Tanzania....Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   At the end of the last blog I was sort of "taking it all in"- my experience from an amazing day- AND the terrific Seronera Wildlife Lodge. There would be no night or early morning walk here since there were lions, hyena's, and even a leopard in close proximity to the lodge. Actually there were about 10 hyena's in the field by the entrance last night, they are a really ferocious looking animal, nothing cute about them. I was awoken at 4:30 in the morning by a baboon running on the roof so I had plenty of time to talk to the front desk clerk and write in my journal.

  Today after an excellent breakfast we were to make our way east about 160 kms to the Ngorongoro Crater; we were on the lookout for wildlife. We cruised along slowly viewing animals as they came into sight; Supra (the guide) ended up stopping, he had heard a noise from a lion. Turned out that two lions were about to mate; you could not write this script, even if you were in a zoo. We sat in the jeep listening to all the noises of lion passion, we could see the lions moving in the long grass. The male and female have intercourse for about 2 minutes, then wait about 10 minutes to do it again; meanwhile another male was waiting close by in case the dominant male got too tired and he would get his chance. We could hear all the action and could see the "relief lion" hunkered down hoping to get his opportunity. This had to be some tourist luck; like watching the leopard eating the deer the day before, just couldn't get it on camera.

  We continued on and saw a herd of about 15 elephants and many more ostrich than the previous day. There were a lot of giraffe's and gazelle's, and then we went through some bush, there were 4 lions laying on a tree, with 3 very young cubs playing in the grass.

                           

We watched as the mom in the tree kept an eye on the young ones; this action was beyond fabulous. In about 20 minutes we were able to see the family of lions communicate...when the babies got too far from the tree the mom jumped down and went to get them. There were many colorful birds around, I took so many photo's. Once we got close to the Crater there were many Maasai Villages strewn here and there.


                           

 I got a photo of 3 ladies using cloth wraps to carry firewood; as far as the eye could see there were no trees, they must have walked for hours.


                            


    We arrived at the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge and I could not believe the view of the Crater from my room with Lake Magadi right below me.

                           


 The lodge sits right on the rim of this famous caldera that is about 260 sq kms, there are so many animals that live in the Crater full time and tens of thousands of birds that come and go. Yet again the food was exceptional and the service very thorough, the staff really treat the tourists well.

   In the morning we headed to the park gate for the Crater, the park fee was paid by Supra (included in my price). Once we were in the Crater we waited for an endangered black rhino to get close enough for a photo, he did not look black, but Supra said that this creature was a black rhino.

                          


 After that we spotted a cheetah who was taking a break, he did not stay around long once we got close but we still got good photo's.

                          


There were hundreds of pink flamingo's close by, at Lake Manyara there were many more but they were on the other side of the lake.

                       


A couple of times I got bit by a tse-tse fly and does it ever hurt. They are well known for spreading disease and taking a lot of meat with each bite. Most of the day was spent in the Crater and we got close and personal with many different species like the ostrich, hippo, rhino, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, lion, warthogs...and the list goes on.

                       

                       

                       


There were so many types of birds, some were at the lakes edge, while others were on the backs of animals or simply standing in the open.

                       

   Visiting the Crater was an amazing experience; I cannot really say in words or catch in a photo an accurate sense of the thrill that I felt while on this safari.

  As we were climbing out of the Crater on a very rough road (not the same road we entered on) there was a leopard sleeping in a tree. There are so many such photo's capturing wildlife that perhaps look better to the naked eye since I did not have a powerful lens.

    Once we got up onto the park road it was like a circus with the large trucks trying to come up a steep, muddy mountain pass. Several corners we had to stop and the big trucks stopped.....drivers could not go up or down the pass. One truck only had two wheels on the road and it's load had shifted, it was on a 45 degree angle.Another truck was over the edge about 8 metres down, a crane would have to get that one out. We stopped at a souvenir place so the Japanese guys could get something, they were finished; I bought a statue.

                           

                           



  We made it back to Arusha late and I stayed in the 7-11 hotel, the next day just Supra and I would go to the Arusha National Park. On the way to the park 3 ladies were waving the jeep down, Supra looked at me and asked, should we ? We stopped for a photo and the ladies were happy to get some money.

