TANZANIA!!!

Our first day (Day 20) in Tanzania was spent as guinea pigs for Absolute Africa. Normally Absolute Africa would take a different route when crossing the border into Tanzania but they had decided that rather than to enter further South they would try enter in the Northern part of Tanzania – they did this for two reasons. One was to bypass the wet and boggy roads and the second was to try and catch some of the migration from the Serengeti into the Massai Mara in Kenya.

We left very early from Rwanda on our last day because we were explained by our guide that it was crucial that we crossed in Tanzania during the day and made it to our campsite hopefully before nightfall. He said that it wasn't really anything that we should be worried about but there had been some security issues at the border between the two countries and we just didn't want to take any chances that could be involved. After an uneventful yet long day of travelling we arrived in Tanzania in a place called Nyagikinazi. We were all pretty happy that we were there and what made it better was that no one had to cook dinner that night...it was being cooked by the campsite. The campsite was also in an area that was a possible security risk but was owned by a local policeman. Because we were rich 'Mzungu's' and we were generating a lot of money for the local area, we were guarded by some of the off duty policemen.


One of the officers took us to town and gave us a tour. The place that we were in was much smaller than most of the other towns we had previously stayed in so a large group of tourists walking down the one and only main street was quite a sight for the locals. Not only did hundreds of little children swarm to the roads to watch us and talk with us but so did the older crowd. When we got back to the campsite, there were so many children hovering around the gates that someone decided that it would be good if we played games with them.


It was a little hard to explain frisbee to a group of small kids that spoke very little English but after a couple of seconds of throwing the frisbee, most of them had it down pat. A large group of us played with the kids just outside the camp gates. The group continued to constantly grow and soon we had two to three large groups playing. Rhesa had a group of the kids laughing hysterically as they tried to mimic her dance moves. They were even more pleased to watch themselves after from Claire's video camera (2 cool Aussie newbies that joined us in Rwanda).


As more and more kids joined in on the frisbee circle, things inevitably got a little messy. Some of the kids had not been shown yet how to throw it – so this meant that some of them would use all of their force to throw it to the person one foot next to them.

We played until it was dark with the group continuing to grow. It ended when the children's mothers came to collect their kids but not before one of the mothers roused them all into singing some songs for us. They sang one in English and then sang for us 'God Bless Africa' although there was no hand gestures in the second one. The songs got ended abruptly by one of the police officers as he told us politely but sternly we had to head back to the campsite because it was too dark. The policeman then proceeded to get really drunk and got into a fight with a local right next to us while we were eating – crazy, crazy, crazy!


The local woman did an excellent job of cooking our supper. We had the freshest chicken imaginable. When we were on our way to town, we passed by 3 locals all carrying two live chickens in each of their hands. We thought nothing of them until we were waiting to be fed and our stomach's were grumbling...you know the old familiar saying, “What is taking so long...are they killing the cows or chickens in there???” Well, yes, in this case they were and after they killed the chickens, they had to pluck and prepare the chickens. So although it did take a bit of time, we understood why. What really amazes me about the African woman are the way they bend. As we sat back to let our food digest, I couldn't help but notice the way they were washing up. They had a perfectly good and empty table in front of them but yet they still continued to wash and clean all of the dishes from the ground. And they do not bend they way we North American's would bend (basically kneeling on the ground hunched over in pain). No, their legs are perfectly straight, their butts are protruding outwards and their upper half is bent at a 45 degree angle. We continue to see this all of Africa and it never ceases to amaze me.


Our meal was great and shortly after we all headed to bed...well that was until Tom and Katie (not my Katie) found a condom in their bed. The place had looked a bit sketchy but I don't think anyone had thought it was that bad. Shortly after Katie (my Katie) searched our room and what do you know...she found a condom as well, now what are those odds??? Ours wasn't nearly as bad as the other because our condom was only opened and not yet unravelled. It was kind of ironical because when we showed up at the hotel there was a briefcase in our room and Katie asked the staff if it had been used – probably should have asked if it had been cleaned!


