I woke up at 4.00 am, at least 2 hours before my alarm was due to go off.
Goodness knows why - My bed was super comfy, I was still completely knackered from the Fly Dubai trauma and I certainly couldn’t blame it on jet lag, as Tanzania is only an hour ahead of Spain. So I can only put it down to the sheer unadulterated excitement I was feeling to be heading out on my first game drive.
Deo - my guide, driver, font of knowledge about all things Tanzanian, and throughly nice guy, arrived at 8.00 to pick me up. As we drove through the busy and rather frantic streets of Arusha the first question I asked him was whether I could smoke in the jeep. He said he didn't mind at all, which was a huge relief and made me like him even more. We made our way to the Soul of Tanzania office for my mini briefing and there I was introduced to Ben, the director. He talked through my itinerary, offered a few guidelines.and gave me the opportunity to check through everything myself, just to be sure it was what we had agreed.
Deo and I made a quick pit stop at the supermarket so that I could stock up on cigarettes (no one wants to run out of these sort of essentials in the middle of the Serengeti), and then we were off.
It took a couple of hours to get to Tarangire, so we used the time to get to know each other a bit better. He has been a guide for over 20 years and promised me an amazing safari ( and from what I've experienced so far - he wasn't wrong).
As we arrived at the gate to the park, there were safari vehicles as far as the eye could see. The guides were all in the registration tent, doing the necessary paperwork and paying the required fees. ( the national parks are very very strictly controlled). The clients were all standing around showing off their cameras, sporting some of the longest lenses I've ever seen in my life. I thought my new telephoto lens was big (and heavy), but it looked rather pathetic alongside some of these monsters.
Deo assured me it was going to take a while to do the paperwork, so with his warning about the monkeys stealing things and giving you a nasty bite as a way of saying thank you, ringing in my ears, I set off to explore a little. I found the loos - yay, a small little gift shop with no prices on anything ( always a worry) and a huge staircase leading up to a pretty amazing viewing platform. The other safari goers, either hadn't noticed it or were worried that lugging their massive cameras up all those stairs could result in a major neck injury, so I had the whole thing to myself.
I took a few pictures, tried (unsuccessfully) to capture a panorama, scoured the landscape for animals of any description (also unsuccessfully) and managed to make it back down safely with my relatively tiny camera. I didn't see any monkeys and wasn't sure whether to be pleased or disappointed about this!
Deo suggested we have an early lunch before starting the drive as the picnic site at the gate was very pretty and by all accounts, the one inside the park was frequented by a whole hoard of food, camera and bag stealing monkeys.
So we hopped back into our Jeep, drove through the gate into the park, immediately turned right and parked the car. I knew ahead of time that Soul of Tanzania have no truck with boring old cold packed lunches, but I don't think I had really thought through what they meant by a proper hot lunch until Deo started to unpack the giant hamper.
Out came a tablecloth, table mats, large steel plates, wine glasses and cutlery, and stay warm containers containing, rice, pasta, vegetarian curry, a beef dish for Deo and fruit for desert. The never ending but totally essential water bottles ( all nice and cold from the fridge on board the jeep) appeared next, followed by........... a lovely cold bottle of White wine.
As we tucked in to our feast, the people at the other tables kept glancing over longingly as they munched on their sandwiches and sipped on their little juice cartons.
I just couldn't help feeling a bit smug. I know it's not nice to feel that way - but my lunch was delicious and it's not my fault if people don't do their research.
There was a little shop selling "barista" coffee ( very enterprising, these Tanzanians), so I thought that would finish our meal off perfectly. Deo offered to make me one ( how - where?) but didn't have milk, so I bought us both one instead ( seriously - it was the least I could do).
Once everything was packed away, we were off and I was about to experience a totally incredible afternoon.
The hardest thing about a safari is stopping yourself squealing and hopping up and down with excitement every 5 minutes, so when we saw our first animals, impalas very close to the track, I hadn't realised that any display of over excitement, is likely to send them hurtling away to take cover.
