What a life!

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Endless plains - the African Safari (continued)

From the previous post: "After sighting some more enthralling wildlife, we headed back for our lunch at the camp site. A relaxed lunch and then we were off again, to see what more the Serengeti would reveal to us."

Nature's creativity

The rest of the remaining day and the first half of the next day were spent scouring the vast Serengeti plains. I think, considering the short time, we managed to just about glimpse the creativity that Nature had achieved and showcased in this wonderful reserve.

In any travel, there are multiple moments which may have affected us very positively or negatively, so much so that we like to talk dime a dozen about it.

I have put down below selected pictures that I managed to get, which stood out to me as good compositions, or maybe it was just plumb luck. Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

The Secretary bird with eagle like body on crane like legs, is also interestingly referred to as the Devil's horse by the locals. Being largely terrestrial, it prefers to walk rather than fly. Likely to be seen in air, mostly during the mating season. Favourite food: snakes, lizards, small mammals.

Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

The Spotted Hyena, also known as laughing hyena are often mislabelled as cowardly scavengers. Hardly! These are matriarchal in nature and tend to hunt larger prey in teams using various strategies. While I had seen many of these guys earlier, only now was I able to get close enough to take the picture above. Later, I was lucky enough to observe a whole family near their den. One young chap decided to come really close and have a look at the gawking strange looking creatures in the box on wheels. Had to shoot him, for his predator's cuteness quotient.

Spotted Hyena cub

Moving a little bit further down the trail, we came across the Black-backed Jackal. They are also known as silver-backed or red jackal.

Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)

Further on, came across an acacia tree containing a nest. Zoomed closer and was delighted to see a chick. A magnificent Lappet-faced Vulture in the making.

Lappet-faced Vulture or Nubian Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos)

Still on the trail, we reached a sort of water hole where the pachyderms were arriving with entire families.

African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)

The African elephant is, currently, the largest living terrestrial animal. Even females have small 'tusks'. Ranging from 20-24 feet in length and between 11-13 feet in height, they weight around 6,000-9,000 kilos. Highly intelligent, very social with their own kind, they are herbivorous. Similar to their Asian cousins, are a pleasure to watch from a distance. Though normally, they avoid humans, get too close and chances are, you are in danger of being attacked. However with 7 billion humans on this earth, conflict with elephants is increasingly the norm. And both species, lose their loved ones.

Still further on, we had a bit of a rattle. As we drove on, we came across this magnificent male specimen, who did not quite like us invading his space. Rather than engage in a losing battle with the moody guy, Abombe actually reversed the vehicle some distance.

African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer)

Though not related, the African buffalo is slightly smaller and lighter than the Asian wild water buffalo. Nonetheless can be a fearsome attacker should it feel in danger.

A bit later, came across this beauty. Probably one of the best known gazelles - Thomson's gazelle. Skittish. Nimble. Runs at the slightest of dangers.

Thomson's gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii)

With the plethora of animals on display, by now it was rather difficult to stop the oohs and ahas. Until this moment. I was a bit taken aback looking at this strange looking animal - sort of looked like a cow bred wrong! It was none other than Coke's Hartebeest.

Coke's Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii)

While a bit ungainly in appearance, these are antelopes. Quite nimble too. Can reach up to 70 kilometres per hour speed.

Where the prey is, so would be the predators. Sadly, populations across wild species have been declining in Africa. But when you look into the eyes of a queen, you do realise that such beauty should not be allowed to perish.

She was part of a pride that was gambolling around with the young ones. Not yet fully mature, I fervently hope that soon, she would find her mate and produce more of her kind.

Stricken

As the previous day came to a close, it was back to the camp, dinner, sleep and off again the next day for some more touring of the endless plains. However, half day later, by the time we got back to the camp, tragedy struck. No, not of the life threatening variety. But severe enough. Diarrhoea. A cramped stomach and loose bowels are not good partners in a trip. Luckily the medicine kit came handy. However, even medicine needs time to sort out the mess that is your stomach.

Though my companions were fine, I had to just grit my teeth and bear it on the journey back the same route, we had traversed earlier. Now, along with the external bone-rattling and teetch-chattering bumps, combined with the internal attempts of my stomach to have an urgent group meeting with my intestines, it was a ride though hell.

To make matters that much more exciting, as well as to ensure that some African soil could forever reside inside us, right in front was another land cruiser dishing out constant red dust. So much so that by the time, we reached the rim of the Ngorongoro crater, where the public campsite was located, all of us humans, vehicle, bags, gear - everything, looked pinkish red with the fine dust that had settled into every nook and cranny possible.

The Ngorongoro

The crater is actually a large unbroken, unflooded, volcanic caldera, about 260 kilometres squared at its floor level. We were to camp on the rim and go down the next day.

Ngorongoro Crater

On reaching, usual process. Off load gear. Put up the tent. Freshen up. Two differences though. A stomach that had still not quietened. And cold water. Now you may think, after all that heat and dust, a cold shower would be great. Well, you may like to keep in mind that when you are standing approximately 15,000 feet above mean sea level, the temperature becomes a rather chilly 15 degrees and drops further as the sun retreats. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, my thought of how cold can Africa be? came to be a rather sticky thorn in my conscience.

