different song when they were trying to get them back home, and various other songs for different occasions.

We returned to the lodge and got ready for dinner. The one redeeming quality that the camp did have was that their bucket showers were wonderful. A huge bucket full of hot water, allowed me at least a 15 minute hot shower, even if I did have to dry off with a towel that smelled like insect repellent.

Although I did have grave concerns about the sanitation, I did find the food to be acceptable, although I certainly did not ask for seconds. Alexsandra, however, was not as brave as I, and hardly touched her food.

Joining us for dinner was Alex and in making a plan for the next day, we wanted to leave as early as possible, perhaps 8AM. Alex, however, always seemed to have a “suggestion”, whenever our plans seemed to differ with his own. He reasoned that, due to the rains, we may not be able to cross into the Serengeti until after 10AM. We compromised and agreed that we would leave at 9AM.

I was very excited to be so close to seeing the Great Migration, and equally excited that I was about to be handed over to a Nomad guide and vehicle. Although I had mostly positive feelings about Alex, despite the limited guiding he actually had to do for this safari, I couldn’t say I had many positive feelings about my experience with MKSC.

Well that's Olduvai camp crossed off my list for my next visit.

Matt

Rocco,
I understand why the short solo walk on your way to Oldupai was a highlight. I say, better alone with giraffes than wild dogs together with a group and guide.
I’m waiting for the Serengeti part. Thanks.

I'm enjoying your report Rocco - thanks for taking the time to post.
I'm always amazed at how each of us can go to roughly the same areas and have a completely different trip/sightings etc.

Ngoro:
It sounds like being in the crater 2-3 weeks prior to you (at the beg. of the tourist season) made a difference in that we didn't exp. nearly the amount od traffic that you saw.

Also, you may know this, but you can exit also out of the Sopa's entrance.

Sherry

Oh, how lovely to come in on Monday morning to so many great updates. I love how you describe the lodges as much as the game drives!

Rocco,

I have really enjoyed your trip report to date. We were at the Crater and Serengeti a couple of weeks before you. The "raptor" at the Crater lake was a black kite. While standing next to the vehicle I was attacked, drawing blood with his talons. After that I lost interest in the box breakfast. We were told that a woman had lost an eye the week before when a kite attacked her trying to get food.
The kites have certainly learned how to get food the easy way.

Look forward to the next installment.

cj

Great report so far Rocco!

I spent some time editing video from my Africa trip this weekend.

I worked on the lion hunt I saw in the Crater. The lions failed & the buffalo won in my case.

By the way, when we got to the lake for lunch our guide told us to eat in the car because the birds were VERy aggressive.

Seventeen vehicles with sleeping Lions and hostile black Kites - the crater just disappeared from my list.

Ten weeks to Mombo

Great report so far, Rocco. Your titles alone for each installment have been priceless. I can't believe how much you wrote about BEFORE even reaching Africa but it was highly entertaining.

Keep it up!

Dirty sheets!?! That really takes the cake.

napamatt, the Crater, the Serengeti, the Mara, Selous, Ruaha, Katavi, Mahale, Bwindi, Parc National des Volcans--all of East Africa will very try hard to survive without you.

But do enjoy your time at Mombo. I'd like to see a trip report from your valet when you return.

I'm glad you got your walk at Oldupai even if it took some insistence. It shows what you miss when you just settle for less. Awaiting Nomads and the Serengeti.

I need more! Don't leave me hanging!

Rocco, you never fail to entertain (and inform) with your normal posts, but your trip reports are amazing. Seriously, you are a gifted storyteller.

Thanks for taking the time to post these wonderfully crafted tales!

Sorry for the delay...I hope to get my Serengeti report out within the next 4 - 6 hours. It WILL be worth the wait.

Having never been to Africa...yet, I am taking my virtual trip here. Thanks for the great report.

laartista,
I always say to anyone wha has any desire to go to Africa, "Go, go, you will never regret it!!!"

And Rocco, okay, dinner's in the oven. I'm ready for the next installment. As someone who will be staying at Olduvai prior to Nomad, I'm hoping it's all clean sheets and great guiding from now on...

4 - 6 hours For a minute I thought you said 4 - 6 days...

Matt,

I am sorry that I missed my 4 - 6 hour deadline. I am all over the map tonight working on a few different things for my safarigoing clients.

I am only now getting started on my report for the Serengeti, so chances are that I will not finish it until this time tomorrow (It is Midnight local time for me).

Sorry for the delay.

Rocco - I would be interested to find out how your new venture is going: to save breaking any fodors rules give me an email when you get time.

liz.matt@netcabo.pt

Take care

Matt

(just a little transitional piece...the Ndutu portion of the Serengeti with Nomad to follow hopefully in about 20 hours)


HANDOFF


Nearly immediately after leaving Olduvai, we were surrounded by the Great Migration. Thousands of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles, as far as the eye could see. Baby wildebeest raced to keep up with mothers who were not going to win any parenting awards any time soon. Gazelles were twitching to keep the flies off, almost to the rhythm of music, looking as if they were marching in place. Zebras were no dummies…surely they knew that if they hung out with the wildebeest, they would be much safer, just waiting for the wildebeest to make fatal mistake after fatal mistake.

Every few minutes we would pass by a new carcass surrounded by vultures and Maribou Storks. Eventually, the wildebeests and others were so numerous that they may as well have been trees or shrubs. While fascinating to see the incredible numbers, it does lose its novelty after awhile.

After about a 1 hour drive from Olduvai, we were met at a dropoff point by our Nomad guide, Chedial, and the Nomad vehicle. We said our goodbyes to Alex, not blaming him for the shortcomings of MKSC. Overall we were satisfied with him as a guide, Alexsandra more so than I, but at least to me it was apparent that we were not getting 100% effort from him. His saving grace, however, was that he was so knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, and he enjoyed a very good rapport with Alexsandra.

It took until Day 11 of our itinerary, but we were finally ready for the Main Event. Everything prior to this was just filler…an opening act…foreplay…whatever you want to call it, it was not the reason for the season…that designation was reserved for the Serengeti.

Thanks for the continued great reporting Rocco! Makes me want to plan my next trip to Africa.

Ericka

laartista -

There is an index of East Africa safari trip reports, prepared by LyndaS (a remarkable understaking which we all appreciate).

Another index is underway (being prepared by another Africaphile) for Southern African trip reports.

Do a search here, pour a drink and be ready to sit and read and enjoy.

(Hey, I know, I know... I should post the link, but just haven't gotten the hang of doing so... still can't figure out the smileys; but I'm good for other things).

Great report, Rocco! I should say take your time so you won't be rushed and leave things out but I want to say hurry up!

It is difficult to have patience--lookimg forward to reliving Ndutu.

laartista, here is the link to the index sandi mentioned.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=4&tid=34725679&numresponses=43&start=0&searchText=trip+index+east+africa


BTW, I really enjoyed your report (sandi, thanks for the referral)

Rocco, I've sent you a mail via hotmail, the other account just kept bouncing it back.

Matt

Just got caught up on your trip report after being away for the weekend. A very entertaining read and looking forward to more!

Thanks for the continued interest.

I am very sorry to report that I just had my first "hunger pang" for Africa just moments ago, only 10 days after returning home!!!

My biggest struggle is whether or not I should visit Zimbabwe and Mozambique on my next safari. There are some fascinating options, but I do fear there will be limited interest from other travelers. Take a look at these websites and let me know what you all think:

www.raniresorts.com (Particularly look at the soon to open Lugenda safari lodge in Northern Mozambique. This area has possibly more wild dogs than anywhere else in Africa, as well as an elephant population around 10,000 strong)

www.africanbushcamps.com (although not yet pictured, their new camp in Hwange, Somalisa Camp, looks amazing...very 5-paw-ish in quality...plus, Vundu Camp must be great in Mana Pools)

Wow Rocco, it must be that you had 2 trips close together and have another already on the books because my 'pangs' kicked in when I left the airstrip at Kwando Lebala and still had a night coming in Joburg.