                           

   The last of the safari was good, perhaps not as spectacular as the previous days but any day that one can see these animals is a good day. There were: giraffes, baboons, ostrich, 3 types of lions, jackals,

                           

   hyena's, gazelle's; some monkey types that I hadn't seen before, zebra, buffalo, and the list goes on. When we stopped at a rangers station the ranger (who had a gun) asked me if I wanted to go on a bit of a walk to a waterfall. On that walk we got very close to some giraffe and buffalo; in the other parks you are not allowed to leave the vehicle, for good reason.

  A safari is a great experience for the animal lover We have to hope that there are enough sq kms for these majestic animals to roam in search of food and water. If they see a human, lets just hope that the human is armed with a camera instead of a gun. Oh yea....bring money for tips, the locals need it.

Tanzania......Safari, Arusha To The Serengeti

  Many tourists that go on safari use a prearranged company that an agent has found for them; usually a package deal from a company that the agent knows well, since they often use the same company. If you wing it yourself then you may end up searching on the streets of Arusha, Tanzania like me, or in another urban center. I quickly tired of being pestered by sales people as I walked the streets of Arusha; locals were trying to sell either safari deals or the Mt. Kilimanjaro climb. Several times I sat in an office while some guy tried to dream up a price and scheduled time for a safari. One guy made me wait about 15 minutes and then told me the cost was $1, 050 US. I searched around like all the other backpackers (there were some stories of no shows and cheating) and finally struck a deal at days end with the Victoria Expeditions Company ( $675.00 US, for 5 days and 4 nights); they had a cancellation at the last moment....I would accompany 2 Japanese guys the next day. I was so pumped when I walked back to the 7-11 hotel, I had walked and walked searching out truthful agents and an appropriate deal for this safari, I was so excited that a good nights sleep would not be easy.

   In the morning I was picked up at the hotel and we (Prom, Sushi, Supra the driver and I ) headed the 130 kms to the Lake Manyara Park.

                                     

The scenery on the drive to the park was nice as far as the landscape and panoramic views; I felt a bit guilty when I saw so many of the mud and straw huts of the people who were somehow managing to exist.

                           

    Once we entered the Manyara Park the roof of the jeep was taken off and the 3 of us stood with camera's in hand ready to capture wildlife scenes.  As Supra was driving we heard some crashing through the bush, all of a sudden this rather large bull elephant appeared.

                                        


  We give him his space and let him cross the road before proceeding only to stop the jeep about 10 minutes later so we could watch:lions laying in a tree, hippo's swimming in the lake; flamingo's and giraffe's standing by the jeep.


                           

                           

   There were warthogs, zebra, many elephants, impala's, wildebeest, baboons, mongoose and so many different types of birds.

                         

                         


                         

                       
    Actually the birds were awesome: there were so many beautiful small birds and there were some very large ugly birds with strange looking beaks.


                        


We could not have asked for a nicer day with clear blue skies and so many wild animals up close to the vehicle. That night we stayed in the Manyara Lake Lodge which was a very nice establishment that had beautiful rooms and incredible food and a very friendly staff.

  In the morning we ate a hearty breakfast and then headed out into the misty air for the 270 kms drive to the Serengeti National Park. We past several small villages where locals lived in mud huts; I wasn't sure how they survived since the land around the villages was barren.

                         


The first wildlife I saw were 3 dick-dick's which look like miniature deer, then there were many baboons with babies. While crossing the plains towards arguably the best safari place on the continent (Serengeti), the skies cleared quickly and the best wildlife viewing day of my life was about to begin.

                          


 There were a bunch of camels standing by the road so we stopped to take a photo; when I got my camera out 3 boys came out from behind some brush and wanted money for a photo. I gave them 1,000 shillings each (about $3.00).

                          


     Most Maasai children do not go to school but rather they shepherd animals like goats, sheep, cattle, or camels. These boys can make money from tourists for photo's so they try to stay close to the road. I have a lot to say about the politics of the Maasai in Africa but this post is about a safari.

   There were two herds of elephants, both had babies that were approx. 3 weeks old; we sat there to watch them roam across the land.

                         


The bull elephants were watching us closely so Supra had to keep at the ready to reverse, we were very close, it was amazing. We stopped about 3 metres from a family of lions that were relaxing in the grass...another amazing experience.

