July 6

Oops. Been a few screw ups on our (ok my) part. Nothing to bad. Last night I went to charge up batteries and couldn't find the chargers We looked all around the tent, unpacked the bags, repacked the bags and decided we (ok I) must have left them 300 miles away at the last hotel. Wasn't the end of the world but a litle disappointing. As Melanie can tell you I put together all sorts of checklists to avoid just this sort of thing.

As I changed for dinner I happened to look at myself in the mirror and couldn't believe the lobster that was looking back. I've been so good with the lobster juice and bug juice on all exposed skin. We had gone down to pool yesterday and, as usual, I was sitting in the shade. It was warm so I took off my shirt. Apparently the sun is so powerful here that you can get a burn off the reflected ambient light even while in the shade. But in any case, while looking in the mirror I found the adapter bag sitting on the counter where both of us must have looked 4 or 5 times. All is well that ends well, we now we are all charged up and back in business. SPF 50 here I come.

It's about noon and melainie and I are sitting on the porch of our tent, reading, writing and soaking in the scenery and sounds. Some sort of beast must have just passed below us - Odor is pretty strong and we've both had showers. Last night Melanie awoke to the sniffer again and I heard something gallop by around 5am. This morning we got off to our game drive without ants.

Today's feature was a visit to a couple of lion prides. Got a video of one female finishing off a wildebeest. These guys really weren't too worried about us. Again we were maybe 20 feet away. She'd look at us and then go back to her gnaw. This was a pride with about 4 children. Every few minutes one would jump another one and they would start to tousle. I identified with the mother. Why can't they play nicely? We are starting to recognize more of the birds. All sorts of eagles and vultures as well as song birds. Still in awe of the ostrich.

So since we've been in the Serengeti we go for a 6a game drive preceded by our pre breakfast and get back for breakfast. Then we grab a book and hang around the pool for a while and head to lunch. Then we go for another game drive around 330.

Whenever we pass near the lounge tent people ask us about or day. And the manager of the place makes a point to chat with us each day. Today David mentioned what a challenge it must be to run a place like this in the bush. "Not so bad" he said. Besides the issue of supplies and stalfing The most interesting Thing I heard him say was that when they hire, they make sure to hire happy people. It makes sense to me. They have a number of hotels around Africa and invest heavily in training. For the bush hotels, an employee signs up for a 1,3,4,8, or 12 week shift. You acrue vacation days in relation to the length of the shift and all employees get a 30 day leave per year. The pay is not great so i suspect that they are quite dependent on tips There is a lot of room for advancement and most people have been with the organization quite a while. He also talked about Michael's fundraiser and how the hotel tries to help a little with these things. and then I spoke with a young woman getting married and she talked about her fundraiser so I guess That is the correct term. Jan and Jerry give this idea to Tyler.

For the afternoon game drive we got to see a lion eating a wildebeest while his 5 friends watched. So here's the thing about John. All the other jeeps stayed on the road. As soon as they left John drove off the road up to the lions. Is that cool or scary? The answer to both is yes.

Then we saw some Monster crocs swimming around with some hippos. These guys were easily 18 to 24 ft long. They had killed a wildebeest and 2 crocs were not agreed as to how should control dinner. They had each latched on to one end and were playing tug of war. Occasionally another croc would sneak in for a quick bite-but that was discouraged. Besides us there were a half dozen other crocs, some storks, eagles, monitor lizards all hoping to get in on the action. Actually we were not interested in anything other than watching. We had our own dinner to back to. So all of a sudden, one crock-still with his jaws clamped firmly in place, rolls over a couple times. This annoyed the other guy and he rolled over a couple times. Between the splashing of the water you could see the horns of the poor wildebeest flashing by. It was clear that they were trying to twist it apart. Eventually one guy managed to pull off the biggest piece. He swam off a little way an then lifted up his head to show off his prize. Never seen anything like it- and did I say this guy was HUGE!!!!!!!!!
Apparently the only animal the croc doesn't kill is the hippo. That's because the hippo always knows were the water is and the crocs follow them. Oh yes, and the fact the the hippos jaws are strong enough to snap the croc in half. Have I mentioned how graceful the hippos are on land? They really seem to tip toe. David, he's David not me, said Disney got them right in Fantasia. Neither of us would have been surprised if they had tutus on. But in the water not so graceful. They also make the most horrid noises.