From your business perspective I think coastal Mozambique is going to grow a lot in popularity. A quality safari in Mozambique would combine well in the future but I think it will likely take a while before the wildlife becomes habituated and provides good sightings. I would love to take a look though. I communicated with some honey badger researchers a couple years ago that were working in one of the northern parks. They loved the seclusion but said wildlife was definitely skittish and secretive. As for Zimbabwe, its a shame but I think only hard core Africaphiles will be going there until the political climate changes.

PB,

I think what I need is about a two month safari, and then I will just see everything I want in Southern Africa. Unfortunately, three weeks is about my max.

Shame...both areas look very intriguing but I agree with your opinion on each. If I were a real beach bum, however, I would definitely go up to Lugenda in N. Mozambique and then follow it up with some beach time at the amazing looking Medjumbe Island (Rani Resorts).

Zimbabwe, at least, is close enough to my other destinations to warrant a visit. Who knows, if nothing else, maybe I start out at Vundu in Mana Pools, and then steal a canoe and paddle to Chiawa in Lower Zambezi, head down to Kafue for a few nights and then finish up with Botswana!

Bumping this thread back to the first page in hopes of another chapter to the story!

Yeah, Its been a while. Rocco? You didn't crash your other car now did you?

Sorry for the delay...with four nights in Ndutu, this was the longest stop of my safari and the best. It will likely be Saturday afternoon by the time I complete and post it.

Thanks for the continued interest.

Thanks for taking the time to provide us with such an interesting, detailed, and thoroughly entertaining account of your Tanzanian adventure.

I was in Tanzania in January on a safari booked through ATR and my impression of the company is very much like yours--a vehicle that looked as if it was welded together from spare parts including a passenger door that wouldn't stay closed, a guide that was more of a driver than a guide, and accommodation (Moivaro Coffee Lodge, Ronjo Fly Camp, etc.) that was heavily promoted by ATR.

Leann

Thanks for your corroborating comments Safarilover. Overall I hope it was a safari you could love.

safarilover,

Amazing what a nice website can do, isn't it?

Why bother spending hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrading vehicles, and insisting that MKSC spend to upgrade its camps when instead with a great website it is possible to get so many bookings without such improvements?

Thanks for sharing your own experience and, in doing so, confirming my own experience.

Rocco

I agree.

We, too, stayed at the Nomad camp near Ndutu, and and everything improved significantly once we were turned over to them--vehicles, guides, food, and accommodation. But best of all were Ruaha and Selous. You simply must do southern Tanzania on your next east African safari!

Leann

Leann,
Will you be posting a trip report?

If not a full report, then maybe your thoughts on Selous and Ruaha at that time of year? We've had a few southern Tanzania reports from Jun-Oct, but I don't think I've seen any from Jan. Where did you stay? Thanks!

Patty

In Ruaha we stayed at Mwagusi and at in Selous at the Sand Rivers Selous. Both were absolutely fantastic.

Will try to post a report and some photos soon.

Leann

Great, looking forward to it, Leann!

(Rather than further delay my report, I am providing Days 1 and 2 of Ndutu, to be followed up on later)


NOMAD NDUTU

Planning this trip, I really had no idea about the different areas of the Serengeti. As a result, rather than selecting permanent lodges, especially with no luxury lodges being present in the Southern part of the park, it was important for me to go with a company that offered semi-permanent camps, following the Migration.

With their eccentric website, Nomad Tanzania was always my first choice when it came to the Serengeti. Unfortunately, however, as I would find, they did not seem to have much representation in the USA, and after communicating with the two American companies I most wanted to deal with, I then had to move onto dealing with ATR in the UK, as they were the only one of the three who offered Nomad. Whatever the case, I was very excited that I would have the opportunity to see the Serengeti with Nomad.

Immediately after being handed over from MKSC to Nomad, the differences were obvious. The difference between the Nomad vehicle and the MKSC vehicle was like night and day. The Nomad vehicle was a very comfortable Land Cruiser that actually allowed Alexsandra and I to sit together…what a concept! Furthermore, it was perfectly maintained, featured beanbags for photography, a fully stocked cooler with cold drinks (rather than the room temperature water that was in the MKSC vehicle), cookies that were like Graham Crackers (digestive crackers, they were called) and even bags of individually wrapped candy.

The immediate plan was to drive back to the camp for lunch, as Alexsandra hadn’t touched the food at Olduvai. Along the way, we were still thick in the middle of the Migration. Every now and then, Alexsandra and I would just stand up to marvel in the amount of wildlife, and we were pleased to see the animal thriving on the abundance of food and water. I especially enjoyed watching the male wildebeests who would lock horns with each other.

We arrived to camp somewhat early, at just before 1PM. I really loved the setting of the camp. Much to my delight, it was a wooded area that reminded me more of Southern Africa than of the wide open plains I had been seeing for the last few days.

The guest tents at Nomad were about what I had become accustomed to at other tented camps, not especially large like, for example, Puku Ridge in South Luangwa, and not especially small. The rooms were nicely appointed and everything was nice and clean. The bathroom was about as could be expected for a semi-permanent camp. Drop toilets with a small wooden shovel and basket full of dirt...not as bad as it sounds, and much preferable to chemical toilets, in my opinion.

The camp featured only four guest tents, and this was one of the main attractions to me in booking with Nomad. The only common area was the “mess tent” but I wasn’t exactly at Nomad to hang out in camp, but rather for the wildlife experience and strong guiding that I expected to get while at Nomad.

Our guide, Chedial, was more personable than our prior guide, and seemed to really enjoy guiding. He had about five years of guiding and experience and the majority of it had been with Nomad. Best of all, with Chedial, I never received any “suggestions” contrary to my requests. So, when I requested to have my first game drive at 3PM, there was no problem, even though the other guests were not going out until 4:30PM.

The first drive was not especially memorable, but was still far better than Lake Manyara and Tarangire. There were countless wildebeest, zebras, Grant’s Gazelles, Thompson’s Gazelles, and the occasional elands and hartebeest, not to mention vultures and Maribou Stork’s anytime there was a carcass around. However, I was hungry for lions but they had not yet made an appearance.

We headed back to camp just as it started getting dark. All vehicles were required to be back at their campsite or lodge (with Ndutu Lodge being the only one in the area) by 7PM.

We had the opportunity to meet the other guests, and while they were all nice enough, they were all from the UK. While the CCAfrica and Elewana camps had Americans, French, South Africans and others, we were the only Americans here. As Alexsandra mentioned to them, it was like we were in a Hugh Grant movie.

Unlike our previous camps, this was the first camp where dinner was eaten as a group. By the time we were eating dinner, there were noises coming from not too far away that could only be one thing. “Ooh, listen to the Zebras”, was the response of one of the other guests, while the five other guests nodded in response. “You are kidding right?”, was my own response, as the sounds coming from the distance were not Zebras but, instead, unmistakably lions! Well, they were not kidding, unfortunately, and they had to verify with their guide my claim that the sounds we were hearing were lions was true.




THE KILLING FIELDS – NDUTU, DAY 2

Throughout the night the lions were quite vocal. The most exciting thing about lions is that with their roars, they could be very nearby or miles away…you just never know. We fell asleep to the sounds of lions and we awoke the next morning to the sounds of lions. However, while we slept, the lions had been quite busy doing what lions do best.

At the suggestion of our guide, we had an early wakeup call of about 5:45AM, and we left the camp by about 6:15AM. We had not driven for more than half a mile before coming across the lions first victim of the night, the remnants of a Dagga Boy Buffalo. Amazingly, it had mostly been devoured after just a few hours. We would soon find out how this was possible.

As we scanned the plain, we counted a total of 18 lions in the pride, including 10 adults and 8 cubs. Of the 10 adults, there were three very impressive full grown males. All of the adults had apparently eaten already, because when we arrived it was the cubs who were gorging themselves.

The killing had not stopped with the Buffalo. About 100 meters away, we saw members of the pride at another kill, this a Wildebeest yearling. Then not far in the distance, a baby wildebeest also fell victim.

“Crunch, crunch, crunch” was the prevailing sound around these lions as they continued to gorge themselves. There were some very graphic displays, such as seeing the lions bite into the stomach, only for all the contents to come spilling out. Needless to say, they left it alone after that and shifted to more sanitary body parts!

