Several bus companies make this route, and they stop at several places along the way to pick up and drop off passengers. Companies try to be first at each stop and fight for passengers waiting to board. In one case, a woman was literally being pulled by two competing bus conductors, who were later joined by friends and allies on both sides. Eventually the lady fought her way free, and the mob begun fighting among themselves. Our company didn't get that passenger.
The bus made good progress until 80 km from our destination, where the vehicle begun overheating. To fix it, the bus would stop every few km and the conductor would pour water into the radiator under a lid, conveniently located next to his seat. We were sitting on the first row, and experiencing the sauna effect produced by the steam coming out of the radiator. Finally, we and our bags reached Arusha, completely covered in dust.
On Tuesday morning we met our driver/guide and our fellow travelers, a couple from Norway, and set off in an extended Land Rover. After 2 hours of sealed roads we reached Lake Manyara National Park. The park is very compact and had lots of animal life that we could see up close. We spotted elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, impalas, baboons, velvet and blue monkey, hippos, wildebeest, and several colorful birds. No big cats in this park. Lake Manyara is not a famous park, but rather a stopping-off place on the way to Serengeti. However, we really liked it because it had such a variety of animals in such a small area. That night we slept in a hotel that had a beautiful view over Lake Manyara.
Wednesday was day 2 starting at 8am. We headed up to Serengeti via the Ngorongoro crater. We will visit the crater on our last day, but today we drove by it, and were able to see a spectacular view from the crater rim. Continuing on our way, we saw several Maasai tribes people tending their cattle and goats. They wear colorful clothes, usually in bright red and/or blue. They are nomads and we passed by their temporary villages.
After two and a half hours we reached Serengeti, and after a picnic lunch we started our game drive inside the park. Very different environment from Lake Manyara: endless plains, very few trees, animals widely scattered, and hotter. We saw many of the same animals from the prior day. In addition we saw lions, leopards, hyenas, different types of antelopes and gazelles.
It seems that lions sleep 20 hours a day, and hunt the other 4. We spotted a couple of lions sleeping behind a tree under the oppressive mid-afternoon sun. We drove just in front of one (see picture), who was woken up by the engine. However, continuing his siesta was more inviting than a meal of white tourists with cameras. He didn't flinch, the most movement we got was the opening of his eyes.
We also saw a leopard having lunch on top of a tree. It seems that they like the tranquility of trees to eat their prey and sleep. After a few bites, he made himself comfortable on a branch and got ready for a little nap. Leopards are harder to spot, so every sighting congregates all the vehicles in the park. We had a little traffic jam in front of this tree.
So far, we've seen four of the so called "Big Five". We saw lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The only one missing is rhino, the most difficult to find because of poaching. There are none left in Serengeti, but we hope to see one in Ngorongoro crater.
Tomorrow we will have another full day in Serengeti. We will be looking for cheetahs.
Mercedes
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