My Personal Blog - Sarada Ramani

When we were discussing the tour itinerary there was one place people wanted to go that is Mt Kilimanjaro.  Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano located in Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania.  However from Arusha City where we were staying  its about 3+ hours travel to Moshi town from where we can see the mountain and the last day our flight was at 17.00 hours and so it was impossible for us to take a chance to start early to Moshi but still be back to the airport to catch our flight. but since we left Tanzania through Kilimanjaro airport we could see the famed mountain from air.  Thanks to a clear sky we all could take number of photos too. as usual here is info about the mountain range from Wikipedia  It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 m (16,100 ft) above its plateau base.  It is the highest  volcano in 

The Kenya Tanzania border is known for its large sized animal migrations.  Depending on the season one can witness the migration of wildebeests from Serengeti to Maasai Mara or the reverse pattern. From May to July August September the  wildebeests, zebras and gazelles  start migrating crossing the grumeti river to Mara crossing the Mara River.    When Mara becomes dry from October November they start migrating back to serengati   The calving season is January Frebraury  and this happens only in Serengeti National Reserve. Well we landed up in Mara first and saw the huge herds of wildebeests already in the Mara region.  There was another group of thousands of wildebeests patiently waiting to cross the Mara River to get into Maasai Mara.  The beats  waited; the crocodiles waited;  and we waited in anticipation to see the river crossing  - but nothing happened.    So we followed our itinerary and drove down through the Kenya Tanzania border to reach Serengeti National Park staring at 7.0

 What a day it was - it was a full day outing in the vast wilderness of The Mara.  Saw the migration of  wild beasts in 1000s.  We were waiting for the next lot to cross the Mara River but the beasts just settled down on the other bank   in the Maara River saw a 20 foot long crocodiles as well few hippos too. We saw lion just a table length away, zebras crossing our vehicles, antelopes taking a flight seeing our vehicles coming close, Ostriches running at great speeds crossing our vehicles, a huge old old female elephant eating grass at our arms length, a cheetah with 5 cubs trying to catch an hare unsuccessfully, antelopes, wild hogs, gazelles, wild Buffalo's,  a leopard trying to gain high ground walking in front of our vehicles, hyena taking a carcass and running away, various birds including eagles,  guinea fowls etc. What an eventful day it was.   While returning back  even when we sighting zebra we became so used to it that it felt like we were seeing cows grazing in our back

 Maasai Mara & Maasai Village visit In the evening we were taken to the local village of the Maasai Tribes. We were welcomed with a dance and then taken into the village.   One person  demonstrated on how they create fire naturally. Inside  the village  we were taken into individual homes which are constructed using clay and cow dung like our Indian village huts.  The one I went to had 3 bedrooms  - enough space to hold 2 people lying down and the center hall is also the kitchen which  provides the heat.  There is alone solar lamp to light up dimly the interior  Of course we were invited to the village and were asked to help them out by buying souvenir  which we all promptly did. From Wikipedia about the tribes The Maasai Swahili: Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes and their

Africa The land of Big Five -  Coming  here I was remembering my father  taking all of us for the movie African Safari when we were young.  It was  as if I was actually in the movie experiencing every thing in real time today. Happy that both myself and Ramani could make this trip.  Seeing the wild animals in their natural habitat that too so close that you can feel their very presence as the person sitting next to you is totally out of the world experience. Here are my close encounters with Elephants, Hyena, Zebra, giraffe, wild Buffalo, quails  all seen in the vici nity of our hotel LA Maison Royale 

 Leaving Nairobi and traveling through arid mountains  you reach Lake Navisha after about  2 hours   there are a lot of hotels  and resorts where we can see many conferences happening in such a scenic setting.  The main activity is boating and going to the Cresent Moon Bay in which all wild life are available.   The boats are taken closer to Cresent moon bay where you can see zebras antelopes wild beasts  hippos and various birds.