Transfer from Kili to Safari

After a long, tiring week on a mountain, we were all excited to start something new, kick up our feet and relax a bit.  Sally brought all of us matching shirts for our safari (black shirts with a big ol'l leopard print heart) so we dressed alike and prepared for the journey to Arusha to meet our driver guide before going on to the market for some shopping and then Gibbs Farm for some relaxation.

In Arusha we said goodbye to the other folks in our group.  Shaniz had left immediately after Kili, but the rest of us traveled together to Arusha where the safari guides met up with all of us except Doug, who got on a transfer to Nairobi.  He was going to do a safari in Kenya.

We were introduced to Kessy, our driver with over 20 years of experience.  We'd read that Arusha had the best market (outside of Zanzibar, but with much better prices) so we asked if Kessy would bring us to get our African crafts.  The first place we went was a coop.  While this was my first time in Tanzania, it was my third time on safari and I knew the price I'd like to pay for most goods.  After shopping around the first market for close to an hour, we brought all our stuff to the bartering table.  I hate bartering, but I know it's expected so we begin.  The prices are crazy high, but one should expect that for the opening price.  After much negotiation, my total offer was $82 and his total cost was $160.  He said I need to come higher, so I went to $85... he said no and didn't lower his price.  I said that's OK we don't need anything and ended up walking out.  I felt bad that I'd wasted the other women's time.  Sally was a worried about Kessy waiting, but I assured her he was fine and would get a cut of anything we spent.  Of course, we didn't spend anything, but I'm sure it comes along with "if the client's happy, I'm happy". We told Kessy it was crazy expensive.... which he told the guy who followed us out... who replied "they'll be back, they won't find a better price".

Next we went to the supermarket, at Kessy's suggestion, to buy some beer.  Apparently there was a fridge in the car and who wouldn't enjoy a nice cold beverage while looking at the animals or sitting on our porch at night.  When we put the beer in the fridge, however, we realized it wasn't very cold.  Later we learned it was broken - oh well... sometimes the best laid plans...

Next up, market #2.  Now THIS was what I was hoping for - lots of different stands, with different vendors so you could shop around and find the best price - you weren't left with just one person for bartering.  One of the vendors told us they don't get as many people because the drivers don't get a cut of the profits (as I suspected..)  The starting price here was 1/2 the starting price at the coop... I knew we were where we should be.  All of us (except Sam who showed great restraint) found great gifts to take back with us (either gifts for ourselves or others).  Sally happened upon one stall where the lady was VERY fair - I didn't even feel the need to barter, her prices were that good.  I probably gave her about $50 - plus whatever Sally spent, she had a good day. (Did I mention that we were wearing matching shirts?  Anywhere I'd go in the market if I wasn't with the others the vendors would say "your friends are over here" - ha!)  After probably about an hour, we went back to the car - happy with our purchases and headed on toward Gibbs Farm.

It was interesting to drive through town, then the countryside and just look out the window, taking it all in.  We could see Mt. Maru (another tall mountain that some Aussie's had climbed to acclimate for Kili - we know this because they spent time in the bar prior to our Kili climb telling us how prepared they were and how unprepared we would be -imagine how happy we were when we heard one of their group didn't summit- not that the poor person didn't summit, but that it should show them that no matter what prep you do, there is no guarantee anyone will make it).  We passed lots of kids who would wave at us (and some who flipped us off).  In the distance we saw the sand swirling around in mini-tornadoes called dust devils.

