South Africa and Tanzania

 We left at 7:30 after breakfast.  Tan Swiss Lodge packed us a lunch for on the way.  We went through lots of mountains and it was just like we were a train with transport trucks.  Mostly we drove no faster than walking speed. We had paved roads until just after the large City of Iringa.  We stopped there to fill up with fuel and to go to a bank.  Then the gravel roads started.  You would not believe the roads!  We bumped and shimmied our way along, even tapping the bum of a Maasi cow that was on the road.  Shortly after that we stopped for lunch in a farmer's field.  A goat herd, herder and dog walked through the field and we shared some lunch with him.  We also brought food to the farm family across the road. We finally arived at Tandala at 3:30 p.m.  It's unbelievable how long it takes to drive 320 km.  It said on google maps that it would take 3 1/2 hrs.   Here we all have a tent 8 feet off the ground with a ...

 We left Selous promptly at 7 a.m. and drove as quickly as possible through the Nyerere National Park where the roads are decent gravel.  Partway through the park we encountered a dead giraffe at the side of the road with 5 hyenas gorging themselves.  It was the most amazing sight and very rare according to our seasoned fellow safari slickers.  Finding animals on a kill is rare.  The road deteriorated, sometimes we could only drive at a crawl and other times we had pavement for brief times going up mountains.  The drive was extremely interesting.  We traveled through lots of villages again and stopped and bought fruit and sodas at least 3 times.  The first village after leaving the park was the village of our guide, Rashidi.  He showed us where he grew up and went to school.  His wife was his neighbour and they now live in Dar es Salaam with 3 children.  He is Muslim and his wife is Roman Catholic and it is no problem at all.  ...

 Today we left again for a game drive at 7:30.  We decided to have a shorter day.  Lunch was again a picnic, this time by a lake.  We returned to camp around 2:30 p.m.  It was another amazing day  Large spotted genet Cape Buffalo Waterbuck Bushbuck monitor lizard crocodile giraffe hippo baboon kudu vervet monkey elephant impala Hammercock Ruffbilled stork Black winged stilt white throated bee eater little egret yellow billed stork grey heron grey hornbill barbet We are also learning Swahili from our guides.  Twendy means let's go.  Tiari means are you ready? Asanti means thank you and Jambo means hello.  Hakuma Matata is no worries.   At the end of the day, John surprised us with a riverboat ride to the large sandbar where we enjoyed champagne and snacks to watch the sunset.  Our guides brought everything along, chairs, a table, tablecloth, champagne, glasses and snacks.  It was really special.  

 We left at 7:30 and entered the Selous National Park (now called Nyereere National Park)  On the way to the park entrance we caught a quick glimpse of an elephant. As we entered the park you drive along a dusty road used by lots of big trucks as they are building a huge hydroelectric dam 130 km into the park.  All the trucks stop when they see a safari vehicle to keep us safe and to keep the dust down as we pass.  Very respectful of tourists.  There are many roads for us to take off the main road.  I don't know how our guides know the way, but they expertly brought us to the animals, mostly to lakes and watering holes every day.  The number of animals is just unbelievable.  Because it is usually hot and dry right now, all the animals are concentrating around the water, so we are very fortunate.  Here is an example of what we saw today, most in many numbers. Savannah Baboons Yellow Lace Baboons Elephants Bushbuck Kudu  Warthogs Banded Mo...

 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 m...

 We were awake early, probably 8 a.m. and went for breakfast at 9:30.  The hotel looks right out of a Humphrey Bogart movie, the dining room is open air with slow fans.  Everyone is so kind and eager to please.  English is not their first language, so a little harder to communicate.  The eggs here have almost completely white yolks. We met Emily from Budget Safaris at 11.  This was also our first meeting with the last 2 members of our group, Johannes and Lientjie.  Their son and his girlfriend also dropped in for a few minutes.  He has been working in Dar es Salaam for a year now.   Emily explained what we can expect on safari, our covid test on return and protocols for the guides and tipping.  She answered lots of questions. Then we went swimming in the pool for a while.  At 1:30 we all went to Bongoyo Island on a very rudimentary, wooden boat with an ancient, wheezing outboard motor which they referred to as a 'ferry'.  ...