We leave for Mikuni bright and early. The journey itself is about a 4-5 hour bus ride barring that we are not stopping too many times along the way. We load on the bust and most of us take advantage of a few hours of shut eye or simply making fun of each other. It is a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other a bit better, although we have all met briefly most of the group knows one or two people not the larger group.
Getting out of Dar is a bit chaotic, as one can imagine leaving any big city. We pass the main bus depots, which continue to make me laugh as they are bursting with people arriving and departing, merchants selling all sorts of goods ranging from cold drinks, hot chai, fruits, cashews, chickens, sheets, shoes, pillows and yes just in case you need one a fire extinguisher. I find this fascinating as each bus departs with twice as many passengers as you can imagine will fit. The great news is, is that you see the same merchants when you are making stops along the highway just in time when you need a cold bottle of water, a coke or a chocolate biscuit.
Once our of Dar, we pass many small villages along the way, each having their own specialty be it cashews, woven goods like baskets or messiah members in town buying supplies. The villages are colorful with happy children heading to school in their uniforms.
We make a few stops but arrive up the lodge at lunchtime. As we drive in to the national park, we are surrounded by elephants and giraffes – I have never been this close to animals and am beyond excited! The elephants are enormous and the giraffes absolutely gorgeous. The lodge is located about 30 kl inside the park, so we keep on driving. The lodge is gorgeous! Luxury tents overlooking Mikuni National Park, I feel like we are suspended above the park just at the tree tops. And each tent is equipped with electricity and warm (we can’t say hot but it is running and warm – hooray!) water. We sit down to an amazing lunch filling up before we head out for our first ride.
We start our first ride in oversized jeeps with no side and back window. As we drive down in to the park, we are overcome by flies which is apparently normal although they hurt like a bugger when they bite. We get in to the park and I am amazed of how quickly we begin to see animals. Zebras are dancing in the light, giraffes graze across the open plain and elephants wander in the search of water. We also see the silver back jackal, buffalo, elands, impalas and baboons. We have a short break at a watering hole, where there is an enormous hippo basking in the sun and enjoying an afternoon drink. The plain is as you would imagine, wide open space surrounded by mountains with Sisile plants, and African trees jutting up here and there. As we approach dusk, the light gets more and more amazing – absolutely gorgeous as it reflects off the red earth, creating long shadows behind the trees. As it reflects off the animals, they take on a magical golden hue and for some reason they seem to take on a very calm and serene persona, almost waiting for us to get close to have a look.
I don’t know how to describe a safari except for awesome. You get so close to the animals that it is unbelievable and what I am surprised at is the fact that they are not afraid – they hover almost like they want their photo taken. We drive until the sun sets, which is a gorgeous blood orange color that hovers above the mountains until it is supposed to drop, as someone told me a long time ago – just like an egg that drops below the surface. The temperature drops immediately – we are all freezing and start to head back as quickly as we can.
We get back to camp in the dark, where the electricity runs until to 10pm and stops after that. We run back to warm showers – unfortunately mines is working so I head up to the main lodge to do some writing. The main lodge and restaurant overlooks the trees tops and as I sit there writing, I am startled by a tree baby followed by a jenta cat. The animals actually startled me a bit because it is so dark at the lodge you can barely see your hand in front of your face. Which is great because you can see all of the stars that shine brighter than I have ever seen before.
We sit to dinner enjoying the sounds of the park envelope us while we sit around the table. Part of the restaurant has a lounge area that is does not have a roof, so after dinner we sit under the stars and watch the bush babies get closer and closer as they are curious to see who we are. As the electricity is about to go out, at 10:30, we are encouraged to head back to our tents to get ready for bed before its pitch black. Two messiah men escort each us to our tent to make sure we get there safely. It is a perfect place for a great night sleep as you are surrounded by nature, the beautiful sounds of the trees and the only light from the stars above.
No comments:
Post a Comment