Tag Archives: East Africa

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', East African Adventure

A birds eye view of the Serengeti: Hot air balloon rides and reflective eyes after dark.

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The excitement of the hot air balloon ride with Serengeti Balloon Safaris had me wide awake about 2 hours before my alarm was set to go off. 3:30 am I am laying in my sleeping bag, listening to the stillness of the Serengeti at night. The quiet broken by the occasional heyena call on the other side of the camp facilities from our tents.

Once I start to hear the rustle of my tent mate leaving the tent to get herself ready for the day and had a moment of panic when I realize she left the tent before turning on her light to clear the area. As someone who lives in the wilderness of North America with bears, mountain lion, and wolves, a good rule of thumb is to check BEFORE getting out of the tent. Thankfully she made it to the toilettes in one piece.

Deciding that I should get going too, I got ready for the day, gathered my photography gear, and went to the mess-hut for some pre-breakfast snacks and some coffee. I was just finishing my coffee when our ride to the hot air balloon showed up. The 6 of our party that were going all loaded into the pop-top and off we ventured.

We came across a Serengeti Traffic Jam, 3 mother lionesses and 9 cubs all in the middle of the dirt road path to the launch site of the balloons. It was near enough a new moon that in the pitch black it was hard to get decent photos with my large lens, but the moment was magical. The cubs playing and jumping on each other and their mothers. After a while of watching we continued on by driving around the adorable fuzzy roadblocks.

Down the road about 15 minutes we came upon the hot air balloon launch point. The green and tan stripped balloons on their side, being inflated by their pilots and attendants. We were treated with some ginger coffee and balloon shaped shortbread biscuits while we waited, appreciating the oncoming sunrise.

We were quickly gathered together and instructed into our balloon, loading in “Astronaut position”. The balloon basket, on its side, had a small bench that you would sit on while holding onto straps at the baskets edge which was up at head height. Of the 5 basket compartments (4 edge compartments and the larger center compartment for the pilot) we were loaded into the compartment that, when the basket is on its side, is the top. This required a little acrobatics and channeling my inner child. We strapped ourselves in with the hot air balloon equivalent of a seatbelt, and told that once we get off the ground wed be allowed to stand. That came MUCH quicker than expected and soon after the basket was righted by the lifting balloon we were able to stand and look out at our attendants waving us off and wishing us a good flight as we gained altitude.

We were soaring.

The chirps of the variety of birds around and below us, with the occasional roar of the ignition for the balloon gave an otherworldly view of the endless plain. Floating over treetops where baboon watched, and bewildered animals would stare at the strange bird floating overhead. The crocodile blowing bubbles to claim his territory from us, the giraffe lumbering away on long legs, the Lion standing amidst a group of tourists in pop-tops stopping to watch us as entertained as the humans around her.

A little over an hour of flight, and what may be one of the most amazing experiences of my life later, and it was time to land. We resumed astronaut position and had a fairly gentle landing where the balloon stayed upright and attendants (who had followed the balloons through the labyrinth of dirt roads to meet us) greeted us and helped us climb out of the basket.

There was an immediate celebration with champaign coming from the tradition of the first hot air balloon flights by French pilots, the very word Pilot coming from the French “Pillote” for someone who steers the ship. Of course Paul, our pilot, told us a few hot air balloon jokes then started pouring the champaign and mango mimosas.

After we finished we were loaded into pop-tops again and taken to a nearby tree, where a full breakfast layout was being prepared. We were treated to an amazing breakfast, complete with wifi to send off a few photos to make everyone back home jealous, and given our official ballooning certificate by Paul.

After Breakfast we were loaded up once more and taken to meet up with the rest of our group. While we were sailing over the Serengeti, they had been able to watch a lioness attempt a hunt. We swapped stories in the car while we made our way to the next animals of our safari. Seeing a crocodile and pond of hippos that we had seen from above a few hours earlier.