We decided that it would be funny to play a practical joke on a couple of the other newbies and some of those who were a little less liked (with the exclusion of Michael) and after getting them to open the door we hid a condom in their room. The prank didn't work very well but it was funny watching them check every inch of their room. Glen had them convinced that Katie and I had found our condom inside the pillow case so they were literally ripping their entire room apart. The last finding was a well used container of petroleum jelly right beside Glen's bed – what was this place???


We left pretty early in the morning (Day 21) to get to Mwanza by a decent time. Mwanza was a fairly dodgy looking campsite on the side of Lake Victoria. It was quite tempting to go and jump in the water by the time we had our tents setup but Kanyo shied us away from doing so by telling us that the lake is known for its crocodiles. It seemed weird that we were setting up our tents so close to the water if there was the possibility that a crocodile could jump out of the water and take one of us! I think maybe he was having a piss with us because he didn't seem to concerned or maybe he was angry at some of the lazy people and was hoping they got dragged away...jk. That night we also celebrated the one year marriage of our new Canadian Friends Mel and Brendan...they popped open a couple bottles of champagne purchased by the kitty and we all drank and toasted to them.


The next morning (Day 22) we decided to go for a run with Laura, Bilsey and Tom. I am not sure it was a great idea considering it was six in the morning but I think I always feel that way before a run (and actually, Katie had to drag me out of the tent). We had some trouble keeping up with the marathon runners and Tom and Billsey were actually running down the hills we had just come up so they could sprint up them again – crazy, crazy, crazy!


We headed from Mwanza to Ikama Camp in the ____ game reserve. Like usual, we arrived in the game reserve later than we were supposed to so we had to rush to set up our tents before nightfall. Kanyo had arranged for us to have a game walk with a couple of local guides. I am sure that everyone else was a little surprised when the guide showed up with two other people and no weapons. Well that is not exactly true, they had weapons but nothing more than a couple of clubs and bows and arrows. I am sure they were pretty experienced and knew what they were doing but I sure wouldn't have wanted to run into a pride of lions without any armed guards.


Our first stop on the game walk – which was literally a trek through the tall plains of grass – was to a tree that, “despite it looking dead was actually alive and only pretending”. This really cracked Micheal up and after that everything that looked dead was only pretending to be alive. The walk was too late in the day and I think everyone wanted it to be over once it started. That being said, our guide did manage to find a black Mambo (also known as a 'five stepper' because of their highly poisonous venom) hiding out in a small rodent hole. We tried to get above it to take pictures but once the guide told us that it was quite the jumper we were a bit timid, with the exception of Will who put his camera two inches from the hole. We also spotted some massive Safari Ant colonies and some extremely creepy looking spiders. We were surprised that the spider didn't get pissed off and try to bite somebody as four or five us tried non stop to take pictures of it from point blank range. Probably one of the highlights was shooting the security man's bow and arrow. The guide shot it first and then about six of us tried to see if we could match him. Jeremy did an amazing job (as usual) and beat out all of the other members ten fold. The guides could not believe that this was Jeremy's first time shooting a bow – all the girls were jealous of me...I was so proud. Jeremy, my hunter/gather fiancé! The game walk ended perfectly as the sun was setting with rainbows in the background.


Kanyo treated us to a traditional Kenyan meal of Ugali, beef stew and spinach (Katie was extremely lucky as it was her cooking night). I am not sure why it was such a funny night but I think Michael made it funny because he refused the traditional spinach (anything green and healthy was disgusting in his eyes) and when Rihannon put some on his plate he nearly lost it. His supper experience was then topped off when he got to the end of the line and there was no meat left (keep in mind that he was responsible for dishing out the meat servings...so, when he dished out the last of the meat, warning bells should have been going off in his head as he knew he had not yet been served - ???). Although we probably shouldn't have laughed at it him, it was hard not to. Sadly enough, this has happened on more than one occasion. When everyone goes to eat he is usually hanging back being lazy so when he finally gets there the food is gone or people are on having seconds. The worst case was one morning when he was too lazy to get food. By the time he mentally prepared to get up, the dishes were nearly done and the remainder of the food was thrown out – he got into a pissy mood that he was going to starve and that no one announced breakfast was over. I guess he did not hear the 1st or 2nd 'last chance' for food calls that the cooks do every meal. Yep...this was our Fitsy...but despite all this, we absolutely loved him!


