teri714

Hi Jenn
I'm new here (researching my own trip to TZ). I'm really enjoying your trip report; it's gotten us very excited for our adventure!

I like your photos (esp. those taken at the school)...what kind of camera did you use?
Looking forward to hearing more...
teri

moremiles

Gorgeous photos of the children-those are definitely my favorites!

hguy47

Where can we find out more about the Crater Forest Tent Lodge? How long a drive was it from there to the Crater floor?

atravelynn

Seems to be a really fun trip so far. Looking forward to your additional wildlife sights and your daring dining.

jenn24

I'm glad you are all enjoying the report and pictures. I'm actually having fun remembering all these little details.

Leely- I loved reading your report, so I'm happy I can entertain you now .

Bat- We definitely had more fun at the Crater Forest Tented Lodge. By the way, I'm not always so flexible and there were times I got upset with all the changes. I tried my best to just be happy that I was in Africa though.

Teri- I have a Kodak P850, but I'm really just a novice photographer. It's nothing fancy compared to what alot of others here have, but it does have 12X optical zoon. I also had an additional lense that extended the zoom a little bit, but not that much.

Moremiles- I'm glad you liked the pictures. visiting the school was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Hguy74- You can see the Crater Forest Tented Lodge at www.craterforesttentedlodge.com. I can't remember exactly how far it was to the crater floor because we stopped a few times, but it wasn't that close.


Lynn- I'm glad you are still enjoying it, we definitely had a lot of fun!


Jenn

jenn24

August 12, 2006


If I had drank as much rum and went to bed as late as I did last night at home I would be dragging my butt out of bed this morning. Not so in Africa, as I hop right out of bed at 5:30 with no problems.

Since arriving in Tanzania I’ve had a string of sucky showers, but my luck is about to change this morning. The day before when they had given us a briefing of the tent they told us that the hot water was very hot and to make sure you turn on both hot and cold when showering. I thought they were just exaggerating, until I turned it on this morning and HOLY HOT WATER!!! In addition the water pressure is banging, so I can actually wash and rinse my hair out good. It is so nice to have a decent shower and I stay in there twice as long as I normally would. I tell Arielle I think I would come back to stay here at this lodge just so I could take a good shower.

Nicolaus comes to our tent to see if we are awake at about 6:15 ish. I’m all set, but Arielle is still getting ready, so I walk with him to the reception area. We drop off my bag and he takes me for a little walk around and shows me where they are going to put a watering hole. The day before I had told him I really liked the belt he was wearing and asked him where he got it. So, this morning as we are standing there looking at where the watering hole is going to be, he pulls another belt out of his pocket and gives it to me. I’m very flattered, but I don’t quite know what to say and/or if I should take the belt. He tells me he really wants me to have it, so I accept it and tell him thank you very much. I put it in the pocket of my jacket and we walk back to the dining room. Almost everyone else is there now, so we all sit down for breakfast. Susan and Arielle ask me where we were, but I tell them I’ll tell them later

After breakfast we gather up all of our things and get ready to leave. I make sure I take time and write a little thank you card to Nicolaus for the belt and leave a very good tip in the tip box. They all walk us out and we gets lots of hugs. We really liked it here, so we’re a little sad that we have to leave. We’re all very excited to be going into the crater though, so we have that to look forward to. After we leave, I show the girls the belt Nicolaus gave me and they proceed to tease me about it for the rest of the trip. We take the bumpy road back to the main road (with Godfrey leaving us in the dust again) and we’re off to the crater! We stop briefly at the gate and then again at the Wildlife Lodge to dump our luggage off. We get our room assignments so there won’t be any surprises tonight as far as lodging goes. I had told the ladies in our vehicle that I had read that the road descending down into the crater was really bad. They didn’t really believe me until we started down it and then they all buckled their seat belts! I think we were all happy when we finally made it to the bottom.

The first thing that struck me when entering the crater was the DUST. Up until now I thought all of this talk about the dust on safari must be much ado about nothing, because we haven’t really had any. Well now I see what all of you have been talking about as it’s extremely dusty here!

