39 hours

39 hours. That's how long we were in airports or airplanes before getting home. We got to the airport in Zanzibar almost 2 hours before our flight and waited in the domestic departure lounge forever. The flight over to Dar was really short; we never got over 5000ft. Our airline, Coastal Aviation, shuttled us over to the "main" terminal, where we basically repeated our exercise of a couple weeks ago: luggage storage (with the same guy as before, who remembered us); sitting up in the Flamingo Cafe (where we watched Cricket) for 2 hours while waiting for checkin time; then checking in and going up to the departure lounge where we waited another 45 or so minutes before boarding the big plane to Dubai. 5 and a half hours up to Dubai (and I actually slept for a couple hours on the flight despite the dude with really offensive BO sitting right in front of me). 3+ hours in Dubai waiting for our 2:50am flight to New York where Angela and I walked up and down the terminal at least 2 times waiting for our boarding process to start and I changed into my "travel pants" from my shorts. 14+ hours to New York where I don't think I slept much more than 2 or 3 hours. It was kind of cool because we raced the sunrise all the way to New York. We flew over Greenland and its glaciers and ice fields, which was really cool, before setting down at JFK a little late. We took advantage of Michele's Business Class chauffeur perk and had a car drive us over to LaGuardia for the final leg of our flight only to find that it was delayed by an hour. It figured. Finally landed in ATL and picked up by Ike's brother for the final drive back up to the house.

Thankfully, the house was just like we left it. Our 5 Guys dinner tasted so good I can't even say. It's all I can do right now to stay awake. Unfortunately, I have to go to work tomorrow after a chiropractor appointment and returning my rental lens.

And just like that another one of our adventures, this one the most amazing yet, I think, is over and real life starts again. Where are we going next year?

Zanzibar Pizza isn't really pizza

Hamiz came to pick us up right at 9 for our spice tour and we said our goodbyes to Chichi and the gang at the Matemwe Bandas. It took about an hour to get to the spice farm, which was actually more of a "spice vacant lot," a couple acres of land on which was planted various spice and fruit plants and trees. We were met by another guide from DiscoverZanzibar, Ali, who actually guided us through the village owned spice farm. He showed us so many spice plants including turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper corns, lemongrass, ginger. Seeing these spices "in the raw" was fascinating. We had a young kid following us weaving various things from palm fronds. After we were finished with our "tour," we sampled some fresh coconut and other tropical fruits and were then given the opportunity to buy some prepared spices from their little "shop," which was actually nothing more than some tables with small bags laid out under a thatched roof. We elected not to buy any of the spices and left for Stone Town.

The drive to Stone Town took about a half hour. It is a bustling, sort of modern city. Our hotel, the Seyyida, is right downtown, not far from the harbor. We agreed to meet back up with Ali for our walking tour at 2:30. Lunch in the rooftop restaurant was OK, but not great. Angela and I had grilled calimari and Michele had some kind of vegetable dish. We're going to find someplace else for dinner, maybe even Forodhani Gardens and its food vendors.

Our walking tour was very nice. Ali took us all over town; into the central market; through the maze-like streets past so many amazing doors; past the Anglican church (which was closed for renovations); into the old fort and down to the harbor and the House of Wonders (which was also closed for renovations). On Ali's recommendation, we decided to have dinner at the Forodhani Gardens night market and the first vendors were just getting set up when we headed back to the hotel, but not before enjoying a few beers at this restaurant right on the water and getting some final shopping done. As if we didn't have enough paintings from this trip, we picked up a very nice trio of small watercolors. We're going to start charging admission to our house/art museum before too long. Angela took her mother on an abbreviated "shopping tour" before dinner and wound up leaving her on a bench in the park before coming back to the hotel to pick me up. They were gone a long time and I was starting to get worried when Angela knocked on the door.

