Professors Fred Wulff & Earl Heidtke
We had a scenic ride in our early drive into Tanzania. The entry point was at Arusha (center of map and to the right). Our journey will take us westward to Lake Manyara and then onward to the famous Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (and Crater).
We unloaded at the Novotel Mt. Meru hotel in Arusha. It was a rather modern 4 star hotel conveniently located in the city.
We were served lunch in a park-like area under thatched roofs -- with a swimming pool nearby.
Our African guide Cornelius arranged for us to visit Levolosi primary School of Arusha. This was wonderful as we were invited to observe classroom instruction. The rooms were crowded and the facilities quite primitive, but the teachers were dedicated and the children were very friendly.
After our tours of the classrooms, the children started to entertain us in parade fashion with enthusiastic singing and dancing.
At intermission time, the teachers and the principal presented traditional African gifts to Earl Heidtke. This was followed with more traditional performances. What really impressed us was the 9 year old girl who served as the directress and lead singer. We took up an offering amongst ourselves to help provide instructional materials for the school.
Following the school visit we loaded up into our three vans and proceeded across the vast Masai steppe and Rift Valley. The Great Rift Valley cuts a huge swath in the earth, from Lebanon to the Mozambique Channel, a distance of some 4,000 miles. The greatest rupture on the earth's land surface, it is the only geological feature that can be seen clearly from the moon.
We drove up the Rift Wall on the escarpment to our Lake Manyara Hotel (right side in center)
The hotel reminded us: “Please bear in mind that the lodge is in an unfenced conservation area and a variety of wildlife may be found in or around the lodge at any time. The lodge electricity is supplied by generator. There is electricity from 05h00 — 12h00 and from 17h00 — 24h00.”
Wednesday, June 18th
BEFORE breakfast we descended the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park. Our Viewing began at the park entrance.
All of the animals listed are on the videotape, but only representatives animals are shown here.
Among the animals viewed this morning were Crown Eagles (right)
Baboons (right)
Monkeys
Blue Monkeys eating wild mango
White Faced Coucal
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Young impala (right)
Crown Plover
Egrets, some flying in flocks
Hippos (right)
Egyptian Geese
Jackals Superb starling
Elephants (right)
More monkeys
Warthogs
Crown Hornbill
We returned to the hotel where lunch was served on the grounds. We ate to the sound of African drumbeats provided by the hotel employees.
The Afternoon drive started with the driver’s “Vipi Mombo” (How are you?) Our viewing included a baboon perched on a telephone pole by the hotel and giant termite mounds (right).
Watercress in a stream
Three lions in a tree (right)
A sausage tree
Flamingos in the distance on Lake Manyara (right)
More impala
Masai Giraffe (right)
We had another routine flat tire, but after a short stop we were off to our hotel and a good night’s rest.
I started off the day by zooming in on my guide book. The yellow line shows the trip we had taken from Arusha to Lake Manyara,
Todays trip will now take us westward from Lake Manyara, through Ngorongoro Crater region, and on to Serengeti (Naabi Hill Gate).
We were off to an early start for an ambitious day. Shortly our driver pointed out a Whistling Acadia tree. Then it was on to the dirt “roads” which took us past women carrying water on their heads. The average weight of a load is 44 pounds.
We passed through the fertile Karatu wheat and maize farmland (right). When we stopped for a photo session, our driver pointed out, Euphorbia a many fingered plant.
We reached the Ngorongoro Conservation area, stopped briefly, and then left for the Serengeti, via grassy plains dotted with thorny bushes. When we reached the gate entrance of the Park, our Martin Luther College safari group posed for a group photo (right)
Serengeti National Park is nearly 15,000 square kilometers, the largest park in Tanzania and one of the largest in the world. The name comes from a Masai word meaning "endless plains". And that indeed describes a major component of this ecosystem.
The concentration of plains animals which gathers before migrating north is world renowned and unparalleled anywhere else on the planet.
Just inside the park were the ubiquitous wildebeest and a nearby sleepy lion. Then we saw a large African Hoopoe bird. The biggest thrill of the day was watching a family of four cheetahs (right).
Before reaching our hotel we encountered a massive wildebeest herd crossing our road.
And then there was this Ruppell’s long-tailed Starling.
