THE African Dream!

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17.11.2015 - 

The dream of many years - finally about to come to life - Here I was, sitting at Frankfurt airport - wondering if I was actually on my way to the so-called Dark Continent - AFRICA! An African Safari had been on my bucket list of once-in-a-lifetime trips but somehow had my own doubts on if I would ever embark on one! 

But, after all the research and planning for the past 8 months, here I am, on my way to Tanzania! My partners in crime are gonna be Karthick and Shiva- travelling from India :-). Can't wait to hop on the safari vehicle for the life-changing memories of animal viewing inside the deep African jungles! Stories of the distant growl of lions and tigers, the hyenas, the sight of cheetah attacking deers and other animals for food, the anticipation of waiting and chasing a herd of African elephants (or they chasing us) - on and on and on - all those which we see on Discovery or National Geographic, loom in my mind!! Wish I could witness atleast some of these spectacles which I am sure shall linger in my memory till I die! 

18.11.2015 - 

After a brief stop-over at Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, here I am at Kilimanjaro International Airport - on the foothills of the highest peak in Africa - and the spot for much renowned treks and hikes!! 

We were picked by the authorities from Northern Circuit Adventure and after our payment formalities, were dropped at the hotel in Arusha. The drive from Kilimanjaro to Arusha was somehow a reminder for any national highway route in South India - loads of street shops, tiny restaurants and intermittent greenery as well. Was impressed to find so much of an Indian influence here, with loads of TATA trucks overtaking the TVS Autorickshaws on roads which had shops with AIRTEL coupons and hoardings all over, every 100 meters!!! 

A deep 10-hour sleep beckoned all of us after the tiring flights across the continents!!

19.11.2015 - 

After a refreshing breakfast with a sip of African coffee (Africafe), we started our way for the Safari, with Elias our driver cum guide towards our first destination - Tarangire National Park - a 2-hour drive. 

A total of 4 hours were spent inside Tarangire NP! Couldn't have been more eventful! We entered with views of antelopes and a group of zebras, after which we saw the hero of the day- cheetah, sitting under a tree, with the occasional turn of its neck towards us, there it was, lying calm - silently waiting for a prey perhaps! Was time for its lunch too may be ;-)

Elias had already packed our lunch boxes, for which we stopped at a picnic site - enough stuff that we couldn't finish eating it! The rest of the hot afternoon gave us glimpses of many other animals - warthog, impala, giraffes, mongooses, wildebeests, velvet monkeys, a huge beetle, the African elephants and their babies which kind of became a regularity as the day progressed, extremely close views of ostriches (man they are pretty big but cute), and a plethora of birds too! Extremely exciting for a first safari day!! 

On our way towards our camp site - Sunrise campsite, we spotted a huge group - atleast 25-30 giraffes very close to the highway - with one of them almost running across the highway!! Was truly a spectacle at the end of our day!!

The tents at the campsite were so well maintained, at the same time, gave me the feeling of the typical camping safari - the feel of resting our tired body with the sound of crickets and the occasional chirping of birds outside the tent!!

Starting with a type of spinach soup, and then munching some Rajma and flavoured rice with veg salad - Simply awesome and unexpected dinner made by our cook at the camp site!! With such wholesome dinner, we hit our beds, eagerly waiting for our next adventure towards Lake Manyara National Park- very close by to our camp site!!

20.11.2015 - 

After our breakfast, where we were joined by a couple of people from Canada (Kevin and Suzy) and one from Germany (Hardy), we headed towards Lake Manyara National Park. The weather was pretty warm to our luck, and we were able to witness some really close views of the African Elephants, Giraffes, Wildebeests, families of monkeys (blue-balled baboons), hippos, some wonderful poses from zebras too in impressive backgrounds - sceneries which remain etched in memory and in my camera as well..! We missed out on the tree-climbing lions and the flamingoes, which were supposed to be in abundance here, but was a pretty interesting day overall!

The dinner at our campsite was yet another surprise with our expert cook making Parathas (yummy in my tummy ;-)) and some African cuisine - made of raw bananas, along with some Porridge. 

The interactions with Kevin kind-of made my evening - here was a retired travel-freak, who had already made it into 80 different countries, making all sorts of trips into all kinds of countries (some of which are unthinkable in today's world) and still maintains a strong penchant to keep going!! Shared some interesting aspects of travelling with him and vice versa as well! 

