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

42,525 thoughts on “Day 3 – Safari (Moru Kopjes & Gong Rock)”

  1. It’s in point of fact a great and useful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

  3. whoah this weblog is magnificent i love reading your articles. Stay up the good work! You recognize, lots of people are searching round for this information, you could aid them greatly.

  4. Hi, There’s no doubt that your web site could be having
    browser compatibility problems. Whenever I look at
    your web site in Safari, it looks fine however, if
    opening in IE, it’s got some overlapping
    issues. I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
    Apart from that, fantastic site!

  9. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this site.

    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to
    get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance.

    I must say you’ve done a superb job with this.
    Also, the blog loads very quick for me on Firefox.
    Outstanding Blog!

  12. Greetings! I’ve been following your site for some time
    now and finally got the courage to go ahead
    and give you a shout out from Porter Texas!

    Just wanted to tell you keep up the great work!

  13. Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored at work so I decided to check
    out your website on my iphone during lunch break.
    I love the info you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get
    home. I’m surprised at how quick your blog loaded
    on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow,
    great site!

  20. 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.

  21. We’re a bunch of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.

    Your site offered us with helpful information to work on. You
    have performed an impressive activity and our
    whole group might be thankful to you.

  22. Heya! 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 prevent hackers?

  23. I do believe all the ideas you’ve presented to your
    post. They’re really convincing and will definitely work.
    Nonetheless, the posts are very short for newbies. Could you please extend them a little from next time?
    Thank you for the post.

  28. I seriously love your website.. Great colors & theme. Did you create
    this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m hoping to create my own blog and
    would like to find out where you got this from or just
    what the theme is named. Kudos!

  37. Fantastic blog! Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
    I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid
    option? There are so many options out there
    that I’m completely confused .. Any recommendations?

    Thanks!

  38. Howdy! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 3gs!

    Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward
    to all your posts! Carry on the outstanding work!

  40. Have you ever considered about adding a little bit
    more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and
    everything. But think about if you added some great visuals
    or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content
    is excellent but with images and clips, this blog could undeniably be one of the best in its field.

    Great blog!

  42. Abnormal this put up is totaly unrelated to what I was searching google for, but it surely used to be listed at the first page. I suppose your doing one thing proper if Google likes you adequate to place you at the first page of a non similar search.

  48. Good day! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give
    a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your blog posts.
    Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the
    same subjects? Thanks for your time!

  49. I have been surfing on-line more than three hours these days, but I by no
    means found any attention-grabbing article like yours.
    It is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers
    made good content material as you did, the internet can be a lot more useful than ever
    before.

  50. The post is absolutely great! Lots of great info and inspiration, both of which we all need! Also like to admire the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will bookmark your website!

Leave a Reply to visa to egypt from uk Cancel reply

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