Serengeti Sopa Lodge had a beautiful and spacious reception area. Furnished with large comfortable chairs made out of driftwood, huge cushions and colorful throw pillows. The low ceiling has wooden beams across and the pillars holding it that are shaped like huge pots stacked together.
From our hotel patios we could watch wild animals.
Wonderful view of elephants who camped nearby.
Lizards made themselves at home on the ledges around the hotel, but they were harmless.
We looked over the lodge and found it very impressive.
The public areas were spacious.
Rooms were more than adequate.
There was time for a safari drive and we were treated to more great sightings, which included more beautiful cheetahs and a hartebeest (right).
Moving on we saw a grey hornbill, a grey heron, and baboons.
Of course, there were lions resting in the tall grass. (right) ...
and we never ceased to be amazed at seeing them draped over branches in the trees.
At the end of our drive, the sun was going down and we headed back to the Serengeti Sopo Lodge.
That evening after dinner the hotel employees sang African songs and snaked their way through the tables
Friday, June 20th
Nice African sunrise. Our morning drive led us to yet another wildebeest migration. By the end of May the wildebeest have exhausted the Western Corridor’s best pastures and the herds must move further north. Hence, June is moving time.
A hippo ventured out of the water; that helped us to appreciate their true size.
More baboons (right) as well as a tawny eagle, lilac breasted roller and green love birds.
We saw a trail of black ants. Ants use odor trails to guide them to food sources that scout ants have found. Bit mostly we watched for larger creatures like elephants. Annette at right.
Then we saw our first chase and kill. It all started when our guide pointed out that lions were stalking wildebeests on both sides of a large migrating herd. (This is so much better on the video.) The lion on the right side then attacked -- driving the herd to the waiting lioness. On the video we could see the strike.
Our driver maneuvered our vehicle up close so that we could watch the mother lion hold the still alive wildebeest while her cubs nipped at it. The poor wildebeest was moaning until the lioness finally killed it. Then the animal became a meal.
We returned to our lodge for our belated breakfast. Fortified with our complete English breakfast, we set out for our next game drive. We saw more gazelles and hartebeest. Then we came across a topi that looks somewhat like a hartebeest but is reddish brown with distinct patches and has a long narrow head. On this drive we observed many lions. In one case there was a male lion, a female and 3 month old cubs. The male lion (with a full mane) looked lazy and laid down with a plop.
Hyenas were about.
Leopards in trees....
Zebras (right) and elephants
That evening at the Serengeti Sopo Lodge: more African entertainment after dinner.
Saturday, June 21st
Today would be another exciting day: game drives on the Serengeti Plains, and it started with rival wildebeest fighting and another mass migration of these creatures.
We watched cape buffalo, which are considered the 2nd most dangerous animal in Africa. They are capable of defending themselves against (and sometimes killing) lions. Lions do kill and eat buffalo regularly, but it typically takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult buffalo.
Then we saw a topi and more lions.
Quite a few vultures showed up for us this morning, either waiting for their turn at remains of animals or eating from a carcass. Sometimes they had to chase away jackals (who usually showed them respect).
Our driver took us out to a large pond where crocodiles and hippos coexisted. Hippos are considered by some to be Africa’s most dangerous animal. Hippos are hostile to crocodiles, which frequently live in the same pools and rivers and prey on their calves. Hippos have also been known to attack humans, and even boats.
When feeling threatened, they open their huge mouths and bellow.
From the bank above the pond, we watched crocodiles who lined the waterfront. On the video I have Dr. Cornelius, (our guide), Annette, Steve, David and Earl Heidtke walking along the bank.
We encounter more water buck, impala, elephants, etc. . What appeared as an unusual sight was dwarf mongoose who had taken over a termite hill.
Another strange creature we saw was the bat eared fox, named after its large ears.
For the bird lovers amongst us, there were Egyptian geese, night heron and yellow-necked spur fowl (Right)
Out of the Serengeti plains rise the great Moru Kopjes. Huge granite rock formations like mini mountains in the sea of grass.
Moru Kopjes drawings: elephants and abstract lines are painted on the walls in the colors that are seen on Masai shields; the white and yellow come from the clays, the black from ash of a wild caper, and the red ochre is clay mixed with juice from the wild nightshade. Presumably the artists were a band of young warriors,
Dr. Cornelius right.
The rock arrangement could not be changed.
We spent considerable time walking among the boulders.