We, along with the other two vehicles from our camp, watched the lions for quite a long time. Despite there being 18 lions, this was not enough to persuade a determined baby wildebeest to try to cross their area, surely in search of its mother.

Although the lions could not have been hungry, upon seeing the baby wildebeest, the lionesses went into hunting formation. It was fascinating to watch as they all seemed to know their positions…it was almost as if it was an American Football game and the lionesses had huddled and called for a certain play.

Well, even the best football teams do not succeed on every play, and the same held true for these stalking lionesses. The baby wildebeest was just too far out in the open for the lions to succeed, this time, and before the lionesses were able to approach too close, the baby wildebeest ran off.

It was not long, however, perhaps another 15 minutes, before another baby wildebeest started what appeared to be an ill-fated approach towards the lions. The only thing going in this wildebeest’s favor was that the only lion who had yet seen it was a big male lion who was a bit gimpy, possibly from a thorn in his paw.

The male lion allowed the baby wildebeest to pass along the side of him, within about 100 feet. Periodically, however, not knowing where it was going, the baby wildebeest would stop in its tracks and look around for its herd. While it was looking around this time, the gimpy male lion approached from the rear. Parts of me wanted to shout out to the baby wildebeest to alert it of the lion. Other parts of me, however, were rooting for the lion, even though he clearly was not presently in need of food. Well, I was only out there to be a spectator rather than a participant, and with that I watched as the lion slowly moved closer, closer, closer until about twenty five meters away when he broke into a sprint straight for the baby wildebeest.

This was all so exciting to watch unfold, especially since male lions rarely hunt. This male lion’s hunting style was not very sophisticated, but even less sophisticated, however, was this baby wildebeest’s sense of danger.

The male lion was able to close to within about ten meters before the baby wildebeest even moved. With momentum on the lion’s side, he then closed the distance to within just a couple meters. Then, however, they seemed to be going the same speed for a split second, before the baby wildebeest put on the after-burners and left the lion in its dust.

Any other lion would have succeeded, but this was a very gimpy lion. Unfortunately for this baby wildebeest, it was determined to cross through where the pride of 18 lions were located and it would next try its luck against another male lion, one who was not gimpy.

Just a few minutes had passed before the same baby wildebeest returned. This time it was able to make it further across the battlefield than the last time, only, however, to back itself up into a sizeable shrub. With other large shrubs around, it really had no way to see all the dangers that were lurking right around the corner.

This time, another fully grown male lion from the pride was the first one to see the baby wildebeest. It was an unforgettable sight to watch as the lion crouched and moved forward very slowly, partially shielded by a shrub, not allowing himself to be seen as he closed the gap between he and the baby wildebeest. Like the last lion who tried, he was able to get within about 25 meters before beginning his homicidal sprint towards the baby wildebeest. As he closed the gap, had the baby wildebeest just sprinted straight forward, an escape was possible. Instead, it froze in its tracks, never moved and was then pounced upon by what must have been a 350 pound lion.

While the baby wildebeest clung to life, but probably with its back or neck broken, the lion then picked it up in his mouth and moved it into some nearby bushes, apparently saving it for later. Before moving on, however, the lion stood there, towering over the fallen wildebeest, seemingly both eyeing his prize, and looking curiously at the baby wildebeest who was taking its final gasps.

Great - and so the tale continues. Cheers Rocco!

Matt

"and while they were all nice enough, they were all from the UK"

How inconsiderate of them!

Matt,

As you will soon, I have a similarly enthusiastic opinion when everyone at Mbuzi Mawe is American!

I was lucky in having in group of 11 spread between 3 vehicles, 4 Americans, 2 dutch, 1 canadian, 1 chilean, 1 New Zealander and us. It made for some great stories at dinner time and as a group we really gelled: it made what was a special holiday even more so for us.

BTW did you receive my last email via your hotmail account?

Take care,

Matt

Rocco:
Glad to come back from a weekend trip to find a new segment--even if it features the demise of a baby wildebeest. I know what you mean about wanting to shout--run, RUN!

Tales of life and death from the Serengeti.

Nomads gets a thumbs up.

I hate baby kills.

Thanks for continuing, Rocco. I was beginning to think this would be like The Mystery of Edwin Drood or something...

(Wish I could think of another unfinished novel but my brain's not working well today.)

I'm hoping I have a more positive experience with MKSC than you and Alexsandra did. Perhaps I'll have to drink a lot.

"Perhaps I'll have to drink a lot."

On our trip our driver stopped off in Mto Wa Mbu and bought some mint humbugs from a local store - he started handing them out once through the entry into the Ngorongoro conservation area - I'm telling you once I swallowed one of them the game just started appearing and things got really good: my fellow travellers were from Amsterdam... I looked knowingly at them. Got these funny swirling colours going on in my vision too: hey perhaps Africa was just a dream and those humbugs explain the frequency of my flashbacks...

Matt

Matt,
"mint humbugs" = mint mushrooms?

Great report and looking forward to the next installment! I really want to look into the new CCAfrica Tanzania under canvas and Selous and Ruaha and Nomad sounds wonderful.

moremiles,

I will be visiting Namibia, Botswana and South Africa in November/December, but after that, I agree, that Ruaha and Selous (as well as possibly Mahale and Katavi) sound like great destinations for an August/September safari.

Between Nomad and CCAfrica, there are some great options available for Tanzanian safaris that break away from the crowds in the northern circuit.

NOMAD NDUTU (Continued)

One thing that people should realize when considering what part of the Serengeti to visit, especially for a February - April visit while the Migration should be in the area, is that Ndutu allows off-roading and this makes for an amazing safari. Best of all, however, there is only one permanent lodge in the area, and only a few campsites that are reserved by companies such as Nomad or other private operators. As a result, there are really not that many vehicles around, yet it is a really beautiful area with possibly the best wildlife you will ever encounter if visited during the Migration.

The pride of 18 lions would make themselves a constant presence throughout the four night stay at Ndutu, and were never hard to find. With at least four kills within the last few hours, however, it did seem that they were through with the carnage for the time being. Consequently, we went off in search of cheetahs, other lions, and who knows, maybe even a leopard as there are some wooded areas around Ndutu.

After leaving the lions behind, we made our way out to the open plains to try our luck with the cheetahs. Although we had seen a cheetah in Lake Manyara, it was too far away from the road to really get a good look. Same story in the Crater with our only cheetah sightings being far off the road. Now, however, we had the freedom in Ndutu to finally drive offroad and best of all about the Serengeti is that even offroading is easier driving that driving on the road anywhere else.

One good thing about Nomad is that the guides talk to the other Nomad guides when there is a major sighting. As a result, we had no problem finding a pair of cheetah brothers.

Unfortunately, however, these two cheetah would be the source of a lot of frustration for the next couple days, as we spent hours on end with them, sometimes watching as wildebeest and even gazelles approached to within what easily appeared to be striking range, yet the cheetahs never gave chase!Instead, we had to be content with watching them marking their territory and the occasional yawn.

We had been scheduled to visit Loliondo, but we loved Ndutu so much that we enquired about extending our stay for the two nights we were to visit Loliondo. After so many short visits at my previous destinations, we really needed to just call someplace home for more than two nights during this trip.

Fortunately, there was exactly one tent remaining and we were moved over to Nomad's other Ndutu camp, as the one we were at was packing up shop and moving to a new location. Basically, the campsite is booked for two weeks at a time by Nomad, but it is arranged so that the guests never have to move camps during their stay. Only due to my last second extension did I move to the other Nomad camp, which was basically an exact copy of the camp where I had just spent two nights.

The next camp also featured all Brits as guests. Like the last camp, Alexsandra and I fit right into the average age category, as each camp had a honeymooning couple slightly younger and each camp had another couple that had just hit 40. We were all there for the gameviewing experience, most of all.
I did prefer the guests at the second camp for whatever reason, just chemistry, I suppose. Not enough chemistry, however, to have me up drinking with them into the wee hours while the pride of 18 lions lurked around!

