10 Wazungu Women, Leonnart and a Monk
This blog could be called multiple things:
11 Wazungu and a Monk on Safari
10 Wazungu Women, Leonnart and a Monk on Safari
OR
Wild Animals and Whip Lash
These briefly describe my first and probably last safari on this experience. I don’t think Africa would be complete without a safari, so when we heard that the Hanga folk, Ana and Leonnart, had organized a car and monk, we asked if we could come along. Being on Safari meant being a real tourist, so I broke out the pants (I’ve been wearing skirts just about everyday at the convent to “fit it”—don’t know if it works or not, but oh well) and even the sunglasses that I don’t dare wear anywhere else because then I really look like a tourist and a whimp.
Our National Park of choice and convenience was Ruaha National Park near Iringa, Tanzania. Well, as the title say we went with more than just Ana and Leonnart. In one Land Cruiser we had 2 Austrians, 2 Germans, 5 Italians, 2 Americans and 1 African, which equaled 6 native German speakers, 3 native Italian speakers, 2 English speakers and 1 Kiswahili speaker—only in Africa would you find such a conglomeration!!
We headed off on Friday, February 13th after waiting an hour and 15 minutes for a meal of potatoes and eggs, affectionately known as Chips Myai at a hotel. We then piled in—Francesa, Petritia and Maria from Italy and veterinarians at Hanga, Ana and Leonnart, Cara and I and Doris and Julia, from Italy at Imiliwaha in the back and then Eva and Wilma and Br. Justin in the front, along with backpacks for everyone and provisions—it was quite a bus especially when you try to get comfortable for a three hour car ride to Iringa. People had legs up, hands hanging out the windows and shoulders for pillows. Now, the title is Wild Animals and Whip Lash because Br. Justin loved the two most important things in a Tanzanian vehicle, the brakes and the car horn. Between speed bumps, stray goats and cows and just passing other cars, I got thrown forward more often in those three hours than I have in my entire life. But I don’t think I can complain too much—it was a party!!
Iringa is a beautiful city, situated on top of a mountain overlooking other hills and an expanse of fields, wet lands and Serengeti trees. We caught a glimpse at sun down and it looked like we had driven onto the set of the Lion King. We stayed at the Executive Lodge in Iringa’s University. Cara and I took a single room together to save money, so we had Cara on the floor—she said she didn’t mind. We even had a TV and I wanted to find the BBC and catch up on the world, but all I found was some bad music videos and horrible soap operas.
At 6 AM the next morning, Valentines Day, we were piled again into our Land Cruiser with our food and our cameras. We had another 2 ½ hour drive to the park on a mostly gravel road. The day was perfect—sunny with only a few whispy clouds in the sky, perfect for safari. I could continue to describe the park and the animals, but that would be almost fruitless because the pictures we have are each worth about 1 million words. Another reason that we suffered from whiplash was because we saw animals and had to yell Stop! at Br. Justin, who, loving his brakes, sent us flying. We say wonderful amounts of giraffes, elephants, gazelles, impalas and zebras. Lots of animals crossed the road right in front of us and we almost had an elephant look as if he wanted to chase us down the street. One thing I didn’t realize about Ruaha is that it’s almost a self contained place, complete with mini airfield for the wealthy people who just can’t endure the public transportation, and houses and schools for the guides and their families!
We spent about 4 hours in the park and probably saw more animals than our poor friend Eliza saw in 2 days.
That night a bunch of us sat in the Lodge bar and just chatted and it reminded me of Ireland. We then headed back the next day, probably the shortest safari in history, but we came, we saw and we left. Can’t wait to show you all the pictures!!
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