The long awaited day
finally arrived and after 24 hrs travelling
with no sleep we got to our first
stop in Tanzania (Arusha) . It didn’t take long to decide to forego the first
beer and soon we were in bed .
Peter having fun with the Massai warriors
Amazing
The next morning we were up bright and early to meet with
our guide and get the info on what to expect for the next week while out on the
trail searching for the big 5 .( lions ,elephants ,lepards,buffao, rhino).
A 3 hour drive put us
in the Lake Manyara National Park. While on route we stopped at a Masai village
where we were told of the way of life and shown their homes . A
little hut made from animal dung and straw. (Really quite water proof if
you like to live in poop all the time.) The men can have many wives , all they
had to do was give her father 10 cows to have a bride as young as 15 .We
were told one had 45 wives and 600 offspring. I guess he was never bored!! They had us do their famous dance and found
we really can’t hop quite as high as them ,although we gave it our best shot.Hearing
that they mix blood with milk twice a day for their meals didn’t entice us to
stick around.
On our way to the
park we got our first look at a family of giraffes and elephants. They were
right beside the road and a real treat to see. While in the park we came across
many baboons and species of monkeys , one they called the blue balled monkey and they were true to their name. ( I think they all must
have driven on African roads in a car)!
The next morning we headed
off for the Serengeti National Park , a 5 hour drive over washboard roads and
mountain cliffs at speeds up to 90
km\hr. that would make your teeth rattle . We even saw a vehicle that rolled
over the side of the mountain , 100 feet down a gully. But we made it on time
for supper at our first tented camp. The
amount of zebras and wildebeest
while on route were astounding . They were sometimes as far as the eye could
see .
We woke to a cool morning so we could have an early start to try and catch the
animals feeding. It was a great day to see so many animals in their natural
habitats feeding on their diet of grass and kills they had just made.We were
lucky to see a pride of lions returning from breakfast and climbing into a tree
to sleep. Later in the day we watched
hippos in a disgustingly dirty pool, a second larger pride of lions and a
lepard hunting for his supper. The animals are all so majestic and its hard to
believe we are so close to them, sometimes within five feet.