When we arrive to Gibbs Farm we are greeted by staff members with passion fruit juice, ready to take us on our tour then to our rooms.  We are blown away by how beautiful it is, so many flowers and pathways, and are a little sad we didn't arrive earlier (it was almost 7).  After passing through the garden, we see an open area with lawn chairs facing out and over the valley - it's time for sunset.  The people sitting in the lawn chairs in their linen pants and flowy shirts... as if they were extras in the movie Out of Africa.  We, on the other hand, are still in our matching t-shirts - sally's carrying the 6-pack of beer we bought and we all have backpacks... a sight to see I'm sure.  When they look down their noses at us (probably shocked the hotel would allow such red-neck riff raff), Sally exclaims that we just came from climbing Kili.  One woman replied "you are going to really enjoy your shower!".  We realize they thought we just came down the mountain.  Did we look that bad?  We'd all showered and I even put on a little makeup to mark the occasion!  It was no surprise then, that after the tour of the gift shop, dining area, bar and the area where the bush babies will be fed at 7... they brought us to our rooms.  Of course, in order to get to our rooms, we have to go through the coffee plantation and more or less leave the farm (guess they didn't want us to be disturbing the honeymooners - we decided all but us were on a romantic getaway).  As we came up to a little house, we thought, oh, it'll be nice to all stay in one place!  But no.... we each had a little house (check out the video).  I'm not sure if there are no mid-level hotels in the region or if Lenny (the booking agent) misunderstood when Sally said we didn't need much other than private bathrooms, but we were clearly out of our league.  I hadn't googled it... but check out www.gibbsfarm.net to see what I'm talking about.

We decide to open our room temperature beer and hang out on Sally and Sam's porch... listening to the sounds of nature.  That is until Sally freaks out by the insects of nature and peace can no longer be had.  The sun has gone down and the ladies decide a shower before dinner is a must - and that we need to pull out the dressiest outfits we have (which, for me, means my black sweatpant material skirt).  On the way back to our "house" I see a man with a light on the path.  As Heidi goes to shower, I go find out what he's doing - looking for Buffalo.  I don't see what he sees, but I hear what he hears.  I have no idea how close or far the animal is, but I do know (from my horse safari in South Africa with Brian) that buffalo are mean and very dangerous.  I'm glad this man is keeping his eye out.  He said there are often elephant too... and I sat there wishing and hoping I'd see one.  No luck.

We get a call asking if we are ready for dinner and if we need an escort - Heidi tells them we are almost ready and an escort isn't necessary. However when we head out, the man is still looking for animals and he walks us to dinner.  It was one of the best dinners ever - we didn't want to have to eat anywhere else and were sad that this was the only meal we had at the farm.  When we got back to the room, the housekeeper had turned down the beds and taken the mosquito net down to surround them.  We slept like queens.  I woke up early to go the bathroom and decided to head outside with my light in hopes of seeing a buffalo or elephant.  A worker came by - I said Jambo and then asked if he'd seen any animals... after I finally stopped talking he said "no english"  which is no problem for me, I'm an expert at charades.  So, I pointed to the woods then put my arm up to my face and made my best elephant noise, raising my "trunk" as I did... he started laughing... "elephant!" I guess he knows the names of animals.  We stood there for a bit - I'd try to mimic any animal noise I heard and name that animal... he'd correct me.  "oohhoohhoohh - monkey?"  "hahahaha - bush baby" and so on.

I sprayed down my pants with the toxic "don't get this on your skin" mosquito repellant Heidi brought and then enjoyed the cup of coffee someone brought to our room.  Ah, the life of luxury.  We didn't have much time to enjoy it, however, as we were off to the Ngororngoro Crater and were already running late.  After a delicious breakfast and a quick trip to one of the nicest bathrooms I've ever seen, we were off (but not before taking a few pictures of the flowers along the way).

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A tour of our "rooms" at Gibbs Farm

Ngorongoro Crater

We left Gibbs Farm to go to the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera (a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption).  Giraffes can't get into the crater because the edges are too steep and female elephant don't go because it's too difficult for the kids, so if you see elephant in the crater, you know they are bulls.  When we arrived at the overlook we stood in amazement of the magnificent view below- from above we could see herds of buffalo and zebra and were anxious to get going.

It took about 30 minutes to go around the top of the crater and get to the road leading down to the crater floor.  Prior to heading down we pull off to the side and Kessy (our driver guide) takes the tops off our vehicle and the journey begins.  As soon as we get to the crater floor we see herds of cape buffalo then zebra and wildebeest.  Kessy soon finds us a rare site of a tree climbing lioness.  We pulled up to this tree and he stopped... we looked closely and saw a lioness sleeping (eventually she stood up for a bit before sleeping again).  I really wished I had a fancy camera with a great zoom - I had to buy a new camera for the trip, but decided to stick with a point and shoot because I didn't want to take a heavier camera up Kili.  Oh well, something is better than nothing!