We saw lots and lots of zebra and wildebeest in the first few minutes of being there. We haven’t been in the crater very long when we see several vehicles stopped ahead of us on the road. As we approach we see there are three lionesses lazing around the vehicles. Oh my, we are so excited as these are the first cats we have seen! We stay and watch them for quite a while and see them move several times to different spots for shade. At one point another one comes out of the grass so there were four in all. They walk by our vehicle several different times so we get to see them very close up. We also see a cheetah in the distance up on a hill, but it runs away when one of the lionesses gets up and trots after it.

Godfrey calls and tells us that they are watching a Rhino, but we don’t want to leave the lionesses, so we stay there. We finally leave and drive just a little bit when I see two somethings that look like hyena to me way out in the grass, but when Muro looks he says they are Cheetah! Cheetah are my favorite animal, so I am so excited! We watch them for a while as they are walking, but then they stop and lie down in the tall grass and we can’t see them very well. We wait to see if they will get up again. We’re happy when we see them start moving towards us. We wait patiently and they come right towards us, cross the road and keep on going. We got to follow and watch them for quite a long time and I was in heaven.

We finally leave the cheetah as it is almost 2 p.m. by now and we’re all a little hungry. Teri has to use the bathroom really bad as well, so we start heading to the picnic spot. On the way there we spot a Rhino, so we stop for that. We don’t stay too long as Teri really needs the restroom, but we got some good pictures and see him move around a bit.

By the time we get to the picnic spot it’s almost 2:30, so there are not many other people here. We all use the bathroom and then drive around to the grassy spot to eat lunch. After lunch, Susan and I notice that some Zebra have come down over the hill so we go to look at them. I try to use my best sneaking moves, but they just keep moving away if you get too close. We take some pictures and then leave them in peace.

When we come back we see that Teri has decided to take a little nap on the grass. I switch my camera to video mode and we have a little fun. We make a little video national geographic style with me whispering “Here is an animal that is very rare and you usually only see it after lunch time near the picnic spot resting in the shade”. We get a lot of laughs out of Muro and a group of people who are eating next to us.

After that we all just relax for a little bit since it is a beautiful day. I ended sitting and having a very nice conversation with Muro. I learn that he thinks Americans are lots of fun in general and likes guiding them. I tell him that no other group can possibly be as much fun as us He also tells me it’s kind of rare for him to have a group of just women, so this is different for him. He asks me when I am going to get married and have a baby and I tell him whenever I meet the right person . He tells me that white people like to know and date people for too long of a time before getting married......LOL.

After our rest we head out to see some more of the beautiful crater. We have a wonderful rest of the day seeing ostrich, zebra, hippo, warthog, wildebeest, elephant, vervet monkey and lots of birds! We make the long drive back up out of the crater and this road is even worse than the one coming down! I am exhausted and totally covered in dust by the time we make it back to the wildlife lodge. This must really be my lucky day because there is lots of hot water so I get to take a nice relaxing shower before dinner.

Dinner here was another buffet. I was really tired this evening, so I didn’t eat that much. The deserts were really good though surprisingly enough. After dinner Arielle, Susan and I watch the dancing in the lobby for a little bit. We see Muro walking around, so he comes over to talk to us. We stay and talk to him for quite a while about all kinds of serious and goofy stuff. We had learned he has two daughters who are 24 and 22 and a son who is 15. We like to ask questions about them and how they have grown up and the things they have done. It’s interesting to learn about the differences in culture and experiences. I think we are all tired from the late night and early start, so we all go to bed early tonight.

santharamhari

Jenn,

Wonderful trip report!!! Thanks for sharing.

Hari

P.S: Good to note, that we hv Cheetahs as a common- fav animal!!!

MyDogKyle

Hi Jenn,

Just wanted you to know, this is one of my favorite trip reports I've read so far! Looking forward to the next installment.

waynehazle

Holy Hot Water indeed! Great report. It is so convenient that the lions love the shade of the vehicles.

And yeah Jenn, stop taking time to get to know a person before you marry them.

atravelynn

The African rum must have unique qualities.

Nice viewing in the crater.

