Kilimanjaro: Hahn & Team Finish Game Viewing and Get Ready to Head Home
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
There was plenty of debate last night as to whether the tent fabric of our accommodations at Balloon Camp would keep out leopards and lions. But nobody showed up for breakfast this morning with visible scarring. In fact, we each slept quite well in the deep quiet of Tarangire National Park at night. We got going at first light today, with Francis and Ibrahim taking the Toyotas down by the giant marsh on the Eastern border of Tarangire. We covered a lot of ground along the edge of the wetlands. At times, there were no animals apparent and we had to settle for the physical beauty of the place itself. At other times, we bumped into four hundred skittish Cape Buffalo, galloping along -raising a dust cloud- and looking warily about for whatever might be chasing them. We saw plenty of good eagles and even a fascinating set of Eagle/Owls -a mom and her offspring- eating their breakfast on a tree branch. We looked everywhere for big cats but failed miserably at that, having to content ourselves with wall to wall elephants and giraffes, wildebeest and zebra along with majestic baobab trees. We’d made our way to the main gate of the park by 11:15 AM and had to tear ourselves away from Tarangire and get on the road back toward Arusha. We stopped at the city’s edge to check out the cultural heritage museum and shop before cruising through Sunday traffic to the Arumeru River Lodge. There was time then for showers and repacking and a pleasant early dinner before we boarded a bus for the airport. Most of the team started their journey homeward tonight. We said fond farewells as we diverged. I -for one- am sticking around for round 2, another climb and another safari, but that will all begin soon. For now I’m still thinking of the adventure and the challenges of the past two weeks and the fine team we became in enduring (and enjoying) it all.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
