Safari in the Serengeti - Hacuna Matata!

My Friends, if animals have ever inspired you or tickled your fancy in any way, you will be floored by the exhilaration of a Tanzanian Safari.

Iain and two of our friends, Laura and Eliot, just finished a six day safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We decided to do this a little in style and stayed at both beautiful hundred year old lodges with extravagant gardens to high end mobile hunter's camps on mountain tops. The first day of our trip we were able to spot everything from Zebra to Buffalo, Lions, Warthogs, Wildebeest, Elephants, Giraffes, Gazelle, Hyenas, Guinea foul, Hippos, Eagles, Ostriges and every kind of bird you could possibly imagine.

Our lodge, Gibbs Farm, was the most beautiful resort I have ever seen, and will likely ever stay at in my life, situated in the hills of the Ngorongoro Valley and surrounded by Masai Villages and Coffee Plantations. The rooms were exquisite in decor, the staff extremely hospitable and the views breathtaking. The staff at Gibbs Farm even baked me a birthday cake and sang to me in Swahili. That first day of the safari, which happened to be my birthday, was one of the most memorable in my life.

On the second day we ventured into a famous spot in Africa called the Ngorongoro Crater, which is a 20 million year old volcano that collapsed 2.5 million years ago and created a perfect, self contained, ecological system. Every African animal you could ever want to see lived here and there were baby animals everywhere. We had the pleasure of spending the day here and even having lunch by the hippo pool where an elephant and guinea foul came to hang out while we ate.

One of the best days of our Safari came when we decided to do an eight hour hiking safari through the Masai mountain range. We had two guides, one a Masai warrior from a nearby village who's name was Seatoi (pronounced See-a-toy) and the other was an armed park ranger who happened to be his cousin. It was a very unique experience walking through the mountain ranges of Masai villages, seeing how they live, crossing paths of wild animals such as baboons and seeing the magnificent landscape of Eastern Africa.

The most ethnic experience of our whole trip came this day when we came into a village that Seatoi's sister lived in. The Masai people live in small huts made of sticks and cow dung, with low roofs, no windows and one bed for all the children and one for the mother and father. Their only food is hot milk, blood, which they drink fresh out of their cows, and beef. That's all they eat everyday. Now normally tourist would simply pass through these villages, but since our guide's sister lived in this one, we were invited into her home to see how they lived and drink some freshly boiled cow's milk. We all graciously accepted these drinks, and although I have to say it was not the most edible flavour that has ever cross my lips, we were extremely pleased to have 'lived' with the Masai if only for less than an hour.

As we came out of the traditional Masai home, we realized that in the meantime all the women of the village had gathered and invited us to their market, which consisted of hand made beaded jewelry that the Masai women wear on their hands, feet, necks and head so famously. The four of us left with bracelets, necklaces and anklets each that were custom made by this welcoming Masai town.

On our way out we were followed for about a kilometer by many women and children, simply because they found us interesting to look at, and likely with the hope of selling us more of their precious jewelry. Within a couple of hours of walking from this village we came within a few meters of the peak of the mountain which overlooked the Serengeti. It's hard to describe the feeling of coming over a ledge and looking out into the vastness that is one of the greatest stretches of wildlife in the world. As far as the eye could see were animals of every type, but most impressionable were the millions of wildebeest and buffalo with their babies in front of us. After a good night's sleep we spent the day with mothers and baby animals, driving around, seeing what new creatures of this world we could find.

The highlight of our day was coming across a cheetah with her six baby cubs on a hunt for some food. Cheetahs only eat every two or three days so many tourists miss the kill. We got to watch the entire process of the mother finding food, chasing it, going for the kill, calling her children over (who were hiding in safety) and then enjoying some freshly caught Thomson Gazelle. As strange as it may sound, we also choose to eat our lunch while we watched this, because we wanted to say we sat there in nature, watching something so pure and natural while having lunch with a family of cheetahs.

One thing I will never forget is the day the four of us walked seven kilometers through the scorching heat to get to the Rift Valley, one of the most significant spots for archeological finds regarding the evolution of humans. We left early in the morning to make it there before the sun got too scorching and as we are passing some bushes, Iain jumps and screams 'SNAKE'. He was about four inches from stepping on a baby Egyptian King Cobra, one of the most poisonous snakes in all of Africa. If he had gotten bit, he would have been dead within 15 minutes. But, luckily his quick reflexes (and perhaps some angels that were working overtime) got him out of the way in time. The rest of the day was amazing and we finished the night with a great dinner, a campfire under the stars and a good night's sleep.

Other highlights included the shifting sands of Africa (from a volcano irruption), watching hundreds of thousands of wildebeest with their babies running in migration, a proud group of pregnant lionesses trying to find shade to deliver their cubs, the new birth of a baby Thomson Gazelle, and the sunrises and sunsets from each of our resting points.

We are now in Zanzibar, a tropical island off the coast of Tanzania. We have one week here and have already melted into the white sandy beaches, divine tropical warm waters of the Indian Ocean and have simply sat, reading in the sun with our books. Our plan is to move along the eastern coast of Zanzibar until we hit the south were we can do a boat tour to find dolphins and swim with them in the wild and visit the town of Stonetown, were we can do Zanzibar's famous spice tour. Zanzibar is also known as "Spice Island", so we have enjoyed some good food already and some local chai tea.

When we're back in South Africa next week we will be able to post some pictures. In the meantime we will simply sit back and enjoy some much longed for rest and relaxation in the tropical rays of the sun.