By the time, we got into the meal area, thanks to the generosity of my companions, I was covered in a shawl that mildly retained the heat in me. Multiple cups of coffee did not make any difference. Then, inspiration! Abombe was going to a nearby town to pick up some necessities. I requested him to fetch us half a bottle of local brandy. That saved the night, literally! There were two of us, who consumed the brandy. It kept us warm enough to handle the ultra cold night. Next day morning, was gloriously misty and chilly. Best part, the stomach had decided to stop rebelling and behave.

Today, we were going to explore the Ngorongoro reservation which unlike the Serengeti, had a large set of herds and predators, about 25,000 animals, who never migrate and thus live their entire lives within the crater.

Also to unfold in front of my eyes, was a spectacle that was so rare that even Abombe had never seen in his 12 year career as a wildlife guide. Coming up, in the next post.

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Saturday 24 September 2011

Open Vistas - The African Safari (continued)

From the previous post: "...You could see far enough into the horizon and make out the dust columns being raised by similar land cruisers far away. The intrigue of visiting the 'cradle of civilization' kept the mood high..."

The parched dry sand and pebbled rutted tracks that led to Oldupai Gorge, ensured that I felt like I was in a stone shaker. Not a part of the body left to shake, though the mind was busy shoring up images of grand open vistas that we were travelling through. Abombe, apologetically did say that unless he drove that fast, the going would be rougher. This was the moment when I wished that all those advertisements of vehicle and tyre manufactures, promising your off/on road driving experience to be like walking on feathers, were to be true!

Away from the heights of the Ngorongoro crater, the land was bone dry. By the time, we reached the Oldupai Gorge, even droplets of sweat would vanish in an instant.

Oldupai, formerly known as Olduvai (a local misspelling), was a steep sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley that stretches through eastern Africa. Though it was accidentally discovered in 1911 by Professor Kattwinkel, it was Professor Leaky and his wife, who made the most important discoveries a couple of decades later.

Going back in time

Imagine. It was a lake, that was still alive, but barely. It had been raining volcanic ash ever since the earth had started quaking. Two strange creatures of almost similar height, walking on two legs, followed by another similar creature but of smaller build. They stood watching the lake and the sun. Then, walked away without a final glance.

4 million years later, at a place called Laetoli, about 45 kilometres south of Oldupai, Louis and Mary Leaky had dug through 7 layers of alluvial deposits and reached the stage when the volcanic ash had fallen and very importantly, had set forever with the imprint of those human like footsteps. Those three creatures were not humans, but hominids from where we all have evolved. About 2 millions years back, humans had already developed and had started using rudimentary tools. Until this discovery, Asia had been considered the birthplace of humans.

This is the story of Oldupai Gorge. For the first time ever, it had been discovered and through various forms of carbon and non-carbon based dating, confirmed as the first ever evidence of creatures walking on just two feet instead of using all four limbs. This has been and is still termed as the 'cradle of civilisation'.

Oldupai Gorge

As I stood overlooking the gorge, I was going through the recesses of my mind, sort of running a film so to speak, trying to imagine how life must have been and the sharp contrast with what we have become and where we have reached. Today, we don't think twice about colonising Mars. We are only bothered about when.

There is a small but neat building on the rim of the gorge, where you could see the various discoveries that had been made so far at the site. Worth going through, if you the patient sort.

Having had our fill of the past, we started the drive again to the world famous Serengeti plains. Just before we left, I took a stroll around the place and managed to see the common Mwanza Flat-headed Rock Agama - a kind of lizard. After having been accustomed to the brown variety in our homes, for me at least this creature was anything but common.

Mwanza Flat-headed Rock Agama (Agama mwanzae)

As we drove, we watched a Masai dressed in his traditional shukan - a sort of blanket, walking with long footsteps across a distance that most of us city-dwellers may find extremely difficult to match. Finally, we were out of the mountainous territory and in a land with expanses so open, it left me bleary eyed. You could actually see the curvature of the earth. Barely a rock or a shrub here and there to block the view. We had reached the great vast plains.

The Serengeti

After the usual break while buying entry tickets and completing the formalities, we set off. We needed to set up our tents just before nightfall, so having a bit of time Abombe decided to give us a bit of a tour - enough to whet our appetites for the next day and a half during which we would be touring the Serengeti reserve.

The Serengeti. 14,763 square kilometres. Known to the Masai people as the 'endless plain', is world famous because it is regarded as the best wildlife reserve in Africa due to its density of of predators and prey. Also well known is the annual migration of half a million Wildebeest and about 250,000 Zebras.

With this background, I was panting in anticipation to see the wildlife. And Abombe did not disappoint. After about half an hour of driving, he turned off the main path, into a designated track and another 10 minutes later, we stopped near the only set of rocks in that area. My eyes were skipping wildly for there was an entire pride of lionesses and a majestic lion sitting on top.

Suddenly, instinctual reaction. I turn to the right. And I see this magnificent animal walk out of a hidden enclave.

Walking past us at a distance of less than 2 feet, he showed utter disdain at the quavering humans inside the box on wheels. I felt as if my heart was beating so rapidly that he could hear the drumming. While walking by, not a sound. Not a pebble overturned. Not a dry crackle from the grass. Absolute predator. Skilled, dangerous and powerful.

Abombe regaled us, with a very insightful story of another traveller and his stupidity with these lions, which I shall not recount here. But should you be interested to know, email me and I shall be happy to give you a private account.

