When I visited Zambia, South Luangwa National Park to be specific, lions were not easy to spot. I think I saw just as many leopards, which are very elusive. As it turns out, in the Serengeti, lions are fairly easy to spot with over 3,000 in the park. And while that might appear to put the odds in my favour, the park is 15,000 km2! I had no idea how big it was until we started driving on my second day.
After breakfast, I walked back to my tent to grab my daypack and camera. When I returned to the dining tent, I found out I had just missed two young male lions!!! Seriously! They had walked across in front of the camp, maybe 30 metres away. I can’t believe I missed them near our camp! David said to get in the Land Cruiser and we could try and find them nearby. Not only did we find the two young lions but they were with seven more… a pride of nine lions, close to our camp. That kicked off another great day of spotting animals!
WARNING: graphic images below!
I’m finding it really hard to narrow down the selection of photos. I was so fortunate to see as much as I did during my visit. Today was a very “cat heavy” day. 🙂 And one of the cats I’ve not been able to see in person before is a cheetah. So a cheetah was on my list of animals I wanted to see in the Serengeti (along with an ostrich… and I would have loved to see both running, but that didn’t happen… lol! For those who haven’t yet seen this clip… it’s made me obsessed with seeing an ostrich run in person).
We did find a cheetah, however, she was certainly not running. We did not see her catch the Thomson’s gazelle but she must have been feeding for some time as most of the legs were eaten to bone. The cheetah was under the shade of a tree, quietly eating, and was not disturbed when we found her.
After stumbling on the cheetah, we drove around a bit more and came upon two adult male lions, one of them was eating what was left of a zebra. There was a good 15-20 metres between them and the older lion, with the big mane, was looking forlornly at the other, who did not appear to want to share what was left. We weren’t sure if both were needed to take down the zebra but it was clear only one was going to finish it.
And after every good meal, a cat needs to take a nap. I’m not sure how many napping lions I managed to snap photos of… but there are a lot. Lala salama simba. ❤
I arrived today to Serengeti National Park. Amazing. Absolutely unreal that I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro just days ago and now start a safari in THE Serengeti. This is certainly going to be a vacation to beat! lol!
I am wayyyyy behind with posts and it seems that’s not going to get any better. Internet service here is not strong which may be a good thing. So. For now, here’s how today went…
My driver, David, picked me up at Seronera airstrip in the morning. We began to drive to the Acacia Seronera Lodge and about 30 minutes into the drive, we spotted several vehicles parked on the dirt road. That means there is something worth stopping for! I could not believe my luck! There was a pride of lions eating what was left of a Cape Buffalo. There was one male lion and eight adult females. We stayed to watch and after some time, the male must have had his fill because he wandered off. Once he was gone, another adult female appeared with seven lion cubs. Incredible luck to see immediately after my arrival! One of the cubs even found her way inside the carcass and was eating from there. Crazy!
We continued to drive and saw gazelles, impala, giraffes, and other animals, before arriving at the lodge. I was brought to my “tent” and I can honestly say it is bigger than my condo! It’s like a dream, with a big veranda, then inside a sitting area, king size bed draped with mosquito netting and a soaker tub that looks onto the plains. I may not ever leave this place.
After some lunch, David and I went out for a drive again. We were again lucky and saw some vehicles and we stopped. I couldn’t see anything but David saw leopard print hidden in a tree… likely belonging to a leopard. 😉 The other vehicles left and some others came. The leopard must have been fast asleep as there was no movement. I suggested to David that we leave… and thankfully, he told me we should stay and I should be patient. lol! I’m so grateful I listened to him!!! Not long after that, a head appeared and looked out toward us!
This may be my last published post until I’m home if the internet continues to be slow here, but I’ll keep making drafts so I can magically press “Publish” when I’m back in TO. Baadae!
So… just back from climbing a mountain. 🙂 At a hotel in Moshi, in the Kilimanjaro region, with access to wifi! I have a lot of catching up to do on our expedition but for those who were following the tracker… I made it to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!!! Proof below with the photo of our team at Uhuru Peak at 5,895 metres… and our entire team made it (not without difficulties)!!! And a photo of just me at Uhuru, known as the Roof of Africa.
Team photo, left to right: “unknown porter”, Kart, Varad, Marko, Bosco, (hidden behind Bosco is Miroojin), Neema, me, Ursula, Ruth, Muhammed, Alex, Samson, Emmanuel, Erin, Godfrey and Joseph.
