Africa Hot

It was a marathon 23 hours of travel time from Manchester to Dar es salam. I would like to make a quick plug here for Qatar Air. Priced like a three star airline but with four star service. Getting off the the plane in Dar was a rude shock to our system. It was hot, Africa hot, even Tarzan wouldn't like it that hot! Since leaving Harbin at the beginning of January, you could count on one hand, the number of days that we saw temperatures above zero. Dar was searingly hot, the kind of heat that sucks the breath right of of your lungs. Add the humidity and we moved into the range of oppressingly hot. The airport was old and air conditioning was just a dream. But "Kili" to the rescue. A couple of cold "Kilimanjaro" beers made the four hour wait for our flight to Mount Kilamanjero International Airport and the town of Arusha almost passable.



Arusha was the jumping off point for our safari. At the airport we were met by George, who's last name I cannot spell. He greeted us as we exited the airport through the gift shop. Very entrepreneurial these Tanzanians. George was to be our guide and mentor on all things Tanzanian. He was born in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro and has been a guide for over a decade. He was chosen to act as Bill Clinton's guide during a visit he made to Tanzania shortly after Bill's retirement as Commander and Chief. Waiting for us in the parking lot was our home for the next six days, a slightly used Toyota Land Cruiser with a pop up roof and seating for seven. Unknown to us at that moment, was the fact that we would be spending about 10 hours each day bouncing around in the "Vibrator on Wheels" as it became known to us. Mount Kilimanjero loomed in the distance as we drove away from the airport. We have really arrived in Africa.


Our first night was spent in a small resort about an hours drive away from the airport. The next morning George arrived on time to pick us up for the first day of our African Adventure. Joining us was a lovely South Africa couple. Not married but definitely in love and much to our benefit, they were both savy safariists. (Not sure that is a word? Spell check doesn't like it) The man had taken a safari with George the year before and had specifically requested him for this trip. If George didn't have the answer, and that didn't happen to often, they would. The most important talent that any good guide can have is the ability spot animals from out of the side of his head or even from the back of his head while driving at high speeds over some very rough roads. George was blessed with awesome sight but as a bonus, the South African lady also had an uncanny ability to see and spot animals hidden in the grass or tucked up in trees.





Our first day was spent in Tarangire Park. The park is home to more elephants than we could count. Elephants are big and other than man have no predators. Despite our predator status, the elephants did not really take notice of us tucked away in our Land Cruisers. Although, I thought one of the loner male elephants was looking at the Land Cruiser in very inappropriate way. I had a vision of him strolling over and trying to mate with us. If you ain't the big Kahuna of the elephant herd then you ain't getting any.

Ten hours of rocking and rolling found us safely ensconced in the resort just outside our next stop, the Ngorongoro Crater.