Swimming in the Indian Ocean

We all met for a late breakfast at the luxurious hour of 9 a.m. instead of the 7 a.m. starts that we have been having because of the diving course. Then we all headed to the sun loungers overlooking the sea for some serious relaxation. We did set off for a low tide walk to look at the coral but my sandals were being sucked off my feet by the very soft sand and I was concerned about tripping and falling onto a sea urchin, so I retreated to the sun loungers with Cat and Chanel, while James, Ally and Davie pressed on. Ally did in fact get spiked by a sea urchin in the side of his heel but he removed it with tweezers. We had lunch in the sandy floored bar and then the young folk went off for a lively afternoon at the pool table. I hear that David was the ultimate victor. I decided to have a swim in the sea. The tide was fully in and the waves seemed quite big; there were a few other people swimming which encouraged me, and I had a fantastic time. The water was as warm as a bath, the waves tossed me up and down and I had to swim quite hard against a current that swept along northwards about 20 metres from the shore. James came and joined me and we swam out to the raft and back to the shore. 
As it was our last night, complimentary drinks and snacks were delivered to our room, where we all gathered before heading up to cocktail hour at reception. Dinner was delicious and we had a nightcap in the bar, discussing our holiday experiences. It was such a lovely evening and I will miss our group of eight intrepid explorers. 

Frangipani Spa and Tides Restaurant

This was the last day of our intrepid divers’ PADI course, so they set off to the Diving Centre after breakfast. Kerry and I relaxed and chatted over coffee and pastries, and at 10 a.m. we presented ourselves to the Frangipani Spa. We had both booked massages and thoroughly enjoyed them. The spa decor was browns and golds, with dark brown furniture. It felt very relaxing. Then we got ourselves sun beds overlooking the sea and read our books, and we went for a swim. The water in the pool was cool and refreshing. 
The divers returned happily; they had enjoyed a great morning and have all passed their PADI. We had a delightful lunch together and a relaxing afternoon. The evening was very special indeed. The young folk had clubbed together to treat James and I to a dinner for two at Tides Restaurant for our Ruby Anniversary. This is a little restaurant for two people right on the beach. It’s a carved wooden room with curtains that blow in the breeze and with doors that open out onto a tiny terrace overlooking the sea, where we had pre dinner drinks. Back inside the tiny room we had an amazing four course dinner. James had a huge lobster and I had paneer masala; there is definitely a spicy vibe about the food here. One stand out course for me was hibiscus sorbet, which is both sweet and tart, which I will attempt to reproduce at home. After we had eaten our fill and more, our waitress Hamid presented us with a big chocolate cake decorated “Happy Anniversary!” We took it to the main restaurant with us and shared it over drinks with the young folks, who had just enjoyed a slap up Gala dinner. The evening was crowned by Jamie asking Ally and Davie to be his joint Best Men at his and Kerry’s wedding, to which they both agreed with alacrity. I was so very happy. 

Scuba Diving

Yesterday we had a change of pace, we had a day at the pool at our lovely hotel. Six of us were having a scuba diving lesson; James, Jamie, Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel. Kerry and I spent the day spectating, swimming, chatting, reading and relaxing. The friendly instructor, Emily, took the divers thoroughly through their training. It was very interesting to watch. 
Later in the afternoon we all went to the bar for pre dinner drinks, and a convivial evening followed, listening to the music from a very good Zanzibar group and having a laugh. 
This morning we had an early breakfast because the divers were heading out to sea. Kerry and I lingered on pleasantly for another coffee, then went to the sun loungers near the beach where we read our books and chatted. Our divers arrived back at lunch time rather tired but happy that they had all successfully used their skills to scuba dive in the sea. Lunch was lovely, and then I went for a walk along the beach at high tide which was spectacular; the waves reached nearly to the low wall beneath the hotel. Drinks by the pool were followed by champagne in our bedroom and then dinner, which was Swahili night with a delicious and unusual buffet. 

Travelling to Zanzibar

We left the Nyikani Migration Camp just after 7 a.m. The morning light was beautiful and lit up the long grass. 

