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Posts Tagged ‘tanzania’

Looking Beyond the Answers to the Questions

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on July 13, 2011| 5 Comments »

 

My mind's eye saw this young Maasai girl as one who will face the future unafraid. --Photo by Pat Bean

“A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.” – John Ciardi.

African Safari: A Conversation With Bilal

Kim asked Bilal if there were any female guides.

“Some of the other guides do, but I don’t,” he said.

“Huh?” Kim replied.

It seems Bilal thought she had asked him if he ever “visited” girls in the local villages in the evenings when he wasn’t driving us around Tanzania.

His answer when he finally understood the actual question was: “Oh no. They would be too afraid.”

Both replies were telling, I thought.

Our conversations with Bilal revealed a lot more about Africa than what could be seen with the eyes. Of course, we two “uppity” women tried to open Bilal’s eyes as well.

I suspected we were unsuccessful when he laughed in disbelief after Kim told him about our friend, Janice, and my daughter-in-law, Karen – two American women who both hold martial arts’ black belts.

Of course, there are things in life to be afraid of, like hippos that are at the top of the list of Africa's most dangerous mammals. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

“Now those are two women who could even kick your butt,” Kim had said.

But while respectful of our opinions, and us, we could see that Bilal didn’t believe her.

Later, when we were in Kenya, we visited a local Maasai tribe where a couple of the men demonstrated a game played with stones. This time I asked the question: “Do women also play the game?”

The stone game -- played only by men. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

“Oh no. They can’t understand it,” was the response given through our Swahili translator.

My tongue hurt from biting back the retort. We were, after all, guests in another country.

It wasn’t until the Maasai men were demonstrating to us how high they could jump from a standing position that I could once again smile.

A gaggle of young boys were imitating the men – as was one young girl.

She was with the women off to the side, and jumping despite the gentle hand on her shoulder, laid there by one of the women to try to get her to desist.

Perhaps, I thought, she will grow up to be a guide. There was certainly no look of fear in her face.

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Luxury Lodge in the Middle of Protected Wildlife Habitat

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 10, 2011| 1 Comment »

A colorful lizard roaming around the lodge swimming pool. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

The view of the Serengeti landscape from a Sopa Lodge patio was awesome.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” Stewart Udall

African Safari: Serengeti Sopa Lodge

Kim in the pool in front of the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The wildlife viewing didn’t stop when we reached the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, another five-star hotel compound in the middle of nowhere, and again where we were treated like the royalty we were not. This was quite a new experience for this budget traveler. I loved every minute of it.

Meanwhile, not only did the lodge prove cliff-top views of the surrounding Serengeti landscape, but it also overlooked a man-made waterhole where we watched everything from monkeys to hyenas come in for a drink.

There was also smaller, quite colorful wildlife running all about the lodge compound.

Von der Decken's hornbill -- Wikipedia photo

After yet another delicious lunch, including a pumpkin soup that I came home and tried to duplicate in my tiny RV kitchen, Kim wandered out to the pool for a swim so I could take a picture of her with the Serengeti landscape in the background.

Afterward, she chased a red and purple lizard around to take its photo.

I, meanwhile went back to looking for birds. My best find was an strikingly handsome yellow-eyed fellow that I finally identified as an arrow-marked babbler. It would be the only one of its kind I would see on the trip, although I did see other babbler species and understand why they are so named. These birds are quite boisterous vocalizers.

And was being quite successful at it. By the time we met up again with Bilal for our afternoon game drive, my list of new lifers had grown to 67. Below are the ones I added to the list so far this day.

Front of the Sopa Lodge that sits in the middle of nowehere in the Serengeti. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

Bird Log of New Lifers: Common ostrich, common fiscal, white-browed sparrow weaver, kori bustard, red-billed buffalo weaver, yellow wagtail, Rufous sparrow, banded parisoma, lappet-faced vulture, secretary bird ( Aug. 23, drive from Lake Manyara’s Serena Lodge to the Serengeti’s Sopa Lodge), Von der Decken’s hornbill, rock martin and arrow-marked babbler (Aug. 23, at the lodge.).

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Posted in African Safari, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 10, 2011| 1 Comment »

 “The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life … the beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds – how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday lives – and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song.” – John Burroughs

They say ostriches stick their heads in the sand. Maybe so. But the ones we saw in the Serengeti preferred to stretched out their legs and run. It made for a glorious parade. -- Photo by Pat Bean

African Safari: Colorful Birds

Kori bustard -- Photo by Kim Perrin

The drive from Lake Manyara to the Serengeti was one of the most exciting bird-watching days in my life. I saw my first free roaming ostriches. Much bigger than I imagined, and boy could they run.