How long is the right amount of dating time according to your Maasai friend?

jenn24

Hari- I'm glad you are enjoying my trip report, thanks for reading! Good to see we have something in common too with the cheetah

Kyle- Thank you very much for the nice compliment

Wayne- Call me crazy, but want I to get to know a person well before I chose to spend the rest of my life with him

Lynn- Our guide wasn't Maasai He never gave me a specific amount of time, just said that our customs are so much different than theirs in terms of dating/marriage.

jenn24

August 13, 2006

We are supposed to be ready to go by 7 this morning, so I make sure I am up by 6. I take a quick shower, get dressed and then head out to the lobby with my bag. I don’t see anyone else from our group yet, so I just sit down and listen to my I-pod for a little bit. Teri and Susan soon come out, so we all go eat a quick breakfast., grab our lunch boxes and head out to the car Arielle is running late so we don’t actually get on the road until about 7:20, but it’s not a big deal. We say goodbye to the crater and the nice paved road as we’re off to the Serengeti today!

We are visiting at a Maasai village along the way, so that is our first stop. The Italians of course have beat us here, but that’s because they were ready on time, not because of Godfrey’s driving today . They are finishing up with their visit just as we were arriving. I’m jealous because they got to visit by themselves and we are now there with about 4 other vehicles full of people. I guess that is what we get for running late. We all gave our money to Muro and then stood around waiting for a little bit. It is really windy and dusty here, so I run to the car and get my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the dust a little bit.

After a while all of the men come out dancing and jumping and making that sound that they make. Then we all go inside the village and watch more singing, dancing and jumping. After all of that, we get to go inside a boma and see what it is like. It is just the way it looks from the outside, small, dark and smokey. Then they wanted you to look around and buy things from them. This is where I really didn’t enjoy myself as I felt I couldn’t really walk around and look at things. If I touched and/or picked something up they were immediately trying to sell it to me. I ended up buying a few bracelets and necklaces, but would have bought more if I could have shopped in peace.

I was standing with Muro when someone asked me if I wanted to see the “school”, so I walked up there with them and checked it out. The other girls were still shopping up a storm, bargaining for Masaai spears and other things. Since I was all finished, I just played with some of the children and waited patiently. One little girl in particular was sitting on the ground crying. Muro told me she was saying she wanted her shoes to be put on, so I helped her put her shoes on and then she was happy .

I have to be honest and say I didn’t really like the visit, but everyone else in my group did. I just felt the whole thing was too touristy with all of the people milling around. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more had we been the vehicle of people there? I did enjoy seeing and playing with the children though.

Everyone finally gets finished shopping and we back on our way to the Serengeti. We are all dirty as it was really windy here, so I pass out wet wipes to everyone. The road to Serengeti sucks and it’s very dusty and bumpy drive, but we make it to the Naabi gate in one piece. We all get out and use the restroom while Muro is sorting out the paperwork and we meet some nice people who are on their way to Ngorongoro. They tell us that they have seen a cheetah mother with 4 tiny baby cubs this morning here in the Serengeti, so I am excited.

We don’t drive very far into the Serengeti before Muro sees one his driver friends Max, so we stop. We had actually met Max when we were in Arusha, so we all say hello. Muro asks if he has seen Godfrey since they left before us, but he hasn’t. We make jokes that Godfrey probably drove by so fast that he didn’t see him because he was in a cloud of dust . We all say goodbye to Max and continue on our way.

We drive a bit farther and Muro takes us to see some kopjes. We spot two lionesses just sitting and relaxing in the sun. We are the only vehicle there at first, so it is nice to just watch them as they are really beautiful. After a while another lioness comes walking up out of the grass and joins the other two up on the rocks. We leave the lionesses and soon come upon two beautiful lions just lazing right by the road. We are excited to see them because these are the first male lions we have seen. We stay and watch these two boys for a little bit, but leave as they aren’t doing too much.

Godfrey has called us on the radio and told us about a cheetah family they were watching. I want to see them since I love cheetahs so much and we don’t have to drive very far to find them. We see that it is a mother with her three sub adults cubs. They are so cute just all piled up lying in the shade all hanging out. You can barely tell where one cat ends and the other one begins. The light isn’t great for pictures, but it is still fun to watch them. The cubs little faces are just so adorable! We stay and watch them but they don’t seem to be doing anything but napping, so we move on after a bit.

