Day 3 – Safari (Moru Kopjes & Gong Rock)

Breakfast at the camp this morning before leaving at 7:30. We are heading South today in search of the Black Rhino. It was quite the drive so Ally drove with a purpose today so we could get there, search then begin the long drive back. Driving with a purpose here has a whole new meaning for me…lol!

There is a Black Rhino project here where the monitor the species to help from extension. Poaching here is still a huge problem so there are rangers in this area who live on top of the cliffs to help protect them. We learned that often poachers are just killed here because too many have been arrested but go back to poaching when they get out so it’s easier to just eliminate them. Something to be said for repeat offenders of violent crimes in the states. Visited the Rhino information center to learn about their history. A great guide full of knowledge and passion for these animals. You would have to love it to live way out here. You sure can’t just run down the street for milk if you forgot it on your way home.

No luck in spotting a Rhino today though. Since there are only 23 monitored animals on these planes, and they mostly graze alone, there was no telling where they were. The trip however gave us the opportunity to see the Kopjes, which are forms of rocks like none I have ever seen. There are many difference Kopjes, named for the tribe that lived there many centuries ago. This is Massai country. When in Arusha, we saw many of the Massai tribe which are easy to spot as the men still wear the red draped clothes as their daily attire. Would have been something to see these people still living upon on these rocks. There was one particular area where steps have been built so that you can climb to the top. Ally said he normally would not allow us to climb there unless there were other vehicles around because it has been known to have lions up there. But we all agreed we were game to try it. I know…wreckless right? Ally led the way making lots of noise to scare anything that might have been visiting the area. A few remnants of lions were present but no lions to be found. Let me say how glad we are we made that decision. What an amazing site from up there.

Back in the jeep and off to a lunch spot for a packed lunches. Arrived a favorite spot by many and were told we couldn’t be here because the President of Germany and the President of Tanzania would be visiting there soon. They were already setting up a huge spread for them by the Zebra refreshment company…lol! So we left in search of a new lunch spot.

Now for the excitement of the day. On our way to find a new spot we ran across a pride of lions laying in the shade of a huge tree not far from the road. It was an amazing site. 10 juvenile cubs in all and 7 lionesses (we never did see the males) however it was the same pride we saw yesterday, noted by one with a monitoring collar and one with a huge gash in her nose. Within a few minutes, one of the females raised her head and they all looked in one direction towards a herd of zebras who were making their way across the road into the area of the lions. In a split second 5 of the lionesses each rose and moved with grace to do their particular job. Can you believe this? A kill is just about to happen right in front of us. I didn’t think I wanted to see this at all until I watched how these amazing animals worked together with patience and purpose to feed their family. In a matter of maybe 15 minutes, they had completely formed a parameter around the herd and were waiting for their opportunity. In a split second one lioness made a move and the herd scattered, charged, ran…you name it. One of the lioness had to lay down in the road to keep from getting trampled. In that split second their opportunity was lost…they got away! We have a video of the whole thing and believe it or not it was sad. I hate to see the zebra loose it’s life but it was such an amazing thing to watch. Ally put it well, the lion laid down because no one wanted to die that day. They all made it back to the tree with the cubs to rest from their big chase.

We needed to make a trip back to the airstrip anyway (I’ll mention in a future post why) so decided to just have lunch at the airport. Now, keep in mind, without thinking, when were going to the same airstrip where both Presidents were expected in shortly. A guard at the entrance just let us on in, we parked and walked to the small building with our lunch boxes. We laughed because you can’t even get within 5 miles of the airports at home when our president is flying in. Tons of safari vehicles lined up to meet their arrival. A few armed guards and mostly people like us standing around with cameras. There was no concern to be standing along the strip for a photo op so I took it. Now, I have no idea who the president of Germany even is but figured it would be a great moment for Ally to have photos of “his” president. Planes landed and I snapped pictures of anyone coming off the plan. Ended up with great pictures of the German president but the Tanzania president was not there. Only the Interior ministers were there to meet him. Fun adventure to this trip, even though our original trip to the airstrip was not a success 🙁

Before heading back to camp we saw another Leopard in a tree. It’s so funny to see how they just chill and are so uninterested in us.

Back at camp at 4:30. Showers again at 6. Dinner at 7. Tonight we were joined by all the staff of the camp, except the chef. We had asked them all to join us when we first got there and they said they would on the last night. It was a great meal and a lot of fun. This crew has over exceeded our expectations. It will be hard to top it at the next camp. During our dinner, we were joined by a Hyena, just beside the tent. That just sort of cracks me up. I watched JJ leave the dining tent and walk to the kitchen tent, in the dark, with the Hyena sitting right there. He said, He knows me! They also shared that a few weeks ago a pride brought down a buffalo right in the camp area and stayed there for a solid week. JJ said they had approached him carrying the buckets of water to the tents to get a drink. He just dropped the buckets of water, walked away, let them get their drink and then picked up his buckets and carried on. OMG!!!! I guess there is something to be said for living in this country and feeling comfortable.

