Tanzania

Time continues to fly by & we are very conscious that there are still things we would like to do before we leave Qatar at the end of June. All the same, we are also eager to be home & to spend the summer with family & friends. We did manage a one-night camping trip last weekend with friend Zeta. We were on the coast about 80 km north of Doha & very much enjoyed the mild (low 20s) weather & the sound of the waves just outside our tent.

Our most recent "big" trip was at the end of March when we flew to Tanzania for a three-day safari. Our friend from Ottawa, Betty, came with us & for her & Pat it was a first time in Africa. For me it was a return to a continent that I visited many times for Amnesty International, although rarely to anything like a tourist spot.

So we set out on 31 March with a flight from Doha to Nairobi. Luckily we had a four-hour stop-over in Jomo Kenyatta Airport because we ran into our first (& only) hassle of the trip. Although we had sent money by telex transfer to pay for our tickets to Arusha with Precision Air, it turned out that the tickets had never been issued! No amount of talking (& showing copies of e-mails) could change things & we were obliged to pay (again) for tickets. This entailed withdrawing the equivalent of $1,000 from in ATM (93,000 Kenyan shillings, a big pile of paper money) & a tedious amount of waiting. Only when new tickets had been issued were we able to arrange for our checked luggage (which we had not seen because it was the far side of passport control) to be transferred to the Arusha flight. We finally boarded for the 45-minute flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport. There is no end to this saga because Precision Air has consistently refused all communication with us ever since & we are glumly resigned to the likelihood that we will never see our $1,000 from the original transfer.

Stunning views of Kilimanjaro surrounded by huge storm clouds & flashes of lightning from every direction greeted us as we landed & found the car that took us the twenty minutes to Rivertrees Lodge, where we stayed for the first & last nights of our trip. We were too tired to eat the fine food available but opted for "pub food" instead. A Tusker beer was a welcome end to the day. Next morning we were able to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings, have breakfast on the patio, & (for me) start my bird list for Tanzania.

Our driver/guide, Peter (a member of the Chagga tribe living in the shadow of Kilimanjaro), arrived at 9h.00 & we were off to Lake Manyara National Park. I won't tire you out with the names of all the birds seen during the next three days, but suffice it to say that Peter nicknamed me "Mr. Ndege" (meaning "Mr. Bird" in Swahili). He was quite knowledgeable about the birds which made things a little easier for me in identifying new sightings. The list for the trip was 110 species, about half of which I had never seen before. Lake Manyara itself is a haven for Greater & Lesser Flamingos & a wonderful sight (even for non-birders). So we spent a good part of the day driving & stopping to take photos (& videos with our new camcorder) of the scenery & wildlife. Zebras, giraffes, wildebeests (otherwise known as gnus), warthogs, impalas & gazelles, baboons & monkeys, a pool full of hippos, & many elephants, made for an exciting day. We had a picnic lunch & then ended the drive at Tloma Lodge, just a short drive from the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area.

Although we were well into the rainy season, we had seen little rain but that night made up for it. Intense storms raged through the night & we wondered what sort of day would follow. Peter suggested that we head for Ngorongoro rather than take the road to Lake Eyasi which might be impassable. It turned out to be an inspired suggestion. We spent over six hours in the Crater & were amazed at the incredible beauty & majesty of the park. We drove along the rim, with only an occasional glimpse, through the heavy mist, of the crater floor several hundred metres below us. The collapsed volcano (caldera) is about 18 km. in diameter & is one of the most concentrated areas of wildlife in the world. It is truly a wonderful place to be & seems like a paradise on earth.

We made our way slowly down the rough track into the crater, stopping occasionally to look at animals (& birds) & marvel at the flat-top acacias that flourish there. The next few hours were memorable. Our first glimpse of lions was from a distance & it was only a couple of hours later that we saw lions quite close to our vehicle. There was even a distant view of a cheetah, slumbering in a deep patch of grass. More elephants, many zebras, Thompson's & Grant's gazelles, hyenas, jackals, & black rhinos, gave us an exciting day (to say nothing of the storks, cranes, bustards, & flamingos). We had a short encounter with two Masai (dominant tribe in the Ngorongoro area) during our lunch stop. Some bargaining ensued & we bought some jewelry, somewhat to the chagrin of Peter who said that they were not supposed to be selling stuff inside the park. We reluctantly made our way back up the side of the crater & back to the Tloma Lodge for the night.

Our last full day involved a long drive to the Lake Eyasi area. By now Peter was an avid birder & we stopped many times to look at new birds. Another stop involved helping tow a broken-down tractor up a hill much to the relief of the men (& the cattle being used to pull it) who were stuck waiting for help to arrive. Our goal, however, was a small group of Hadzabe (or Hadza), part of the approximately 250 "bushmen" left in this part of the world. They are true hunters & gatherers, with no fixed home, surviving on gazelles & baboons, & gathering honey which they trade for tools & clothes. We spent about an hour with them, trying to start fire with a twirling stick & shoot with one of their bows & arrows. It was a fascinating encounter & yet we felt that we were witness to something that is on the edge of extinction. There was some of the same feeling with many of the majestic wild animals which are steadily being reduced in number in a world that is increasingly hostile & insufficent for their survival.

The trip back was quicker (no birding) & we returned to Rivertrees Lodge for our last night in Africa. We met the owner/manager, a dynamic & somewhat eccentric German whose father had owned the lodge when it had been a coffee plantation. She has been running it for thirty years & is involved in many projects supporting the local community in various ways. Martina Trappe is an institution in her own right & an interesting encounter to end our holiday. We left early next morning (Easter Saturday) for the airport & returned uneventfully (thank goodness) to Qatar. A superb three days in the heart of the Rift Valley of East Africa.

Now the weather is turning decidedly warm, although there were some showers of rain last night. Daytime temperatures are regularly in the 30s & we will see that rising slowly over the next couple of weeks. We have one more "break" in May. It's only an extra day so we will have to try & make the most of a quick trip to Oman or Jordan. Meanwhile, in addition to the photos in the blog text, there is a link to see some of the other photos from Tanzania. Double click on the link to see the photos & captions. The movies will have to wait for some serious editing!