On our third day, I did an early morning game drive with Chediel (my guide) while Alexsandra decided to sit this one out. We did visit a new area and I did see a beautiful pair of adult male lions, fully maned and with hardly any battle scars. In this more wooded part of the park, there were also a few elephants, plenty of wildebeest, zebra, a few dik dik, hartebeest and eland.

After returning to the camp for lunch and a siesta, Alexsandra joined Chediel and I as we went out again by 3:30PM, to allow for a 3+ hour game drive. After checking on the hapless cheetah brothers, we quickly grew frustrated with them and started heading back the other way. Chediel was called on the radio about the same two male lions that we had seen earlier that morning, as they were now up and moving a bit.

We headed back to see these lions and as we arrived, the other Nomad vehicle left the scene, leaving us to these lions. One of the lions then walked over to a tall tree and it appeared as if he were stretching and scratching the tree to sharpen his nails. Chediel rhetorically asked why the lion just didn't CLIMB the tree instead. With this suggestion, we watched in amazement as the lion then started pulling himself up the completely vertical tree trunk, pulling himself up at least a 12 foot trunk, before reaching the first major branch!

All three of us were completely amazed by this lion and while I was shooting away with one camera, Chediel, without even bothering to ask, reached for my other camera and starting shooting away himself! I did not mind one bit and Alexsandra knew that this was a very special occurrence not only by what she was seeing from the lion, but also by the behaivour displayed by Chediel and I.

The lion did not stop at the top of the trunk, but instead climbed the tree until he was about 30 feet above the ground. It was an awesome sight and although Chediel had called the other Nomad vehicle back and another vehicle had happened upon the scene, we were the only ones to see it happen from the beginning and we were in the best position.

One thing that I was very impressed with in the Ndutu area, is that the other vehicles are very respectful of one another, and I think this is an indication that only quality operators are found around these parts. It certainly gives it more of a Southern African feel to it and makes for a wonderful gameviewing experience.

After spending about 10 minutes in the tree, the lion decided that he liked it better on terra firma and started to descend from the tree...very cautiously. Even so, the lion lost his footing on a couple occasions and very nearly came crashing down to Earth, but instead only sent bark falling as he recovered each time.

Once back on the ground, the lion then walked over to the other lion and fell sideways on top of the other lion in a sign of play. Chediel told us that in 5+ years of guiding he had never seen a full grown male lion climb a tree in such a way and that this ranked amongst his best gameviewing experiences.

As if we were not spoiled enough, shortly afterward, we were rewarded with a leopard hanging in a tree. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a distance away, and there was another Nomad vehicle present, as well as a third vehicle. None of the guides wanted to risk approaching closer, despite offroading being allowed, because they did not want to earn the scorn of the other guides and guests if the leopard were to be scared off. Even so, it was a nice sighting and with aid of the good ol' teleconvertor, I was able to get a few photos.

Our final day of Ndutu was a bit anticlimatic after the incredible experience that we had on our third day. Without such incredible experiences, the final day would have been great as we saw lions, cheetah, eland, hartebeest, zebras, gazelles and wildebeests by the thousands, vultures, maribou storks all around and so much more. However, just like a drug, you up the dosage of gameviewing to include an adult male tree climbing lion and not one, but two different male lions engaging in solo hunts, after that everything else is going to have a hard time measuring up.

Ndutu, at least after it has rained a bit as it had for my visit, as well as raining each day I was there, is just an incredibly beautiful area. I would have really missed out had Ndutu not been on my itinerary or if I was one of the hapless people who were driving all the way to Ndutu from the Kusini area or from the Seronera area, each about a 3 hour drive away. Instead, we were looked after wonderfully by Nomad, we were in the thick of the Migration and the killing machine pride of 18 lions were our neighbors for 4 glorious nights.


(next up...Mbuzi Mawe)

Great! Can't wait to hear about Mbuzi Mawe, Zanzibar and, finally, Alexsandra's tell-all report...

Yeah it sounds like Ndutu was a real disappointment after such a wondrous start to the safari

Matt

Still enjoying it and waiting for more!

rocco:
Even though it had not rained when we were at Ndutu, we, too, found it to be beautiful--we had some similar experiences there (and with Nomad). Take a look at my report--to save time, read the first paragraph and then go to less than the half way point for the 2/27 entry about Ndutu.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4&tid=34760129

Thanks for continuing, Rocco!

MBUZI MAWE

After four nights in the Ndutu area, it was now time to head north to Mbuzi Mawe. I had mixed feelings about going to Mbuzi Mawe, and even before heading up there, I thought it would have been perfect to head to Zanzibar straight from Ndutu. Doing so would save the $1,200 per night I was paying ATR for Mbuzi Mawe (including private vehicle & guide) and it would have either added a couple nights in Europe or had me home sooner.

Neither our guide nor Alexsandra and I were in any huge hurry to leave the Ndutu area, and we ended up doing about a three hour game drive our final morning in Ndutu, spending about half the time with three lionesses who were on a fresh wildebeest kill and looking for their next victim. Although a group of wildebeest nearly walked into them, they were not able to take advantage for a second kill.

Once a couple more vehicles showed up on the scene, we took that as our cue and headed north to Mbuzi Mawe. It was a long drive, about three hours after leaving the Ndutu area. The sad thing was that once we left Ndutu there was no more off-roading. Consequently, while others were stopped up against the road and killing themselves to see lions or cheetahs that were a distance from the road, we kept going after being spoiled for four nights in Ndutu.

Along the way we encountered a few vehicles who were making the long trek from Seronera to Ndutu, and they were not even staying in Ndutu but would rathern then have to turn around and return to Seronera.

The further north we traveled, the more vehicles there were. It wasn't too bad, but there were definitely far more than in the Ndutu area and I could not understand why since the Migration and the ability to do offroad game drives were both in Ndutu. Although these people were still seeing wildlife, it was a poor comparison to what was in the Ndutu area. Someone doing a safari in the Seronera area would come away with a far less memorable impression of the Serengeti than another person who had instead visited Ndutu at this same time of year.

As we were passing through the Seronera area, Chediel gave us the option to do a game drive on one of the area's circuits, but we passed, opting, instead, to head straight for the camp.

We arrived at Mbuzi Mawe at just after 1PM and we were very pleased to see creature comforts such as a sitdown restaurant, a gift shop, a public computer with internet and a huge lounge. Once we checked in, we told Chediel to take the rest of the day off as we had no intention of doing an afternoon game drive.

Mbuzi Mawe is built around kopjes (huge boulders) and while this made for a scenic setting, it also meant that there was always the threat of lions. Mbuzi Mawe actually translates to klipspringer but the lions must have eaten all the klipspringers because I never saw any during my stay!

The tents at Mbuzi Mawe are huge, nearly as big as the tents at Puku Ridge in South Luangwa. However, the similarity stops there. While there were modern conveniences such as double bathroom sinks, a nice big shower with great water pressure, a flushing toilet and not one, but two queen sized beds, overall, the room lacked charm, in my opinion. Also, I thought the tents were a little too close in proximity to the neighboring tents.

There was a nice deck outside of each tent with a daybed and a couple chairs. However, I never dared use my daybed as I was too scared of what would seem to be resident lions.

We had lunch shortly after arriving, and after seeing it was a sit down restaurant and a moderate sized lodge (32 guest capacity, I believe), I was hopeful that I would be able to order something off the menu. Instead, for all meals it was a set menu and there were only two different choices for each meal. Despite having all of the modern conveniences necessary to make excellent food, the food was not even as good as what we just had at Nomad. It wasn't bad, but it was pretty average and given that this was a luxury tented Serena camp, I had hoped for better.

Also, despite paying $600 per person per night, I was disappointed that ATR had failed to communicate with Mbuzi Mawe that my stay was to be all-inclusive. I e-mailed the manager of Mbuzi Mawe a copy of my invoice from ATR, but he still had to verify it with his main office. However, the manager was very gracious that first day and told me to go ahead and order a bottle of wine and if it turned out I was not all-inclusive, the wine would be on the house. However, my main concern was laundry, not wine. Even so, I took a chance and had all of our laundry done, but I was annoyed that even at the price I paid, it may or may not be included depending on whatever response ATR provided.