Before dinner we sat on the terrace and watched a beautiful sunset.




- Posted from the ipad

Location:Western Serengeti

We're at a true luxury tent camp. This is the place with tents with mahagony bathrooms. We placed a 5:30 wakeup call and sure enough we heard footsteps approach at 5:30 with our coffee and hot cocoa pre breakfast. Why were we up at 5:30 I hear you ask?
Things that go bump in the night - or more accurately, Things that go sniff in the night Those things also kept knocking into the tent. My explanation of an airplane didn't fly this time. (actually he claimed they were birds).

Water buffalo was the probably cause. Anyway up we got up and dressed and called for our escort. We're standing on the porch waiting and suddenly Melanie cries out "something is biting me". She starts slapping her legs and back and legs and then I join the dance. The hell with waiting for the escort - we take off down the path. He meets us halfway to the lodge and we're still slapping ourselves silly. As we walk through the dining hall the manager asks how were and we told him. Perhaps ants? He suggests.

Bingo- off to the restrooms where I pull up my pantslegs and nab the suckers. I'm taking off my shirt when Melanie calls out from the woman's room that she could use help. Off I go bare chested to the rescue! We pull off/up/down her clothes and find quite a collection ants crawling around. Apparantly we had been standing in an ant trail and rather than go around us they just climbed up. We got rid of them and She starts to dress and I button my shirt as I walk towards the exit. The woman I met at the door inside the woman's room looked a bit surprised- well quite a bit. I said " don't mind me, I just had to pick some ants off my wife."

We were feeling a lot better by the time we got to John and the jeep although we had phantom bites for awhile. Why a 6 am game drive? More animal activity than mid day. Again the sky seemed to lighten all at once. About 70 degrees slight overcast the light created an almost impressionistic cast to the scenery as we came off the mountain. We said good morning to some zebras and giraffes took a left and started to cross a stream. Also cape buffalo i asked them to stay away from our tent but they just looked as if they intended to do as they pleased. First thing Melanie saw off to the left was a huge croc. Off to the right were a dozen or more hippos. By off to the right I mean maybe 20 feet. They all just starred at us, snorting on occasion. Really looking right at us.
I saw movement up ahead and saw a late returning hippo tiptoeing home. Yes it really looks like tiptoeing. Once he noticed us he picked up the pace till he got to the bank. Then all grace went out the window and I'll share the photos at a later post.

Next on to the savannah to see a cheetah. David got a good picture of him yawning that well share. We watched him watching gazelles for a long time. Fascinating. Also saw many hyenas. Not pretty animals. Also a mother lion in a bush with some cubs. 15 feet away but she didn't mind and I'm getting less nuts.

We're relaxing at the pool and Michael, who works here is talking to us. He's getting married in September and must give his wife's family a dowery of 5 cows,1 goat, barrel of tobacco and 2 new dresses. David got away easy. Michael also talked about his, what i call an engagement party but he called a fund raiser. This is where people come and give them money towards their wedding. 150 people are invited. Im pretty sure he invited us. Michael also taught us the word mizungo which basically means honkey. Off to lunch now. The waitstaff is wonderful. They all want to know our names. Unfortunately one of the women calls me Melon. I'm going to regret telling you this.

Lastly Disney didn't make this up. People here keep saying una metata - no problem.