After an uneventful night with no animal sounds we awoke (Day 23) and made our way (ten minutes) to the Serengeti National Park. We spent the full day driving around the park. In the afternoon we spotted a carcass out in the open sahara where shortly after we spotted the lions who had taken it down. It looked to be a Wildebeest but the lions were not eating...must have been either too tired, too full, too hot, or just didn't want us crowding around watching it eat. We stayed as long as we could but they barely popped out their heads and only did so when we pulled away. We headed further down the road and spotted hyena, jackal and a bunch of other smaller animals and then turned around to see if the lions were going to be more daring and show themselves. When we got back one of the lions was feeding but was staying very low to the ground so we couldn't see all that much. After giving up and making it maybe a half kilometer down the road the truck got stuck in some super deep mud...this seems to happen pretty often. Because of the angle of the truck (it looked like it was going to tip) we got out and tried to help rock it. After pushing from several angles, lots of digging from Robert and Kanyo, and some people getting seriously covered in mud, we managed to get lose. I have been stuck plenty of times in my life but never have I had to get out and push and at the same time watch out for animals that could munch on me for supper.


Our evening was a bit more eventful staying in the Serengeti park. We stayed at the Serenora camp site which was originally named camp six. I say this because at one point they changed the name of the campground because safari guides would come early and pay the park officials (bribe) so as not to have to stay in that camp. Supposedly, there is two different prides of lions that call that surrounding area home and at night tend to get very close and snarl at eachother...Kanyo once had 16 lions roaming around the tents.


After dinner and just as it started getting dark, Kanyo gave us the low down on politics in most of the Eastern African countries that we had visited. It is easy to see how perfect Kanyo is for this job after spending this much time with him. He can speak eight languages (most fluently), knows quite a few details regarding the traditions of quite a number of tribes, knows a lot about the politics in each country, knows the names and habits of most of the animals in the park, can name the vegetation and to top it off is an excellent cook (seriously...an excellent cook). The great thing about his talks is that they are not boring and they keep everyone around the fire interested the entire time (which very few of us can do). After about an hour of Kanyo talking we were interrupted by lights darting towards the bathroom. We all jumped up just in time to spot either a water buffalo or something of similar size walking around just in the bushes adjacent to us. This frightened a lot of our members and so every one worked together and cleaned up the campsite for the night. Kanyo ensured us that it was safe to come back to the fire once we were done. There was but a small few that were daring enough to settle back around the fire despite the sounds of the lions roaring in the distance. Because of the volume, it didn't seem possible but Kanyo reassured us that they were miles away. However, throughout the talk the lions continued to get closer and closer and started coming from both sides of the camp. Katie had not been feeling great and had went to bed a little earlier than myself but I stayed a little later listening to stories around the fire. When I finally went to bed I had intended to do some typing on the computer. I remained diligent for about twenty minutes but when I began to hear the sounds of lions through my headphones I figured it would be a good idea to turn off my lights. I didn't want to be that one stupid guy that gets talked about later... “so we had this one guy that was typing on his computer when a lion came and”.... you get my point.


You could tell that everyone was a little more fearful at this campsite because in the middle of the night it seemed that people were waking up because they had to pee but just waiting for others to do the same. When we woke up we heard a couple of others talking and figured it was Rihannon and Glen. We turned our lights on and it was immediately followed by the others. We were like a pack of Impala's because we all watched intently and shined our lights looking for the slightest danger while we were going pee. Unlike how slow we had been to actually get out to go pee, we were back in tents seconds afterwards we were finished.


