Finally got the Big 5. Very exciting. Was some big days and Tanzania has been fantastic to visit. However the locals say the name of the country with a bit of a twist so don’t know the exact way to say it. Think it might be a tomato/tomato pronunciation thing.
Nairobi Giraffes
We had a spare afternoon in Nairobi and a group of us hired taxis and headed out to a giraffe feeding center for injured animals. Given food pellets and the giraffes would come out and eat from your hand. They had a massive tongue and very slimy.
(feeding giraffe)
And just to push the boundaries, the guide dared us all to try a giraffe kiss. By placing the pellet between your lips the giraffe would lick it off your mouth. Supposedly giraffe spit is antibiotic or something so after all our group gave it a go got peer-pressured into it. No good photos but it’s an experience I won’t easily forget. So a group of giraffes is a ...?
Into Tanzania
Got another stamp in my passport as we began the 40+ days driving south. Unfortunately the migratory herds were still in Kenya so we missed out on seeing the huge hordes of wildebeests and I was a little bit annoyed that I hadn’t organised this properly.
Mto Wa Mbu
Our first night in Tanzania was this place I still can’t fully pronounce – supposedly translates as river of mosquitos. Put on plenty of insect repellent but didn’t seem too bad.
Ngorongoro Crater
The next day we left our truck behind and dividing into groups got into separate trusty Landcruisers for a few days of game trekking. The first place we visited was the Ngorongoro crater – a huge volcanic crater filled with animals that are mostly stuck in the crater. Hadn’t been much rain but still lots to see. Don’t know if we’ve been extra lucky but it seems lions like to pose for us right near the road. Got to see quite a few of them and took this photo with one close enough I thought it prudent to wind up my window.
In our vehicle I was the only one who had been travelling through Africa for a couple of weeks. Since I had already seen 4 of the Big 5 I was really focused on seeing a leopard. Unfortunately there were no leopards in the crater so wasn’t super excited like I would have been if it was my first game drive. Was nice seeing how excited the others were over wildebeests and waterbucks.
We drove out of the crater and headed further west along one of the worst roads I’ve ever been on. Gave a whole new meaning to an ‘African massage.’ By the end of the trip we ended up in the Serengeti Park and set up camp in the middle of the animals. There were certainly some loud roars during the night.
Amazing Game Drive
Another early morning start – with some of the group doing a sunrise balloon ride – and we headed out to hopefully see a leopard. Again saw some lions and what seemed to be a theme for the day of seeing the carnivores feasting. There were a lot of 4WD vehicles roaring around the Park and all the drivers had mobile phones and stayed in touch directing each other to the points of interest.
(lion near road)
First massive sighting was a cheetah with its prey – unfortunately was in some long grass and could only see her when she stopped eating and looked around. I’m sure the 10 to 20 vehicles parked nearby disrupted her meal. No good photo.
But after hearing from his mobile phone, our driver took off and we saw something fantastic. In a tree near a road there were 2 leopards sharing a kill. Such a fantastic moment.
The trend continued with the next sighting but bit of a twist. We just missed seeing a cheetah take down a gazelle (saw the prey dispersing) but when we got there a hyena had stolen the kill from the poor cheetah. Got a photo of the loser:
(cheetah)
Back to Mto Wa Mbu
Spent another night in Serengeti; after a boring game drive in the afternoon which evened out the animal spotting after the excitement of the morning. Took off the next day back along the Worst-Road-Ever back to where we had left our truck. Along the way passed some elephants crossing the road – so just to get 3 of the Big 5 in this blog here’s another photo.
(elephant)
Heading off to Zanzibar soon so hopefully have a nice relax in an actual bed.
Week Ahead
Sat, 1st of Oct Dar es Salaam
Sun, 2nd of Oct Zanzibar
Mon, 3rd of Oct Zanzibar
Tues, 4th of Oct Zanzibar
Wed, 5th of Oct Dar es Salaam
Thurs, 6th of Oct Iringa
Fri, 7th of Oct Chitimba, Malawi
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