Fortunately I'm a quick learner, so when Deo pointed out some wart hogs, I did my best to curtail my enthusiasm. The problem was I couldn't see them. and for the next couple of hours this was a reoccurring issue. Deo would point into the distance and say "look there's a - insert any type of safari animal you can think of here - " I'd look and say "nope can't see it". He would then give me directions by pointing out trees, bushes, termite mounds or any sort of landmark and then tell me to go up, down, right or left from there. The first time I finally found what I thought he must be pointing at, I gave him a hard stare - "are you talking about those tiny little dots barely visible with the naked eye?". "How on earth do you do that". "They are almost impossible to see, let alone identify what they are".
He gave me a grin and a little shrug and at that point I knew that Soul of Tanzania had selected the best guide on the planet for me.
As time went on, I did get better at spotting things in the distance and the fantastic binoculars provided by the company and my not so mediocre telephoto lens certainly helped. But I needn't have worried, the park belongs to the animals and they are perfectly at home walking right alongside or even in front of the many vehicles that frequent the park.
The most difficult ones to spot were the two cheetahs, way off and hidden in the long grass. After what seemed like hours of painful directions I finally saw them but only with the super dooper binoculars. I definitely couldn’t find them with the camera + 300x lens and so this picture is entirely down to Deo.
So what wildlife did we encounter?
Well you can see for yourself ..........
It's hard to pick out my favourites, they were all breathtakingly beautiful.
I adored the Black face monkeys who carry their babies on their back and spend time grooming each other - even their private parts and the baboons are fascinating to watch as well. They all live in big troops, so you rarely find solitary ones, which makes for very entertaining viewing.
But the elephants - oh the elephants. We saw loads - all shapes and sizes, feeding, having a bit of a spat, looking after their babies and most entertaining of all, proudly showing us their "fifth leg" as Deo so endearingly calls it.
The only fly in the ointment, literally, were the bloody tsetse flies. I'd read up on these painful little buggers and according to the internet they are most attracted to Blue and Black. So it is strongly advised not to wear these colours and being one who always follows the rules, my whole safari wardrobe consisted of Khaki Green, Brown and Beige attire. Well the tsetses we encountered towards the end of our drive, clearly don't have internet access and weren't aware they were supposed to leave us alone. Their sting really hurts and they even get you through your clothes. Mental note to myself- increase the amount of super-strength insect repellent to apply and spray it literally everywhere.
By the time we left the park ( more paperwork) I was feeling weary, very dusty and desperate for a shower and change of clothes.
Tarangire Simba Lodge is literally a few minutes drive from the main park gate. While completing this very short journey an Interesting thought occurred to me. We’d already discussed the fact that the park has no fences, barriers or anything else for that matter, so in theory, nothing to stop the animals wandering outside. I made a weak joke about them needing signs saying “elephants turn back”, (Deo laughed politely), but the reality was that our last sighting of some gigantic elephants had been minutes before we exited the park. Add that to our very close to the gate Lodge and I had visions of loud trumpeting outside my room in the middle of the night.
On arrival, we were greeted by smiling faces, a nice glass of juice and cold towels - presumably so the dust and grime covered creatures that had just arrived, could be recognised as actual humans.
There were also rather a lot of men with long sticks standing outside the main building which seemed a bit odd, but as no-one else seems to find this unusual, I didn’t ask why they were there.
I checked in and was presented with a key to my lodge emblazoned with the word Kiboko which means Hippopotamus in Swahili. I didn’t take offence, because I like to think the best of people and was really hoping they don’t wait until you arrive, take a good look at you and then put you in the room that best fits the bill.
Anyway, it was a long walk to my huge tent. Actually that’s a bit misleading because the only thing even vaguely tent-like about it were the canvas sides and roof. It had nice flooring, a massive 4 poster bed covered in pretty net drapes ( very important for keeping out the things that sting), one of the biggest bathrooms I’ve seen anywhere, let alone in a “tent” and most impressive of all, an outside shower and a lovely wooden terrace with fabulous views.