Our morning game drive (Day 24) was cut short because shortly after we started we ran into another overlander truck stuck in the mud (go figure!). After getting them free from the mud we ourselves were then stuck in the mud and spent an hour and a half trying to get free. The men went to work at first and there was a wall of us rocking and pushing the truck. We laughed as we looked over our shoulders and watched as all of the girls sat there, laughing and taking pictures (with the exception of my Katie, who was feet deep in the mud with all of us). We were very squished for room and at one point, Alberto (newbie from Chile who did not like to get dirty) started to push on the back of my head. So...here I was, in my groove, rocking the truck to my own rhythm when all of a sudden, I feel this force from behind. I think he actually was more of a detriment to me then a help but he sure did give the entire group a great belly hurting laugh. Once we got free, we changed directions so as not to get stuck again and besides some lions in the distance and a very long line of zebras crossing the road we never managed to see many animals. We are always learning new info and found out that Zebras and Wildebeest are good friends because the zebra can see well and is complimented by the good sense of smell of the Wildebeest. However, the Wildebeest is one of the stupidest animals followed closely by the warthog. They both will run into danger and escape only to forget about the danger five minutes later and walk right back to where they came from...easy food as Kanyo would like to say.


Our next stop was the Ngorogoro crater where Katie and I had had our best animal sightings thus far. Katie and I were a little scared about the temperature at night because the last time we had been there it had been very cold and now it was officially winter here in East Africa. It was nothing less than we expected and five minutes after getting there everyone was wearing their long gear, long underwear, hats and mitts...and that is a bit strange for Africa. Katie was one of the first to go and shower and she was hoping she would have a hot shower but sadly for her, it was freezing cold! For those of you who know Katie, she is a complete 'freeze chicken' and apparently she was screaming to Jemma (in the shower next to here) as the water was hitting here. I had the luxury of having a hot shower as there was another set of showers on the opposite end of the camp that Katie was unaware of. I think she was ready to kill everyone when they were complaining about how hot their shower was. Our biggest concern and highlight was getting the fire started until Glen and Rihannon let us know that they were going to be coming along to climb Mount Kili with us. We had been working on them for so long and had only got a yes out of Glen. We were practically jumping around with excitement and immediately called Abraham about our new recruits. We hadn't been worried about the short notice of one day because it meant more business for him and we definitely knew he would find a way to make it happen.


After a cold night we awoke at 4:30 in the morning (Day 25) to even worse conditions than what we had had during the night – fog obscured all of our view. The conditions upon the top of the crater didn't seem to matter because as we descended into the crater in our small safari jeeps, we passed through the fog. The crater was by far the best game viewing we had done while on the overland tour. We got a great look at a cheetah lying in the grass no more than twenty feet from the truck, we witnessed Wildebeest's having sex, hyenas running past us with a bird and close spottings of lots of other animals. By 11:30 we left the crater and were all happy to do so because we were super tired from our early morning. Our jeeps met up with the overland truck and after a quick lunch we were on our away to Arusha to look at some Tanzanite. I don't think Katie and I had been seriously considering buying any Tanzanite but after a speal by the dealer and a look at the stone we were sold. Supposedly the only place in the world where this blue Tanzanite has been uncovered is in Tanzania and only near the city of Arusha. Also it is of limited supply so in less than twenty years they predict it will be gone and the price will rise higher than that of diamonds. Katie and I decided that it would be nice to have it put in her engagement ring as it would always be reminder of our amazing and life changing trip (and engagement) while in Africa.

When we arrived at the campsite we met up with the new truck that we would joining for the rest of our journey to Cape Town and our new guide...but Robert, our driver, would still be with us. We didn't have much time to enjoy meeting the new recruits our learning about the new truck. All of our stuff had to be located, organized (had to arrange what we needed for Kili and what would be kept in the new truck) and be ready to be picked up by Abraham, who was picking us up a couple of hours later. Although, it was painful, we managed to finish with an hour left to relax. Because of the short notice of the climb, we had not been able to organize warm clothes on our own – I mean...this is Africa! Luckily, everyone on our trip were super helpful and donated socks, long underwear, sweaters, toques, mitts and anything warm they had. After a delicious BBQ, we had to say “see you later” to majority of the group members and our “goodbye's” to a special few that we would not be travelling with again such as Michael and Kanyo.