We passed a Kori bustard, which strutted across the grasslands like it owned them. We were close enough for Kim to even get a great photograph. This was a big bird, standing over three-feet tall.

There was this great big red-faced fellow, a lappet-faced vulture. he made ugly look beautiful, well at least to the addicted birder.

A flock of Ruppell's griffin vulture, with a lone lappet-faced vulture on the far left. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

A face only a mother could love, or not. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

And then there were the secretary birds,  so named because someone thought the stiff neck feathers looked like the quill pens secretaries used to stick behind their ears. it hunts its prey — small mammals, snakes, lizards, young birds, on the ground.

Secretary bird: Do you think this bird's neck feathers look like quill pens? -- Wikipedia photo

Like the bustard, the secretary bird we saw was strutting across the savannah as if it owned it.  

Next : the Serengeti’s Sopa Lodge

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A Rough Ride Equals a Free Massage

Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 7, 2011| 5 Comments »

 

It's easy to see that giraffes are what help give the umbrella acacias their shape and name. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

“Each day I live in a glass room unless I break it with the thrusting of my senses and pass through the splintered walls to the great landscape.” – Mervyn Peake

African Safari: Runners, Wildlife and Thorns

When I travel from place to place in my native America, I try extremely hard never to get on a boring freeway. In Tanzania, Kim and I never had to worry about our driver, Bilal, taking such a wide interstate from place to place. There were none, or at least none in the areas we traveled.

We were lucky if the roads were paved. Their roughness prompted Bilal to joke that along with being our driver, he was giving us a free massage.

Which was perfectly fine with me. The bouncy ride was part of the adventure. And the slower we were forced to go, the more time it offered for sightseeing.

And there was plenty to see this morning as Bilal transported us from Lake Mayara’s Serena Lodge to the Sopa Lodge in the Serengeti. The drive took us from wide-open Wyoming like scenery through a misty jungle that brought images of Jurassic Park floating though our brains.

Wildebeest and morning mist on the Ngorongoro Crater escarpment. -- Photo by Pat Bean

One of the populated areas we passed through was Karatu, which Bilal told us was the home of many great marathon runners. Watching the area’s slim, black men brought to mind images of the Boston marathon and other long-distance races I had seen in which racers with such physiques were always frontrunners.

The misty jungle scenery came near the top of the Ngorongoro Crater, which was formed seven million years ago when the land was pushed up by volcanoes, then collasped. At the crater overlook, a Maasai salesman was immediately upon us, but Bilal suggested that we wait to shop somewhere that would benefit an entire Maasai community.

This hungry simba had his eye on a tommy (Thompson's gazelle). -- Photo by Kim Perrin

Zebra, cheetahs, lions, gazelles, monkeys, giraffes, gazelles, and other African wildlife were also on the sightseeing agenda this morning. We lingered the longest to watch a mother cheetah with four young cubs that stayed mostly hidden in the grass while the mother kept a look out.

Bilal stopped to show us the whistling acacia tree, on which grow hollowed nodes favored by ants. The ants create holes in these bulbous growths and when the wind blows over them the produce a whistling sound.

Despite the thorns, giraffes find this plant a delectable meal.

Whistling acacia

I found this information fascinating, but once again, our sight-seeing put us behind schedule. And so Bilal again put the pedal to the metal to get us to the Serengeti lodge in time for our scheduled lunch. Kim and I just hung on – and smiled.

Next:  The Homeless Maasai

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Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 A Wild Race to Lake Manyara’s Park Gate

This was our first truly close-up look at an elephant. There would be many more before the trip ended. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“…nature has ceased to be what it always had been, what people needed protection from. Now nature tamed, endangered, mortal, needs to be protected from people.” – Susan Sontag

African Safari: The Ugly Poaching Business

There is no nighttime wildlife viewing in Tanzania’s national parks. That’s when the poachers come out, Bilal told us.

It used to be, he said, that the poachers made war on the park rangers, but now the park rangers are shooting back. And Tanzania doesn’t want tourists caught in the crossfire.

This is a Masai giraffe, the largest of the several subspecies of giraffe found in Africa. It is a bit darker than the other subspecies, has jagged spots and tuft of hair on its tail. -- Photo by Pat Bean

But despite the government’s crackdown, according to several recent news articles that I’ve read, poaching is still a major problem in Tanzania, as well as some other African countries, and in some areas is even increasing.