Having talked so much about Abombe, I felt it would be only natural to put up a picture of this man who has worked hard as a driver/guide for the last 12 odd years.

Abombe, our driver/guide extraordinaire

The public camp site

Finally, we reached the main public campsite of the Serengeti. Found a good spot. Set up the tents, freshened up. Another thing which I realised here, and was to further experience rather drastically, is that I was a bit off the mark in thinking, how cold could Africa get? By nightfall, when we were ready to have dinner the wind was blowing steadily and temperatures dropped fast. It felt good to be served with, yet another good meal by Joachim, our cook. Sated, it was off to the tent. One moment, I had slipped into the bedroll. The next minute, I was out!

Woke up a bit early, as Abombe had warned us that the earlier we could go the better chances we had of seeing wildlife. As the sun warmed up, by mid-day most of the animals would be sheltering in whatever shade they could find.

As I am having breakfast, so were the birds. Only unlike the normal birds that one might be used to seeing, here were a pair of Red-billed Hornbills. A smaller variety found in the savannah and shrub-lands, in a specific belt across Africa, they largely subsist on insects, fruits and seeds.

Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus)

Their mating and child-rearing behaviour is similar to other Hornbills. They mate for life. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, they find a sufficient sized hole in a tree for her to incubate the forthcoming chicks. The male, will wall up the hole with plaster of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. A very small aperture is left for the female to poke her beak out. The male faithfully will forage for food and return to feed his mate and children until the chicks have hatched and are of sufficient size. Amazing, isn't it?

A searing sight

Driving in the early morning with the top up, fresh cold breeze in the face, mild sunlight by itself was a treasure. We saw a variety of animals, some of whom, I shall come back to in a bit. Was lucky enough to watch a African leopard (classified as vulnerable), caching his early morning kill, up on the bole of an acacia tree. However, the chap was not in the mood to say good morning to us, and the moment he heard us going over he decided to leave. Abombe informed us, that the leopard will return in a couple of hours to eat his meal. Woebegone was my face, at having missed this rare opportunity.

That is, until I came across this fellow, who had finished his breakfast and was enjoying the mild warmth. So unperturbed was he, didn't even bother to flick his tail or even mildly snarl. For an animal that can reach from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in just 3 seconds, with a top speed of 120 km, all he did was sniff the air for scenting anything unfamiliar or familiar and then posed elegantly for me, almost as if he was saying, 'enjoy'. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the Cheetah.

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

If you click on the picture, it will open up in a larger size on your screen. Have a look at his left jaw, which is slightly reddish from his consumed breakfast and more importantly, look at his eyes. Let me know what you think.

Having had our fill of watching the cheetah and taking umpteen number of pictures, we drove off at a leisurely pace to experience more of the savannah. On the way, we managed to see a female cheetah with two cubs, but she was maintaining her distance from us and a pride of lions, whom we spotted earlier feasting. Interestingly, lions can be quite the scavengers, often snatching the prey away from cheetahs and hyenas.

About another 30 minutes or so, came the stage that most men like Abombe and I, get a bit worried about. Maybe it was due to the cold climate, my female companions had to take a toilet break. The reason we worry is simple. This is a wild reserve. You can barely make out a predator a few feet away in the grass and shrubs. Getting out of the vehicle is, to put it mildly, fraught with danger. However, with no other choice we had to risk it. One after the other, the ladies blithely got out, did their job behind the vehicle, while Abombe and I were keeping our eyes peeled on either side and the mirrors to try and spot any incoming danger. With the women back inside the car, I think, Abombe and I were more relieved!

After sighting some more enthralling wildlife, we headed back for our lunch at the camp site. A relaxed lunch and then we were off again, to see what more the Serengeti would reveal to us.

Further on the trail, in the next post.

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Friday 23 September 2011

The enchanting African Safari (Tarangire)

From the previous post: "...Dozing off to sleep was easy, given how tired I was. Plus, the thought that tomorrow will be more magnificent creatures to be spotted was exciting..."

It is a new day in Africa

Irrespective of the onset of summer, waking up in mildly breezy and cool morning was made all the more exhilarating when the thought streaked through my mind, 'hey, I am actually in Africa!' and nothing could be more poignant at that time, than hearing the beautiful songs being rendered by the bards of nature - birds.

Get ready, have breakfast, pack up everything including the picnic lunch. It was all a blur, as the heart and mind were already inside the forest. Off we trudged into the trusty land cruiser with the reliable Abombe ready to show us more magical beings.

Today we were going to further explore Tarangire for a bit, before driving off to the world famous Serengeti with a stop over at the cradle of civilization. Talk about intrigue! One more thing that I do need to mention here, is that the land cruiser had a top that could be easily raised, so not only did we get more protection from the sun, we would also be in a position of height, enabling us to see more of the place. So happily, back in our vehicle, we started traversing the African wilderness.

Started with a high cuteness quotient this time. At least for a carnivore. Just saw the little fellow peeking out from a hollow log. Introducing the Common Dwarf Mongoose.

Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula)

Moving on, it sort of felt like the world was a bit different in that you look almost anywhere and you are likely to see all sorts of animals, birds, trees, undulating landscapes - the sheer variety is staggering. It would take a huge journal to describe every bit of the experience, so am limiting myself to some of the ones that I found interesting enough to squarely embed in the recesses of my brain.

