(Africa trip) final thoughts

Here's my final thoughts about some of the major players involved in the wonderful Africa trip I just experienced.

Journeys By Design (UK) - this is the travel agency that set up our trip for us and picked the designations we enjoyed. Gord, our travel agent, and his staff (Julie in particular) were wonderful to deal with. Gord, knowing that none of us had traveled in east Africa before, picked a variety of different experiences for us to try and was at all times responsive with information. The tour packets we received were very professional and thorough, and the transfers between locations that Gord worked out were seemless. If I'm ever lucky enough to get to travel to Africa again, I would not hesitate to use their services again and I would enthusiastically recommend them to others.

Nomad Tanzania - this is the operation that ran the camp in the Serengeti National Park. This was the part of our stay that was probably the most true to an "authentic" old-fashioned rustic safari experience. The guiding we received from Festo was supreme, the food and service was fantastic, and we were perfectly positioned to enjoy everything the park had to offer.

Singita - this is the operation that operates both Faru Faru and the Sabora tented camp. Both facilities were utterly different in character from each other, but both provided an intense level of service and food quality. The facilities at both locations were stunning and luxurious, especially our individual suites at Faru Faru. Of particular note was a magical dinner we had during our last night of the safari at Sabora tented camp where we ate outdoors on our own personal deck. The staff hung lanterns from the trees, prepared this stunning meal, and layed out a beautiful table. The picture I've uploaded is from that dinner.

Finally, my experience in Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic was everything I was hoping it would be. It's going to be tough going back to ordinary coach flights after that!

So, that's a wrap - on to the next adventure!

(Africa trip) picture wrap-up

These are the last of the Africa trip pictures I'm going to post to the blog. I am in Orlando, waiting for my flight home, and when I get home, I'll make one more post as a critique of the trip but probably not with more pics. I have so many pics and I wish I could upload them all.

(Africa trip) wrapping up

Right now, I'm sitting in the Virgin Atlantic first class lounge at Gatwick airport in London. After I leave here, it is unlikely I will ever indulge in this level of first-class travel again. It's going to be hard to give up but it's about time to get back to the real world. At least I've got another long-haul luxury flight to look forward to.

I arrived in Gatwick with a 16-hour layover to look forward to. Staying in the lounge was not an option because it is not open overnight, so I stayed in this interesting and adorable little cube-hotel called Yotel right in the airport which was recommended to me by the Virgin Atlantic staff. It's based on a model created by the Japanese, and each guest is basically issued a little cubicle with a bed, a fold-down desk, and a tiny bathroom/shower combo thing. Each bed unit, which looked a little like a bunk bed, also had a flat screen TV with 50 channels and movies and free wi-fi. And it was relatively inexpensive to stay there so I ended up with an unexpectedly comfortable night and got an awesome amount of sleep.

Anyway, the trip is wrapping up. Our final game drive to the airfield took us through the migration and I got more video and photos of huge herds of wildebeast, zebra, gazelle, and topi. Our flight was on the same small charter plane that brought us in to the Serengeti and when we landed in Arusha, we were met by our earlier guide, Festo, who took us to a coffee plantation for lunch and for some local shopping before taking us to the airport. By the way, I FINALLY saw Kilimenjaro from the ground, although I was not in a position to get some photos. Once back at the airport, civilization intruded and we were back in the crush of annoying passengers, of which the most annoying were fellow Americans. The flight to London on Virgin Atltantic was great - there was only one other passenger besides myself in upper class so it was like I had my own personal fight attendant. And that's about it - I'll be headed back to the states soon and my next update will come from Orlando.

(Africa trip) Serengeti overview

This is a picture I took using a feature of my camera that allows you to take three pictures in sequence and then stitch them together. This is a picture that I think really captures the scope and beauty of the Serengeti.

(Africa trip) Leopards

I just realized that I failed to add some pictures of the leopards I encountered, and that's a shame. I was fortunate to see two, not just one, and one of them was hunting. It was very exciting. I am also back in the world of fast internet access and it is nice to upload pictures without it taking 15 minutes or more.