What Tanzania’s official crackdown on the illegal activity meant to us in 2007 was that the park closed its gates at 6:30 p.m. – and there was a big fine for not checking out of it by that time.

Perhaps because of some great last-minute sightings of an elephant dusting herself off and a mother giraffe with a young one that were too terrific to pass up, Bilal may have lost track of time. That was one of the great things about our guide. He always seemed as excited at watching wildlife as we were – well unless it was small, nondescript birds.

Anyway, all of a sudden Kim and I found ourselves being

Yellow-billed oxpeckers. We would see these on the backs of giraffes and water buffalo. -- Wikipedia photo

bounced around in the back of the Land Rover, holding on tightly but with grins on our faces, as a worried Bilal put the pedal to the metal in a race to get back to the entrance before the deadline. It was a deliciously wild ride that added a touch of adventure to our already full day.

We made it with two minutes to spare, and we could audibly hear Bilal exhale a sigh of release, and see the smile return to his face.

He slowed down for the drive back to our Lake Manyara Serena Lodge, and stopped to let us photograph our first spectacular African sunset.

Blacksmith plover: We would see many of these during our drives across Kenya and Tanzania's grasslands. -- Wikipedia photo

I’ve heard artists and photographers talk about Africa’s great light, and now I was getting to see it for myself.

What a great day.

Bird Log of New Lifers: Little egret, white stork, sulphur-breasted bush shrike, common bulbul, tawny eagle, white-rumped swift, emerald-spotted wood dove, blacksmith plover, grey-headed kingfisher, Egyptian goose,

African spoonbill -- Wikipedia photo

black-headed gull, grey-headed gull, great cormorant, lesser flamingo, great white pelican, yellow-billed egret, yellow-billed stork, black-winged stilt, African spoonbill, pied avocent, two-banded courser, southern ground hornbill, yellow-billed oxpecker, fish eagle, long-tailed fiscal, silvery-cheeked hornbill, crowned plover, marsh sandpiper, Hilderbrant’s francolin, helmeted guinea fowl, dark-capped yellow warbler, great reed warbler, cliff chat , August 22 afternoon drive in Lake Manyara State Park.

Next: Drive to Serengeti National Park

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Lions in Trees, Comical Baboons, Oxpeckers on Giraffes

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2011| 3 Comments »

 “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value ..” – Maya Angelou

One of Lake Manyara National Park's famed tree-climbing lions. -- Wikipedia photo

African Safari:Where the Wild Things Are

At the entrance to Lake Manyara National Park is a sign that reads: “Take nothing from the park but nourishment for the soul, consolation for the heart and inspiration for the mind.”

The next few hours would provide Kim and I with plenty of all three.

As a normal rule, lions don’t climb trees. But if we were lucky, we were told, we would see some tree-climbing lions in Lake Manyara National Park.

Southern ground hornbill.

We were lucky.

And along with lions sprawled out on tree limbs, we saw oxpecker birds gleaning insects from the backs of giraffes, watched the comical antics of baboon families, including one small one that would taunt his bigger cousins then rush back to his big male papa for protection.

We saw a few lingering flamingos of the millions that feed on the lake before migrating elsewhere, and dozens of colorful birds. And we came across zebra and gazelles dining together, with a few keeping watch for lions and cheetahs that wanted them for dinner.

Zebras and gazelles dining together in a grassy plain area of the park. -- Photo by Pat Bean

In fact, I don’t think there was even a single moment during our afternoon game drive when we were out of sight of wildlife going about their business. So accustomed to Land Rovers were they, that we were totally ignored, which would not be the case, Bilal warned us, if we were on foot

Lake Manyara, named after the Masaai word manyara for a plant that is used to grow stockades for livestock., has a quite diverse habitat, which accounts for its broad range of species. The landscapes go from lake to jungle, and includes an acacia woodland forest, open grassland, and a swamp.

Lesser flamingoes at Lake Manyara -- Kuru Travel photo

At one of our stops, we had southern ground hornbills strutting around on one side of us, giraffes on the other side of us and both elephants and water buffalo nearby.

I didn’t know which way to look, but I think the hornbills got the majority of my attention. These large black and red birds have voices that some say sound human.

And according to a Masaai  folk tale, their conversation is as a man speaking to a woman. He says: I want more cows, and she replies: You’ll die before you get them.