All packed and ready to go, we were picked up from our hotel and transported to Machame Gate, where we met our guides and the rest of our team for lunch before we ventured out. We were 9 climbers: Ursula, Erin, Ruth (my roomie for the duration of the climb), Marko, Alex, Kart, Varad and Miroojin. We had 4 guides: Bosco, Emmanuel, Godfrey and Joseph. And behind the scenes, we had more than 20 support people in roles like porter, “stomach engineer” (chef), dishwasher, camp master, “toilet engineer” (responsible for portable toilets), etc. I definitely did not appreciate the number of people needed to support a Kili expedition!
The guides checked our daypacks to ensure we had all we needed to get to our first camp, Machame Camp. I was immediately told that my daypack was too heavy! My first rookie mistake was to bring my camera and two different lenses… because I thought I would be able to take some memorable photos. Apparently, sightseeing was not an option if it meant stopping. That was the first and last day I carried my camera in my daypack or tried to use it on the climb.
As soon as we headed out, we got a surprise! If you look back at the diagram showing our route, it shows the distance from Machame Gate to Machame Camp as 5km. Turned out, that was an error and the actual distance was 11km. Big difference and we were all shocked! While 5km or 11km isn’t typically a big deal for me… this was significantly different going uphill from 1,800m to 3,010m while carrying a heavy pack… in the rain. The first leg of our climb was through the rainforest!
While climbers carry a daypack which contains what they may need between camps, porters carry everything else! And they hike between camps faster than climbers, ensuring a camp is broken down and then set up, before climbers arrive. In 2003, the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) was started to promote the fair and ethical treatment of Kilimanjaro porters. Porters who work for KPAP-approved travel partners receive a fair salary, transparent gratuities, sufficient nutrition, quality accommodation and pack weight regulations, in addition to education and training, and free access to mountain climbing gear.
Just over 5 hours later, we arrived at Machame Camp. Yes… 11km took over 5 hours to hike. That should provide some idea of the difficulty of the terrain… and basically the baseline of what we could expect over the next six days!
With 9 climbers, each with a smartphone, it didn’t always make sense for me to whip mine out to take photos. As a group, we agreed we would share all photos and videos at the end of the trip. So, I’ll be making updates later to these posts. Stay tuned…
After spending over 20 hours travelling from Toronto to Tanzania, I was exhausted yesterday! I was met at the airport by Emmanuel who drove me to my accommodation at Chanya Lodge in Moshi, an hour away from the airport. He shared lots of information about the region with me and some key words in Swahili, like “mambo” which means “hello” and is the common greeting, and “poa” which means “good” and is the usual response. Emmanuel is a member of the Chagga people, one of many tribal groups in the region, and used to be a porter on Kili climbs. He’s climbed Kili 57 times!
Chanya Lodge is lovely and lush! I am staying here for two nights and will be picked up on Friday morning to drive to Kili to start our trek.
walkway to my roommy patiomy bathroommy room
After I settled into my room, I joined some other trekkers for a brief orientation and enjoyed a delicious coco-peanut juice made with coconut milk, banana and nut butter. Definitely will have this drink again!
I arranged my Kili climb through tour operator Altezza Travel, which I discovered while researching on Tripadvisor. They provided a LOT of information and I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed to get organized. There is a lot to consider for this trek and a lot of gear to have… but I love geeking out with my gear! Agnes, from Altezza, met with me after the orientation to make sure all my gear was adequate. I’ll post more about the gear later.
I literally could not keep my eyes open through dinner, a delicious Kuku Rosti that was recommended by Esther, one of the staff members. I regretfully did not to take a photo of my meal. I went to bed immediately after and don’t even remember trying to fall asleep. Had a great sleep and enjoyed a buffet breakfast in the dining area in the morning, and I tried mandazi, and an omelette made by Sakina. I was concerned when I saw “coffee powder” (instant???!!!) until I realized that that was actually “coffee grounds” for use in a personal coffee press! Whew!
Taking it easy today… read a bit from one of three books that I brought with me (I learned my lesson over the winter break when I was at Mason Cabin with Rowan and only brought one book… that was a painful read), charging all of my electronics ahead of tomorrow when we leave, posting a bit here, and will likely knit some more. Very chill day conserving energy for our start tomorrow. 🙂 We are taking the Machame route up Kilimanjaro over a 7-day period, 5 days up and 2 days back down, pacing ourselves to acclimatize to altitude, unlike the 6 hour, 37 minute roundtrip record recently set by ultra runner Tyler Andrews!!! Below is a visual of our route with elevations and distances.