It’s getting a little late now, so we stop at the visitor’s center to eat lunch. We’re eating lunch when we get some bad news. Our itinerary had us staying at the Lobo Wildlife Lodge for the next 3 nights, but instead we find out we are going to the Seronera Wildlife lodge today. Even though I had read that it wasn’t the best in terms of accommodations, I was looking forward to being in the Lobo area at this time of year. It gets worse when we are told that we will have to move every night here in the Serengeti. I’m so disappointed because I was looking forward to staying in one place for three nights so I could really unpack, get my laundry done, etc.... I don’t think anyone was happy with the moving around, but we try to make the best of it. Muro tells us at least we are very near the Seronera Wildlife Lodge, so that’s good at least. After lunch I wander around the visitor’s center a little. It’s interesting to learn about the history of the Serengeti, but it’s very hot here, so I don’t stop and read every little thing. We then head to the dreaded lodge and check in. It’s about 2:30 so we decide with Muro to be back at 3:30 to go for a game drive.

It is noticeably hotter here in the Serengeti so the first thing I do is change into shorts and flip flops and wash my face. Then I make sure I put more sun screen on so I won’t get a sunburn. After two days of really dusty driving, I feel the clothes I’ve worn are really dirty so I go down to the front desk and ask if laundry can be done in such a short time. They tell me it’s no problem, so I go back and get all of my dirty clothes together and drop them back off at the front desk. This makes me happy at least as I will have clean clothes now. After all of that it’s almost time to head back out so I gather up my camera and go to the lobby. Amazingly enough we are all there on time, so we head out for our afternoon game drive right on time.

We leave the lodge and are not driving very long when we see a cheetah walking right by the side of the road. We stop and watch and he soon crosses the road right in front of us. We are the only ones there, so we just watch as he just saunters away towards a herd of thompson’s gazelle. Muro says he thinks he might hunt, so we want to stay and watch. He gets pretty far out into the grass and it’s a little hard to see him, but he is definitely hunting. While we are watching the cheetah hunt we get a call from Godfrey that they are watching a leopard who is sleeping in a tree. It’s a tough call, but we decide to stay and watch the cheetah hunt for at least a little longer. We stay for about another 30 mins and leave when the cheetah seems to have given up his hunt.

We now head towards where the others are watching the leopard. We are excited as we haven’t seen a leopard yet. Muro tells us it’s not a far drive, so we’re all holding our breath that it will still be there when we arrive. We’re all very disappointed when we arrive and find out not two minutes before the leopard hopped down from the tree, walked right past their vehicle and disappeared into the tall grass. We stay and wait for quite a while hoping to get a glimpse, but we never see the leopard.

We finally give up on seeing the leopard and move on to find a lovely elephant family. At first it seems like there are only 3 of them, but when they move we see there are two adorable little babies that they were hiding. We are all enamored with the babies, so we stay and watch them for quite a long time. It’s getting late, so Muro says we have to head back to the lodge. We get to see a beautiful sunset on the way back and get some lovely pictures. We’ve decided that we would like to do an early morning game drive tomorrow, so we say goodbye to Muro and tell him we’ll see him at 6. Dinner here was another buffet and was the food was fine. Arielle of course has trouble finding things to eat, but we've all taken to ignoring her whining about the food by this point. We skip the entertainment this evening and head to bed early so we can be up early tomorrow morning.

atravelynn

You are being charitable to Arielle and her tardiness. I will be interested in how she handles the 6 am departure.

Did you mention what company you booked with?

While the Maasai stop may have seen fabricated, your kindness to the little girl putting on her shoes was a genuine gesture I am sure she appreciated.

I agree with you that a cheetah on the hunt is worth more than a far off leopard in the tree.

waynehazle

<font color="GREEN"><i>The road to Serengeti sucks</i></font>


Truer words never spoken! And yes good choice on the cheetah hunt over the leopard nap. Leopards are ALWAYS napping

jenn24

Lynn,

We booked with Go2africa, but their ground operator is Predator's Safari Club. At the end of the safari they tried to give us an explanation of why we had so many changes, but I didn't really believe them at that point.

Teri actually yelled at Arielle that morning for being late, so she shaped up a bit after that. Traveling with Arielle was kind of like traveling with a teenager. She was very whiny and liked to blame stuff on other people. On that particular morning she blamed being late on me because she said I didn't wake her up early enough Meanwhile I didn't even know I was supposed to wake her up because she never asked me to. She was up when I left the room that morning.