After checking out some more zebra, buffalo, wildebeest and a variety of birds and gazelles, we come up to an area where a bunch of safari vehicles are parked near a tree.  As we get closer, we see there is a lion laying down next to one of the vehicles and there are 3 lions in the tree!  We stayed there watching them for close to an hour.  At one point, the one among the vehicles came over and laid down against our tire, taking advantage of the shade our vehicle provided.  It was so close we could pet it (don't worry, I didn't try).  Kessy wouldn't let me take pictures with it - I know it's a wild animal and king of the jungle and all, but he was really skinny and moved so slowly I think he was just waiting for mom to bring him some food and wouldn't have had the energy to bite my hand/head off.  We didn't know how the top off part was going to work (the last safari vehicle I was in, the top just popped up, it didn't come off) so while I'd put sunscreen on my face, I hadn't put any on my arms - and after standing up and watching the lions for so long, I could start feeling my skin burning and had to put on my long sleeve jacket in hopes of covering up.

On our way to lunch, we saw a black rhino, an endangered species - Kessy said around 20 have been reported to live in the crater.  It was a bit far, of course, so I was happy to have the binoculars I stole in my family's yankee swap over Christmas.  Then we passed the only elephant we saw the entire trip (which I thought was odd, because when I did my Kenya and South Africa safari, elephant were a plenty).  We finally get tot he lunch area and Kessy warns that there are Kite birds around that will steal your lunch if you eat outside, so you have to keep the box closed and hold your food close.  They especially like chicken.  I thought that was interesting, but still wanted to sit outside while looking at the hippos in the lake.  As I was eating my chicken, holding it close, one of the birds flew down and tried to get it!  I felt the wing go by and some other people said they got it on tape (why didn't I ask them for it?!  I did find a video, it'd just not of me, but it's what happened!  Video) I quickly finished my chicken and took out a banana... not too worried (I mean, it's fruit) well, I should have been.... one of the kites flew down and stole it from me!  I decided at that time the only way I'd be able to eat is if I went back in the truck, so back I went.  There were some guinea foul around the vehicles, but they weren't quite the "attack chickens" they seemed to be in South Africa when Brian and I were watching the sunset after climbing Table Mountain.

Most everyone stops here for lunch, and we ran into James & Rhiannon and then Dominique & Judith from our kili trip.  Dominique and Judith would be staying at the same place as us that night.  After lunch and some times watching the hippos in the pond, we headed out again.

In the afternoon we saw pink flamingos, more zebra, gazelle, wildebeest, buffalo a couple more rhinos, hyenas and warthogs.  It was a fun-filled, awesome day.  The view as we left the crater was just as amazing as we looked back to the plain below. (video leaving crater) We are now in the conservation area and the only people allowed to live within the conservation area are the Massai - we see a village as soon as we leave the crater.   Kessy says, we are coming into giraffe country.  No longer than 5 minutes after he says it, we come over a hill and see a bunch of giraffe grazing on the side of a hill, which meant we had to stop, of course, and take loads of pictures.  When we finally got on the road again, the scenery was everything you'd think you'd see - Massai on the side of the road herding cattle, villages made out of sticks and mud huts, and zebra grazing.  The road was dirt, making everything dusty - from the beginning of the crater until we got on the plane to leave, dust was a constant we could depend on.

