Tanzania Day 10

Land Rover

Baboon

Vuma Hill Luxury Tent Camp

Inside of tent

Outside of tent

Trevor near dining hall

Beautiful swimming pool

Feeding a bush baby

Bright and early we left Dodoma behind us. It was hard to think that the work was going on at the site and we were not there. We pray that everything will be finished quickly.

We boarded the Shabiby Video Line bus promptly at 8am. Five long hours, filled with "The God's Must Be Crazy II" and "Con Air" and quite a few African rap videos filled the time. We were stopped by police several times. Two or three officers stand by the side of the road in their crisp white uniforms and stop most traffic. Twenty seconds and we were off again. Not sure the purpose really. The police have no cars, but they stand by the side of the road with their radar guns and then call ahead to the next check point. The other interesting thing about Tanzanian roads is the "speed humps". Yes, right on the highway there are huge humps and the bus literally flies over them. I even hit my head once.

We arrived at the destination (which I can't remember the name). Amidst a thriving market we transferred our luggage from buses into 8 person Land Rovers. It was quite the step up after those narrow bus seats. Our driver Joshua swiftly took off, leaving men and boys peddling everything from peanuts to hard boiled eggs to drinks/candy behind. It was a beautiful drive. Mountains on all sides that eventually opened up to plains. Many villages were along the road and it always captures my imagination to see how they live. They were more rural even than Dodoma and seemed more orderly. I think I would choose a village to live in if I were transferred to Tanzania. One village even had a pool table out underneath a stick and sheet metal structure. People have to have their billiards!

They told us to be on the look out the moment we entered the park. They were not wrong. Right at the gate we were greeted by a baboon. He sat there and wanted food from the cars. When he sat, it was pretty clear we were dealing with a boy baboon. :o) We made it through some forested hills to our camp. The place is run by Fox Safaris out of the U.K.. It is simply amazing. I cannot imagine what it took to build this place in this remote of a region. We only have power twice a day for 4 hour blocks. They run off a diesel generator. Their are sixteen tents....but they are not really like camping back in Michigan. The tents are probably five hundred square feet and sit off the ground on high decks. Two queen- sized beds and a full bathroom with hot water...believe it or not. This is not roughing it. Our camp sits high and we can see for miles over the African plain. Lunch and then we were promptly on our first expedition. Amazing. We were all worried we would not see animals since it has been so wet. Usually the animals congregate around the watering holes, but not when it is wet. Well, we had nothing to worry about. Thirty feet inside the park we found a herd of Impalas...imagine small dear with the males having long antlers. They look like lion food to me. Anyway, they were everywhere. One male rules about fifty females. Some were even taking care of business right out there in the open. More Impalas will be on the way! Wildebeasts herded next to them giving us curious looks. A few kilometers ahead was a giraffe. They are a little more shy, but you can see them in the distance. I had never seen a giraffe run. No reason to in a zoo. It looks like the animal is in slow motion. Crazy! Elephants were everywhere. Big ones, baby ones. We saw one little guy that our guide said was barely a month old. The elephants come right up close. Absolutely no fear. I guess being as large as our Land Rover helps a bit. We came around the next corner and there were four female lions taking a nap in the sun.

The car shut off and the lions just stared. One got up and used the restroom. We just sat there, five feet from one. Beautiful creations! They rest about twenty hours a day and hunt twice a day. When they yawned, you could see the power in their jaws. Their saber teeth are amazingly large that close. The next stop was a pond...with hippos. They are the most dangerous animal in Africa if you choose to boat with them or swim with them. The bulls are quite territorial. There were probably eight of them in this pond and they were pretty sloth like. A couple made big splashes and opened their big traps just like in Hungry Hippos. We even spotted one baby, but he only poked his head out of the water.

This park is huge and hard to put in words. They tell us it is over 3,000 square kilometers. It is a large plain with trees dotting the landscape. Bilbob trees are amazing. They are several meters wide and for every meter they are a hundred years old. We drive on red dirt and gravel roads with the occasional roller coaster ride through mud. Thankfully, the Land Rovers are huge and have four wheel drive. Little gullies cut through the landscape...normally they are dry, but now they are filled with running water. We were told that several roads were washed out over the last month.

We toured for over two hours, right until the park closed at seven. It was serene as the sun set behind us. At the tail end we found zebras. There were probably a dozen and one baby. Their stripes were hypnotic as they stared at us. One little baby was a little skittish. Behind them were a couple giraffe's eating from the heights of a tree.

Well, the day closed with a great dinner under a huge thatched deck. I thought we were done with animals, but right underneath the deck were five honey badgers eating scraps. They growled and fought over the food. They are the fiercest animals in the area...they even take on lions and usually come away on top. On the deck were little light brown monkeys called bush babies. They would take bread right out of your hands.

Sleeping in the tent/cabin was a new experience. No need for a sound maker here. The jungle is alive with birds, monkeys, and other animals. There are no fences here...so you have to make sure your flashlight is dead ahead. Never know what you are going to find....hopefully not one of the honey badgers that was eating those scraps just 50 yards from my tent. I slept well, but woke around 3am hearing animals moving below. They say there are giant porcupines in the area. Crazy!

Well, that is all for now.

Trevor