Also spotted quite a few White Headed Buffalo Weavers. It is a specie that is native to East Africa. The buffalo part of its name is derived from its habit of following the bovine footsteps of the African Buffalo and feeding on disturbed insects like beetles and butterflies.

White Headed Buffalo Weaver (Dimenellia dinemelli)

As we drove onward, suddenly started hearing shouts. Go away. Go away. I was flummoxed. I mean, what could be the reason? Couldn't see or feel any danger. Then realisation struck. Right now, we, in the rumbling box were the danger to the folks in the forest and who else but the nattily dressed caped crusader, the aptly named Crested White bellied Go-away bird, was making all the noise.

Crested White bellied Go-away bird ( Corythaixoides leucogaster)

While I understand and accept, that an angry elephant is probably the most dangerous (to humans) animal out there in the wild anywhere, the sight of a full grown lion near you makes you still shiver. Maybe it was our ancestral anthropoid remnant genes. Have you ever thought, why most humans start shouting and screaming at the sight of perceived danger or that grouping and attempting to fight off or kill the intruder is the most common counter mechanism to date? Just look at any current set of monkeys and you get the answer. We are not that different, after all, on many counts from the simians.

The lions of Tarangire

Coming back to the lion, it was the first sighting in Africa and I was sincerely thankful for the vehicular protection, and the keen eyes of our guide. Take a look at the picture below. So well camouflaged and silent is this giant cat, it would have been difficult to spot until you are a few feet away. Not knowing the mood of this fellow, it may be a good idea to maintain your distance, if perchance you are not in your protective cage on wheels.

Lion (Panthera leo)

The real close brush with the Lions of Tanzania was to happen later. Meantime, as we are watching, in trot a bunch of zebras. While there is silence, mostly, except for the shutter clicks, a collective slightly audible sigh went up from the human females around in different safari vehicles, which had clustered by now. Why? Simple, the lion decided to stalk and attack his food on hooves. On this occasion, being neither smart nor a long distance runner, the lion made a rather short and foolish attempt to get some fresh food. Result: Cat-0, Zebras-1. For now. Factually, more than 70% of hunts do not succeed for the big cats.

It would be important to note, this chap was not alone. His female partner and the main hunter was also around. And smartly, she had not bothered to waste any energy going after the zebras.

Finally, having watched the lion's antics and unsurprisingly aware that nothing worthy would be happening, the lady decided to slink off to a nearby tree. Amazingly, Tanzania is one of the few places in the world, where lions climb on trees. It essentially gives them a high vantage view, which is essential to determine where the next meal is.

The male having given up on his predatory behaviour, decided to follow the lady and rest beneath the tree on which she was keeping vigil.

Moving a bit further on, we saw a small herd of elephants cavorting with their young ones by the depleted Tarangire river.

Now the time had come to move on. Having gotten out of the Tarangire park, we were back on the tarmac, smoothly proceeding to the Serengeti. Abombe, our guide/driver, explained to us that we would be passing by well known UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ngorongoro located in the crater highlands of Tanzania, about 180 kilometres from Arusha.

As we ascended the heights, markedly the greenery started showing up. The plan was to drive by the top of the Ngorongoro crater, bypassing it on the way to Oldupai Gorge. And from there on to the Seregenti plains.

The picnic lunch spot that Abombe had brought us to, was indeed beautiful. He was also caring enough to warn us, to consume our food under the branches of a nearby tree, rather than in the open - where it was extremely pleasant to sit as the temperature had markedly gone down at least 10 degrees Celsius lower, if not more.

Why the warning? The answer was soon visible and audible. We were not the only people who had decided to stop there and have our lunch. Other travellers had arrived. One lady decided to sit on the grass, lean against the bole of a tree, enjoy the beautiful weather and have her lunch, only to shriek out in consternation as a lithe, silent figure swooped, clutched her sandwich and made off. All this, in one smooth motion, as we were watching, beside a smiling Abombe. The culprit was none other than the Tanzanian Yellow-billed Kite. While the kites are general sky borne thermal gliding predators elsewhere, at this particular picnic site, they had specialised in stealing sandwiches out of travellers' lunch boxes!

Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius)

Done with the cold but tasty lunch, it was time to leave the picnic spot and drive on to the Serengeti, via the Oldupai Gorge. A point rather sorely remembered here, was the tarmac road ended a few kilometres away. Thus began some of the roughest, bone-jarring, teeth-chattering, dusty stretches across Tanzania. Slowing down was not an option, as the shaking would only get worse. The only prayer was not to get trapped behind another similar vehicle on the designated dirt road, as all the dust raised by the wheels ahead would only smother us.

As we drove through, the vistas were simply breath taking. Mostly empty mountain ranges, interspersed with a rare Masai village and their cattle. You could see far enough into the horizon and make out the dust columns being raised by similar land cruisers far away. The intrigue of visiting the 'cradle of civilization' kept the mood high.

The adventure continues in the next post...

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Thursday 22 September 2011

The African Safari (Tarangire)

From the previous post: "...From thrilling vistas, to open expanses of land never seen before teeming with wild and free life, it was majestic Africa that was to open up in front of my eyes..."

The adventure truly begins

Waking up to a calm and cool morning, it was time to get ready, have a leisurely breakfast. The land cruiser was loaded up, with all the equipments, food and luggage and off we left for our true blue African private safari. This meant that we would be sleeping in tents at public camp sites and have access only to common, basic facilities like cold water showers and toilets. In terms of private, what we would have as we discovered during the trip, was a cook who would whip up a good meal specifically for us and a guide/driver who would be dedicated to showcasing the best of wild Africa to us.