Arriving at our "hotel" - Olduvai Tented Camp.  We learn the entire camp runs on solar power and the only place we were able to charge our batteries (all of our batteries died on safari) was in the reception area - so we left them there overnight and would just pick them up in the morning.  They told us dinner was from 7:30-9, so we headed to our tents to get cleaned up (the sign in the bathroom asked that we only take one shower a day to preserve water).  You'll have to see a picture of the tent to understand what it looks like.  It's a canvas tent (kind of MASH-ish) on a platform and covered by a thatched roof, inside there are 2 twin beds, 2 night stands, a closet like bar and shelf to hang your clothes and house extra blankets and a dressing stand.  To get to the bathroom, you have to unzip the back part of the tent - the bathroom area is under the thatched part, but there are no screens - so mosquitoes are well represented.  We got to dinner around 8 and realized that when they said 7:30-9, they meant it STARTS at 7:30, not that we can show up whenever we want between 7:30-9.  Oh well.  Walking back to the tent, the stars put on a fabulous show for us, lighting up the night sky in all their splendor... again, I didn't take a picture - ugh!  It was absolutely beautiful, though, so you'll have to trust me on this.

We went to bed that night with images of animals dancing through our heads :-)

For pictures click here

Serengeti

On our final day in the Serengeti, I woke up before the sun and went outside to watch it come up.  I love the peaceful sound of morning -listening in the dark then watching as the sun rises and reveals the scenery around you.  I recorded what it sounded like, in case you are interested: Recording 1  & Recording 2.

We have a good breakfast and then pack our lunches and meet up with Kessy for day 2 of adventure.  We decided we'd like to do the Massai walk in the afternoon (I really wanted to and the others seemed into it) so we knew we'd be back around 4.  As we headed out to where the animals were gathered, Kessy suggested we stop at a Massai village.  I'd done it before, in Kenya, and found it fascinating, so I said I'd be up for it.  Heidi, Sally and Sam said they'd like to give it a go, so for $50 (for the 4 of us) we went to the village, asked as many questions as we wanted, got to wear Massai necklaces, "dance" with the ladies (which was really just jumping -and it confirmed I'm not a good jumper), watch a welcome dance, have the men jump for us, see a house, visit the school and take unlimited pictures.  Of course, they also asked for more donations and asked us to buy their wares, but we weren't having any of it.  Heidi gave the kids at the school some notebooks and Sally gave them some markers.  I have a ton of pictures and a video of the welcome dance (Click here for video).  The kids were excited to have their picture taken and then to see their picture on the camera.  Overall, I enjoyed it - however, they were certainly pushy about trying to get more money out of us which felt uncomfortable/ungrateful since we'd just given $50... but at the same time, we are very wealthy in comparison - so I can't blame them.

Next we headed out and saw a bunch of giraffe, a couple dikdik, wildebeest, zebra, pink flamingos, eagles and a couple grant gazelle.  There was a giraffe pair that were trying to mate (which, of course, we waited for) but they took forever... I think the male was nervous.  So, we left.  On our way home we came across a recent kill - Kessy said that since there were no lions and the zebra (meal) was so complete (meaning it'd happened very recently) the zebra was probably sick or hurt and killed by hyenas... because if a lion had chased it down, the lion would still be there.  We sat and watched the hyenas and vultures enjoy their feast for quite a while.  Warning - the pictures and video are national geographic graphic.... the hyena climbs inside the zebra belly - so if you get squeemish, don't watch.  (here's one video if you'd like to check it out).

When we got back to the hotel, Heidi and Sam said they'd rather rest up and pack so only Sally and I went for the walk with the Massai guide.  It was interesting to learn more about the area.  Sally took advantage of an aloe plant which we passed and rubbed it on her sunburn - it turned her yellow, but the next day the burn had gone down, so it was worth it!  A lot of the Massai recycled tires to create shoes so I was able to get a close up picture from our guide.  We walked along the Olvadai gorge, where some of the earliest human remains have been found (though miles from where we were).  I loved the fact that we were just walking along the plain, the chance of an animal coming up at any time was there (of course we only saw some zebra and gazelle, so I'm not sure how much possible danger we could have been in -but we WERE in the wild!) with only our Massai man and his spear to protect us.  Thinking about how the Massai tribe just walk around free like that every day - I'm happy we got to do it.  We ended the walk with sunset from up on one of the high rocks in the camp.  It wasn't the best sunset because of the clouds, but it was still amazing to sit up top and look out to forever... knowing all that we'd seen that day was out there... the hyenas, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and so much more.  A great way to bring the trip to an end.

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