22 JULY 2005 ‚ 2135 HOURS ‚ KIRURUMU TENTED CAMP, LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK TANZANIA
The Precision Air flight from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro airport, some 50 kilometers outside Arusha, was uneventful aboard an ATR-48 prop plane that flew at 26,000 feet with a groundspeed of 420 mph (I only know the stats because the pilot announced it shortly before our descent into Tanzania (pronounced tan-zahn-ya ó not tan-zayn-ee-ah ó by those in the know). We Kilimanjaropassed between Mt. Kilimanjaro on the left and Mt. Meru on the right and Susan grabbed a great shot of the former through the plane window. With the cloud cover and the distance we traveled from it, it may be the only time we see the famed peak ‚ the highest in Africa ‚ until we leave for Zanzibar.

But first we have Tanzania. We zipped through passport control at Kilimanjaro International Airport with the greatest of ease and met with our driver from Rangers Safaris who transported us rather blandly over to a gorgeous lodge called Mountain Village where we had an excellent lunch of cream of red bean soup (Susan had the farfalla pasta and I had the lamb) and then held a briefing with another representative from Rangers Safaris who went over our itinerary with us while we waited for our driver to show. The only sticking point he brought up was something having to do with us owing the airport tax for today's plane trip and for our flight from Kilimanjaro Airport to Zanzibar next week.

When Susan and I balked he told us he would look into it and check back with us before leaving for Zanzibar on July 29. Susan thinks that'll be the last we hear of that fishy business, but I'm not so sure. And if we do I'm going to huff and buff and complain that for a trip that was a year in the meticulous planning, I find it very surprising that mention of any airport tax is being made to us for the first time at such an awkward and late date.

When our driver finally arrived we met him and he was introduced as Mr. Oo-ross-ah (I lay that out phonetically because I don't know the true spelling yet ‚ nor do I know if that is his first or last name. I just remember it by thinking of an animal at the L.A. Zoo, the fossa (foss-ah) from Madagascar, who can be quite stinky and think "Ewww Fossa." Oo-ross-ah. Ah well, it works so don't knock it. Anyway, our driver took a bit more than 2.5 hours to drive from the Mountain Lodge to the Kirurumu Tented Camp, not because of any traffic (other than that coming through Arusha), but just because he drives slow. I'm trying to reserve judgment, but I'm thinking that he's not the best driver we could have hoped for. He hasn't yet mastered the art of talking to people in the back seat while keeping eyes on the roadÖ he tends to turn his head around to look at us as he answers a question or offers a comment. Not a good idea no matter how slow you're going. And though he's personable, he just doesn't seem very intuitive. This will either improve or not, but regardless we're not going to let it impact getting the most out of our trip. If we have to start making demands, we most certainly will.

KirurumuBut the tented camp is marvelous. There's electricity and hot water 24/7 and from our tent perched high up on the Gregory Rift escarpment we have a magnificent western view of the alkali Lake Manyara and with our binoculars have been able to make out huge pink blobs that can only be massive flocks fo flamingos far away out in the middle of the shallow body of water. Our tent is awesome, about 15 feet by 12 feet with a very high ceiling (and that doesn't include the bathroom), but what is it with African lodgings and a lack of queen or king-sized beds? Our banda at Virunga Lodge had two double beds and this tent has two twin beds. We're going to check and see if a larger sleeping option is available, but in the meantime we've improvised by pushing the two beds together.

From our first few hours here, we've already seen a variety of avian species. From vultures circling the skies to red-billed hornbills, shrikes and others, as we rested before dinner near sunset the array of bird songs and calls was intriguing and wonderful. We also had a dik dik (a small antelope) cross in front of our veranda. It bolted into the brush when it saw me, but came to a stop about 30 feet out and hadn't moved by the time we left for dinner.  Before hitting the dining room, we stopped in the bar for a glass of wine and met an extrodinarily well-traveled woman from Colorado who has been in Africa since the day Susan and I got married and had just gone gorilla trekking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was awesome to compare "notes" and share our experiences. Susan also spied a nocturnal genet cat in a nearby tree that hung around just long enough for me to spot it before splitting out of the tree it had been in and making for the cover of darkness beyond the bar's lights. Another couple joined shortly thereafter and after hearing us swapping stories about our journeys to the mountain apes, were very curious because it is something they plan to do as well.

Susan and I finally adjourned to the dining room at 8 p.m. and after an awesome cream of tomato soup opted to go vegetarian with a mushroom and spinach pastry in large part because lamb was the other option (which I'd just had for lunch) and also because of the distinctly awesome bacon cheeseburgers we had via room service at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi last night, which I failed to write about. They may have cost $18 (hotel pricesÖ pffft), but it was damn near one of the best burgers I've ever had. I also failed to disclose that I had a pretty good out-of-the blue nosebleed last night as well that took awhile to subside and even flare up after Susan went to bed and I was getting ready to take a shower. I chalk it up to the baby aspirin tablets I had been taking as a precaution against extended air-travel-induced clotting. So enough with the baby aspirin.

Walking back to our tent, dubbed Duma (Swahili for "cheetah"), we admired the fullness of the moon over Lake Manyara and can't wait for our game drive through the park tomorrow.

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