I love cheetahs, so I thought it was very exciting to watch that guy hunt. In any event, there are certainly worse things in life than having to chose between watching a cheetah or a leopard while you are in the Serengeti .

Jenn

jenn24

August 14, 2006

I am up really early this morning with a bad headache. My stomach is queasy too, so this is not starting out as a good day for me. I’m just hoping that if I take some medicine the headache will go away. I dig a juice box and some crackers out of my bag that I have left over from a lunch box so I don’t take the medicine on a totally empty stomach. The hot water here doesn’t get switched on until about 5:30, so I can’t even put a warm cloth on my head , which is what I would do at home . I think briefly about skipping the early morning game drive, but I hate missing out on things, so I decide to go.

Apparently wonders never cease as all four of us manage to make it out to the lobby ready to go by 5:55 a.m. Serious game drivers that we are, we are leaving at 6 for our early morning game drive, while the Italians have chose to start at 6:30. Muro is there of course ready to go, so we actually get going on time today. I’m still not feeling very good, but I just tough it out.

The first thing we spot after leaving the lodge are a few hippos out of the water. There isn’t enough light to get any good pictures though, so we just watch them for a while as they slowly make their way back to the water. We leave the hippo and soon come upon some giraffe which are lovely to watch as the sun rises. We also see a very cute pair of dik-dik and get some good pictures of them as they are not as shy as all the others we have seen.

After missing the leopard sighting yesterday, we tell Muro we have to find a leopard today. He says he will try his best . We get a call from Godfrey saying that they are watching another leopard, so Muro starts heading in that direction. I can’t believe that they left a half an hour after us and they have already found a leopard! On the way we stop briefly to take a few pictures of a beautiful lioness lying right by the side of the road, but we don’t stay long since we don’t want to miss a leopard for a second time. We can’t believe it when the leopard has disappeared again right before we arrive. They just seem to have all the luck with the leopards!

We see a vehicle that Muro says is tracking some radio collared lions which is interesting. We then see two lionesses out in the grass and can tell one of them is wearing a collar. They are a little far away, so we continue on our search for the elusive leopard. We soon come upon a very beautiful male lion that is on the move. Even though you don’t always get good pictures, I enjoy viewing cats on the move as they are usually napping. We stay and watch him until he disappears into the tall grass. We continue on and soon come upon a very beautiful lion and lioness laying right by the side of the road. They are both very relaxed and don’t seem to mind us at all. We stay for quite some time and get some very good pictures. It’s about 8:30 by this time, so we head back to the lodge for breakfast. When Muro drops us off at about 9:00 we decide to meet again at 10:30 for another game drive.

This was one of the hardest game drives for me since I really did not feel well. The first hour or so we were out really wasn’t enjoyable at all since my stomach was so queasy and the bumpy roads didn’t help. In the end I am glad that I went since we saw so many lions in a short amount of time and by the time we were heading back for breakfast, I was feeling much better.

At breakfast we learn that the President of Tanzania is here in the Serengeti today. I guess that is the reason that we have seen so many park rangers around while we were out this morning. Apparently the President is scheduled to go on a game drive this morning before flying out this afternoon. We joke that we should follow the presidential motorcade around as we would be guaranteed some good sightings then.

After breakfast we get all our stuff together and gather back in the lobby. I can’t believe it, but everyone is on time again. Muro loads our stuff up and then we are off on another game drive. We didn’t see anything exciting on the game drive and head back to the lodge at about 1:00 for lunch. We have learned that we will be staying at Ikoma Bush Camp this evening, so we have a bit of a drive to make after lunch. We all meet back in the lobby at about 2 and set off for Ikoma.

I like to stand up and just gaze out over the horizon as Muro is driving, so I do that most of the way down to Ikoma. We don’t see anything too exciting on the drive down, but it’s still nice and peaceful. We finally make it to the Ikoma gate and exit the Serengeti as the camp is just outside of the park. We all use the bathroom while Muro is showing the guy at the gate the paperwork.

We start driving again and I realize I can’t find my safari hat. I think maybe I left it in the bathroom. Then I remember I took it off when I was standing up and realize I must have left it on top of the car. I jump up quickly because I don’t want the hat to blow off and be lost forever. I manage to grab the hat, but in my haste I must not have put my foot in a stable position. My foot falls off the seat and scrapes all the way down the side cooler. I’ve twisted my ankle a little and it hurts, but I don’t say anything at first because I don’t want to seem like an idiot. Then when I look down I realize I have a big scrape that is bleeding all over.