As Achmed, our tour operator, had explained previously, the journey initially would be quite comfortable as the roads were made of tarmac and rather well maintained. Further on, we would be down to dirt tracks and all its associated ups and downs.

We had a rather normal drive. Visible to us were large swathes of dry land with thorny bushes, a few Masai thatched hut villages and their herds. The scale of the land is only understood, though, when you are on the road. It takes ages to reach any destination. Not that you are being driven slowly. And we were only covering a limited portion of the northern safari circuit of Tanzania.

Finally we reached a public camp site, 118 kilometres south west of Arusha. As, Abombe, our guide pointed out, the smart thing to do, is to plan the journey such that, you manage to reach a public camp site before it gets filled up with other travellers like us. It gives us the advantage of scouting and pitching the tent in a better spot, within the place. As everything is on a 'first-come-first-served' rule, even the kitchen spot availability is a matter of concern. If our cook is not able to set up his paraphernalia then our food is likely to be of the very limited variety.

Now, another thing that I had realised during my pre-trip research, was that in Africa you have to be aware of the season in which you go. Whether it is summer/winter or dry/wet. In Tanzania, summer is usually December-March and winter is March-May with rains. So we were travelling at a time, where the onset of summer was imminent. In summer, the sun sucks the moisture out of the landscape, baking it dry and leaving withered grass as brittle as straw as well as trees minus most of their foliage.

The Tarangire National Park about 2,850 square kilometres (1,096 square miles), part of the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, is the sixth largest park in Tanzania named after the Tarangire river. In summer, the river reduces in size to a mere shadow of its wet season self, but attracts nomadic herds of wild life in search of life sustaining moisture. Outside of the Serengeti, this location contains one of the largest concentrations of wildlife herds, bringing in predators following them. The lions of Tarangire are also famous for being among the few tree climbing ones in its species. This promised us with some rich sights and being a nature/wildlife enthusiast, I was very keenly looking forward to it.

Having unloaded our luggage, set up the camp and after consuming an early lunch, we set off to have a look at what we could find in Tarangire.

It was a lovely start, indeed. The two main seasons were beautifully showcased in a stained glass artwork set up at the Tarangire park entrance.

Baobab (Adansonia) also known as monkey-bread tree

The first proper visual of the Baobab tree. Local lore was that as God was irritated with the tree, it was planted on Earth - upside down! The baobab, being of the deciduous type, especially in summer, minus the leaves does look upside down with the roots in the sky. Reputedly living for thousands of years, one of the key facts is that the tree stores thousands of litres of water inside the massive trunk to survive during summer and elephants especially love to bore holes into the trunk and suck the moisture to survive.

Tickets procured, we started driving into the park range.

Tarangire park range view

The first thing, spotted was one of the most colourful birds in Africa. The Lilac breasted roller. Usually found alone and sometimes in pairs, this bird loves to sit on a high vantage position especially tree tops or poles, so it can search out ground based insects, lizards, scorpions, snails and rodents to hunt.

Lilac Breasted Roller (Coracias caudata)

Following this, I spotted a welcoming committee of Zebras, Wildebeests and Elephants. I would be seeing many more of these beautiful and sometimes strange animals over the next few days (more pictures and descriptions coming up later).

Young African female Elephant

It was a rather strange experience in being able to see these amazing creature so up close. My experience with nature has been such that usually, all creatures maintain a 'flight or fight' distance from humans and their natural predators. For most animals and birds, it is flight that they choose when an human intruder gets close. Here, they had gotten used to big black boxes on wheels, smelling of diesel and trundling along without harming them. As a result getting really close was possible and that's one of the charms of being here.

Next sighted was one of the varieties of Kingfishers that exist on this continent. The tree based Grey-headed Kingfisher which, unlike most Kingfishers, is not aquatic.

Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala)

Driving a bit further on, I spotted one of the most striking antelopes, I had ever seen till date. The Roan antelope. Such a handsome fellow. Fearless. And in his prime.

Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)

By this time, adrenaline had kicked in. Full steam. Absolute salivation. When such magnificent creatures were there to view, enjoy, capture on camera and with the comfort of being driven by, what more can an nature enthusiast ask?

A bit further down and there was this dappled, long legged fellow giving me the look. What could I do? I shot him, too.

It had been a good day so far. It was getting late and as with all parks, after sun-down ideally no humans should be anywhere inside. That being the case, we headed back to the camp. A shower, change of clothes and we were ready for our first safari dinner. Our cook had come up with a selection of assorted dishes that was simply put - tasty and filling. An avocado starter, main course of rice and chicken, followed by a mildly sweet dessert and coffee, left us feeling satiated and ready to hit the sleeping bags in our tents.

Dozing off to sleep was easy, given how tired I was. Plus, the thought that tomorrow will be more magnificent creatures to be spotted was exciting.

The adventure continues in the next post.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

The African Safari

As mentioned in my post on Passion and being a passionate traveller among other things, I thought it would be a good idea to publish, some of my travel related adventures. I started with Hong Kong in Asia and am now shifting to the African continent.

The idea

It usually is a rather simple conversation that strikes off a decision to go somewhere, isn't it? In this case, it was a discussion among friends in a book shop about where would be an exotic place to go, during a forthcoming holiday. One of my friends held up a guide book on Africa and that's when the idea got generated.