About 30 minutes before dinner, just as Alexsandra and I were about to return to our tent (unescorted during the day), a lion's roar reverberated throughout the camp. We then saw the Mbuzi Mawe staff shuffling around the camp armed only with their walkie-talkies. All the guests were either stuck in the lounge or stuck in their rooms, as the lions were dealt with.

The lions were placed right between tents #5 and tents #6. Injecting a report I wrote while at Mbuzi Mawe:

>>>>>Author: Roccco (rocco_morelli@hotmail.com)
Date: 03/08/2006, 11:43 am
Just a little more drama...just as we are sitting here preparing for dinner at Mbuze Mawe, a male lion is roaring for the rest of his pride and the lion has been placed between tents #5 and #6...we are in Tent #5.

I have seen quite a bit of carnage over the last few days so this is a bit disconcerting...I am rooting that they will go for the French woman in Tent #6 who is not at all concerned by the lion and says that she has been around lions before.

The national park ranger has now arrived and is addressing the issue but for now there are quite a few American senior citizens (OAT) stirring about here but none of them are as concerned as I, probably because they have booked all the wrong camps and have not seen what these lions are capable of doing.<<<<<

Really, it was a bit annoying, as we were surrounded by mostly elderly guests from Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) and they had all just arrived. While they thought it was amusing that there were lions in camp, I found both the lions and the attitude of my fellow guests to be disturbing. Clearly they had no idea of the real threat that the lions presented to us...I mean the tents are all right up against kopjes and there are also dagga boys in camp to not only attract the lions but to also add possibly even a more pronounced threat to the guests than the lions.

Here I am, a veteran of numerous safaris, feeling safe 99% of the time while on safari and I am frightened. To be surrounded by first time safari-goers who think it is all basically part of the show, it was really annoying.

About the makeup of the other guests, while Nomad had been, for my visit, other than Alexsandra and I, exclusively visitors from the UK, Mbuzi Mawe went off in the opposite extreme and all but one couple in our two nights were from the USA. Unfortunately, Mbuzi Mawe also seemed to attract large groups, and Alexsandra and I could only sit and watch with puppy eyes the first night while one large group had their own private barbecue feast, while we picked between Option A or Option B off the menu, neither especially appealing. However, at least we were safe inside the restuarant while the group from OAT was eating OUTSIDE, protected only by a slight incline leding up to the outdoor patio where they were dining, if you can call a slight incline protection!

Walking back to our tent after dinner with our 5'6" "security guard" who was armed & dangerous with his flashlight was scary to say the least. When I say there are kopjes around, I do not mean they are a hundred feet away from the tent, I mean the tent is built up right against them, not more than ten feet away, allowing only enough space for a sidewalk.

Not long after returning to our tent, the lions returned and roamed the camp all night. With hot air ballooning scheduled for the next morning, I was not looking forward to leaving my tent at 4:45AM. By then, Alexsandra had already made up her mind that there would be no hot air ballooning for her...as if the height did not scare her enough, there was no way that she was going to brave both the hot air ballooning and the lions.

With the ability to pick up a Wi-Fi signal in my tent, and with lions roaming around, I didn't sleep much that night, and probably got to sleep around 2AM, allowing just a nap before my 4:30AM wakeup call.

I was in the lounge before 5AM, and I was a bit annoyed when the other guests did not arrive until after 5:15AM. "Sorry, we were trapped in our room by the lions." Great, I thought, and I was escorted out of my room while the lions were walking through the camp.

After a cup of coffee and some cookies, we braved the walk to the Land Rover for our ride to the hot air balloon site. Before we were even off the property, and about 50 meters from my tent, still on Mbuzi Mawe's property there we saw two Dagga Boy buffalo surrounded by a pride of five adult lions...two big males and three females. Although the action was happening right in front of us, and I had never seen a standoff like this before, unfortunately we had no time and after spending a minute watching, we then had to hurry off for our hot air ballooning!

The weather was far from ideal for hot air ballooning with low clouds and it was even sprinkling. There were four of us from Mbuzi Mawe (myself and a group of three Americans from Florida), plus there would be six other passengers in our balloon.

There was also another balloon, also with about 10 passengers. These were the only two balloons, both with the same company, operating in the entire Serengeti. Nice gig if you can land it, I thought.

The most exciting part of the hot air ballooning proved to be the take off. Our balloon never rose to more than 50 feet off the ground due to the low cloud cover. Although the other balloon soared to a couple thousand feet and climbed over the clouds, our pilot did not do the same and justified it by saying that we would not be able to see anything from above the clouds anyway. I searched the faces of the other passengers who had gone hot air ballooning on prior occasions, and it was confirmed by the looks on their faces that they were disappointed with the experience.

It was annoying to pay so much for the experience and being so low to the ground (half the time at heights of less than 25 feet off the ground) that I was sometimes tempted to jump out of the balloon just to make a point that this was NOT hot air ballooning. There were honestly times that we were no more than 15 feet off the ground, and I am sure that I could have jumped out and probably not even turned an ankle, yet less broke a bone.

However, I tried my best to be a good sport, but it was a bit annoying when the pilot wrongly identified a scrubhare as a jackal. I corrected him but he doubted me until I was backed up by the other guests. The pilot then responded that he had never seen a scrubhare while hot air ballooning and I responded that was because he probably did not do too many flights at 25 feet above the ground.

Although I do believe the customers should have been given the option whether to do the flight or not, given the weather conditions, I tried to make the most of it and I suppose it was still better than sleeping in. However, I would have loved to see how the standoff between the dagga boys and lions ended back at the camp instead of paying such big bucks for what turned out to be a disappointing experience with the hot air ballooning (had I waited until the next day, I would have soared to 5,000 feet, as I was to learn from some other travelers I met).

After landing we were driven to a nice site to enjoy a full English brekfast with champagne. It was a very nice breakfast but for the prices we paid, and because it was so good, I was not too happy when there was only one serving per person.

We were rewarded with a nice cheetah on a slender, tall kopje, after leaving breakfast. (I still have 2 Gigs worth of photos from my final day at Nomad and my time at Mbuzi Mawe & Zanzibar that I have not yet downloaded).

We were dropped off at one of the Seronera lodges, the Serengeti Wildlife Camp?, and there we were provided with our certificates by the hot air ballooning company. I was expecting mine to read "I paid $400 and all I got was this lousy certificate" but instead it made me out ot be an Emelia Earhardt or Wright Brother by the way it glorified my journey to the edge of space at an average height of 25 feet!

Chediel and Alexsandra picked me up from the lodge and thankfully Alexsandra brought along a change of clothes for me. With the warning that it would be cold, I had worn long pants and oxford style dress shoes...instead, I could have been doing a nudist hot air balloon ride and it would not have been cold, not even during the occasion we soared to fifty feet high!

We returned to the lodge, stopping to see a few interesting things along the way...another leopard tortoise, a few antelope, a few birds, but nothing like what we saw in Ndutu.

Following lunch, Chediel and I headed off for an afternoon game drive, heading north rather than returning south to the Seronera area. Whichever direction we chose, it was still an hour away from Mbuzi Mawe before there were any gamedrive circuits. This one we chose put us within striking distance of Migration Camp, which, in retrospect, would have been a better choice than Mbuzi Mawe, avoiding the groups and likely offeering better food and a nicer area (judging from my stay at its sister camp, Tarangire Tree Tops).

Given that this was our final game drive, it was a very nice way to end it. We were away from the crowds of the Seronera area and we saw quite a bit, including a cheetah, eland, a few lions, including a pair of 2 - 3 year old brothers atop a kopje and more. I do have one photo of both brothers, side by side, yawning at the same time, one lying normally and the other lying on his back!

Although the safari portion was now over, Alexsandra and I were both excited about our morning flight to Zanzibar. Just one more night to survive as lion bait, but at least this time following dinner we were walked back to our tent by both our flashlight wielding security guard AND the national park ranger with his automatic rifle.

Rocco,
Thanks for continuing. Mbuzi Mawe doesn’t sound that bad. How disappointing to miss the lion/buffalo standoff!

I guess with Ndutu it depends on the season: during the southern stage of the migration it's probably great, otherwise, with the southern grass plains being rather sparse, perhaps another location is better?