Off to sleep now, a long drive towards the heart of Serengeti National Park awaits us for tomorrow :-)

           

21.11.2015 -

After a tasty breakfast with Pakoras (:-D), bread and pancakes, we set out from the guest house - packing all our stuff, including the cook and his whole cooking kit for the next three days. Off we rode towards the master place of all safari locations - Serengeti National Park. We had to cross the Ngorongoro crater on the way to Serengeti, which was a beautiful location by itself. We spent just 10 minutes there, since we had it on our itinerary anyway for the final day. 

After the 4.5 hour drive, we finally ended up reaching the entrance of Serengeti - and by that time, we had already seen thousands of Wildebeests on either side of our route!! The lunch - tasty as usual with the sandwich, sweet potatoes and a host of all other snacks followed and then we again started our drive into the heart of Serengeti, the place where we had planned to set our base camp for the night. The day finally ended up really cool, with the great migration happening almost as soon as we entered Serengeti, and after the usual dosage of zebras, Giraffes, baboons, African elephants and ostriches, we saw a cheetah - sitting on top of a little cliff, posing royally. As the icing on the cake, we ended up witnessing the rare leopard as well, a couple of those, perched on two different trees - thanks to the guides of the other safari company who pointed us towards these beasts! Also did we see a baby leopard on our way back to the campsite, but missed it on its way into the bushes!! These made up my day - what a warm welcome at Serengeti :-). Looking forward with so much of anxiety for the 6 am game drive tomorrow!!

Off to sleep, after a refreshing dinner - Spaghetti and mixed veg Curry, into the make-shift tents which our guide and co had set up right in the center of the Serengeti! Lovely experience :) 

22.11.2015-

The best day of the Safari - started at around 6.30 am with a bunch of African Elephants and Giraffes, and just when our anxiety started building up towards seeing a lion somehow, Elias headed towards a small section of rocks piled upon each other, with the semblance of a lion's den, and there they were - behind those rocks - 6 lions - mostly cubs, perched on the pathway, staring at the host of visitors on the different jeeps unfazed by all the cameras that shot them!! A real amazing sight it was!

With the info of a leopard around, we drove immediately towards it, and Elias was supportive enough to drive us off road - very close to the tree where the leopard was feasting on its breakfast - the flesh of its prey hanging from a branch where the leopard stood!! Such a devastating sight which I saw only on television during my childhood, unfolded right in front of my eyes!

To have the climax of the day - Elias drove us back to the lion's den - and there, apart from the six lions which we saw earlier, the parent of some (or all of them) now appeared, and then the King himself appeared on top of the rocks - perched like the portrait of Lion King - the exact Jungle Book scene!! That wasn't somehow enough for Nature - she decided to provide us with even more spectacle - out of the rocks walked the gigantic lion - perhaps the father of some of those cubs - the majestic walk towards our jeep, with a gentle stroll and then the retreat back to its den - simply blew my mind - not every one gets to see lions at their own houses - we were fortunate enough to see a pride of them in the space of an hour!!

After lunch, we headed towards our camp at Ngorongoro Crater, and on our way, we stopped at a Masai tribal village - another experience that I shall cherish for a lifetime..! The youngsters of the tribal village, who spoke good English, took us around the village, showing their cow-dung based houses along with their kindergarten school, lifestyle, house rooms, food habits etc., I personally felt they were decades away from the world, still the immense pride of being a Masai was very much obvious in them..! After a souvenir shopping, we proceeded towards the crater campsite which was in turn the grazing land of a host of cute zebras - who would end up circling our tents the whole evening and early next morning when we would sleep ;-)

What a splendid location and amazing landscape !! Happiest moments at that campsite that day !! :)

23.11.2015 -

An early breakfast and then started Elias in our jeep for the last day of our safari - with just the Black Rhino left out of the Big-5 animals that we were supposed to visit. Once again, the spectacular scenery, as we drove our way down inside the crater (formed because a volcano at that location collapsed 2 million years ago). Hundreds of zebras and Wildebeests came on our way, a whole big flock of flamingoes at a distant lake, but at last, the elusive Black Rhino was finally visible - at a fair distance though. My binoculars, like at so many instances during the safari, helped viewing the last of the Black-5 animals very closely!! There we felt, the Mission Accomplished feeling of having seen the Lion, African buffalo, leopard, African elephant and the Rhino!! To sum the whole experience up to extreme heights, the return route to our camp had a particular place with six lions, waiting perhaps for their next prey - some of them were panting heavily too - may be tired after a big chase! An extremely happy group we were, when we returned to the camp, and from there back to Arusha!