The whole Forodhani Gardens night market vibe is really cool. There are tons of food vendors who set up their tables and grills hawking their skewers of various "frutti di mare" or somosas or shawarmas or "Zanzibar Pizzas." Michele made friends with one of the vendors, Tony the fisherman, while Angela was getting me from the hotel and we wound up getting a number of things from his table while Michele got a shawarma. The food had good flavor, but was over cooked. We also had a beverage made from fresh pressed sugar cane, lime juice and ginger. It was the sweetest thing I think I've ever tasted, but damn if it wasn't good and refreshing. Finally, we had to try the Zanzibar Pizza, not really a pizza at all but more like a crepe (but not even really like a crepe, either). They come in savory and sweet variants and you can get almost any protein or sweet treat in them. They're cooked on a griddle and consist of thinly spread dough filled with a mixture of chopped red onion, carrot, mayonnaise, a raw egg, cheese, and your protein of choice (we chose chicken) for the savory version; or nutella or chocolate or banana or whatever sweet for the sweet version (we chose nutella, peanut butter and coconut). Anyway, once the filling is made and plopped onto the thin dough and the dough sort of wrapped around the filling, the whole assembly is cooked dough-side down on the griddle before being flipped to cook the filling side. Anyway, they were amazing, both the savory and sweet versions.

The night market itself was a hive of activity, and it's not just a tourist thing, either. There were tons of locals enjoying the atmosphere, too, and I'm not talking about all the cats that come out of the woodwork looking for scraps. If the tides are right, local kids will dive off the seawall into the harbor.

Hamiz is picking us up tomorrow at 9:30 to begin our long trip back home. I can't believe this trip that we planned for so long is so close to being over.

The best seafood I've ever eaten

We asked Mkombe to deliver our breakfast to our veranda this morning. It was so windy that it was hard to eat, actually. Angela and I took a walk North up the beach when we woke up and were able to scout out a few very nice properties not far up the beach that might be very good dinner options. This is getting to the very low season on Zanzibar and many of these hotels are almost empty with limited menus that are all very similar to the menu at our own hotel.

We were picked up right at 9:15 by our "guide," James. They loaded a couple of coolers full of waters, cokes, beers, and a bottle of wine into a taxi and took us through town to the north side of town where their boat was waiting for us. Chichi never actually mentioned how our day would work, so we kind of assumed that we'd be on a larger boat with other people, but it was just us, James, and Cassius Clay's doppleganger in a 20ft long fiberglass boat (at least it was covered in the middle) with a 40hp outboard motor heading to Mnemba Island. Because of the tide and the protective reef, we had to go even further up the beach before there was a "cut" through which we could reach the open water. The tide was going out so fast, that I actually had to get out and help shove the boat over the reef.

Mnemba is a couple miles off shore and from the time we got to the boat to when the anchor was down and we were snorkeling it took about an hour or so. The snorkeling was amazing; easily comparable to what we saw in Hawaii. It was good that the tide was out because we were much closer to the reef than we would have been at high tide. We were obviously at the most popular spot because there were a dozen boats all anchored out and probably 50 or so divers and snorkelers.

After exploring the reef for 45 minutes or an hour or whatever, we asked if there were any other snorkeling sites we could get to. There was one other, so we pulled anchor and off we went to the north side of the island (we were on the south side, which was in the lee of the wind that was coming from the north east. The other site was just as impressive, but the waves made it a little harder going, and water would wash into the snorkel so that I occasionally took some nice swallows of seawater. After 30 minutes or so on this reef, James told us that it was time for lunch. There was a large diving boat not far away from us and we all headed in together. I wondered if we would all be sharing this seafood cookout. All told, I was very happy with our snorkeling experience, although I was hoping to swim with dolphins or the elusive Whale Shark.

On the beach, James and Cassius and another guy who was already on the beach spread out a blanket for us under a palm tree and served us the most amazing plate of seafood I'd ever seen: giant prawns, spiny lobster, rock lobster, and under it all a white snapper, with a smattering of potato chunks. It was easily the best seafood I've ever had. We had some cokes and beers in the cooler, and along with the amazing food, it made for one of the better picnics I can remember. We had so much left over that we offered it to James and his crew. I trust that they enjoyed it.

On the way back (we were able to be dropped off right in front of our hotel), all of the fishing boats were coming in with their daily catch to sell at the Matemwe fish market; the largest on Zanzibar. We could see the huge crowd gathered from places all over Tanzania and East Africa.

We spent the afternoon further "decompressing" in the pool or on our verandas and by dinner time rolled around we had no real interest in going off property. Part of the reason for that lack of adventurous spirit, Angela and Michele enjoyed massages "al fresco" up in a tower of sorts that had an amazing view of the beach. They'll serve you dinner up there, if you want, but it's so windy that it would actually be an unpleasant dinner experience. I'm sure it was a nice venue for a massage, though. For dinner, I had those fried noodles with fish while Angela and Michele had the coconut curry that I had the other night. I must say that the noodles were fantastic. Angela and Michele were disappointed in their choices, I think, since the coconut curry wasn't all that "coconutty." Overall, I think I've "won" the Matemwe Bandas restaurant challenge.

