Tanzania Trog Part 5: Central Serengeti
After two days in the northern part of the Serengeti we reluctanly left the amazing staff at nyumba and headed towards the central area of the Serengeti. In order to get there we had to venture out of the park and into areas owned by the villages. There was a major difference between the roads in the park and the roads in the villages. We spent the seventy mile journey feeling like our kidneys were going to vibrate out of our bodies because the roads were so bumpy. This is another thing to note about Tanzania, 80% of the roads are not paved.
I did not take many pictures of the villages or the people. Tanzania has strict rules on what you can and can't take pictures of, especially governmental buildings, and it's considered rude to take people's pictures without their permission. So, I figured better safe than sorry and kept my camera stowed away for the most part. The interesting thing about the villages is that as you drive by homes and schools scores and scores of children will run up to the road holding their hands out in the hopes that you'll give them money and yelling "Mzunga, mzumga!" which means "white people." The adults seemed to regard us much more warily as they walked by in their beautifuly colored clothing. I especially loved how women carried everything on their heads from buckets of water to books. Most of the houses we passed were thatched roofed and if they were concrete or brick they were completely open with no doors and the windows had no glass in them.
After a long drive we arrived at our nyumba and were very grateful for a little siesta before going on a nature walk. Our guide was one of the park rangers who carried a bow and arrow to protect us in case any animals were around. We didn't see any animals except for ostriches but we did see some animal tracks and enjoyed the sunset.
Wildebeest tracks
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11029015@N05/2569579530/" title="Wildebeest tracks by rosey27, on Flickr">
Sunset
We also discovered the joys of "black cotton soil." This is the name of the mud that became caked to the bottom of our shoes as we walked making us taller and taller. It took a major effort to remove the stuff from our shoes.
There are some major differences between being in the northern section of the Serengeti and being in the central section of the Serengeti. In north Serengeti we were the only people around. We literally didn't see anyone except for the park rangers and even at the camp we were the only people there. Central Serengeti is where all the tourists go. While we were the only people in the north in the central region we frequently had to compete with other trucks and tour groups for the best view of an animal. Another difference is that in the north you are allowed to drive anywhere, if we saw an animal in the distance we could drive off the road and get as close as possible to it, but in the cenral region law strictly prohibits driving off the road and you could be fined big bucks for doing so. We also had to share our camp with thirty other people which sucked but we weren't there much so it didn't really matter. Despite having to share our space and animal viewing it didn't take much away from the awe struck moments of being near the animals.
A baboon and her baby
Vervet monkeys
Tons of zebra
Vultures
Rock Hyraxes begging for food while we ate lunch
And dwarf mongooses doing the same
Water Buck
But the highlights of the two days we were in cenral Serengeti were...
An elephant and giraffe crossing paths
On every trip i go on i always have an "holy shit! i'm in (insert name of city or country here)!" moment. This was everyone in our truck's holy shit moment. Yep, we shed some tears at the elephant and giraffes hanging out together.
And a male lion twenty feet from our land rover.
It is definitely a heart stopping experience to have a lion that close to you growl and stare at you. My journal entry for that day reads: WE SAW A MALE LION TWENTY FEET IN FRONT OF US! HE EVEN GROWLED AT US!!!
We also did a hot air balloon safari while in central Serengeti but i think that deserves its own entry since it involves so much to explain the process of flying in a hot air balloon.
Please check out all my pics from central Serengeti since i've only posted a small number of them here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/11029015@N05/sets/72157605551042623/
I did not take many pictures of the villages or the people. Tanzania has strict rules on what you can and can't take pictures of, especially governmental buildings, and it's considered rude to take people's pictures without their permission. So, I figured better safe than sorry and kept my camera stowed away for the most part. The interesting thing about the villages is that as you drive by homes and schools scores and scores of children will run up to the road holding their hands out in the hopes that you'll give them money and yelling "Mzunga, mzumga!" which means "white people." The adults seemed to regard us much more warily as they walked by in their beautifuly colored clothing. I especially loved how women carried everything on their heads from buckets of water to books. Most of the houses we passed were thatched roofed and if they were concrete or brick they were completely open with no doors and the windows had no glass in them.
After a long drive we arrived at our nyumba and were very grateful for a little siesta before going on a nature walk. Our guide was one of the park rangers who carried a bow and arrow to protect us in case any animals were around. We didn't see any animals except for ostriches but we did see some animal tracks and enjoyed the sunset.
Wildebeest tracks
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11029015@N05/2569579530/" title="Wildebeest tracks by rosey27, on Flickr">
Sunset
We also discovered the joys of "black cotton soil." This is the name of the mud that became caked to the bottom of our shoes as we walked making us taller and taller. It took a major effort to remove the stuff from our shoes.
There are some major differences between being in the northern section of the Serengeti and being in the central section of the Serengeti. In north Serengeti we were the only people around. We literally didn't see anyone except for the park rangers and even at the camp we were the only people there. Central Serengeti is where all the tourists go. While we were the only people in the north in the central region we frequently had to compete with other trucks and tour groups for the best view of an animal. Another difference is that in the north you are allowed to drive anywhere, if we saw an animal in the distance we could drive off the road and get as close as possible to it, but in the cenral region law strictly prohibits driving off the road and you could be fined big bucks for doing so. We also had to share our camp with thirty other people which sucked but we weren't there much so it didn't really matter. Despite having to share our space and animal viewing it didn't take much away from the awe struck moments of being near the animals.
A baboon and her baby
Vervet monkeys
Tons of zebra
Vultures
Rock Hyraxes begging for food while we ate lunch
And dwarf mongooses doing the same
Water Buck
But the highlights of the two days we were in cenral Serengeti were...
An elephant and giraffe crossing paths
On every trip i go on i always have an "holy shit! i'm in (insert name of city or country here)!" moment. This was everyone in our truck's holy shit moment. Yep, we shed some tears at the elephant and giraffes hanging out together.
And a male lion twenty feet from our land rover.
It is definitely a heart stopping experience to have a lion that close to you growl and stare at you. My journal entry for that day reads: WE SAW A MALE LION TWENTY FEET IN FRONT OF US! HE EVEN GROWLED AT US!!!
We also did a hot air balloon safari while in central Serengeti but i think that deserves its own entry since it involves so much to explain the process of flying in a hot air balloon.
Please check out all my pics from central Serengeti since i've only posted a small number of them here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/11029015@N05/sets/72157605551042623/