[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
When we went on safari in 2008 we spent the whole time in Kenya. This time we knew we wanted to go to Tanzania, but we also really wanted to revisit the Masai Mara. Even though the Serengeti is contiguous with the Masai Mara, one can’t just drive over to the other side–at least not legally. To get there we had to take one plane to a Tanzanian airstrip close to the border crossing at Tarime, get into a van, go through immigration on the Tanzanian side, get back in the van, go through immigration on the Kenyan side, get back in the van, and take another plane to the Kichewa Tembo airstrip in the Masai Mara. Happily, Abercrombie and Kent took care of all the details so all we had to do was follow very helpful people from one place to the next. And we were to our lodge on the Mara River by lunch time.
Click on the pictures to really get a good look.
That was one of the best naps of my life. That’s Rachel Ray open face down on the day bed. (This photo was taken on a phone so resolution isn’t as good as the others.)This is what I was not looking at while I napped. (This photo was taken on a phone so resolution isn’t as good as the others.)Mom and son waited near the airstrip to welcome us.Elands are the largest of the antelope.That would be a lot of lawn to mow. Just have a few thousand herbivores have at it.Stood watching these two while they change a flat tire.Young ladies enjoying the view.These wildebeest were protesting cuts to bus routes.How cute is that?Baby going……in for……a little snack. At least I assume that is what is going on. I haven’t Googled elephant anatomy to see if that is all happening in the right place.Sticking close to mom.Hours-old, we were told.Contemplating life over breakfast. (More like wondering where the hell John had gotten to.)The Mara River.Masai woman.A hyena doing its best to look like a cute dog playing with a stick.Enjoying the sunshine.When one of these looks into your eyes–or it looks like they are looking right at you–it is breathtaking and a little scary.One of these in Dupont Circle would take care of the rat problem.Another Lucy moment.Baby hippo right across from our tent.Lookin’ good Sammy.Giraffe are probably my favorite animals to just quietly watch.I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for some Acacia leaves today.We took a hot air balloon ride. But that ain’t us. We were already off the ground ourselves.It was actually kind of underwhelming. This bit where we were higher up only happened toward the end and it was the most interesting part. For most of the ride they kept us really low to the ground to spot animals. Since it was our 12th and last day on safari we had seen tons of wildlife and didn’t feel the need to spot more. Plus, there wasn’t much wildlife around to see.A large group of elephants literally almost crashed our post-balloon breakfast.Youngsters playing around.I am hippo hear me roar.Move that ass. My feet are getting wet.This was the family of hippos who hung out just across from our tent all day. They go out at night to graze. During the day they hang out in and near water.Hippo naps are the best naps.Our final game drive.Commence mom snuggle sequence in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1You okay pumpkin?So cuteThat’s gotta be cozy.Looks like mom still wants to nap.I feel like this one needs a soundtrack.So lovelyThe infamous eland uber for birds.Goodnight Kenya. Sleep tight.
[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
Although there wasn’t a moment of our trip that wasn’t amazing, the wide open spaces and the golden grass of the Serengeti is really something special. We were also lucky enough to be there for the great migration. For those who don’t know, the great migration consists of about 700,000 zebra followed by 1.5 million wildebeest, and then about 500,000 gazelle. Essentially they are on a continuous, clockwise, year long migration following good grazing conditions. Around about August the wildebeest are in the Serengeti crossing over the Mara River into the Masai Mara in Kenya.
Click on the pictures to really get a good look.
The Lake Manyara airstrip was short and went right up to a cliff. Suddenly the ground wasn’t there. All the the little planes we took to various little airstrips made me think of a Nevil Shute novel.Those extra tires aren’t just for show.Right near our camp a line of wildebeest pass in a seemingly endless stream.Sitting here at night offered a great view of the stars. There was also staff with crossbows to make sure nothing wild ate us.On the way to our tent.The view from our tent.Yes, that is right, our tent. It had a flushing toilet.Nice spot in the shade.I love the wide open spaces.The wildebeest were everywhere.We saw large groups of elephants but I like these shots.So amazing.Mom and baby.A marker for the Tanzania/Kenya border.Afternoon game drive.A fresh wildebeest lunch.Looking for a better bite.No doubt he enjoyed his scones with strawberry jam.Sunset on the first night.Love the golden grass.Toward the start of a wildebeest crossing. They start to congregate along the edge of the river and eventually one of them gives it a go, then the rest of them follow.They will follow each other but then one or two start another line.Always a few zebra mixed in.Getting to the tail end of this crossing. You can see off into the distance how those further back are like “hey they’re going, let’s not miss it…”What it looks like on the other side.StragglersLook at that baby. Happily the crocs were full and didn’t try to eat anything.The start of a second, much larger crossing downstream about 30 minutes after the first one.Reminds me of those terracotta warriors in China.Chaos.I love how the zebra is a neck above the wildebeest.The sound was a bit like buzzing bees with the occasional cow-like sound.The zebras tended to drink a bit before they crossed over.Defying gravity.Keeping my eye out for predators.Aww.Seriously click on this. They go on for ever.Kids.Afternoon snooze.Youngish boy.We were on our way to the airstrip to head off to Kenya when we ran into his leopard.
[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
Staying on the ridge of Ngorongoro Crater was different from what came before and what would come after. Even though the weather for the whole trip was really pleasant, it was really cozy up on the crater ridge. Got down into the 40s at night. Made for really nice sleeping. The floor of the crater is like a giant zoo–if there was a zoo that was 100 square miles and had no fences.
Click on the pictures to really get a good look.
