Africa #2: The Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar

Carol: This is absolutely awesome
Cherry: It doesn't get any worse


She's right. You really need National Geographic's best photographers and the voice of David Attenborough to do justice to this part of East Africa, and I'm not sure even they are equal to the task.
Many people have tried to capture in words or images the richness and diversity of the "endless plain" (Siringet in the Maasai language) but there is nothing like being there. The vast herds of wildebeest and zebra massing for their great migration; lakes full of wallowing hippo; the grace of giraffe sauntering across the grasslands; the sounds of hyena whooping in the darkness; the sight and scent of a pride of lions, bellies swollen by a recent kill, lolling by the water's edge; a hierarchy of vultures cleaning a dead antelope to bare bones; fat purple storm clouds, the dazzle of lightning, and thunder rumbling around the circling hills. Three million large animals (and millions more smaller ones) sharing one huge habitat.

Safaris-R-Us, the company run by Gemma Sisia's husband Richard, provided our driver/guides Walter and Edwin, and we could not have asked for a better experience. These two were total professionals: knowledgeable, brilliant at spotting game, patient and accommodating, and great fun to have around. I thought I had a pretty wide vocabulary, but Walter's was prodigious: his stories and explanations were a delight to listen to (remind me to tell you the honey badger story some time!). Edwin was a spotter extraordinaire and a great entertainer - the two were an unbeatable combination.

At times our game-spotting was so successful, it felt like we were ordering from a menu. eg Hazel: I hope we see some elephants today [family of elephants spotted making their way towards us]. Carol: I'd like to see a baboon [cue baboons trooping on the road ahead]. Leonie: We haven't seen a kill yet. [A serval stalks and kills a bush rat beside the vehicle] and so it went on. The rains meant that the grass was lush and all the animals we saw were sleek and healthy. At this point I might let the pictures do the talking for a while:

Tree climbing lion

A dazzle of zebra

 



Venerable warthog (Leonie's pic)

 

Vultures

 

Hippo, from the balloon

 

Well-fed pride

 

Baby baboon

 

Cheetah with cubs (Leonie's pic)

 

And I haven't yet mentioned our campsite in the middle of the Serengeti. Chaka Camp was wonderful - large canvas tents plus a shared dining tent. But these were no ordinary tents! Each had a proper bathroom and toilet, and large welcoming beds. Every comfort you could imagine was provided, including warm water, escorts to and from our tent (one night we saw a hyena right beside the track!) and a wake-up call that included tea, coffee and ginger biscuits. The communal meals, prepared in a small galley tent, were outstanding. I would happily have stayed there for another week, perhaps enjoying a little more time sitting around the fire or watching the wildlife from our 'verandah'. Thanks to all the staff who made the stay so memorable, even managing a surprise birthday cake and an all-singing all-dancing performance of "Jambo!" for Dawn's birthday.

 

We were disappointed when the planned balloon ride was cancelled due to high winds, but a bit of behind-the-scenes organising resulted in a second chance the following day. In the meantime, we had an absolutely awesome day's game spotting, with the highlight a close-up view of the Serengeti's famous tree-climbing lions. The following morning's balloon-ride was glorious, with sweeping vistas of the plains and the massing herds below. Sadly Leonie and then Hazel were too ill to join the flight, but a full refund (and the prospect of tanzanite jewellery) were some consolation. We enjoyed the champagne breakfast that has traditionally followed a balloon ride since the Montgolfiers' original flight, only ours was under a tree in the middle of the Serengeti!

By now, we were up to Day 9 and it still hadn't got any worse! This was the day that most of us undertook a hike into the Olmoti crater, accompanied by an armed guard ("to protect the animals from us"). The altitude was a bit of a challenge for some, but after some instruction from Walter on how to breathe and pace yourself, we managed fine. Well, apart from two of us, who ended up knee deep in mud ... The views of the huge crater and the waterfall below were so spectacular that even the most respectable amongst us were heard to utter an expletive or two. We now moved quarters to the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, a spectacular setting with a bazillion dollar view over the whole crater, or caldera as it is more accurately called.



"The hills are alive ..."

That afternoon most of the group chose to have a rest, though they had an exciting moment when the vehicle encountered a leopard swaggering down the road ahead and there was a mad rush for cameras. Brian and I took advantage of an opportunity to visit a Maasai boma, a traditional enclosure of mud huts surrounding their cattle pen in the centre. The Maasai are herders of cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys. They are permitted to graze their animals in parts of the Serengeti and the Crater as they do not grow crops or hunt. Their diet consists almost entirely of meat, milk and blood, along with some herbal preparations that apparently help them to survive on such a restricted diet. People live in family-based groups, strictly segregated by sex and age, and there are specific roles for each age group. The young men of warrior age, for example, are expected to stay awake all night to guard the boma from intruders and wild animals, only sleeping for a few hours during the day. Brian and I joined in with some singing and dancing (his vertical jumping was pretty impressive for a white guy) and ate some barbecued goat while hearing about Maasai culture from a young warrior who spoke excellent English. I have to admit I found the huts a bit confronting - made of cattle dung mixed with ash and clay, they are very dark and hot inside, and smoky from the stone hearth in the centre. Not surprisingly, given this and the diet, TB and other diseases are common. On our drive back, Walter told us about the fierce reputation of the Maasai, who, along with acquiring land by conquest have resisted many attempts to move them and to take over their traditional lands. They are seen as strong, principled and uncompromising and he told us about several Maasai who have been fine political leaders in Tanzania because of these qualities.

