The Serengeti shall not die

Before leaving Canada, I had booked the 10 day northern Tanzania safari called "The Serengeti shall not die". I was originally going to do a safari that did both Kenya and Tanzania but had to make changes at the last moment due to political problems in Kenya. The Cdn gov. had issued a warning not to travel to the country. It was hard to find a safari that still had space for 1 person left and had at least a few nights in a luxury tented camp that was one of the things I was looking for.

I found one with Hoopoe Safari and it was a 10 day safari to Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro and the Serengeti. It was quite a bit more than I wanted to spend so I had high expectations.

Sunday night, the driver/guide Jackson (a bit broad shouldered guy, definitely not Masai) met me at the Kigongoni Lodge and introduced me to my fellow travellers, Dave and Debbie from Seattle. There would be just the 3 of us so that definitely was a positive not to have a full vehicle. The Kigongoi Lodge was beautiful with views of Mt Meru and Mt Kili when the clouds cleared in the evenings. The individual thatched cottages were scattered around gardens on a hill that use to be part of a coffee plantation. The Dutch couple who own it use to be with Doctors without Borders and when they retired they built this place and a Home for the Disabled next door. The money from the lodge goes to run the Disabled Home.

Monday morning we took off and headed southwest to the first national park, Tarangire. The road was newly paved since George Bush had just had a visit to the area. We stopped off at a small variety store (if you could call it that) and got ripped off. They charged me 2000 shillings for a chocolate bar and I had only paid 800 for the same thing in downtown Arusha. I should have just walked out but thought I might get a chocolate craving when I'm in the middle of nowhere. Next stop at a craft market but I'm not going to buy anything until the end of the trip so I don't have to lug it around, so I just wandered around looking at the crafts. About an hour out of town were masses of Masai, all in their brightly coloured plaid blankets. It was market day and a lot of them were auctioning off their cattle while others were buying/selling bananas, mango, etc. When we stop the vehicle is swarmed with people trying to sell t-shirts, jewellry, etc.

Once we arrived in Tarangire Nat'l Park we opened up the hatches on top of the 4X4. No longer on a paved road we were warned the roads would be bumpy. Within a few miles of the main gate we spot our first elephants and giraffes. One herd of elephants are very close to the road and there is a few babies. One cannot be more than a couple of weeks old he is so tiny compared to all the rest of the young ones. We see a bachelor group of impala and then a female group and also warthogs. At lunch we stop at a picnic site overlooking a river. It even has flush toilets which I didn't expect. Lots of other people are enjoying their lunches and while talking to the young couple beside me I find out he is from Chatham Ontario. If I remember correctly, his last name is Leclair and he is about 37 and when to CK & the Pines. He works and lives in California now but all his family is still in Chatham and Wallaceburg. Small world eh!
Lots of beautiful birds are in the picnic sight. The Superb Starlings are gorgeous and looking for handouts. Soon a mall vervet monkey shows up and Jackson is trying to throw rocks at him which makes me mad and I ask him to stop. Jackson says the monkey will try to steal our food but I don't think it would be that brave with us sitting there. At the end of lunch I turn my back to take a photo of the birds and the sneaky little monkey quickly jumps onto the table and takes my doughnut and spills my Coke. Later as I'm leaving he is licking up the spilt coke on the table.

Leaving the picnic site, I see a male, female and young Waterbuck. We stop to watch another herd of elephants and one of the young is chasing ostriches. He's flapping his ears and rocking his head back and forth trying to tell the ostriches that his the boss I think. We enter thicker bush and see the tiny dik dik deer that are only about a foot tall.
Over a very rough patch of road we arrive at Kikoti Lodge that is on a ridge just overlooking Tarangire Park. Each unit is 1/2 canvas tent and solid structure set up on stilts. It has a thatched roof over the canvas roof and a wooden door. A big deck with lounge chairs are great for watching the sunset. There are Masai guards to walk you to and from your tent when it's dark for safety concerns. When asking what the footprints are leading up to my tent, I find out they are hyena and that night after dinner you can here them calling in the area. There was also some elephant dung along the path so even the big animals have been know to wander into camp. Lots of noises to get used to at light hearing the birds, animals and all that scrambling between the tent roof and thatch I found out was bats coming and going throughout the night. At least they were not on the inside of the tent. In bed by 11pm so I can be up for an early morning game drive.