Paradise Found

After working for 3 weeks in schools, with hundreds of kids each day, and after bumping around the hot, dusty interior, we had decided that we would conclude our time in Africa with a few days on the beach. 

Zanzibar had long been on our bucket list. In fact, Zanzibar was on the top of my bucket list, having seen photos of white beaches and aqua marine water. However, the more we read about it, the less attractive it sounded. Busy and crowded with 1.5 million people, a plethora of shops, restaurants, vendors, disco’s, bars…

Our travel agent, Mambulu Safaris, offered an attractive alternative: Pangani. No one I asked about it had ever heard of it. But what we read online sounded just like what we were looking for: white beaches, palm trees and warm water.

Turns out it was a good decision to come here. Pangani is paradise found! There is nothing to do. Which is exactly what we wanted. We are in the lovely The Tides Lodge (http://www.thetideslodge.com/),  a perfect place to relax and enjoy solitude, or for families with children to come to the beach - although at high tide the beach disappears. 

Getting here is an adventure in itself: we flew from Arusha to Tanga on a tiny plane, with 6 people on board. After Tanga it was another 20 minute flight to Pangani. To our amazement, the pilot buzzed a dirt strip in the middle of sisal plantations. This told the local kids on their bicycles to get off the air strip. We landed on bumpy dirt and, under one tree, was a car waiting for us. No airport, or anything else. 

We have a spacious bungalow with immediate beach access. A king size bed, a large bathroom with a warm shower, lounge chairs outside on our own little patio overlooking the Indian Ocean. I truly feel like I’m in heaven…

The little restaurant serves meals and drinks: seafood straight from the ocean caught by the local fishermen. And piña coladas made from fresh pineapple and coconut.

We are forced to sit and read books all day! An amazing luxury… And if we really need to do something, we can swim in the bathtub-warm Indian Ocean or walk the beach and chat with local fishermen who are hauling in their nets. We watched some of them carve a new boat from a mango tree. Amazing! They hollow out this huge trunk with simple axes and tools. It takes 5 weeks to make a boat this way.

Or we can take a bike or a kayak if we want to do something. We are the only guests, at the end of the season, and revel in peace and quiet for a few days. 

There are, however, perils in paradise. The sign in our room reads:

“Sitting under coconut trees can be dangerous. We advise you not to lie under a palm tree as coconuts can cause serious damage, injury and even death.” There are further warnings against sun burn (I know, having turned 50 shades of red and brown), and jelly fish. So far though, we are surviving.

The entire resort, as well as the nearby village, seems to be biodegradable: walls, roofs - everything is made from local wood and braided palm leaves. The rugs, the placemats, the coasters, the soap dishes, even the tissue box covers are made from grasses or coconut wood. 

We watch local women walk the beach to gather anything for supper - perhaps some clams washed up in the weeds. They cut fallen palm fonds and stack them into bundles, to carry home on their heads to use for firewood or to fix the roof. Two little school boys walk the beach, on their way home every day. Each one carries a coconut on his head.

The waiter just walked from the restaurant to the beach where some fishermen were fishing. He picked something from the net, walked back and grinned “Calamari for lunch!” It doesn’t get any fresher than that. We’ve had nothing but fresh prawns, snapper and crab for lunch and dinner…

While The Tides Lodge is wonderful, I would check on the condition of the beach before coming next time. The sea is rapidly undermining the shore, eating away at sand and palm trees. We hear the high tide pounding all night and I worry at the rate at which the shore is disappearing.

And now, on the very last day of our amazing time in Africa, the wet season has arrived. Amazing tropical showers pour down once in a while, drenching everything. Time to go home.

In Search of Rhinos

In the Ngorogoro Crater

We left our lodge at 6 AM, driving along a cloud laden rim of the Ngorogoro crater. 

We had heard about and read about this legendary place all of our lives. To finally see it in person was pretty overwhelming.

The bumpy track descended quite steeply into the Ngorogoro Crater. 

Suddenly a large herd of wildebeest came spilling over the rim and down the slope. Like a dusty river, they stream down toward the white valley floor. Not all of them made it. 

We soon came across several hyenas who had caught one of the wildebeests and were tearing it apart, even before it was fully dead. Faces dripping with blood, they enjoyed their early breakfast. The sight is nearly enough to make you a vegetarian…

Hyenas with a fresh kill

We continued down.

The name Ngorogoro comes from the Maasai word for ‘clanging bells’, the sound made by the bells on their cattle. The Maasai here still have the right to roam and graze their cattle in certain areas of the crater. 

The crater floor teems with wildlife: enormous herds of gazelles, wildebeest, zebra and buffalo. We spotted first a few lone male lions and then a pride of some 14 lions lazing on the rocks.

We saw cranes, storks and birds of all sizes and colors.

