Southern/East African Trip 2019

Days 43 & 44 - 21st & 22nd July 2019 The South African couple that told us about Migombani also told us about Rocky Bay Resort and Campsite in Busisi, on the shores of Lake Victoria.  We had originally planned to stay at the Yacht Club in Mwanza, but decided to push through and take the ferry to Busisi and overnight at Rocky Bay. Joanne getting off the ferry - the vehicles are behind the buses Well, when we arrived, we were sold on this little piece of paradise!!  The campsite wasn't ready yet, so we got a great little chalet for $30 per night.   The owners are South African, so it's like being home from home 😊.  Last night we enjoyed a brilliantly cooked piece steak with chips and veg, and tonight the owners are making an oxtail 'potjie' which we have been invited to share (where are you Frans and Petro???) The rocks remind us of the Seychelles - huge and absolutely beautiful.  Just about everything, particularly the restaurant and swimming po

Days 37 to 42 - 15th to 20th July 2019 We passed a few Masaai villages on route to Serengeti.  The Serengeti proved to be everything we dreamed it would be - other than the VERY bad roads, cold showers and atrocious ablution blocks in the public campsites. Because we could only get 2 nights in Kogatende special campsite number 7 and the rest would be public campsites, we decided that we would have one night in Dik Dik , one night in Lobo and then push north to Kogatende which is on the Mara River, then back to Dik Dik for a night, before the last night at Ndabaka. Between the Gate and Dik Dik there were huge herds of Thompson's and Grant's Gazelle, the occasional elephant, some resident wildebeest and zebra, and quite a few lion. A highlight on our way north to Kogatende was a cheetah sat on an anthill, and just hundreds and thousands of wildebeest. We met the ranger at the Kogatende Air Strip - a very friendly guy.  We asked him where we find SCS 7.  He sai

Day 35 & 36 - 13th & 14th July 2019 We arrived at the crater at 12h00 so that we would have enough time to get from Simba Campsite in Ngorongoro to the Serengeti National Park on the morning that we leave.  Park fees are strictly for a 24 hour period, so if you are late to exit you need to pay for an additional day. Simba Campsite is on the rim of the crater, and for the first time since entering Tanzania temperatures dropped drastically! A pic taken from the crater rim It was freezing cold up on the rim and also during the descent into the crater the next morning.  Once we had reached the crater floor it warmed up nicely. The crater was teeming with wildlife. Spotting a Golden Jackal was also a first for us. We were extremely grateful that the men had arranged a game guide for the trip into the crater.  We would have got horribly lost, I'm sure, and would never have found the picnic spot for lunch.  The biggest advantage was that we could all take ph

From Tarangire we made our way to Manayara National Park via Mto Wa Mbo (meaning river of mosquitoes).  Because our washing had piled up, we decided to stay in Endabash public campsite in the park for only one night, and two outside of the park to get our clothes washed and dried. A beautiful lake with bird life in abundance - who would have thought that you'd capture spoon bills, pelicans and yellow billed storks in the same photograph?  There was also a large number of stilts and, in the distance, hundreds of flamingo's.  Just stunning. Manyara is supposed to be renown for its 'tree lions'.  We did see lion, but like most, fast asleep on the ground.  Other than lion, we spotted a beautiful pair of Klipspringers and some Impala. There was also a large number of butterflies throughout the park which took my fancy 😃. That evening at Endabash we met a game guide who was taking a young German couple around, who said that we should have rather entered the pa