FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Time For Tanzania

Sunday, 6 January 2019

Time For Tanzania

With much sadness, we had to say goodbye to &Beyond Kichwa Tembo and its staff. We had such an amazing stay here with so many memorable moments. They sang and waved us off along with our lunch packs for our journey south to Tanzania. We had about an hour to see what our lion friends were up to. We arrived to see vultures EVERYWHERE, and sure enough we saw a carcass on the. The lions had made a kill sometime after we left them!

Vultures all over a carcass

Still teaching even as we're leaving. One of the "little 5" as it looks like a lion's claw

Our lunch packs full of goodies!

The male elephant with tusks so big he was collared to protect him from poachers

Goodbye Massek :(

Massek and Dennis then took us to the airfield where our string of transfers began. The flight from Kichwa Tembo to Migori Airstrip was short taking only 20 minutes. From there we were picked up in a van and driven through the Kenya/Tanzania border. Our drivers were organised and had forms ready for us to fill in, with clear instructions on what we needed to do. They accompanied us through the Kenyan and Tanzanian immigration including getting us our Tanzanian visas. The whole process was easy, quick and stress free. It took less than 15 minutes to cross the border! Apparently, this was because it was low season. In June it can take up to 1-2 hours!

Tarime Airstrip was only about a 20 minute drive from the border. We did everything so quickly that we had to wait an hour for our plane. The drivers waited with us until we were on board and off for our one hour flight to Ndutu Airstrip. Our guides and cars from Lemala Ndutu were there and took us straight onto an unexpected game drive!

Getting on the plane at Kichwa Tembo to take us to Migori Airstrip

The vans ready and waiting when we arrived at Migori for a drive across the border and to take us to Tarime Airstrip

Priority Pass Tarime Airstrip version...

Enjoying our lunch pack which waiting for our plane

The last plane from Tarime landing at Ndutu

The Serengeti, the southern continuation of the Maasai Mara Reserve, was the destination of the famed wilderbeest migration and there were thousands and thousands of wilderbeests and zebras! It was extremely dusty but had its own beauty which was distinct from our previous safaris. Our guide, Shaokat, asked us what we wanted to see, and we replied with our wish to see the big cats on a successful hunt. What we got instead were lions mating and baby cheetahs which we thought were a decent start!

With the sun setting, we finally headed to the mobile camp. The camp moves with the migration and the poor staff would take a month to dismantle and rebuild the camp following the animals. We were blown away at how nice the camp was. Our tent (a real one this time!) was massive and had every creature comfort you could think of. 2 large beds, a sitting area, a writing table, as well as hanging space for clothes. The staff would fill big tanks attached to the tents for running water and showers. If you wanted hot water, your room steward would physically put the water in a tank…

The camp has solar panels as well as a generator but charging devices of any sort needed to be done at the main tent. Laundry was also limited to 3 items per person per day on account of the difficulty of getting water in. We could live with that! Dinner was communal and the food tasty. Our meal this evening consisted of French onion soup, fish with vegetables and a banoffee pie for dessert. Scrumptious! Not sure how one gets tired just sitting, but I’m tired so its bed time….