The thing with a good idea, is that once it takes seed in your head, it tends to grow roots and flower and eventually turns into a fully matured tree, which you can't afford to ignore any more. And so began the discussion. Finally three people, including I, had decided that we would go to the East African country of Tanzania - probably one of the oldest known inhabited areas on Earth. The United Republic of Tanzania was derived from the two states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, united in 1964.

As luck would have it, my American and the Hong Kong companions left it in my hands to do the research and organising the trip. With the week long Eid holidays coming up in Muscat, where we all were stationed, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit a land that none of us had ever been to. Also, there was another angle to consider.

While US and Hong Kong citizens are privileged in that, their passports are good enough for most countries to welcome them with a free or paid visa on arrival, it is not so the case with the Indian passport. Most often than not, I have had to apply for a visa well in advance. Not in the case of Tanzania, where the Indian passport was considered good enough to be provided with a paid visa on arrival. Given the few weeks left for the public holidays to start, this seemed a great, not-to-be missed opportunity that could be really accomplished.

Africa. The dark continent. The launch pad of human evolution. Exotic cultures, customs and cuisine. Wild animals. Majestic mountains. Parks and ranges that most of us have only so far seen on a Discovery or National Geographic TV channel. It was a thrill just to think about it, imagining how truly exciting it would be to have a real safari. A once in a lifetime kind of thing.

The Research

Starting with turning to Google search and various forums where other world travellers had provided information and feedback on services and other such things to keep in mind, I got into some quantitative and qualitative secondary research.

One organisation came across as quite decent. And as it turned out for us, Base Camp Tanzania, owned and managed by Achmed and Zainab Phillips was the best choice we made.

The feedback on the forums about Achmed, his responsive nature, professionalism and ability to adhere to indicated costs, while providing the best economies of scale turned out to be correct. I started by corresponding with him. It was impressive in that he responded to every request I made - information, domestic flight tickets, itinerary, etc. I also checked out the best and economical way to get to Africa from the Middle East. I wouldn't say that the overall costs were cheap, but were they worth it? A resounding yes! I had to literally push one of the trip companions as the person was having some difficulty in confirming the choice, despite having made the decision. Finally, we agreed on the trip details. I went ahead and booked the flight tickets. It also meant, some of the excitement started off in Muscat itself.

As we discovered, it was necessary for travellers to get a Yellow Fever vaccination prior to reaching Tanzania, else it would a jab at the airport and 100 US dollars down the drain. As with most African states, various diseases are always a possibility and thankfully today we do have a plethora of preventive medication available to ensure we do not suffer during or after such a trip. Since all the hemming and hawing on the trip had happened, while we were supposed to get the vaccination about 10 days prior to the trip, we eventually ended up getting it a day before we were supposed to leave! Luckily, it was September and a good time to go with low instances of mosquitoes and therefore fewer chances of being infected.

The Start

Finally it was D-day. Backpacks with essentials and sleeping bags were packed. Anti-mosquito and basic medications in our survival kit was assembled. Tickets were re-confirmed. Travel money had been converted into US dollars. Passports were in hand. And with big smiles on our faces, off we went to the airport.

Our itinerary was quite packed. We were to land in Dar-es-Salaam the capital of Tanzania. Take a domestic flight to the town of Arusha. From there we would be taking a private safari vehicle, with a guide and a cook to various parks, ending up back in Arusha almost a week later. Then it would be a quick flight to Zanzibar. A sea ferry back to the capital. And return to Muscat.

Flight to Dar-es-Salaam was uneventful. Landed at the airport. One terminal building contained both the international and domestic sections. Security and infrastructure were minimal. We had a gap of a couple of hours before we boarded the domestic flight. So we headed out of the building, and waited.

It was also the day of Eid. And kids from a nearby ghetto were being provided free access to the airport and tubes of ice candy. As a bonus, here was an American, a Chinese origin and an Indian trio just outside. I had gone for a short walk to take some shots of the building. When I started walking back, I couldn't see my companions. Instead, I only saw a multitude of bobbing heads! Turns out the kids were gazing and feeling the exotic looking visitors sitting in front of them.

I was laughing a lot. It was really crazy, watching these kids stroking the white skin of one person and the straight hair of the other. Maybe they had never seen such exotic creatures before! Finally had to wade in and 'rescue' my companions, got the kids to move off and we trundled up the domestic section for our journey to Arusha.

Arusha

It is not a very long flight - about an hour or so. And interestingly it was a turbo-prop aircraft that was to transport us. It was branded - Precision Air and the emblem on the tail wing of the aircraft was a jumping antelope. The colours also looked really nice. As we were walking up to board the aircraft, one of my companions had a 'eye-opened' look, for having never seen an ATR-type plane before. Gave me the opportunity to inform that there are plenty of these in India. They tend to bob up and down a bit, especially if there are air pockets, but it was generally safe.

The airport, near Arusha, where we were going was called Kilimanjaro - the famous African mountain that has been written about by just about anybody who has ever been enchanted with this beautiful continent. Interestingly the beer served on board was also called Kilimanjaro!

