Our safari was with the excellent and reliable Bushbuck Safari's.
This is the Ngorongoro Crater in western Tanzania, home to all those animals from public TV.
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We saw every animal imaginable... |
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...but the water buffalo weren't impressed with the safari. |
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This was the first cat we saw, and the only cheetah.
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We were fortunate to witness a lion kill a gazelle. The next morning, the same group of lions were feeding on a small zebra. |
We visited a Masai village; a bit of an African tourist trap.
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Most Masai wear these colorful blankets and are very decorated; men, women, and children pierce large holes through the ears for traditional jewelry. Beneath his blanket, every Masai male carries a traditional long-blade knife. They are fierce warriors and bravery is marked by the number of lions killed with the knife. |
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Housing is a wooden frame covered with cow dung. Wealth is measured in terms of cattle, with the chief owning the bulk of the herd. Sons are expected to tend the animals -- long, lonely days in the bush, with constant threat of lion, elephant, or buffalo attack. At manhood, young men are sent into the bush to survive for one month. We saw groups of these young warriors chatting in the bush, dressed in black blankets and white face paint. On return to the village, they are ceremoniously circumcised and pronounced "men". Ouch. |
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I enjoyed watching the giraffes. They move with grace and elegance, unaware how goofy they look. |
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Tarangire National Park is forested with huge baobob trees. They're still around because there's no commercial value; it's a very softwood and the huge base is actually hollow. |
Tarangire is also known for it's large elephant herds.
Our safari took in 4 different parks separated by long hours on rough roads; it was dusty and nauseating. Along the way, tiny communities catered to passing traffic. This is a typical roadside stop. Tusker is the local Tanzanian beer.
This is a common Third-World sight: the local taxi. A careful look shows this is an Ngorongoro National Park vehicle, probably one of the game wardens. Anyone with access to a vehicle uses the opportunity to make a little extra money. Throughout West Africa, company vehicles double as taxi's whenever possible.
