Back From Tanzania!
 

Hi Everyone!
First I want to say thanks to all of you who were sooo helpful with advice about everything Africa. Fred and I just got back from a 2 week safari in Tanzania that was spectacular! From the very moment we arrived, excitement followed us daily. It took us 5 airports and about 30 hours in travel time to get to Kilamanjaro (we overnighted in Nairobi since we flew British Airways from London)but we were up and running almost immediately.

We took a 4-seater Cessna from JRO to the Seronera Airstrip in the Western Serengeti and it was fabulous!! Thanks to all who encouraged me to do that. We flew over an active volcano, swooped down to see the flamingos on Lake Natron and saw our first glimpse of the Great Migration from the air.

We met our guide, Sem, from Africa Dream Safaris, and climbed into our huge Landrover--just the two of us and our driver guide. We were so glad that we chose a private safari!!! So much flexibility and freedom. We weren't even 15 minutes out of the airport when we found ourselves right in the middle of the Migration!!!! Literally, thousand of widlebeests and zebras thundering across the road in front of our vehicle!!! We were speechless. The animals were so close and the sounds and smells were all around us. Several of the zebras stopped to take a dust bath in the road and we saw so many little ones! I still don't know how such little wildebeests can run with the herd!

Sem told us about the "Big Five" and how everyone hopes to see them. He also told us that the most elusive is the leopard and the rarest is the black rhino. Guess what??? We saw 4 of the five in the first 3.5 hours that we were in Tanzania!!!! First, a female lion climbing up a tree and stretching out on the limb followed by her 2 teenage male cubs!!! All 3 in the tree about 10 feet from our truck. Those golden eyes!!! As I'm snapping away with my new Nikon with the 300mm lens, Sem cries out, "Oh, you are so lucky. We're going to see a leopard!" He had spotted on in a tree about half a mile away with his binoculars. By the way, this guy had eyes like an eagle and could see a lion's ear 50 yards away in the tall grass!

On our way to the Mbalagetti Lodge, we saw a herd of elephants and several Cape buffalo, completing 4 out of 5. We also saw a pack of baboons eating white flowers in a huge field along the side of the road, followed by ostriches, impala and topi. All on our first day!! By the time we got to the lodge, and were greeted with juice and cold wash clothes, we were ready for a nice wind down. What an experience and we were only on Day 1.

I'll continue tomorrow...and hopefully, will figure out how to download some of our wonderul pics from the Easy Share cds. Does anyone know how to do this? I'm a real dope when it comes to this stuff!! To be continued...

Welcome back! Really looking forward to the rest of your report!

Welcome back Mairseydotes! Glad you liked the Cessna - we really enjoyed the small planes when we were there! Can't wait to read more, and see the pics.

Cyn

Welcome back! Looking forward to your next installment and pics.

What a wonderful beginning! Can't wait to read the rest and to see the pics.

Welcome back, Mairsey! I can't wait to read more about your trip.

In the meantime, maybe someone will give you a step-by-step on converting to jpeg, etc., so you can share your photos. I have done this myself, but I certainly can't explain it.

Was this company recommended to you or how did you select this company vs others? Did you work with them direct or go thru a local travel agent? I keep on going back to this companys's info. Please let us know your opininion. Thank you Mutt

Are those Easy Share CDs the ones you got from film developing? If so, just load them on the 'puter and store them individually or in a folder.

Then when you go into the Kodak program for uploading pictures, select from your pictures, which individual photos you wish. If the photos are in a folder, open the folder and then select the individual photos.

Now, if you're talking about something else altogether as regards Easy Share - forget everything I wrote above.

Hi Again Everyone!
'Sorry for the delay in the trip report continuum and the photos. We're in the midst of building a house in SC and between the travel to check up on it and the running around to find movers, fixtures, inspect all the installations~whew!
I haven't had time for the pics yet, but some of fabulous and i will get them to you all.
Mutt: I found Africa Dream Safaris on the internet and although they were a bit pricey, the service and the quality of the experience was really worth it. We passed many vans loaded with weary looking people all crowding together to take photos from their pop top vans. We had an enormous Land Rover all to ourselves and every day was tailored to what we wanted to do. Of course, we opted for the pre-dawn game drives every morning except for the last two days at Tarangire Tree Tops since we were totally "animaled out" and just wanted to sleep in and chill.
Some highlights of the trip:

Our second day at Mbalageti Lodge (we were upgraded to the Presidential Suite!) where we had a huge 2 bed/2 bath suite of rooms with an enormous dining room, living room and gorgeous deck for viewing the sunsets, a baboon broke into our suite! He actually unzipped one of the screened doors and came in while we were reading and relaxing after a long day in the Serengeti. He was huge and I nearly died when I saw him loping around in the dining room. Fred was napping and I screamed that there was a baboon in our room. Funny thing was that the animal didn't seem to be phased by me at all, but when Fred stood up and moved toward him, he opened the screen flap a bit more and ran out! I had no idea that they were so nimble with zippers.

When we told the Masai warriors who escorted us to dinner that night, they were surprised. I guess it's a rare occurance. Lucky us!

Our luxury camping for 3 nights in the Serengeti near the Moru Kopjes was quite an experience. The tsetse flies were pretty bad, but we only had to deal with them when we came back from our day out. We had plenty of help swatting them away between the truck and the tent! We could hear the lions roaring at night and the wildebeest bleating. And of course, the proverbial Mourning Dove, who seemed to be "song of the Serengeti" as it was everywhere! The chemical toilet and the bladder shower were wearing thin by the third day, but the experience of drinks by the campfire at night, dining with our guide in the dining tent over 4 course meals and crawling into beds which were warmed with hot water bottles to keep our feet toasty in the cool night was heaven. It is a very intimate experience with nature and really gave us a chance to hear many interesting stories from Sem and the camp butler, Edward.