It was night by the time we landed. We were met on time by our guide - Abombe. A very interesting character, whom I came to know quite well over the next week. He was in a largish vehicle - the indefatigable Land Cruiser. Again, a vehicle we all got to know quite well as we spent most of our time in it. Abombe took us from the airport to Arusha and the drive was pretty decent. But when he took the turn off the main road to take us to the resort, where we were being camped for the night, it felt like we were in the real Africa. A non-existent road, houses and shops inches away from the body of the vehicle, people standing and looking. Finally we end up in front of a large gate and inside was a really lovely resort. And Achmed, who was waiting to meet and greet us.

Now, I had only corresponded with Achmed and given no other indication, had assumed he was a full blown Tanzanian. Well he was Tanzanian alright, having married his wonderful wife Zainab from the country and having settled there. But the accent and look was as British as it gets! With a handle-bar moustache, twinkling eyes and a penchant for straight faced jokes, he was an interesting character. It seems he fell in love with this place and the people and decided to settle down. Even changed his name to Achmed and would not disclose what his full name or previous name was. He regaled us with some stories and a briefing, as dinner was being prepared and served to us. Here was the first time, that I had a taste of a local refreshing beer 'Safari' and an interesting carbonated ginger ale called 'Stoney Tangawizi'. The place was enthralling in the type of furniture and furnishings used. Especially worth noting was the roof made from banana plantation bark, after curing and drying. All in all, a great trip so far. It was a bit cool as well and I certainly looked forward to the shower and the bed. As the 'real' adventure starts the next day.

From thrilling vistas, to open expanses of land never seen before teeming with wild and free life, it was majestic Africa that was to open up in front of my eyes. Coming up, in the next post.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

The passionate worker

This post is based on a very interesting point of view that author Adam Singer talks about in his post - A secret of the social web: Passion.

An excerpt

"In the frenzy of marketers drowning the web in their ultra-proofed and overly refined messages, there is something that is severely lacking: passion. And, passion is the largest driver motivating people to produce, share and remix content online.

What motivates someone to share her recipes with the world every day? What motivates a tech blogger to write about the latest gadget? What motivates a web guru to talk about the latest startup or e-commerce site? Simple – it is pure and raw passion for the subject matter."

Why, really, does passion matter?

One of my favourite authors, Ayn Rand wrote a huge tome about this particular subject - Atlas Shrugged. She talked about "the role of man's mind in existence" as well attempted to showcase how the world needs 'prime movers'.

In other words, what both the writers above had touched was - Passion. Pure. Simple. Engaging. And one of the great 'oils' that move many a human to go beyond what could be called the ordinary. The pursuit of excellence, as it were.

image credit: Shutterstock

I am a firm believer in that most people are smart enough to see beyond the chaff. A passionate person's work will clearly shine through all the dazzle that keeps hitting your eyeballs. When you do something for the love of it, others can't help but recognise it. Unless, they deliberately turn a blind eye towards that expression of passion.

Many of us out here, have at some point or the other, conducted interviews to select a person for a particular post. Beyond all the regular questions, is the mind's eye trying to discern how passionate a worker will the interviewee be.

Passion matters a lot. Most people are passionate about one thing or the other. Sometimes, many things, sometimes just one. Maybe it was running hard to be the first in that school race, maybe it was the attempt to get out of a vicious economic circle, maybe it was trying to create a better product, maybe it was the attempt at being self-sustained, maybe it was bringing up kids. Whatever may have been the cause, at some point or the other we all have experimented and quite often stayed passionate about something that so truly engaged us.

Passionate worker or Workaholic?

How do we differentiate between a passionate worker and a workaholic? The true difference is that passionate work does not let us drop dead or destroy ourselves in the process of creating a superior output - be it a work of art or simply greater quality of service. And, not to forget, it is not being passionate about the company we work in, it is being passionate about our profession.

Having been exposed to the advertising industry for a bit now, I have seen some of the most passionate people engaged in creating, debating, fighting, and finding solutions to many a normally insurmountable problem. It never is about how late you stay at work. It is about when you go to sleep, having either the satisfaction - I did the best I could or having the dissatisfaction - I can do better and future action - I will make it better.

Passion breeds value

Ideas are quite often the base and cornerstone of innovation, evolution and that edge which differentiates us and lets us lead. For a bit, at least. When you are passionate about something, working hard and coming up with fruitful ideas is easier. And with great ideas come great rewards. A virtuous cycle instead. Now imagine, harnessing this power multiplied by the number of employees working together in an organisation. This is what successful companies like Apple, Canon and Singapore Airlines, to name a few, have done.

Yet for every one of these smart companies, there are thousands out there who do not even begin to realise how important it is to have passionate and motivated people working in harmony to take the organisation to extremely high levels of achievements including profits. This is sadly true of most Governments that I have been exposed, not all though. I do believe firmly in the profit principle. Passion should be rewarded. And usually is. Not because of anything else, but simply the response that we the consumers and customers show to the ideas and product emerging from such hubs of excellence. For it remains a fact that all a customer has to do is go and spend her/his money and attention elsewhere to bring down a company or for that matter an economy.

This blogger's passion

I do love to share my thoughts, opinions and emotions. While this medium does not have the same level of interactivity that a face-to-face opportunity brings, it still has enough for you to let me know what you think about whatever I express through these blog posts.

This particular post is purely a random thought process that I decided to pen down. The Culture, Cuisine, Customs that Travel lets me experience, forms one of those passions of mine and as seen before in the Hong Kong series, there is another series about a different trip to a different continent - coming up. So be on the lookout here and do feel free to express your opinion at any stage, as I do value your feedback.

