Tuesday, the Safari begins

We woke up just before the alarm went off at 7:30. I got ready and Frank had already started breakfast of eggs, bread, oranges and avocados. It was delicious once again. I made a last minute decision to bring my computer. I was worried that it would be better to haul it and never get an opportunity to write than it would be to have a chance and wish I had brought it.

We got Amhiri, the same driver who took us on our first outing, to give us a lift to the safari start point. Seconds after we arrived the Land Rover pulled up and Lupa and Anna were already inside. They are Russian and have been traveling for two weeks starting in Zanzibar. This is their first safari. The only downside of having two people who know the same language that you don’t share as safari mates is that they mostly talk to each other. It’s okay though because I am really focusing on enjoying the surroundings. 

Leaving Arusha is like a parade. All of the safari vehicles leave around the same time as a steady stream each passing each other and getting passed like leapfrog.

Man on a cell phone sits atop a
truck that wets to road to reduce dust.

As we are driving I notice the flora starts looking more and more like Dr. Seuss. We got to Tarangiri Park around noon. The restrooms are seats with plumbing so that was a change for me now that I’ve gotten accustomed to squatting – I think I’m almost getting good at it. There were a bunch of vehicles that arrived at the same time so all of the drivers were queued up at the registration to get in. It took nearly 30 minutes and then we were in. We saw lots and lots and lots of zebras (pumbamilia). The Russian young ladies were really taken with them and never missed an opportunity to get more shots. We also saw Gnu (Nyubu), wonderful River Bird nests, Warthogs (Ngiri). We learned that the word for river is tara and there are a lot of Warthogs in the area. Put the two together and get Tarangiri.

Baobab tree

We stopped for lunch and were surrounded by monkeys looking for any opportunity to steal some food. We met a group of young people who appear to be from Ireland. We’ve been essentially tailing them ever since and, in fact they are in the tents right near ours.

Monkeys try to steal lunches

After lunch we saw (pretty far off in the distance) a couple of Ostrich (mbuni) and then we heard of a lion sighting.

It was a whole pride of them walking down the hill, across the road and into the next field. It was great. This time Eric’s camera didn’t fail me.

We drove around some more seeing some giraffe (twiga) off in the distance and some elephants (temba, I think) up close.

Finally, it was time to go and take the long drive up to the camp. Along the way we stopped at African Galleria for some gift shopping. I was glad that I had already done that the day before. From some of the complaining I overheard from other customers it sounds as though the prices were really high. The one thing I did get to see was Tanzanite. I didn’t want to buy it – just see it.

Finally we made the trip to the camp. It’s really quite nice. It’s not much like the camping I think of. Yes, it’s in tents, but they are on cement blocks and have an outlet so I can plug in my devices. There are beds with mattresses, sheets and blankets.  I have a tent to myself so I don’t have to feel too badly about my snoring.

So, as it turned out it was a good idea to bring my computer after all. There is some downtime before dinner when we are settling in so I’m getting to write down my thoughts. My iPhone is nearly at 100%. Dinner is at 7:30 so I think I’ll have enough time to finish getting that to 100%, plug in the battery for Eric’s camera while I’m at dinner and then I’ll be good to go.

The driver doesn’t speak much English so he isn’t as engaging as others that I’ve had, but he’s very skillful at driver.

I’m finishing this entry a few hours later. It’s amazing what sitting down to a meal together can do for people. I asked Lupa and Anna if I could join them at the table and they were delightful. It turns out this trip to Tanzania was a big mistake. They had been planning a trip to South Africa since February. They had every day booked, planned reserved and set. When they got to the airport they discovered the one thing they had forgotten – a visa. Within three hours they had figured out which country they could go to that wouldn’t require a visa and they rebooked their trip with no idea where they would go or what they would do. So this whole trip has been just cascading events for them and they have had a wonderful time.

They also told me how they became friends in University. They were supposed to be roommates but they took an immediate dislike to each other. Anna suggested that they switch because she had a chum who wanted to be her roommate and Luba quickly agreed. As soon as classes started they found out that they were in the same section of about 18 students so they had to get to know each other and eventually became best friends.

We were also joined by a group of college students from Ireland. They are great fun. We had seen them at the park and ate lunch with them as well, but we didn’t interact much with them then. It turns out they have been volunteer teaching at a Masai Tuition school for the past five weeks, this is their first break and they go home on Monday.

I said good night and took a shower. While on my way to the bathroom I noticed that there was a fire going and some water dripping. It didn’t occur to me until the next morning that the fire was to heat the water for my shower.

It’s nine-thirty and almost exactly four days to the minute that I will see my beloved. Making friends has made it a little easier on me this evening.