We came across a puddle of lion cubs resting under a tree, mum draping herself across the branches above our pop-tops. Valance, our driver, then got the call that there was a leopard spotted (pun-intended) not far away and we took off to go see it. We passed a heard of elephants, a tuxedo bird and a few more lion before we approach a large rock outcrop with large trees sprouting from the formation.

Atop the bulky tree, the sleek white and brown spotted frame of the leopard draped over a sturdy branch, lifting its head to look out on its gawking admirers. The line of pop-tops, cameras clicking and hushed whispers of awe not phasing the resting cat.

We made our way back to camp, where another tasty meal had been prepared, this time a squash soup with roasted vegetables paired with meat. The sun was setting, and looking for my headlamp before dinner I began to worry that I had lost my headlamp enroute to the hot air balloon that morning. My tentmate had hers, and invited me to stick with her to have light for walking back to the tent after dinner.

She and I grabbed our shower stuff and started to the bathrooms for our pre-bed showers and routines. as we approach the opening to the bathroom (as there wasnt a door, but an empty door frame leading into the facilities) I see a large formation to my left, about 7m/20ft to my left, the doorway being about a meter ahead of me. The little voice in my head began to tell me “There wasnt a rock over there earlier…”

I casually ask my tentmate to shine the light to our left.
“Are those… EYES!?” she gasped.
“Yup, lets get inside.” I could feel my tone kicking into what I call ‘Search and Rescue Mode’. I Kept my voice calm and authoritative and started thinking overtime for a plan.

If you have been following my stories of the Serengeti to now, you’ll know that before we even set off we were told to look out for eyes. Yellowish eyes are hyenas, Red-orange eyes are a Lion.

Two of the Australian girls were already in the facilities, and my tentmates panic started to catch. I ask to borrow the headlamp, and looking out the open doorway check to see what exactly where dealing with here. One… Two… Three… Four… Five pairs of blue eyes attached to large dark shadowed bodies. No one told us what blue eyes meant. I shine the light over the mounds once more, they range from 20 feet away (the one I saw on approach) to about 50 feet away. ah hah…
“OK, were dealing with some Cape Buffalo” I calmly inform over my shoulder, keeping my eyes on what is to some considered the deadliest animal of the Serengeti, “Not a problem! We’re just going to treat them like the Buffalo at Yellowstone. ” Mind you… I’m the only one in the room that has ever dealt with large land mammals while camping. This isn’t any kind of one-size-fits-all advice. When dealing with wild animals respecting space, and ‘reading-the-room’ become key. Thankfully this lot was happily eating and unphased by my tentmate and my approach. We got lucky. We all are going to stick together, and the Aussies wait for my tentmate and I to finish. I walk them through what I know about how to handle this situation.
“Thankfully they are all over on this side of the building, so we only need to get a couple feet to the well-lit side of the building and we can get the building between us and them. What’s important is we stick together, because then we look a lot bigger. And we don’t make any sudden movements.” I start pointing to each person “You walk in the front, using your light to light up and make sure were not coming on anything ahead of us. You walk with yours checking back to make sure they don’t come up behind us. And you will walk in the middle with me to illuminate where we are all walking. Ok? Lets go.” We orderly slide out the doorway and around the corner to the lit path towards the cooking facilities. With a calm in my voice, however forced to be casual, I narrated what we were doing, keeping them focused on our goal; getting to the other side of the building then over to the tents. Once in the tent area, we arrive our respective tents, and crawl inside for the night. I sigh a deep sigh of relief and think to myself “Well, this will make a great story later.”

Next Time: A flat in Ngorongoro for our travel companions, a tree full of lion cubs, a black rhino, and camping on the cool crater edge.

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Where the Wild Things Roam: Lake Manyara

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The morning started with the sense of adventure. All my camping gear that had been in my check on was redistributed on, in and around my backpack, a blue rain cover providing a small amount of protection from the dust we were told we would be encountering on the way.

Checking out of the Outpost Lodge, our group convened in the small parking lot where two pop-top safari vehicles waited. Our drivers Valance and George greeted us and helped us load up. We split into two groups and made a quick supply run.

