Karatu to Arusha for our last few days

 We had a lie in this morning as Alladin didn’t pick us up until 10. Breakfast was fine but we decided to skip the lunch box and arranged to have a local lunch in Arusha with Alladin.

We asked Alladin to stop at a souvenir shop as we thought we might like to buy something to commemorate this trip and our 40th Wedding Anniversary. However having had a look around we decided that everything had a ridiculous price tag and really there wasn’t anything we wanted. We will print off some photos to put on the wall once we are home.

When we got to Arusha Alladin picked a restaurant he knows well which wasn’t far from Researcher’s Rest where we would be spending our last couple of days. We ordered chicken, chips and bananas which all came fairly promptly and was tasty.

Alladin dropped us at Researcher’s Rest about 3pm where we were welcomed back by Joseph. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, chatting with other guests and enjoying dinner.

The follow day was actually our 40th Wedding Anniversary. We had a leisurely breakfast and the spent some time on video calls with our daughter and her husband and our son and his wife.

Now….. when we first started planning this trip we asked Ben at eTrip Africa if he could recommend somewhere for us to go this evening for a nice meal with a few Tanzanian friends and he suggested we do it at  Researcher’s Rest and arrange the menu with Eddie and Joseph.

As the time got closer to our trip we began to wonder what would happen if other guests were staying that night (it’s not a very big place) but when we asked Ben he said that at that time they didn’t have any other bookings for that night so now he would just block it out so we would be the only people there. This sounded great to us and a wonderful offer.

We arranged with Eddie and Joseph to cook a Swahili meal that we and our friends would all enjoy. Robert our long standing friend from ACTT (people who have read my other blogs will know who he is) and his wife arrived about 5.30 so we had time for a really good catch up. I had told Alladin and his wife we would eat at about 7, however they were a bit delayed and at about 7.20 Eddie announced that “the chicken was in the danger zone” (which Pete thought was hilarious) so we decided to eat….at which moment Alladin and his wife arrived.

We had a great evening with fantastic food (I am annoyed I forgot to take any photos of the food) and then champagne and a lovely cake that Eddie had made. What a great way to celebrate our anniversary and our wonderful trip.

The following day we didn’t do much, just chatted with new guests who had arrived. Eddie cooked another great meal and then we had an early night.

The following morning we were up at 3am to travel to Kilimanjaro Airport for our flight back to Heathrow via Nairobi with Precision Air and Kenya Airways. Both flights were good and we had a smooth journey home.

Central Serengeti to Karatu.

 This morning was our last game drive. We said goodbye to Rae and the staff at Tanzania Bush Camp and were on our way by about 8.

After the storm last night the roads were once again very wet and muddy. Sightings included some really cute dwarf mongeese, a serval cat (not a great photo), a jackal, a large group of really lively elephants. The elephants were great and we stayed with them for ages.

About 11am we headed to Seronera airstrip to use the washrooms before heading to Naabi Hill gate where we stopped for lunch. We then drove on around the crater rim, stopping at the view point for a few photos.

By the time we got to the gate for the conservation area the car was absolutely filthy, far worse than any other day. This was due to the large puddles in the road and cars driving quite fast through them in the other direction. 

We arrived at Eileen’s Trees in Karatu about 5ish. We had decided to break our journey back to Arusha here rather than try and drive the whole way back in one go and we were happy with that decision. It had allowed us to do a game drive this morning with no rush to leave the park and then we arrived at the hotel in plenty of time to have a relaxed evening before doing the rest of the journey tomorrow.

Eileen’s Trees was a pleasant place to stay. The room was large, the water was hot and the food was fine.

Central Serengeti - Day 3

 Today was a day of 2 halves.

We spent the first couple of hours in the very busy central area. We did have some good sightings including 2 giraffes fighting, a lion sleeping in a tree, a cheetah and then a group of lions under a tree with a giraffe on high alert close by.  The cat sightings were very busy. It had also rained overnight making the roads very muddy and slippery. At the cheetah sighting the cars were 4 deep and some were slipping all over the place, clearly inexperienced drivers not in control of their cars…..Alladin was not happy and quickly announced “I shouldn’t have come!!”. Unfortunately we were hemmed in and it was difficult to turn around but when an opportunity arose we quickly left. This was such a contrast to our experience with the leopard the day before. 