- Posted from the ipad

Travel day

Monday was a travel say as we drove from Lake Manyera to Serengeti. So no game drive (supposedly). That took from 830 to 715p. But this is what we saw along the way - zebras, wildebeests, antelopes, gazelles, lions, a cheetah, 3 leopards, David saw hyena cubs (I missed them). We stopped at Olduvai Gorge. Who remembers what that is? It's where the Leakeys did their dig for over 60 years. I can't tell you how incredible the museum was there. It's in a small stone building but the archeological finds they have there is amazing. All kinds of animals that are extinct. We got a great talk from the museum guide on the history of the findings. Then we crossed the Serengeti. For hours. But we saw all the amazing animals above. Plus Melanie got to piss off a bull elephant! Well no she didn't really - just happened to be in his line of sight when we we blocking his way to the watering hole and he wanted to let her know he was pissed. So he reared back and let go with a bugle call. Certainly got our attention.

I'll just tell about one pride of lions we saw. There were 9 in the pride. First we saw them sitting on a small hill and went off road to park next to the hill. The guide, John looked out and said, there's another lion sleeping right next to the car. I promptly shut the window. We drove a short distance and there was another lion form this same pride watching 5 gazelles. We stopped. As we waited the other 8 lions who were sitting on the hill and sleeping next to our car saunters and I mean saunters over. Oy. I want to warn the gazelles but how. I thought of throwing a rock at them but my aim stinks, plus I'd have to get out of the van and THERE ARE 9 LIONS NEAR BY. David wouldn't save me because he had his camera on sports mode which meant he's clicking pictures at 60 frames a minute and if I was being mauled he would get some great shots but wouldn't stop. There was another jeep there and I notices someone in that jeep whistling so I guess he was trying to warn the gazelles. It was riveting watching the lion circle around getting closer and closer. The upshot of this story is that the 8 lions just watched as this one lion went after the gazelles and the lion missed his chance. The wind must have changed and the gazelles smelled the lion and ran. They go up to 50 miles an hour. We couldn't take our eyes off the action. It was like a game where you knew one team was a sure winner (the lions) and then in the last minutes the other team (gazelles) win.

We also saw some elephants chase a leopard up a tree. Really nothing more to say. The leopard had stashed his kill up a tree. The other leopard also had his kill up a tree. Apparently leopards have the strongest neck muscles of any cat and drag the kill to a tree and then drag the kill 20 meters up the tree.

David also got a picture of a lion yawning. Quite a set of choppers on him.

Just a couple of words about the campsite were at. Very nice but we had to have an orientation and they were very clear we can go nowhere at night without a guard. That means we have to have an escort to dinner and back. These guards carry more then flashlights and look like they're in the army. They also stressed to keep our tent zipped up tight or we'd come back to find baboons in our bed. They convinced me. They asked what time we want a wake up call and said the wake up call comes as a pre breakfast. So we're going out on a game drive at 6am. Well ask for a 530 wake up call and they'll bring us coffee, hot chocolate muffins and cookies. Then we come back at 9am for breakfast. All night I've been humming, I think I'm gonna like it here. Good night all.
.

Sent from my iPad


- Posted from the ipad

Sunday

Another incredible day. I'm going to stay and turn in my air ticket and become a guide or a ranger. We stayed in a lodge, which means a real room. It's amazing how much better we both slept without elephants and lions running up and down the halls. This morning and afternoon we went to Lake Manyara national park. As soon as we got in there were many many monkeys and baboons scrambling around. The baboons we've been seeing are the small baboons not the large variety but they are something. Always grooming and eating each others nits yum. Then we went a very short way and Momma and baby elephant were munching on grass. The baby didn't quite have the Hang of it and it took her a couple of tries to get the grass from the ground to her mouth. The adult elephants use their tusks like chopsticks to pick up the grass or branches. The elephants just ignored us and went about their business. There something about the elephants and the giraffes that really make me just watch and watch and smile. Speaking if which we saw a pack of 7 giraffes all very close to the road. When we stopped one ran away. She sounded just like a horse clopping. Then there were 6 and they just stood and ate and were so sweet. More zebra and wildebeest. But after lunch the guide, Jon, suddenly stops backs up and there was a lion in a tree. Jon pulls in under the tree and after the shock of seeing the lion in the tree we look and see there are 3 adult female and 4 baby lions in the tree. We're clicking away pictures like crazy. Remember we're in an open topped vehicle with lions over us taking pictures. Some part of my mind is going this isnt good but I couldn't stop taking the pictures. Remember I'm the one who gets nervous easily. Only 1 of the 7 lions was asleep. Apparently the guide said ok can we go and I went wait. Then David said can we go and I said wait. Then David said were going NOW. Afterward I asked David why we stayed under the tree so long and was astounded (but I know my husband does not lie) that the reason was me.

