The Essence of the Journey!

Safari to the Serengeti and Surrounds

 

By: Nicolai and Celeste

 

 

So many mixed emotions already related to the ups-and-downs of the trailer and now the car too. Of course it is much more than just a car: part vehicle, part home and security, a form of mobile stability for our family. The high repair costs notwithstanding, we really had no choice but to have it repaired. Our choices now lay with where we wanted to stay and how best to use that enforced car-out time.  The fact that we were camped just 5 metres from the waves on a paradise-like stretch of beach did not elude us, despite our fluctuating mindset. If one has to get stranded, what better place could there be?

 

With a hired tractor we hauled our trailer from the so-called campsite at Sunrise Beach Hotel 2 kms down the road to Kipepeo – meaning ‘butterfly’. With its camp-ground, security and chilled atmosphere we felt more at home. Calamari, chicken strips, samoosas, veggie spring rolls, beef and veggie burgers were our favourite orders in the evenings in the open-air bar-restaurant while Nicolai and Marcelo eyed-out the Euro soccer. It is hard to believe that 4 years ago we had been at the last Euro in Switzerland and Austria watching games live, visiting our friends Ilona and Denise, even going to the opera in Vienna.

 

“Is it arranged? When do we leave?” Danica kept asking anxiously. We had organised, after some comparisons and much consideration, to go on a camping safari Tanzania-style with a hired vehicle, a driver (John) and a cook (Dixon) whom we had met previously in Selous. For Danica, and for us, a much-talked and a dream-come-true section of the trip.

 

The fact that they were 3 hours late to collect us, or that the old, green Landy which made our nephew Juan’s oldest first series model look like luxury, did not dampen our spirits. “We’re off to see the migration, the wonderful migration of Serengeti…”

 

And now for Nicolai’s very own “Dar-es-Salaam Story” …

 

Our car broke down about 20 km out of Dar. One of the pistons had a hole in it, even though how did we know what lied ahead of this mystery that we had to get it fixed. We went to Kipepeo where the beach is lovely, full of shells and the waves are too lovely to even speak about. While the car was getting fixed we went on Safari for two weeks.

 

Our first night we camped at Travellers Lodge on the green lawns at Bagamoyo, an old historical town, on the sea where Dad and I watched Portugal (3) against Denmark (2). We took a morning walk on the beach and played on the huge jungle gym, also playing piggie-in-the-middle with Mom. Then we left for the Usambara Mountains.

It took 7 hours to travel the steep and windy roads up past Lushoto to the Iringa Viewpoint campsite. The next day we went on a bird walk in the beautiful Magamba Forest Reserve for some of the specials like the African Tailor Bird, Uluguru Bush-Shrike, Slate-coloured Boubou. We also saw an orange-tipped, bushy-tailed Lushoto Mountain Squirrel (Paraxerus vexillarius) jumping in the misty trees. We left after a wonderful breakfast of cereal, fruit, omelettes and pancakes, overlooking the valley.

 

 

On our way to Arusha we went past Kilimanjaro, snow and all! Danica and I had heard so much about it from when Mom and Dad had climbed it. After we set up camp at The Maasai Camp in town, we walked to a restaurant down the way to watch France versus Ukraine on the fizzy screen. (No typo.)

 

After grocery shopping in Arusha we headed for Mto wa Mby (Mosquito Town). Just outside Lake Manyara National Park we saw and smelt a lot of stinky storks (Marabou and Yellow-billed) – oooh, they smelt like penguins! In the Park we saw Silvery-cheeked Hornbills aplenty, lion in the tree and many Blue monkeys in the forest. I played soccer with John at our breakfast picnic while Dad took lots of photos of the flamingos. We saw the lovely star-shaped patterns on the tall Masaai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi).

 

The best sightings at Tarangire National Park were the three early morning Kirk’s dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii cavendishi), Yellow-necked Spurfowl, a pack of wild dogs (rarely seen there), a pair of honey badgers, Superb Starlings, and the many relaxed elephant families surrounding the car.