After dinner we had a nice chat with Chichi; talking about village life, their culture, his plans for the future, etc. It was a lovely evening.

Tomorrow, Hamiz is coming to get us at 9 to take us to our spice tour and then to our hotel in Stone Town. This beach excursion has been amazing, but I'll be honest and say I'm really ready to get home.

Reefwalking

So, it was a little difficult to get to sleep last night, at least until my body acclimated to the humidity a little. We were up basically with the sun (and it rises right in our faces since we face East). Angela and I took a walk on the beach before breakfast (it was low tide and the tide goes waaayyy out) and the dhows were teetering on the sand we could see sticks sticking out of the water. There's basically nothing on down the beach to the South, at least not for a good ways.

We met our next door neighbors; a German couple in Tanzania on holiday. They came kind of on the cheap (like they took a bus from Dar to Arusha and have been to several places in Zanzibar. Apparently they are avid divers and have really enjoyed the diving off shore. They were having their breakfast served on their veranda when Angela and I got back from our walk.

Breakfast was delicious, but very similar to what we had in the bush: eggs cooked to order, fresh fruit, crepes, and toast. We were approached by one of the hotel staff about our interest in going on a reef walk when the tide was right. "Great," we said. As is so much in Africa, no specific time was agreed on, but it's a small property and he would be able to find us pretty much wherever we were. In keeping with the "decompression theme," we repaired from the breakfast table to the pool and set the lounge chairs in such a way as to be able to see the ocean yet still be in the shade.

At "reef walking time" (which was about 10:30) our new friend came to get us and had a stack of beat up tennis shoes and water shoes for us to try on so we didn't shred our feet on the coral. I'm not sure why I didn't remember I had my keens, but I didn't and so chose one of the pairs that "fit." The reef walk was pretty fun. One of the "industries" here is seaweed farming. The village women will attach seaweed clusters to sticks or to strings that have been strung between two sticks and when the clumps get big enough will pick them, dry them, and then sell them at a market somewhere. Our guide said that you can make $1/kg and they can harvest up to 30kg/mo. There are enough sea urchins in the water off Matemwe beach to keep the entire US sushi industry going for a year. We saw some gorgeous starfish that looked like this and loads of hermit crabs. The tide goes out very far, and we were able to walk out in thigh deep water several hundred yards to an exposed sand bar where our friend started looking for octopus, which are prized catches that bring good money thanks to their popularity in restaurants and the difficulty in finding them. On our way back in, we ran into our German neighbors who were going out past the sandbar to do some snorkeling.

I had pan-fried fish and chips for lunch (the same kind of fish that Michele and Angela had last night), while Angela had some kind of salad and Michele had fried rice noodles with vegetables. After lunch we returned to our lounging and played Backgammon or read or whatever. I've never done "nothing" like this in my adult life, I don't think. Even veg'ing out on the sofa at home involves watching TV of some kind.

The afternoon passed very lazily as we continued our "decompression" by being hypnotized by the wind and surf. Angela and Michele were "entertained" by some local kids playing on the beach in front of our bandas. Michele would chat with whomever came by walking on the beach (the locals appear to use the beach as a sort of road and we've seen guys ride mopeds and bicycles on the firmer sand), and I read and dozed off in the chair on our veranda. It's amazing how fast a day can go even when you're not doing anything.

We ate dinner at the hotel again; maybe tomorrow we'll investigate eating at a different property. I had some skewers of grilled octopus and prawns with rice and vegetables, while Angela had the same noodles that Michele had for lunch and Michele had a tuna steak. We were suprised to hear that they had desserts, including iced cream that they make in house. Michele and I had mango ice cream that was sublime while Angela had plain vanilla. Chichi says that we are getting picked up tomorrow morning at 9:15 for our snorkeling trip.

One adventure ends and another begins

It's hard to believe that the safari portion of our Tanzanian adventure is already over. Eight nights went by so fast.

Our flight from the Seronera airstrip back to Arusha was at 10:30am and John wanted everyone to be loaded up and ready to leave by 8:30 so we might sneak in a little wildlife viewing on the way to the strip. Of course, that didn't happen. First there was the long breakfast; then there was people doing their last minute adjustments to make sure breakable things were secure; then there was the photos with the guides and the whole group; then there was the "goodbyes" with Velia and Naomi who were going to stay back at the camp because their flight from Seronera to Kigali, Rwanda wasn't until later in the afternoon; then finally the big tip ceremonies where we thanked the Southern Serengeti camp staff and our 3 guides; and then, finally, we were off. At 9:15.