Warthog families graze the plain and hippos wallow in the shallow waters. Elephants crossed the fields in search of grass and water. The place seems like a regular Noah’s Arc, but with many more than just two of each kind.

But the most amazing sight of all, in this specific place, came before too long. Only 45 black rhino’s live in the crater and we spotted 4 of them! We were so very lucky to see these enormous beasts lumber along. They came pretty close. Our guide said that he often is on trips where they are not spotted at all, or at a great distance. But we were so lucky that two of the rhinos came closer and we were able to take good photos of this rare, endangered animal, of which there only are an estimated 5,000 left in the world. When will people ever learn?

In the afternoon we hiked, accompanied by a ranger with a large AK 47 rifle, along the edge of the crater, some 2,400 meters above sea level. The crater’s edge winds along for 74 KM and is about 600 meters higher than the crater floor. Even from this height we could spot herds of buffalo and elephants. As we walked, more and more Maasai materialized out of the woods. Women were cutting and gathering wood to bring home in bundles on their heads. Men and boys herded goats and cows. They all grinned and waved at us, sometimes staring more at us then I wanted to stare at them. Tall and skinny, with many beaded necklaces, they are beautiful, ebony people.

The walls of the crater are covered in lush, tropical forest. Some animals come and go as they please while others remain in the safety of this reserve. It has been amazing and a special privilege to visit this sanctuary. It felt like a peek inside the garden of Eden…

Spelling Mistakes and Other Confusions: from free drinks to elephant pups!

Speaking several languages and a few words of Swahili now, has not helped with misunderstandings and confusions...

At Kati Kati camp we were told that beer was four dollars and soft drinks were free. When we went to pay, after 3 days, we discovered that the ‘free’ was 'three'…

We asked for a wake up call at 5:50 but they came knocking at 5:15 because they misunderstood…

During our visit to Oldevai Gorge we found out that the name really is Oldupai but a German scientist mispelled it many, many years ago. 

This world renowned valley where mankind’s oldest traces have been found by the Leakey’s, is a dusty, wind swept place. We expected an impressive museum, possibly built by Unesco. Instead we found one lonely Maasai guy manning a little gate. Once we entered the compound, there was a rinky dink old museum with old, faded photos on the wall. 

The story remains impressive: of how the Leakey’s and other archeaologists have unearthed, so to speak, the oldest footprints of humans found on earth: 3.5 million years ago a father, son and mother walked in this valley leaving tracks in volcanic ash.  

The cradle of civilization

It took me a while to figure out that the park ranger, who took us on a guided hike along the edge of the Ngorogoro crater, was not talking of cooking when he mentioned the Maasai kettles. Turned out he meant the Maasai’s cattle.

He also kept talking of elephant pups. After a while I wondered if he really didn’t know that baby elephants are called ‘calves’, not pups. But then he poked in huge elephant droppings and I realized he was talking about the multiple poop of elephants… 

Interestingly, he explained that the partly digested, dry dung contains a lot of bark, plants and grasses that are medicinal. He said “we burn the pups (poops…) and put a blanket over our head to inhale the smoke to cure illnesses….” Suddenly, my grandmother’s bowl of menthol steam that I had to inhale as a kid did not seem so bad anymore…

The many ‘bastards’ flying around Serengeti turned out to be buzzards… 

But the story that crowns it all was one I was told by a lovely lady who came home one day and her housekeeper, a proper Christian woman, told her in a loud voice that the fucking machine wasn’t working… “What?” she gasped. “Yes,” the housekeeper repeated very annoyed, “the fucking machine isn’t working.” It took a while until she finally showed her the machine in question that she understood it was the ‘vacuum machine’…

Language barriers.. You gotta love’ em.

The Circle of Life

For two days we managed these early morning game drives, getting up at 5:30 to leave at 6 AM. We watch lions on the prowl, closing in on buffalo and wildebeest but not managing to make a kill. We watch a croc grab a wildebeest and try to drown him. But, after a long while, the wildebeest wins and escapes back to the herd, leaving one cranky, hungry crocodile to look for a new breakfast.

Another wildebeest was not so lucky and got stuck in the thick mud, dying a slow death but supplying food for many animals who were patiently waiting.

We watch days-old zebras and wildebeest gallop alongside their mama’s and an old, lonely lion wander the plains. This is ‘The Lion King Live’ and a bit surreal.

Many animas gathered at waterholes, ever weary for predators hiding in the tall grass. The lions, perhaps, seem to have the best camouflage of all - looking like heaps of hay in the waiving yellow grass. All animals are vastly different, yet they all blend in perfectly in the same environment: the sand colored cheetahs with their spots of shade are hard to see. The pattern on the giraffes is just like that of shadows cast by the branches of the acacia trees they browse. We are lucky to see three caravels, very rare cats with pointed, tufted ears.

