So, from the blah blah yesterday, we were presented with 3 options. We chose the third for a few reasons, but it turns out the main reason for the kids and Alex to choose it was because we got to enjoy the full breakfast buffet instead of packing a breakfast box. Lol.
We awoke to our alarms buzzing at 5:45. We were told that the security guy would collect us at 5:50 (when it was dark, you were supposed to get escorted to the main building, for your own safety!). The kids stood in front of their tent, the boys in front of theirs, the Versly in front of there's and I stood in front of mine. I looked back and Beth was on the bed scream-whispering that we had to wait for security before going outside. I've been chuckling about that image all day. Well, safety in numbers and a little peer pressure later, and we all safely made it the 100 meters down the paved path to the main building without getting eaten by the lions...I look forward with earnest to the Serengeti....
Tom and Grayson were ready to go and we hopped in the jeeps. The adults had planned on doing a family by family seating arrangement for this short game drive, but the kids avoided eye contact and I heard Robin mumble "nope, no way, no chance", so we were abandoned again to sit amongst ourselves in Grayson's jeep.
The ride in the early morning darkness was eerily quiet. Every once in a while Grayson would angle off the road to point the headlights at something he'd seen: like the hilarious vision of a half dozen ostrich necks poking out of the grass as they'd slept....they are as awkward when they're asleep as when they're awake.
It was kind of cool to see train upon train of zebra and wildebeest herds heading in straight lines...all in the same direction: the river. It's kind of funny... the "prey" must live in constant fear, while the lazing predators seem to just sit and wait. Everyone needs water, but the closer to water they come, the more skittish they are. We certainly didn't see the walking buffet items linger for too long at the river yesterday. Get in, get out, find a place to eat. Grayson told us that the wildebeests hang out with the zebra because they have better eyesight and sense of smell, while the wildebeests can find and detect water more easily. Friends with benefits!
We lingered around a pack of elephants for a good twenty minutes who were right next to the jeep. They had a little baby that was so small and rambunctious, it was hard to look away. Moving on and towards the end of the drive, we stopped across the river where Tom had spotted a mother cheetah laying down and her cub was playing just nearby. They are so beautiful.
We got back at about 8... it's amazing how doing nothing can generate a ravenous hunger. Maybe it's the fresh air. In addition to the breakfast, we also packed lunch boxes as we were eating on the road today.
We did a nice little game drive on the way out of the park. It's nice to see the big attractions, but I appreciate the way the guides have shown us the little things - the birds, the vegetation, the trees, the small animals, and how everything interacts. The quiet times are also the best to pump the guides for information... topics we covered this morning with Grayson: Religion (60% Christian and 30% Muslim, with the majority of Christians being catholic, however, though people are religious there doesn't seem to be any societal clashes or divisions based on religion), divorce (common enough, but frowned upon more from a catholic perspective and obviously more prevalent in urban areas), gay rights (illegal, so really frowned upon, more common in urban areas (that sounds funny...I think he meant gay people seek the refuge of cities)), inter-tribal marriage (no big deal, happens a lot), marriage ages (young in rural, older in urban), women in society (sounds like there has been a radical shift in recent years, better in more urban areas) and a softball...language (the current president is really pushing Swahili, which is currently spoken mainly in Tanzania and Kenya but in a limited way in the surrounding countries of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda).
The guys gave us the option of stopping at a Masai village on the way to our next destination. We had slightly mixed feelings... it was a paid "experience", so these are usually a bit "put on", but we looked on it as a potential learning experience either way, so we decided to do it. The cost was $60usd per family, so we certainly hoped it would actually support the people in some way (rather than a miser entrepreneur at the top of the food chain...is that cynical?).
We were greeted by a few Masai, and about twenty men and women streamed out of a thorny bush-encircled small collection of mud huts. They did a pretty cool welcome dance and song, and we were garbed in Masai outfits, the ladies got an additional necklace. They had Matt and Jeff join the men in a jumping contest amongst what looked like a pile of dung. Then Alex joined. I used the opportunity to try and mine the head of the operation, Lucas, for information. He had said he was the chief's son when he introduced himself. Turns out, the whole village of 120 people were descended from the one chief... over sixty brothers and sisters who then produced offspring. The chief had many wives, so I'm not sure on the whole interbreeding aspect of things or how that worked. Apparently the chief was 101 years old, but we never met him.
Next we saw how fire was made, but it was already starting to feel like a "going through the motions" tour. I had an open mind going in, I think, but I took one look at Abby's face and it confirmed what I felt...this didn't feel very good.
We were hustled off to the "school" - a little enclosure of wooden sticks with small children singing at the tops of their lungs and a bored "teacher" woman near the front of the enclosure next to a black board. In the center of the enclosure was a box for further donations to "help the school". As soon as we left, one kid started crying. It was very forced.
Next up, (and this was going very fast), each of our families had about a 30 second tour of a tiny dung and acacia tree hut. Out you go, next step!
"Come one, come all - check out the Masai goods encircling the inside of the camp. It will go to support....US! If you like something, we will put it aside then negotiate a price after shopping!" Ha ha...no! D'oh, Beth picked a couple of little nick nacky bracelets up just out of respect for their process, and we went to the pricing lady (who also played the part of the teacher....those poor kids were now missing class!!!). The guy showed the bracelets to the teacher/boss lady and she mumbled something one by one. The first multi-layered bracelet came back at $40US, the second one-layered, shitty, crappy, k-tel, plastic bracelet came in at $25US. When Beth refused, he came back "how much you pay". Beth was really tired of this and said "three bucks for both, final offer". No deal... see ya. We felt kind of gross and couldn't get out of there more quickly.
Ew.
We got back on the road, and came through a town at the top of the lake that was also the breeding grounds for storks. There were thousands of them perched on the tops of trees...trees that were fully covered in white stork shit...it was crazy.
The road turned to head up the escarpment that lay on the west side of the Lake. We were taken to a rest stop (also run by an Indian) that had tanzanite and lots for sale, though we just ate our boxed lunches in the cool breeze and played some cards.
The lodge we were staying at was about ten minutes away. We were warmly greeted once again with a welcome drink. We got the debrief first from the reception guy and then had a blah blah with Tom and Grayson about the plan for the next day before we went to locate our rooms.
This place had rooms that were pretty spread apart in thickets overlooking the lake. Separate paths led down to separate rooms. The kids chose adjoining double rooms, and Kim and Alex chose a room directly above ours. All had excellent views but they were all completely different. We couldn't see the kids from our area (how far we've come!) but a quick shout of "Marco" got a quick reply from the little Frick "Polo!". Cute.
I headed to the bar to check it out, and it turned out to be an ideal place to sit and read or blog. The rest of the adults joined me, and they were soon all asleep to one degree or another.
It wasn't long before the kidlings came and we were soon embroiled in a heated game of 8-man Asshole er... President. Ahh...what a way to whittle away a late afternoon. By dinner, we had gained an appetite, and we forced down another great three course meal. I miss my bike....
This lodge is really quiet but quite nice. We've been pleasantly surprised with the level of accommodations so far. Lake Manyara is mostly a stopover point between major Safari destinations, though the national park named after the lake which we will see tomorrow sounds pretty amazing too.
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