I have a little first aid kit in my back pack, so I quickly get out a gauze pad so I can apply pressure to get the bleeding to slow down a bit. By this time everyone realizes I’m hurt, so Muro asks if I want to stop. I know we are very close to the camp, so I just tell him to keep going. I just want to get checked in and be able to go to my tent so I can clean up my ankle on my own. I put some bandages over the top of the gauze pad so it will stay in place and tell everyone I am fine. Muro is worried about me and wants to get the first aid kit out, but I tell him to wait until we are checked in.

The Italians have arrived at the same time, so we all head to the reception area. We get briefed about the camp and get our tent assignments. Muro and Godfrey want me to clean my cut with iodine, so I tell them I will be back soon. Arielle and I are shown to our tent and get a little briefing about it. Arielle is worried about the animals here, but I don’t have the time or patience to listen to her craziness right now.

I head back out to the reception area so I can get my cut cleaned up. My ankle is hurting and a little swollen now too. The camp manager comes over and everyone has a different opinion on what the proper way to take care of it is. I’m feeling like a real idiot by this point and I start crying a little bit. I hate all the attention I am getting as everyone keeps coming over to look and wish I would have stayed in my tent at this point. Susan comes to check on me and helps me get cleaned up and calmed down. Muro ends up having some great bandages in the first aid kit that cover the whole scrape, then we wrap the whole thing in gauze to keep the dirt out. I’m a little worried about it getting infected since it is so dirty here. I have two of those instant ice packs in my first aid kit, so I go get one to put on my ankle to help with the swelling.

When I come back everyone is out sitting around the outdoor fireplace except for Cinzia. I learn that everyone is very unhappy with the accommodations, but I think it’s fine, especially since we are just staying for one night. We all sit around outside and talk until it’s time for dinner. Everyone else drinks alcohol, but not me tonight. Dinner here was another three course sit down meal and it was pretty good. After dinner we go outside and star gaze for a while. It is a very clear night and it is very cool to see the Milky Way so clearly.

When Arielle and I walking back to our tent I stumble on some of the rocks and kind of fall into one of those bushes with the big thorns and get three of them stuck into my hand. They hurt a lot, but luckily are easy to pull out. I decide that today just really isn’t my day and should just go to bed before anything else can happen to me .

Arielle is really nervous about lions coming to eat us up in the middle of the night, so she makes me take the bed closest to the door. She also very worried about all the “bugs” she sees around the tent. Now, I don’t like bugs, but the only thing that is in our tent are a few moths and those little tiny knats that are attracted to the light. She gets all her stuff ready and goes into take a shower. She is in the bathroom about 30 seconds before she starts screaming at the top of her lungs “Get me out of here, Get me out of here”. She is so panicked that she can ‘t get the door to the bathroom unzipped fast enough. She tries to tell me that there was a bat in the bathroom, but when I go in there I don’t see anything. She then proceeds to zip and velcro the bathroom door up tight and tells me I can’t use the bathroom for the rest of the night! I tell her she is being ridiculous and if I have to use the bathroom, I’m going to use the flippin bathroom! She says “Fine, I hope you get rabies then.” and I just bite my tongue at this point. This has been one very long day for me, so I’m very happy when I crawl into bed and fall asleep.

Leely

Yeah, I think that's what that expression &quot;spoiled for choices&quot; means.

Too bad you couldn't bill Arielle for babysitting and call this safari a working vacation!

Leely

Jenn, you must have been posting your latest installment when I was responding to your last comment re: cheetahs hunting vs. leopards lying around.

I'm really sorry about your ankle! That must have hurt.

jenn24

Leely- I don't know what happenned as I tried to post that installment a few times.

Anyways, you are not the first person to say it sounded like I was babysitting Arielle....LOL I never thought of charging her for the hours, maybe I should send her a bill



Jenn

atravelynn

&quot;I hope you get rabies!!!???&quot; Unbelievable.

A twisted and bleeding ankle along with thorn punctures is quite a day. You don't need rabies wished upon you.