 

Our view from the rim of Ngorogoro was of the beautiful landscape of the crater with Lake Magadi far down in the distance. The campsite at the top was freezing and there was a large herd of buffalo grazing around our tents with an Augur Buzzard soaring overhead. I played soccer around a gigantic Wild fig (Ficus thonningii) (Celeste’s insert) right next to five zebra right in the swirling clouds!

 

Caracal was our first sighting of the morning as we descended into the crater.

At the hippo pool we saw serval, tons of stripey zebra and wildebeest fighting over territory. Lions were lazing around, flamingos were feeding at Lake Magadi, kori bustards were strolling along and black rhinos raised their horns proudly. Just past the Lerai Forest area seven naughty pups pranced around their hyena parents and kept popping in and out of the den.

 

We enjoyed chatting to Kristin and her overlander friends over supper in the cold dining area. A Dutch lady gave us a game from the Netherlands called Flingo which Danica and all of us enjoyed in the cold, misty morning while John went to fill up with petrol but hit a cow on the way and took so long to come back.

 

The green changed to brown, dry ground through the Maasai land. The displays, history and talk at Oldupai (not Olduvai) Gorge were fantastic and the fact that we actually saw the cast of the famous Laetoli footprints found by Mary Leakey that were more than three million years old was amazing. Did you know that Oldupai is the Maasai word for wild sisal?

 

The famous Serengeti did not let us down. But why did it not let us down.

I will tell you. Spotting three lionesses kill a warthog just after entering the park – surely that is special. At the campsite we saw Miheer whom we had met at Twiga Campsite in Mosquito Town. Dad and he organised to watch Portugal play Czechoslovakia at the rangers’ house which was no mean feat as there are no night drives at all allowed. They shouted so loud that mom even heard it, amongst the nocturnal hyenas and lions.

 

We travelled west (Western Corridor) to the wildebeest migration. Sadly we did not get what we wanted to see. What we wanted to see was them crossing the Grumeti River. Our second day we stayed around the Seronera area and we saw lots of things like a pair of Tawny Eagles feasting on an abandoned kill of a leopard up a tree.

 

Celeste continues…

A cheetah dashed across our path. A Leopard guarded his kill in a tree. Three zebra were rescued from deep mud at a waterhole by park rangers – quite traumatic and emotional. The abundant lion activity was enthralling: hunting attempts aplenty; more tree climbing and finally a Topi (Damaliscus lunatus topi) kill.

The long streams of wildebeest running, snorting, grunting amidst the dust – the sheer numbers were breathtaking. Grazed grass sheared off down low, all slanting in one direction gave us clues to the directions they had followed. So many separate lines, seemingly in disarray, certainly nothing like the neat little arrowed diagrams of explanation according to months one sees in explanatory texts. I do wonder how these particular beasts have managed so

well in view of their apparent lack of intelligence. What about this great natural event is so spectacular? There is an intangible mysticism to this ancient rhythm; a connectedness of beast and earth; a complete fulfilment of senses.

 

Lobo in the north-eatern sector was a stunning area with its granite outcrops, reminiscent of Matobos in Zimbabwe, with buffalo and lion using these vantage points as outlooks and a large hyena clan using the crevices tucked below as their den.

Danica was thrilled to come nose-to-nose with a rock hyrax whilst peeping purposefully into a crevice, careful to stay hidden from the Verreaux’s (Black) Eagle circling overhead. The orange-leaved croton (Croton dichogamus), Sandpaper tree (Cordia monoica) and strange Stinging nettle tree (Obetia pinnatifida) stood amongst the huge boulders. 

En route to Klein’s Gate the Acacia drepanolobiums (Whistling thorns) with their weird ant-galls were not as widespread as in Senonera but giraffe families were feeding from them, as well as from ground forbs. A pair of Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) was a treat before exiting once more into the dry, eroded, cattle lands.

