Tanzania/Uganda/Kenya then Egypt and Amsterdam

[CivicBlues]

There was that time on the 2nd night when I was shitting liquids for the 8th time straight on the portable camp toilet with rainwater leaking through and dripping on my forehead wondering "why the fuck did I pay $x,000 to get myself in this position"

I'm not even that much of an outdoorsy person. Only do day hikes on the N. Shore and hardly ever camp. I was probably one of the more unfit people in my group. We had marathon runners, Ironman runners, 20-something rugby players, etc. The thing is physical fitness was only 1/2 the equation and rest was a mind game. That and altitude sickness but I took diamox which minimized it for me.

I thought about quitting every. single. day. My team of guides and porters really did an amazing job getting you to the top. One chick on my team was completely unfit and unprepared but she managed to make it 4 days with their help before turning back. We were told to bring $200 USD cash to tip them at the end, which at first I sorta balked at having already paid a pretty penny for the trip. By the end of the climb I was regretting not bringing more cash...much more. They deserved my whole paycheck that week lol.



I'll post Safari pics tomorrow.

[CivicBlues]

Part 2. Safari

So after a short rest in the towns of Moshi and Arusha we headed out for 5 day safari. We visited Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, and Ngorongoro Crater. All parks were quite different but the Serengeti by far had the most animals so most of my pictures are from there. There was a ton of driving not only between the parks but also on the game drives. I'd say 6-8 hours on dusty roads per day was the norm. Not exactly relaxing or laid back but a welcome change from Kilimanjaro. We couldn't leave the road to view animals so a lot of the time we had to spot wildlife from quite a distance and zoom in with our cameras and binoculars. When animals did come up close to us it was a sight to behold.

We were in 9-seater Toyota Land Cruisers with pop tops which after riding in them for 5 days, I believe to be virtually indestructible. Here's a short convoy of us trying to help the lead Jeep out of some mud in the Serengeti


Zebras are so numerous in the Serengeti it's unbelievable. Watching them is pretty damn mesmerizing I must say


A Cape Buffalo with a feathered friend at Lake Manyara NP. This is the most common of the Big 5 Animals - The other four being Lion, Leopard, Elephant, and Rhino


A cheetah hidden in the grass. This is where a good guide/driver was crucial in helping you spot animals. They knew exactly where to look


I wish I was a little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
And a 6-4 Impala


Hippos are pretty disgusting animals IRL. You can smell them before you see them what with them wallowing in their own filth. Also the most deadly animal when accounting for human deaths


Female lions and their pride out on the prowl


Male Lion just chillin'


In the year one million and a half, humankind is enslaved by giraffe.


Coming upon a herd of Elephants in the wild was life changing for me. Almost brought me to tears seeing how majestic and playful they can be



This is the Ngorongoro Crater, a collapsed extinct volcano that holds a multitude of Animals you'd find on the Serengeti as well. While not as dense with life, the landscape was stunning. This is also the abode of the endangered Black Rhino, the only one of the Big 5 Animals we didn't get to see


We saw only one kill - a Hyena taking down a baby gazelle for breakfast. It all happened so quickly and was lucky to be able to snap this. Found it hilarious his buddies could only stare back in wonder that it wasn't them.


Safari is the reason most travellers come to Africa and it's easy to see why. I'm not even that much of an animal person and I was completely engrossed and wonderstruck. In addition to the posted photos there was a huge amount of Primates, Birds, Antelope, Wildebeest, etc. Highly recommended and not even that expensive if you camp out in tents. At night you can hear animals that pass through the campsite - Hyenas especially but even Lions and Elephants! But yeah, if that's not your thing the sky's the limit on how much you can spend for luxuries on accommodations.

[Mr.Money]

Safari's look alot safer than the 90's,i remember seeing an open top jeep with a seat right on the front of the bumper and lions just chilling on the side of the road not a care in the world...

i was like holy shit,if it really wanted to it could easily grab that man on the front seat or even inside with it being an open top in this old looking military jeep

[blkgsr]

our safari was the wide open version of those trucks, no walls, no windows. Absolutely made the experience in the Sarengeti so much better.

we also staying in the Serengeti in a migration camp so all our driving was close and in the park luckly

we were lucky enough to see a black rhino in the crater from a distance, so we got the big 5

you're right that seeing a herd of elephants up close is magical

also you can't even say enough about a awesome guide and their ability to spot game...makes all the difference.


we came up on a male lion sleeping under a tree and were about 5 feet away, he couldn't have cared less that we were there lol it was awesome. we backed up like 20 feet and had breakfast with him

[blkgsr]

we got to see a female leopard with two older cubs eating a kill then watching her drag it away....so much power

then we came up on a cheetah with a fresh kill and watched her eat for a while....she tore in to the stomach cavity while we were there and you could hear the whooss sound from the gas escaping and the smell...oh the smell.


but watching a big leopard sleeping in a tree near sunset then waking up and walking down the tree to the ground....unbelievable

saw a MASSIVE must have been 16 croc take down a big wildebeest in the river crossing and hold on for like 20 mins but it got away...definitely died soon after. then the croc took down a baby wildebeest and drown it and swim around with it for a while

zebras and wildebeest are just in the way driving around lol so so many of them all

[CivicBlues]

Yeah we were able to spot a rhino from the top of the very crater using binoculars, but he was so tiny I don't really think it counts. They should put some of those coin operated telescopes up on top

Sounds like you had an awesome safari experience, I definitely saw different types of vehicles ranging from massive overlanding buses to our type of jeeps to totally open ones. $11K well spent? That was you right?

