Final Day in Arusha

We enjoyed another full breakfast poolside, packed up, and checked out of the Kibo Palace Hotel, Arusha, TZ. After confirming our air flights, we toured the mediocre Natural History Museum. We did enjoy the associated art exhibit / demonstration / sale, featuring 15 local artists, whose talents included works of batik, tingatinga (a Tanzanian art form), as well as the distinctive form of painting done with knives (not brushes) brought to the region by immigrants from Botswana. There, we met an artist and teacher of traditional Tanzanian dance. He has performed multiple times at the LEAF festival in Black Mountain, NC. All I can say is, it's a small world!

Fellow lover of the LEAF Festival, Black Mtn, NC We bought some of his art.

My new BFF...  we picked up a few of his pieces. Peace!

Light lunch back at the Kibo Palace at our table, poolside. Then met up with our driver for the one hour trip to the Kilimanjaro airport. We stopped on the way to send a postcard to New Horizons West, a shop we frequent at home. Our African adventure is coming to its end...

Here we go! First leg, Kilimanjaro to Nairobi

Entering the terminal at Nairobi International. Welcome home, indeed... Kenya is the cradle of humankind!

Kilimanjaro

Early start to the day... breakfast at 6:00 with pick-up at 6:30am. It turned out to be a hurry up and wait situation. An accident and subsequent traffic tie-up delayed our driver, who had had an early start himself, driving all the way from Moshi to Arusha to get us! Hakuna matata - no problem. Rouse managed to find another new bird to add to the list while waiting in front of the hotel. I think the bird was attracted to the palm trees on the hotel property.

Palm Nut Vulture

So... on the road just after 7:00 am. Our driver, Sabas, was friendly and excited that we are birdwatchers. He is studying birds and pursuing a certificate in professional guiding. It was a 1-1/2 hour drive to Moshi where we picked up our guide, Nteze. We stopped to buy bottled water. The market was bustling! I managed to get a few photos. Pineapple is in season!

Then, another hour to Marangu Gate, Kilimanjaro National Park where we registered for our day trek to Manyara Hut, #1 base camp on that particular route to Uhuru Peak, the highest point on Mt. Kibo, Kilimanjaro. Alas, we had only one day on the mountain... 8 km up and 8 km down, about 10 miles in all.

It was a nice trail, through a beautiful old forest... lush and green, lots of ferns and moss, tropical plants, waterfalls, gigantic trees, beautiful flowers.

We made it!

Our guide, Nteze, celebrated with us.

The White Naped Ravens looked on. They won the prize... #200 on Rouse's bird species list for this trip!

After eating our lunch, we hoofed it on down the trail. Our driver, Sabas, was waiting. In response to an earlier conversation, Nteze and Sabas announced that they would like to stop and get some banana beer for us... a local fermented drink, made from fire-roasted millet and bananas. Now THERE's the advantage of using local guides! It had a thick, chunky-with-millet texture, a pleasant smokey taste, a hint of banana, reminiscent of beer. All in all, not bad! We sipped out of a communal cup... more like a bucket. The drink is served "bigi" out of cups as large as popcorn tubs!

To top it off, the clouds cleared, and as we left the area we actually saw the top of Kilimanjaro... Kibo, as well as sister peak, Mawenzi.

The markets at Moshi were teeming with local residents socializing and doing business. We dropped our guide at "his" coffee bar (did he own it, or was it his favorite place to visit with friends?) in Moshi before the long ride back to Arusha. Bonus, a rainbow over the mountains, right at sunset!

What a day. We were pooped! Just enough energy left to eat dinner at the hotel, enjoy a hot bath/shower, and drop into bed.

The Safari is Over

We had breakfast, said goodbye to Whistling Thorn Camp, and headed back to Arusha in our trusty truck. This marks the end of our Safari adventure with our Intrepid Travel friends. We go our separate ways, with tales to tell,  photos to share, and memories to last a lifetime.

Tarangire National Park

We left the fertile and lush Rhotia Valley and headed to Tarangire National Park, known for its large open savannahs dotted with acacia woodland and giant baobab trees! The presence of the Tarangire River means that this park is a refuge for wildlife during the dry season, resulting in a concentration of animals second only to that of Ngorongoro Crater. We saw lots of elephants!

Rouse is standing at the base of this Baobab Tree for size reference

Butt shots...

Warthogs 

Impalas... marked with an "M" for MacDonald's ... lion's fast food

Elephants 

Vervent Monkey... common name Blue Balls. Dr. Wilson noticed he's about to lose a fang.

His wife and baby

Hot day... animals taking refuge from the brutal sun

Not much water in this river. See the giraffe crossing the river bed in the distance?

Giraffe #2 is photo bombing!

Rouse is closing in on 200 species. Not bad for drive-by birding and never being allowed to walk away from our truck or camp site!

Yellow Collared Love Birds

White Headed Buffalo Weavers

African White Backed Vultures

White Bellied Go Away Bird

Late in the afternoon, we made our way to our final camp site at the Whistling Thorn Camp, so named for the typical African thorn-tree bush landscape. No running water here, but remember... we're "glamping"! Bush showers and sinks filled with warm water by request, and flush toilets filled from storage tanks outside (daytime use only... the tank must be disabled at night to prevent elephants from tearing it up in search of water.)

Home sweet home... notice our helpers carrying luggage on their heads

Thorny trees

Elephants have been here... right next to our tent!

Our last night under canvas under the African sky!

Our last supper with new friends ... 

driver James, Sneha, KJ, Carrie, Jack, Sue, Rouse, June, and our fearless leader Ant

Ngorongoro Crater

We had an early start. At 7:00am we were loading up the Land Cruisers and heading to the Crater, a good hour's drive from our camp.

The Ngorongoro Crater is a special place. There's an abundance of wildlife in a concentrated area. Plenty of resources exist there, so the animals have no need to migrate in search of food and water. Plus, there is no hunting in the Crater, so the animals are relaxed around human traffic. All together, this results in great viewing opportunities. BTW - no Giraffe in the Crater. They can't negotiate the slope to get down from the rim.

Our group required two Land Cruisers. As usual, our drivers had to negotiate very bumpy roads... and some water due to recent rains. We had our eyes peeled...

We saw large herds of Wildebeest 

Many Ostriches

Flamingos 

Gray Crowned Cranes

Napping Lions

Multiple Golden Jackals... and hyenas

Herds of Antelopes and Zebras, plus a lone Elephant 

Lots of birds

But the prize-find today was the Black Rhino. Secretive and shy, they can be difficult to spot. Only 27 live at Ngorongoro. The first one we saw was so far away we could barely identify it by its shape! But later we came across a pair, still way across the plain, but easily identified by their horns.

Looking back at the Crater as we head up the Ascending Road

Back at Pembeni Rhotia camp, we followed the example of the lions and took a nap after a late lunch!