Arusha

We did not have time for a game drive by the time the permit was cleared, so we just went to the camp. This was set up in a small clearing in a forest, and, after the heat and humidity of Tarangire, was very pleasant. The camp wasn't fully set up yet, though, so we waited while the set-up was completed.

Lillian and Betsy tried one of the native alcohols. It smelled like kerosene to me.

Dinner was late, and was good (although I don't remember what it was!) I went to bed and slept well.

We really only had one and a half days in Arusha National Park. The first day would be two game drives, and the second would be a drive and a hike to a waterfall.

A fish eagle

We set off for the first game drive after breakfast. We went to Momela Lakes. Here we saw a lot of birds, a few buffalo and impala. We saw a lanner's falcon across one lake, and added enough bird species to pass 200 for the trip. We had David Amnaay with us, a naturalist at Arusha who had interned at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, and was good friends with Jim Brett.

Collubus

We went back to camp for lunch, and set out in the afternoon for Ngurdoto Crater. This was a long drive, and early on it began to rain. The rain became heavy at times, and we sealed our top hatches. We made it to a viewpoint overlooking the crater. It was still raining. On the way down from the crater we saw the primate we all wanted to see, the black and white collubus. These are very attractive animals, with long, fluffy hair. Despite the rain and dark light conditions, I took a few photographs, and was pleased that one came out.

On the way back, we had a lucky break, as the top of Kilimanjaro peaked out from the clouds. I took its photograph. Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa, and is a prima facie example of global warming. The glaciers on the mountain are melting, and at the present rate the last snows on Kilimanjaro will have melted away in ten years. So much for Hemingway...

Kilimanjaro

We headed back to camp for a special farewell dinner. Jim and Michele prepared pizza and stromboli for dinner, quite a treat in Africa. It was quite good, and very filling. I had a good night's sleep.

The last day in Africa started with a standard breakfast. We headed up Mount Meru for our hike. More photographs of Kilimanjaro from a view point, as the skies were magnificently clear. We passed through an arched fig tree to Kitoto viewpoint. Here, we started our hike down the road with David. It was about an hour and a half on foot, eventually reaching Maio Falls on the Jekukumia River. With the end of my last roll of film, I took some photographs. The waterfall was in three parts, two not very tall (less than 20 feet) and a long drop of about 40 feet. We headed back to camp for lunch. We had a traditional Tanzanian lunch with beans and corn paste. Excellent, and very heavy. We packed and prepared to leave. At 3PM, I had a two bucket shower to get myself clean. We had an early dinner at 4PM, of calzones, and said goodbye to our camp crew. They did an excellent job! Just before 5, we set off for Kilimanjaro International Airport. The drive was uneventful.

I was flying business class, and was able to get five guests into the business lounge with me, so we waited for the flight there. I I fell asleep on the flight to Dar Es Salaam, where everybody had to de-plane. A short wait, then re-board. There was apparently a problem with a part on the plane, but I fell asleep in my seat before take-off. I missed the late dinner, and slept until a normal morning time. Breakfast was some vanilla flan, and we landed in Amsterdam only a half hour late. Lillian and I said goodbye to family and friends, stowed our luggage, and went into town.