Next: A wild race to the park gate

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Coffee, Monkeys, Birds, Stars and Mosquito Netting

Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on June 30, 2011| 4 Comments »

“A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked.” Anais Nin

A rock path took us through the coffee plants to our luxurious suites. -- Photo by Pat Bean

African Safari: A Night Among the Coffee Beans

Our final destination for this our first full day in Africa was a working coffee plantation on the outskirts of Arusha, where we were warmly greeted after our chaotic ride with wet wash rags to wipe the dust from our hands and faces, and a delicious glass of iced coffee to soothe our parched throats. .

I immediately became addicted to African coffee, so much so that I usually drink nothing but whenever possible. In fact, as I’m writing this recap of my days in Africa – while also watching a pair of magpies investigating the picnic table beside my RV here at Lake Walcott in Idaho – I’m drinking a cup of it, generously laced with cream, right now.

Vervet monkey mom with hitchhiking baby -- Photo by Kim Perrin

Life is good.

Back in Africa, meanwhile, after the greeting and the refreshment offered by our coffee plantation hosts, Kim and I were led to our assigned sleeping quarters, a large, bedroom, bath and sitting room duplex suite reached by a rock path that wound through the coffee plants.

Ours was No. 18, the last one to be reached. Beyond it was a dirt path that led to employee quarters for the coffee plantation, which, we were told, is the largest one in Tanzania. Our driver, before letting us off, said the operation was owned by Greeks, who once had a large community in the area.

Our six-course dinner that evening, served in the main lodge, was a formal affair. I can’t recall what we had, but I do remember it was delicious

Kim set the timer on her camera so she could get a photo of the two of us on the porch of our lodge accommodations.

Afterward, Kim and I walked among the plants – and the vervet monkeys. The black-faced agile climbers were delightful to watch as they scampered around on the roof tops. Our favorite was a mom carrying a youngster beneath her belly as she gadded about.

Back at our suite, we sat on its porch together watching birds, listening to what sounded like party noises from the employee quarters,  and then watching the sky for the stars to come out. While we were sitting there, quite enamored with our present state of being, a lodge employee came and sprayed our room for mosquitoes and arranged the insect netting around our beds.

Black-headed oriole -- Wikipedia photo

I don’t know about Kim, but once I got beneath its filtered walls, I slept deeply. Life was really good.

Rufous-backed mannikin -- Photo by Alan Manson

Bird Log of new lifers for the day: hadada ibis, baglaflecht weaver, pied crow, black kite, rufous-backed mannikin and black-headed oriole.

Next Episode: Our Native Driver/Guide, Bilal

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Tanzanite: A Rare Stone Discovered Near Mount Kilimanjaro

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2011| 4 Comments »

 “Honest poverty is a gem that even a king might be proud to call his own – but I wish to sell out.” – Mark Twain

African Safari: No Sale

Tanzanite: The rough stone and a polished stone. -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Tourists to Africa, like Kim and myself, are valued for the dollars they bring. Knowing that made it easier for me to understand the royal and polite treatment we received at all the places we stayed, and helped erase the guilt I frequently suffered for having so much while others had so little.

I would like to think that some of the kindnesses extended us was real, but I’m sure some of it was just for the generous tips both Kim and I diligently handed out. It seemed only just that we do so.

The Africa Adventure Company that had arranged our tour, meanwhile, had gone the extra mile to make sure we traveled safely and enjoyed our stay. This included providing us an opportunity to spend our money on souvenirs from sanctioned local shops and native co-ops. .

I realized this fully for the first time when our Ranger Safaris’ driver stopped at a place where they sold tanzanite, a rare gem first discovered in 1967 in the hills near Mount Kilimanjaro. Neither Kim nor I had ever heard of this brilliantly blue and violet crystal-like stone.

The mining of the gem was nationalized by the Tanzania government in 1972; and its original name of blue zoisite, was changed to tanzanite by Tiffany when the company began marketing the jewel.

Company big wigs thought a stone named after the country where it was found would sell better than one whose name sounded like “blue suicide.”

Monkeys by the side of a road were a common sight in Tanzania. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

According to Wikipedia, “the mining of tanzanite nets the Tanzanian government $20 million annually,” while retail sales, mostly in the United States, total “approximately $500 million annually.”

The largest tanzanite stone discovered, 252 carats and known as the “Queen of Kilimanjaro,” sits in a tiara owned by Michael Scott, Apple Computers’ first CEO.