The local grocery had everything we could need for road-trip snacks and we loaded up with water. We were going to be camping and not able to access a lot of water for 5 days, and I figured that my own water amount was about 2 liters a day, and grabbed 3 – 2 liter jugs. My estimate was generous, and I didn’t get into the 3rd jug, but in 20/20 hindsight and a background in search and rescue, I appreciated having it to offer if anyone needed a water bottle refill towards the end of the trip.

Pro Tip: a week or so before traveling try to gauge how much water you drink normally, and then look at how much you drink the first couple days in East Africa. After being there a couple days you should get a good idea of how much water you will need to plan on.

Before setting off from the store, one of my travel companions tried the ATM to get some cash before leaving the city. The ATM ate her card. A few minutes of calling the 1-800 numbers in the states and the assistance of Hamdami in calling the bank of the ATM, and it was worked out that she would be able to pick up her card when we return to Arusha after the safari part of the trip.

In the village of Mto Wa Mbu we visited a local art co-op, filled with a few artistic styles, and a banana plantation. Here we were treated to a lovely local meal with a diverse spread of flavours and options.

The first day of the trip we went right to Lake Manyara National Park. The entrance way was mesmerising, instantly cueing the Jurrasic Park Theme to come to mind. A magnificent archway supporting two waterfalls.

Just outside Mto Wa Mbu is Lake Manyara. Home of tree climbing lions. Though we didn’t see lions on this portion of safari, we did get an amazing experience with some of the elephants, who walked right up to, and around, our Safari vehicles.

The myriad of wildlife of the park was a fantastic kickoff to inland Tanzania. The baboons, water buffalo, and a particularly angry Zebra who had it out for a specific group of impala, gave the area a vibrant personality that, when looking back, was so unique. Neither Serengeti nor Ngorongoro Crater, yet somehow still with a sense of familiarity between the two.

While we would be traveling through the park, our supply car would beat us to the campsite and begin setup and cooking. By the time we roll in, dusty and shaken by the bouncy dirt roads, we had a little down time to freshen up and meet at the mess area for dinner.

The Twiga Campsite is a lush, secure, campground within Mto Wa Mbu. Our tents, definitely larger than some of the other groups, were spacious and we could even stand up in them. Not quite ‘glamping’, but to my outdoor experience, not ‘roughing it’ either. I would say this was a very accommodating camping experience for anyone who hasn’t been camping before, or wants the camping trip style, but the tents already set up for them ‘vacation style’. A cold shower and frequent power outages that hit the small camps added to the sense of adventure.

The camp dinners were delicious 3 course meals. Shout out to Saranne, whose birthday it was and the camp crew came out singing a birthday song, equipped with cake, unphased by the power cutting part way through their melody. Power came back, celebrations continued, and it was a wonderful night at the campground.

Before bed I spent some time in the mess area charging my camera gear and batteries. My Nikon D7000 and D500 take the same kind of battery, so having just a couple extra made it easy to switch out. I highly recommend a multi port USB charger for the safari cars, and a usb charger for all electronics, including camera batteries.

The quiet of the camp in the evening and in the early morning was magical. Brushing my teeth I would stop, wide-eyed, realizing the far off sounds of lions roaring and hyenas chattering. This… the sounds, the feeling, of being surrounded by wild. This is what I came for.

Next time….

We journey deeper into the heart of Tanzania, passing through the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area and into Serengeti National Park.

If your interested in seeing some of the posts from one of my guides? Valence has an instagram! his adventures can be followed at @vah_ley_tz

The cool kids!
Adventures of a 'Gypsea', East African Adventure, Gap Year Ideas

Nairobi to Arusha: Border Crossing Adventure

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Our team had made it down to Arusha on a public bus, all of our gear strapped under tarps on the roof at the Heron Hotel in Nairobi, picking up a few people at the local stop before making our way out of Nairobi and to the Tanzanian border.