The first thing we all noticed is that all of the Wildebeest were gone. The rains last night in the far south of the Serengeti drew them all back down there. It's amazing how one day you can be surrounded by so many animals and the next morning it can seem empty. Of course there are still the antelopes, who don't migrate with the Zebras and Wildebeest, and the predators who are territorial and don't leave their "ranges," and the Elephants, but the zombie horde was gone.

We passed by the lions' killing field from yesterday and saw the now almost completely picked over carcasses of 2 Wildebeest. There were plenty of Vultures and some Maribou Storks picking the bones clean. Absolutely nothing goes to waste here.

We had what amounted to a private charter from Seronera to Arusha and the flight was uneventful. The air was really hazy, so you couldn't see too much, but we could see the tracks in the grass from all of the Wildebeest, and I'm pretty sure we could see down into Ngorongoro off the right side of the plane. On landing in Arusha, and after saying goodbye to our traveling companions, Angela, Michele, and I were given our box lunches and taken to the checkin desk where we waited for our 12:30 flight to Zanzibar. We got a little look from the guy weighing our bags, but between all 3, we were under the 45kg limit. The flight to Zanzibar was an hour and a half and once we got on the ground and through Zanzibar's passport control, we were met by Hamiz, our driver/guide that Thomson arranged for us. He was very friendly and talkative during the hour or so it took to get to our beach hotel in Matemwe. We arranged a spice tour for Sunday morning and a Stone Town walking tour for Sunday afternoon.

Matemwe is nothing like what I expected; but then again, I didn't really know what to expect. In the US, beach communities are usually pretty built up and commercialized. There might be some of that on Zanzibar, but not here. The town isn't too much different than what we saw going up to Ilkiding'a in Arusha: sand/dirt roads, livestock and chickens in the streets, trash almost everywhere you look. Then, we got to Matemwe Bandas and you forget what's outside. It was like a little slice of paradise with white sand like back home in Pensacola; coconut palms; an al fresco bar/restaurant; a crystal clear swimming pool; and the 3 beachfront cottages that directly overlook the beach. We were met by the butler, Mkombe, and shown to our "bandas," which are huge. The breeze/wind coming off the Indian Ocean is fresh enough that you almost forget how hot and humid it actually is (and there is no A/C here). The afternoon was spent literally doing nothing. I sat on the veranda looking at the waves and the dhows bobbing in the surf while Angela and Michele lounged on the beach under a thatched umbrella. A perfect way to wind down after our safari.

Dinner was amazing. Angela and I had grilled octopus salad as a starter, and I had coconut curry fish with rice while Angela and Michele had grilled fish steaks. All the food was very good and fresh. After dinner, Angela and Michele took a walk up the beach to see what there was to see. We met with the owner, Chichi, before dinner and sort of planned out our activities during our stay here. Tomorrow Angela is going to try her hand at kite surfing and Saturday we're going snorkeling out at Mnemba Island and having a seafood lunch on the beach.

Sleeping might be uncomfortable because the airflow in the banda isn't great, but would be overwhelming if we opened the doors all the way (and we feel a little uncomfortable doing that, since there is no access control to the property as a whole.

Checking the tires

The Wildebeest hordes moved back down into the Seronera valley overnight last night. Michele claims that she heard Hyenas outside her tent, but I don't remember hearing anything more than some Zebra.

For our last full day in the bush, we got the band back together and rode in Leonard's jeep with Scott and Karan. It took no time at all before we were witness to the trials of life, Serengeti edition. There was a lioness feeding on a Wildebeest in an open field bordered on one side by the road and on the opposite side by a river; completely disemboweling the carcass; face completely in the abdominal cavity. In the field were at least 12 other lions. One of them had a tracking collar, so I wonder now if she's the same lioness with collar we saw the other day.

Anyway, as the one lion was going to town on her kill, a herd of Wildebeest made its way into the pride's killing field. The collared lioness and her 3 adolescent cubs perked up and stopped the herd in its tracks. There was a bit of a showdown and evidently the lioness was more interested in making sure the cubs didn't get stampeded than shopping for groceries. The herd abruptly turned around and left.