Our next overnight was the Ngorongoro Farm House, modelled on a thatch roofed colonial homestead and set in a coffee plantation. The gardens here were beautiful, including a vegetable garden that supplies the restaurant. A few cubic metres of the rich chocolaty earth would work magic in the pathetic sand of our 'garden' in Dalyellup! We had yet another fine meal, with free enormous gin cocktails and some local singing and dancing, with Ruth once again up for a knees-up and Andy testing the limits of his new hip.

 

 

 And then it was up at the crack of Dawn (sorry) for a descent into the Ngorongoro game reserve. Unbelievably, the wildlife here was even more abundant than on the Serengeti, as it is more concentrated. Our first encounter was with two full grown male lions making their way up the crater rim. After that we tracked down some beautiful African Crowned Cranes to order, plus some magnificently tusked elephants (sadly, the big tuskers have survived here because hunters and poachers have been intent on the rhino.) And then, as planned, a massive Black Rhino was spotted in the distance, making his stately way towards us - and that completed the classic "Big Five": elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino! We had lunch by a lake full of hippo, then encountered lions by the roadside, so fearless that they sidled up to the vehicles seeking a bit of shade. The birdlife here was also fabulous, with many raptor species, vultures, Maribou and European storks, cranes, ibis, the comic Secretary Bird, lovebirds and thousands of flamingos. Finally it was time to make our way out of the crater, so it was roofs down, cameras away - but wait! Brian aka 'The Lion King' had spotted a lioness with two cubs - we pulled over and watched them, delighted at this final gift from the African savannah.

We farewelled Walter and Edwin in style, with a rousing chorus of  "The Twelve Days of Safari" penned by Steve and sung with more enthusiasm than talent, each of us contributing a relevant line. What a great job Walter and Edwin did - I hope they enjoyed their time with us even just a fraction as much as we did. And thanks to all those at Safaris-R-Us who did all the background work that made it possible.

And still it didn't get any worse because next we were off to Zanzibar! This island group off Tanzania's coast has a famous history as the centre of the spice trade, and an infamous one as the centre of the eastern slave trade. Touring old Stone Town, it felt very like Morocco, Turkey or some other part of the Arab empire as indeed it was: square stone buildings with box balconies and massive carved wooden doors, spice markets and women with headscarves in vivid colours, and the familiar Muslim call to prayer echoing from the mosques. 'Discovered' by Vasco da Gama in 1498, Zanzibar became a Portuguese colony until it fell under the Sultanate of Oman in 1698. The wealth of Zanzibar grew through trading spices, ivory and slaves until the British forced an end to slavery in 1856. It was a chilling experience to tour the cathedral built on the old slave market, and to see the marble marking the place of the old whipping post. More confronting still was a journey into the basement cells, where hundreds of slaves were believed to have been kept chained and fed up to put some flesh on their bones, ready to be sold.


Just as interesting, though more light-hearted, was our afternoon spice tour, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of pilau rice, spicy lentils, meat and vegetables, all prepared on site in a very basic kitchen with the produce of the spice garden. Then we tracked the spices back to plants in the garden. It was fascinating to see cloves, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon and many others as quite unfamiliar plants. Dawn and Brian, our chefs, were clear winners in the 'sniff and identify' contest. And just as our collective energy seemed to be waning, we were whisked away to the Essque Resort, a glorious spa resort with an infinity pool, lush tropical gardens and a jetty/bar stretching out into a warm Indian Ocean. A pounding of heavy warm rain that left us briefly flooded. More wonderful meals, swimming and relaxing, talking over our adventures - what a great way to round off the trip!

 

Cloves

But wait, there's more... A morning of scuba diving in 27 degree water, eels, pipefish, huge schools of colourful reef fish, and of course a big Green Turtle rubbing its belly on the coral, two minutes after Steve's Go-Pro ran out of battery. And then next day, after a lovely long last breakfast, it really was all over. Time to farewell my favourite roomy Hazel to New Zealand; Dawn and Brian, Andy and Cherry back to Oz; Leonie, Steve, Neil, Debora and the "Golden Girls" Ruth and Barbara on to Victoria Falls, where I'm sure it didn't get any worse.

This is just the bare bones of a trip where virtually every minute was filled with colour and interest, new sensations and wonderful interactions with people. Thanks to everyone who made this unforgettable experience possible.