Eurafrika Pt. 13 - God's Country

Now that the conference was over, I knew that the real fun stuff was about to begin.

We left the lodge early in the morning and stopped in the nicest building in Arusha for a pre-safari briefing. The guide gave us a talk, basically what we should do so we don't get eaten; I didn't really pay attention; I knew to stay in the jeep.

We drove over endless rolling scrub land, caked with dry red earth and sparse vegetation. Through the mists we traveled, seemingly lost in time and space only knowing that we were going further into the unknown. There was the occasional donkey or herder, drifters in an otherwise lonely landscape.

There's something about a dry landscape that brings thoughts of adventure in me. Maybe it reminds of me of westerns, exploring a final frontier with only the landscape and sparse vegetation to give you company. For some reason the jungle just doesn't evoke the same feelings; it makes me think of Predator and Duran Duran.

As we drove further, the landscape became more lush and there were more and more people. We soon reached a bustling town in the middle of the jungle, filled with people carry goods or trying to sell them. A sign showed we had reached Manyara.

Soon we reached a wall, the longest and greatest wall on the planet: the African Rift valley. Our jeep climbed up the ledge, riding on the back of a giant asphalt worm as it snaked up. We passed giant ancient Baobab trees up the hill, once saplings when the first stones of civilization were being laid.

Before we knew it we had reached the top. In an instant, we were 1000 m higher than we once were. I looked back at the valley, the work of great forces as old as the earth itself splitting the continent apart. In a few million years, the sea of green below would be submerged under an actual one.

We arrived at our lodge. As I walked to our cabin I saw a view that I will be ingrained in the recesses of my mind for as long as I live. Below me lay the entire valley, a land rich in life. Looking south, the jungle faded to great green grassy plains. The grassy plain surrounded a shallow, silver Lake Manyara and was peppered with black dots. These dots were Wildebeest, Zebras and Giraffes. This was God's country and I was standing on his seat where he admired his creation.

The next thing we did was head to lunch. Now the reason I bring this up is that at this point I was a wraith; I had been sick and had not eaten well. I cautiously began eating, as food was something I had come to fear in Africa. But, the food at this lodge was amazing: there were all kinds of exotic fruits with delicious sauces I had never heard of, and it was also exceptionally prepared. I could feel the life return to me with every bite. The spirit of adventure was back.

After lunch, we headed back down to get a look at the valley. We drover past a small farming village with buildings made of mud huts. This area was poorer than the area around Arusha. A boy came up to our jeep; he had caught a chameleon and showed it to us. We snapped a picture before heading down to the park.

Our trek began in the jungle; there were monkeys, bush bucks and exotic birds. I saw two baboons on a log, one grooming the other. It reminded me of two girls braiding each others' hair; we humans are just like them!

Further along the trail the trees started to thin out. There was an entire herd of impalas cooling off under a bush. Some of them walked away, but most of them just acknowledged our presence and went about their business as usual. This is what it was like for most of the animals we encountered.

We reached a pool of water filled with hippos. They clearly had nothing better to do but fight each other, some of them bearing serious scars. On the grassy plains were zebras and wildebeest (Dutch for 'Wild Beast' - they're not very imaginative when it comes to naming things). There were also many flamingos, birds that I grown tired of seeing.

Just when I thought the day was done, we had our most dramatic encounter. We drove right beside a family of elephants. They were eating everything in site; elephants must eat at least 20 kg of food a day! There was a mother elephant with her young baby, keeping a close eye on us the whole time; we were told to make sure our camera flashes were off.

The sun was setting was setting quickly. There isn't much twilight in the tropics as the sun heads straight down into the horizon. By the time we reached the lodge, it was dark.

By the poolside was a troupe of acrobats. I learned some new dance moves as I watched them dance with some of the guests. They then performed some amazing stunts: flipping, climbing and standing on each other, all to the sounds of a frantic, primal beat. They ended their show by limboing under a flaming stick.

After their performance, my dad tried to buy some of their music, but its jewel case was broken. As neither party could properly speak the others language, it took a while until things were finally resolved.

We left early the next morning to get another look at Manyara (after a delicious breakfast of course!). On the road out of the lodge we saw the same village kid, but now he had two chameleons. As we drove through the park, we saw many more animals walking about. Cute little monkeys would congregate on the bridges near dry river beds; our driver made sure not to run any of them over. There were giraffes and elephants around every corner. But, today we felt we could go one better; we wanted to see a lion.

We passed through the scrubby areas of the park and drove by a herd of water buffalo. Now remember how I said earlier that most animals didn't care about the presence of humans. Not water buffalo; they stared us down with menacing glares, ready to charge at the slightest sign of aggression.

Our jeep motored along to the south where we would find a hot spring. We were stopped by a stampede of wildebeest, we hoped that around the bend we would get to see what spooked them. I was hoping for a lion. We reached the bend and there was nothing; I was disappointed.

We got out at the hot spring to see if it was actually hot. It was: you could cook an egg in it easily. I took a moment to look out on the plain. This lake was a resort for animals: good grazing year round with few predators.

We had seen all there really was to see and headed back, though on the way nearly ran over a black mamba. We also passed a crew that were repairing a bridge, imagining the many hazards of their job.

We had lunch at the lodge before heading for Serengeti. We drove by the chameleon boy one last time with sticks now holding three chameleons. We gave him a pen. I wondered what opportunities this kid had in this part of the world; I wondered how he saw it. What was I going to do of my opportunities when I got back?

But now was not the time to think of anything but the country that laid before us. The great valley faded behind us; my memory of it never will.