One morning, when the sun had just appeared and the mist lay heavily upon the tall grass, we spotted 3 cheetahs returning from a kill. Their bellies were so full that they could hardly move and their faces were covered in blood. It was chilling to see their beautifully chisled faces shining bright red and know that they had feasted just moments before. One was so full, that he kept lying down along the roadside.

A day later, we saw a cheetah kill a baby impala and watched as a dozen vultures drove her off before she could eat it. There were four different kinds of vultures and they all descended and literally stripped the carcass clean in less than 5 minutes. Several hyenas and a couple of jackals waited in the wings for the birds to scatter before trying to get their share of the remains. Several times the hyenas were driven off by the vultures, whose faces, necks and chests were covered in blood. At last, the biggest hyena came forward to claim the rib cage and trotted off with it. What a sight!

There were so many, many beautiful sights and sounds. Birds so spectacular that they defy description and close up encounters with lions, cheetahs, leopard, buffalo, warthogs (funny story), and topi, gazelles, impalas,hartebeests,elephants, hippos, crocodiles,etc. What a marvelous creation!!!!

Another "kodak moment" came in the early dawn at the Ngorongoro Crater. We were the first car in the Crater that morning and coming down that road was scarier than I had imagined due to the heavy mist and poor road conditions. As we entered the Crater, the fog disappeared and we felt like we were in the Garden of Eden! Almost immediately, we saw a pride of 11 lions lying in the tall grass. So many females and babies. Suddenly, one of the females spotted a lone wildebeest off in a distant field and began moving toward him. As she neared him, he saw her and took off. There was a chase and he outran her. Twice. Exhausted after the second attempt, she returned to the pride and lay down panting. Just then, the male appeared. What a lion! He was about 15 years old (according to our guide)and had a huge black mane. He started walking toward our truck as I was snapping away with the Nikon. Great shots! Before I knew it he was within a foot of the Land Rover and I took a dive! His tail brushed the back tire and window as he passed behind us~whew! As he strode past the females and babies, they all sat up at attention. He moved toward the widlebeest and lay down, as if to signal the females to attack again. This time, the original female set off on a northeast vector and two others set off in southwest direction. The wildebeest awoke to the lioness who had originally chased him and began to run and he ran smack into the other two! Flailing legs a plaintive cry and he was quiet. From out of nowhere, the lion appeared and leapt on the kill and started to eat. The females and babies scattered. Wow!

The same morning, between the first two failed attempts and the actual kill, we saw a black rhino! We actually raced off to see him close up before he disappeared into a huge field where he grazed at a far distance. What luck! We had seen The Big Five!!!

Hotels and Lodges: Wow! Everything was top drawer, except for the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge where the crowds were heavy, the food not great and a bathroom where the shower had no hot water. The Crater Lodge was beyond belief! A roaring fire in the room, magnificent view of the Crater and a wonderful bathtub with rose scented bath gel and rose petals sprinkled all around. I took 3 baths in 24 hours! After the camping, I craved hot running water!!

The trip was perfectly planned by Michael Wishner from ADS, who couldn't have been more spot on with the location of our lodges. We saw the migration in full swing on 8 separate days during our 2 week stay and had a guide who was able to spot animals where we were the only/first ones on the scene. There are so many little stories, like the one with the Warthog, and the one with the elephant who charged our vehical when we got between a mama and her tiny baby. Ah, but that's for later....Even now, almost a month after our return, we are having African dreams and pinching ourselves. As soon as we relocate to the new house, in late August, I'll be able to say more and have the pics. Meantime, this will be my last detailed post for a while!! I'll be watching for all of your stories, though. Wish me luck!

What an adventure. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Good luck with the house!

Thanks for your report so far. It sounds like a great time.

mairseydotes,

Welcome back, great report. I am always amazed at what great eyes safari guides have. When I was in Ranthambore in India, our vehicles could be moving fast and our guide would spot a certain bird nestled in a tree and I couldn't even spot it with binoculars!

On the baboon in the tent. We stayed in a tent in the Mara and they told us to make sure we zipped it close every night or monkeys would help themselves at night. I was pretty sure monkeys had already figured out zippers, but we also had a velcro flap in the inside.

Your report is just wonderful Mairseydotes! We were in Tanzania in January my father owns his own Safari, and gave us and my in-laws a private 10 day tour and it was so awesome that your report makes me homesick! That will be fine with Dad, as he has been trying to persuade us back next year to tour the Selous!

Hello Mairseydotes,
Love your report so far. Sounds like such a great adventure minus the tsetses, that is - they're devils aren't they. Look forward to seeing your pics. when ready - no rush.

Please let us know how you made out in SC. My sis is a new trasplant down there and DH and I may look for land ourselves. We've got 2 projects to go before that though.
All the best;
Sherry

Would like to hear more about your trip. Did you like Africa Dream Safaris Tours? Do you recommend ADS? How did you pick them? Where was your starting point. Did you stay in lodges, camps, both? We are planning a trip next Oct or Nov. We have been doing lots of research with companies and keep on going back to ADS. They have contacted us twice by phone. Pleae let me know how you feel. my email is [email protected] Thank you