Yesterday, before we bought the tickets at the office, they took us in our safari car to the bank. We had all piled in and sat waiting for the car to start. When it didn't, the two of us let out a big groan- not again!!! No way. They said it was the battery and took us in another car.
Today, while we were walking out to the car, we saw it being pushed and started as it was manual. We were angry/worried/thought it was not possible. Apparently they hadn't fixed it. Once on the road to go to the office to collect gear etc, Emanuel told us that they would change the battery when we got to the park. Luckily they had a battery and five guys ready to fix it waiting for us when we arrived at the office. It was dodgey for a bit but they got it working fine and dandy. Phew.
It took a few hours to drive there and we all took turns dozing and talking excitedly. We were all trying to recover from a light bout of nausea we had all woken up with. Suzanne had too and thought that maybe something we had eaten wasn't good. Luckily by the time we arrived at the park we were all doing much better.
The park was amazing. The neat thing about Tarengire is that there were plains, rolling hills, trees, rivers, and every thing in between. There wasn't a lake and there weren't any big mountains, but there were many many wildabeast and zebra. Twiga (giraffe), elephants, all kinds of funny looking birds, including an ostrich, many gazelles, buffalo, monkeys galore, and even a lioness in the distance thanks to our guide. Emanuel had superb eyes. His trick is when he sees something or knows something, he'll stop the car and look through his binoculars and wait to say anything until he's sure as to not get our hopes up.
Graham had brought binoculars and good thing he did because we used them a lot. Especially when we were watching two elephant families take their turns mud bathing in the same hole. We had a great lunch break overlooking the park. The fence in front of us with monkeys everywhere trying to steal people's food made it seem like a zoo. We were still getting used to the idea of being out in the wild...
One thing that was great was that mosquitos weren't an issue. Unfortunately the tsetse flies were out to get us. And they can carry sleeping sickness (who knows what that is...)!!! And on top of that, they hurt when they bite! Ouch.
In the early afternoon, much to our regret, we drove out of the park to camp on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. As we climbed up and up, Karla got sicker. Maybe it was the altitude combined with who knows what else. She had a rough night and following morning, which greatly contributed to her grumpy mood.
Setting up the tents was easy and fun and they were roomy. They looked like they were built to last because they had; since the forties.
Dinner was pleasantly spectacular. Starting off with a bowl of popcorn was a fabulous idea. There was beef, rice, soup, and vegetables. MMMM. Dessert was fresh fruit and hot chocolate.
Bed came soon after as we were all tired and gathering our strength for the next morning. We went to bed anxious about the results of the election. We would know at 7am our time the next morning.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
1 comment:
If you watch House MD you should know exactly what african sleeping sickness is, it's not as relaxing as it sounds.
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