Be It Ever So Humble...

NOTE: Added the final shots to the Saadani Pt 2 Photo Album

Walked into our front door at around 4pm yesterday afternoon. A bit chilly, but other than that everything was just fine. Erika managed to keep the plants alive - thank you very much. We had a smooth flight home with the exit seats next to the galley, where you hear all the gossip from the crew. We like it there because they treat you good and I even got to use the facilities in first class. WOW - the perks! Got to Logan about a half-hour early, collected our bags, and met Deidre & Mia outside. Good to see their faces. Dropped them off in Cambridge and we were off for the final leg home. Not sure how G kept his eyes open, I kept nodding off but fought it - didn't want to fall asleep on Geoff.  He did a great job getting us home safe.

As I have said before, I think this is one of the very best adventures ever from the first day to the last. Not only for the animal encounters, which were absolutely awesome, but the people as well. I am so glad we were traveling independently and we were able to make plans and change them when we wanted. We  met some pretty interesting people along the way, and whether we keep in touch or not, we had some great times with them. We highly recommend Serengeti Pride Safaris and Tent With A View - absolutely no complaints. In fact, there were no complaints about anything.

Once again, thank all of you who wrote both emails and comments on the blog. It is so comforting to hear from family and friends when being so far away.  

As much as we love to travel and explore this world of ours,  we are happy to back sleeping in our own bed. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

Until next time...

The Road Home

Arrived in Amsterdam for the third time in 6 months, safe and sound.  The hotel in Dar did turn out to be the Paradise, although there were many other names around the place. The cab driver that took us to the hotel in Dar,came back for us at around 9pm. The charge for the day room was $55 - not bad and worth the shower and peace and quiet. We went to the restaurant and had a light meal before heading back to the airport. No traffic this time. Still had plenty of time to sit and wait before departure. On this flight we sat in the "extra comfort" seats, so life wasn't as bad as it could have been on board. The two of us were so exhausted, having started the day way back when with a canoe paddle and then another bumpy game drive, we slept most of the way here.

I will do a thorough wrap up when I get home, but this has been one of the best trips yet. Although that is a hard decision to make since they are all quite different. Let's say it met and went far beyond our expectations.

As with the Seregenti Pride Safaris group, we would like to thank the Tent with a View group - from ownership, to management, to the great staff. We had no idea what would be in store for us both in Zanzibar and in Saadani and it all worked out so great with absolutely no hassle or effort on our part.

So here we sit with yet another 4 hour layover. We have good seats on this flight, as well, so I am not panicking. Speaking of panic, I did have a slight melt down for about 2 minutes when we got to the Paradise Hotel in Dar. I was negotiating a room while G was dealing with the taxi driver. G comes into the hotel - I said I got the room and asked him if he paid the driver. "No, he said to pay him in total when he takes us back to the airport." Pretty trusting I thought. Then I looked around and didn't see our luggage and the cab was long gone. Maybe you heard me shrieking from where you were - because I went into a tail spin in the middle of reception. I said sure he didn't want any money he has all our luggage! (Of course, it is just a bunch of dirty clothes) These poor people at the desk who barely spoke English, thought I was nuts. It only lasted about 2 minutes until we noticed our bags by the elevator waiting to go up. I guess you can take the girl out of New York but you can't take New York out of the girl.

Next time... Be It Ever so Humble

The Last Safari

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

After leaving the research center and uploading the latest blog and photos, we headed toward the ocean for a bit of a cool off. Very low tide, so we just walked around in the water and relished the breeze. Went down for lunch around 1:30 and then headed straight out for our final full safari.

WOW! We had quite a time this afternoon. But I first have to tell you that everyday we are in Saadani, we appreciate it more. It is so tranquil and beautiful. You hardly ever see another vehicle in this park. There is a simple pleasure in just that alone. I am very grateful for being in Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara and the likes but I am as grateful for taking the time to spend it here in Saadani without the tourism and the hustlers. It started out rough, not feeling up to par, but it is soon becoming a place we don't want to leave. This is the advantage of staying in one spot for a while. Between the healing Chai and the magic of our honeymoon suite, the two of us feel better than ever. When the initial "plan" was doomed for a multiple of reasons, we just sat back and let it all unfold and just waited to see what would happen. And it did happen. From dinner on the beach to meeting great new people to our wonderful safari adventure this afternoon. About that...

