Getting there: Travel. Travel. More travel. With a lot of waiting in between. I think it was 32 hours between taking off from Indianapolis to touching down in Tanzania. Several hours before I was scheduled to leave I discovered the travel agent had changed two of my three outward bound flights to earlier flights and no one bothered to notify me. I panicked, abandoned my plans for the afternoon, and rushed to the airport. The change meant I now had an eight hour layover instead of three hours in Doha, Qatar. At least Qatar Airlines had a nice lounge there.
Heading to Doha we flew across the Arabian Peninsula. The whole area is brown, dry, and sometimes hilly; very desolate. With my long layover it would have been nice to get a tour of the city or something. But with no time to plan, having to deal with customs & immigration, and knowing very little of the culture there, I decided to stay at the airport. You can (barely) see the city from the airport and it is enshrouded in smog.
Note to self: Put mint leaves and lemonade into a blender for a glass of deliciousness.
I didn't sleep on the five hour flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. Customs & immigration went smoothly, and a short time later I was at Rivertrees Country Inn and met up with four of my five travel mates: Sue, Lucy, Meghan, and Mary. Our trip organizer, Rachel, was currently in her own personal travel hell and wouldn't arrive until evening, and even then her bag was still somewhere in Europe (probably).
Day One, Arusha, Tanzania: The city of Arusha, like all of the country, is poor. Like many other impoverished areas, most houses are built out of cinder blocks, concrete, and sometimes just found objects, and topped with corrugated metal panels. Streets are crowded with vehicles and small motorcycles and can be a bit chaotic. Our guide took us to an area with individual stalls filled with local crafts. The salespeople there were very pushy, as they often are in that type of shopping area, so we quickly moved through and then left. Next we walked around a farmers' market that was filled with locals shopping for produce, dried fish, and the like. Finally, there was a visit to the Cultural Heritage Center, which housed the largest art museum and gallery in the country. I think we spent a couple hours there looking at modern and traditional paintings, carvings, and sculptures with a very helpful and informative, but non-pushy, guide. I came home with a couple paintings and gifts. Honestly, if we weren't about to head out into the bush (and if money were no object) I would have liked to come home with a truckload of art!
Day Two, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: A small ~15 passenger Cessna flew us from Arusha airport, over Ngorongoro Crater, to Seronera Airstrip in central Serengeti National Park. There we were met by our fabulous driver and guide, Grace. Our 1.5 hour drive to camp was stretched to at least two hours as we stopped over and over to view and photograph wildlife. By the time we reached camp we had already checked off many species of iconic African wildlife. At one point there were at least a thousand zebra spread across the plain around us.
Arriving at Dunia Camp, our home for the next three days, we were greeted by the staff singing in Swahili. This is a pretty posh camp, but the most amazing thing about it is that it is run entirely by women! Quite a feat in a patriarchal society who told them they would never succeed. (Dunia Camp has been here since 2016, so I think they're doing pretty well for themselves.) The staff is nice, cheerful, and professional, and they seem to genuinely enjoy working here, as evidenced by their occasional song and dance. There was also a palpable joy and very positive energy I got from the women which I didn’t experience at any other camp. After a delicious lunch we headed out for a game drive. We saw so many animals each time we went out that I'll only list the most notable events here.
Game drives here in the Serengeti are like nothing we have at home. Driving along you may see nothing for a few minutes, but suddenly there is a herd of zebra alongside the road. Over there are a few giraffes, and a minute later an elephant is blocking your path. It's not possible to spend any amount of time here without seeing large animals. The savannah itself has a lot more variations in landscape than I expected. In general, it is grassy plains dotted with trees. But some areas are flat, others hilly; some areas have almost zero trees, others have several. While there are few lakes and large rivers, there are a lot of streams, ponds and watering holes, although many of those will go away with the coming dry season. At 5700 square miles the savannah goes on and on (it’s larger than 29 of the 50 US states), and in fact, the word “serengeti” is Maasai for “endless plains.”
