Have Your Cake and Eat It Too?

After an incredible week, dotted with a few setbacks (i.e. cold morning bucket showers and Deet soaked clothes), we are off to Zanzibar. It should be another wild day of travel....as the anticipated trip will include 3 hours by car, 2 hours by plane, 1 hour layover and then 2 more hours by car! While this does not sound too appealing now, everything I read about Zanzibar describes this island as a perfect complement to a rugged safari...a way to basically have your cake and eat it too.

Check back for the unadulterated review....

The Big, the Ugly and the Small....

At this point, I think it would be helpful to stop and share a checklist of some of the highlights that we have seen thus far.

In safari speak, many people travel to see the "big five" animals which include lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards and cape buffalos. I've already included our leopard sighting, but here are the other five. According to our guides, the rhino and the leopard are most difficult to spot. In fact, the black rhino is listed as being critically endangered on the World Conversation Union's list! The good news is that the black rhino population is feebly increasing...though the process is extremely slow.

There is also another list playfully dubbed the " small five." We only witnessed one of these tiny animals, and I was not able to photograph it, because we were too far away. However, we did catch a quick glimpse of a BUFFALO weaver! All of the "small five" are tiny, and earned their names because they contain part of the big five's nomenclature, so you have the ELEPHANT shrew, RHINOCEROS beetle, LEOPARD tortoise and the ant LION.

Finally, many people lovingly refer to the "Ugly five" as the hyena, vulture, wildebeest, wart hog and maribou stork- nature's more aesthetically challenged creatures. We saw all five of these animals, though I thought the wart hog (aka pumbas) were quite cute! On the other hand, I have always hated hyenas, perhaps because of the "evil" role they play in the Lion King. I will say, however that after learning more about these animals, I have a newfound respect. According to Eric, they are critical to the ecosystem, not only because they scavenge, but they are the only animals that can digest bones, really proving their ability to serve as nature's clean up crew.

Serengeti Sunsets: Bringing New Meaning to the Adage "a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"

Ever since a trip to Argentina last year, I've tried to avoid photographing scenery shots while traveling. After this trip to South America, I showed my family some of my snapshots from Buenos Aires' famous La Recoleta Cemetery. 100+ photos of tombstones later and not only had I worn everyone out, but I could never shake the ridicule that accompanied my lack of "artistic vision." Point taken, perhaps, as in revisiting these shots, they are, admittedly, a little tired.

With that debacle in mind, I knew it was risky displaying this montage of Serengeti sunset shots. Nevertheless, the brilliant hues that the setting sun painted were just too breathtaking to pass up. Each night we spent in the camp, we would head out just before sunset, armed with our cameras and a few snacks, to peacefully observe the setting sun. Other than a few wildebeests there was not even another human or car in sight!

I couldn't help but muse about how different this routine was from my one at home, which usually consists of sinking into our couch, shades drawn, and becoming mesmerized with a Law & Order marathon. The stark contrast once again reinforces my conviction in our decision to vacation here in Tanzania.

Rare Sighting!!

The tsetse flies are annoying and pesky, but I would encourage them to bite away if we could have the luxury of seeing a leopard every day! According to our ranger, Mohammed, most leopards (this one was a female with her male baby), stay in the trees during the day, and only come out at night to hunt. They are incredibly shy creatures, and spend most of the day out of sight. In order to get this shot, we idled in the tall grass for almost 45 minutes. Every time we would turn the engine on, it would startle the mother and she would dart into the high, shaded rock formation.

These animals are so beautiful-- it makes me sad that they are poached! Despite some of the Government's efforts, according to our rangers, it is an extremely difficult practice to regulate given the sheer size of the territory that must be monitored. Once you observe one of these creatures in such close proximity, its beauty and "personality" are truly impressive and I can't imagine hunting such exotic creatures.

How to Survive in the Serengeti

We tried to pack for this trip adhering to the recommendations of several more experienced travelers by consulting sites such as GoAfrica and Uyaphi and Ehow. We purchased space saving compression bags, located long sleeve khaki colored shirts embedded with sunscreen, and even received a pair of binoculars as an early wedding present!

We had also heard from several friends that the mosquitos could be a problem. Given the FAA's liquid restrictions, we each packed a 3 oz bottle of bug repellent (with Deet). In spite of our best efforts, no one properly warned us about the challenges of tsetse flies. Matt almost had a heart attack when Mohammed told us that without the proper treatment, a bite from one of these flies could be fatal.

For instance, Mohammed related a story to us about a friend who was hired by the Government of Tanzania to clear roads through a part of the Serengeti National Park that had caved in due to flooding. To accomplish this task, the friend had to work through the rainy season, high time for the Tsetses, and on account of the multiple bites he received, he had to be airlifted via a "flying doctor" to a better hospital in Europe to be treated. Crisis averted, but this did not quell our anxiety!

Wedding Waltz Lessons Pay off: Dancing with the Masai

On our way to the Crater today, we asked our ranger, Eric, to stop by a Masai village. Here I am with Daniel, inside the camp, a few miles to the south of Ngorongoro. Daniel was one of the few members of the Masai village that was able to speak English. He took us around the camp; which consisted of rather crudely constructed huts, made mostly from twigs and cow dung, with a separate penned area for some hungry looking cows.

I felt very self-conscious, not only of the stark differences in how we were dressed (we were freezing and had several layers of clothes on; whereas the tribe members all had bare legs and arms) and also felt that this visit was slightly exploitative. Our mandatory entrance fee of $60 is not only this tribes' main source of income, but they also share the proceeds with other tribes who are not located near well-traveled tourist areas. I was interested in learning more about how the Masai lived, but felt that this also doubled as a tourist trap ( as there was also a high level of pressure to buy handmade trinkets from the women of this village).

We were invited to participate in a ritual dance that consists of chanting and jumping. I would've hopped in, but only men participate, leaving Matt on the hook to join the festivities. I tried to contain the case of the giggles that this spectacle provoked, but to no avail:

We left Boston to escape the cold...

...but we are sleeping with an electric blanket here in the Crater! The "winter" season typically runs from June to August. Particularly in the Crater area, however, the temperature drops at night (a lot and can get below freezing) and I found myself loading up with double socks and all the long sleeve layers I could find. We hear the Serengeti will be warmer (and are hoping), although the only upside of the cool temperatures is that it stamps out any bugs!