Track code: AG4FBQ8UFF8T

Sunday 18 September 2011

A short lived pleasure?

The pleasure

I like to fly. No, make that - I love to fly! I have flown on many airlines to various continents and countries. Each has been a different experience. Long distance flights, usually do mean a stop in between, giving the benefit of being out of the tube for a bit, stretching the legs, gazing at the products on sale, people watching, etc. Shorter distance flights mean smaller aircraft usually lesser leg room, but more take-off and landings. Either way, being in a flight from 100-40,000 feet above mean sea level, means many things to me. From the excitement of actually having lifted off, the destination, the beautiful working people on board i.e. the Flight Attendants, the conversations that happen between total strangers who are bound together in a flying tube for a few hours, the movies watched or food consumed, all of it brings a different sort of sensory pleasure in the 1-2 kilos of soft jelly-like substance inside my skull.

Maybe it, really, is about the whole 'movement' principle. If you are moving, chances are, you are doing something meaningful, in some manner, so to speak. Driving long distances is an equally good example. Love it too. Managing the steering wheel, keeping a fine balance of safety and speed within regulated limits, listening to music, watching places, people and objects go by - all bring that sensory pleasure. Maybe it really is true that life is about searching and experiencing the little and large pleasures. Maybe it is the seeking that is the pleasurable part. Either way, making sure that you live life to the fullest has to be an objective that you would agree with, wouldn't you?

All of the above now seem like a short lived pleasure!

Having spent some time in the Gulf, where fuel prices are really low in comparison to the rest of the world, and link infrastructure - especially roads, are in fantastic condition, I could say, I was spoilt with the consumption of the sensory pleasures of driving or flying. Even on a visit to Hong Kong, using public transportation that moved me efficiently was a pleasure. And while the price of owning vehicles is quite high due to limited land mass and congestion, the price of fuel, or travel, is not.

The Pain

Having been back home in India, for a bit now, reality has started sinking in to my dismay. I feel like that hungry child from whose hands, the treat has been snatched away. Make no mistake about it, I am an Indian and happy about being one. But am discontent with the way in which the policies of this country's government are created or implemented. Sure, I understand that there are 1.2 plus billion people in this land and that it is the 7th largest country in the world. But that, is no excuse for 60 years of ridiculous action or reaction, by the people's representatives, elected by the masses to govern, with the hope that these people will make life easier rather than almost impossible.

The latest blow to the Indian, has been the pricing of fuel. Regular petrol now costs: R 70 per litre equivalent to USD 5.7 per gallon (3.8 litres). It costs approximately USD 2.5 per gallon in America which is one of the largest consumers of fuel. An article by the Times of India, indicates that after taking into account the purchasing power parity after accounting for international fuel prices and currency exchange rates for India, petrol is still more expensive than all other countries in the world, barring 3 small countries! Diesel is more expensive than 136 other countries. In my opinion, fuel prices in some of the European countries are also higher than India. Whatever way the statistics are read, fact remains that Indian fuel pricing strategy is an anomaly that needs some serious attention from all of us. And not be misled by the publicly pronounced massive subsidies that the government claims to provide.

The policy mess

It is not merely foolish, it is downright crazy! Even if we import 70% of fuel from outside India, we have a pricing mechanism that ensures we pay far more than necessary. Over 50% of the cost of fuel in India is added taxes. This mechanism in reality, hurts everybody and everything - economically, financially and personally. Every time, fuel prices are increased there will be spate of activities ranging from strikes to protests to violence - which itself has a huge cost to all of us. And a few days later, we go back to our lives, grumbling and groaning in pain. Maybe this is because we are the great Indian democracy. Or maybe it is our ability to soldier on, thinking it is really beyond our control. Or maybe we are being extremely foolish.

First the government taxes fuels way too much. Then it claims to provide subsidies to keep prices down. Then it adjusts for inflation by increasing interest rates. The government does not create quality infrastructure from these taxes. This results in more bottlenecks as the number of people out in the market increases. Thus consuming even more fuel. This leads to even higher fuel imports. It is a vicious, never-ending cycle. Unless, the government can actually focus on streamlining the whole tax and fuel pricing mess. But who actually cares? Who actually wants to do anything about it? We can have a nation marching together for an anti-corruption crusade, but is there anybody out there who wants to sort this mess out?

The solution

Irrevocably, free the pricing. Privatise the oil supply and marketing firms. Less than 1% of Indians are employed in the government oil firms. Offer them the option of 3 years pay, until they either secure a job in the private firm or let them go. Let the market and currency exchange rates decide the price on a daily basis. Realistic taxation on the sold market prices of fuel, not the current rates which are unhealthy. Can you believe that over 65% of the Indian GDP basket taxes is from fuel alone? Imagine if for one month, none of us actually used our vehicles? Many of the government plans to spend money would be down the drain, without the easy revenue generated from fuel taxes. And note, it's only plans for reality is a different matter.

Whenever the price for crude goes down, the prices will come down automatically. And vice versa. Averaged out, the Indian will still pay much lower that what we do, right now! And by paying, I am not referring only to the actual price paid for fuel, but the indirect and direct taxes as well as inflated prices for various products and services, that also contribute to the way the policy makers currently mess up the whole supply and pricing equations.