It was a long drive in. As we got closer to our turn off point we realized we needed to stop for petrol because otherwise we would not be able to get any for a couple days. The problem was, however, there was not a petrol station anywhere in sight. We had no choice but to turn back. At this point, we were ready to kill each other. It was just one of those days... I felt Brad didn't listen to me or think things through, and that was why we were rerouting, wasting time, etc. It was nothing short of classic marital nonsense.

So with our journey slightly rerouted, we searched for a petrol. We found a spot, but they didn't accept credit cards, so we decided to check one more station... ...and, naturally, they didn't accept credit cards either.. We were at a loss and just decided to bite the bullet and fork over more of our shillings. We didn't have a choice. We were burning through our cash faster than we knew was possible. This was a major unexpected problem we were having in Tanzania.

Back on track, we followed the long dirt road back to the Wildlife Management Area which was farther than the GPS made it seem. We wondered if we were on the wrong road, but decided to press on because we had no idea where else it could be. Our perseverance paid off, and we reached the station around 3 PM, but we were not ready for the headache that we were about to experience.

Brad got out to speak to the guard who insisted that we were supposed to get our permit back in Arusha. He refused to take payment there, and told us the only way for us to get through was for us to go back to Arusha for the permit. We were flabbergasted because of our experience at Lake Moshi where the man took our cash without hesitation. (Now, I think the man at Lake Moshi, just pocketed it...) We wondered, could this day get anymore frustrating?

As I sat there waiting I was able to get some fantastic photos of the Young Maasai boy dressed in his warrior costume. I was able to trade these photos for a bottle of water 1000 Tanzanian Shillings.

We continued to waited patiently as possible while Brad insisted the man call our hotel to work out the details. Finally, after constant back and forth phone calls, the manager of our next hotel worked out a deal with the guard that the hotel would pay for the permit, and it would be delivered the following day by a colleague in Arusha, but the guard would have to let us through. Thankfully, the man in uniform agreed, and lifted the barrier arm.

Finally past the gate, feeling agitated and simultaneously relieved, we pressed on. We thought we made it through all the obstacles for the day, and were finally ready to drop our bags, relax, and unwind so that we could enjoy tomorrow. Unfortunately, an even bigger obstacle lay in our way. A river. I wish it were a joke, but it's not. At this point, swear words were flying from my mouth, and we were feeling incredibly defeated and disheartened. We could literally see our hotel on top of the cliff across the river. We were envisioning the worst, such as a night without dinner and breakfast and sleeping in our car. Quickly, I tried to pull it together and plan. We got out of the car to try to examine the depth, thinking it might not be as bad as it looked. I was throwing in rocks the size of my head and sure enough it was a hard plop and they were gone... Brad volunteered to wade in and see how deep it was, but I strongly advised against it because if I lost him to the river, there was absolutely nothing I could do.

I had seen a sign for a hotel a little ways back and decided we should head there to try to call our hotel, so we got in our car and made our way there. However, we hit yet another snag. When we pulled into the parking lot, we were dumbfounded. The place had burned down (I am cracking up while I write this, by the way). “Was this situation real?”, we were wondering. It was straight out of bad dream. Brad took the lead, and headed to speak to the workers who were working on rebuilding the place. They sent for the manager while Brad and I waited restlessly for about fifteen minutes. We still hadn't heard from anyone so Brad wandered off in search of someone who could help us. Finally, two people came over, and we were able to explain our dilemma. They tried to call our hotel, and while this was going on some of the construction workers ran off to the river to check the depth. We followed along in our 4x4 with the hotel management in the back seat.

When we pulled back up to the river side, one of the workers was wading his way across the river. He was able to navigate all the way across on foot, and it never went past his hips, so we knew we would probably be fine. Our path was determined.

Once that man was back on our side, a car came charging down the hill across the way to the water, and pushed its way through over to us. A British chap hopped out of the vehicle and gave us the run down. He was the manager of our hotel, and came to our aid. He informed us that they had been yelling to us from the hotel, but we were never able to hear them. Brad and I thanked the locals and hopped back in the vehicle, and followed our new guide across the river, to be led to our next restful location. As we wandered up the hill and into the tall grass we were delighted to see elephants right by our hotel...

