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Drumbeats from Africa - Week 4
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25 July : Lake Natron : HALF WAY THERE! |
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As we left the Serengeti National Park yesterday through the northern side, we just missed (yet again) the main migration. Catching only the tail end, it was still quite amazing to see so many animals. Although we were supposed to stay just outside the park today, our expedition leader, Halim, decided to push ahead to our next destination – Lake Natron.
So now the expedition is a day ahead. Halim explained that gaining days in the expedition like this is quite normal, “we can always spend it in a nice place to relax or sometimes you never know, we might encounter bad roads or a breakdown that might cause us to lose a day.”
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Halim takes a look under his hood to ensure his car engine is in tip-top condition.
Below, Najuib and Zul do a spot of cooking.
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The next seven days, the team will be camping out and heading for the Tanzania-Zambia border. We are starting to head south for the second half of the expedition. We camp near Lake Natron, famous for its flocks of flamingoes. So the next day, we headed for the lake, had a group photo there and the birders among us had a field day observing the flocks. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time and headed out once again to the next campsite.
So far it has been an experience of a lifetime. Africa has been different from most of our expectations, perhaps when seeing Africa through other people’s eyes we make assumptions, and now we are seeing it for ourselves. This is what most of the team members enjoy the most.
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Today we left the game parks area and headed for Dodoma, the administrative capital of Tanzania. The roads were pretty bad, mostly dirt and sandy roads. It was a challenge for the team but we all got through all right. As Faruk says, “this is where we see how well we prepared ourselves and the cars. I really get a high when I feel everything is working as I planned it and all the work I put into preparing the car is now working for me!”
We arrived in Dodoma late and discovered that there are no hotels or campsites nearby. We checked with the local police and they insisted that we either camp beside the police station or leave their jurisdiction. The crime rate here is so high that they are not taking any chances. So here we are camping behind the police station and grateful for the company of the police guards. Tomorrow we head for Iringa for another cold night at a campsite called Farmhouse.
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24 July : Seronera : THE SERENGETI ENTHRALLS |
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As we left the Ngorongoro Crater we were treated with a wonderful view of the plains, Masai villages and the Olduvai Gorge. Our destination, the Seronera Wildlife Lodge, sits right in the middle of the Serengeti National Park. Although only 175 kilometers away it took us about 8 hours to reach the lodge due to bad roads. As soon as we entered the park boundaries, we were greeted with giraffes, zebras, gazelles, baboons, hyenas and wildebeests.
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Arriving at the lodge at sunset we didn’t have much time to go around looking at the wildlife. Instead we just enjoyed the beautiful sunset overlooking the Serengeti plains. At dusk I went to have a shower back in my room. As I looked out my window a giraffe passed by! Let me repeat that – A GIRAFFE PASSED BY MY WINDOW! Unless you live beside a zoo...
Early the next morning we all assembled for the daily briefing; everyone was just raring to go. By 7 am we were off. After driving for about 50 meters, a cheetah crossed the road and just sat there! This is definitely going to be one of my lucky days.
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We headed for the Grimati River; this is where millions of wildebeests and zebras pass by in their annual migration north. Lying in wait are all the top predators – lions, crocodiles, hyenas ... just waiting for the weak ones to falter.
The convoy broke up into twos and threes to make it easier for movement. As we moved closer to the river, we could see that we were a little late for main migration.
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Fortunately, we managed to see the tail end of the migration and even that is quite something – just look at the picture. I’m talking about a few thousands here as opposed to hundreds of thousands. Driving past the river, we could see hippos and crocodiles lazing about,
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obviously very full and satisfied with their share of the migration.We left the Serengeti to camp near Lake Victoria, the turning point in our expedition. After this, we head back to Serengeti and then south to the border then through Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and into South Africa again. It is quite hard to believe we are only halfway through the expedition after all we have seen and done ... can it get any better? Enjoy the pictures and return for more of our adventures as we discover Africa together.
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