On the Serengeti and Lake Manyara

The "African Massage" continued as we traveled to the famed Serengeti Plain.  This was the tail end of the dry season, and we were constantly dusted by the red dust of the countryside.  Prior to entering the park we stopped at Oldupai Gorge where the Leakeys had first made their discoveries.  In the museum were the actual 3.6 million years old footprints made by primitive man that had been cast and preserved in volcanic rock.  The museum was fascinating and walking on the location where this great discovery was made was one of the many highlights of the trip.

 

Part of the location where the Leakeys made their dig and where they spent the majority of their lives.
Below is the actual casting of the footprints discovered by the Leakeys and preserved in volcanic ash.

We traveled on to the Serengeti and arrived at another excellent Serena Lodges.  Standing on our deck we could see the Serengeti stretching out before us and there was no fencing around the lodge.  Consequently animals roamed freely right underneath our deck.  At night an escort was required to accompany us to our private accommodation.  It was not uncommon to see elephants and other creatures roaming the grounds.  We were told that the elephants came into the grounds and drank from the swimming pool.  Touring began the next day.

The view of the Serengeti from our back deck

Our bungalow at the Serena Lodge on the Serengeti.

The next two days we toured early morning and late afternoon taking a break for lunch and short nap before going out again. The pictures below are on the tour and speak for themselves.

This is one of our favorite pictures.  She totally ignored us and a small pride of lions with cubs was laying under some rocks off behind us.

Our van was within 8-10 feet of this sleeping lion.  It was a group of eight all taking a nap.  Notice the tracking collar around the neck.

Looking out over the plain and the beauty of the Serengeti and the Acacia trees.

At each location we saw many giraffes.

Our guide told us that this group of elephants were asleep and that they sleep about 2-3 hours per day.

Female ostrich

The blue flag above is a trap for the Tsetse Fly.  No one in our group went to inspect the trap.  We saw no flies, however, we were told that the trap does work and if you are bitten by the fly, getting sleeping sickness is very rare. 

After two days on the Serengeti we were off to another location in Tanzania called Lake Manyara. 

Lake Manyara is one of Tanzania's smallest and most diverse parks.  Here elephants graze beneath baobab tree, lions doze on the branches of umbrella trees, monkeys leap from treetop to treetop, hippos loll on the lake shore, and masses of flamingos paint the lake a colorful pink.  Bordered by the dramatic Western Escarpment of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara is especially notable for its abundant bird life (some 400  species), diverse vegetation, rare tree climbing lions and hippos.

silvery-cheeked hornbill

The elephants walked so close by our vehicle that we could have reached out and touched them. 

Our touring vehicles.  Holding six to seven people, the roofs lifted up and we could stand and gain an excellent view of the scenery and the animals.

Leaving Lake Manyara, we traveled through Tanzania viewing the scenery and the beautiful mountains.  Pictured below is an extinct volcano surrounded by clouds.  Arriving back in Nairobi, Kenya we visited an elephant orphanage for abandoned baby elephants.  The orphanage keeps the elephants in their private park nursing them back to health.  Upon reaching close to adulthood, they are returned to the wild.

We viewed many such mountains throughout the countryside.

The baby elephants came running at feeding time.  Some rolled their trunks up and knew the drill.  Others had to be helped. 

Leaving Nairobi at 11:30 PM, the trip back home took a mere 30 hours.  It was a long grueling trip but was worth it.  This was a trip of a lifetime!

Duck season is on along with turkeys and it is time to get out in the field and harvest some more food for the winter.Text

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

 

At the Foot of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Ngorongoro Crater



                                  

Three days later we left the country of Kenya and said good-bye to the beautiful Masai Mara.  We both agreed that it cannot get any better that what we just experienced, but it did.

We flew out on a gravel airstrip on the Masai Mara in a four engine turbo prop and headed back to Nairobi.  Here we met the driver that would take us to the border of Kenya and Tanzania.  This part of the trip was very comfortable.  We rode down paved roads to the border of Tanzania.  Here we did the usual stand in line and presented our paperwork along with our passports and yellow card showing we had received a Yellow Fever vaccination.  This is where our guide with Odysseys Unlimited really got to work.  He had seventeen people to get across the border and it was like herding cats.  We also changed vehicles, and luggage had to be transferred.  Under our guide's direction, he made it all happen.  Edwin was truly outstanding and not a discouraging word was said.  I wondered what he was thinking.

Over excellent paved roads we headed to the Amboseli Plain at the foot of the great Mt. Kilimanjaro.  This magnificent road soon ended and it was back to the African Massage where we bounced and jostled our way to the plain.  In the evening we entered the park and arrived at our lodge within site of the mountain and a Masai village.  Another five star lodge operated by Serena Lodges was nestled on the plain.  Security was tight here and the lodge was surrounded by fencing and patroled at night by employees looking for animals that might have breached the security barriers. We felt perfectly safe.

The next morning we visited a Masai village.  Here we were met by the residents of the village and learned about their life and customs.  Dating back centuries the people remain as herders of cattle, goats and sheep deriving their living primarily from the land.  Education has become an intregal part of their life.  The picture below shows the students all dressed in their uniforms as they began the day attending school. 