Not 10 minutes later, a Wildebeest calf entered the kill zone (Leonard suspected that maybe the dead Wildebeest was its mother) and despite the presence of fresh meat, the feeding lioness made a run at the calf but it was halfhearted and it got away. Shortly after that, another calf ran the gauntlet through the entire pride and miraculously made it. By now, the feeding lion had had her fill and sauntered over to rest in the shade of one of the jeeps that had parked on the road watching the spectacle. Leonard was repositioning his jeep and we drove right by her. She wasn't more than 5 feet away from me as we passed and I could hear her breathing heavy. As soon as we parked again, another herd of Wildebeest decided that they needed to get through there and stampeded through the killzone. This got all the lions' attention and I really thought I would see a kill, but again it was not to be. Leonard said that the Lions are very careful during these stampedes because it's very easy to get trampled or kicked. While all this was happening on the left side of the jeep, on the right side a single lioness was stalking a smaller herd of Wildebeest. She gave short chase but came away empty. I wonder what their success rate is? (Here it is).

We begrudgingly admitted that the show was over and the plan for the rest of the day was to go out into the plains to look for cheetah. We drove out past the Kopje where we saw the Leopard feeding on the Wildebeest the other day and out past all of the Wildebeest horde to the open grass plains where there was basically only various antelope groups; Thomson's Gazelle, Grant's Gazelle, Topi, Hartebeest, etc. Definitely Cheetah country. One funny thing we noticed is that certain members of the herd will take it upon themselves to act as lookout on top of old termite mounds or small rocks.

As we continued to drive out into the plains, we came across more of these kopjes. One in particular was the home to a pride of lions. There were probably 15 or so that we saw lounging on one rock or another, including one mother with a young cub, and some grizzly looking males with huge beautiful manes.

We packed box lunches for today and ate in the jeeps under the shade of an acacia tree a few hundred yards away from this kopje with all the lions. This was probably the least appetizing lunch I'd had since we arrived in Tanzania. You know what I saw under a tree as we left the kopje? A locked box with a padlock. Leonard said that researchers will place small cameras in these boxes to observe the cats that use these places as dens for having babies or as hides while hunting. That explains the padlock I saw under that other tree the other day.

After lunch, we headed out even further in to the plains; even past all of the kopjes. After a mile or so, all of the jeeps pulled up side by side and Leonard announced that it was time to "check the tires," which is bush speak for relieving ones self. Boys go to the front of the jeeps while girls go to the back. Obviously, the boys have no "pack in, pack out" issues with cleanup, but the girls do. There was discussion amongst the ladies in our jeep about how to contain and dispose of their cleansing materials. It was kind of funny. John warned us that this might happen back when we had our first Safari briefing, but we had gone all this time without needing to check any tires.

Scott and I joked that John, Kumbi and Leonard were taking us out this far into the middle of nowhere to kill us and bury us and almost at the same time we asked Leonard if that was the plan. The emptiness of this part of the Serengeti was amazing. There was nothing out here but us and the antelopes. Being as we were pretty far out and that it would take the better part of an hour or more to get back, we decided that we weren't going to see any cheetah chase any antelopes. As luck would have it, Eagle Eyed Leonard spotted a cheetah in the shade of a small bush. It was being stalked by 2 jeeps who had gone "off road." Apparently the "off road" permits here are very hard to get, and usually only granted to documentarians or researchers so those folks were very fortunate.

The last vignettes of the day were a small baby elephant nursing at its mother's teat and an orphaned or abandoned Wildebeest calf running in front of us down the road. The differences in the 2 scenes was so stark, with the heavily maternal elephants and the completely opposite Wildebeest. The beestie calf was doomed to predation or starvation; probably within a day or two.

We could see storm clouds gathering on the southern horizon on the way back to camp for our last night in the bush and sure enough it started raining while we were eating dinner and continued on pretty hard for an hour or so. It's hard to believe that we've been out here for over a week. It's awesome to know that we still have 4 more days before heading home.

Beesties everywhere

The "envelope ceremony" was especially awkward today because I was the duly appointed delegate for all of the ballooners' tips. I just gave Japhet a huge stack of envelopes and thanked him and the staff on everyone's behalf.

Kumbi took us by another hippo pool this morning hoping to see the hippos in the morning ritual, but they had already all gotten down into the water by the time we got there so we were treated to more grunting and pooping.

