BruBru Hotel was quite nice. Small and intimate, beautifully landscaped - QUIET. However, when I came down for breakfast in the morning it was hard to find staff! That made for a few scary moments as we considered carrying our own plethora of bags down the stairs, with Kili-Legs Disorder.
Actually, the first person I found in the lobby, was Hilary - our Habari Adventure safari guide. He took care of things!
Our vehicle was a kitted out Toyota Land Cruiser. Pretty awesome. I had car envy. It seated 6 clients, featured a cooler and tons of "moving around" space. Sue and I were going to be able to jump around for views of animals. The roof popped up for that 360 degree view that all safari vehicles on TV had. Hilary encouraged us to go barefoot as we pleased, and since we were ladies (his words, not mine) he suggested it would be ok for us to stand on the seats as needed too.
We arrived in Tarangire around 12:30pm after a quick break at the entrance (complete with warthog sighting and a few colorful and very chatty birds). We were truly on safari and not more than 5 minutes later, there were giraffe, zebra, wilderbeest and elephants in our world and our lenses!
Tarangire is a loop, although you'd never guess it. The road is bumpy, dirty and winding. In places, very narrow. Always amongst the bushes and sparse trees, leading to a view, disguising and hiding animals and causing us to go Pole Pole!
At lunchtime (2:30pm-ish) we stopped at "the picnic area" and out came the boxed lunches. Chicken, boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit, nuts, cake and more. Another juice box. I'd already had a lot of sugar today! Hilary warned us not to feed the monkeys. They were EVERYWHERE! Moms carrying babies, juveniles fighting over stolen food - Yep, turn your back for a second - or not even - and there is 100% probability of a Hit-and-Run on your lunchbox. We (joined by the Aussie kids) relished the time to watch them and relax outside the vehicles together.
The afternoon game drive; lions still sleeping and not bringing the photo opps I'd hoped for. But the discovery of two sleeping cheetahs in the ample shade of a Baobab trunk was a delightful surprise and a highlight.
More baby elephants, lots of baboon fun...
Ostrich, hyena, waterbuck, impala, eland, wilderbeest and in the distance, cape buffalo.
We, and all the other safari vehicles, reached our resort hotel, Dream Farm Lodge around 6:30pm, just after sunset. It's a 90 minute drive from Tarangire and the roads are lined with locals walking to and fro, herders (even young kids) with cows, goats, sheet. Busy Tanzanian life in progress.
Dust, dust and more dust of course.
The resort; Holy Moly, fancy! Sue and I had a little chalet (#27) at the far rear, a 5 minute walk from reception. It was spacious and clean, the bed had a mosquito net on pulleys and a banana leaf thatched roof. There was a grassy yard outside and a coffee station inside, a walk-in shower too. Bliss. But I couldn't help but miss the gentlemen of the Habari Team with their warm smiles, encouragement and greetings.
Life is good! Im feeling incredibly grateful for the people in my life who encourage me to go forth and adventure. Who take care of my "real life" so I can. Who guide and advise me wisely and safely and who celebrate with me. It takes a village!
Speaking of wise words, Hilary is a wealth of information about the geography, people, flora and wildlife, but more than that, he has a gentle appreciation of all of this that runs deep and true. I love learning from him.
Today Hilary told us: "The trunk is everything for an elephant. It's the hand of wonder." And just like that, he changed the way I see elephants and my understanding of them!
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