Serengeti National Park

Hey Guys! 

Our first adventure in Tanzania was a combined safari to Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara National Park. We went for 5 days, and had such a great time spotting for wild life on game drives. There were also lots of interesting birds, which was an added bonus. 

This blog will be all about the Serengeti and Lake Manyara, and the next one will be about Ngorongoro Crater. 

Our first day was spent enjoying the Lake Manyara NP. We drove through some pretty lush rainforest first, spotting monkeys and birds. Then we came to the lake, and as you can see there were some buffalo relaxing in the heat of the day. 

At a viewpoint over the lake, you can just make out an elephant drinking down at the river

This is a Makonde carving we saw in a really fancy souvenir shop. All of these little carvings were done from a single ebony trunk, and formed one solid unit. It was valued over $50,000 USD!

The next morning we took a long, dusty road to get to the park entrance. Siringet means 'endless plain' in the Maasai language, and it is easy to see why they called it that. It kind of reminded me of Grasslands National Park in Canada, but with very different wildlife!

Here we are at a kopje (rocky outcrop), checking out the view over the Serengeti. 

We saw a pride of lions snoozing in the grass almost immediately after entering the park. The lions are super lazy during the day, just rolling around like a house cat. 

Kori Bustard. Don't worry folks, there will be plenty of bird pictures

That night we went for a game drive to an area that was rumored to have a leopard hanging out in a tree. 

Whenever there is a possible big cat sighting, you will not be alone! Lots of other Land Cruisers flock to the area, because EVERYONE wants to see the lions, leopards and cheetahs. 

Here is a shot of the leopard in the tree, taken through the binoculars. Jared and I have to work together to steady the binoculars and put the iPhone up to the eyepiece. All because we are too cheap to buy an expensive zoom lens. It's a couple's building activity, though. 

That night we drove through some big herds of buffalo on our way to the tented camp. 

We had a fantastic sunset that night

This was where we stayed for two nights while in the Serengeti. It was super beautiful, and you could hear the hyenas 'laughing' at night. 

The next morning, we went on another game drive through the park, looking to see what we could find. 

Marabou storks in the acacia trees 

Our guide took us to a hippo pool, and we watched them cruise around- challenging each other with wide open mouths, and spray defecating. 

We saw some beautiful scenery as we cruised around

The theme of the day was definitely elephants. We saw a herd that numbered over 100. There were lots of nursing babies and big bulls. 

We spent some of the afternoon exploring the kopjes, as our guide told us this is a favored hang out spot for the lions. 

That afternoon we came across another lion, this time sleeping in a tree. The male got up and went for a little trot right beside our vehicle! 

Of course, there was an audience! 

Lioness in the tree

Lovebirds

Lilac-brested roller, my favourite bird in the Serengeti

Dik Dik 

Agama lizard

Ostrich

Cerval cat

Banded mongoose

Hartebeest

Topis

Hornbill (this is what Zazu was in the Lion King)

Maasai giraffe

We encountered many a troupe of baboons on the road

It was really cute when we got to see the babies riding on their mom's backs

From the Serengeti, we headed back out to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. From this map, you can see that the wildebeest are usually in this area having their calves in February, and that was totally the case. We saw huge herds of them, and lots of the calves still had a crusty umbilicus, so they must have been born in the last week or so. 

The zebra like to follow the wildebeest around. They can see far, but the wildebeest smell better, so they make a good team for watching out for predators. 

On the way out we saw some lions hanging out under the same bush as when we had come in. Just chilling out, having a great time. Big Nmoranges. 

Until Next Time! 

Rwanda

Hey Guys!

After a really great time in Uganda, we had a short and sweet trip to Rwanda. We really enjoyed this country, as it is really different from the rest of East Africa. Other travelers joke that it is 'Africa-lite' because things are very orderly, clean and they run on time. We also didn't mind that the food was fantastic and we were spoiled for choice. After weeks of matooke (stewed green bananas) and boiled meat, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. 

Our first stop was to the capital, Kigali. As we walked along an actual sidewalk on our way to go for supper, I got the feeling we had definitely entered a different country. 

We went to a fantastic Ethiopian restaurant. The injera is the taupe coloured 'bread' in the middle. You rip off small pieces of this and scoop up all the assorted delicious things along the edge. Jared and I shared this massive plate between the two of us, and were absolutely stuffed. 

While in Kigali, we also went for sushi, Indian and Rwandan. It fed my soul. 

One morning we visited the genocide memorial. When most people think of Rwanda, the 1994 genocide probably comes to mind. We visited the memorial to pay our respects to the horrors that occurred in this country, and also to be able to better appreciate the progress they have made in less than 30 years since the '100 days of madness' where over 800,000 people were thought to have been killed. 

From Kigali we headed out to Ginsenyi, which is on the shore of Lake Kivu. It was a really relaxing place, and we didn't get up to much. We did eat some more great food, go for some jogs (gotta train for Kili!), and enjoyed the vibe. 

There was a big outdoor concert one day. Apparently they were 'superstars from Kigali.' Jared went and checked it out, I had to have a nap. 

Every night as the sun set, the air was filled with the sound of thousands of fruit bats going about their nightly business. They may be hard to see from the pictures, but the trees were absolutely FULL of them. 

One morning we felt really ambitious and decided to go for a stroll along the Congo Nile trail, which isn't actually in the Congo at all. (Relax, Mom). It is named after the watershed, and it is a popular multi-day cycling trail. Aunty Penny, if you are reading this, I think you would really love it. There are lots of nice views from the road, and I managed to spy a few birds. 

Sunbird

Traditional fishing boats

We stopped and had delicious tilapia caught right on the lake

Jared wanted to include this photo because he said I 'looked really creepy in it.' So there's that. 

As you can see, we really didn't get up to much in Gisenyi.

We headed back to Kigali, as we had a flight to Tanzania coming up the next day. We visited the Hotel de Mille Collines, which was the inspiration for the movie 'Hotel Rwanda.' We chilled by the pool and had some drinks. It is really hard to imagine that this place would have been anything other than peaceful, but it was here that Paul Rusesabagina (the employee left in charge of the hotel during the genocide) hid hundreds of Tutsis, saving their lives.  

The next morning we visited the Inema Arts Centre. Here I am enjoying some abstract act, Jared's favorite. 

We hadn't quite got our pool fix, so we decided to head to the Manor Hotel to relax by the pool. We are too cheap to actually stay in places like this, but if you pay 3-4 USD to get in, you can use the pool and pretend you are fancy. 

One of the last things we did in Kigali was to visit Caplaki, a collective of artisan's shops. There was all manner of bric a brac here, but I found the masks to be the most interesting. A lot of them had been brought from Congo, but there was a good selection of many local and more distant tribes. Trying to keep them all straight in my head is quite a challenge. In another life, I will come back and obtain a degree in African history. 

We really enjoyed our time in Kigali, it was a very different change from Uganda. However, I feel so lucky to have been to both and have each experience for comparison. Next up, we are headed to Tanzania for a safari!

Until Next Time!