BTW, (a little off thread) I'll be meeting up with Julian in London next Saturday for a beer and curry so we should have a good lunch!

Matt

hi there rocco, i just dropped in now on this-oh that is very cool about the lions in camp. for my sewlf i love having wild animals around and in camp.adds to the excitement and story telling.
i think i mention this before about the balloon ride-really would have been better if you took that money and stayed another day.even if i had the money to do it-would have done that instead.
too bad about the annoying guests. i understand totally. for that reason if i can go it alone-i do.if anyone is tagging along with me it will be a local person i know there. i have done that a few times-works out much better. no issues at all.
thanks, d

Thanks for the continued detail and frank comments. To further console yourself about the balloon trip, you probably are the only one of us to ever see a scrubhare from a hot air balloon. If it had not been for your sore toe, I'm thinking you might have leapt from that low flying balloon. The lions in camp were an exciting element to your stay.

Well, from the safety of my home, nine thousand miles away from those Mbuzi Mawe lions, I am now able to appreciate them more than I did while I was likely being stalked by them!

haha, next time rocco-just take it all in and enjoy
you didnt video any of these guys did you buy any chance? maybe catch some of the grunts & roars?
ok must go now- check in later.
cheers, d

thanks for the continuing saga.

Funny how something that sounds like such a bonus ("lions all around the camp!") can be such a drag in reality ("d*** lions all around the camp").

Well, it still sounds pretty thrilling to me. But, yes, I imagine it would be hard to sleep under those circumstances.

Also, if/when sonali wants a recommended camp in Serengeti for lions, I think we now know where to send her.

good memory, leely, and good point!

GIMPY GOES TO ZANZIBAR

During the safari, my toe had held up pretty well to the minor surgery I had undergone the morning of my departure. However, after wearing only sandals for the better part of two weeks, my feet were taking a beating, and by the time I was ready for Zanzibar, I was in bad shape again, with the infection returning and my antibiotics already exhausted.

On the final morning we did not bother to do a game drive, but rather enjoyed breakfast at about 8AM, and left the lodge by 9AM for our 10:30AM flight to Zanzibar.

The staff at Mbuzi Mawe was great, especially the young women who worked in reception. They were the best thing about Mbuzi Mawe, as well as the manager of Mbuzi Mawe.

We flew on about an 18 seat plane that was only half full, but, unexpectedly, was scheduled for FOUR stops along the way to Zanzibar. One of the reasons why I was finishing up at Mbuzi Mawe in the first place was so that I could avoid a long drive back to Seronera for my onward flights. Given the context I had stayed at Mbuzi Mawe, it was a rude surprise when our first scheduled stop was at Ndutu!

At Ndutu we stopped to pick up a couple from Monaco whom we had met earlier at Crater Lodge. They had hired their own (white) guide and tracker who had driven in from Nairobi to do this safari. While their vehicle was beautiful and I am sure their guide must have been very experienced, in five nights in the Ndutu area they had failed to see even a single cheetah. It made me wonder if they would not have been better off with a guide who was more familiar with Ndutu or with a company like Nomad that at least had the benefit of radio contact with guides from the same company. They were disappointed about not seeing a cheetah and their entire trip was 1 night in Arusha?, 3 nights in Mahale (Nomad), 1 night at Crater Lodge and 5 nights in Ndutu. They would have been better off with Nomad, I think. None of my business, I know, but I did feel bad for them, and it just points out the importance of going with companies that really know the area well.

After Ndutu, we then stopped in Lake Manyara, Arusha, Kiliminjaro and then about four hours after first taking off from Seronera, we were finally in Zanzibar.

It was really hot & humid in Zanzibar and the heat hit us immediately after we got off the plane. I was just thankful that we had chosen the Palms rather than a place with no air conditioning.

We were met at the airport by a driver in an air-conditioned minivan, offered ice cold bottled water and we were off to the Palms. It was about an hour drive and I was somewhat surprised at the overall poverty of the island, but more than the poverty, I was surprised at the congestion on the streets...bicycles, pedestrians and mopeds mostly, but just enough work trucks and other taxis to make the drive uncomfortable whenever we were passing another vehicle or whenever an oncoming truck was approaching.

There were occasional roadblocks setup by the police that were promptly removed for us. I did wonder whether or not certain parts of the island were blocked off for only tourists.

The last couple miles leading up to the Palms was on a highway that was undergoing construction. This did make for a dusty drive and make it less appealing. All I could think of was that I would not have minded my last seven nights (Mbuzi Mawe & Zanzibar) being in South Luangwa to possibly see wild dogs!

However, Alexsandra loved it, and did not mind the congestion or the unfinished road, but instead she was just happy to be around people, to see palm trees everywhere and as had been arranged by me earlier on the safari, she was thrilled that she would have four mornings of Swahili instruction from a college professor who was to come to our hotel each morning.

The Palms was beautiful but the property was a little smaller than I was expecting. It was right next door to Breezes and they both enjoy common ownership, as does Palacina in Nairobi.

www.palms-zanzibar.com
www.breezes-zanzibar.com
www.palacina.com

The rooms, however, at the Palms were fantastic, measuring about 1,400 sq. ft. and each with their own private plunge pool, satellite television (which was essential so we could enjoy Big Brother Nigeria) and a fantastic bed. The only downside to the room was that the shower was nothing out of this world but rather ordinary.

Oddly, the manager, a (black) Kenyan born, Swiss educated, young man, said he "recognized" me, and then told me about the video he had seen of me "in the vest!" I don't know if this was Sandi's doing, somebody else's doing or just this guy happened to come across the video on the website it was featured, but it was weird. I am not exactly as famous as Brad Pitt, so to be recognized was a bit unusual.

The true manager of the lodge seemed to be the food & beverage manager, a really nice guy about 28 years old who was from the UK. While the manager never seemed to leave the front office, the food & beverage manager was everywhere and really helpful.

The first night we were exhausted from the long day of travel so we enjoyed dinner in our room eating as we watched bad reality TV, including Big Brother Nigeria and a couple shows from the USA. It was good to just turn on the "idiot box" for the first time in a couple weeks.

During the entire stay, I was pretty useless and getting more sick with each passing day. Not only was I out of antibiotics but I was also out of Vicodin, after giving it to a woman who was in a bad accident and needed it more than I (her Land Cruiser flipped over).

The only thing I did during my time at the Palms was go in the swimming pool and one day I did go snorkeling, but that didn't do much good for my condition.

We did enjoy a couple great dinners at the Palms restaurant, and it was a somewhat formal affair albeit with resort casual attire.

Honestly, I did not care for most of the couples at the Palms, although we did meet a very nice Brazilian couple who was finishing up with a couple nights at the Palms after having the time of their lives at Mnemba Island (CCAfrica's private little island nearby). We stayed up until midnight one night with them enjoying wine, swapping our safari stories and sharing our photos with each other on my laptop, while we listened to the "Women of Africa" CD playing in the computer. Other than that I found some of the other couples uppity, and I just cannot understand people like this, especially when this attitude is given to people who are 10 - 20 years their junior (where were they 10 - 20 years ago...being soccer moms?).

Anyway, the Palms was very nice but my stay was negatively affected by my worsening condition with my toe. It was during the Palms that I knew I would have to return home early.

At first returning home a couple days early sounded like a great idea as it would allow me to see a heavyweight championship boxing event I was scheduled to miss, but then it became really critical that I return home and I was no longer thinking about seeing a fight, but rather seeing an American doctor as soon as possible, hoping to avoid my infection getting septic (?).

The last two night at the Serena Inn were great for Alexsandra, as she loved Stone Town. Others had warned us that we were staying too long, but Alexsandra would have gladly stayed even more than the two nights we scheduled. I did limp around town with her the first late afternoon but I was bed-ridden the next day other than for breakfast and dinner. This did not stop Alexsandra from hitting the town and she returned many hours later with PORTERS carrying all the things she had bought! She bought tablecloths, bedding and to complicate matters, she bought two big chests, as if we did not have enough luggage already with our four suitcases, laptop case, Tamrac photo backpack, a big purse, a shopping bag and now two big chests that had to be hand carried!

