ON SAFARI
A three part series
with Lorne & Heidi Sulcas

LIFE ON THE SAVANNAH:
TANZANIA 

Day 1:  Nairobi – JRO - Arusha

The moment one enters the Nairobi International Airport, you know you’re in Africa. It’s alive here.

The endless circular terminal is bustling with folks from all parts of the continent, moving in every direction, many men and women wearing traditional dress. There is no ‘elevator/airport’ music playing in the background in the transit lounge; only two TV’s with bad reception showing the Saturday afternoon soccer matches from around the continent.  It’s the game of choice in this part of the world and those who aren’t sprawled out sleeping over three bench seats, are glued to the snowy picture, at random intervals passionately offering their extremely animated commentary above the already-10-decibles-too-loud volume.  

Flying into Kilimanjaro International, the massive mountain that usually looks as though it has risen completely out of nowhere, was shrouded in clouds.

These clouds had not yet produced any rains, and the land was visibly parched.  We time our safari to happen well after the short rains, and just before the long rains, to maximise our chances of seeing the famous migration of plains animals that seek out greener pastures for their calving.  Apparently the short rains, on which the local population depend, had not occurred this year at all.

The most efficient way to get a Tanzanian visa in advance, is to stand in line at the airport. The epitome of African efficiency is that the person who is sweeping the airport floor, puts his broom down and becomes the immigration official who issues your visa, and then walks over to Immigration to stamp your passport.  Classic.

We drove to Arusha in the now complete darkness (I don’t think there is a street light anywhere in Northern Tanzania) past candlelit homes in the few tiny villages on the road, people spilling out onto the street, and the vibrant Saturday night bustle in the relative metropolis of Arusha itself. 

We arrived at Momma Wilson’s lodge, a serene oasis right in suburban Arusha, where I was welcomed with warmth by David, the lodge manager, and by fellow travellers, Paul and Diane, who had arrived earlier to start the trip with us.  An unexpected dinner followed by a welcome sleep under freshly laundered sheets after a long day travelling.

 Day 2: Arusha – Tarangire

After a hot shower that had great pressure, and a full breakfast of tropical fruit, porridge, cereal, eggs to order, sausage and bacon, tea and coffee, our guide, James Mazigo, escorted us to the vehicle that was to be our second home for the next 11 days and we set off out the gate from Momma Wilson’s.

100m out of the lodge gate, when we spotted two marabou storks on a small open field in the middle of the Arusha ‘burbs.’ Marabous love to scavenge and are often found hanging out near wildlife lodge dump sites.  In this case it was nothing nearly as romantic as that - they were merely waiting for the off-cuts from the local butchery, the Happy Sausage Factory.

 

Browsing in a jewellery store at a very upmarket Arusha hotel where we went to change money, whet the tanzanite appetite of the folks in the group.  James spotted a very reputable place to go to.  Our last stop was the African Craft Market before the two hour ride to our first destination. 

African crafts of every imaginable kind pack the shelves together with  a “Thank you for your hospitality” letter with the US Presidential seal and signed by Bill Clinton. A veritable crowd of probably 30 people surround a small glass display counter, everyone craning their neck and jostling for position to see the store owner running through his “shpeel” on Tanzanite.  

The drive through rural Northern Tanzania to Tarangire was beautiful, but so much drier than I remembered it.  James had told us of a market set up literally on the side of the road. Maasais in their bright red robes abounded, both as customers and vendors.  All the beautiful bright and alive colours of fruits, vegetables, grains, goats and fabrics stood out against the stark white dust of the ground.

We set off down a dirt road to the remote Tarangire River Camp.  As we passed a Maasai village where bundles of thatch had been gathered next to one of the grass huts, and where young Maasai boys surely no more than 10 years old were herding goats, the incredible simplicity of their lives was striking.

We were warmly greeted by Maasai in traditional dress, who picked up our bags and carried them with octopus-like arms.  As they led the way up the sand path the familiar Vodaphone signature tune of a cellphone rang.  Without skipping a beat, one of the Maasai men somehow held the phone to his ear and completed a full conversation without even one of the multiple bags he was carrying showing the slightest movement.

The camp is built on the edge of a cliff that forms the southern bank of a large tributary of the Tarangire River, and overlooks the river valley with a spectacular view.   The camp’s main communal and dining space is built right in the middle of what has to be the hugest Baobab tree on the continent, and the rooms fan out along the cliff’s edge on either side of the main area. 

Not only was it an extremely hot African day, but what sounded like a million birds singing was such a dramatic contrast to the previous day’s noise of urban life, that a lot of sleeping I didn’t do.

During our first gamedrive in Tarangire National Park we had our first sightings of zebra, giraffe, dik-dik and spent an hour or so at a waterhole where there was a feast of birding, including the brightly coloured Fisher’s Lovebirds and a Malachite Kingfisher.

Just like joyful birdsongs earlier that afternoon, to get the most out of the experience of being in the African bush, all your senses need to be alert.  The sweet and varied scents of the bushveld at dusk are heightened. 

Maasai warriors escorted each guest both to their room and after a shower to the main area for dinner - the food was delicious.  After dinner there they were to escort us back down the moonlit path, carrying a flashlight in one hand and their Maasai spear in the other.  I felt very safe!

Day 3: Tarangire

Being the parent of a 1-year old son, I have been in training for the last several months on how to wake up before dawn, and the next few days were to make that training very worthwhile.  The optimum time for gameviewing is always the first and last hour or two of each day, when it’s coolest and when animals are therefore most likely to be active, and also when the light is best for photography.  

