Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Africa.
Back in the early 1990's when I was stationed aboard the USS Carl Vinson I was fortunate enough to win the lottery on board the aircraft carrier to have the opportunity to visit the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Africa. The trip cost me about 800 dollars and we (8 persons) flew off the aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to Mombasa, Kenya. Then we caught a small plane in Mombasa, Kenya and flew over Mount Kilimanjaro and landed on a small airstrip right smack in the middle of nowhere (thats what is felt like at the time) and loaded our gear into a land cruiser and went to our remote accommodations.
The one thing I clearly remember is when our plane was touching down on the dirt runway, I vividly remember a big baboon running off the side of the runway for the safety of a tree. He was free and I would be the one in the cage (fenced compounds and big land cruisers) during my stay in the Serengeti National park.
My photos are lost in North America someplace in a shoebox and I have used photos from wikipedia (which is allowed) to recreate my experience the best I can.
During my stay we never came across an Elephant, since the poachers had killed most of the elephants at the time in the park.
My fellow military companions and I arrived at a nice lodge surrounded by razor wire and assortment of low fences. We had a pool to use and a guide was assigned to us for our stay. This definitely was a typical tourist tour. The African people that ran the hotel were very friendly and always smiling.
We arrived at the lodge about midday and just made our self comfortable in our rooms and later in the evening had a nice meal. I remember the night being very dark and the hotel staff telling us to always be careful in the compound at night, because the lions can sometimes find a way into the compound.
The next day all of us loaded into a bunch of land cruisers and headed out on our safari. The guide was always telling us to never get out of the vehicle unless he told us it was safe to exit the vehicle.
One incident I remember was when my commanding officer dropped his camera lens while we were watching the wild dogs kill a 400 lb wildebeest (they hunt in packs.) The dogs were feasting and he just opened the door and got out to fetch his lens cap. The dogs immediately stopped feasting and all turned their focus on him. The guide yelled to get back in the vehicle and he grabbed his lens cap and was sitting back in the vehicle in about 3 seconds flat. Hello!
The guides know where all the animals mostly graze or hunt during the day and you just move to different locations.
We saw lots of giraffes, zebra and wildebeest. Driving to a muddy fast moving stream we got out of the vehicles and watched the hippopotamus. Safe to watch in the water, but can be very dangerous out of the water I was told.
The lions were usually found next to the dirt roads off in the bushes and we would pull up next to them while they slept during the heat of the day.
The Maasai people lived in the area and we were told not to take pictures of them and show respect, because they believe the camera captures their soul or something like that. I believe the picture was painted of them being a very dangerous people and we drove by their community staring out the window like scared tourists. Someone said someone threw a spear at the land cruiser and it probably was true, since it was part of the tour package to give us a more authentic experience?
The 3rd day we had to head back to the aircraft carrier around noon, which was now in port in Mombasa, Kenya. I believe we hit some bars and I traded a pair of underwear for a set of hand carved book holders. Back on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson it was business at usual working for Uncle Sam.
My short visit to Africa was fascinating and I hope to visit sometime in the future and have a nice long stay. I would hope that every traveler gets the experience to visit Africa in their life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serengeti_National_Park#Wildlife
http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/serengeti.html