                         


 We saw many: ostrich, gazelles, hyena's, topi, eland, oryx  before finding a herd of African Buffalo.


                          


                          

 There were several types of monkeys peeping out here and there and 3 fox, not sure what kind. Supra spotted a herd of zebra (same family as horses) and wildebeest (in the antelope family) across the plain. We found a good spot to stop and watch the thousands of animals as they migrated in their usual fashion. Zebra's have excellent sight and wildebeest have poor eyesight so it is said that they roam together for safety.

                       
                        



   Near the end of our journey to the fancy Seronera Lodge we stopped for about 20 minutes and watched a leopard drag a red back deer up into a tree. The sight was too distant for a photo but to the bare eye I could clearly watch the lion settle in for it's lunch. There was a pool of water with a lot of hippo's and a couple of crocodile's on the bank. This one was crossing the land to enter another pool of water.

                           


Once we got to the lodge I could see the view was tremendous; the workers were extremely pleasant, and the food was delicious.

  I think that when I look back on these safari days I can rank them high on my list of most memorable. As an animal lover it is beyond awesome to see so many types of animals in the wild; words cannot really describe it. I will leave this post while still at the famous Serengeti, there are more incredible sightings to be had.

Ian Macdonald Travel Stories

  Interested parties can view travel blogs from assorted countries at:          itoddmac.blogspot.com

 Travel blogs from China can be found at:                             itoddmac1.blogspot.com                              

  Kyongbokkung Palace...South Korea

   I have not covered South Korea/ Republic of Korea (ROK) extensively like I have many other countries but I have toured around Seoul, and in particular the Kyongbokkung Palace. This small, mountainous, Asian country of about 50 million citizens has over 10 million of it's citizens living in the capital Seoul (approx. numbers). ROK rivals Japan as a stopover for flights crossing the Pacific Ocean to get to East Asia and beyond. Gimpo International Airport just to the west of Seoul used to be the main airport but it is now used more for domestic flights and short trips to close Asian destinations.

                         



    Incheon International Airport, which is the primary airport today is one of the largest and busiest airports in the world, it lies 48 kms west of Seoul. Several times I landed in Seoul during a stopover, this particular trip my wife and I landed on the way to our destination and on our return home.

     We arrived at about 2am and the traffic snarl was incredible for that time of the morning. There  was so much road construction and our airport shuttle driver could not give an inch to other drivers or they would try to nose into the lane. After about an hour we arrived at the Olympia Hotel, which was pretty nice, and we checked in. We had drove out of the sky scrapers and into the rural area of Seoul where the life for locals was very simple.

                       

                       

 I went for a walk at about 5 am and saw many people walking to work. I noticed about 15 men around a mountain of bricks, they were hammering the old mortar off the bricks and piling them up. The homes and shops were very basic with junk strewn all over; to tell you the truth the locals looked very tired, perhaps the older Korean's had a hard life. There were no English signs to be found and anyone I tried to converse with could not speak the language.

     On the return trip to Seoul I could see from the airplane that there was a massive sprawl of 20 floor apartments that were identical, they spread across the horizon as far as the eye could see. The population, when taking into consideration the metropolitan area, is about 26 million citizens; very densely populated. We ended up back at our familiar Olympia Hotel, it was a good home base. I went out of the hotel at 6am and was greeted by -6 degrees. I noticed quickly that there were very few cars on the road; sure it was early, but in a city with more than 10 million, something was a bit peculiar; I learned later that it was Independence Day.

                          


     My goal for that morning was to get up the mountain, high enough for photo's above the sky scrapers. The road I was walking on ended up to go down through a long tunnel; after the tunnel I took a small road up until it ended. There was a trail for me to access that went up; I could hear Korean music being played in the distance which put me in the zone for a day in Korea. I traversed on the trail for awhile and noticed there were many bunkers, what else could these man made holes be ? I came upon a fence with rolled barbed wire and followed that until I got to 2 army guards at a gate. There was a sign that had Korean letters and English, it was written "no stopping, no photography."

   I was at the top of the mountain, there were military everywhere, camouflaged guard posts, bunkers, soldiers at every T in the road; as long as I was not in any danger, this was kind of neat. What was not so good about all this military is the constant worry that South Korea has had with North Korea possibly bombing them....this has been a constant threat since the end of the Korean War in July of 1953. I followed the mountain ridge for a km or so until I got to a pagoda where I assumed at a later hour there would be Korean tourists. There was a trail that appeared to go back down towards the main street so I started to descend.