Forgot about the hippos. They were all in a big pond. Just lying there but every once in awhile they would roll over and splash. Big big animals.

This I found sad although David keeps spouting circle of life garbage to me. Apparently when male cape buffalos get old they're kicked out of the pride and sent off to this hot springs part of lake Manyara. The water there is salted not fresh and not healthy for them. That's where they die. There were 3 just hanging around looking pretty miserable. Plus one cape buffalo skull that a lion had eaten a few months before. The good news is that they let the old female buffalos stay with the pride and continue to protect them. david asked if I knew what anthropermorphic meant.





- Posted from the ipad

Location:Lake Manyara

Lots of real estate

At around 4 in the pm and I looked out the window. Last I had seen we had passed over Germany, Poland, went around Vienna and had headed into Greece. Got cloudy and I read for awhile and then opened the window shade:


This is an iPad shot from 35,000 feet. I've seen a fair amount of desert but nothing like this. And it went on and on. Then over Ethiopia and by the time we got to Kenya it was dark.

- Posted from the ipad

Time for tea

- Posted from the ipad

Location:A 104,Maguga,Tanzania

Sat July 2 part 2

Back to this morning. Our guide, John wanted an early start. I think he is feeling pressure as we haven't seen any cats yet. It grew light as I had said as we entered the park. Vultures were stil sitting in the trees but other birds were all over the place and making all sorts of racket. no one talks about the birdlife here but it is incredible.

There are trails across the savanah - not really roads. They are mixed with wildebeest trails elephant trails and all sorts of other tracks running to and from the river. Apparently many tourists are expecting to see a kill. Yeah you got it. Not on the top of our list. But to see cats you have to go where they will be which is where the food is which means water ( a whole other blog to write)

I don't think i mentioned that for the last couple nights i can't close my eyes without seeing animals We are driving around in a large landrover type vehicle with a top that pops up allowing you to stand up and look around. There is literally always something to see. And even if you were think nothing is there, you blink and see something new. After driving around looking all day it's like a movie replaying in your(my) head at night.

So we've been driving around and a lump in the grass over to the right caught my eye. We had John back up a liitle and sure enough there was our lion. He was an older gentleman just hanging out. He saw us! Pretended not to. After a bit he got up and started walking with a low rumble coming from his throat. We were on parallel tracks and the rumble began to turn to a growl. Not incredible volume but an intensity and internal resonance that was pretty amazing. Then you add the reverb from the river escarpment and you know why they call him the king of the jungle. He grew bored with us and headed back into the grass.
P
Other highlights were an ancient baobab tree. With age the trees naturally hollow out. This tree had been enhanced with hand holds and extra space inside the tree for poachers to hide out. We saw marob storks and vultures feasting on a dead elephant. And we'll save the discussion on the sex life of baboons for another day (who can guess the Beatles song that applies?)

Just a ps from Melanie the lion was hiding in tall grass where even the guide could not see him. But Tracker David found him twice. Once in the tall grass and once climbing a bank What a guy.

The hotel were now at in lake Manyara is very nice. Very upscale with a fancy infinity pool overlooking the cliffs. So were sitting poolside relaxing with a drink. David was contemplating taking a dip and we look over at the pool. A baboon climbs over from the cliff and takes a drink of the pool water. That's it for me using the pool.

Although this place is fancier the food at the campsite was better. Fresher and more homemade. This last sentence was for Josh B benefit.

- Posted from the ipad