At the Serena Inn, we did have an excellent room, a "Prime" room with a wrap around balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, with quite a few mosquitos around, we did not spend as much time as we would have liked on the balcony, but it was still nice to go out and enjoy it for a few minutes at a time including our first dinner.

Alexsandra found the seafood at the Serena Inn to be the best she has ever had and the portions on the lobster were more generous than at the Palms. I did find everything at the Palms too coconut-centric and too seafood-centric. As someone that does not enjoy seafood, I didn't enjoy either the Palms or the Serena Inn's food that much while Alexsandra absolutely loved it.

During the time at the Palms, after many frustrating calls to Delta Airlines, often ending in terminated calls after 15+ minutes on my satellite phone (at $2 per minute), I was finally able to change the flights and I owe Patty from Fodors for helping me find a flight that worked. Instead of 2 nights in Amsterdam and 2 nights in Paris, I entirely cancelled Paris and shortened Amsterdam to 1 night.

On our morning of departure, we had an early 7:45AM flight to Nairobi aboard Precision Air and we were supposed to leave the hotel by 6AM. Not surprisingly, however, we did not leave the hotel until well after 6:30AM, and our checkout was delayed by a good 5 minutes when the Serena Inn accidentally double charged me for one dinner and had to reverse the charges, etc.

Meanwhile, it was raining pretty hard on our morning of departure and the cab driver must have thought he was doing a service in announcing that we were too late and that they would probably not allow us on the flight.

When we did arrive at the airport, our luggage was weighed and the man at the counter announced that we were overweight. Fine, I said I would check in the chests and carry on the small suitcases. However, although this luggage was allowed on our other flights as carry on, he did not allow it. He did the math and announced that it was going to be $300 for the extra luggage but then in order to "help out" he spoke to his manager and was able to reduce it to $150 (cash). I was in no position to argue, and frankly I did not care what he did with the money...I just wanted to get on this flight and get home.

While I did not mind the incident, Alexsandra minded the incident very much and during the flight reported it to the head flight attendant. The head flight attendant also minded very much and there we were in Nairobi, filling out a report. We would later get an e-mail from Precision Air saying that the man at the counter claimed he never received any money from us and that it appeared as if we had been drinking. Now, if he said it appeared that I had raspberry filling from a jelly donut on my face that would be more believable, but to say I was drinking was very far-fetched. I really have no hard feelings over the incident but it is one that other travelers should be aware of.

The flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam on Kenya Airways was a great flight, with the flight 2/3 empty, video on demand, good food, great service and a relatively short flight (8 hours?) to Amsterdam. I would go out of my way to travel with Kenya Airways again and if their economy service was as good as it was, I imagine that their business class service is even better.

It was a 50 Euro cab ride to the Canal House hotel which was a very charming heritage style hotel in a non-commercialized area. Although my foot was in bad shape, I forced in a walk around that night and we found a good Indian restaurant and walked around for another hour afterward in the very cold weather (must have been just below freezing) before returning to our hotel for our late morning flight home.


(Next up...FINAL REFLECTIONS ON TANZANIA)

Loving your report. Especially, your commentary.

I wonder, though, how you would have felt about Ndutu, if you had been there before the rains (a month earlier)... a complete dust bowl, with little game; the Seronera being the better area.

You just never know.

Can't wait to see the additional photos.

Sorry Rocco, my attention faded the moment you boarded the plane from the Serengeti - I will be most interested to read the summation of your trip.

I think that whilst you did experience many negative points it can help you address the most important points when providing advise and organising trips with your new venture. Many things to learn from and improve upon.

Now what say we club together and buy a Land Cruiser or two, equip one with the camping gear and provide some real quality Northen circuit safaris?

Matt

Matt,

The safari had its ups and its downs, but I am very glad I experienced it. Like you mentioned, I will take this knowledge and put it to good use.

FINAL REFLECTIONS ON TANZANIA

Highlights:

Walking through the rain and approaching giraffes on foot, while zebras raced by and Masai walked their cattle and sang their songs in the distance.

Fantastic lodging and staff at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge. Although the gameviewing did not approach that in Ngorongoro Crater, just for the exclusivity, the beautiful camp and the excellent staff, I really, really enjoyed Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.

The overall experience of Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. The lodge itself is out of this world and I loved dining in the restaurant each night. I could not imagine doing the Ngorongoro Crater any other way than at Crater Lodge.

The incredible gameviewing and overall experience provided by Nomad in Ndutu. I saw things that I would have been too greedy to even hope to see (male lion making a kill and male lion climbing a tree). The beauty of the area was overwhelming and the offroading made it possibly the best safari destination I have yet experienced.

The amount of the lions encountered was unbelievable and best of all, many of them were fully maned lions just entering their prime, something that seems to be missing in Southern Africa, at least in South Africa and Zambia.

The Great Migration was amazing in its own right, but what it really provided was demonstrating the circle of life. To think that this is the same path that wildebeest have traveled for thousands of years is quite mind boggling.

Visiting in late February / early March was fantastic. It rained almost every day, but the rains rarely impacted our safari in a negative way. It really added to the atmosphere and it was a nice summer rain rather than a cold winter rain.

Obviously, I am very pleased with the photo opportunities that were afforded me in Eastern Africa. I am still a complete amateur, but I believe I am improving and this was the perfect safari to allow me to photograph landscapes and wildlife that were new to me.


LOWLIGHTS:

The flight into Kiliminjaro was not the best way to start off the safari.

The MKSC vehicle was pathetic and I did think my guide only gave 50% effort. No doubt he was very knowledgable, but as I mentioned, it seems like he thought he was above being a guide.

I was very disappointed that MKSC & ATR would attempt to charge me $150 for a different vehicle when the vehicle provided was unacceptable and brought to ATR's attention from the start in Arusha.

I am amazed that ATR would suggest that a client follow up stays at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and Ngorongoro Crater Lodge with a night at Olduvai Camp. It almost seems like ATR is happy to get a one time booking and is not looking for repeat business, especially with their suspect rankings of the camps/lodges that some may see as a deliberate attempt to misinform their clients.

The problems with my foot/toe did not allow me to enjoy Zanzibar as much as I probably would have otherwise.

Delta (Business Class from LAX - Atlanta and Atlanta - Amsterdam) and KLM (economy class from Amsterdam - Kiliminjaro and business class from Amsterdam - LAX) both seemed to be airlines that were not on the same level with some other airlines I have experienced.

For the experience, I did find Olduvai and Mbuzi Mawe to be overpriced, as I did for the hot air ballooning. No complaints, whatsoever, about pricing for Tarangire Tree Tops, Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge or Nomad. Neutral thoughts on pricing on Moivaro, the Palms and the Serena Inn.


---Overall, I was happy with my trip, but it would have been great had I been with Nomad throughout. Nomad does provide ground handling throughout the Northern Circuit and I would have gladly paid the extra $100 per day or whatever the extra cost may have been with Nomad. That is something I think all tour operators should offer...a choice in ground operators...perhaps the very best possible a tour operator is able to find, then maybe a mid-level safari operator, and then maybe even an upstart guide who is starting his own operation, but advising the client of the difference between the operators.

I am pleased that it is only April and I have already completed one safari this year, as this will allow me enough time later this year to go on another safari, this one to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

It was great to see so many new areas and to see the difference between an Eastern Africa safari and a Southern Africa safari. I do think, however, that I enjoyed it most when I was taking steps to make my experience more like what I am used to in Southern Africa (luxury lodges, open vehicles when possible, staying at two CCAfrica camps, etc.).

I will definitely return to Tanzania, probably even by next year to visit Mahale, Katavi, Ruaha and Selous. I am much better off now for having visited the Northern Circuit and I will use what I have learned to hopefully plan a near flawless safari experience next year.

Thanks to everyone who helped with guiding me while I was putting this all together. Any mistakes that were made were entirely my own doing, as I was rushed to book to ensure my dates.

Thanks to everyone who helped with guiding me while I was putting this all together

Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to write it. It's been good to make comparisons to my own trip last year and know a little more Rocco Morelli: hope to meet up some time.