  About half way down I met a Korean family (Kong) who were very pleasant; there were 3 girls with their parents (and family dog), the oldest daughter had some English skills, the others not so. This family told me that there is a palace on top of the mountain, and also telecommunications, hence the military presence (spy's are a constant worry). Mr Kong invited me to their home for breakfast so I went back to the hotel and told my wife that I had met some new friends. Off we went to the Kong's apartment where we had wonton soup with seaweed, egg, mushroom, and ground beef, it was excellent. We had a good conversation, as good as possible with our limited language skills; the oldest daughter did well at trying to interpret. We talked about many issues facing South Korea; one interesting fact was that the president could only serve one term, even if she/he were doing a great job; Korean's just do not want to risk someone having power for too long.

   After breakfast they wanted to take us by car to the Kings Palace (Kyongbokkung), we did not have any more film for the camera so they give us a roll that they had at home. There was 1, 120 Won to $1.00 US so a roll of film would have cost about 7,800 Won. Since the stores were closed for the holiday I did not want to risk taking any photo's other than at the Palace.

                         


                         

  The Kyongbokkung Palace was built in 1395 during the rule of the Joseon Dynasty. It was a very nice setting in the middle of such a large city. We toured the large National Folk Museum which give insight into the Korean culture. There were many buildings inside the compound that were described as the Kings: workshop, meeting rooms, living area; rooms for workers, temples that were old and temples that were newer.

                         

                         

 There were large gardens with pagoda's and Buddha statues placed around the grounds, it was a good experience.


                         

Popular for wedding photo's, you could see many photo shoots happening in all corners of the compound....people were very friendly.

   Next time I was in Korea I stayed at the airport backpacker house in Incheon and went to the coast for the day. There was a seaside village where I found some rock climbing and a shoreline to explore. The locals seemed very friendly and I found that so many more people had some English skill than in the previous years. I would like to explore more of Korea in the future.

  Dawukou, Ningxia...China

   While pondering just what travel story to post in this blog I turned to one of my 5 journals that I scribed while in China. I chose my tremendous experience in the mountains around Dawukou which is just over one hour north by bus of Yinchuan, Ningxia. For those that do not know exactly where Yinchuan is, it lies about 950 kms north west of the famous Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors). My definition of "my tremendous experience" may be a little different than others, I will let you be the judge.

  I woke up at my hotel in Yinchuan at 6:30 am and had planned to get to the Juicai Gou section of the Great Wall, which is one of the original sections of wall from the Qin Dynasty (220 bc) era. These first sections of the Great Wall were made of packed dirt and rock rather than the bricks used for the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) walls; most of these original sections have eroded away. Through much determination and many gestures, (with map in hand) I finally found out which number bus to take to get to the city of Dawukou. It was -10 degrees as I walked to the bus station; the bus to Dawukou was already fairly full.

   As the bus approached the city I could see that there was a lot of industry in the area, there were many stacks rising up from the ground. Once we got into the station it was hopeless for me to convey to anyone where I wanted to go; I tried every form of communication, accept their language. I ended up messaging my friend who sent a Chinese message that I could show the people at the station. One lady who worked at the station was a blessing; she sorted out my destination with a taxi driver and the cost for the trip to the Wudang Monastery; which was where I would start my hike to the Great Wall.

                       

                       


 I checked out the fairly new edition of the monastery before I followed the river bed; through broken English the lady at the bus station told me about 6kms walk. As I trudged through the snow I was enjoying being alone, with no honking horns or droves of people.

  The wind was cold so I walked with my mouth covered; steadily I went up until I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 different groups of rams; one just does not see many wild animals in most parts of China.

                     

 After about 20 more minutes I found one of the least visited surviving sections of the Great Wall (Juicai Gou). Upon reviewing my photo's I found that the shots I took of this ancient defensive wall did not do the scene justice.

                     

                                     

                            

I was thrilled to have time to rest up on the mountain and take it all in, although ice was forming on my eyebrows. I felt it was too bad that I had nobody with me to witness not only the animals and Great Wall but the isolation I found in this most populous nation.

