Best Kenya & Tanzania Day 11

Day 11 - Friday, September 25, 2009 - Ngorongoro Foothills/Lake Manyara National Park/Game Drive

When we woke up this morning at 6:30 it was 58º with 78% humidity. This farm is situated on an old coffee plantation with rolling hills and because of the altitude, almost a mile above sea level; we had a cool night’s sleep.

When we were eating breakfast several members of the group decided they wanted to come back here to the farm for lunch. Seven of us went with the original program so we packed our box lunches and went with Barikiel today.

Today was our day to explore Lake Manyara National Park. While Barikiel bought the tickets, some people used the rest rooms at the ranger station, I took photos, and then Barikiel and Leonard took the tops off of the trucks for good viewing.

We began our game drive at 9:15. At our first stop we saw a pair of klipspringers, another type of rare small antelope. This park has running streams of fresh spring water and giant fig as well as mahogany trees.

Again, we are in the dry season, but the trees are green and the acacia trees are in bloom. We discovered a troop of blue monkeys, new species to us.

The birds we added to our list today were the silver cheeked hornbills and the red hornbills. Barikiel helped us to spot impala, baboons, wildebeest, giraffe, and zebra.

We are all getting better at seeing the animals. But our driver guides can see the slightest movements and know these parks so well. They know where to look for the critters!

Giraffes are Gennie’s favorite animal – two huge males were eating so peacefully with their long tongues carefully avoiding the thorns of the acacia trees.

Barikiel also pointed out the Quinine Tree or wild mango which is used to make the malaria drug. It was also blooming with white flowers similar to mango blossoms.

Our “Get Out and Stretch Stop” was at the Hippo Pool where we were able to get out of the trucks and walk around a bit. This raft of hippos was about 30 in number, relaxing and snorting in the cool waters.

Around the watering hole were Egyptian geese, marabu storks, cattle egrets, gray herons, and several kinds of long legged water birds.

The park system is very strict about not allowing anyone to leave the vehicles. Even when Gennie’s hat blew off a few days ago, Leonard jumped out quickly and retrieved it.

After stretching our legs and leaving the hippo pool we entered a flat grassy area where we saw another kaleidoscope of giraffe. Taking photos of these elegant creatures so close to us was heart stopping. As John said, “The zoo will never be the same again!”

At noon we ate our picnic lunch in a shady park. Our journey out of the park was slow because Barikiel wanted to find a lion sleeping in a tree for us to see.

Unfortunately, we did not see one, but we did see many other animals and it was worth the extended stay. We saw two bush buck which we had not seen before.

We made one stop on our way back to the farm. Several of us are looking for special t-shirt that they did not have in stock. We will keep looking as it will be a great one to show our friends at home.

It was 3:00 when we got back to the Farm and washed the dust off of our faces. We went to the office to see if we could get on the internet but everyone was having trouble with the wi-fi system.

I was able to connect so I sent our son Eduardo the past few days’ journals. The signal strength here is poor; we cannot post them ourselves.

We met our group at 6:00 and heard the plans for tomorrow as well as listened to music by a local musician and his family. Dinner was served at 7:30 and then we went to the office one more time to send today’s journal.

Accommodations: Ngorongoro Farm House - - - Meal: B, L, D

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