I don't wait long before Solehe, the driver, is there to pick me up. He is 40ish, jolly, and gregarious. We head back to the Safari Office to meet the rest of the group: Dror and Ilya - a couple from Israel, and Urich - a solo traveler also from Israel. As the crew loads up our land cruiser, we get acquainted. Urich has just arrived for a month in Tanzania and the other two just arrived from two weeks in Uganda. Sounds as though they have already had an exciting trip: on their last day in Uganda, the camp in which they were staying burnt to the ground. Amazingly, they only lost a headlamp in the blaze. Let's hope their luck holds!
Ilya is 23 with long hair and huge eyes. Dror is 27, laid-back with a stubbly beard. Urich is 32, with salt and pepper hair cut short. He is quick to smile, inquisitive, earnest and a bit flighty. Rounding out the crew is Mike. Probably 23, Mike is the spry, young cook for our trip.
We head out around nine and make our way through town. Not five minutes into the countryside I see a monkey sitting on ` fence - just like a crow or blackbird back home!
The landscape is beautiful: a wide floodplain to the left and dense jungle to the right. Then we turn into the plains and immediately stop to watch seven giraffe [note: not knowing all of the correct pluralizations I may just ignore them. It is redundant anyway when I say herd or seven or whatever. Unless noted assume there are a group of animals] several ostrich and a herd of zebra browsing in the field.
I love giraffes. They are so bizzarre and so well suited to their needs. They look, to me, prehistoric as they poke their heads above the bush. And they stare right back at you. For a fairly docile herbavore they really look as though they might stand their ground if approached. And with their long loping stride, they can run from all but the fastest preditor.
It doesn't take long before we arrive at camp and unload the tents and food. Mike stays behind and we head off for our first game drive - into Lake Manyara National Park.
The park entrance is only a few hundred meters down the road past town. To the right is a small village and to the left is the jungle of the park. Apparently the people of the village are pestered constantly by baboons who come out and steal from the banana trees.
We turn into the park and immediately see a whole horde of said baboons. They are in the road, in the trees, everywhere you look. Big lazy-looking males with stern faces looking non-plussed. Much smaller females busy with children and somewhat more skittish. Children and tiny baby baboons focussed entirely on playing (jumping/climbing/falling on any tree branch they can grab) or suckling from their mothers. They cling to the backs, sides, or bellys of the older animals sometimes holding with one arm and being dragged along while reaching out to drink more milk. They spend most of their time grooming or being groomed by others, which seems to be more about dinner than about cleanliness. The rest of the time is licking bugs off of leaves, chasing and playing with each other, or silent contemplation of these large vehicles with the humans on board.
The baboons are the largest of the three monkey species in the park. We next spot the smallest: the Babbit monkey. About the size of a small housecat with a long, active tail, these little guys run through the underbrush and swing on the branches above. I don't remember much noise other than some slight chirps.
Lake Manyara National Park is situated in the Rift Valley. This is a huge fissure formed from the separation of two of earth's tectonic plates. The fissure runs from Egypt to Mozambique and is visible from space. Here at Lake Manyara there is a nearly vertical wall dropping from the higlands down to the valley. Water runnoff and springs (hot and cold) feed into the lake. It is an important source of water for many animals which is what makes this park so fascinating.
We watch another herd of zebra (called 'striped donkey' in the Masai Language, this is exactly what they look like: donkey nose, wide donkey belly), various birds (plover, kingfisher, hornbill, lovebirds), a few wildebeast, and a number of impala before heading to 'hippo pond': a small backwater of the lake populated by numerous hippopotomus. There they are, looking like wet round rocks all piled together in the middle of a pond. Then one yawns or squirms around and you see that they are alive. And humungous! One of them has a 1-meter tall stork standing on its back looking like a long-legged pebble on a boulder. A huge eagle flies overhead.
Going back to the impala. These are wiry, spry little deer or gazelle-like animals with the most beautiful horns. The horns are long and with a slight S-curve, they appear to be stripped in black and white. Beautiful animals!
Heading back into the forest somewhat later, I spot our first elephant. Solehe slams to a stop and backs up. We count 4, no 5, elephants shoveling vegetation into their mouths. They eat something like 400 kilograms of food per day. Which is a lot of grasses and leaves!
They are majestic creatures. Long, white tusks and deep, sad eyes give them a nobility and sagacity. Their huge ears flap back and forth and they slowly able along looking for more food. Huge feet leave circular prints in the dust.
What amazes me the most is how this gigantic animal can disappear almost immediately upon walking into the brush. They are a dull grey, tan with mud, and blend in extremely well to the shadows under the canopy. All of the animals we see are well suited to blend in. And the grasses and underbrush provide ready hiding places.
As we go deeper into the forest we finally see the last monkey species: the blue-balled monkey.
We drive around the lake to a large hot-spring. Probably hitting the surface at about 130F (55C) and working its way to the lake, the water here supports a ton of algae, which provides food for ... Flamingos! There are thousands of them. Apparently two types (greater and lesser) though I couldn't tell the difference from the distance. But I could tell that the lake was colored pink with all of the birds.
Here we turn around and head back to camp. We're driving fast to get out of the park before closing until suddenly Ilya yells "stop! There is a lion!". We stop and sure enough one of the park's elusive tree-climbing lion is sitting on a rock, paws crossed surveying the land. It's about 40 meters away, utterly unconcerned with us though we are very much excited by him. Lion sightings here are rare and we feel very lucky.
We are soon joined by other safari groups. The drivers all talk to each other on radio and phone and of course a stopped car is always a good sign of wildlife. Soon we have to move on if we are to make it out of the park. We say goodbye to the lion (simba in Kiswahili) and head home.
Back at camp we are joined by the final safari member. Jane is 64, a New Zealander, currently working as a teacher of teachers in a tiny village at the base of Mt Meru nearby. She is part of a program similar to the Peace Corp working for a pitiful stipend and working hard. But enjoying her time in Tanzania. She has travelled much of the world, living in Bhutan for three years, and is knowledgeable and fun.
There is some very unauthentic Masai tribal dancing and drumming going at the camp bar but we have all had a long day and head toward bed.
1 comment:
Josh, I can't wait to see your pictures! My sister did an African safari a few years ago and her favorite animals were the elephants. Thanks for sharing your adventures!
Lyn
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