The Safari Experience

TERESA QUINLIVEN

November 24, 2018

J o u r n a l E n t r y

Woke up at 0600 this morning. Started to get ready for our Safari trip at Ruaha National Park. I brushed my teeth, brushed my hair. Put on sunblock and then topped it off with a gallon of bug spray. I looked into the mirror and thought, “Wow, I look like shinier than a swim suit model.” I finished getting ready and packed up my necessities for today and headed down to the lodge, which was a slightly steep but short walk from my cabin.

During breakfast, which was served at 0630, everyone gathered at the table. Several discussions took place this morning as we ate our breakfast. Margaret and I chatted about how forceful and effective the cabin toilets worked, the lodge employees were amazed at how much water Sharoz drank, and Leslie shared with us her amazing experiences while in Nepal. Sharoz also had been to Nepal and they both explained how cows, dogs, and people in the streets regulated traffic there. Michelle shared stories of different volunteers programs in various areas. Lisa and I shared a conversation about trekking in Yosemite Valley. As we finished breakfast, we finished up all our world travel experiences. As we were gathering out things from the table, I asked Leslie what type of vehicle we were going to be on. She informed me that it was most likely an open jeep. I stated, “Well, if I see a lion, I’m going to dangle a steak over Margaret’s head.” We all laughed.

As we were about the leave the table, Sharoz said she used roll-on bug spray. We all joked that she really used deodorant instead of bug spray. She commented, “Well, if you see my arms spotty with sweat, then I probably did mix up the bug spray with deodorant.”

We met our guide, whose name was Moses, and we had the same driver as the day before, whose name was Joseph. I was very excited for this Safari because I have never been on one before, so I was looking forward to seeing all the wildlife. Little did we all know what adventure awaited us behind the gates of Ruaha National Park. A day I will never forget. We all loaded up into the jeep and headed to the Park.

As we were getting near the park, we were all getting very excited. WE SPOTTED A ZEBRA!! Wait, just kidding, it was a sculpture of a zebra on the side of the road. We had been tricked.

We arrived at the park, parked the jeep, and then went at signed in at the front gate desk area. After signing in, we were back in the jeep in no time and then went through the gate. After initially entering the gate, we saw a velvet monkey, Bayoba trees with what looked like chewed up trunks. These Bayoba trees were very large and quite magnificent in size. I saw trunks as large as 10 feet in diameter throughout the park. Our guide explained that elephants use their tusks to take pieces of the trunk off to eat. We also saw Acacia and Euphorbia trees. We also saw helmeted Ginny Fouls, male Kudu’s, and a couple of Giraffes just off the park road. We stopped and took several pictures. This was the first time I have ever seen a Giraffe before. I was very excited. After taking several photos, we were off again. We stopped at a picnic area next to a bridge. We all got out and walked onto the bridge. There were spotted numerous hippos and crocodiles in the river. We took lots more photos and spent some time on that bridge before we got back into the jeep. As we were heading back to the jeep, I spotted a beautiful reddish-orange headed lizard with a blue body and a cyan colored tail. I have never seen anything like this before. I felt like a kid and I got so excited. It was so beautiful.

"This was the first time I have ever seen a Giraffe before. I was very excited."

We all loaded the jeep and off we were again. Little did we know that our Safari trip was going to take an unexpected turn. Not long after the bridge, the jeep broke down on a slight upward hill. The driver began to intensely work on the engine. While waiting for the driver to fix the engine issue, Sharoz and I began to fantasize about seeing an elephant herd cross the road right in front of our broken down jeep. As we continue to fantasize about elephants, the driver decides to move the jeep to level ground. As we are rolling backwards to level ground, I look down and see that the jeep also has a flat tire. I point it out to the driver but he assures me it’s not flat, but I insist that it is. Upon reaching level ground, I hear Leslie yell, “ELEPHANTS!”

Horray!!! We see a number of elephants and with them… three baby elephants. As we watch and take tons of photos of the elephants, I look over to the jeep to see how things are going. I notice that the driver is now taking the wheel off. Looks like we did actually have a flat. I was right. So now, our engine was not working and we had a flap tire. The guide calls for help, so we continue to wait. While we were waiting, we took more photos of the elephants. Sharoz named the herd the Claytons because some of them were covered with red clay dirt.

Since we broke down, 2.5 hours had passed before the rescue jeep came with a spare tire. The tire was changed, however the engine that was thought to be fixed, still did not work. So the rescue jeep took all of us to the park’s headquarters. As we traveled to the park’s headquarters, we saw antelope herd, zebras, and more giraffes. We also saw a giraffe that had only one horn. We arrived at the park’s headquarters which had a runway, several various buildings, a few planes, and a picnic area. We were dropped off at the picnic area where we were to eat lunch and wait for a new jeep to come get us. During lunch, Moses explained how a lion will actually warn you first if it does not want you around, assuming you did not creep up on it and startle it first. Also, during lunch we spotted a hippo standing just a few feet off the runway across from the picnic area. After we were done eating, Michele, Leslie, and Sharoz laid down on the benches to rest. We just kept waiting… After about another 2 hours, a new jeep arrives. HORRAY!!! We all loaded up into the new jeep and departed out into the park again. We saw more elephants, birds, and then finally approached a river which the road began to follow. We attempted to search for lions but could not find any. We turned around and then headed back out of the park… Little did we know that our adventure was about to get more interesting.