We finally saw some cheetahs this morning: a mother and juvenile cub lounging under a tree. They were really hard to spot because the grass was kind of high, but Kumbi has an eagle eye and the jeep stopped on the side of the road was a dead giveaway. I thought I might get to see a chase when a female "warty" and her 4 little piglets wandered into the cheetah's field of view about 200 yards up the road. Heads perked up and things looked promising until the mama warty got wise to the situation and promptly escorted her brood directly away from the threat.

We met up with the rest of the gang at the Serengeti Tourist Center. By all accounts the balloon ride was a hit, although one of the balloons had a better viewing experience than the other. Ballooning is a very random experience; if the wind isn't blowing then you just don't go very far and what you can see is limited.

The visitor center was almost overrun with oversized hamsters called Rock Hyrax. Apparently they're at least a little related to Elephants, but there was a nice little nature walk that talked about the Serengeti ecosystem and the challenges that the animals face.

The rest of the morning was spent looking for more cats down among the watering holes in the Seronera valley. We watched a family of elephants (with very tiny baby) wallow in a mudhole. One of them got sort of stuck and was rocking back and forth trying to get enough momentum to roll upright. That elicited a laugh from Kumbi, which told me that it was something somewhat unique. The family moved on out when a big male came in for some mud time. He had such a good time rolling around, throwing mud all over, digging around with his tusks.

We saw another big croc at a watering hole waiting for some unsuspecting victim, but these animals eat so seldom the odds of actually seeing an attack are pretty rare, especially where there's nothing at the watering hole to eat.

We did come across a lone lioness lounging (as an aside, when are they not lounging?) under a tree. Is it bad that by now a lone lioness is not that impressive any more? They're magnificent animals, no doubt, but just watching them lie around gets boring pretty quick.

The schedule today was a little different than usual. We had a nice sit-down lunch at our new camp which is further south than the camp we just left, and were given a couple hours to relax before an optional afternoon game drive. This last camp is not nearly as picturesque as our previous ones. Kumbi says that a herd of elephants came through last April and snapped tons of trees. There are a whole bunch of beesties close to the camp, though. The herds appear to be gathering around here.

A few people decided to stay at camp for our afternoon drive. At first, the plan was to go even further south to the Moru Kopjes, but John decided that we were going to get in amongst the gathering hordes of Wildebeest. For all intents and purposes, we were right in the middle of the "migration," even though it's not supposed to start for another month or so. We found ourselves surrounded by tens of thousands of Wildebeest all going in different directions searching for any sign that it's time to start the long trek north. It's too early, though, since the babies aren't strong enough to make the trip and their mothers will leave them behind.

Kumbi hates the Beesties, I think, and for good reason. They're very much like zombies just wandering the earth, aimless. On one side of a hill they're all going one way; on the other side they're all going the other way. We saw a whole column 5 deep going one direction and a lone mother and calf going the opposite direction. The dust and noise was incredible. We almost saw another leopard. Amongst the zombie horde was a tree with a wildebeest calf wedged into the branches; legs and head dangling. We couldn't find the leopard responsible, though. My guess is that it was out hunting and stashing more goodies away in another tree for later.

We actually met the folks who have been behind us the last couple days; the ones who climbed Kili. Martha and Marty, and Mary. They're very nice and their stories from Kili are incredible. I'm not sure if they're making Angela more or less excited about maybe hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu.

We might have some Wildebeest in the camp tonight. They are everywhere just below the camp. You can hear their grunts and moans mixed in with some Zebra calls.

Big 5 Baby!

I think we're getting over the jet lag, finally. In the beginning, we were getting up way before "Jambo Jambo," now we're almost to the point of actually needing our daily "Jambo" call to wake up. It was quiet in camp last night, but I did hear Zebras and Hyenas off in the distance.

We rode with Roland and Sharon in John's jeep today. We made a stop at the Retima Hippo Pool, a fairly popular overlook to see hippos in their element: wallowing in their own filthy poop water. The odor was not pleasant. They were mostly just laying there, as though the energy expended getting from their nighttime sleeping spots was just too much and they needed a morning nap. There would be the occasional grunt or spit, but evidently they were too tired or lazy to see any cool aggressive behavior where I might get a shot of a gaping maw. Sharing the pool with the hippos were a couple of small Nile Crocodiles. There was one hippo in particular with a pretty bad gash on its flanks. Not sure if the gash came from another hippo or a croc, but neither of the crocs we saw were big enough to do the damage I saw.