A naughty Maasai youngster’s stone found it’s mark on the Landy’s rear window. Luckily a pillow was stuffed into this back area or the human damage could have been dramatic. He and his friends fled, so Dixon, Danica and Nicolai walked 4 of his large oxen with yoke and bells to the police station at the nearest settlement while John went with the policeman to find the little fellow. Both John and Dixon are from Maasai descent and speak dialectical Maa which came in handy throughout the region. Statements took a while. Meanwhile we bought a beaded bangle from an aged Maasai lady, stooped, thin and wrinkled. The cattle would have to be claimed and paid for by his father. What would his story be that evening to his father?

 

Descending the Rift Valley escarpment through dramatic and dry landscape, rocks weathered and subtly hued. Lake Natron, shallow and caustic (ph 9-11), mirrored the flamingos.  The muddy shore, with sodden, grey volcanic ash was lined with the endemic white-lipped tilapia (Oreochromis alcalica) washed-up amongst bones, egg shells, feathers, hyena and eland tracks. Bat-eared foxes skulked off into the undergrowth.

 

We camped at Maasai Camp atop a hill overlooking both the lake and Ol Doinyo Lengai – the Maasai Mountain of God – an active volcano. Walking to the Ngaro Sero (meaning ‘black, clear or dappled’ water) Waterfall through the gorge took us 16 times through the river – stunning scenery, Euphorbia heterochroma, Euphorbia tirucalli (Milk bush), palms and white-pink flowers of the succulent Adenium obesum (Desert rose or Elephant’s foot) – rewarded with a swim right under in/ under / through the waterfall.

 

Calotropis procura (Dead Sea fruit) with their large, inflated, pods grew along the dry rivercourses through the extensive drylands. Two gates, manned by Maasai, charged high transit fees, although a new law will regulate this from July 2012. We circuited back through Mosquito Town, bypassing the Engaruka Ruins (as they are apparently overgrown and unkempt) back onto tar road all the way past Mount Meru to Moshi.

 

Destination: Amani- part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, a Galapagos-like biodiversity hotspot for an absolute treat. Walking in silence through the forest at sunset, strength and power and beauty mesh with spirit. We stayed in the old stationmaster’s house at Sigi so had to drive a further 7km upwards to the research village where old German colonial buildings still house an extensive botanical and research library and a quaint post office.

There we began our guided walk with the very knowledgeable and accomplished Victor who has been there several years helping with research in the area. Magnificent tree specimens (too many to mention) were topped by the Zanthoxylum usambarense (Knobwood). After the black-and-white Angola Pied Colobus (Colobus angolensis) and Tanganyika Mountain Squirrel (Paraxerus Lucifer byatti) we were delighted with sightings of Green-headed Oriole, Banded (Green) and Amani Sunbirds, Pale Batis, Uluguru Drongo, Fischer’s Turaco, Shelley’s Greenbul and an African Harrier Hawk hunting. Danica was so disappointed we could not stay for a night walk to enjoy the frogs, owls and chameleons.

 

Asante sana (Thank you very much in kiSwahili) Dixon for all the excellent meals and red, happy mugs filled with hot tea. New tastes included corn-on-the-cob off the coals off the street corner; the largest fruit in the world – jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus); banana and potato soup and too-sweet sugarcane.

 

The frequent repair stops made with the Landy feel

adventurous at first, par for the course, but quickly become time-consuming and irritating. One thing is for sure, a Landy Defender can be fixed anywhere, anytime, almost with anything by anyone in Tanzania.

 

Nicolai closes:

When we came back to Kipepeo at 21:00 we had to sort our things out. It felt so good to be back by the sea. One more day to swim in the sea and pick up shells. Danica collected a lot of shells and labelled them all with the help of a new book on the Indian Ocean. The Dar traffic was terrible. At least we got an ice-cream while we waited for two hours in the queue for the ferry on the way back from Toyota in our very own car again.