Tour Day 13 - Traversing Tarangire National Park

 

Pictures were added at a later date due to poor internet access at the time]

[Thursday, August 10, 2023]

This morning was not an early day so the direction from Renatus was to be ready for a game drive at 9:00 AM. We got up a few hours before so that we could begin the near daily packing dance (this is a little-known African dance performed by visitors only). While I was packing up my soiled clothing, I realized that I had zipped off the legs of my MEC pants the day before and they were not anywhere nearby. I looked around and could not see them and then, without thinking about what I was about to say I blurted out, “Where’s my legs”? Laureen laughed at me and replied – right where you left them – attached to your body. We’ve been laughing about that all day and occasionally I will just say, “Where’s my legs?”

Breakfast was like what we have been having everywhere – pretty sure I had an omelette. We both made a pit-stop and headed for the vehicle for our last safari day. Renatus was there to greet us and perform the Tetris maneuver with the luggage. It was at this moment that Laureen realized that we did not take a photo of the outside of the accommodation. Renatus also realized that he needed a quick pitstop – “Two minutes” he said. I said, “OK – I’ll drive, we’ll see you later”. He now just laughs at me. It was at this moment that I realized I could make a dash for our tent and get a photo of it, so we had one. Both Renatus and I returned at the same time so that we could be on our way.

We headed off for our game drive in the Tarangire National Park and this one would not disappoint. After a short pitstop at the park gate, we drove into the park and began spotting animals right away. There is so much game here, you almost don’t know where to look at times. 

The Tarangire National Park contains the worlds largest population of Boabab trees on the planet. They are among the largest trees in the world and often live to well over 1,500 years old. They grow between 16-82 feet in height and can reach a diameter of 33-46 feet, though the size varies greatly between regions; they shrink and expand depending on the amount of water stored in its trunk. Fun Fact: Baobabs are often referred to as “upside-down trees” due to the root-like appearance of their branches. I thought they looked like they had arthritis – but what do I know.

For lunch we stopped the Tarangier Sopa Lodge, our lodging for the night and dropped off our baggage into our room. Lunch was outside by the pool, and I happened to catch a glimpse of a female Leopard that had wandered into the area. She was sitting between where we were, and our driver was sitting. I snapped a picture and then when we met for our later afternoon/early evening game drive, I asked him if he saw the Leopard at lunchtime. He looked at me funny and I pulled out my phone and showed him the photo. When he saw it, he just started laughing.

Out on our second game drive for the day we spotted this strange line of Baboons. Willi noted that maybe a Lion King was born, and they were heading to see the Rafiki ceremony. There were several safari vehicles that had stopped to watch the parade of Baboons, when we noticed a phone drop to the dusty Savanah floor from one of them. Apparently, holding on to your phone was not one of the instructions provided on this tour. The Baboons that were close by actually were startled by the sound of the phone hitting the ground. We were all kind of hoping one of them would go over and pick it up and run away. Can you just imaging the long-distance phone calls an angry Baboon could make? Probably a few good selfies too! The driver of the vehicle got out and walked around the back of the Land Cruiser to retrieve the fallen device. I’m not sure I would get out of the vehicle with all those Baboons around. Things could have gotten messy. 

We caught a few more pictures as we made our way back to the lodge, but this time most of them were landscape views of this amazing place. The scenery, even without all of the animals, is stunning. This would be our final “Game Drive” for the trip (although we would see a few things as we drove out of the park the next morning – but that’s tomorrow’s blog ;-)

Back to the lodge for a nice dinner with Renatus and the rest of our Safari family. This is the first time that our driver was actually eating with us. Apparently, it is frowned upon for the safari guides to eat with the passengers. The lodges are aware of this and have a special place for the drivers to have their meals, away from the tour passengers. We actually had to insist that he eat with us and get special permission from the lodge management. Renatus said to us that in the 15 years he had been doing this, he never had anyone ask him to sit at their table with them. It was upsetting to hear quite honestly. He said that our group was the best group he had ever had. And - I’m pretty sure that he meant it.

At dinner the dining room staff (and I’m sure other staff decided to join in) sang a few traditional songs for the entire dining room. There was also some conga line action happening as well. It was quite well done. I’m just glad I didn’t get grabbed to get up and dance. I’m usually targeted by the folks in these things, but I guess this time I was giving off the correct pheromones so that no one bothered me. Wendy had indicated her stomach was not feeling well, so she was being careful as to what she ate. As we found out later, she would be sick in the middle of the night, and this would follow her for our last day together with them. They were not going to Zanzibar. Instead, they were spending the night in Arusha and then flying all the way back to Toronto the next day. That’s going to be a long trip – especially if Wendy is sick to her stomach. 

We headed to our room and attempted to re-pack our bags a little so that things went easily the next morning as we were told to be at the front desk by 7:30 AM so that we could leave and make it to Arusha in time for us to catch our domestic flight to Zanzibar.

It looks like the sun is getting closer to setting on this trip of a lifetime.

G’night all.

Curt & Laureen