Day Three, Dunia Camp: After a cup of the most delicious coffee in the world we met Grace at 6 am and headed out in the dark for our morning drive. We came upon two lionesses and two cubs approximately six months old who were having a lie down alongside the road. One cub moved over to mom and started nursing. She rolled into her back, tummy facing us, and the other cub eventually joined in for breakfast. Just behind those animals was a group of bushes, and behind those were another lioness and two more cubs feeding on a wildebeest. The female was crunching away and one little cub was doing his best to copy mom, but didn't have the teeth and strength to do so. It was very cute, or, as cute as a carnivore can be while devouring a carcass. The fourth cub slept through the whole thing. After eating her fill, the lioness joined the other adults, laid down, and washed her face and paws.
The plan was to have breakfast out in the bush, and Grace told us we had to go to a certain place to eat. She drove our Toyota Land Cruiser to the top of a kopje where we were surprised by a hot breakfast served at a table overlooking the savannah. I can't imagine a more beautiful setting. The post lunch highlight was seeing a leopard drag her warthog kill across the road and into a bushy area while she then climbed into a tree, panting, to rest and catch her breath before eating. (We later found out from another safari vehicle that baboons ended up stealing her kill.)
As I write this I'm lying in bed listening to lions in the distance.
Day Four, Dunia Camp: Today we slept in until 6, had breakfast at camp, and went out for an all day game drive. Our previous day was so great we didn't think it could get better, but it did. Upon hearing cheetahs had been spotted, Grace sped across the savannah towards them. Several other vehicles were there, parked along the road, and we found the two cheetah brothers in the distance. They were following a herd of wildebeest which must have been at least a mile ahead. Wildebeest are usually too big and strong for a cheetah to take down, and apparently they hadn't spotted an easy target so they had a lie down in the grass. We continued to watch and suddenly a wildebeest turned around and galloped towards the cheetahs. Did it have a death wish? The suicidal beast ran past the cheetahs (although not too close), then reversed direction and galloped back towards the herd. The brothers kept an eye on it but must have concluded an animal strong enough to run that far for no apparent reason was also too strong for them to capture.
Later, tootling along, Grace quickly stopped the vehicle and exclaimed,"Rhino!" Off in the distance, sadly far from any road (national park rules prohibit driving off the roads), were two black rhinos! Rhinos are endangered and there are only 50 are estimated to live in the park, so coming across not one, but two, was such a stroke of luck! After watching them for a time we drove about a minute and saw a lioness in a tree. Driving away from her Rachel said it would be great if we now saw a leopard, and lo and behold, there was a leopard in the tree in front of us. Sitting there we could see three of the Big Five at the same time. This was incredible!
Approaching camp after an exhausting eleven hour day a local elephant herd was in our "driveway" (the stretch of road leading to camp). We parked and sat and watched 15 or so elephants as they browsed. Elephant groups are led by an older matriarch, and consist of related females and their offspring. This family had several young ones under a few years of age, including a teeny baby (probably only a few months old) who was still small enough to walk under his mother's belly!
Day Five, Moving Camp: With some regret we said goodbye to Dunia Camp, then Grace drove us to the airstrip where she handed us off to Joseph. He drove us to the remote Wayo Walking Camp in the eastern part of the park. Wayo is a temporary camp that moves with the migration, and as such, it is actual camping with tents, pit toilets, and the like. Our time here will be spent wandering on foot and hopefully seeing the small critters and plants you can't see from a vehicle. And honestly, after spending the majority of the past week in planes and cars, we are all looking forward to a couple days of no vehicles. (Sitting for 8-11 hours whilst traversing bumpy dirt roads is very hard on the body.) I am writing this as I relax in my tent for a couple of hours, the first significant down time I've had since leaving home.
