We woke up at 6am to our alarm with the good intentions of exercising, however at 6am it was still very dark & the threat of snakes plus the warmth of our sleeping bags stopped us.
We did get up at 6.30am to brave the semi warm showers & eat a breakfast of baked beans & eggs on toast.
By 8am we were on the truck & headed into the town to stock up on alcohol, toilet paper, water & snacks for the next 2 nights in the wilderness of the serengeti. On our way back to camp we stopped off at a tanzanite store & local art gallery. The art in Africa is astounding ! I'm hoping we find a special piece at the end in Capetown & I've got my eyes on some woven baskets with paint & bead work patterns.
We did get up at 6.30am to brave the semi warm showers & eat a breakfast of baked beans & eggs on toast.
By 8am we were on the truck & headed into the town to stock up on alcohol, toilet paper, water & snacks for the next 2 nights in the wilderness of the serengeti. On our way back to camp we stopped off at a tanzanite store & local art gallery. The art in Africa is astounding ! I'm hoping we find a special piece at the end in Capetown & I've got my eyes on some woven baskets with paint & bead work patterns.
Once we arrived back at the camp we broke down our tents, ate lunch & organized a small day pack for the next 2 days & 2 nights in the serengeti. We have replaced the truck, our guide, driver & cook for a smaller safari jeep & a new driver/guide called Ally or the Serengeti Master.
We set off at 1.30pm. Tom & I were joined in our jeep by Natalie & Philip, another couple we've met & quickly befriended and a lady Called Noiria from Uraguay.
All of a sudden the windscreen disappeared behind a wall of black &yellow insects, a split second we realised they were bee's & the speed of our car had buffeted them off the windscreen, along the sides & into the back window which was open!
Thankfully, of the hundreds we saw on the windscreen, only about 7 made it in before the window was slammed shut. 1instantly stung Philip on the arm which made him a moving target for the others. Natalie & I have never laughed so hard! The look of panic on his face while he jumped around in his seat becoming airborne & swatting them away was incredibly comical. 2 of them were squished, while another 2 were caught & released out the window, which left 2 unaccounted for. Thankfully they never appear, realistically phillip probably squished them while jumping around.
The rest of the drive went by extremely quickly, on the roadside we saw many people of the maasai mara, wearing the bright coloured tribal clothing, shaved heads, beaded necklaces, spears & face paint. We were told a lot of the young men wearing the face paint were on the way
to their ceremonial circumcision & that this is the tribe that still practices female genital mutilation, even though it is local.
We drove for 3 hours & arrived at the new campsite. We were thrilled to see comfortable lush green grass in comparison to the dusty, dry land we slept on last night. Our tents were already up which was fantastic & even better was the revelation of no chores tonight!
We had a couple of hours free till dinner & proceeded to open a bottle of red with Natalie & Philip, while the chatting from the car ride continued.
We set off at 1.30pm. Tom & I were joined in our jeep by Natalie & Philip, another couple we've met & quickly befriended and a lady Called Noiria from Uraguay.
All of a sudden the windscreen disappeared behind a wall of black &yellow insects, a split second we realised they were bee's & the speed of our car had buffeted them off the windscreen, along the sides & into the back window which was open!
Thankfully, of the hundreds we saw on the windscreen, only about 7 made it in before the window was slammed shut. 1instantly stung Philip on the arm which made him a moving target for the others. Natalie & I have never laughed so hard! The look of panic on his face while he jumped around in his seat becoming airborne & swatting them away was incredibly comical. 2 of them were squished, while another 2 were caught & released out the window, which left 2 unaccounted for. Thankfully they never appear, realistically phillip probably squished them while jumping around.
The rest of the drive went by extremely quickly, on the roadside we saw many people of the maasai mara, wearing the bright coloured tribal clothing, shaved heads, beaded necklaces, spears & face paint. We were told a lot of the young men wearing the face paint were on the way
to their ceremonial circumcision & that this is the tribe that still practices female genital mutilation, even though it is local.
As an extra optional activity, we had the chance to go into a traditional Maasai Mara village to see their huts & tribal dances. Tom & I decided not to, especially not for US $20 each, for a 45 minute interaction. I did briefly wonder if we would regret this decision but after the feedback from the people who did go, we would regret this decision but after the feedback from the people who did go, we are happy with our decision. Everyone who's opinion we asked said it had a fake feeling to it, was very touristy, choreographed, not authentic & there was some scepticism about the people actually living there.
We drove for 3 hours & arrived at the new campsite. We were thrilled to see comfortable lush green grass in comparison to the dusty, dry land we slept on last night. Our tents were already up which was fantastic & even better was the revelation of no chores tonight!
We had a couple of hours free till dinner & proceeded to open a bottle of red with Natalie & Philip, while the chatting from the car ride continued.
We had a fantastic dinner of pumpkin soup, vegetable stir fry & some fish that the cook made especially for the people who were vegetarians or wouldn't eat red meat. The other people ate a plain looking spaghetti bolognese. I was internally amused when a lot of them complained that there meal wasn't as nice as ours, despite the fact we had received multiple, loud obtuse comments in the truck about vegetarians & filthy looks. I had one person today who was talking to me about photography & we were sharing a few photos & experiences, before his wife placed down a plate of spaghetti in front of him & acknowledged that I was vegetarian "so don't sit next to her" at which point he said "ewww your vego, why am I talking to you ?" Before laughing. I audibly sighed and rolled my eyes.
Not 1 day on tour in Africa or Egypt has gone past without 1 snide comment.
It's really sad, pathetic, superficial & shows an obvious lack of education & perspective that we would be demonised for not eating animals. It's starting to get really old & my patience is wearing thin. If we decide not to eat animals flesh for multiple reasons such as our health, our morals, ethical beliefs that affect animals & the farmers, vanity, the sustainability of the environment, financial gain, the abhorrent practices of factory farming & the waste of meat & essentially life, how does that affect anybody else ?
We found out that today the cook had tried 3 markets to try & find a vegetarian meat alternative for us & the other vegetarian girl in the tour. It's really nice they have gone to such an effort to make our meals nice & as a minority we havent just had to miss out or eat plain rice etc.
After dinner, it was pretty much straight into bed. It's an early breakfast at 4am & a big day tomorrow. We were tucked into bed by 8.40pm & Tom was snoring by 9pm, while I hurried to finish this entry. Overall a pretty boring day, hopefully tomorrow makes up for it!
-Alli
It's really sad, pathetic, superficial & shows an obvious lack of education & perspective that we would be demonised for not eating animals. It's starting to get really old & my patience is wearing thin. If we decide not to eat animals flesh for multiple reasons such as our health, our morals, ethical beliefs that affect animals & the farmers, vanity, the sustainability of the environment, financial gain, the abhorrent practices of factory farming & the waste of meat & essentially life, how does that affect anybody else ?
We found out that today the cook had tried 3 markets to try & find a vegetarian meat alternative for us & the other vegetarian girl in the tour. It's really nice they have gone to such an effort to make our meals nice & as a minority we havent just had to miss out or eat plain rice etc.
After dinner, it was pretty much straight into bed. It's an early breakfast at 4am & a big day tomorrow. We were tucked into bed by 8.40pm & Tom was snoring by 9pm, while I hurried to finish this entry. Overall a pretty boring day, hopefully tomorrow makes up for it!
-Alli
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