South Africa and Tanzania

 We were up at 4:30 this morning and ate quickly at 5.  We wanted to be on the road by 5:30 as the trip to Dar es Salaam is 320 km.  The drivers thought 8 hours would be required and we have a nurse coming at 4 p.m. to our hotel to do the covid tests for our return to Canada.  The first part of the trip was all roads under construction and we did that in the cool of the morning.  The rest of the trip was paved roads, but there are constant speed bumps, villages to slow down for and trucks that can't go fast.  Then there are endless buses that pass whenever they want, motorcycles loaded with people or products, little tuktuk vehicles and lots of pedestrians.  We saw so many school children in uniforms walking to and from school, and young men hanging out at the edges of roads, some on their motorcycles, some at the village centre.  So many women carrying water and babies, doing laundry, sweeping yards and front steps.  So much garbage, dirt, d...

 Today we had breakfast at 7, fresh fruit and french toast for me and the same fruit and pancakes for Pete.  We left camp around 8 and first went to the Idzungwa Visitor Centre.  As always, there are forms to fill out and many people in military-like uniforms.  We then toured the visitor centre and loaded up again to drive to the starting point for our hike.  We are hiking up the to the highest waterfalls in the park.  There is the option to stop at 2 different pools to swim.  Three guides accompanied us and they road to the starting point all together on 1 motorcycle.  John needed his own guide because of his injury.  He didn't want to slow us down and he could make his way at his own pace.   Half the group stayed at the lowest swimming pool and half the group carried on to the top.  The top group was Fred and Linda, Ken, Gary and Rose and Pete and I.  It was a difficult climb because of the extreme heat and once in ...

 We were up early for breakfast at 6:30 and on the road by 7:30.  Everyone at camp came out to say goodbye.  We have basically been alone there for 3 nights.  Very special. We stopped for lunch in a small town on the way and used their tables, chairs and washroom facilities which were rudimentary at best.   We arrived at the Hondo Hondo Camp at 4 p.m. absolutely fed up with the heat, dirt and poverty.  We had to stop close to the camp to fix a valve stem that started leaking and Lizette said she was getting ready to slit her wrists!  You cannot believe the roads here and how long it takes to travel them.  The Lord has definitely been watching over us.   It was not possible to swim in the camp pool and the internet modem was out for repairs.  The accommodations were similar to Tandala with tents covered by thatched roofs, but these were on the ground. We all have porches on the front and bathrooms on the back again and the showe...

 We decided to sleep in this morning and scheduled breakfast for 8:30 a.m.  We were up earlier, of course, and spent the morning on our deck.  We can watch monkeys on a tree nearby and listen to so many birds singing and cackling.  It's truly amazing to be here.  My heart is turning to home though, so I try not to think about how much I miss you all. We swam and read and caught up on notes at camp.  We had lunch at 1 and left for our game drive at 2.  We looked like geniuses as clouds were starting to form and therefore it was much cooler for the game drive without the sun.  It has been absolutely draining to be in this heat and sun every day.  We never have air conditioning and we really couldn't do it without the pools at each camp. In the National Park, both vehicles went a separate route and were planning to meet again later.  We were really trying to find a leopard, so splitting up would give us a better chance.   Pete spo...

 Our breakfast was outside at 6:30 a.m.  First a bowl of fresh fruit with fruit juice.  Then a plate of eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and beans.  This place has the best food yet.  We left for our game drive at 7:15 a.m.  We are about 5 km from the park.   After going through the entrance to the park, which always has paperwork in Tanzania, we quickly came to the Ruaha River which is pretty much dry.  There were 2 deep pools of water where we found hippos, crocodiles, maribou storks, herons and pelicans.  The rest of the day we had to look really hard to find anything.  The new things we did see were a little antelope called a Creep Springer which can climb rock like a goat, a dicdic which is rather like a rabbit and a lesser kudu.  We saw lots of new birds:  a male and female vonder decker hornbill, crowned hornbill, red bill hornbill, barefaced goaway, black-bellied bustard, crested francolin, African ruff, Ostrich, brown pa...

 We started our game drive at 7:30 a.m.  The water hole was just incredible.  Herds of all different kinds of animals were coming and going all at the same time.  We saw giraffes, warthogs, elephants, hippos, wildebeest and crocodiles.  More that I'm not remembering.  We stayed there quite a long time. Then we drove more through the park to try to spot a leopard.  That was not successful.  We had a picnic lunch at a beautiful spot with concrete tables and chairs that was built in preparation for a visit from Obama in 2013.  The previous waterhole was also dug for that event and a concrete fence was made to look like tree bark.  Unfortunately, that trip was canceled but the improvements are being well used.   We returned to the lodge singing most of the way including Christmas carols.  We had split up into guys and girls for this game drive.  Steven and Rashidi drew straws to pick who got to have the girls.  Rashi...