KWENDA SAFARI TANZANIA 
NI VIZURI SANA!

Journey to East Africa with Lorne & Heidi Sulcas.
First of a two part series.

Kilimanjaro * Lake Manyara * Ngorogoro Crater * Masaai Lands * Serengeti * Tarangire

We flew into Kilimanjaro on a clear day...

Our journey began with a red-eye flight from Jo’burg to Nairobi. We knew we were en route to a real third world country when we watched what people were bringing onto the plane, anything from diapers, used wheelchairs, high chairs and a television wrapped in a plastic bag. We arrived in Nairobi in the wee hours of the morning for a short layover before flying on a smaller plane (for those flying enthusiasts, an ATR42) to Kilimanjaro airport.  

Walking onto the tarmac at Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi, we noticed a very large pile (like the size of Mt Kenya!) of assorted tagged bags obviously destined for somewhere, we wondered if they would ever get there. 

We flew into Kilimanjaro on a clear day and viewed the full majesty of the mountain. It was the second international arrival of the day at JRO and the 19 passengers overwhelmed the one immigration official whose second job at the airport was beetle sweeper. (They fly into the lobby through the perpetually open doors and windows.)  

We were met by our personal guide, Mlambo Mazigo (but we could call him James, he said). James was an absolute gem. He spotted things with his eyes that I struggled to find with my binoculars.

We quickly realized that paved roads in Tanzania, as in many parts of East Africa and Southern Africa, are a bit of a novelty and are often shared with cows, donkeys, bicycles, and any other ambulatory creature, bipedal or quadrapedal.  All but about 100 km of our sizable journey was on 'improved dirt roads,' whatever improved means. There were times that Lorne had to remove the grip I had on his arm so as not to have puncture wounds from my fingernails.  Not that we weren’t confident in James’ abilities, but sides of the road rules don’t seem to apply. The only thing that matters is the size of the vehicle you’re in.

We arrived in Arusha on a Saturday, market day. You get the feeling that everything that you’ve ever given to the Salvation Army, or charities, has ended up in Tanzania. Everything on sale, if it’s not used, looks used. The main market in town is dusty, dirty, noisy and full of vitality. 

The people in Tanzania have so many varied backgrounds from Arab to Bushmen to Masaai to Indian to African of many tribal origins, resulting in an exotic mix of beautiful people. Lorne had to purchase some rice for our bean bags (thereafter referred to as rice bags) that we use to stabilize our lenses.  As soon as people see you looking, everyone comes running to show you their wares. James was a big help in weeding through and getting what we needed. It was also in his interest as he was the beneficiary of the rice after we left. Nine kilos lasts a long time!!

Off we went on our first afternoon to Lake Manyara 

Our transport was very comfortable and luckily fairly new, as there is no such thing as a gas station, rest area, restroom, nor roadside service in the country outside of the three major population centers. We were driven in a converted Land Cruiser workhorse with lots of diesel on board. There were hatches cut in the roof for us to stand up and photograph from the top of the vehicle. It was obvious that this vehicle could go anywhere and get out of anything…very important! It came in handy more than once.

Big Tusker in the Lerai Forest      Crowned Crane                  Baby Giraffe

Lake Manyara was the site of 30+ years of elephant research by Iain Douglas-Hamilton. It’s a beautiful park in the eastern Y of the Rift Valley and like all lakes on that side of the Rift, it is a soda lake. Animals do not drink from a soda lake, because of the minerals and salinity. Flamingos though, find it extremely nourishing and the lake was absolutely pink with these beautiful birds. There were monkeys, baboons, giraffe, elephant and huge herds of buffalo. Bird life was prolific. In our time in Tanzania, we counted over 100 species of birds that we saw and we weren’t even doing serious birding!!  

As the sun began to set we were treated to those wonderful smells of the bush, potato bush, wild mint, the approaching rain. 

You really can smell African rain before it comes. The sounds at dawn and dusk are also deafening as creatures come to life and prepare to retire for the day, and there are many doing both at dawn and at dusk.

Our accommodation the first evening was at a farm about 15 km from the Ngorogoro Crater. Hot showers and electricity, it was a beautiful spot, unfortunately we didn’t see much of it, as we arrived at dusk and left before sunrise. That was our normal routine. One could not drink tap water eat any fruits or vegetables that were not peeled due to the various bugs in the water which our delicate westernized stomachs could not take. 

Our first full day of game drive was in the famous Ngorogoro Crater. 

Some interesting facts: The walls of the Crater are 5 000 feet high, the distance across is about 20 km. The Crater has permanent water, which accounts for the healthy wildlife populations. There are no giraffe or crocodile there. Lake Magadi, is a large soda lake and although the animals don’t drink there, they sometimes get confused and hang out around it until they remember it tastes yucky. There are three springs in the Crater providing fresh water. 

You can not believe what it’s like descending into this ancient caldera. My thought, that I erroneously got from watching too many National Geographic video documentaries, was that you could look out across the Crater and see a group of animals here, one there, a lion hunting over there. You can’t believe how vast the Crater is. There is a forest in one area that looks like a little bunch of broccoli as you’re descending. The floor of the Crater is immense.  

You can spend a day driving around and not see everything, yet most of the animals, with the exception of elephant, never leave the Crater. They are obviously always moving so you never really know just what you’ll see. 

     Grant's Gazelle                   Wildebeest                  Yawning Hippopotamus

Huge herds of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra, eland, springbok, impala, two species of jackal, lots of spotted hyena (of which there are about 200 in the crater), elephant, black rhino, tons of birds, lots of hippo, two groups of lions, cheetah, heard evidence of a leopard, but didn’t see him. The sightings were all fantastic.  We sat with one group of lions three large black maned males and one lucky female (tired looking!).

In the Lerai Forest we saw some of the biggest tuskers we have every seen. One of them was standing a couple of meters off of the road, so he posed quite nicely. His tusks were so large, he was struggling not to dig them into the ground as he was foraging on the long grasses.  

There were lots of baby everything herbivorous. It’s baby season and mares and ewes were largely pregnant or just delivered. The late afternoon brought isolated thundershowers, which were so incredible to watch.  We’d be in relative sunlight in one part of the Crater and see downpours in another area. Within the Crater itself weather patterns are so influenced by the geography and are completely unpredictable.

At the end of the first day, we spent the night at a Lodge at the top of the Crater. No one is allowed to stay in the Crater at night unless four-legged. The spectacular view from our room was of the entire crater and still, we were unable to glimpse any animals from the top of the rim, even straining with our binoculars. 

 It is one of those things you have to see for yourself. 

Copyright © Lorne & Heidi Sulcas 2004

See Part Two