Tanzania Safari

We travel to Tanzania with Ken and Ann for a safari

First a few pictures from before our trip - Kenny on the swing downstairs. That swing has provided more play value than any other toy we've bought. And - never any cleanup!Peter's 10th birthday party - the pinata
The birthday cake
View of Mercer Island and the I-90 bridge from the planeAt the Arumeru River Lodge - there were loads of these tiny little deer called 'dik-diks'
The lobby at the lodge
Peter got a little birthday cakeKids playing frisbee in the field
At Arusha National Park.It looks like an elephant, but it's a cement sculpture
Zebras and wildebeestBaboons hanging out on the road
Blue monkey
A tiny cute baby baboon
Interesting hilly area - we had our box lunches close by
This plant was everywhere
There were huge flocks of flamingo
Warthogs
Interesting how the trees are nibbled to a certain height by the giraffesSome roadside pictures
On the way to Tarangire, we saw this bus which had gone off the roadAt Tarangire National Park
An elevated platform at the entrance to the park - monkeys everywhere!
Safari vehicles waiting for their entry permit
Tsetse flies are attracted to these black and blue flags, which are sprayed with insecticide
Baobab tree with a big hole in itKenny enjoyed standing up in the truck
Tarangire had many beautiful baobab treesOur first ostriches
Hanging out in the shade
Guinea fowl
The wood of the baobab tree is very soft
The bark at the base of the baobab tree is frequently torn off by elephantsA whole flock of ostriches
Our very first lion!The lobby of the lodge in Tangarire
Our little tentInside it was quite comfortable, with a toilet and bathroom. There was electricity just a few hours a day, but there were a few solar powered lights
View of the valley from our tentI found this tick crawling on my body. Luckily it hadn't yet started sucking my blood
Yech - a monkey had gotten inside the tent, and pooped on the tank of the toilet!
Zebra
Beautiful cloudsI think these were our first close-up elephants.
Lilac breasted roller
From 6 PM to 9 PM, you could charge cameras and phones in this charging area in the lobby, which was a hot mess of cables
The zipper to our tent lodges had these funny attachments, which were meant to prevent the monkeys from opening the zipper, which otherwise they were apparently good at
In Tangarire there were many elephants, and very close to the roads
Nursing baby elephant
The elephants do this interesting move, where they brush off the grass, which is quite dusty, before eating itKids playing cards in the lobby of the lodge
Evening at the lodgeMorning view of the valley
There were baboons everywhere.
Scary bridge
The "sausage" tree. Kenny said the fruits were very hard
At an overlook of a riverJackson found a stick insect
We frequently saw zebras in this position. I think it allows them to see predators in all directionsLots of weaver bird nests
Peter took this picture of a giraffeLots of birds picking insects off the giraffe
Lots of oddly shaped termite mounds
A classic
More nursing elephants
We got some Masai blanketsVisiting a Masai village - Kenny and Peter got to dance as well
Fancy footwear
They got everyone jumping...They had an enclosure for little kids. It had a sign saying "Masai school", with a blackboard and some numbers, but I'll bet it was just to keep the kids away when the tourists were around
A demonstration of fire-making
We saw many of these types of villages from the road - it was interesting to get inside themSpear throwing
A Masai hutThe stove
At Lake Manyara National Park - there were so many birds that some trees were white with bird droppings
These cattle were frequently on the side of the road
We visited a boarding school that Tauck tours supports.Triple decker bunks in the dormitories. The students had just come back from vacation, so things were still in disarray
At the library. All the books were donations from the United States (for instance, the Magic Treehouse series, etc). I wonder if the children are interested in reading books that took place in a setting so utterly unlike theirs
They gave a presentation on the schoolOur kids played soccer with their kids, and were creamed.
The playersA nicely painted map of Africa on the wall.
At Tloma lodge
Eric and I tried taking a walk down the road. It was very dusty, though, with many safari trucks driving by
At Ngorongoro Conservation Area
It was misty and foggy higher up
In the crater - taking a video while standing, while the roof is up
Cape buffaloSecretary bird
Crowned Crane - national bird of Tanzania
Wildebeest were everywherePeter was tired with the early morning wake-ups
The first time we saw hippos! They weren't hard to find, and always stay in the well-marked "hippo pond"
The available rest areas were quite crowded with safari trucks
For lunch we "circled the wagons"
Dust storms in the distanceBaboons
View into the crater
On the drive back to the lodgeCoffee bushes at the lodge
They had extensive vegetable gardensSome pictures Peter made at a paper-making event
There were many strange walled off areas like this, with nothing inside. One of our guides said it was to mark that the land was owned by somebody. Property rights can't be very strong if it's necessary to wall off your land.Lots of Masai villages between the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. It was an extremely rough, unpaved washboard road
At the Leaky site in TanzaniaOne of their water tanks was patched with a bit of wood and some caulk, but was still leaking
Jackson was a great lizard catcher
These Masai are all dressed in black, with white face paint. This is characteristic of the boys coming-of-age ritual, but apparently these particular ones are fakes set up for touristsIn the Serengeti
Having lunch. There were hundreds of safari touristsThis vehicle was one of the few that were not land rovers.
Peter with my sunglassesThis old outhouse had a sign saying "Counted 30 June 2012".
The lions were very close in the Serengeti
...and usually surrounded by a phalanx of tour vehiclesA cheetah
...And the cheetah's admirers
Delux - elephants trooping past the balcony
The pool, with an elephant watering hole behind it
Dessert timeOur early morning balloon ride - getting ready to get in the balloon
Hippos from the airOur shadow
We're practically skimming the top of the grass here - very lowOver the treetops
The ruts where our balloon was dragged as it landedOur balloon pilot (in tie) was an ex Portuguese army paratrooper
A great view, from the "loo with a view" (3 sided privacy enclosures for chemical toilets)This lioness looks like she just ate a meal, with the red around her jaw
Dead gazelle - the vultures were standing by
The walkway to our hotel roomThe Masai guards sat here at night, and threw stones at the elephants
Taking a walk around the areaWe got a tour of the facilities at the Four Seasons - this is their dry goods warehouse
The employee quarters were very niceLaundry
Generating plantThe walkway to one of the 2 bedroom "villas" at the hotel
Hippos actually moving around. Mostly we saw them immersed in the water
Kenny and JacksonFarewell dinner
Elephants knocked down a portion of the walkway overnight.
Getting ready to fly out of the Serengeti
Lots of little isolated villages out there
An unfinished building project, just the foundations are doneAt a craft co-op
Lots of women walking and carrying objects on their headThe whole tour group
Back at the same lodge in ArushaWalking around Arusha with a guide
Our guide didn't want us to take pictures of people, so he had us go to the second floor to take some pictures
Lots and lots of used clothing from Europe and the US for sale
A view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, finally!
Flying back to Amsterdam