Headed out after lunch about 3pm with Tizo our guide. I was asking him about the bull elephant that was knocking the coconuts down in camp. He showed us where he hangs out at night. We crossed the gate into the park and I immediately spotted elephants - not the big bull but a nice family of six. Tizo tore off road and followed so that I could get some kind of photo. They didn't hang around long. Soon after, G spotted a herd of Cape Buffalo. We were able to get real close to them because the wind was blowing our scent the other way. As soon as the wind changed, they could smell us and they all scattered.

Next came a fabulous giraffe that Tizo spotted among the dead palms. It was kind of like a where's waldo shot. The rest of the afternoon moved on with the same - a nice herd of about 20 giraffes were great to watch. Crossed the stream and a big crock was just hanging out. Saw another herd of water bucks but they scattered before getting a real good shot. It was time to head back. We got to the gate where all the paper work gets exchanged and Tizo goes in and doesn't come out. Then I notice he is hanging at the doorway with the guard. "What's up?" "Bull Elephant" he says. WOW - I grab the camera and almost jumped out of the truck - "No stay in the vehicle, he is aggressive". OK so now I am climbing all over the Land rover to get some decent shots of this elephant trying to knock down a tree with his head. He finally backs away and Tizo and the guard try to make a run for it. Nay, nay, the big guy starts charging and making very loud noises. The two of them scurry back to the building for cover. Eventually the elephant, who we are now calling Coco, since he loves his trees, crosses the road by the gate and starts casually waking down the road without a care in the world. The guard soon opens the gate and we follow this guy down the road - keeping a good distance between us- for about a half hour. As soon as Tizo turned on the headlights, he turned off the road and got lost in the bush. The whole scene was incredible. It was something to witness.

Got dropped off closer to our banda and took a quick shower and headed down to dinner to share our safari stories with Steve and Lynn. The four of us had a wonderful dinner with good food and conversation. Tomorrow Lynn and Tizo will take us canoeing down the creek. Steve is trying to arrange a day room at an airport hotel so we don't have to hang at the airport for 6 hours in the heat. Hope he can swing it. We will do a short game drive on the way to the airport and hopefully get to see the "tower". This is under construction but it is being built as an observation, camping post. Looking forward to seeing it up close.  Later

The Last Safari continues

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Coco had made an appearance during the night. When we got back from dinner, we could hear all the commotion of the guards trying to fend him off the coconuts. At breakfast, Steve told us that he got another 7. That makes a total of about 40 in the past couple of weeks. Not good. After breakfast we went for a canoe ride down through the mangroves - no crocks but some pretty birds. Got back to the banda, packed up our stuff, rested a bit and headed down for our last lunch at Tent With a View. Hugged and kissed goodbyes, and piled in Rover with Tizo for a short game drive to the airstrip.

We were in the park maybe 10 minutes when we came upon a herd of about 22 elephants at a watering hole. We stopped a watched until they all turned back. A very fond farewell from Saadani. Took a tour of the tower that is under construction for camping and viewing. Got to the airstrip a bit early and plane was already there. Turns out this flight goes to Dar es Salaam via Zanzibar. Luckily we didn't have to disembark.

Got into Dar around 5ish and decided to grab a cab and get a day room to take a fresh water shower and grab a meal. Our flight to Amsterdam doesn't leave until 11:50pm. Have no idea what hotel this is - just asked the cab driver to take us to the Paradise Hotel but I don't think this is that. In any case, it is very nice, clean, and they have internet service. It feels strange to be in air conditioning after so long in the muggy bush. The driver will come pick us up at around 9. Hope the traffic is better going back than it was coming down here. This city is NUTS!! Rush hour didn't help either.

Maybe I'll catch you up again in Amsterdam.