We spent most of the day in the Seronera region looking for big cats, but before we got down there we were treated to a little show from two Defassa Waterbuck males looking to stake their claims to the local females. They spent about 10 minutes feinting then retreating until finally the challenger decided that he didn't have what it took and walked away.

Approaching on watering hole, we saw a pretty big croc; at least 15 feet long. It looked fake it was so still with its mouth open. As we rounded one particular bend in the creek, we were presented with a very interesting site: a dead hippo stiff as a board and resting on its side in the river. Quite the vignette. I assume it was inaccessible to the vultures (or they couldn't tell it was dead since there wasn't any blood for them to site in on) and other scavengers, but eventually the crocs will get to it. I sure don't want to smell it when they finally pop that fetid balloon.

We followed a small chain of watering holes watching the "beesties" and "zeebies" and Giraffes take their fill, no so secretly hoping to watch a crocodile explode from the water to take one unawares. The Giraffes were especially funny as they splayed their legs out so their heads could reach the water. It was an interesting site to be sure. They're so awkward and graceful at the same time.

The "Sausage Tree" is a popular hangout for Leopards because of their low, thick, horizontal branches. Every time we passed close to one, we'd all train our binoculars on it to try to find the telltale signs of the elusive cats: a tail wagging from a branch or the spindly legs of a dead baby "beestie" that had been dragged into the tree for safe keeping. Finally, John spotted something out of place in one particular tree. Turns out that it was a kill hanging from a branch. We approached as close as we could to try to get a better vantage point and after repositioning a few times were rewarded with our first Leopard sighting of the trip. What a magnificent animal. With all due respect to lions and their "King of the Jungle" moniker, Leopards are so much more beautiful and the fact that they hunt solo is way more impressive. With this Leopard, we can say that we've seen the "Big 5" of Africa: Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Elephant and Cape Buffalo. Still no Cheetah, though.

We had another outstanding picnic lunch. This time we had brownies and PB&J to go with our usual fresh fruit and vegetables. The PB&J's were a nice touch and they went pretty fast.

Is it bad that elephants have become somewhat passe'? We see them now basically all the time and we barely even notice any more, unless small babies are involved.

We came across a male and female lion resting in the grass and watched for a while hoping that we would see the mating ritual acted out in full. Again, no such luck. While our eyes were on the lions close by, John spotted a single male lion not far away eyeing some Zebra and Wildebeest. Believe you me that the Zeebies and Beesties were eyeing the lion, too. He decided that it was futile thinking he could take one, and so walked back towards his pridemates, but with a noticeable limp. That answered the question of why he made absolutely no effort to get lunch.

John took us out toward the open plains and one of the many large rock outcroppings here called "kopjes." This one in particular was called the Maasai Kopjes. Lions and Leopards like to use these kopjes as bases of sorts because they offer good vantage points for spotting prey. We drove around the various formations looking for cats but came up empty. After we had moved on to get closer to a large herd of Beesties, John got word on the "Bush Telegraph" that someone had spotted a Leopard feeding on an adult Wildebeest under a large bush where we had just come from. How did we miss it? We high tailed it back to the kopjes to find a dozen rovers all jostling for a spot from which to view this gorgeous male chowing down on a full grown Wildebeest. He either got full or a little spooked and so dragged the carcass deeper under the bush away from the prying eyes of the Vultures before climbing up onto a rock in the shade of a tree. You know was was interesting? There was a brass padlock in the bush.

With all that excitement, we almost lost track of time and it was time to head back to camp. We were treated to one final sight of the day when Nancy in one of the jeeps ahead of us screamed for Leonard to stop because there was a male lion striking a Leopard like pose on a large branch of an Acacia tree. Definitely not something you expect to see.

Back in camp, we met a couple who had just flown out this morning from Arusha. They were on their honeymoon and since their entire group backed out they basically were on a private safari. Apparently, they saw some Cheetah today, so they're out there.

Tomorrow is the hot air balloon flight for the 8 folks that booked it, so Angela and Michele and Bill and Nancy and me will ride with someone in the morning before meeting up with the ballooners at the Serengeti Tourist Center. Jambo Jambo for the ballooners is 4:30 (ouch!), but our wakeup is our usual 6:30.

Velia finally got to see her Maasai village

The "envelope ceremony" this morning was no less awkward than the other day in Tarangire. Just wanted to get that out there.