At the boarder we debussed and followed the assembly line, Departures from Kenya, Vaccinations, Arrivals, and Visa. The Covid vaccination requirement had just been lifted a month before my arrival, but I still carried my vaccination card with the rest of my vaccination information. The Yellow Fever vaccination was the biggest one they were looking for.

Before I had left home I had stopped by my county’s Public Health travel advisor; a Nurse who specializes in what vaccines and health advisories you want caught up in for each region of the world. I HIGHLY recommend this, as I was able to get caught up on a couple other vaccines that I may have let slide… but going to a third world country would definitely want. I also got my malaria tablets and found that there are multiple versions of such a beast. Some people on our trip had daily ones, where as mine was once a week and you take it a couple weeks before, during, and a couple weeks after your trip. I became the envy of the campground as others were constantly reminding each other “Did you take your malaria tablet today?”

Once through the vaccination line, the subsequent lines became longer and longer. If there were ever the description ‘organized chaos’, this would be it. Some people missed a line so had to go back, a local woman with a child skipped lines and just waited at the front until someone let her cut. The visa can be paid for at the boarder with a credit card, even though they will definitely tell you they prefer cash.

A story from one of my travel companions was that a member of their previous group was paying cash and told more than what the visa was supposed to be, the official pocketed the difference and issued the visa. Unfortunately this isn’t all that uncommon. Additionally as an American, the fee was already twice that of other nationals, so I made sure that I had that set aside with my passport for when it was time to go through it was already budgeted. You are also able to apply online and take care of every thing digitally before getting there, I would just make sure you keep good documentation of it.

The assembly line of customs took some time, and I was extremely grateful to my GAdventures guide who helped navigate the flow and help make the border crossing easy-peasy.

A note to the photograph savvy: it is highly illegal in both Kenya and Tanzania to take photos of government buildings, officials or signs. Thankfully I knew this before going, but you will be reminded. We drove through a military area and we’re warned not to take pictures until the guide said so.

Once back out at the bus with our luggage that was unloaded and brought in for collecting, we hoisted them back up to the roof attendant who strapped them back down under the tarps. Waiting for the last of our crew and bus driver to finish customs we were surrounded by Masai women selling trinkets, which were met with a solid ‘No thank you’, but they would still try their tenacious marketing methods.

We reloaded onto the bus and continued our journey south. Some lulled, myself included, others gazed out the window at the passing villages and cattle farmer that were making use of the vast landscape. The occasional Baoboa tree amongst the Umbrella trees that speckled the landscape. At one point during the drive I saw a camel running down the side of the road. I didn’t get a chance to get a picture, but looked around the bus in an incredulous “did anybody else see that!?” only to see that there were only a few people left awake. I had asked Hamdam, our guide about it later, and he said that some of the people who moved down from North Africa would bring their camels with them.

We eventually rolled into our gated hotel, the Outpost Lodge in Arusha and had a chance to settle in a little before our evening meeting.

The lovely lofted area that had a living-room feel is where we gathered for the run down of what the safari portion of the trip was going to look like. We met up with another group of 6, brining our total to 14. They had just finished climbing Kilimanjaro the day before, and slugged up the stairs to the loft. Coming from a mountain region where I am on search and rescue, they were the magnificent 6. I usually need motivation for a hike and do more hiking to lakes and landmarks, summiting isn’t something I’ve done in years… and here were 3 Aussies in their 20’s and 3 Canadian retired business guys who went to summit the tallest peak on Africa at 19,000 feet. All except one summited because of falling ill at basecamp. Every. Single. One. earned some serious respect from me.

Hamdam gave a similar spiel to the one he gave in Nairobi… Look for eyes before leaving the tent…

Yellow eyes are probably a herbivore, no worries. (My mind still narrated, ‘hah! large animals… I’m good with not trying my luck if I see eyes.’)

Red eyes, please, for the love of god, don’t leave your tent. Those are Lion.

Next time…

We load up the Pop-Top, meet our drivers for the next few days, and start in the village of Wto Wa Mbu.