Tarangire National Park

 It’s not possible that I stay in Kenya, Africa and not visit “ The” most sought after place for one of the best safaris in the world – Tanzania, a country like Kenya that is full of wilderness and vast savannah. People who know me, know how crazy I am about animals. I think majority of people who stay in Kenya do visit Tanzania either for safari or beach. Zanzibar being one of the most beautiful beaches, however, after staying in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, visiting pristine beaches of Seychelles, Thailand, Mauritius etc, Zanzibar never attracted me. Ok, back on track, so here I was trying to make my way to Serengeti and see the most viable and economic way to get there. I was excited to see one of the most thrilling natural reserves of Tanzania.

Early morning we left our house and in a little more than 2 hours we were at the Namanga border (Kenya & Tanzania border); after getting our passports stamped and getting our visa, we took few pictures at the border and also at no man’s land- a land piece between the 2 countries that belongs to no one. The travel agency that we decided to go with was willing to pick us up from home and take us to the border, however we decided to save few bucks on that and drove our car till the border and our driver brought our car back home. We walked past the border to the Tanzanian car which would have been the case even if we went with the travel agent’s vehicle. I had to take advantage of the fact that I am staying in the neighboring country.

We settled in a comfortable land cruiser excited to see a slightly different terrain and have a new experience. Our road led us through small lively towns with modern architecture and rickety buildings. We drove through chaotic traffic from time to time, matatus, motorcycles, cars and through the hustle bustle of lives. Then slowly the scenery started to change, we started driving past mud-colored huts, locals in their bright colored clothes doing their day-to-day business and small excited kids waving wildly at us. Finally, we reached Tarangire National Park which is in Northern Tanzania and reached just in time for lunch at Tarangire Sopa Lodge. The kids couldn’t control their excitement when they saw the pool and decided to swim while they were setting up lunch for us by the pool side. It was a hot day and kids had a blast swimming and splashing around. We let the kids have some fun before we took them for a game drive which generally starts at around 3.30pm. 

Tarangire National Park is a least known wildlife destination, although the national park is full of wild animals of all sorts, yet it is overshadowed by the popularity of Ngorongoro and Serengeti. However, this was the perfect place to begin the Tanzanian safari. Our journey started by seeing a giraffe which had lost it’s tail somehow was relishing leaves from the acacia trees. There are always so many stories scattered all around the savannah that lights up my heart with enthusiasm. We were surrounded by many species of birds and this national park is a bird watcher’s paradise.

Tarangire is also known as the Kingdom of Pachyderms. Our next encounter were the magnificent elephants, which this national park is famous for.  We saw so many different herds of elephants all around with their calves. In some big herds, the babies of almost the same age, played with each other wrestling with their trunks and chasing each other, a further ahead in another herd 2 juveniles played with each other by locking their trunks. 

We also saw many gazelles, impalas, ostrich, mongoose, baboons, bush buck and of course a resting king of the jungle. The zebras grazed on the green grass wandering from one baobab tree to the other. We saw so many baobao trees also known as tree of life that are also in Kenya but not as huge and in so many numbers as in this park.  While we were enjoying our safari suddenly, we felt something biting us at intervals and this was our first encounter with the notorious Tzetse fly. 

After our safari, we settled back into our camp and had dinner. The sound of wilderness brings in a kind of tranquility in me that I find all worries of the world melting away, even though it’s temporary but the weight is out at least for a while. I slipped into my bed to embark on a new adventure the next day.

Walking under the sea in Mauritius: Day 5

 Ile aux cerfs Island and Under the sea walk

A day full of fun activities and excitement was in wait for us… we started our day with a boat that took us to this privately-owned island called Ile aux cerfs, which is a picturesque island and is famous for its white sandy beach, turquoise blue lagoon, shallow channels, black rocks and it has a lot more to offer. It is a hub for wild parties and adventure sports. Of course, with 4 small kids we had to forgo the wild party part, but we went wild with our water sports.

While our speed boat was taking us to the island, we did cross a few catamarans where youngsters were parting with beer and bare clad bikini. The guys in our boat had started drooling over the crowd in it, and as quickly as Neha and I saw that happen, the kids were handed over to the fathers; a reminder of the stark reality that lay before them.

Our first visit was the Grand river south east waterfalls. The beautiful waterfall surrounded by the verdant jungles is a sight not to be missed. From there we continued our boat ride to this floating deck in the middle of the ocean, from where we were to begin our adventure sports. 

We started with the donut ride. While one set of parents went crazy, the other babysat the kids. The kids were baffled at how crazy their parents could get – screaming and cheering loudly like small children, may be even embarrassed a little. I am glad that I did everything at the right time, how things change with health is unknown. I have always believed to do all the things I can and as much as I can now. Live for today, you never know what tomorrow will bring. Never knew that 6-7 years down the line, I would have to think about my back, aches and pains that these thrilling rides could cause. 

Next was parasailing. All of us went so many times that we don’t even remember… solo, with kids, just kids, couples, father-daughter, father-son, mother-son and mother-daughter…. We did all the different permutation combinations of people that could be done for parasailing. 

We finally headed to the beach where the kids enjoyed making their sandcastles and dipping in the sea, while we were fishing out sea urchins and star fishes to show to the kids. After lunch, it was time to get back on our speed boat and head back to the mainland.

