Africa 2013: Summary

September/October 2013

The glacier at the top of Mt Kilimanjaro

Highlights

• Tanzania in general - people were friendly, food was fantastic and the sights were varied
  
• Seeing the big 5
  
• The Devils Pool
  

Recommendations

• If you only have a few weeks I recommend Northern Tanzania, you can climb Kili and get a number of Parks in, with a variety of wildlife
  
• Be careful about going during peak, we were in off peak and it was still busy in parts. Some parks would be a nighmare in peak
• Its the wild not a zoo, don't embarrass yourself and request an animal, but by all means let your guide/driver know that you'd really like to see a rhino or your interested in birds or big cats - otherwise be like us and go with the flow, you never know what you will see when you least expect it!

Favoutite Photo
I have many but the below two are my absolute favourites.

The cheetah above sat quietly in the grass, she is so old that her spots are fading, she was so rare even the guides talked about her all night

Apparently Hyenas don't wallow in the mud, except for this one. S/he proves that even though people might think they've seen everything they usually haven't.

Favourite meal/dish
Most of our meals were included, but the "stews" in Tanzania were hearty, tasty, especially the fish and eggplant variety.

Lowlights
As usual its a vast continent, we only touched parts of Southern and East Africa, we met a large number of Australians on long service leave who did a lot in 12 weeks, but still only got through a large chunk of Southern and Eastern Africa.

Ngorongoro Camp

October 2013

We stayed at Kirurumu Ngorongoro Camp the night before our crater safari drive. After the noise we experienced at the sister camp at Lake Manyara we didn't have high expectations but found this site to be peaceful, have really good food and better tents (non permanent).

Its set in the Masi community and you can hear the clinging of cow bells.

The tents are comfortable, with plenty of blankets (because it does get cool) and the 20L hot water showers we experienced in the Serengeti.

The grounds the camp is set on is peaceful and relaxing. It was a good spot just to sit and relax.

The food here was also quite good. Its served at a large table so all guests can share their stories of where they have been and where they are going.

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

October 2013

Ngorongoro Crater is the the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera. The wildlife inside are relatively protective and it is meant to be the only place in East Africa to see the Black Rhino. While a beautiful area, this was one of the places I had high expectations of and they just weren't met. 

My view of dense animal populations is obviously different from reality. We did however see the Rhino here (rounding out the Big 5 for Tanzania) and a Cerval Cat as we were leaving the crater.

I originally wanted to spend more time here but was talked out of it by the company we used for our safari for an extra night in the Serengeti and I'm glad we did it that way. Was it a stunning unique, location? Yes. Was it the best part of our trip to Africa? No

 

 

 

A mini migration (or what happens when the weather changes)

October 2013

We visited the Serengeti during the dry season. The migration was meant to be in the Northern part of the park. But then it rained (briefly) and the animals started to turn back. This led to a larger than normal (for this time of year) group of antelope, zebra and wildebeest.

The flow on impact will be interesting, particularly if this happens season after season. Some immediate effects were the big cats were no longer hungry and the very real threat that if the early rains didn't continue the herbivores would run out of food.

Serengeti Wilderness Camp

October 2013

The Serengeti Wilderness Camp was truly the highlight for us in terms of accommodation in Tanzania. It was small, friendly, with great food and great service.

The tents were comfortable, with each person given 20L of hot water each day for showers.

There was a common area for looking at books or maps as well as having a drink.

 All meals were had in the communal dining tent (lunch could be a boxed lunch and we did one of each during our stay) and we loved that we were able to have dinner with our guide each night.

The food was tasty and we tried to figure out how vegetables could be so fresh being flown in each day.

One of the funniest things on our trip was watching these two each morning looking at the pretty birds in the mirror....

The Serengeti, Tanzania

October 2013

The Serengeti was a stunning place. We had two full days and two part days here and originally I thought that was too much. It wasn't. The key is to not expect it to be like a documentary (although it did feel like one at times!) but to relax and enjoy what was on show that day.

The hippo pool was one cool place to sit and watch for a while

Dining after a trip to the Zebra supermarket

The guides called her the Great Grandmother of the Serengeti, she was beautiful with her fading spots

We got to see a few cubs who didn't stay put like there mothers would have told them...

Just hanging out in the tree

The zoomed in version...

A lost hippo out in the midday sun

Hyena wallowing in the mud

It was amazing to watch the pride come back from a night/day of eating

These two were hiding in the long grass and would have stayed there except for our guides eagle eyes

Having a packed lunch at Ngorongoro rock