We saw a white cuckoo sitting on a tree, plenty of zebras, and wildebeest in herds as far as the eye could see. Charles and Naftal had brought us to the air strip very early but it was quite cool with lots of shade. We said our goodbyes to them rather sadly, they have been such excellent drivers and guides to us. Ours was one of the larger planes that we saw arriving, with room for about 40 passengers in 10 rows: we watched our luggage being loaded and soon we were on board. Kerry was asked by the stewardess to help her to close the door! We made a stop at Central Serengeti airport to pick up more passengers; we could see giraffes in the distance. And then we left the Serengeti and our plane flew us south east to Zanzibar. The final leg of our journey took just over an hour by minibus to Breezes Beach Resort and Spa, which is everything we had hoped for. the attractive white-washed buildings have high Makuti roofs, made with hand woven coconut palm leaves. The resort is right beside the sea with a swimming pool and a diving centre. It’s great that the pool is very close to the beach, so you can go to either pool or beach without having to move to a different seating area. We soon settled into our beautiful rooms and then headed to the bar for a snack lunch and later to the pool for a swim and drinks. Dinner was absolutely splendid; it was Spice Night and both the variety and quality of dishes were excellent, with lots of vegetarian options. We had a fun evening with lots of laughs, and went down to the beach to look at the stars before bed time. 

The Mara River

We started the day with a refreshing bucket shower. The staff who fill them call from outside the tent to check if you are ready, so I said yes and when I heard it fill up I jumped into the cubicle. The first splash of residual water was chilly and I exclaimed aloud “Oh that’s cold!” to which a voice right beside me (just outside the tent!) replied “It will be warm in a minute!” which I thought was very funny. He was of course waiting for me to finish so that he could fill up James’s bucket. 

We set off in our Land-cruisers just after 7.30 a.m. The aim of today’s expedition was to attempt to see the wildebeest crossing the Mara River as part of the Great Migration. On the way we saw lots of wildebeest trotting along in large groups. We also saw zebras, a Secretary bird, Repelle Vultures in a tree, water buffalo and a Marshall eagle. 

Naftal positioned the landcruiser right beside the river and we waited to see what the wildebeest would do. And waited and waited. A Little bee eater entertained us by flitting around. The wildebeest moved around in their huge herd, massing near the river, but they didn’t quite dare make the move to swim through it. They made quite the racket mooing at each other. They were right to be hesitant; down on the banks of the river we could see dead wildebeest, who hadn’t made it across, being feasted on by vultures and crocodiles. Eventually we headed back to the camp for lunch, spotting lots more wildebeest, a few giraffes, zebras and a battler eagle. 
Lunch was excellent and after a chat we all went back to our nice cool rooms for an afternoon rest. 
We regrouped at 4 p.m. and headed back to the river. Alas the wildebeest had decided that today was not an auspicious time to cross, and in fact were heading away from the river for the evening. Naftal told us that while we had been able to go back to camp for a break, some jeeps had waited in vain at the river all day, because they had travelled from much further away. I’m glad that our camp was only about an hour’s drive from the river. So after a while we headed back to camp, seeing lots of wildlife on the way, such as brown snake eagles, zebras, giraffes, and really huge herds of wildebeest. As James pointed out, although we didn’t see the wildebeest actually cross the Mara River, we certainly have seen the Great Migration. After refreshing bucket showers and a rather lovely dinner, we all sat around the camp fire and chatted and looked at the moon and the stars of the southern hemisphere. A great evening in great company. And now a hyena is yipping gently outside our tent! 

