The R&R Big Adventure

Elephants, elephants, everywhere

To begin our safari adventure meant a long 5hr drive from Nairobi to Amboseli National Park on Saturday morning. I didn’t expect our soundtrack in Africa to be Madonna and Rick Astley remixes on the car radio. Our first lodge was in the park itself, and having had a quick rest after lunch, we came out of our room to see not one, but several herds of elephants slowly walking past us on the other side of the electric fence separating the plains from the hotel grounds. There must have been 50 or 60 of them – all shapes and sizes, including some gorgeous baby elephants. Amobseli is famous for its elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. That was the start of our luck that day – on our first late afternoon game drive we saw several more herds of elephants – some crossing the 4×4 track to get to their ‘bedroom’ in the park; a couple of lions almost having a face-off; a cheetah with its fresh kill and baby cubs, staying clear of a hyena; more elephants… we just hoped subsequent game drives wouldn’t disappoint.

The next day we had an early morning sunrise drive. Whilst we still saw a fair amount (more elephants, wildebeest, gazelles, ostriches) it wasn’t quite as spectacular as day one – albeit we did get a stunning backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro behind the plains, which we would be visiting the next day. After leaving the park, our guide drove us to the Kenyan/Tanzanian border at Tarakea, where another car would be meeting us on the other side of the border to take us to our hotel near Kilimanjaro. It felt like Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately there was – it transpired – a miscommunication on timings, and we were left waiting for 2 hours to cross. Cue complaints to the safari company, and eventually our driver turned up. He had clearly been told to get us to the hotel as quickly as possible, as all road rules were being broken as he speeded, ignored pedestrian crossings in villages, and thought blind corners were the perfect opportunity to overtake two trucks at a time. We didn’t tip him. I was surprised at the contrast between Tanzania and Kenya as we saw the countryside speed past. Much greener, crops growing by the side of the road, and poorer as well. It reminded me of Fiji, seeing a few pieces of corrugated iron held together by some badly nailed together bits of wood passing for homes and shops in the villages we drove through, rubbish everywhere, and people still having to collect fresh water in large plastic containers (albeit mostly on mopeds, not walking) :(.

The receptionist at the hotel had obviously been told to upgrade us as recompense for the delay: we were told we were getting a DELUXE EXECUTIVE SUITE, as she enunciated each word slowly. It sounded promising, however the reality was somewhat different: Nana’s sitting room from the 1970s, with a downstairs bedroom attached. Before we went for dinner we could hear a lot of music and commotion coming from outside our ground floor room. It sounded like a demonstration, but was actually a wedding party: everyone dressed in their finest colourful outfits. Despite the dated bedrooms, the grounds of the hotel were well-maintained, and had some beautiful flower beds and palm trees that would have made good backdrops for wedding photos. However this bride seemed to want to have shots of her and the groom taken outside our bathroom window, with air-conditioning unit front and centre – as I found out when I went to close the bathroom window (and probably photo-bombed a couple of their pictures).

Dinner in the hotel restaurant was a strange affair – the restaurant was a practically deserted space, and had too many staff for the number of people dining (us and a guy sitting on his own). During dinner we had five waiters and waitresses all lined up against a wall, staring at us whilst we ate. Whilst in most restaurants it is often difficult to get a waiter’s attention, this was the other extreme. I could imagine what it felt like at meal times in B wing. Fortunately a Scandinavian group arrived during the main course, so their attention was soon distracted.

Another early start, as another driver and guide arrived to take us to Mount Kilimanjaro, and a day hike to the first base camp that those doing the full hike to the summit (taking six days, and camping in all conditions) would stay in on the first night. It had been raining overnight, and started to rain again whilst we walked (six miles uphill, and another six going down). By the time we got to the Mandara Huts, the path (and us) were quite muddy. Combined with being hot and sweaty, I didn’t envy not doing another five days of this, especially as toilet and washing facilities would be non-existent after this point. I had had my taste of basic camping doing the Inca Trail. It was great doing the first part of the trek though. The mild weather, greenery and small river (and occasional waterfalls) running beside a large part of the path actually reminded me of Crough Woods in the Comeragh Mountains in Ireland – not what I expected Kilimanjaro (and Africa) at this elevation to be like at all.

Once back to the park entrance, we had another long drive ahead, this time 3hrs to Arusha. Out hotel was slightly different this time – a ‘Gran Melia’ (the high-end sub-brand of Melia Hotels) which was like an oasis after driving through yet more poor villages and pot-holed roads. We couldn’t work out why this hotel was in the middle of all this, aside from catering for some safari tourists, but later found out that the Tanzanian Government held a lot of conferences here. Aha. It was a shame we couldn’t enjoy the facilities more, as it was dinner time when we arrived, and the heavens absolutely opened. Gale force winds, continuous lightning and driving rain that came under the doors. And this should be a dry month. Still, who needs the Paris Climate Agreement.

It would have been nice to stay another night there, but we left this morning for the Tarangire National Park (meaning ‘river of warthogs’ in Swahili). We thought after the success of our first day of safari we should lower our expectations of what to expect for our second park – however within minutes we saw baboons, a lioness regally surveying her territory, giraffes, and then throughout the rest of the game drive many more giraffes, elephants, warthogs, wildebeest, buffalo and gazelle. Another great day of wild animal spotting. From there it was a short drive to our next stop, a lodge next to Lake Manyara. The grounds of the lodge itself contained lots of wildlife which we saw as we drove to reception – zebras, mongoose, gazelle, giraffes, and lots of monkeys – many with tiny young clinging to their chests.

We have enjoyed a gorgeous sunset from our terrace overlooking the lake this evening (we would have gone to the lakeside bar, but two loud Americans, having a conversation across the length of the bar to each other, put paid to any sunset serenity) and have decided to skip dinner as we are both struggling to fit into our respective trousers. Sitting in a 4×4 all day, and eating three full meals, does not a diet make. Tomorrow the safari tour continues – and we are looking forward to seeing the Ngorongoro crater, and the animals living within it.