Looking down into Ngorongoro Crater.Those blankets and the campfire came in handy after dark.Our address.Our home for two nights.Very cozy.On the bed: The Octopus by Frank Norris. After 100 pages I gave it up.Getting ready for our day on the floor of the crater.They are as mean as they are scruffy.Damn I forgot what these are called. Something about a crown I think.Wally Warthog.Some tame gazelle.We were up high and the clouds were down low.The terrain was beautiful.I don’t think I had every seen flamingos fly.A zebra, gazelle, and wildebeest walk into a bar…Moon tiger. (Except it’s a lion and it’s not the moon.)We were hoping for some action.The ladies were keeping an eye on things.Zebra soup.I think these are weavers’ nests.A waterbuck *in* the water.Another mammal salad, this time with avian croutons.Thirsty.Hippo nap.Cute little killer.Who knew jackals were so cute.Our lunch spot.No ants at this picnic.This is John’s plate. I would never eat beets.The one on the left was still mad.And speaking of mad, I was a little worried this cape buffalo was going to charge us.
[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
On our way from Tarangire to Ngorongoro Crater we made a stop near Lake Manyara where we visited a local market on tuk-tuks. The availability of water in the area means that there is a lot of farming.
Click on the pictures to really get a good look.
Leaving Tarangire on our way to Ngorongoro Crater via Lake Manyara.Yes, I wore a safari hat.Lined up in the tuk-tuks ready to go.Rice paddies.Entrance to the market.Black-eyed peas.One of our guides told us that Coke has cornered the market in the cities in Tanzania so Pepsi was focusing on more rural areas.Our guide.I want to try those white eggplant.Love the pop of color in her shirt.I’m a sucker for market photos. Visually pleasing and they make me hungry.Dried fish from Lake Manyara.Some sort of bark basket brought these tomatoes to market.That’s millet in the lower right corner.Rice from the paddy we visited.You buy meat by weight. And you don’t get a cut, you get all the stuff attached to to the meat as well–and it all counts toward the sale weight.When I was a kid my bike had a banana seat as well.We had lunch at Gibbs Farm.The view from the washroom.The organic farm.The food was so good.The basket was full of cobras. (Actually I’m joking. It was full of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls.) (Okay that was a joke too.)
[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
After a night in a lodge in Arusha, Tanzania we headed off by road to Tarangire National Park. We did a game drive along the way and were surprised to see just how close the wildlife was to our lodge. In some cases actually in the camp itself.
Click on the pictures to really get a good look.
I wouldn’t dream of it.At the entrance of the park. Thankfully it’s huge.Our chariot.Mammals hanging out by the river. Or in the case of the zebras, in the river.One of the amazing things about seeing animals in their natural habitat is that they hang out together in ways you never get to see in a zoo. I call this mammal salad.Zebras do this move so they can keep an eye on predators from all directions.Impala with a giant termite mound in the background.Baby impala is proud of his new horns.Everything reminds of us Lucy.How is this a real animal?Tarangire has some of the largest numbers of elephants in Tanzania.Oh, hello.We have much better leopard photos coming up. They are one of the rarer sightings on safari so we were quite surprised to see one on our first afternoon.We didn’t have the heart to tell him we could still see him.The ladies are light colored because they sit on the eggs during the day and need to blend in. The gentleman are black because they sit on the eggs at night.Pictures never quite do the landscape justice. If you click on this one you will notice the kind of muddy looking stripe in the foreground is chock full of zebras.The golden grass really sets off the zebra.Cape buffalo with bird friends feasting on ticks.The view from the veranda at our lodge.The monkeys got more use out of the pool than we did.John took 99.9% of all the photos you will see.
[It has been so long since I’ve blogged because I have had these Africa pictures hanging over my head. John took over 6,000 photos and that is an insane amount of pictures to weed through. I think I may have gotten it down to a manageable (and interesting) few.]
We took a rather circuitous route to Africa. Being the travel junkie that I am I spent hours pouring over possible routing that could make the journey more enjoyable. Sometimes this can mean more stops to get better planes, better seats, and shorter flights. It can also mean having the opportunity to stop somewhere else along the way.
We used frequent flyer miles to London so that we could cross the Atlantic in a lie-flat seat for free. We had a lovely 24 hours at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex (much more on that later). Then we flew on Emirates through Dubai to Nairobi. This is not the most direct way to get from London to Nairobi, but Emirates planes/seats are way better than British Airways and they were substantially cheaper than BA. Once in Nairobi we took a much smaller plane to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania and from there about an hour in the jeep to Arusha where we would spend the night before heading out on our safari.
John’s United Airlines frequent flyer miles for all his tortuous work travel paid for this hot fudge sundae at 40,000 feet. He was snoozing away already by the time I partook.Most airlines have a handful of these double-decker A380s. Emirates has over 90 of them. And when you fly business class from certain airports you actually get to board the plane directly from the lounge without having to wait in line.The Emirates Lounge magazine choices kept me from getting to my reading.Upstairs on the A380. Our seats were the two in the middle next to each other. Being a middle eastern airline, we refrained from getting snuggling. I’m holding the champagne for effect. I don’t drink much and if I do, champagne wouldn’t be my choice.I like watching the tail cam as we takeoff.In the Emirates Lounge in Dubai, I had to sling all of this over my shoulder so I could use the bathroom. John was off having a massage and there was no way I could have waited until he was done. The lounge in Dubai was absolutely huge and had tons of amenities but it was also really busy and we were cranky from an overnight flight.Emirates has really made Dubai the hub of hubs. I think this is the most variety I have ever seen on a departure board.In Nairobi looking a little worse for wear. We had to cool our jets (no pun intended) in the rather warmish old part of the airport before hopping our plane to Tanzania. After all the flying and changes in time/sleep/eating etc. we were pretty exhausted by this point. The cruel thing is that outside the stuffy terminal the weather was cool, fresh, and low humidity. The walk to the even hotter plane was really delightful.
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