22
JULY 2005 ‚ 2135 HOURS ‚ KIRURUMU TENTED CAMP, LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL
PARK TANZANIA 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.
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. |