In the cool, morning hours no flies bother us. But by noon, especially near trees, I become an all-you-can-eat buffet for tetse flies. We drink gallons of water all day and night. But if you have to pee during a game drive, you have a problem. There are not many spots where you can safely get out of the car… a lion or leopard can literally be behind any little hill. 

Simba

We stopped by the Maasai Kopjes, a rocky place almost exactly in the center of Serengeti. To me, it looks identical to Pride Rock in The Lion King. I can just picture Simba on top of the tallest, straight rock looking out over the plains. We’ve seen sly, old Mufasa stalking. We’ve also met Poomba and Timone in person! The circle of life continues here: the Serenget shall never die.

Poomba

We enjoy learning from one of the young men in Kati Kati Camp (meaning ‘centre of Serengeti’). He is Maasai and told us in detail how he and 14 other young men from his village, set off into the bush for their coming of age initiation. Each brings a cow. They burn a stick into a spear and that is all they own. They may face lions, or elephants or any other dangers. And they live solely on blood, milk and meat. No water…! No alcohol, no women. These young men dress in black blankets, for this special period, and have faces painted black with white stripes. We see them, occasionally, on the side of the road as they wander the countryside. They have strict rules of conduct and serve almost as wildlife wardens when they see any poaching or illegal hunting.  

This young man, who was a waiter at the camp, told us he wants to be an animal doctor. He has vast knowledge of traditional medicine and wants to learn more about modern medicine for animals. He has a meeting at the college in Arusha soon to see if they will let him continue his studies. “But I may have to sell another cow to have enough money,” he says wistfully.

Serengeti: the endless plains

Elephant herd

 On Tuesday morning we left after breakfast after making a donation to the Lodge’s African Roots Foundation. With very little money they make a huge difference in the lives of the Maasai by supplying them with water containers and a filter. Where the Maasai used to rely on tick brown water from a nearby pond, from which all cattle also drink, they now scoop that water into the filters and out comes crystal clear drinking water. This simple tool has drastically reduced illness among the Maasai.

ARF also runs other projects, always aimed at improving the lives of people while protecting the natural environment. This is a great cause for individuals and schools to support.

Check out: http://africanrootsfoundation.org

I knew that the Serengeti was a long way from home. We flew and drove for many days to visit this lifelong dream of ours. But no one told me it would involve hundreds of kilometers on the worst bumpy, dusty, rocky tracks… Bone jarring, teeth rattling miles of washboard tracks…. Everything in our car is covered in a layer of dust.

The good pavement ends abruptly at the entrance gate to Ngorogoro Crater. The view of the crater is spectacular, with not much human influence in sight.

After that the track continues across hills and plains, up onto ever higher escarpments until we are at 2,400 meters. Once you reach Serengeti all you see if flat endless grasslands. Serengeti means 'endless plain' in Swahili, a very appropriate name. We were anxious to take a photo of us at an entrance gate of this world famous park. All we saw was a crooked little wooden sign. No fancy visitors centre, no impressive entrance to one of the most well known national parks in the world.

But here we were, finally, in the Serengeti! I did have goosebumps to finally see this place with my own eyes.

Without the first half hour we saw four lions. And then the impala. Herds of them. More and more animals until, on the second day, we caught up to the migrating wildebeest and zebras. Thousands of them, sometimes grazing and drinking and running in different directions, yet always streaming toward the same unseen destination. Their ancient pattern follows calving, moving with the seasons to food and water. Thousands of dusty bodies moving in a river of animals across the plains.

Elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs… the plains are teeming with wildlife.

The baboons are fun to watch as whole troops walk by. The young ones climb trees and pester the old ones. The tiny little ones ride cowboy style on their mothers’ backs or cling to their front. They stop, eat seeds, swing from bush to bush and walk along.

We have watched many prides of lions. Often a dominant male with several lionesses and young ones. We watch them stalk buffalo and wildebeest, hoping to separate one to hunt. My favorite pride was reclining on rocks that looked exactly like Pride Rock in the Lion King.

Kati Kati Camp

I woke at 4 AM to the grumbles of a lion and the call of hyena. At 5:15 we woke up and headed out to watch the savannah come to live with the first rays of sun.

I asked, in camp, if they’ve had any animals nearby. “Yeah, last week a cheetah killed a wildebeest by tent #5,” was the response.

The numbers in Serengeti: 14,500 square KM

300,000 zebras

Over 2 million wildebeest!

Swahili:

Jambo - hello

Asanti - thank you

asanti sana - thank you very much

karibu - welcome, you’re welcome

Cheetahs in the Serengeti

karibu sana - you’re very welcome

pole - sorry

pole pole - slow!

Maasai:

supai - hello

ashe neleng - thank you

shuka - Maasai blanket