I found the tanzanite trivia fascinating, but wasn’t interested in owning one. Both Kim and I, after noting the cost of the jewelry, agreed we would rather spend our money on more travel instead.

Next Episode: Coffee Plantation Lodging

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A Colorful First Glimpse of Tanzania

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on June 28, 2011| 1 Comment »

“At dawn in East Africa the sky bleeds raw swatches of color … the sun rises with passion, like a reckless dangerous lover. It ignites the world in reds and golds and vaporizes cool mists collected overnight. Within minutes the passion burns itself out.” –David Ewing Duncan

African Safari: The President Passes By

An African sunrise, enough in itself to warrant traveling to the Dark Continent. -- Photo by Pat Bean

As I look over the notes I took about the drive from the Kilimanjaro airport, through Arusha, to a coffee plantation where we were to spend the night, I find myself almost as overwhelmed again as I was observing it originally.

Color was everywhere. African men and women on bicycles wrapped in blue, red, orange and purple robes making their way over packed red earth. A pickup truck with a gigantic load of yellow oranges bouncing on the rutted road ahead of us. Grey burros plodding beside the road with green leaves of some sort loaded on their backs.

The banana truck -- Photo by Kim Perrin

There were small boys, whom I thought should have been in school, herding cattle and goats; and women in long dresses walking purposefully with huge bundles on their heads, sometimes with an empty-handed man walking ahead of them.

I watched, and smiled to myself, as a man pulled a load of squawking chickens down from the top of one of the smoke-belching over-packed buses we frequently passed.

And I was amazed at the way our Ranger Safaris driver weaved in and out among traffic and people. I was sure he was going to hit something or someone. But he didn’t. Even when a car decided to create a passing lane down the middle of our narrow two-lane highway and we passed him three abreast.

From my journal -- Photo by Pat Bean

But the strangest thing of all was when a bully of a policeman came along and made everyone pull off to the side of the road. Our driver, who was on the cell phone at the time, didn’t respond quick enough and so was singled out for a Swahili chastising.

Kim and I sat unusually quiet during the confrontation, wondering what was going on. .

A few minutes later, a pickup truck with armed guards standing in the back passed us, and soon traffic was back to its chaotic normalcy.

“That was the Tanzania president,” our unfazed native driver said.

Next Episode: African Tanzanite

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Flying Over Untamed Landscape to Adventure

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

African Safari: From Nairobi to Kilimanjaro

This is a view of Mount Kilimanjaro that Kim and I did not get to see. I post it so as not to disappoint readers, including one who was looking forward to seeing it,. The Wikipedia photo was taken by Muhammad Mahdi Karim.

Our plane to Tanzania from the small Wilson airport on the outskirts of Nairobi was a Twin Otter with single seats separated by a narrow aisle that held much of our luggage. It was a bottleneck one late-arriving passenger had to stumble through to sit down.

The aircraft’s non-uniformed, Anglo pilot, a grin on his weathered face, twisted around and gave us our flight briefing. He ignored the luggage. It was as different from our KLM attendant’s memorized agenda on our flight to Africa, as our scrumptious breakfast at the Norfolk was to the in-flight meal we were served in a paper sack on boarding.

The entire lunch consisted of a slice of zucchini, a slice of carrot and a leaf of lettuce on a miniature hamburger bun.

The meal reminded me of the sign noting that millions of Kenyans lived in poverty that I had seen on arrival in the city. Just how thankful some people would be for just such a meal was impressed even more on me as the plane flew over an area of Nairobi where salvaged crate box homes were crowded on top of one another.

I decided right there and then that there would be no complaints from me during my stay in Africa. Kim had the same reaction.

Meanwhile, my seat near the front of the plane gave me a pilot’s view of the 50-minute flight. I could easily tell I was not flying over the United States. The landscape below lacked the tidy borders of fences, parallel streets and plowed fields that consume Americans’ sense of tidiness.

But by my own personal criteria and desire for adventure, today’s flight was perfect – even though Mount Kilimanjaro was hidden by clouds, both from the air and when we landed at the tiny Kilimanjaro airport near its base.

“Perhaps it will be less cloudy tomorrow,” said our pilot as he bade us good-bye. I think he was more disappointed than his passengers. Kim and I were already thinking about our  next leg of the day’s journey, one in which all traffic rules, if there were any, were broken.

Next Episode: The Chaotic Drive to Arusha

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