Northern Serengeti

I was excited to wake early at Lahia Tented Lodge, and decided to go for a swim before breakfast. It was idyllic. A large stork accompanied me to the swimming pool which overlooks the countryside. The water was silky cool and little birds skimmed over it for a quick dip. It really was a wonderful experience. 
Breakfast was lovely and then we chose the ingredients for our packed lunches. We set off in the landcruisers, this time we decided to have girl / boy landrovers and I enjoyed a day in the delightful company of Kerry, Cat and Chanel. Among many other birds and animals we saw a Volder decken? Hornbill eating a snake! Also water buffalo, impala, lots of zebras, a spotted hyena, and a pride of lions - two male and three female, running along. So many wild animals right beside us! Fantastic. Perhaps the most exciting moment was coming across two male lions right beside the track, sheltering from the hot sun in the shade of a tree. They were not at all bothered by our presence and sat yawning quite happily. 
We had to queue for petrol at a filling station at the edge of the national park on the way north, it’s the only filling station in the area and Charles told us that it was very expensive. After a long drive (we left the Park and then went in by another entrance further north) we arrived at our final and most remote camp, Nyikani Migration Camp. This camp is a temporary one which is moved twice a year.
The bedrooms are again little huts, each with an en-suite toilet and a bucket shower. 
The bucket showers are amazing. They are filled up on request by members of staff and then you pull on a rope and 20 litres of lukewarm water descend upon you through a shower head. It’s so refreshing! We all had showers because we were quite dusty and hot, then met up for drinks and dinner in the main building, followed by more drinks and chat. At one point I needed to visit the toilet just beside the main building. They use a novel way of indicating that the toilet is occupied. There is a warrior’s spear in standing upright in a little hole to the right of the door, and when you go in you move it to another little hole in the middle of the doorway! Back at our tent James used safety pins borrowed from Jamie to hang our mosquito net from the seam in the ceiling. We had been advised to bring a mosquito net for this camp but in fact the tent already has fine mesh windows and inner nets which cover all of the walls and windows. But we decided to use our mosquito net anyway. 

Into the Serengeti

This morning we set off to the Serengeti via the Western Side of the Ngorongoro Crater. When we stopped at the gates for Charles and Naftal to complete the required paperwork, I nipped into the shop to buy a few postcards. Then I went to the toilet, and on exiting I realised that I no longer had my purse. Oh no! I rushed back in but there was no sign of it in either the toilets or the shop. The toilet attendant told me that he had seen it in the toilet and had gone to get latex gloves to retrieve it, but when he came back someone had flushed it away. We all agreed that this was a doubtful story; the purse was a bright blue so the chances are that the next person to go into the cubicle would have seen it straight away. Without meaning to cast aspersions, I think that I dropped it and it was found and stashed somewhere by someone. I was so annoyed with myself, but all the others were very understanding and I cancelled both of the cards that had been in the purse immediately, and established that the cards had not been used before cancellation. We continued into the Ngorongoro Conservation area; the western side has more open grassland and trees, which means giraffes. And sure enough it wasn’t long before we saw our first giraffe, and quite a few more during the day. It was so exciting, they are so elegant. Charles told us that when they stand still their group name is a tower of giraffes, but when they are walking along they are called a journey of giraffes.  And we saw lots and lots of zebras; James and I had thought that we would maybe see a few, but there were so many, and so very beautiful. 
Charles showed us a tree called a theorisation? which is like a thick acacia. 
At David’s request we added in a stop at Olduvai Gorge more info. We had a delightfully cool lunch sitting in the courtyard overlooking the valley. 
We entered Serengeti National Park and queued to go through the gates after Charles and Naftal did the paperwork. Serengeti means endless plain. 
Charles warned us that we were about to have an “African massage” which was a very bumpy five hour game drive on very dusty and uneven roads. Som if the potholes cause by flooding during the wet season were so huge that I thought that they would tip the landcruiser over! 
Here goes with another list:
Speckled fronted weavers, lapis faced vulture, Hildebrand starling, Southern ground hornbill. Alasdair is extremely interested in the birds that we are seeing and is learning to recognise them very well. 
We also saw a cheetah, a jackal, a cervo cat, a jackal, a topi, a Holder? (heart shaped horns), a hyena, and a couple of extremely cute dikdiks. 
More impala, elephants and finally a leopard emerging from a bush. 
At about 6.30 p.m. we arrived at Lahia Tented Lodge. This accommodation was incredible. We all had our separate double rooms but this time they have tent walls under high wooden ceilings, and the curtains move gently in the breeze! The main room of the lodge has a magnificent vaulted ceiling over a huge lounge and dining space. Outside is a swimming pool overlooking ——
On the tops of hills around us controlled fires glowed in the darkness, and the warm night was filled with the sound of crickets. We had a convivial dinner until it was time for us to be escorted back to our rooms, to protect us from wild animals. After seeing the cheetah and leopard today I was very happy to be escorted!