Annette fell, but lived to tell others about it.
We continued our drive scouting for more animals. When game was spotted, our vans stopped together.
On the way back to our lodge we saw elephants, but the standout sighting was of a Marabou stork (right).
Earl conducted a devotion that evening that reminded us of the glories of God’s magnificent creation expressed in Proverbs and the Psalms. We were reminded that as we encounter the wisdom of men in the next few days ahead that we should keep in mind that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Sunday, June 22nd
After our traditional English breakfast buffet, we took our final drive of the Serengeti. The game included a silver backed jackal, pregnant lion, cheetah, vultures devouring a gazelle and a secretary bird (right).
We left the Serengeti via the Meshanani Gate that we had entered earlier on our trip. Next on the agenda was the well-known Ol Duvai Gorge. Naturally, we endured another flat tire from the “roads”. Erosional processes have exposed strata in the gorge dating to the lower Pleistocene epoch, allegedly about 1.8 million to 600,000 years ago.
The site was made famous by the numerous hominid fossils excavated by Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary Leakey , as well as by later researchers. Right:Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge
Dr. Cornelius showed us around the grounds and the museum. In the museum we saw the exhibits of skulls labeled “homo erectus” and “homo habilis”.
After leaving Ol Duvai we visited a Masai tribe within their village. These Africans were a little more better off than those we saw in an earlier village. These lodges were somewhat larger, although still quite confining. Little goats were left free to run.
Dr. Cornelius introduced us to the chief of the village, a man who boasted of having five wives (some of whom we met).
The men and women performed traditional dances in the center of the village grounds. Afterwards some of “our tribe” joined in.
They were very friendly (Annette in photo) and they invited us into their dwellings.
While in one of the homes, the young lady on the right consented to having her picture taken.
There were a number of very young children who also posed for pictures. Mrs. Endorf (on video tape only) took possession of a Masai baby, but then reluctantly had to give him back to the mother.
Our caravan of safari vehicles proceeded through a rain forest on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. Marabou storks could be seen in the trees through the misty rain.
We checked in at the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge.
Since our lodge was situated right on the rim of the crater, we had a commanding view from the windows of our rooms and the patio.
After lunch we changed vehicles to smaller four-passenger land rovers that were more capable of making the descent into the crater. The roadway down was very steep and we our way slowly. Ngorongoro is the remnant (caldera) of a volcano that blew apart, leaving a flat plain area ringed with steep walls.
Once down in the crater we met gazelles, bustards, cape buffalo and flamingos. The number of these pink birds was tremendous.
Lion watching was a major activity.
We saw them by a recent kill, being watched by hyenas and most thrilling, walking close to our vehicle,
There were Jackson weaver birds and Marabou storks. But the next greatest attraction was the rhinos.
Of course there were elephants.
We left the crater floor via a different ascent route and freshened up for dinner at the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge.
Tuesday, June 24th
After breakfast we packed up and loaded into our parked vans. Our trip today took us back again through the Karatu farmland and down through the Great Rift Valley.
The dirt roads had turned to mud.
We stopped at a Catholic Church Compound in Rhotia where Cornelius introduced us to the missionary. The cross above the church altar had a black Christ. See right. A painting of the Last Supper had all 13 people black. Young African girls were sitting on the church porch waiting for instruction about AIDS prevention.
We visited the hospital wing on the grounds, noting that the rooms were bare and the dirt floor. We met with an African nurse.
The roads were really bad after leaving the church compound. Only 4 wheel drive vehicles could move, and then with great difficulty. Trucks lined up struck in mud. I still marvel how we managed to survive.
Finally we reached the Meserani Snake Park.
This was like a zoo for reptiles -- snakes, turtles and crocodiles.
Then to nearby Arusha where we spent the night at the Novotel Mount Meru. Mrs. Endorf took up a collection to buy chairs for the school in Arusha that we had visited earlier. $400 was raised and given to Cornelius to present as a gift.
Wednesday, June 25th
We left our modern international hotel and started our journey out of Tanzania. Mt. Meru was on our right.
Further along we had a nice view of Mt. Kilimanjaro (right). I took a video that included both mountains.
Then we experienced another flat tire, bringing the total thus far to six. Just ahead was Namanga and the custom offices. Our Kenyan guide Maurice would be waiting for us. Thus ended our Tanzania adventure.
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