Thomson Airlines Boeing 757 Explorer One (G-OOBF)
India and Tanzania
Saturday, February 20, 2010

    This was another travel day, but one that marked a milestone for me. Today, I set foot on my seventh and final continent – Africa. As a matter of fact, at the end of this expedition I will have walked on all seven continents in a period of less than thirty days, having been in Antarctica in January and then North America, South America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe in February.

    We were up early and following breakfast we off to the Jaipur airport to re-board Explorer One for our seven and a half hour flight to Tanzania. Like all of these long flights, they seem to go rather quickly with all the activities we have during the flights. This was the first flight that had light turbulences during the entire flight. After the unexpected nice weather in India, we prepared ourselves for hot weather in equatorial Tanzania. But, we were surprised again. While quite warm at Kilimanjaro Airport, it really wasn’t too bad. Immigration went very quickly at the airport and we were able to just pass through customs with our bags just moved through without our individual effort. We were ushered into a departure lounge to await our regional flights to our separate destinations: the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Hoopoe Mobile Tent Camp in the Serengeti, my destination.

    We split up and boarded a fleet of small single-engine Cessna Caravans, Twin Otters, and a couple of Beech King-Airs. These quickly loaded and departed Kilimanjaro Airport and headed for gravel airstrips in the Serengeti. After about an hour flying time, we landed and were met by Land Cruisers to ferry us to the mobile tent camp that would be my home tonight, all of tomorrow, and the following morning. During the thirty-minute drive along muddy rut-paths, we were able to get a quick first-hand look at some of the incredible amount of wildlife here in Africa. They have been having extra rain here this year and there is a lot of mud. The Land Cruisers sometimes feel more like boats than cars as they fishtail along while slipping and sliding across the plains.

    Arriving at the camp, we were greeted with cool drinks and given a brief introduction while sitting in a big camp circle around a campfire. We were then guided to our individual tents. Some of us were affected more by the dramatic change from the Palace Hotel in Jaipur that we left this morning to the rustic tent of the Serengeti. I found the tent to be fantastic. It was a huge tent with plenty of ventilation and two sturdy cots with excellent mattresses and individual mosquito netting. This front section is partially separated by a canvas wall and curtains from the rear portion of the tent. The back section included a sink with a small cistern of water and behind this on the left was a gravity-feed shower and on the right a private chemical toilet. If you wanted a shower, you ordered hot water to be carried in a bucket behind your tent. This was added to a reservoir that was hauled up on a rope and then you turned your shower on and off with a level in your tent.

    While we didn’t have true electrical power, we did have three solar powered lamps in the tent, one in the main section ceiling, one on a bedside table, and one in the rear bathroom section. These lamps provided plenty of light. Knowing that I would have no electricity, I did not bother to haul my computer to the Serengeti.

    We refreshed quickly and then met in the mess tent for dinner. They prepared a wonderful dinner with three entrée choices: chicken, beef, and a vegetarian option, along with soup, vegetables, rice, fruit, dessert, wine, beer, and soft drinks. I can see that I won’t starve out here!

    Since just before dinner, it has been raining, so it was nice that there were umbrellas available in each of our tents. I was also glad that I remembered my pocket flashlight to ease the journey back to my tent for the night. They place a lit kerosene lantern in front of each tent to help keep the wildlife away during the night. It took a little while to fall asleep at nine o’clock, but it was nice to lay there listening to the grunting of the wildebeest, the call of birds, the sound of insects, and the patter of rain on the canvas tent. I was very content. The five-star hotels have been fantastic, but for me, this was just as fantastic!

    Tomorrow will be our full day for safari. We will split up in groups of six per Land Cruiser and will explore the forested areas and plains. It should be a fun day.