Erik's Travels: safari stories (pics at the end of post)

15 volunteers took a four day safari right before I left Tanz. We were five to a vehicle plus a driver. We road in Land Rovers that had lift-up roofs so we could stand and look out. I was accompanied in my Land Rover by two British girls and two hilarious Irish dudes. We were not allowed to get out of the jeep, but we could sit on the roof and when the driver wasn’t looking I would stand up and walk around on top. At the end of our safari our guide told us that we had a very rare safari experience and with all we got to see I don’t doubt him.

day one- lake manyara

One of the first things we saw were baboons. They were every where. The area around the lake was very green and forested. Elephants and Giraffes were all over as well as several kinds of monkeys. Our driver let us stay in the part after it closed and we got to ride on a path behind three huge giraffes. When giraffes run It looks like they are going in slow motion. I was very surreal to have them so close to us. At the camp site we were fed a great dinner and sat up and sang along with the two irish dudes (they bought a guitar in town just for the safari) until the park told us to go to sleep. We ignored them and went swimming in the pool at the camp site instead.

day two- serengeti

The serengehti is very different depending on what season you visit during. This was the dry season so every thing was dead and creepy. It seemed to go on forever. We saw lots of zebra, gazelle, a small pride of lions, and a buffalo. We also saw a leopard which was apparently quite rare, but that would be toped the next day. We camped at a much more rustic site inside the serenghiti national park. I climbed on top of the concrete latrines and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life. More singing after dinner followed by a huge thunder storm. It was absolutely incredible to see the african sky crackling with lighting. I slept with my tent flap open so I didn’t have to take my eyes off of the sky.

day three- morning in the serengeti

Today we woke up early so we could watch the sun rise. It was pretty mind blowing. We watched a leopard try to get the cubs of a cheetah. They circled each other for a while and took a few swipes at each other before the cheetah ran away with her cubs. The leopard came and walked right by our jeep and then peed on the bumper of the jeep in from of us!! Even the tour guides seemed to be stunned that such a rare animal came so close to us. A bunch of Guinea fowl followed the leopard around making funny chicken like noises. If I were the leopard I would have killed them all. After that we went to the rift where early man first began to walk upright. The museum was great and the view was incredible. There were lots of Maasai around which always give me the creeps because I never know how to act around them. We camped on the rim of the ngororo crated which was created by a volcano collapsing. It was the most beautiful camp site I have ever seen. There were two elephants eating leaves maybe 20 feet from our site. They had to have an armed ranger on staff all night in case the animals came after us. It was freezing and we had to eat out side in the dark because we were late to the camp. When I was trying to find a place to charge my camera an elephant walked right through our site and took a big dump. When I got back I wanted to see the elephant so I went into the pitch black woods to look for it. Jarrod shined a light into the woods where I was and the elephant was maybe 10-15 feet in front of me. I thought he was going to charge me so I ran out of the woods as fast as I could. I think everyone was a little mad at me because they thought that I might have provoked the elephant to ruin out camp site. He went away though so I was forgiven.

day 4- ngorongoro

We got up early again and drove into the crater. The lake at the center is full of flamingos and surrounded by a rim of white salt. We got to see a rhino which is pretty rare because apparently they are endangered. By the time we were done with crater we were all exhausted. I think that all 15 of us slept most of the was back to Arusha. The Safari was pretty incredible.There is a ton more that happened and a ton more that I saw, but I don’t know if I can put it all into words. I can’t imagine that I will ever be able to forget some of the experiences that I was fortunate enough to have.

(most of these pictures are not very good. Apparently my camera is not suited for capturing wildlife or beautiful scenery. I promise you the experience was infinitely more amazing than the pictures)

the volunteers