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Any good safari should have a four wheel drive, an English speaking guide (after all, if it isn't in English it isn't worth hearing) and lots of animals with claws. Point 1 - Check! Point 2 Check! Point 3, well, fingers crossed as we left Moshi to begin our trip. It all looked good. Then, as the four wheel drive smashed through a huge wooden shelter, just missed a massive tree and then ploughed into (and through) the concrete wall of what was meant to be our first night's accommodation we began to wonder if we had chosed a reputable operator...
Ok..Ok...perhaps we should back up a bit (an action our driver should have considered). We'd left Moshi following a night out in the suburbs where we'd had a fantastic Chinese meal along with a couple of bottles of Safari beer (of course) before having an incredibly drunk taxi driver take us home. The deal we'd gone for involved visiting three parks over four days. The first night would be spent in a lodge, the second two in tents. We'd got to the lodge, just on the outskirts of our first park - Lake Manyara - to drop off our stuff and let the guides sort a few bits and pieces out before our Safari began. While they were doing their thing we had a wonder around a couple of stores which were selling the obligatory tourist tat before we heard the rev of and engine. We took this as a sign it was time to go so we left the hut we'd just been inside. As we emerged into the light we saw our car chasing after a man who was holding a big brush. Obviously a funny African Joke? Then, we thought, not so funny as the man had to dive out of the way to avoid being run over, the car swerved sharply to the left and smack into a huge shelter, through the other side, another veer to the right and a crunch into, then over, a low perimeter wall which surrounded some of the individual lodge rooms.
Everything and everyone went crazy.
We stood stiock still wondering what the hell had just gone on.
Our chef (not our driver) sheepishly opened the driver's door and got out of the car. A crowd of people surrounded him and then one punched him in the face, bursting his lip open.
Then our guide/driver came out of another building, ran over to us and asked us what we had just done! We set him straight and off he stormed...in went the next round of abuse for the chef.
Soon, a police car came and the police began measuring things with a measuing tape for about half an hour (needlessly, and clearly a tactic to use up time before an appropriate bribe was paid) and as we sat at a table in the distance waiting to find out what was going on I got a rather unwanted call from my work in the UK to discuss new starting details...great
Finally, despite being irritated at not being told what was going on we have to admit the company (Kessey Brothers) did manage to organise an alternative car so off we popped, a couple of hours late and with no chef to Lake Manyara. The guide began the tour in a pretty distracted mood (who could blame him) but we coaxed him out of it with some onion rings and finally he mustered some enthusiasm. The next 4 hours were really amazing.
Manyara is a large lake, surrounding the lake is a forest and lurking in the forest were all kinds of surprises, giraffes everywhere, hyenas, big baboon troups and elephants amongst loads of others. In Manyara itself were hundreds of big, lumbering hippos, lazy but dangerous. Rather than being a flat savannah we felt more like we were in Jurassic park than Africa as huge animals materialised in the deep green forest, invisible just seconds before. Our first taste of safari was without doubt blowing us, and our camera memory, away. That night we sat in the lodge watching the world cup and drinking more safari beer, excited about the next morning when we'd be going to the Serengeti and explaining to the other tourists exactly why there was a trail of rubble accross the courtyard and a massive hole in the wall...
The next morning came too quickly and we were surprised to see our Chef come and greet us, not in prison then, turned out he was being sent back to Moshi so they could decide whether to sack him or not. The cheeky ******* even asked us for money to get a bus home which we had little choice in giving him but, hey, this is Africa. We did feel a little sorry for him but you'll all be happy to know he didn't loose his job. Anyway, we got in our newly restored land cruiser and begn the trip towards the wide open grasslands of the Serengeti. On the way we saw plenty of Masai villages and tall, skinny Masai herding their cattle - obvious points of colour with their purple tartan cloth really standing out from oceans of straw coloured grass. The warriors within the tribes were red and it is said that lions innately recognise the shade and the shape (the warrious carry long spears) coming towards them. Following hundreds of years of being hunted by the warriors lions naturally run away if they see tall folk wearing red and holding long sticks...
Anyway, the Serengeti was amazing we had two days there camping out in the middle of lion, elephant and baboon territory, hearing growls and calls in the dark of the night. On day one, we found a pride of lions sheltering under a tree, invisible from a distance and unfazed as we approached. We saw leapords curled up into tight, sleeping, spotted balls high up trees. Ostriches and gazelles abounded and we saw huge elephants everywhere, ocassionally looking nervous and forming protective circles around their calves as they caught the whiff of a big cat. The highlight though was accidently coming accross a cheetah that has just killed a gazelle - amazing.
We had a glass of wine that night, a bottle I'd brought over from home as we ate lovely, fresh food and watched the red sun set in the distance.
After two days in the Serengeti we moved onto Ngorongoro crater, an ancient and very dormant volcano crater that sinks into the ground and in which all kinds of big game hide. The campsite was great, the local bar we got taken to to watch the world cup was awesome but the crater itself perhaps suffers from being so close to Arusha and it really is just a bit too busy and lacking in atmosphere.
Four days on, we got back to Moshi, had a desperately needed warm shower and treated ourselves to a nice meal out. Then we went for a flying, and last visit, to Usangi where we picked up our bags and said goodbye to a smiling Mr Ismaeli who treated us to a free lunch (avocado & ndazi...great!) before we sadly said our goodbyes and made our way, for the final time, down the big hill and onto a bus to Dar Es Salaam.
Next and Final stop.
Sniff.
Zanzibar.
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