I couldn't have asked for anything better - after all the planning since March, and after all dreams of an African Safari for many years, to have had such a near-ideal Safari with all animals that we wanted to see, and the perfect weather on all our game drives, and coupled with the unique Masai tribal village experience!!! Elias was simply awesome throughout – silent but ever attentive and alert to anything and everything that happens around us – and went the extra mile in taking us off-path to the Leopard feasting on its breakfast – showing us the Dung Beetle rolling its ball of dung along the muddy path – driving the extra hour late in the evening when it was not allowed as per rules – and always with a unique sense of patience for every single question that we ask him!! Also, for all the interesting conversations about world travel with Kevin and Hardy, and for the inspirations from Suzy - this Tanzania trip was in every sense truly life-changing and memorable!! :-)

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24.11.2015 - 

After a transit via Kenya, we reached Cairo, but we had our anxious moments though, with all the instability around the African and European front owing to terrorism, and so we were a bit skeptical about our presence out of our comfort zone. It was 3 am on 25th when we reached our hotel room in Cairo, and after tipping the person who came to pick up, the shuttle driver and the cleaner 'Beam Boy' for simply accompanying us till our room, we quickly understood that tipping people for whatsoever minuscule reason was a mandatory piece of act in this country for tourists. 

25.11.2015-

It was time for our trip to Old Cairo, and courtesy Karthick's colleague - Mr.Ayman Shaaban, we got in touch with Travco agency, from where Mr.Emad took care of us in taking us around Cairo. A whole day of tour helped us visit the Citadel of Salah-el din, Mohammad Ali Pasha mosque (among the oldest in the world), a couple of churches reminiscent of the Roman age that ruled Egypt for a while, and the Egyptian museum where we got to see a few mummies which were excavated from different tombs at various points of time. After a typical oriental lunch and an almost 2-hour drive into the chaotic Cairo traffic, we returned to our hotel for a well-deserved sleep.

26.11.2015 - 

A day when another big childhood dream would come true - the visit to the great Pyramids of Giza. These are the lone standing wonders of the ancient world and the monument which have stood over thousands of years on Earth, as proof of the Egyptian civilization (or, that’s what we thought). The everlasting inscriptions in the different temples and the very purpose of constructing the Pyramids speak volumes of the amount of respect and belief that the old Egyptians had in after-life of the Pharaohs!! 

The highlight of the day after the visit of Pyramids was the Camel ride between the panoramic view point and the third big pyramid - an experience to cherish for life!! The slow bumpy ride sitting on top of the Camel, with the scare of falling down every time when the Camel follows a downward slope, and the jerky wobble whenever the Camel tries to scratch its head over the one ahead of it, the kicks and pulls of the rope to make the Camel move in a specific direction all made the experience very memorable !! :-) The photograph of me sitting on the Camel in the desert with the great Pyramids in the background is one for a lifetime :-)

We visited the Sphinx, the Pyramids at Saqqara where we got to enter the pyramid, and the Memphis too.

The evening was made special because of the visit to the Old Cairo streets - special thanks must go to Ayman, who took us there. The streets in Khan el-Khalili showed the true life of Cairo - ever vibrant with all its petty shops, markets for all possible items that one might need, souvenir shops and amazing street eatable shops, with mosques and churches every few meters..! The 3-hour time at these streets was the icing on the already tasty cake, because in 2 days we got to experience a good amount of Cairo life..!

             

27.11.2015 - 

Next followed a short flight from Cairo to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan – more famously called the Upper Egypt region in ancient times - to take up the 4-day Nile Cruise to Luxor. After the sounds and pollution and all the chaos of Cairo, Aswan seemed so silent and serene. From the initial implications of what I saw, the cruise was going to be more of a relaxation compared to the previous 7 days of the trip. The first day saw us visiting the Aswan high dam and the temple at Philae. This temple was a big highlight, after hearing a lot about the Egyptian temple history from our guide Ahmed, the kind of offerings that they make, and having a look all the stone carvings! There seemed so much of resemblance with the way Indian temples have been constructed – the kind of offerings made to God – the Sanctum Sanctorum whose contents have been robbed/grabbed and stored in Museums all around the world!! Was indeed a special experience!!

We checked-in to our cruise ship after that - an all-facility ship with ultra-comfortable rooms, a top deck with swimming pool and sports facilities!! Tomorrow was going to be important - the visit to Abu Simbel temples.

28.11.2015-

The temples of Abu Simbel are at the southernmost point of Egypt bordering Sudan, where attacks from Sudan military or other unforeseen sources seem to be pretty common. So the visit to this temple included a security guard accompanying the tourists, with a 3-hour journey covering 300 kms one way to the temples, which started at 4 am. 

The temple though was a great experience altogether, with the giant statues of different Kings of Egypt erected outside, and a lot of stone carvings and scripts in hieroglyphics inside! A perfect welcome point for people who visited Egypt via the waters adjacent to these temples, the statues stood tall, showing off the power of these kings!!