I was a bit overwhelmed. If you read the first blog in this series, you will be aware that I opted for the “no frills” budget accommodation and this room was better than some posh hotels. So far, so very very good.
By the time I’d got myself settled, put all the cameras, the phone and the laptop on charge (not as simple as it sounds) and reorganised my case and bags, the sun was starting to set.
So I popped outside to try get a photo and immediately spotted some large animals walking about 10 feet from my lodge ( I can’t call it a tent - that’s ridiculous). I managed to get a not very good photo and Deo later confirmed they were water buck…. I think!
I took some rather good sunsets pics ( even if I do say so myself) and then went back inside to change for dinner. I was determined to give the outside shower a whirl even if it was pitch Black out there. Fortunately the thoughtful owners had provided a light of sorts - the whole place ran on solar power, so I’m not going to complain and the best bit was the sunny day had heated up the water nicely.
When you get to 65 there are very few everyday events that can surprise you, but taking a shower outside, looking up at a Black sky filled with stars, and listening to the sound of insects and animals nearby, is a life changing experience. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Time was getting on and I had photos to review, dinner to eat and a blog to write so I quickly got changed, grabbed my laptop and phone and went outside.
Please remember that it was now pitch Black and my lodge was a long way from the main building, so as I fumbled around trying to find the lock on the door, I had no confidence whatsoever that I would be able to find my way - even with the torch they had helpfully provided.
It was at this point I realised why the guys at the entrance were there. Miraculously, one of them appeared, torch in one hand and big stick in the other, ready to escort me to the main building for dinner.
This service has nothing to do with guests getting lost in the dark and everything to do with stopping their customers getting mauled by lions or trampled by elephants. Very astute if you ask me. No business can survive their customers getting eaten while on the premises.
Deo joined me for dinner and as luck would have it, the Tanzanians are quite big on veggie food, so there were plenty of options for me and some nice choices for Deo.
We shared a bottle of wine and then went outside so that I could smoke and we could review the photos.
I’m going to fess up now. Deo is a keen photographer as well, so we had shared my camera and taken some great ones between us. He’s very good, but I’m proud to say I took some fab pics as well.
To date, we are both sitting in the front of the vehicle with the roof flap open and I’m the one standing up, sitting down and standing up again. However if there is great action happening on his side of the car, it makes sense for him to take the pictures. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Anyway, as we sat there oooing and ahhhing over the lovely photos, all manner of insects were dive bombing us and drowning in our wine. I don’t even want to know what some of them were, but suffice to say we are not talking about little flies or mossies. These were big buggers!
Deo had suggested a very early start the next day so we could do Lake Manyara park early, avoiding the full blast of the sun and the hideous tsetses. I thought this was a great idea so we said goodnight and after a few more fags, a glimpse of some elephants and hyenas right by the terrace, I headed off to bed. I was immediately joined by a different, young, stick wielding man, who escorted me back to my Hippo lodge.
As we came down the pathway, caught in the torchlight, were three zebras literally right outside my little terrace. Sadly, zebras are very shy and incredibly skittish, so they buggered off as soon as they were aware of our presence, but I was thrilled.
Once my guardian had departed and I was back inside my enormous tent/lodge/luxury accommodation ( call it what you will) I remembered I’d promised to WhatsApp my sister to let her know how my day had been. Unfortunately the wifi didn’t stretch that far and there was no way of letting the staff know I needed my protector back, so I just had to hope she wouldn’t worry herself into a frenzy and decided to try to get some sleep ready for my 5.30 wake up call.
If you’ve followed my previous blogs you will know that I always need “just one more cigarette” and I figured that if I turned off all the lights, sat outside on my terrace very quietly to smoke, the zebras might come back. They didn’t, and as I sat there, I remembered it was highly likely that a whole lot more than just zebras, would be out there in the dark. I scuttled back inside pretty quickly.
I could hardly keep my eyes open and with no internet connection, decided the blog would have to wait. I was so knackered, it probably wouldn't have made much sense anyway.
As I fought my way through all the netting and settled into my huge bed, I couldn’t imagine what the next day would bring, but couldn’t wait to find out.