When we got to the Tarangire River Camp, we followed our rescuer to the lobby area. We had a good chat about the river which had appeared just a couple of days earlier because of all the rain, Tanzanian politics and tourism, and how difficult it is to do your own self-drive tour in that country. Then filled out our forms, and were ushered to our tent. The Maasai carried our bags for us, and led us down the dirt path to our little piece of heaven. We unpacked a bit and got ourselves organized before we went to wander the grounds.

We found our way to the viewing deck which overlooked the river we had just crossed moments before. We could not believe the day we had. We were so grateful to be at camp and be able to let loose. We wanted drinks with dinner to help take the edge off, but with our cash situation being slightly dyer we kept it light. We enjoyed the incredible meal, and turned in early.

It was a great night's sleep followed by an early morning. We were eager to get a jump-start on our day. We got our bags back to the car, and enjoyed a simple breakfast. We had to pay cash (cards weren't accepted) for the remainder of tab which included our fee for the WMA gate and our beverages with dinner.

With everything loaded and ready to go, we were ready to cross the river once more, and take on the challenges of the day. Thankfully the water level of the river had lowered over night, so navigating the water wasn't quite as challenging.

Within 20 minutes we were back at the WMA gate. Brad got out to see if we were okay to exit, but sure enough the guard would not let us through. We were beyond frustrated. Brad had the guard call the hotel and speak to the manager, who assured the guard that his guy was on the way with the permit. ...but that still wasn't enough. We were required to wait until the man with the permit arrived despite showing him the proof that we paid the hotel for the permit. We discussed just going around the barrier and taking off, but we didn't. We waited about 30 minutes, Brad kept going in and out of the office hoping the man would cave, but he was resistant. Brad contacted the man with the permit who assured him he was on his way and would be there soon... but "soon" seemed to be a loosely used term in this country. Finally, Brad called the hotel manager himself to see what his take was. His advice was exactly what we wanted to hear... just go... haha. So, we did. Brad told the guard we were leaving, quickly got back in the car, and we took off around the barrier. We were not going to keep playing the games. We had shown proof of payment and he had assurance from multiple people that it had been taken care of. It was out of our hands, and we had to get on with our day.

Luckily, it was a short drive to Tarangire National Park. We got out of the car, had one last bathroom break, filed our paperwork, and paid the fees (they took card!!). We took the map with our high spirits, got back in the car and drove through the gate.

Tarangire took us completely by surprise while we visited for several hours. We took turns driving as we went down many different roads in search of lions and leopards and cheetahs. There were no cats to be seen, but what got us was the insane amount of elephants. We saw hundreds!!! That is pretty much the only thing I even remember seeing in Tarangire, elephants Old elephants, baby elephants, bulls, females, matriarchs, families, pachyderms. Pachyderms everywhere! It was absurd. Several hours of our life were spent invading herds of elephants. I would stand out the sunroof filming, photographing, and of course, speaking to the beautiful, powerful, majestic animals. There was one time we were even threatened by an elephant to back off. Don't worry, we did.

Thanks to my picture catalog, I can tell you that in addition to the elephants, we saw zebra, antelope, springbok, a variety of birds, giraffe, vervet monkeys and more, but elephants were the only animal in the Big Five group that we saw. Aside from the quantity of elephants we encountered, Tarangire wasn't quite what we were hoping for. However, we were also only there for maybe six hours. I think with the right amount of time we could of tracked more.

We eventually decided that it was crucial for us to make our way out of the park and get back on the road. We had to make our way to our next overnight location Gibb's Farm, which sat on the exterior mountainside of Ngorongoro Crater. It was about a three hour drive, and we wanted to make it in time to relax before the sun went down.

...to be continued.

ISSUE 53: Tarangire Region, Tanzania 2018