[Previous entry: "Aug 3 - Kibale Thoughts"] [Next entry: "August 7 - Serengeti, Tanzania"]

Hello! Haven't written in awhile - nothing too eventful has been happening. We left Uganda and said goodbye to Medi (sad again), and we travelled to Arusha.

This was the first time we haven't had any airport drama! :) We flew from Kampala to Nairobi, then we took one of those small prop planes from Nairobi to Arusha, Tanzania. We flew right next to Mt. Kilimanjaro, and we could see the top of the mountain over the cloud cover - it was gorgeous.

"Simba," our new driver/guide picked us up at the airport. Yes, that is really his name...I asked! Simba means "lion" in Swahili, in case ya didn't know. He really seems more like Mufasa to me though...ha ha! He's really got that James Earl Jones voice and persona. So far he's been great. His English is excellent, and he's been very informative about everything from animals to plants to culture to Swahili...you name it.

Upon picking us up, he took us to the Moivaro Coffee Plantation which was probably the nicest place we've stayed so far. It was NICE! We had elegant sit down meals with candles on the tables, and the room & bathroom was great.

The next day we left to head to Lake Manyara. This is another soda lake in the Great Rift Valley. Our lodge was the Serena Lake Manyara, which was set on the western escarpment of the Rift Valley, and the view from our room was amazing! Again...another very nice place to stay. We went on a short afternoon game drive and saw quite a few animals, including a LOT of mongooses (hadn't seen those yet), hippos, and a couple of dikdiks.

In the morning we left for the Serengeti. About half of the drive was on a nice paved road. Then we got on the dirt road. My gosh...there is a reason that Serengeti means "neverending plain" in Swahili. For probably about 2 hours there was not a tree or a rock in sight...just yellowish-brown grasses continuing to the horizon. Once driving into the park a ways though, it becomes very "Lion Kingesque" :) Our lodge is so-so - the view is nice, and the food is good - the rooms aren't as nice as the last two, but that is because it is less expensive. There are Agama lizards all over the place. Walking around outside, I probably saw about 50!

In the afternoon we went on another game drive (we are getting used to these by now!) on the search for Cheetah. Didn't see any, though we did see a couple of lions on top of a huge rock...Pride Rock! Haha!

In the evening while relaxing in our room watching "That 70's Show" on Mike's laptop, a spotted mongoose showed up on our balcony and looked in at us. It was pretty funny. Later on in the evening, Mike went to the bar to hang out, while I stayed in, and he met the owner (or manager...we weren't too sure) - the guy's name was Bob Marley :) :)

On the whole, Tanzania has been much more touristy, thus much more expensive. However, the good part about being touristy is that you are taken care of really well, and service is geared towards you. This is not the place to buy souvenirs though - the exact same things are double or triple the price of what we had seen elsewhere. We've also noticed that the travelers in Tanzania are more diverse than those that were in Kenya and Uganda - most of those we met in Kenya were from the UK, in Uganda they were either from the UK or USA, and in Tanzania they have been from everywhere - we have heard so many different languages.

Animals seen in Lake Manyara:
Blue Monkey
Baboon
Elephant
Giraffe
Hippo
Vervet Monkey
Zebra
Impala
Wildebeest
Warthog
Buffalo
DikDik
Dwarf Mongoose
Banded Mongoose
Slender Mongoose
Birds:
-Gray Headed Kingfisher
-Egyptian Goose
-Sacred Ibis
-Hadada Ibis
-Pelican
-Goliath Heron
-White Heron
-Great White Egret
-Little Egret
-Fish Eagle
-Lilac Breasted Lola
-Guinea Fowl
-Watercress

Animals seen in Serengeti:

Giraffe
Zebra

Impala
Thomson Gazelle

Lion
Buffalo
Elephant
Waterbuck
Topi
Warthog
Baboon
Agama Lizard
Jackal
Marsh Mongoose
Hyena
DikDik
Birds:
-Guinea Fowl
-Ostrich
-Superb Starling
-Redbill Hornbill
-Gray Heron
-Nubian Vulture
-Sand Grouse

Beer Tally:
Kilimanjaro
Safari