We rode in Kumbi's rover with Velia and Naomi. Angela and Michele have been chatting them up at dinner the last couple nights and I think they'd been looking forward to riding with them.

John didn't lie, the drive was awful. The roads, such as they are, were horrible: ruts, washboards, dust, etc. We made a short stop for fuel and headed down from the crater on the west side. From the get go, Velia was trying to angle for a visit into one of the Maasai bomas that we saw as we descended into the high plains of the Serengeti; asking Kumbi what it would take and whether it was possible and how it would work.

Our visit to Oldupai Gorge was one of the highlights of the whole trip so far, honestly. Apparently, "Olduvai" is a typo that goes back to the original German colony of Tanganyika and the first researchers there, and the gorge is actually named for the Oldupai cactus that grows there. It's amazing to me that almost every major step in human evolution can be traced back to that place. It's very humbling.

I guess Velia wore Kumbi down, because after we left the museum, he drove us to a village where he knew the chief's eldest son. He said that if he were there, then Velia should be able to get her village visit. Lucky for her he was there, and after some negotiations between him and Kumbi, she was declared our jeep's delegate and was given the royal treatment. Kumbi parked the rover in the shade of a tree and we were able to sort of watch out of the back. They sang for her, did a dance, then led her into the enclosed part of the boma where she met with the villagers and saw their huts and whatnot. After 30 or so minutes, she came out very excited that everyone was now allowed to go in and see the workshop where the women make their beaded crafts. Naomi, Michele, and Angela could not pass up an opportunity to buy more stuff. It was just me in the jeep at that point for 15 or 20 minutes, watching the Maasai men talk about me, while all the women got their shop on.

By this point, we were at least an hour behind the other rovers and Kumbi raced down the road to catch up since our boxed lunches were distributed among all the jeeps and our lunches might not have been in Kumbi's jeep. We caught up to the rest of the group at the Naabi gate at the south end of the Serengeti National Park, but everyone had already eaten and we had to wolf down our lunches. I guess the detour was worth it since Velia got to experience something that she really wanted to and we didn't really miss anything.

Reunited, we entered the Serengeti National Park, which is larger than the state of Connecticut. This part of the park truly lives up to the meaning (the land that flows on forever); short grass plains as far as the eye can see in every direction. We were slightly held up by one of the classic Serengeti scenes: the long single file line of Wildebeest going across our path. They appeared to be treating the road as a river and leaping from the edge of the road into to the river and being somewhat surprised that there wasn't any water. Kumbi laughed a little. I think he doesn't "respect" the "Beesties" very much because they're so stupid. Oddly enough, we had a fairly close lion encounter as we rolled up on 3 lions chilling out under the only tree we could see, which happened to be right next to the road; almost as though it were planted there for our benefit.

We drove north past the Seronera river and into the "central Serengeti, where the wildlife got a little denser. This landscape was more wooded and criscrossed with watering holes and shallow stream valleys. It was obvious how much greener this area was than the extreme southern part. We didn't do too much hardcore viewing since our camp was still an hour away (did I mention that the Serengeti is huge?), but we did see some elephants. Our "Central Serengeti" camp isn't actually in the park; but rather in a game reserve called "Ikorongo." We exited the park at the "Ikoma Gate" and about 30 minutes later we were in the camp. Japhet, our very friendly camp manager, introduced the camp crew and we went through the now familiar welcome ceremony with our wet towels and cold juice and tent assignments. For the third camp in a row, our tent was at the end of the line. Our guards at this camp are from a local village and instead of assault rifles or spears use bows and arrows.

This camp is clearly way more permanent than the other 2 we've stayed at, as the dining, bar, and lounge areas are under a permanent thatched roof with a flagstone floor. I suspect that's because we're not in a national park or conservancy but rather in a private concession so Thomson doesn't have to worry about renewing their campsite on a year to year basis. The tents are still temporary though, and are broken down during the rainy season and taken back to Arusha for maintenance.

I'll tell you; I've been really disappointed with the stars. I came here really excited about getting some pictures of the Milky Way and maybe some star trail photos. There is zero external light pollution here, and we're at over 5000ft ASL, and the air is supposed to be very clear, so perfect conditions. However, the moon has been so bright, and there have been high clouds almost every night blurring the view to boot, that I'm afraid my dreams of that are going to go unfulfilled. Too bad, too, because I am lugging my full size carbon fiber tripod all over Africa for that chance.