Back to the tent to be zipped in at 8:30. We packed, well Rich packed, played a few hands of gin and I caught up on my blog posts. Heard several lions throughout the night. I don’t think I will ever get tired of this. We leave for 2nd camp location tomorrow.
20150205_014827

20150205_072127

Posted on

65,096 thoughts on “Day 3 – Safari (Moru Kopjes & Gong Rock)”

  2. I’ve been browsing online greater than three hours
    as of late, yet I by no means found any fascinating article like yours.
    It’s beautiful worth enough for me. In my opinion,
    if all webmasters and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.

  6. Hello I am so glad I found your webpage, I really found you by error, while I was looking on Aol for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say many thanks for a tremendous post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

  10. We are a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
    Your site provided us with valuable info to work on. You
    have done an impressive activity and our whole community
    will be grateful to you.

  11. Hello would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using? I’m looking to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

  13. Ein Casino für echtes Geld im Internet bringt mehr Spannung in jede
    Spielrunde. Zahlreiche Spieler schätzen eine übersichtliche Struktur, moderne Bezahlmethoden und gut erkennbare
    Informationen. Durch eine benutzerfreundliche Umgebung wird die Nutzung besonders komfortabel.
    Dadurch entwickelt sich ein modernes und flüssiges Erlebnis.

  15. I’ve been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like
    yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all web owners
    and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much
    more useful than ever before.

  18. My spouse and I stumbled over here different page and thought I might as well check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to going over your web page again.

  19. Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble
    with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and
    I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no
    data backup. Do you have any solutions to protect
    against hackers?

  22. Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

  23. When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the exact same comment. There has to be an easy method you can remove me from that service? Thank you!

  25. I really love your site.. Great colors & theme.
    Did you create this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning to create my very own site and want to know where you got this from or
    just what the theme is called. Appreciate it!

  26. I believe that is among the so much vital information for me.
    And i’m satisfied studying your article. But wanna
    remark on some normal issues, The web site taste is perfect, the articles is in reality nice
    : D. Just right activity, cheers

  29. Thank you, I have recently been looking for information approximately this topic for a while and yours is the greatest I have found out so far. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure concerning the source?

  30. I’m really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your
    blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays.

  32. I just couldn’t leave your site prior to suggesting
    that I extremely loved the usual info an individual provide in your visitors?
    Is gonna be again continuously in order to check out new posts

  33. Nice blog here! Also your website loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol

  35. Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital
    to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
    Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I
    achievement you access consistently quickly.

  38. Thanks for your marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you’re a
    great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and may come back very
    soon. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great posts, have a nice
    afternoon!

  39. Hi there, I do think your site may be having internet browser compatibility problems. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Apart from that, fantastic website!

  41. ꯑꯩꯈꯣꯌꯅꯥ ꯃꯤꯌꯥꯃꯗꯥ ꯍꯥꯌꯖꯔꯤ ꯃꯗꯨꯗꯤ ꯁꯥꯏꯠꯁꯤꯡ ꯑꯁꯤꯗꯥ ꯆꯪꯗꯅꯕꯥ ꯑꯃꯁꯨꯡ ꯈꯨꯗꯛꯇꯥ ꯑꯣꯊꯣꯔꯤꯇꯤꯁꯤꯡꯗꯥ ꯄꯥꯎ ꯄꯤꯅꯕꯥ ꯍꯥꯌꯖꯔꯤ꯫ ꯅꯍꯥꯛꯀꯤ ꯄꯔꯁꯣꯅꯦꯜ ꯗꯦꯇꯥ ꯑꯗꯨ ꯉꯥꯀꯊꯣꯀꯎ ꯑꯃꯁꯨꯡ ꯅꯍꯥꯛꯅꯥ ꯚꯤꯖꯤꯠ ꯇꯧꯔꯤꯕꯥ ꯋꯦꯕꯁꯥꯏꯠ ꯑꯦꯗ꯭ꯔꯦꯁ ꯑꯗꯨ ꯃꯇꯝ ꯄꯨꯝꯅꯃꯛꯇꯥ ꯑꯣꯐꯤꯁꯤꯑꯦꯜ ꯑꯃꯁꯨꯡ ꯁꯦꯛꯌꯨꯑꯣꯔ ꯑꯣꯏꯕ꯭ꯔꯥ ꯍꯥꯌꯕꯗꯨ ꯁꯣꯌꯗꯅꯥ ꯈꯪꯗꯣꯀꯎ꯫

  44. First of all I would like to say terrific blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing. I have had difficulty clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out there. I do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Thanks!

  46. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is needed
    to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?

    I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% positive.
    Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Many thanks

Leave a Reply to jogardemopg Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *