After Kilimanjaro trek, both of us will go on a safari drive for 2 days. I went with Trekking Hero for the price of USD549 per person. The places we are going - Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. Why did I not go to Serengeti? I know, Serengeti is a must-go place for a safari drive and it is also a Unesco World Heritage, but that needs 4 days. I only had 2 days to spare and I continue to my next destination.
My take on the safari drive with Trekking Hero - unfortunately, I cannot share the same sentiment I had for them for my Kilimanjaro Trek. The trekking team was awesome and took care of us so well that I will not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. But because the safari drive was outsourced to another agent, we got a very bad experience with their driver. I emailed both David Urmann and Jackson Lyimo, the co-founders of Trekking Hero about how unsatisfactory this agent was. I hope they don't use this agent anymore. I will share it here and you can take precautionary steps before you choose a safari drive agent. Do not repeat my mistake. I would say I feel cheated having to pay such a huge sum for this service. It is my own mistake, because I chose Trekking Hero out of convenience since I went with them for Kilimanjaro. They had good reviews for Kilimanjaro and I assumed (BAD) that the safari drive would not be a problem.
Update as at 12 December 2016: In Kilimanjaro trek, David refunded us the amount of tip we paid for the extra 2 porters (we had 8 instead of the arranged 6) as he was equally puzzled how we had 8. I was very surprised on his kind gesture but I know for sure, this is one honest agent.
For the safari drive, David refunded us a portion of the amount we paid. I wrote to him a detailed feedback on how the safari drive was as I have illustrated below and in my next post. He suggested to refund me and I was so surprised he did that because I did not think any agents would be bothered. He asked the amount to be refunded and I did my own research on the Web. I found a post dated 2010 in Lonely Planet on the price and multiplied by the inflation rate. He agreed to the amount. He also thanked me for my feedback and will take it into account. I hope you will have a more improved safari drive experience with Trekking Hero.
Despite the distance, he took the extra step to transfer the monies back to me after reading on my detailed feedback. I am pretty sure there is no agents out there who will be bothered to wire transfer the monies to you to compensate you. So readers, you can take Trekking Hero as one of the reliable and honest agents in Tanzania.
120916 : Today, we were scheduled to meet our safari driver at 6.30am. Before that, we put our bags which we were not going to bring to the safari drive, in Keys Hotel. We got 4 paper tags for our bags but did not do much help because I went to the store room to collect my own bags as the receptionist did not know which was mine.
My take on the safari drive with Trekking Hero - unfortunately, I cannot share the same sentiment I had for them for my Kilimanjaro Trek. The trekking team was awesome and took care of us so well that I will not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. But because the safari drive was outsourced to another agent, we got a very bad experience with their driver. I emailed both David Urmann and Jackson Lyimo, the co-founders of Trekking Hero about how unsatisfactory this agent was. I hope they don't use this agent anymore. I will share it here and you can take precautionary steps before you choose a safari drive agent. Do not repeat my mistake. I would say I feel cheated having to pay such a huge sum for this service. It is my own mistake, because I chose Trekking Hero out of convenience since I went with them for Kilimanjaro. They had good reviews for Kilimanjaro and I assumed (BAD) that the safari drive would not be a problem.
Update as at 12 December 2016: In Kilimanjaro trek, David refunded us the amount of tip we paid for the extra 2 porters (we had 8 instead of the arranged 6) as he was equally puzzled how we had 8. I was very surprised on his kind gesture but I know for sure, this is one honest agent.
For the safari drive, David refunded us a portion of the amount we paid. I wrote to him a detailed feedback on how the safari drive was as I have illustrated below and in my next post. He suggested to refund me and I was so surprised he did that because I did not think any agents would be bothered. He asked the amount to be refunded and I did my own research on the Web. I found a post dated 2010 in Lonely Planet on the price and multiplied by the inflation rate. He agreed to the amount. He also thanked me for my feedback and will take it into account. I hope you will have a more improved safari drive experience with Trekking Hero.
Despite the distance, he took the extra step to transfer the monies back to me after reading on my detailed feedback. I am pretty sure there is no agents out there who will be bothered to wire transfer the monies to you to compensate you. So readers, you can take Trekking Hero as one of the reliable and honest agents in Tanzania.
120916 : Today, we were scheduled to meet our safari driver at 6.30am. Before that, we put our bags which we were not going to bring to the safari drive, in Keys Hotel. We got 4 paper tags for our bags but did not do much help because I went to the store room to collect my own bags as the receptionist did not know which was mine.
Ibrahim from Jay Adventures came into the hotel lobby introduced himself as our driver for the 2-day safari drive. This is our vehicle for the next 2 days. The roof of the vehicle can be pushed up and we can stand up to see a better view. According to Jackson, the Trekking Hero agent, there will be 5 people in the vehicle.
Jackson advised us on the tip arrangement :
1) USD15 per day for the driver shared with the 5 other clients hence the tip to be paid by us = USD15 x 2 persons x 2 days / 5 person = USD12 for both me and my sister.
2) USD10 per day for the cook (there is a cook in the lodge where we will stay for the night) to be shared among 5 of us = USD10 x 2 persons x 2 days / 5 persons = USD8 for both me and my sister.
However, the driver Ibrahim disputed on his tip which I will share in my next post.
6.30am. Off we go to Arusha. It will take us about an hour to get there. We have 1 client who joined us in Keys Hotel. This was a free trip for him because the previous day, his drive was cut short as someone from his group had to go to the airport. So, Jackson offered him this as a compensation. I thought that was a good deal.
Along the way, we picked 3 more clients. Now we have 6 people in the vehicle.
Along the way, we stopped by for breakfast at Green Hut Restaurant. The time was 8.20am. The day before, Jackson told us we will reach Tarangire National Park at 9am. We voiced our concerns if we will reach the National Park late because arrival in the afternoon means the animals are less active and probably sleeping, but he assured us that we will reach by 9am and have time to see the animals. Brushing off my nagging worries, I enjoyed my free breakfast. It is part of the package. So, maybe it is not free after all.
I had local coffee, soft Chapati (but it was hard), toasted bread and fried egg. Altogether TZS3,500 / USD1.75 / RM7. TZS2000 = USD1. That is expensive.
In the Jeep, my sister was sharing her bird knowledge with another passenger who snapped a lot of bird photos from his Kenyan trip. Unfortunately, he did not know what are their names, and that is unfortunate. One cannot appreciate the different types of birds. So, my sister was identifying each bird explaining their names and their characteristics. This is one of the reasons I like to bring my sister on nature trips. She explains to me on the animals, birds and trees making me go wow. I appreciate the surroundings around me better.
At 11am, we reached Tarangire National Park. 2 hours later than our supposed 9am time as mentioned by Jackson. It was very hot. A good weather. Cloudy and blue skies. While waiting for Ibrahim, the driver / guide to register us, we walked around to check out the place. There were clean toilets. There was a gift shop too. I saw many birds walking freely around the place. They seem pretty tame.
At 11.50am, we started our safari game drive in Tarangire National Park. The below photo is Ibrahim, the guide / driver. One has to be wary about his services. During the drive, he was a jovial person, filled with jokes and information on the animals. He had a book on Birds of East Africa but his knowledge on birds were nothing spectacular as my sister hoped it would be. My sister hoped to learn more about birds or him sighting any different birds but I guess, one cannot expect that when his services are more inclined towards the safari game drive and not birdwatching. Plus, I don't think people who goes on the safari game drive is interested to see the birds. They are more keen on the Big 5. I will relate more on why one has to be wary.
Of course, starting the drive at noon, one cannot see much animals. The animals are less active in the afternoon as it is a good time to nap.
In Africa, the big five game animals are the African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and rhinoceros. The term "big five game" (usually capitalized or quoted as "Big Five") was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently the term was adopted by safari tour operators for marketing purposes. The term is used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size. Source from Wikipedia.
Tarangire National Park is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania, it is located in Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire Ecosystem during the annual dry season. The Tarangire Ecosystem is defined by the long-distance migration of wildebeest and zebras. During the dry season thousands of animals concentrate in Tarangire National Park from the surrounding wet-season dispersal and calving areas.
It covers an area of approximately 2,850 square kilometers (1,100 square miles.) The landscape is composed of granitic ridges, river valley, and swamps. Vegetation is a mix of Acacia woodland, Commiphora-Combretum woodland, seasonally flooded grassland, and Baobab trees.
The park is famous for its high density of elephants and baobab trees. Visitors to the park in the June to November dry season can expect to see large herds of thousands of zebra, wildebeest and cape buffalo. Other common resident animals include waterbuck, giraffe, dik dik, impala, eland, Grant's gazelle, vervet monkey, banded mongoose, and olive baboon. Predators in Tarangire include African lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, honey badger, and African wild dog. Source from Wikipedia.
Enjoy the photos of the wildlife and birds! All the photos were taken from the Jeep. We were not allowed to come out from the Jeep except during lunch where there was a spot to eat.
This black and blue cloth was put up to attract the insects in the park. There is a sort of insect that is as big as a fly but stings very painful. I was bitten many times.
The baobab tree.
Baobabs reach heights of 5 to 30 m (16 to 98 ft) and have trunk diameters of 7 to 11 m (23 to 36 ft). Baobabs store water in the trunk (up to 100,000 litres or 26,000 US gallons) to endure harsh drought conditions. All occur in seasonally arid areas, and are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the dry season. Source from Wikipedia.
Lunch spot at 12.45pm. We are now allowed to leave the Jeep. Everyone gets a box of packed lunch - burger, fried chicken, packet drink, and samosa. I could not finish all of it.
This is a wildebeest. They call it an ugly animal. I thought there was nothing ugly about it.
The wildebeests, also called gnus or wildebai, are a genus of antelopes, Connochaetes. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep and other even-toed horned ungulates.
In East Africa, the blue wildebeest is the most abundant big game species; some populations perform an annual migration to new grazing grounds, but the black wildebeest is merely nomadic. Breeding in both takes place over a short period of time at the end of the rainy season and the calves are soon active and are able to move with the herd. Nevertheless, some fall prey to large carnivores. Wildebeest often graze in mixed herds with zebra which gives heightened awareness of potential predators. They are also alert to the warning signals emitted by other animals such as baboons. Source from Wikipedia.
A rare spotting of a lioness. From the photo, you can see how far the animal is.
Caught a photo series of an elephant eating its meal.
We left the National Park at 4.30pm, having spent only 4.5 hours in the Park. Truly dissatisfied - (1) Start late at noon (2) See less animals (3) Spent less than 5 hours.
There were some Maasai kids coming to our vehicle requesting for empty water bottles. According to Ibrahim, they needed the bottles to store their milk. So, we gave some of ours.
There were some Maasai kids coming to our vehicle requesting for empty water bottles. According to Ibrahim, they needed the bottles to store their milk. So, we gave some of ours.
At 5.30pm, we arrived at our lodge in Arusha to spend the night. Initially, Ibrahim showed us to our tent accommodation. The day before, we had requested from Jackson to give us a room accommodation. Jackson called the lodge and mentioned that the room was full, but we could try to ask when we arrived. So, we did. I told Ibrahim that Jackson agreed to a room accommodation for us. Ibrahim spoke to the staff and we got a room accommodation. Unfortunately, the other passengers were given a tent accommodation although they were promised by their agents on a room accommodation. See how dodgy this is.
The room is nice with clean toilets and mosquito nets draping over the beds.
For dinner, we had roasted potatoes, stewed beef and vegetable salad.
Another bad encounter that one of the clients had with Ibrahim:
During dinner time, one of the clients requested for a bottle of water and Ibrahim declined to give commenting that he offered earlier in the morning but the said client refused the bottle as she was not feeling thirsty then. The client (Natalia from Spain) pleaded for about 5 minutes for the bottle even offering to pay and saying she was very thirsty and finally he agreed and got the water from the jeep.
I have no idea what was Ibrahim thinking. It feels really unsafe to have a guide like him.
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