Take care,

Matt

Roccco, thank you for writing such a comprehensive report.

Our first trip to East Africa was also booked with an overseas agent. After just a few days in Tanzania we figured out that the local tour outfitters are very capable and we overpaid for an underwhelming trip.

A custom safari is easy to arrange and most local outfitters can book Nomad, Elewana, CC Africa or any other "best" safaris and properties. Credit cards acceptance has been an issue but more outfitters are accepting plastic!

I have been requesting quotes for 2 years now and never had problems with local outfitters "pushing" certain properties or operators. I tell them what I want and they book it with no problems. This is different from my experiences with overseas agents who work with selected outfitters only. This is frustrating. You experienced the same issue with ATR and MKSC.

I may be wrong but I sense from the tone in your report that you are an agent looking to expand your business to East Africa? Bad news for ATR and good luck with your venture!

Jan

Rocco, I also want to thank you for posting such a comprehensive report. I enjoyed reading all of it. Off topic, we will be staying at the Inter-Continental in Lusaka in July and I have a few questions about the jeweler there. Would you mind if I e-mailed you?

raelond,

By all means, please feel free to e-mail me and I would be happy to assist.

Matt,

It would be my pleasure to meet one day whether it is in Portugal, Los Angeles or Tanzania.

Cheers.

Great report Rocco! Finally got to read it all, though it didn't convince me to travel to East Africa...YET! Maybe in 2008. Do you still owe Alexsandra a weekend in Paris? How'd you make out on the travel insurance, having to cancel some parts of your trip? And how's the toe? Can't wait to see all your pics, you posting soon?
Thanks for the great read!
Dennis

janet,

Your perceptions are absolutely correct.

Thanks for the kind words and I will do my best to provide my clients an incredible safari no matter what part of Africa is visited. I do think that spending the last five years on Fodors with my fellow travelers will always keep me somewhat grounded and never allow me to be out of touch with clients expectations.

I agree with much of what you said regarding an experienced traveler setting up their own safari. However, even an experienced traveler will often have a hard time getting more than a token discount at the best lodges/camps. Often times there are long stay discounts, special promotions, special relationships between a tour operator and a certain lodge/camp, that may allow for better pricing than even the most savvy traveler may put together for themselves.

Although this was my first time to Tanzania, there were many important lessons learned that will definitely be applied in the future.

Thanks for your interest in my trip report.

Dennis,

Thanks for your comments.

My photos may be seen at www.kodakgallery.com/rocco/tanzania

I will be posting more in a few days as I still have the last three days of my safari that have not been included (one day at Ndutu and two days at Mbuzi Mawe).

Trust me...while I was rotting away at my very expensive room in Zanzibar, I was wishing that I was in South Luangwa! I probably could have gotten there just in time to be in the vehicle with you for your own lion kill that you witnessed! Greedy, I know, but even three nights at Luangwa River Lodge and three nights at Puku Ridge would have been worth a short flight from Nairobi to Lusaka.

Hopefully I will have a chance to get back to Zambia next year, including a first time visit to North Luangwa and Kafue. I really did miss Zambia and it does remain my favorite destination.

Well done report report, Rocco! Thanks, I really enjoyed reading it.

Most excellent pictures! You've come a long way with that big camera of yours! Let us know when you post more.
Thanks,
Dennis

So the vest photo preceded you. Where can the rest of us admire this vest and model?
Thanks for the report.

Atravelynn,

Here is a link:

http://www.lapolicegear.com/saphve.html

I also bought it from the same company and it shipped immediately.

Rocco - I think you've set the standard for trip reports! Made for an excellent read. Your highs were very high and your lows weren't godawful, so all in all I'd call that a very successful trip!

stamiya,
Actually I think Rocco indicated his highs were only about 50 ft. max.

Rocco, let us all know when you've put more pictures up. And thanks again for this hilarious report. Sorry about the toe.

Rocco, great report, and I'm glad I waited to read it all. You seem very fair in both your compliments and your criticisms, and you are in a very good place to judge having been on several safaris. It sounds like a great trip, with lots of ups and a few downs. And, as you wrote, you saw a lot that you wouldn't have seen on a return trip to southern Africa. Thanks for sharing.

I have less than three months until my next safari -- I just need to survive this weekend's trip to Wyoming to climb Devils Tower. I have never climbed, but it looks like fun.

Michael

Thank you for the link. I've actually visited the site and chatted with them over the phone. I just ordered a vest myself. Somehow I thought YOU would be modeling the vest on the webpage. I must be terribly confused but look forward to my new vest anyway.

Rocco -

Goodness, I was expecting something special. That's the original safari vest which I've had for too too many years. Have to admit that the price shown is excellent; I believe I paid about $80 when these first became available.

Strange, though, that I haven't taken this with me in years. It's just too heavy, certainly to pack; too heavy on my body for more than an hour or so. But, I'm sure your broad shoulders did justice to this fashion item!

Great report, Rocco! Looking forward to the additional photos.

atravelynn,

Here is the link where I am modeling the vest:

http://www.tagasafaris.co.za/video-testimonials-rocco.htm

I never found it too heavy but I didn't wear it very often, either. I completely forgot to take it to Tanzania, but I didn't really need it. It was great, however, to help me meet the strict weight limits of Virgin Atlantic last September.

That was an amazing report! I am about to finalize my own itinerary as you may recall. Do you have the website for Nomad? Is it www.nomadtours.co? Are Nomad and CC Africa very high end operators? Can you use one of them all the way through Kenya and Tanzania? I like my itinerary but perhaps these operators will have access to higher end accomodations at this late date?

Here is the website for Nomad:

www.nomad-tanzania.com

Rocco:
Yeah, an overdose of raspberry filled donuts is often mistaken for drunkeness
Thanks for the report.

A couple of questions: did you have an ocean view from your room at the Palms?

Would you recommend Canal House for a multi night stay in Amsterdam?

I really enjoyed your photots, Rocco (and your trip report!). You are improving each time you go. I especially like the ele scratching (at the beginning) and the lion in the trees (how awesome is that!) and the cheetah on the rock and the giraffe & zebra running across the plain. Very cool.

Sundowner,

The really cool thing is that those zebras and giraffe were running from ME as I approached them on foot.


Bat,

I would definitely recommend the Canal House for a multi-night visit.

sueblue,
Nomad doesn't take direct booking so you would need to contact an agent. They also don't operate in Kenya.

CC Africa can book a combined Kenya/Tanzania itinerary for you, but you'll probably find availability at their camps very tight as well. They operate Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, Crater Lodge, Kleins, Grumeti, Bateleur & Kichwa Tembo. They can also book non-CCA properties.

Wow - I hadn't finished this until now. First, I am glad you made it home OK and that you indeed did not go septic with that toe. What a drag! I hope you feel like the trip to East Africa was worth it. Sounds like you saw a lot of great action. Like Leely, I don't like baby kills, and I hope to not witness any in Zambia! Seems like Alexsandra really enjoyed it so that's a good thing. I'll go back over the photos later, but I, too, really enjoyed your report!
Sharon

I am a little behind, just readign through The Killing Fields and the baby wildebeest. Ya just had to cross their path huh little one?

"and while they were all nice enough, they were all from the UK"

I love this line

Thanks Rocco
Re the Palms, did your suite have an ocean view?

bat,

Unfortunately, although right on the ocean, the rooms do not have ocean views. Because it is a smaller property, all the chalets are formed in a semi circle around the pool rather than facing out to the ocean.

Also, it is worth noting that while the Palms does get the sunrise, the sunset is on the other side of the island.

Each room does have its own private space overlooking the beach and ocean, with a daybed, small table and a couple chairs.

Thanks Rocco:
That is what I thought from the pictures and video but I could not be sure.

Hi Roccco.

I'm looking for the Nomad Ndutu camp on the ATR website and can't find it. Does it also go by the name Olakira Ndutu camp? ATR suggested staying at Olakira for 2 nights, and I'm wondering if it's the same place that you liked so much. (We are also going in late Feb/early March.)

Incidentally, they also (strongly) suggested Olduvai Camp. I had second thoughts about this camp, which were confirmed after reading your trip report.

Thanks for all the info!