Just about 5 minutes after we turned around, we got caught in a thunderstorm. We pulled over off the road by a tree and pulled down the rain covers on the jeep to wait out the storm. The wind was blowing so hard that the covers were pushing on me in the jeep. Also, the rain was pelting the covers so hard that it felt like little rocks being thrown against the covers.

While hard and loud rain, which was almost deafening, with gusts of wind hitting the jeep, we began to hear thunder heading out way. While waiting out the storm, we sang “Rain Drops are Falling on My Head” to help us pass the time and Michele spotted a turtle just outside the jeep. The thunder got louder and louder as it rolled right over us. About 45 minutes later, the rain and wind lifted and the temperature felt like it dropped at least 20 deg F. We then got back on the road and headed back to exit the park driving out way through road filled waters and puddles, slipping and sliding, skidding sideways, and fish tailing while holding on for dear life. At one treacherous water filled road sections too us a few tries to get through it and Margaret and myself got hit with mud from the front tire. At another section, we started to slide and felt as if the jeep started to tip. I looked back and saw Lisa and Michele lunging to the other side of the jeep. With the driver’s great driving skills, he quickly recovered the jeep before conditions got worse. On our way out, we saw jackals, baboons, birds, more giraffe, and some other things. At one point on our way back, Leslie’s hat flew off of her and we quickly back tracked and retrieved it and we well on our way again. We arrived to the park gate, got off the jeep, and loaded into the lodge’s van. After we started driving away from the park, we saw a herd of 8-10 giraffes on the side of the road. What a sight this was. About 10 minutes later, we arrived safely at the lodge where the staff greeted us with big smiles. We made our way to the deck for refreshments and popcorn. Due to the jeeps’ mechanical issues, the lodge offered us another half day Safari to make up for the time lost on today’s Safari for tomorrow morning with a 0630 departure.

"Today was a true Safari experience with intense four wheel driving and mudding adventure."

Today was a true Safari experience with intense four wheel driving and mudding adventure. As Margarete stated during the drive to the lodge, “This was a white knuckle Safari that included a double-axle, double-toe loop.”

TERESA QUINLIVEN

November 25, 2018

J o u r n a l E n t r y

Margaret, Sharoz, Lisa, Teresa, Michele and Leslie woke up early to makeour journey down to the reception area from our cottages up in the hill at the Ruhah Hilltop Lodge with our luggage which they will store for us and load on the bus. Today we were going to go for a morning game drive to make up for some of our lost time yesterday with the series of events. The staff greeted the team and had coffee and tea on the deck for us when we arrived. Emmanuel ensured me that this jeep will ‘return’ and it is the newest one they have.We got on the road before 7 with our guide Moses and new driver. As soon as we descended from the hill we saw a group/family of baboons on in the buffer zone between the resort and the park entrance. We all encouraged that this will be great day for viewing animals. Today was a beautiful clear day and we were all optimistic that we were going to have a morning full of animals and adventure. On the way to the gate we also see a group of giraffes, deer and assorted birds.

The plan was to have breakfast on our drive and we make a way down the twisty, bumpy dirt road. We see group of caribou, and giraffe along the way. We turn down another a new road and make a way to a medium size pool of water where there were hippos and over 20 crocks in the pool. Here we had our breakfast of pastry, rolls, potatoes, fruit, juice, tea and coffee. Margaret announced this was one of the best breakfast's she ever had.

After breakfast we make our way down the dirt road off to try to find lions and a cheetah that was cited by some other groups. Along the way we see a heard of zebra grazing close to the air strip, groups of graffiti and some other animals. We spend an hour going to some back trails and we never met up with the felines. We then speed off and made our way toward the exit. We stopped at a group of zebras by the air strip after a short pit stop. The zebras were crossing the road and this was the first time we got a very close view of the herd. To my surprise we have not yet run into any elephants today.

We then made our way toward the gate and Leslie was thinking about elephants and about 5 km later we saw a female herd of elephants close to the road. We were all happy to get a close view. Then we head down the road and were greeted by 2 male elephants. This was a great way to end the safari.

We made our way to the gate a 5 hour morning drive. We were greeted by Emmanuel and Joseph with bus. We made our way on the “endless road” to Iringa which was loess bumpy and traveled then the one we took on Friday night.

We made our way to the Lutheran center in Iringa and two plus hour later arrive. We had our boxed lunch on picnic tables out front. Michele checked to the center and her plan was to stay overnight in Iringa town.

After shopping in town and making a pits stop for gas we head to Ipalamwa on the twisty dirt road. Two and half hours later we are greet by the rest of the team. We are happy to arrive at the RCP center after the full day of travel and have dinner with the rest of the team made by Mama Tony and staff.