The rest of the day included complete relaxation on the cruise - with the table-tennis sessions on top and tasty food inside :-) Thus started our cruise towards Komombo!

29.11.2015-

Today was another normal day with the visits to the temple of Kom Ombo and the temple at Edfu – like many other Egyptian temples, these were also an epitome of the Greek-Roman dynasty in Egypt – with dedications to the Crocodile God, Falcon God coupled with rich history behind each and every inscriptions. The chariot ride to the temple of Edfu was a whole new experience in itself!

The real enlightenment of the Egyptian history was to hit on us on the last day of our tour, though.

30.11.2015 –

Luxor was the final destination of our Nile Cruise, and the home of a huge chunk of the Egyptian history belonging to a series of Pharaohs. Situated on the ancient site of Thebes – the capital of the kingdoms of many Pharaohs during the peak of Egyptian civilization, Luxor definitely had a lot to offer for the real fans of Egyptian tourism.

Our guide Ahmed picked us from the Cruise after we checked-out, and then took us to the East bank temples – Karnak temple and the Luxor temple, and on the way, told us about the logic followed by old Egyptians when building such artifacts: Temples honouring Pharaohs or Gods or both are normally constructed on the East bank of the Nile, whereas any piece of construction meant for death or anything related to it are situated on the West bank of the Nile – comparing the start and end of life to the rising and setting of the Sun. This made complete sense even with Cairo – since the Pyramids – meant as Tombs of Pharaohs, are situated on the West bank of the Nile.

The temple of Karnak – or more famously known as the Karnak complex, is among the biggest temple complexes in the world – second only to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and has a series of temples inside which were constructed over a period of more than 1500 years spanning different dynasties, with almost all the Pharaohs who ruled the land making a contribution of his own kind to the complex, adding to its speciality. This temple, hence boasts so much of the history of almost all the Kings, as depicted in the different Cartouche encryptions at the different precincts of the temple. The remains of a mud ramp also exists in this temple – indicating the method which the ancient Egyptians used to construct the tall pylons (the large gates at the Egyptian temple entrances), further giving us proof of how they managed to construct the gigantic Pyramids at Cairo!!!

The Luxor temple was our next destination – which was pretty close to the Karnak complex. This temple, though not as big as the Karnak in size, also boasts of its own history – with a mosque (Abu Haggag Mosque) very close to it. History has in it that the Mosque was constructed over the ruins of the Luxor temple, and the temple was dug out later – which also has a chamber with paintings corresponding to Christianity – making it one-of-its-kind because of the multitude of religions that have been portrayed here. Also another fact found out in recent times was the long line of human-headed Sphinx statues that once connected the Luxor and Karnak temples!!! True magnificence!!!

With all this history behind, we now went across the Nile to the west bank, for the best of the lot – Valley of the Kings! This was the secret location where the Pharaohs had their tombs built – a location of so much research over the decades by hosts of Egyptologists who keep flocking here every now and then, trying to find out every bit of history that they could, about the never-ending research of the Ancient Egyptians! The latest being the search for Queen Nefertiti’s tomb – which is possibly lying in a secret chamber inside King Tutenkhamon’s tomb!

We had a chance to visit 3 tombs as part of our entry to the Valley of the Kings, and the experience was simply fascinating and out of the world! To just think of the complexity behind the construction of each of those tombs, coupled with the artistry and intricate meaning behind every inscription inside – as stated by the different Hieroglyphic characters, charts summing up the good and bad deeds of the Pharaoh – which decides the peace and happiness of his after-life – and the very thrill of the location of these tombs inside the Valley of the Kings, which still is the home for many unfound secrets of Ancient Egypt – this visit really changed my perception of Egypt – letting us know the plethora of good thoughts Egyptians had to express 3000 years ago!!

The Pyramids at Cairo and all those artefacts at the Egyptian museum in Cairo are after all just a shade of the real Egyptian kingdom whose biggest contribution lied there at the Valley of the Kings at Thebes – modern day Luxor!

The tour finally ended with the visit to the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and thereafter to our hotel close to the West bank of Nile – leaving me and my friends spellbound – this civilization was by every means so very close to the magnitude of what the Ancient Indus Valley Civilization had in store – in some cases even more!

Loading all these experiences for a life time into my heart, I loaded myself and my torn bags on to my Egypt Air flight – towards Germany, and my friends to India, completing a highly successful tour!!! 

There is really a lot more to life – than just the 3-meal-a-day with eyeballs glued to the computer screen – and this trip showed me how true the quote is: “Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer”