Another day, another adventure. Our vehicle was a couple of minutes late and missed out on a leopard that was in a tree near the road, although most of the other vehicles got a good look. We hung out next to the tree for over an hour after he had climbed down, but didn’t see him again; such is luck while on safari. Cape buffalo, wildebeest, zebras, lions, and the usual complement of elephants and other critters made up most of the rest of the day’s sightings.
To give some idea of what this trip has been like thus far, we wake up early (before sunrise) and either have a quick breakfast or else immediately jump in the safari vehicles and head out looking for whatever is stirring. The more obnoxious visitors (Hi!) stand in the back of the pop-top Toyota Landcruisers with their heads in the breeze for the entire time in order to have the best view of the surroundings, and the Tanzanian guides generally pick a direction and point out whatever they see that will be of interest, while passengers point out tree stumps and rocks that we mistake for something interesting. Stops for photographs or just to take in the surroundings are frequent. At any given moment there is usually something visible, whether it’s a gazelle or a vulture or an eagle or something else. Most of the time there is a herd of something around, be it two hundred impala next to the road, anywhere from a handful to an armada of wildebeests, or four elephants on the horizon. It’s never boring for me – there is always a surprise around the corner, waiting to be found.
While it would be awesome to rent a vehicle and travel entirely at my own pace, the downsides of such a trip are that the “roads” are often little more than two uneven tracks leading into a gully (and it’s the dry season – in the rainy season they will be muddy and often flooded), and also it’s hugely helpful to have four other vehicles that can call on the radio when a particularly interesting animal is sighted or someone gets stuck in an aardvark den. The Cheesemans have mostly booked top-end lodges within the park, but options also exist for more basic accommodation, with the caveat that you can’t just pitch a tent anywhere on account of there being various creatures about who would view such a thing as a pre-wrapped meal. Overall, I think the Cheesemans have put together an amazing tour that is probably about as good of an Africa trip as anyone could have, and we still have four nights left in Tanzania before moving on to Kenya.