Had a late lunch and asked one of the staff, Richard, for his recommendation from the menu. He suggested a Tanzanian dish called Vuruga, which the menu described as thin, swahili spiced & flavoured chicken combined with your choice of chips or rice. When my food arrived it was a mound of fries with an incredibly spiced sauce (not too spicy for me) with chicken buried throughout. It was delicious! And I forgot to take a photo. 🙂 Actually… I didn’t forget. I’ve just never been one to take pics of my meals and post them. But in the spirit of blogging about my adventure… I’ll have to adjust that practice. lol.
I have met several staff at Chanya and they have been incredibly warm and engaging. While having conversations in English with them, I’ve tried to insert some Swahili that I have been learning. I want to ensure I remember these lovely people and for those whom I haven’t mentioned in the post, I’ll quickly shout them out beside my homemade Swahili dictionary below.
Beatrice – supervised the restaurant Vincent – the F&B manager Valeria – wait staff Naema – front desk agent
Dinner was another amazing selection from Tanzania called Maharage, described as kilimanjaro bean stew, sautéed spinach and ugali, which reminded me of the food I had in Zambia, although ugali there is called nshima.
My evening was spent packing everything in preparation for Day 1 tomorrow! It’s becoming real and I’m SOOOOO super excited to experience Kili!
This feels like a race day photo post. 🙂 Day 1 outfit laid out and ready for the morning.
My daypack that I’ll carry, which contains everything I may need before reaching our first camp, including: trekking poles, hydration bladder, dry bags, flask, electrolytes, camera, power bank, external hard drive (for photo storage), sunscreen, sunglasses, fleece jacket, membrane jacket, membrane pants, rain poncho, hand sanitizer, moist wipes (there will be no showering for the week!), head lamp and journal.
And last… the pack that a porter will carry to camp ahead of our arrival that contains all of my other gear in a waterproof duffle: hiking boots, sleeping bag, pillow, towel, winter shell bottoms, base layer bottoms, down jacket, long-sleeve tops, base layer tops, insulated flask, toque, warm hiking socks, gloves, fleece mitts, waterproof mitts. All of the winter gear is for our summit overnight on day five! The temperature at the summit is about -20 Celsius right now. Nothing a Canadian winter runner shouldn’t be able to handle!
As one could imagine… there won’t be wifi on Kili. Although Maia and Craig told me about a Solis device they have that might allow them wifi, like it did while they cruised the Nile River last year. Wish I knew that before the trip… definitely an investment for when I return. Unfortunately, I found out I won’t be in the same group as them, not even at camp, so unlikely l’Il be posting until we return on July 6th… hence why I’m bringing a journal. Paper and pen to record what my brain no longer retains! So, for now… over and out.
And off I go again! So excited to be travelling again after COVID! At least travelling somewhere outside of North America. I would have loved to go again with Habitat for Humanity Global Village, but they have not returned to global travel yet, after the pandemic. I wanted to go back to Africa. And I knew I wanted to go on another safari. I was also inspired by an article I read last summer where a mother and daughter from BC climbed Kilimanjaro for the daughter’s 7th birthday. I had never considered climbing Kili but after reading that article, I started thinking about it. Little did I know when I flew over Kili in 2017 that I’d be back to hike to the top! I thought it would be something cool to do with my niece, Kayla… but we’ve lost touch over the pandemic; I think she would have loved this trip.
First leg of my trip: a 7-day trek to summit Kilimanjaro. Five days going up to acclimatize and two days to hike down.Second leg of the trip: 5-day safari in Serengeti National Park.
At Pearson right now with two people, Maia & Craig, whom I met at Altitude Training Gym, while preparing for my climb. Small world… they happen to be on the same excursion as me! We all trained at the gym to help acclimatize ourselves for the 5,895m (19,341ft) summit. I’ve got my yarn and needles with me and intend to come home with a finished pair of socks. 🙂
Not the most flattering look… lol! Altitude Training Gym is its own hyperbaric chamber that simulates oxygen levels up to 11,000ft. To train higher than that, you get hooked up to a generator with a mask. I trained to 20,000ft on my last day.
tk treks 