Late afternoon we went out for a short walk. Joseph was accompanied by a park ranger and they both carried rifles in case of danger, although in 15 years of bush walking he said he's never used it. It was exciting to travel through the bush on foot, sometimes following game trails and other times going straight through the grass, knowing that at any time you could come across a lion or other predator. After maybe 45 minutes we came across a herd of about 300 wildebeest moving along. When they sensed us they stopped about 50-75 yards away, making their moo-snort sounds, and we all stood and looked at each other for 10-15 minutes before they decided to gallop away. And when they did, it made a wonderful thundering sound. Then distant actual thunder from the sky gave way to light sprinkles and finally rain, so we headed back to camp to change out of our wet clothes and have our evening cocktails. And yes, the answer to your question is, we did experience the rains down in Africa.
Day Six, Wayo Walking Camp: We woke with the sun, had breakfast, then hit the proverbial road about 7 am. Many animals were seen off in the distance, but since humans are very loud and smelly the animals typically sense you and run off before you get too close. But that was okay as it was still fun to see them on foot. Walking we could see lots of flowers and plants, plus animal tracks, scat, and bones that you'd never see from a vehicle. Joseph has extensive knowledge of the local flora and fauna gained from two years of guide school plus over fifteen years of experience as a walking guide, so he was a font of information. At about 11, when the sun started getting hot, we returned to camp and I had a much-needed outdoor shower. However, I have to say my pale skin never seemed so white as it did when I was naked in the African sun.
Relaxing in my tent during the afternoon I heard some distant moo-snorts from the wildebeest. They got louder and louder, and suddenly there were hundreds, along with some zebra, not far away across the river. They must have stood there for at least 10 minutes before one of them decided to gallop off and the rest followed. Our late afternoon walk didn't produce any large animals, but there were a lot of various bones and skulls that I had fun examining and identifying. A muddy spot by the river had tracks of hippo, leopard, hyena, buffalo, zebra, and more. And, as evidenced by various remains, this was a popular dining area.
Back at camp, enjoying an after-safari beer, I was serenaded by lions. The roaring continued on a few occasions throughout the night, with some bonus early morning hyenas.
Day Seven, Wayo Walking Camp: Today we came across another animal on our "must-see" list: the dung beetle! As you might imagine, he was found in a pile of poop where he was excavating a burrow and filling it with dung. The beetles are large–about the size of half a golf ball–and glossy black. We also saw a zebra in a tree! Well, it was a zebra skull, presumably from a kill a leopard had dragged up off the ground.
Our afternoon hike headed south from camp. I started to get worried after about an hour of walking since dusk was approaching and we wouldn't have enough time to get back to camp before dark. Was Joseph not paying attention? Then I saw a vehicle atop a hill. The guys from camp had set up chairs and a bar, and we proceeded to have our evening cocktails as we watched the sunset. Roaring lions were again the soundtrack for the evening.
Day Eight, Transiting Again: It was hurry up and wait as we sped back to the Seronara airstrip and eventually boarded a bush plane to make our way to Kenya. Landing near the Tanzania-Kenya border we drove first to first deal with customs and immigration, and then on to another airstrip for our flight to the Mara Naboisho Conservancy on the Maasai Mara. The Mara is really just the 580 square mile portion of the Serengeti that lies in Kenya, and wildlife freely crosses the border. From the airstrip it was about a 40 minute drive to camp during which we saw an amazing amount of wildlife.
Our evening drive started about 4:30. Someone had spotted a leopard and we rushed to find it, but by the time we got there it had left its tree and had hidden in thick brush. We waited a bit and when he didn't emerge we decided to take a chance on finding a cheetah instead. A few minutes' driving later I looked to my right and there was a cheetah! She strolled towards the car followed by her two nearly-grown sons. Their rounded bellies told us they had recently enjoyed a big meal. Unlike the Serengeti, here in the Conservancy vehicles are allowed to go off the road, so our guide Nickson repositioned the car a couple of times to stay in the path of the cats. Suddenly, a spotted hyena appeared and walked purposefully towards the group. All eyes were on him, and when he got too close, one of the juvenile cheetahs ran snarling towards the hyena to chase him off. Lest you worry that driving near them bothers the animals, know that we parked the car and the cheetahs walked to within 10 feet of us and plopped down for a rest, and we proceeded to sit and watch them for probably 15-20 minutes. The animals in these parks are so accustomed to trucks and humans that you can get quite close. Sometimes they don't even get out of the road.
For a lovely way to wrap up the day Nickson told us it was time for sundowners. We thought he'd take us back to camp for drinks, but no, we parked on the savannah and he prepared cocktails from the bar set up on the front of the truck while a hyena circled around us and we watched a lightning storm in the distance while the sun set.
Day Nine, Encounter Mara Camp: We were in the truck at dawn and headed out to find lions. Some had been spotted in the bush and I was able to get a glimpse of three before they hid themselves too well. That wasn't good enough so we drove to another spot where three males were walking across the plains, and they strolled right past our car. In case that still wasn't good enough, we headed to yet another area where there was a young male leopard in a tree. We watched him lounge in the branches for 15 minutes or so, then he came down and laid on the ground for a while longer before retreating into dense brush. Again we moved locations and Nickson set up a delicious buffet while I collected horns and a skull lying around. Yes, all that action happened before breakfast. After breakfast we only ("only") saw 15+ hippos in a pool and then there were the warthog antics. Warthogs are shy and run away if you get too close. When we saw a group a short distance away we just watched without getting any closer and disturbing them. Two of the group were mating when a smaller male approached. He trotted up to the female, looked her in the face, then circled around to the back where he proceeded to poke the larger mating male in the butt with his tusks. The large male then dismounted and chased the smaller guy off, and resumed his activities. This happened over and over, even after the couple tried to move away. Our whole car was cracking up at their antics.
Back at camp, we were served lunch on a platform looking out at a couple giraffes, warthogs, and a small group of eland, then we headed out to visit a Maasai homestead/village. We walked around then sat in a home and spoke with two women, with Nickson (who is Maasai himself) translating for us. It was fascinating learning about their culture and seeing how they live, and it's only through interactions like this that you realize just how privileged we are. Since we were a group of six women, the ladies asked if our husbands (or "husbands," as it might be) allowed us to come. They seemed very interested in the amount of freedom we had. One woman asked where we were from, and when we replied "America," they both exclaimed "Obama!" As Kenyans they love Barack Obama, and one of the boys in the village is even named Obama. Eventually we had to leave and the ladies sent us off with a song. Huge thanks to Nickson who was very forthcoming about Maasai culture and his own experiences growing up. It was wonderful to have that sort of cultural exchange.
Another vehicle had spotted lions and we drove to where they were. There we found two lionesses and six cubs lounging around. We just parked and watched them for at least 45 minutes. At one point Nickson pulled out bottles and made us cocktails. It is completely insane to be out on the African savannah, watching lions, having a drink, and texting photos back home! Eventually it started raining and the lionesses and older cubs (maybe six months old) got up and walked off, leaving the younger cubs (maybe three months old) with us. This was a clear sign the lions did not see us as any sort of threat. The lionesses headed towards a wildebeest in the distance so we moved our vehicle to get a better view of one of them crouched low to the ground in an attempt to escape detection. We must have watched her waiting to stalk the animal for another half hour, but the lioness hadn’t moved from her crouch and it was finally so dark we could no longer see anything so we headed home.
Day Ten, Encounter Mara Camp: Oh my, how to describe this day?! I'm writing this the day after it happened so I hope I remember all the highlights. Another guide had radioed the location of the cheetah mom and her two mostly-grown cubs, so we drove there to find the cats chasing one another around the other vehicle. We watched them play, lounge, and generally just do cat things right in front of us, completely unbothered by the cars and people.
Speeding along, there were three young lions with a freshly-killed wildebeest. The lions looked full-sized, but they still had a bit of their spots which showed they were still juveniles. A pool of fresh blood a few feet away meant the lions had dragged their prey towards the bushes, and while we watched them eat, one lion dragged it the rest of the way into the brush. Hopefully there it would be safe from hyenas and vultures, and then the lions could continue to feed for the next several days.
One thing you never see on nature shows are the bones scattered around the savannah. Hyenas eat a lot of them, but there were many vertebrae, horns, and skull remnants left behind. Of the victims I was able to identify, most were wildebeest. I guess they're tasty.
Despite seeing quite a number of elephants on the Serengeti we hadn't seen any here on the Mara. There was a report of a group not far from camp, so that was our next destination. We arrived to find a family group of a few adult females with several babies of varying ages, including two teeny babies who must have been no more than six months of age. There was also an adult male "five-legged" elephant with the group, if you know what I mean. We sat and watched as the older ellies ate while the two babies played and attempted to use their trunks. (Elephant trunks have thousands of muscles and it takes babies months to learn how to coordinate movements. In the meantime there is a lot of crazy trunk flipping around that happens.) Suddenly, someone in our group cried out - two elephants had moved off and were mating a short distance away! No wonder the five-legged ellie was hanging around. That female wasn't keen on the encounter and broke away, returning to the herd. And to top it off, an older, larger male emerged from the bush and approached the group. Wow.
Nickson was encouraging us to leave the elephants, and since we had spent a bit of time with them we finally agreed. After driving a bit we saw another safari vehicle that had set up a table and chairs, but we didn't see people. Were they maybe "checking the tire pressure" or "picking flowers"? Suddenly we pulled off the road and parked next to them; the camp managers had set up the site as a surprise for us to have sundowner cocktails and snacks! We enjoyed those while watching a storm on the savannah. What a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Day Eleven, Leaving Encounter Mara: We opted to leave camp early enough so we could have a game drive and breakfast in the bush before going to the airstrip to start the long journey home. We pretty much immediately found the three male lions strolling across the plain. Occasionally they would rub heads with their brothers, and sometimes flop onto the ground like a big housecat. Nickson would position our vehicle in the path of the lions and they would walk straight towards us, only veering slightly to avoid the vehicle. This happened a few times, until they reached the dense brush. There's really nothing like looking into the golden eyes of a full-grown lion just a few feet away from you.
One absolutely incredible thing about this trip is we'd say we'd like to see a certain creature, and then it would show up. After the lions we pushed our luck and requested a unicorn, and, lo and behold, we came across a Thomson's gazelle who only had a single horn. Africa is truly a magical place.
The plane hadn't yet arrived when we reached the airstrip so Nickson drove around some more to see what we could find. Meghan requested ostriches and within moments we came across seven. And in case that wasn't enough, a few minutes later we came across a gazelle with a baby. The baby was brand new, less than an hour old (maybe only a few minutes old) as it was still wet and wobbly. We quickly took some photos and left them in peace.
Back at the dirt airstrip, the lone employee jumped on his motorcycle to chase a wildebeest off the runway so our plane could land. This flight marked the second of three with a female bush pilot, and that was pretty wonderful to see. And with that, we headed to Nairobi for some souvenir shopping, a shower, and dinner before dealing with the international flights.
Getting Home: So. Much. Travel. To keep it short I'll just say that airport hassles and BS exist everywhere, and Nairobi airport sucks. Two flights totaling about 20.5 hours of flight time and I'll finally be home with my own pride of mini lions.
In Conclusion: I've been wanting to go to Africa since I was a little girl, but never before had the chance. This trip was an amazing experience that far exceeded my expectations. Of course, seeing all the iconic East African animals was wonderful, but I also loved meeting the local people and hearing more about their lives and experiences. The literal days of air travel to get there and back were long, getting up every day before dawn to safari was tough, and not getting enough sleep was exhausting, but it was all worth it.
The first and third camps we stayed at, Dunia and Encounter Mara, were both run by Asilia Africa. Asilia is known for glamping and good food so we weren’t roughing it, but I was okay with that! Of our group of six, one person was vegan and three were vegetarian, and they were able to accommodate all of our dietary needs. Not only that, the food was the same quality you would expect from a top rated restaurant. It was fantastic.
Kudos to Rachel who instigated this whole trip and put together a great group of lovely women to travel with. I really enjoyed getting to know Sue, Mary, Meghan, and Lucy, and they were great sports about putting up with both me and my bad jokes.