(Africa trip) Sabora pics

Here's a couple of pictures of the facilities of Sabora, and no pictures of Sabora would be complete without including one of a wildebeast. We are surrounded by them, they are in the camp, and they are endlessly entertaining to watch. At this time of year, the males attempt to herd the females into harem groups, and watching these males run around trying to keep the females in the herd while fending off other males trying to cull their herd and claim their cows for their own is funny to watch. I watched this poor fellow defend his herd from a particular male, all the while another male was quietly culling cows off his herd from the other side.

This is a great camp and I hate to leave in the morning, but like all vacations, they must come to an end. I will be headed back to Nairobi tomorrow followed by a flight to London the next day. From there, it's on to Orlando and then back to Texas.

(Africa trip) revisit with Serengeti National Park

I just realized I had not posted pics of the camp we lived in while in the national park, so I've posted them now (a shot of the library and two of my sleeping tent) When I get the pics up of Sabora tented camp, all three camps and living styles we encountered will be on display. I also threw one in of me on a game drive with a view of the Serengeti in the background.

(Africa trip) Sabora Tented Camp

For those of you who were getting text message from me, I still don't have cell service so no texting. But I do have internet access (obviously) :-)

This is now my second day in the Sabora Tented Camp and my last day out in the African "bush" since we leave for Arusha and then Nairobi tomorrow. This place is amazing and entirely unlike anyplace we've stayed before. Unlike Faru Faru, which has rooms made of bamboo and glass walls with tent-style tops, this camp is truly tented, but the tents are air conditioned, there are running water, telephones, and internet access, and the whole place is beautifully decorated in the style of an early 20th century Hemingway-type camp. I can't describe what this lodge is like so I'm not going to try, but I will try to get some pictures posted. This camp is out in the open right in the middle of the migration, so we are surrounded by wildebeast and zebra, and the wildebeast are even inside the camp. I am supposed to go on a game drive this afternoon but I probably won't go - there's plenty of wildlife to view right here and it seems like the ever-present and persistent tetse-flies we've encountered all throughout this trip have not discovered this camp, which believe me, is plenty of reason to stay here. I've seen everything I really wanted to see except for rhino, and if I went out today, I'm not likely to see rhino today either. So, I think I'll just be pampered in these amazing surroundings.

Last night's dinner was very nice. We chatted with other guests around a campfire over cocktails and then had a gourmet dinner in a beautifully appointed dining room. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but the meals are always stunningly presented and they seem to have been designed by a real chef. Hard to imagine out here, but that's the case. This morning, we elected to sleep in and just let the sun wake us up, and then I followed up a leisurely breakfast with a soak in my Victorian-style soaking tub.

I'm still working on getting my photos downloaded and organized and I'll have some more up shortly.

(Africa trip) Faru Faru lodge pictures

Here's a few pictures of the lodge at Faru Faru. These pictures don't even begin to show how interesting and luxurious this place was.

(Africa trip) Faru Faru / Grumete Reserves

I have spent the last couple of days at a lodge called Faru Faru, which is located in the Grumete Reserves, north of the Serengeti National Park. Before I go into detail on my stay at Faru Faru, I'm going to start by documenting one of the most amazing game viewing nights of the trip. Basically, we got to watch two male cheetahs, probably siblings, hunt young wildebeast in the Serengeti. We watched them hunt, mark territory, and we also watched them interact socially with each other. We got very close to the cheetahs (without disturbing their hunt) and with telephoto lenses, were able to get some pretty amazing photos and video. It was just a stunning display of nature to watch and we were lucky to see it.

