African Adventure-
Safari –


Headed for the “game drive" after the Trek.Honestly, the Safari’s were quite tough bcoz of the heat and the dust, but rewarding and quite full of action. I had the luxury of a private Safari and therefore enjoyed it thoroughly.At Arusha, I started in the afternoon and the game drive went on till late evening. Drove around all day through the jungle, vast grasslands, mountains, lakes and lots of animals.The jungle, the breeze and the sunset made this an extremely pleasurable experience. Felt like right out of “The Lion King”.
In the other Safari’s, I didn't see a lot I hadn't seen before, and the drive was terminated by a typically huge thunderstorm. The dawn drive the next morning made up for it, with a misty sunrise and lots of animals to see. The game drive went on for hours and you are not allowed to get down of the jeep at all…I mean AT ALL…..
It is amazing how much control you can exercise over your bladder in such circumstances.Another long drive, but this time through the Western corridor of the Serengeti into the central portion. This was interesting but to be frank the Serengeti is so big there is not a lot of game to be seen. However the wide open spaces were worth the trip. The next day proved incident packed. Now the roads in the Jungles are dirt roads full of craters and potholes etc, and it had rained bucket-loads the night before. Suffice to say I was entertained by some great shows of "truck surfing" on several occasions. Amazingly we didn't get stuck.Sometime before lunch I rolled up to the visitors centre. The paved walkway had been closed as they had seen lions there early that morning. We were driving around when my guide, Aiesac hushes up and goes” Elephants”…Elephants?? Where?? “Right in front of u”… Where????
And then suddenly I saw huge elephant walk through the bushes.
To cut a long story short, this gave me a real feel for just how close a large animal can get without being seen.On the way out of the park I passed through the migration of Wildebeest and Zebra, which was extremely impressive. We drove for 20km through wildebeest as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road. The long afternoon drive up to the Crater was spectacular, through high mountains and scenic Masai villages (some no doubt real, some no doubt positioned for the tourists). Mist rolled down the crater walls forming cadaverous fingers in the ravines. The whole thing looked a lot like Scotland, but with lions and elephants. Later that day, I went to one of the local households and had a taste of homemade African beer (fermented bananas and some more ingredients).It stinks like crazy and has this thick layer of sawdust like substance which I tried real hard to blow away before I drank but in vain. The taste was not bad; it was rather good considering the stench.
My wild dusty sweaty Safari ended with a pleasant night in a comfortable hotel not very far from the national parks.
During the Safari, there were so many times when I wanted to stop and play in the dirt, find out exactly how rough the skin of the cattle is, see up close the giant termite mounds that i've already seen a hundred times from this distance - only on the tv and internet.
I must mention that I was completely taken in by the grace with which a Giraffe runs. I saw lots and lots of them and every time they could hear a vehicle they would run….not sprint with dust clouds. not run with speed..but just float in slow motion and before u know they are gone. Trust me …its not the slow motion button being pushed on discovery ,these lovely creatures actually move like that.
The Safari’s were probably one of the highlights of the trip, and I was happy just sitting on top of the vehicle taking in the scenery, although I also saw a fair old bit of game.

Pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/onlyiampreeti
Folder - Tanzania