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

41,883 thoughts on “Day 3 – Safari (Moru Kopjes & Gong Rock)”

  3. I have Joomla and a Joomla template(rt_refraction_j15) installed on my website. But i want the same template and css styling, as a basic HTML template, so i don’t have to use Joomla for editing. Is there an easy way to convert the template to basic HTML/CSS template?.

  4. Interesting blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it
    from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really
    make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your design. Thanks a lot

  5. HD108 merupakan situs slot judi terpercaya dan transparan se Indonesia resmi.
    Menyediakan permainan hd108 slot terbaik dengan proses hd108 daftar mudah serta hd108 login cepat,
    aman, dan nyaman untuk seluruh pemain online.

  9. My partner and I stumbled over here different website and thought I may as well check things out.
    I like what I see so i am just following you.
    Look forward to checking out your web page yet again.

  10. I do consider all the ideas you have offered for your post.
    They are really convincing and will definitely
    work. Still, the posts are too quick for starters.

    Could you please extend them a bit from subsequent time?
    Thank you for the post.

  13. I’m doing a project about spectators and am trying to find peoples opinions and feelings from the olympics (whether watching it in beijing or on the tv).. . I searched technorati for “olympics” and there are sooo many results that are much more recent and come up first, but aren’t what I’m looking for, I can’t work out how to filter out ones from the games…. . Anyone know how I can do a search for blog posts tagged olympics in say the month of August..

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

  33. I opened up a blogspot website and when I closed it 15 or so new windows opened back up to the same site. Why did that happen? Was it a virus?. Will it hurt my computer? How do I find it and get rid of it? I am running 2 virus scans right now but if those do not find it, how do I find it?.

  34. hi!,I like your writing so much! share we keep in touch extra approximately your
    post on AOL? I require a specialist on this house to unravel my
    problem. May be that’s you! Having a look ahead to look
    you.

  35. Découvrez les meilleurs casino en ligne sans
    verification pour jouer librement et rapidement. Grâce aux plateformes modernes,
    il est désormais possible de profiter d’un casino sans KYC
    crypto sans fournir de documents d’identité.
    Ce type de casino crypto sans KYC 2026 attire de plus
    en plus de joueurs à la recherche de confidentialité et de simplicité.

  37. I want to change my Blogger/Blogspot background into a picture I want instead of the ugly plain ones that provide you with.. . I tried looking up on google how to change it but it only came up with how to change the background with the old Blogger. . . HELP!.

  38. Я ищу оптический нивелир для строительных и измерительных работ, но сталкиваюсь с трудностью выбора надёжного и точного прибора. Важно, чтобы нивелир давал точные результаты, был удобен в использовании и выдерживал условия работы на улице. Не всегда легко найти качественный вариант по доступной цене, поэтому я ищу надёжное решение, которое позволит работать эффективно и без ошибок. Пмогите выбрать [url=https://obovsem.myqip.ru/?1-1-0-00000235-000-0-0-17640689065]оптические нивелиры[/url]

  39. Pour les joueurs français, découvrez les casino français crypto qui respectent les
    règles locales tout en proposant des jeux variés et des paiements sécurisés.
    Suivez également les tendances avec les meilleurs crypto casino 2026 et les crypto casinos 2026 pour rester à jour sur
    les plateformes innovantes.

Leave a Reply to download GTAG mods Cancel reply

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