Anyway, upon our arrival at Faru Faru, we were met by a new guide, Abdullah, who was driving the type of open jeep that reminded me of one of the trucks you'd see at a theme park safari ride. We loaded up and left for the lodge, and on the way, accidentally found ourselves in the middle of a feeding herd of elephants (they were in front and behind us and very close) and we got the chance at some more great elephant pictures. Once we arrived at the lodge, it was clear that we were in for a completely different type of experience than the one we had in the national park. For one thing, this lodge is the most luxurious place I have ever stayed in my life. It's build technically of "tents" but it's hard to use the word tent to describe this place. The rooms are beautifully decorated and the highlight of the room is that one wall is made of glass, which looks out on the Serengeti. It is also possible to open that glass wall with the push of a button and just have the room open to the outside. Our room has an enormous soaking tub situated in a glass corner so it's impossible not to see the outside from the tub, and the shower is actually outside. It is an interesting an enjoyable experience to take a hot shower on a cool morning basically standing outside in the Serengeti. Finally, the lodge had two lovely infinity pools, a library, and covered and uncovered eating and relaxing areas. There is also a spa (which I used) and a small gift shop. I can't do this place justice by trying to describe it, so I took lots of pictures. Up until now, we'd basically been doing morning and evening game drives, but for two nights in this wonderful place, we elected not to do the evening drive so that we could spend more time enjoying these amazing facilities. There wasn't much point in doing a lot of game driving around here anyway - most of the game is a bit south of here and is either migrating or following the migration - but when we move to Sabora Tented Camp today, we will be back in the middle of the big game. We were in the area of that camp when we saw those amazing cheetahs.

One of the interesting things we did here was go on a walking safari around the area. We were led by a new guide, Nick, who took us on a three hour walk. He carried a rifle in case of trouble (there wasn't any) and then we got a chance to see the area up close. We didn't see much game other than at a distance, but we did get to see some unusual birds we hadn't seen before and also got to see some migrating safari ants (very creepy). Our guide said those ants have been known to kill people who were too young or infirm to get out of their way.

Anyway, on to the next location. Two more nights in the Serengeti and then it's back to Nairobi and home.

The pictures I posted are of the cheetahs we saw. I'm going to post pictures of the lodge and walking safari a bit later, assuming I have internet access at the new camp.

photos

If you are seeing this, then it means I managed to upload some photos from my stay in the Serengeti National Park. These are all photos I took myself. I can only do a few because of the slow internet access here (I think we're getting interet by satellite), but I'm definately not complaining!

Serengeti National Park

It's been several days since I was able to update this blog, since I was basically camping out in the bush in Sergengeti National Park. Now I'm in a spot with wi-fi and I can get caught up! Unfortunately, although I've tried, I can't get pictures to upload right now. I'll try to get some loaded as soon as possible. I'm going to try to upload pics of the camp and of some of the wildlife I encountered. Also, ironically, here I seem to have internet access but no phone service. Weird, huh?

As I post this, I am in a spot in Tanzania called Faru Faru lodge after spending 4 nights in a tented camp out in the Serengeti called Nomad Tanzania Serengeti Tented Camp. It has been an incredible few days.

Our big African safari adventure started with a charter flight to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. This was absolutely the smallest plane I have ever flown on (six seat Cesna) but it was just the three of us and our pilot so there was plenty of room and everyone had a great view. During this flight from Arusha to the national park, we flew over volcanoes and volcanic craters and got some great shots of both, along with some stunning shots of the savannah itself. Once we landed at the air strip (really just a dirt track in the middle of the park), we were met by our guide, Festo, who was with us for the rest of our stay in the National Park. Then we tossed our stuff into Festo's land cruiser and we were off on our big game adventure!

Life at the Serengeti tented camp really was camping, although a different style of camping then I'd ever done before. Each tent contained two beds, a couple of tables, and a washing area, and each also had a short-drop style pit toilet and a bucket shower, which one of the staff would fill once a day with hot water so that we could take a quick camp shower. The rest of the facilities consisted of a lounging tent, where we could hang out, read, or have cocktails, and a dining tent, where the staff laid out a 3-course gourmet meal ever night. Considering the rustic setting and the fact that an electricity generator was only run a few hours a day, it's amazing to me that the staff pulled off the quality of meals they did. The meals were amazing - some of the best meals I've ever had. We also had wonderful appetizers around a roaring campfire every evening before dinner, which was always fun. It was during these times that we would meet with the other guests and trade game-viewing stories, although when we were out in the park, it was just us and our guide. Our daily life in the camp consisted of breakfast, followed by a full day game drive with a packed picnic lunch, campfire, and dinner, or we went out for the full day with a packed breakfast and lunch, then came back to camp, showered, and then enjoyed the campfire and dinner. One day, we came back at mid day for lunch in the camp, although we went back out for more game viewing until dinner. Serengeti National Park takes preservation and protection seriously - game vehicles are not allowed to leave the roads and no harassment of the animals was allowed, either. While this made it difficult to get pictures, it meant we got to enjoy the wildlife in as natural a setting as possible.

The opportunities to view wildlife in the Serengeti National Park were stunning. Once we left camp and got out onto the savannah, herds and groups of elephants, giraffes, gazelle, zebras, and other big mammals were there for easy viewing. We also saw ostrich, hippo, and crocodile when we were in the right spots to do so. Finally, we were able to witness the annual migration in which millions of wildebeasts and zebras make the annual trek between Tanzania, Kenya, and back in order to follow water.

One of the biggest highlights for me during the stay at the Serengeti Tented Camp was the encounter with the big cats. We got very close to lions and although they were sleeping away the heat of the day during most of our encounters, we also got to see some neat stuff in their. For example, I got a great closeup picture of a lion cub nursing on its mother. In another encounter, we watched two lionesses greet two cubs in the road right in front of our truck and we were able to get great pictures and video of this lion family as it crossed in front of us and moved up into the rocks. On the following day, we were able to follow an entire lion pride, including a big male with an enormous orange mane, as it made its way across the savannah. We also saw leopard and cheetah, although not close enough to be able to get great pictures. The first leopard we saw was up in a tree (and it had it's kill up there with it) and it was cool getting to watch how the zebras reacted to the tree when they realized there was a leopard up there. The second leopard we saw was actually hunting, and we got to observe it as it stalked some gazelle through a gully and then pounce, although it did not catch it's prey. We didn't get a good look at the cheetah at all - all we could see was it's head in the grass from a distance -but it was still great to see one. Lion sightings were pretty common - besides the nursing mother, we also saw lions hanging out in trees to escape the sun and biting flies during the hottest part of the days. Leopards and cheetahs are much rarer and shyer than lions and I think we were lucky we got to see them, although leopards do spend time resting in trees like lions do. Festo, our guide, was extremely knowledgeable about the area and was very adept at spotting animals, and it was through his efforts that we got to see as many amazing things that we did. It was interesting that although lions and leopards are both big cats and share territories, lions are very social and affectionate within thier pride groups while leopards are very solitary and won't tolerate another in their territory.

I just feel like I need to make a short note about our picnic breakfasts and lunches, since they generally were so interesting. Our first picnic lunch was right in the middle of the big game migration. We pulled up under a tree, our guide spread out a picnic on the hood of the vehicle, and we lunched right in the midst of the migrating herds. It was really cool. Our second picnic (a breakfast) was out on the open savannah, and we ate while we watched herds of zebra, gazelle, giraffe, and elephant stroll by. Our second outdoor breakfast was taken within sight of the hunting leopard, who unfortunately didn't manage to catch anything for her own breakfast while we were watching, but it was still really neat to watch. Finally, our final picnic was a lunch on top of a rock formation called Gong Rock, which was a place where the Masai tribe had gathered for ceremonies and communication at one time, and was now in the center of an area devoted to the preservation of the black rhino, of which only 16 are still known to survive in the park, mainly due to poaching. We didn't see any rhino on this trip, though, which was hardly surprising, considering their numbers.

Finally, I am now in Faru Faru, which is located in a private game park located just north of the Serengeti National Park. This is truly a luxury location and is probably one of the best facilities I have ever stayed in my life (and probably the nicest I will every stay in). I'll be posting more about these facilities shortly.