So heading away from the crowds we soon came across a lion who appeared to be looking for food. She was quite a way away to begin with but as she walked towards us we could see she was really quite thin. She was heading towards some zebra but in reality it didn’t look as though she was likely to make a kill. A much calmer sighting with only about 4 other cars.

Driving on we spent some time with some zebra, before stopping at the large hippo pools.

After this we drove north towards Ikoma and had a really lovely peaceful afternoon among the animals and birds, hardly seeing another car. We stopped under a tree for lunch and just soaked up the atmosphere. Sometimes you just need to take some time, sit back and really appreciate where you are.

As seemed to be the pattern by mid afternoon it got very dark again and by 4.15 the rain arrived with thunder and lightning and this time we couldn’t avoid it. This was the first time we had had to put the roof down on this safari. 

On arrival back at camp the staff met us with umbrellas and made sure we had hot water for a shower. 

This evening after dinner we were treated to a song and dance display by the staff and given a Kwaheri cake ( a goodbye cake) as we were leaving the following day. A bit of fun enjoyed by everyone in the restaurant. If you aren’t familiar with this type of thing have a look at the video……and the cake was good too.

Central Serengeti - Day 2

This morning it was really quiet at breakfast compared to the last couple of days. Alladin wanted to drive out to the South West of the park today and we were soon on our way.  

It was a fairly calm start to the morning. We were entertained by a group of banded mongeese, stopped at a hippo pool, spotted quite a few different birds and stopped at a picnic place with one of the nicest views.

Then late morning another guide told Alladin he had seen a leopard in a tree. We discussed whether we should go and see if we could find it and decided it was worth a go. The guide gave Alladin some basic instructions, the final one being “he was down that track in a small tree”. So off we went. It was quite a drive and we passed no other cars on the way. About half an hour later we were therefore driving down a track looking for “ a small tree”!!

We eventually identified what we thought was the correct tree but couldn’t see anything. We retraced ours steps but after a while came to the conclusion it had to be “that” tree. Again we searched the tree using binoculars and then suddenly Alladin cried out “I can see it!,”. After describing to us where it was Pete and I also both managed to see it.

While we were watching, the leopard moved around a bit and we got a better view.

Then after about 5 minutes he jumped down from the tree and started walking towards us and crossed the road right in front of us. Brilliant.

He then walked off into the undergrowth on the other side of the road. At this point Alladin called to us “Watch him. Don’t lose him”. He then drove back down the road to a junction and then drove back down the road on his right so we would now be on the opposite side of the undergrowth hopefully with the leopard walking towards us again. However……during the short drive Pete and I lost sight of the leopard!!

We stopped approximately opposite where we thought he ought to be and scanned the undergrowth. Once again Alladin suddenly called out “I see him”. I think he had laid down for a bit and was then only properly visible again when he sat up.

We then became aware that there was a group of mongeese around who having become alert to presence of the leopard had sounded their alarm calls and disappeared underground.

The leopard could obviously hear them as well and decided that they could be a possible snack so tried to find them. We watched as he wandered around and eventually found where he thought they were, under a mound, and settled down to wait and see if they reappeared. Meanwhile the alarm calls were still going on.

We had now been with him for the best part of an hour and were just debating how much longer we would wait (it was now well past lunchtime), when he must have decided to give up and so got up, crossed the road in front of us again and disappeared into the wilderness. A great sighting with no one else around. Probably our best leopard experience ever.

It was now gone 2pm so we drove to the picnic site nearby at Lake Magadi and had our lunch. A nice peaceful place. There were even some flamingoes.

However as we were finishing eating it started to get very dark and Alladin announced “Ok time to move!” and we promptly packed up and left.

Our afternoon game drive took us back in the direction of our camp whilst avoiding any of the areas where we could see it was raining. We saw more birds of course but also a hyena lying in the road and some elephants who had enjoyed their time in the mud.

By now it was looking pretty dark in all directions and we decide to head back to camp. It definitely seemed like the rainy season was starting here even if only in the afternoons. It certainly wouldn’t have been worth setting out on a late afternoon game drive today.

After showering we had a drink in the bar and met Alladin for dinner. A lovely day away from the crowds.