FUN-Travel: Northern Serengeti, Tanzania – Great Migration – Day 2
July 30, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-Travel: Northern Serengeti, Tanzania – Great Migration – Day 2
- Repeat Yesterday…with added morning safari looking for other animals…
…see family of 14 elephants with 2 babies…pair of lions…and the usual suspects.
Then we hit the jackpot!
- Crossing #7 has 3 different lines of wildebeests…
…all jumping in at the same time…and lasts over 45 minutes!
- Sadly they don’t all make it…croc gets weak baby swimmer…
…adult breaks leg…swept downstream in fast moving current.
- Happy Hour…spectacular sunset around campfire!
FUN-fact – Incredibly Insane! Throngs of 1000’s of Wildebeest’s amass on the banks of the river and wait until one courageous wildebeest makes the first move—the first jump. Then they pour into the rivers like ants, leaping, bleating, calling—a crescendo of adrenaline and instinct.
One interesting study likened the wildebeest crossings to a type of ‘swarm intelligence’. From the outside, the crossings seem to be frenzied and uncalculated—almost like mass suicide—but the animals are, in fact, systematically exploring and overcoming the obstacle as one single unit—or swarm.
FUN-Travel: Northern Serengeti, Tanzania – Great Migration
July 29, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-Travel: Northern Serengeti, Tanzania – Great Migration
0’dark:30 wake up – depart 6 am for 2 hr drive to airstrip…
…bush plane seats 12…depart 8:20 with 1 stop…arrive Kogatende 9:50.
…within 20 minutes on drive to Mara Kati Kati Camp…
…witness wildebeest’s making 1st crossing at #4 entry point on Mara River…
…lasting 20 minutes!
- Have lunch…then afternoon safari…in search of more crossings…
…see zebra, giraffe, elands, gazelles, impalas, crocs & hippos.
FUN-fact – The Great Migration has been listed as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa. This is the stage on which the ‘greatest wildlife show on earth’ plays out, as more than two million wildebeest along with gazelle and zebra stragglers charge towards better grazing areas – making it the most unique safari experience in Africa.
More FF – Safari guides have no GPS, maps or signs…drive for hours… and manage to get you back to camp!
FUN-Travel: Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
July 29, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-Travel: Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Yesterday – Travel day from hell! Depart 6:30 am…arrive African Tulip hotel 1:30 am – 3 flights…
1st layover 3 hrs & 2nd 6 hrs…travel agent never confirmed updated departure times!
- Depart 8:30 am…4 hr drive to Manyara…then another hour to get into crater. Amazing animal sightings…wildebeests, buffalo, hyena, zebra…
…jackal, impala, gazelle, hippo, elephant, warthog, gray crested crane, flamingo…
Basking in the Afterglow!
…with grand finale of lions mating next to road!
FUN-fact – The volcanic crater and UNESCO site is the largest un flooded and unbroken caldera in the world plus home to a population of some 25,000 large animals.
FUN-Travel: Scottburgh, South Africa – Sardine Run
July 28, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-Travel: Scottburgh, South Africa – Sardine Run
- Yesterday supposed to be a cage dive from a boat…turns out to be Zodiak and scuba diving…not at all what was expected or requested! Water still very rough & hard to make it through swells… 40 + minutes of attempts finally get through…then one massive wave & we slammed down hard…compacted the vertebra in my spine!
- Baited shark dive…attempt to snorkel but water to murky…last 30 minutes. Ride back much easier…cancelled ocean safari for today.
Not so FF – Told Sardine Run is 4 + hours south but heading to Durban…hired a driver hoping maybe today we could see it from shore here. But no such luck! Oh well…
FUN-Travel: Durban, South Africa – Sardine Run
July 22, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-Travel: Durban, South Africa – Sardine Run
- In high hopes of experiencing Sardine Run…
…the Greatest Shoal on Earth…
…rough seas & high winds cancel today’s ocean safari…
…so instead depart for drive to Midlands Meander.
- 1st Stop – Nelson Mandela Capture Site…
…Museum & Freedom Walk Sculptures…
…include Amazing Mandela depiction…
…created with 50 laser-cut metal beams…
…between 20 & 31 ft in height…
…& covering a width of almost 98 ft.
- 2nd Stop – Piggly Wiggly…
…features local artists shops at the Highgate Wine Estate…
…with gorgeous views of the vineyards & the mighty Midlands…
…in Drakensberg mountain region.
- 3rd Stop – Howick Falls (Victoria Falls of South Africa) cascades over cliffs at 311 ft.
FUN-fact – As the sun changes its position above the monument, the effect of the tall beams on the ground also changes. This is the largest artwork using this methodology of laser-cut metal beams in the country.
Not so FF – Nelson Mandela spent 27 years as a political prisoner.