November 14 - Into the Wild

 We left our hotel around 7 a.m. and at 9 we were just driving out of Dar es Salaam, a large city of almost 6 million people.  We never stopped moving.  The pavement ended and we experienced an 'African massage' driving through village after village waving at lots of smiling faces.  We stopped to pee on the way just in the bushes.  Ladies on one side and men on the other.  It is very mountainous here, rather like the beaver valley.  Just the trees are very different.  Lots of banana, mango and jack fruit trees.  Palm trees are also everywhere.  Many trees are being cut down for cooking.  They make lots of charcoal which seems to be for sale at the side of the road.  It took just over 5 hours to arrive at the Selous River Camp.

After filling in a form and meeting the camp director, we were shown to our cabins.  We all have a king-sized bed with a bunk bed, a single bed and our own bathroom.  Each bed is surrounded by mosquito netting.  The windows are only screens.  All the cabins are in a cirlce around the pool.  We all went straight into the pool.  It is unbelievably hot here, but it is paradise.  We went for lunch at 1 and then swimming, naps and reading until 4 where we loaded up in 3 safari vehicles to drive to the river for a 2 hour river safari.  

Here at camp, we saw, warthogs, mongoose and bush pigs.  On the river, we saw lots of birds like a yellow weaver, 2 kinds of kingfisher, maribou stork and bee-eaters.  We saw 3 kinds of monkeys, white and black colobus, blue and vervet.  We saw hippos, monitor lizards and a deer-like animal called Impala. 

After returning to camp at 7 we stopped at the bar for a cold beer and went straight to supper.  We are guarded by the Maasai here at camp through the night.  They walk us to our rooms and we wait for them at our doors whenever we leave our rooms at night.  They have a fire pit with a large sandy area surrounding it and chairs surrounding that.  There are 4 Maasai in traditional dress.  They are warriors and 1 Maasai in street clothes.  They all live at camp for 6 months of the year.  They sang and danced for us.  They make the most unusual sounds.  Like animals.  They also told us about their culture.  They can marry up to 6 wives depending on the number of cattle they own.  They circumcise both men and women, although female circumcision has been stopped by the government.  To be a warrior, certain tasks must be completed like living in the bush with hundreds of cattle all alone for 1 year.  They have only a stick, a spear and a club with which to protect their herd.  

It has been the most unbelievable day.  We cannot grasp that we are here.  Off to bed as the generator goes off at 11 and we hope to be asleep when it goes off.  Breakfast at 6:30 and an all-day safari leaving at 7:30 with lunch in the bush.  37 degrees C.