After a good night’s sleep we were woke early by the call of an animal affectionately known as the ‘go away’ bird. Today we had an epic journey away from Kilimanjaro, back through Arusha and on to Tarangire National Park. The perilously bumpy tracks and roads were no match for our stretch Land Cruiser and the fearless driver Ali. He attacked the road with a level of conviction only a man not driving his own car can manage. After an extensive ‘African Massage’ that rattled the bones and a healthy coating of dust we arrived at the gates of the national park.
Tarangire was not exactly flush with green but had substantially more vegetation and subsequently many more animals. Tarangire is lower lying than the foothills of Kilimanjaro and has more available fresh water and is substantially hotter. On route to Oliver’s Camp, where we were to spend the night, we enjoyed spectacular game viewing from our open roof vehicle. The park is currently full of Elephant, Zebra, Wildebeest and Buffalo attracted by the prospect of water and food. Likewise there are also a few lions, although we only saw a couple, plus various birds and other smaller animals. Unlike the first location you have to stick to the roads and only the camp staff and a few rangers live inside the national park.
Our camp itself was also tented, however in a different more colonial style and had a similar atmosphere and feel (I imagine) to the camps of the first European explorers. We were served a lunch that was improbably good considering our apparent isolated location and headed back to our tent to escape the heat recuperate having spent about 8 hours in the car.
As the evening cooled more guests arrived and everybody congregated around a camp fire sharing stories of their own adventures before dinner, drinks and bed.
Tarangire was not exactly flush with green but had substantially more vegetation and subsequently many more animals. Tarangire is lower lying than the foothills of Kilimanjaro and has more available fresh water and is substantially hotter. On route to Oliver’s Camp, where we were to spend the night, we enjoyed spectacular game viewing from our open roof vehicle. The park is currently full of Elephant, Zebra, Wildebeest and Buffalo attracted by the prospect of water and food. Likewise there are also a few lions, although we only saw a couple, plus various birds and other smaller animals. Unlike the first location you have to stick to the roads and only the camp staff and a few rangers live inside the national park.
Our camp itself was also tented, however in a different more colonial style and had a similar atmosphere and feel (I imagine) to the camps of the first European explorers. We were served a lunch that was improbably good considering our apparent isolated location and headed back to our tent to escape the heat recuperate having spent about 8 hours in the car.
As the evening cooled more guests arrived and everybody congregated around a camp fire sharing stories of their own adventures before dinner, drinks and bed.
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