In the Wild

 I think I mentioned that we are now in our final camp. This camp is the most rustic. What I really mean is it’s the most in the wild of all the camps. So it’s only a tent just like any other tent in the US. I was really nervous last night. Nobody attacked us but the wildebeest definitely came through. 

And came through very close. We know this because of the smashed grass around the tent and also because of all the poop. But the real clincher was there are 12 tent polls and one of them was knocked down as the Willder beast made their way through our camp. They were that close to our tent to knock down a pole. 

We took a shower which is just a bucket full of hot water that comes out of a showerhead. It’s kind of in the open. There is only one hairdryer in the entire camp and it’s down by the public toilet. So my hair looks horrendous but it is clean. 

This morning we went on a great game drive and saw close elephants, lions and a gazillion hippos. 

I had a little moment with the hippos. Two brothers started biting each other and knocking each other down and it felt like déjà vu at the Blumkin house when the kids were little. 

I decided to skip this afternoon‘s game drive just to relax a little at my tent. Josh went on the game drive so I’m just here writing and reading. Our “Butler“ brought me some tea and ginger cookies. I thought life can’t get any better. Then as he was leaving he said you might end up seeing a leopard from your tent. There is one around here. Oy vay. 

Arrived in Tanzania

 View from Today's Lodge

I haven’t talked about the food yet. It’s been wonderful. However one night for dinner the choice was two types of curry. I don’t like curry. The choices were fish curry or goat curry. But they did have creamed spinach and brown rice so I was fine. They have crepes every day for breakfast plus omelettes plus porridge. And of course bacon! When we’re out all day on a game drive they pack is a hot lunch. The guide cooks it for us. 

I was speaking to one of the guided about Covid. Apparently they were not hit badly with Covid around here. There were some hospitalizations but very few deaths. It’s quite a rural area which makes sense because it’s a game reserve. The hotel closed down for 6 months but paid the employees 1/2 pay. 60% of the employees are local.  

We are now on a 11 seat airplane  to get to the next camp. After this we take a bus to the border, another plane ride then a car takes us to camp. I’m exhausted already. By the way, none of the airstrips except Nairobi have any buildings. They are not airports but air strips. You get off the plane, pick up your luggage from the side, and walk over to the parking lot where there are jeeps waiting for you.

A word about the roads   The primary roads of which there are very few, all packed dirt. All the other roads are grass that have some tire tracks on it. There are, of course , no road signs. It really is quite amazing that the guides can find their way around. They buy new tires for the jeeps every 2 years. 

Last rambling, they put hot water bottles in the bed at night. It lasts until morning. Heaven!

            Sent from my iPhone