  I got back to the hotel in Yinchuan so exhausted from my lengthy exertion, I was "just beat". The  owner and his family seemed very happy, they were trying so hard to communicate, as was I. The nights sleep was not good and for the second time I would complain in my journal of the conduct of many Chinese staying in the hotel. I find it ridiculous how they yell down the hallways at midnight or constantly slam doors as if there were no one else in the building. I finally went downstairs to gesture to the owner to get them to be quiet and he came up...that quite only lasted about 15 minutes.

  I left the hotel again in the dark, at about 6:30 am, although I was very tired I was on a mission. On this day I wanted to see the Xi Xia Tombs. Most of us have heard of Genghis Khan and his grandson Kublai Khan, I have read books on these conquerors and was intrigued to be able to explore on some of their old stomping grounds.

  The day started out very confusing as I tried to find a taxi who would take me to Xinjue Square where I could take a bus the 30 kms west of Yinchuan to the Xi Xia Mausoleum. After some effort I learned that the bus does not go to the Mausoleum in the winter so I paid 80 RMB for a taxi and then 60 RMB to enter the site. All of the tourist shops were closed and there were just two workers in the museum/arts centre; the one man (boss) actually had a good command of English which was a nice surprise, especially after the struggle to communicate my last few days. The Western Xia Kingdom was established in 1038 AD and until it was defeated by the Mongols (Khan) in 1227 there were 10 kings; all of them, as well as other high officials, are buried here at the base of the Helan Mountains. There are 193 tombs, the larger ones look very much like an oval pyramid. In the 70's a tomb was entered and items displayed at the museum here, and some in Beijing were removed; after this the government drafted a law against entering any tombs. Officials are uncertain which tombs belong to whom, some are much larger than the others.

  I exited the Mausoleum and walked out into the frosty air, I could see a large tomb close by and many more scattered across the desert.

                      


                      

 After some photo's I walked across the desert in the direction of some other large tombs; there was not a person in sight and it was no wonder as the temperature was well below -10 with the wind chill.

                     

I spent a few hours walking out in the open with a scarf over my mouth, I still feel exuberant when I think about that experience.....again nobody else was there to share this with. I probably covered about 5 or 6 kms as I tried to examine most every one that was visible.

  My other plan for this day was to reach the Sanguankou section of the Great Wall which ended up to be another challenge. I saw a Mosque in the distance and thought that if I could get there that somehow I could articulate to a person where I wanted to go.

                    


    Within about 15 minutes I learned from a shocked attendee that I had to make it to the expressway, which I could see on the horizon, and he gestured pedaling a bicycle for 2 hrs. I made it to the expressway toll booth and I was welcomed by all the agents who were waving from their booth. I showed one lady Sanguankou on a piece of paper and she understood so I waited for about 10 minutes until there was a bus (that had came from Yinchuan), she asked the bus driver to let me on and I waved frantically at all the agents that were smiling and waving at me. We drove for about 10 minutes then the driver pulled over and I got out of the bus.

  Up on the mountain was a longer section of Great Wall than I had seen on the previous day so I covered my mouth with my scarf and started to climb.

                      

It was so cold that my camera lens would not shut after I took the first photo. Once I got to the top of the mountain I could see rams down in the valley below, they ran away as quick as they could. Again I sat on the top of the mountain mesmerized by the view, this was a very rewarding/ grueling day.

                      

                      

 I took in as much as I could while keeping in mind that I did have to get back to Yinchuan before dark. I climbed around for about 2 hours before making my way back down to the expressway to flag down a bus. I loaded on a bus fairly quickly and paid the driver 10 RMB to go the 50 kms back to the city, what an awesome deal.

   I felt so satisfied with my crazy couple of days in the mountains and desert outside of Yinchuan, to say that both days were grueling is an understatement. From the time I left the hotel in the morning on the previous day to my completion of my second day I believed that my experience was one of the best that I had in the country. It is very hard to explain a journey specifically enough to portray the satisfaction that I gained; for me the effort used to get to a place is almost as important as the site itself. Believing that I have to go the extra mile (go through hell) to attain a lasting memory is what keeps my experiences unique to me. I know (because I was there) that I got severe food poisoning that night that I returned back to Yinchuan but that is some drama that I will save for another blog post.