Next up...Zanzibar

[blkgsr]

lol ya that was me....

it was definitely a 5 star safari but hell I'm glad it was....fortunately the mother in-law kicked in half

also did a hot air balloon ride for sunrise....that was super cool too

[CivicBlues]

nice, got any pics of the balloon ride?

[77civic1200]

My wife and I did a 3 week trip to africa last year. Did Tanzania, Zanzibar and a few places in South Africa. Started with a 5 or 6 day safari through Ngorongoro crater and Serengeti, over to zanizibar for a couple days, down to a private game reserve near Kruger national park for another safari, and then a couple day trips through Kruger and Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park. Finished off in Capetown for a few days. We both loved the safaris, and didn't care for Zanzibar, we'd probably skip it if we had known what it was like.

Photos can be found here: https://www.kylethomson.ca/africa

[CivicBlues]

Awesome pics. The ones of the Leopards are amazing!

Yeah, Zanzibar was alright. It had really nice beaches in parts but I wasn't too impressed with Stone Town. Very touristy compared to the rest of the country but I think it's saving grace was it had the best food in Tanzania (not saying much tho)

Anyways, here's some food/beach/resort porn

Part 3: Zanzibar

Street Food Market was pretty cool. Massive tables of seafood/meat skewers as far as the eye can see. The unique thing about this place was that you had to bargain for your food which I've never done anywhere else before. They would ask for a ridiculous price of $15/skewer and settle for like $5. I tried one of the Tandoori Lobster meat ones in the foreground. Pretty good and filling I must say!


Sundowner drinks at one of the many rooftop bars in Stone Town


Resort we stayed at in Jambiani Beach


Jambiani Beach


Took a snorkeling excursion which was pretty disappointing except for this stop at a sand island with it's idyllic waters.


Local fisherman with his octopus catch


Perhaps octo ended up here? The Rock restaurant, which required a boat to get to during evening high tide. Considered high end but managed to eat a whole grilled lobster here for $36 USD

[6793026]

question for u all; ur pics were epics. Did you have to bring a legit camera. I can't ever see someone getting those pics from an iphone. Point and shoot? 2 lenses?

[twitchyzero]

if you're not a photography nut just get some short videos and few sunset snaps on the iphone then put it away and try to take in as much as possible..for the average person it's once in a lifetime

brought 2 cameras + rental telephoto lens (no lens swap because it gets dusty af)...barely used 2nd body and osmo pocket












Serengeti balloon safari, don't research past accidents just do it, it put me at ease the pilot was Canadian and ended up being a perspective not to be missed 10000% feel like you're on the set of Planet Earth...really wanted to see giraffes though







pretty much had the same itinerary as civicblues in terms of climb and game viewing but during wet season...i learned from previous trips completely unrelated not to bother timing with 'good' season because more often than not just dealt in less than ideal weather esp in unpredictable alpine environments...and it paid off, weather was amazing and no crowds...no dozens of land cruisers blocking the leopard view 15ft away

congrats on summiting...didn't know you can mess up your nerves. i'm neither fit nor experienced (but well-prepared) and it was all gravvy until summit push which was brutal...insulated hydration tube still froze over and i was getting tunnel vision from the altitude/exhaustion as that day was 17 hours on 2 hours of sleep

pretty grateful and rewarding to finally get it done, but yeah no need for a revisit





zanzibar was interesting, but pales to say polynesia



and doesnt matter if it's arusha or as remote as nungwi...papasi will constantly be soliciting you



all in all, east africa so far set the bar high for diversity of activities, but seriously bruises the wallet for a developing country

in retrospect, worth every penny

[twitchyzero]

oh and dont wear bright colour outfits the tse tse flies will fuck you up, should goes without saying but visit the travel clinic beforehand for malaria pills and good bug sprays

tented camp is also neat as hell...more or less a room but with soft walls and not bug proof, the one i stayed at tarangire had a leopard kill a child years back so there's signs to stay in room after hours...food is actually quite good and i dont think i will forget the nocturnal hyena cries any time soon

[blkgsr]

was Frank your balloon ride captain? that's who we had. great guy

the tse tse flies are annoying as fuck...don't wear blue or black. you'll see they have traps set out all over the place in those colours, they were trying to make them sterile with a chemical

[twitchyzero]

yes the name rings a bell

glad you got to see the river crossing, was the view fairly unobstructed from other vehicles? hoping to return for the calving season some day

the kills are what makes the safaris exciting

only account was a pair of cheetah brothers studying a herd of wildebeest for like 20 min, the actual chase lasted 10 secs, baby wildebeest was no more

[blkgsr]

we never got to see any actual kills other than a croc in the river getting a couple wildebeest

did see a cheetah with a fresh kill and a leoapard and her two older cubs with two kills in the bushes eating

we had some pretty awesome views of the crossing, i was happy

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by 6793026

question for u all; ur pics were epics. Did you have to bring a legit camera. I can't ever see someone getting those pics from an iphone. Point and shoot? 2 lenses?

All my photos are from my LG G6 or a Nikon point and shoot (with a bit more of a zoom for the Safari). I couldn't be bothered to carry anything bigger honestly.

Weird how everyone is talking about Tse Tse files. I didn't seem to have experienced them at all...unless I'm confusing them with all the mosquito bites. How did you tell the difference?

[blkgsr]

one looked like a fly and the other looked like a mosquito lol

our driver gave us nice little sticks with some sort of animal tail hair we could wave around to shoo them away lol

[CivicBlues]

Strange, was in Tanzania in Oct and mosquitoes weren't really a huge problem anywhere I went. Some mozzie bites here and there but didn't even notice any biting flies. Maybe it's a seasonal thing

[twitchyzero]

when they bite it really stings
can cause sleeping disease

[blkgsr]

ya it's a pretty serious issue