Masai homes are constructed by the women and consist of a framework made of branches and then covered with a combination of mud and dung.

My wife with the Medicine Man in the Masai Village

Introduction to the Masai and their beautiful dress

School Children in the Masai Village.  Kids are kids wherever you go.

In the afternoon we were out on the Amboseli plain in the shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro.  The park holds some really large elephant herds along with lion, zebra, wildebeast, hippos and various other creatures. 

This elephant walked right by our back door at the lodge.  Notice he is in the sprinkler system.  He paused there, got good and wet, and then kept on going.

Mt. Kilimanjaro looking over the plain holding a plethora of animals.

This elephant was the largest one we saw on the whole trip.  Look at the size of the tusks.





The next day we had another African Massage as we traveled over unimproved roads to leave the park and then to the Ngorongoro Crater.  The crater is actually a caldera surrounded by mountains.  Again we were treated to another five star lodge perched on the side of a mountain overlooking the crater.  Outstanding service at another Serena Lodge offered all the ammenities of a first class hotel in a major city.  

A view of the crater as taken from the balcony of our room.  The white area is salt and the wind is lifting clouds of salt into the ar.  We toured the crater viewing many animals in a different setting.

Wart hog checking us out.

Two hippos have agreeded to disagree.  The fight was something to see.  Hippos roaring, biting each other, muddy water churning.  The shot here is right before an attack on the one waddling up to the one with his mouth open.  Our guide said they fight until one dies or gives up. 

After two days at the Ngorongoro Crater, we continued the African Massage over the unimproved washboard roads to the Serengeti and more excitement.  I should point out that this trip was taken at the end of the dry season and we were covered with the red dust of the plains as we travel the roadways of Tanzania.  In the evening we arrived at another of Serena Lodges positioned on the Serengeti.



Free shipping available at most of these fine outdoor suppliers plus the sales never stop.  Now is the time to stock up.

 

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.  Hank.
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Into Africa

My wife and I left Council Bluffs on September 26th and headed to the Omaha Airport to board the first of three flights to Nairobi, Kenya.  When you live in the heartland you have an extra 4-5 hours of connecting to a hub airport to go overseas.  This is the only disadvantage to living in the midwest I know of. Our excitement was very high.  We would be traveling with our favorite tour company Odysseys Unlimited.  (http://www.odysseys-unlimited.com/)  Twenty four hours later we touched down in Nairobi, Kenya at 9 PM on September 27th their time and was met at the airport by a representative from the Norfolk Fairmont Hotel.

(http://www.fairmont.com/norfolk-hotel-nairobi/)

Next morning, we met the Odysseys Unlimited guide, Edwin and then the rest of the tour group later in the day.  The first day was one of rest and recuperation before we hit the safari trail and an orientation session with our guide on what to expect.  Next day we were given a short tour of Nairobi, a city of four million people, a visit to a dealer in African Art, and a tour of the estate of Karen Blixen.  With the writing of Out of Africa and the movie, this lady enhanced the intrigue and excitement that runs in this beautiful country. 

The home of Karen Blixen

The next day we were on our way to the Masai Mara.  Here just below the rift valley is a plain of extraordinary beauty with wide open spaces holding the animals of east Africa.  Leaving very nice wide and paved roads, we entered into a new world and received the first of what as known as the "African Message."  This consists of riding in our vehicle over some of the roughest and unimproved roads I have ever been on. Full of ruts, the roads were like driving down a washboard highway.  Also our driver drove very briskly.  The first thing you notice is that the steering wheel is on the wrong side.  It is on the right side of the landcruiser as everything relates back to the time when Kenya was a British Colony.  They drive on the left side of the road. 

View of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya

This pounding was an experience we would be getting used to everywhere we went.  Plus it was the end of the dry season, and it was really dry and a bit warm.  Dust was everywhere inside the vehicle.  You opened a window, it flew in.  You closed the window and everyone in the vehicle was too hot.  It took some practice to regulate the temperature, and everyone maintained their sense of humor.  This was the first of many rough road trips that we would take.

We arrived at the lodge midafternoon and had a short snack and freshened up after the first of the adventures.  The lodge was an oasis of luxury right in the middle of the Masai Mara plains.  Serena Lodges would be the first of the many we would be staying at on this adventure. http://www.serenahotels.com/

On the Masai Mari, we slept in a tent that had connected to the back end a full bath with flush toliet.  Please note you sleep under mosquito netting.

Pam enjoying the fresh air outside our luxury tent.

In the lobby of the lodge.

Swimming pool at the lodge.  This is a 5 star resort and the food was outstanding.

At 4 PM we hit the ground running and into the landcruisers for an evening of game viewing.  The roofs of the vehicles lifted up almost three feet so we could stand and look out taking picture at each and every opportunity.  Photo opportunities came fast and furious.  The pictures below show how much game we were viewing.

Elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, lions and one of our favorite shots was of the cheeta with her four cubs pictured above.  We had to be off the plain by 6:30 pm and headed back to the lodge.  This is only a sampling of pictures taken and not a complete representation of what we saw.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.  Hank

Great buys going on at each of these outdoor retailers. 

 

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