On our first morning  we were forced to stop a few hundred meters from the gate by a “zebra crossing.” Several hundred zebras were running from the east across the road we were travelling on, most likely down to the Tarangire River for their morning drink.  Black and white stripes kept emerging out of the backlit dust.

A bit further down the road a huge group of banded mongoose scurried around a few meters from our vehicle.  Two of the adult mongoose were each carrying a small mouse in their mouths, and all the rest were all following the two trophy holders around in apparent circles.  

A little later we spotted a family of elephant James navigated us to within meters of our first view of Africa’s largest mamma. A really young elephant calf provided a few chuckles and illicited lots of “ooh’s,” “ah’s” and “he’s so cute” exclamations.  We were captivated by the sentient behaviour of the herd as the matriarch gently led with low contact calls, the family through their morning forage.  Later we made our way to a site set on a high cliff with a breathtaking view of the winding Tarangire River and surrounding area, for a lavish bush breakfast.

On our way back to the lodge, James did one of his miraculous spots, seeing an ‘almost’ bump under a very distant tree.  Only with binoculars could we see that it was a lone lioness feeding on a carcass we couldn’t make out. She was paying absolutely no attention to a warthog mother and 3 piglets that were obliviously grazing a couple of hundred meters away from her, until they decided to walk down to the dry riverbed just below her.  

In the space of about 30 seconds, the lioness’s complete lack of interest in the warthogs, changed to definite curiosity, to a flat on the ground ready-to-pounce posture as she realised the pigs were about to move right past her.  Despite the fact that she was already feeding on her kill and that it was already hot enough for her to remain static in the shade even without a kill, lions are opportunistic, and before we could blink, she was chasing her potential lunch down the small hill.  

What most people assume is that any hunt that lions undertake is a fait accompli.  Quite the opposite is true:  Lions succeed far less than they fail, and this attempt was no exception. Each of the four warthogs took off in a different direction and her half-hearted attempt left her walking back with her tail between her legs. It was incredibly exciting to be watching exactly at the time that this brief cameo happened.

After lunch everyone again returning to their tent for an hour or two to relax, do su doku puzzles, read, nap or all of the above.

Later we went on a bushwalk with a veteran Maasai warriors, Jacob, an opportunity to see and learn about the little things of the bushveld.  As English was clearly not Jacob’s forte, we seconded Michael, the chef, to join us as the translator, which he did eagerly.  Through Michael, Jacob recounted the kill stories behind the remains of several skulls and bones, and explained Maasai beliefs, superstitions and medicinal uses of many indigenous plants.  Jacob definitely had a sense of humour: during the walk he had asked me why I only have one wife.  When we returned to camp he teased: “next time I’ll show you the bush medicine to have many wives.”  When I jokingly asked him why he didn’t show me while we were on the walk, he said: “You didn’t ask!”

Going to sleep after dinner was punctuated by a few whooping hyena calls, which always slightly surprises when hearing it for the first time. The calls continued sporadically into the night - which I love – a whole lot better than being woken by big city/emergency vehicle sirens!

Day 4: Tarangire - Manyara

The drive from Tarangire River Camp into the National Park itself is through typical Tarangire bushveld, and with no fences keeping them in the Park, the animals move freely in the corridor to Lake Manyara.

Leaving the camp just before sunrise on this morning’s gamedrive, a herd of impala greeted, followed by six giraffes silhouetted by the bright red sunrise.  Needless to say, the clicking of the camera shutter could be heard across the land as these graceful creatures posed for us in front of the sun! 

Once into the park, we came across some zebras and waterbuck grazing in the gorgeous early morning light.  We were about to move on when we sighted a very amorous-looking zebra stallion. I suggested waiting a few minutes as he looked quite determined, despite the oestrus mare playing quite “hard to get.”  Our patience was rewarded.  A little later, another miraculous spot by James, this time of a pearl-spotted owl deep in the crown of a tree, (that I struggled to see even with binoculars!) and just as we were leaving the park, a tip-off by another guide, yielded our first glimpse of a leopard: - a very typical view of basically spots only.

Brunch turned out to be five-courses, afterwhich we all recuperated on the deck under the Baobab for a couple of hours, reading and sleeping in the voluptuous couches, having checked out of our rooms before departing for Lake Manyara.

The road into the Lake Manyara National Park goes through the most incredible forest of massive trees and several picturesque streams running through it.  We watched baboons and soon after Sykes’ monkeys enjoying the forest foliage. A small herd of elephant grazed on the side of the mountain that towers over the one side of the forest valley.  The lake itself was completely dry and a dramatic wind storm enveloped us and everything around us, in soda dust.  Nevertheless, we had our first sightings of huge pods of hippos in the little fresh water left in the pans normally feeding the lake, and several buffalo on the lake edge.

We left Lake Manyara National Park at sunset, behind a convoy of other vehicles also trying to get out of the gate before it was closed, and once out of the park, made our way up the escarpment overlooking a panoramic view of the Great Rift Valley. 

We arrived at the Ngorogoro Farmhouse in Karatu in the darkness and were shown to our huge rooms, without a doubt the finest we had on the safari. 

The Farmhouse had been considerably enlarged since my last visit, but one never really got the feeling of being in an large hotel.  Dinner was a superb buffet barbecue outside around the pool and on the lawns a magical evening.

We left in the early morning before sunrise, on our way to the legendary Ngorogoro Crater with its unsurpassed views. 

See Day 5: Ngorogoro Crater in our three part series. 

Copyright © Lorne & Heidi Sulcas 2007