But the excitement was not over yet... we were looking forward to our once-in-a-lifetime unique experience that had our adrenaline pumping.  This was a first for all of us. We were going to walk under the sea. The latest family additions of both families couldn’t do it since they were very small, so we left them on the boat, and we all went in together. Once submerged, for the first few seconds I tried to calm my panic-stricken mind till I realized that it was more of a psychological scare. After taking in a few long breaths of air, I realized that I was not going to drown. After calming my nerves, I started noticing the vibrant fish all around and suddenly it felt like the time had stopped, breathing underwater got conceivable and that’s when I started to notice the lovely flora and fauna around.  

After the full day of water fun, we came back to our resort, freshened up and had dinner. All the kids were dead tired and ready to hit the bed. The parents didn’t want to call it a night, so after dinner we all went for a walk and sat at the beach, slowly retiring back to our rooms. 

Departure

The next morning was our final day in this beautiful country. We dedicated it to the sun, sand and the sea. The motto of the day was relaxation, sipping pina coladas, enjoying the resort, kayaking and spending quality time together to make memories that we will never forget.  It’s not so common and, in my experience, I would call it rare to find like-minded people with whom you gel so well, like an extended family. I will say this was our first international holiday with our now family friends and it couldn’t have been better.

Up close and personal with the wild in Mauritius: Day 4

 Swim with the dolphins and walk with the lions – could this day have gotten any better?

Till now we had spent enough time on land, we didn’t want the sea to feel deprived of our presence. So, our fourth day was all about sun, white sandy beaches and the sea that beamed in every shade of turquoise. I was super pumped for our adventure of the day since not only were we going to see the dolphins in the wild where they rightfully belong, but we were also going to try and swim with them as well.

By the time we reached where the dolphins were, I was a little disappointed to see few boats and people already swimming with the dolphins. I think it is decided by the boat owners that each boat gets a turn to swim with the dolphins, probably to avoid scaring away the dolphins with overwhelming humans. We all were ready with our gear to jump in, snorkel or swim. 

Now in this blog, I have to admit my phobia of putting my head under the water due to which I can never snorkel. My heart beats over a 100bpm and I get struck by panic. I jumped with Aananya next to me in the water and she brought her head out of the water with excitement and said “Mumma the dolphins are swimming right under your leg”. I can’t even begin to express the dismay in myself for not having the courage to put my head under the water to see such a spectacle. However, when the dolphins came out a little further ahead to breathe, I enjoyed every moment of it. Aakaash was the only one who made a mad dash and tried to keep up with the dolphins just for a while and could say literally “I did try and swim with the dolphins”. The rest of us can just say we were in the same water as the dolphins!

We had decided to dedicate our entire day to the animals. When I was plotting out our trip to Mauritius, all I had in my mind was the sun, sand and sea. Never had I thought about the interaction that I was about to experience. Our next stop was the Casela Nature Park. It’s a huge nature and adventure park but we only visited the big cat’s kingdom, bird park and middle kingdom.

We started walking through the aviary and saw various colorful bird species from around the world. Next, we went to the middle kingdom to see the tortoise and petting farm. This place gives you a great opportunity to have face-to-face interaction with zebras, African antelopes, impalas etc. We also saw a lot of lions and cubs that were kept in an enclosure and in another were cheetahs. Not that we have not had these interactions while staying in Kenya, but it’s always humbling when you can interact with wild animals no matter where you are. Aan enjoyed running after the chickens that were free to roam around the middle kingdom.

Alongside the petting zoo was also a play area. The kids enjoyed the gardens along with a stream full of fishes, swans, turkey, flamingoes, peacock, crown crane and a varied species of ducks. This was the perfect set up for us to leave the kids with Neha and Vividh and head towards the big cat’s kingdom. We were lucky to be travelling with our friends for we decided to go for the walk with lions turn by turn since the kids were not allowed. Why? Because if you are less than 5 feet tall, the lions think you are potentially food.

Recently, in one of our safari trips in Kenya, Aananya was talking to me about what is it that I love about safari, which animal excites me the most and that’s when I realized that I am a great lover of the big cats. I can spend hours and hours with the big cats without getting bored or tired. Just watching their every move makes me feel happy.

Now, back in Mauritius, we were going to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience of walking with the lions. We were taken to the lion reserve by bus and were given a short briefing about the safety measures that needed to be followed while on the adventure. We were also advised to walk behind the lion handlers with our canes… like that could protect us in any way if things turned south. FYI, you do have to sign a disclaimer if anything goes wrong, you are responsible.

Never did I think that during my trip to Mauritius I would be giving a potential disclaimer for getting maimed by a lethal predator. Yet here I was in an open-air bus bumping along a dirt road into the forest to meet one of the most efficient predators of the world. I always feel blessed whenever I get a unique opportunity to spend time with the cats but this was way beyond. The thrilling sensation that went through my body when I saw the lions come out, and we were walking alongside them and at one point even interacted with them. You can feel the adrenaline rush through your veins when you are in the presence of these magnificent and majestic creatures.

It is amazing to see the lions so up close and personal; we walked with them through the long grass and tropical foliage while the lions were playing around, tackling one another, scaling the trees doing their day-to-day business. The lions were called Mpara and Matata were 10 months and 2 years old respectively. Matata is a white lion originally from South Africa. The handlers showed us how long they can leap by motivating the lions with chunks of meat or how they could climb trees, motivation being the same. We were walking along a narrow stream when suddenly both the lions crouched down to drink water. Now came the time to take a few prized pictures when the handlers encouraged us to come forward and touch their bristly tails and their back.

While writing this blog, I can’t help but think about my mother… if she had her way, I would definitely be grounded for doing this, regardless of my age or the fact that I live oceans away.