Scene of the crime : Akagera National Park
Date : Crack of dawn, February 21, 2010
Seekers of Adventure : The Manolos (RA's, 105, etcetera), Tsufit, Drew, MARGE, Kimironko House Kids (Cat, Annie, Vanessa, Alex) & justin (Irish's co-worker)
Our cell rings at 4:57am to let us know our ride is at our backdoor. We go outside to see - perhaps - the BIGGEST, MOST COMFORTABLE cars we have yet seen in Kigali. They are giant, 4-wheel drive trucks which have more room in them than any bus we've ever ridden in here (not saying much, but still). Our driver has told us to pack breakfast, lunch and lots of water, but provided a full case of bottled water! We knew this was a good sign.
After picking up the Kimironko House Kids we set off in the dark to Akagera. As we watched the sun rise over the mountains of Rwanda, we got closer to Akagera and our driver was apologizing for driving a bit fast. In our haze of vehicular comfort we assured him that we would clearly be driving faster so no worries.
When we pulled off the main paved road onto a dirt road our excitement began to build and when we pulled in to Akagera we were pretty much balls of energy (It was roughly 7:30am so you can imagine that this was particularly unnatural for us).
We paid our $30 park fee, and got a guide. SURPRISE! Our driver had popped the top of our truck and turned it into a 'Best-Safari-Panoramic-View-Vehicle' ever. Of course the RA's claimed a sweet piece of location right on the back (amongst MANY SAFETY BARS MOMS) and we set off on our way.
Our car was second in line as the guide was in the first car. Suddenly, we see a roadblock ahead. Downed tree you ask? No. Perhaps a stalled SUV? Wrong. BABOONS. Many, many Baboons. Big ones, small ones, babies hanging from mamas. They were so close to us and so awesome. Did you know that some baboons look like they have orange eyes? True story. They also travel in huge groups so they are all over the place.
First Stop : Lake Ihema
Mission : Hippo Spotting
Our car was second in line as the guide was in the first car. Suddenly, we see a roadblock ahead. Downed tree you ask? No. Perhaps a stalled SUV? Wrong. BABOONS. Many, many Baboons. Big ones, small ones, babies hanging from mamas. They were so close to us and so awesome. Did you know that some baboons look like they have orange eyes? True story. They also travel in huge groups so they are all over the place.
First Stop : Lake Ihema
Mission : Hippo Spotting
This lake redefines huge and gives even our favorite Lake Kivu a run for its money. On one side of the lake is Tanzania and inside the lake are hippos!!! We saw tons of birds near the water - but as we pulled up closer to the lake we saw those telltale bubbles and ripples in the water and knew hippos were there! Then - joy of joys - one of them raised his GIANT head up out of the water to say hello. We drive to another part of the lake (past many baboons) to see another group of hippos. YAY - there is a baby in this group! The baby was awesome, but the fella in front of the baby was not playing around - he didn't take his eyes off us the entire time.
Second Stop : North End of the Park (70 minute drive) [FYI: the animals migrate through the park over the seasons.]
Mission : Zebra, Giraffe, Warthog Spotting
RA2 has not been subtle about her desire to see a giraffe. However, we knew not to get our hopes up as 1) TIA and 2) disappointment sucks. After pulling in to the park part 2, we hop up onto the top of the truck but as we set off into the (LEGIT) bush, we realize this is not going to work as branches seem to be happily reaching out to grab us. We drive through about 20 minutes of bush and suddenly it breaks into a huge savanna. Surrounded by some of Rwandas' finest mountains the view is breathtaking. Even from thousands of feet away we can see the fields are spotted with hundreds of animals.
We have a driving tour of many different antelopes and huge families of zebras. Then, in the distance, we hear the tracker say 'do you see the giraffes?' RA1 restrains RA2 from jumping off the truck and running breakneck towards said land of giraffes. We full steam ahead and the closer we get, the more we can make out the shape of a giraffe. NO - many giraffes. WAIT - there are like 4 of them. NO NO, MORE!! We apparently stumbled upon a group of no less than 25 giraffes. On the way however, we did stop to pay homage to a few water buffalo as they are big and pretty awesome.
We have a driving tour of many different antelopes and huge families of zebras. Then, in the distance, we hear the tracker say 'do you see the giraffes?' RA1 restrains RA2 from jumping off the truck and running breakneck towards said land of giraffes. We full steam ahead and the closer we get, the more we can make out the shape of a giraffe. NO - many giraffes. WAIT - there are like 4 of them. NO NO, MORE!! We apparently stumbled upon a group of no less than 25 giraffes. On the way however, we did stop to pay homage to a few water buffalo as they are big and pretty awesome.
We were exhausted and UNSPEAKABLY FILTHY by the time we returned to Kigali, and roundly agreed that not only was it the highlight of our trip to Africa so far (and won't likely fall in the rankings), but it was actually possibly the best day of our lives. We got to ride around, ON a car, staring at baboons a few feet from us, making faces at hilarious looking baby giraffes, and taking in the most gorgeous panoramic vistas either of us could never have imagined. We don't know how we got this lucky, or as we frequently as one another in various tones, "how is this our life?", but we'll take it.
Full Safari Pics Here : http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1828080024/a=1844700024_1844700024/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
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