I'm running a little behind from catching up at work, but here are some photos from Tanzania. Unlike previous trips, I had a chance to see a bit of the country, and we spent a few days as tourists before the hunt.

Steve Kaufman of Tanzania Bundu Safaris and I met in Dallas and flew together from Dallas to Amsterdam and on to Kilimanjaro where Safari Classics' cameraman Andy MacDonald met us. We had planned to spend some time at a couple of Bundu's camps in Maasailand before we started hunting.

The line to clear customs at Kilimanjaro ($100 for a visa).


Spent the first nigh at the Impala Hotel in Arusha.


The pool at the Impala Hotel.


Our President seems to be quite popular in Tanzania (as you'll see through the report), and this is one of the many images of him found on the streets of Arusha (and on the backs of cars and buses)


Street scenes in Arusha.



What can I say?.


Before heading out to the Lokasale (sp?) camp, we stopped for some provisions... beer and biscuits (cookies), mostly.

The grocery store in Arusha.



Lokasale is in Maasailand (just a couple of hours outside of Arusha) and borders the Tarangire national park. The were so many zebra and wildebeest there that you would have thought you were actually in the park.





We hadn't been on the property for an hour or so when we ran into one of the game scouts who told us where he'd just seen some lions on a kill.

There's a female and an adolescent in this photo and one cub that's not visible.


A giraffe in the Tannzania sunset.


The dining area.


Tented quarters.


Early on the second day, we leave Lokasale for the crater.
A cloudy sunrise at Lokasale.



The entry is pretty busy with traffic, and the ride up to the rim is a bit unassuming.



But when you actually crest the rim and look down inside, the grandeur of it hits you all at once... WOW!

As natural "wonders of the world" rank, it makes Vic Falls look pretty pedestrian. You just can't imagine the scale of it without actually seeing it.



Me, Steve and Andy standing on the crater rim.


Inside the crater.










Afternoon jet-lag setting it...




A view without the heavy cloud cover.



SeriouslY???

WOW. Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing these.

new_guy,

The Crater was one of the highlights of my 35 days in Tanzania in '03. It truly is a MUST see.

Mark

Fantastic pictures, thanks for posting them!

Amazing stuff. Would that bull elephant go over 100 lbs?

Chris, great trip. When do you start "shootin stuff"??? I see a few candidates already. :-)

Great pics!

Stellar!

Ok, Chris - that was a great tease. More...pleeeze!

WOW !! Great photos

Amazing. Thank you for sharing those.

Those crater buff are unreal. And that elephant is colossal.

Fantastic photos. Many thanks.

Very nice photos all the way around.
Thanks
Kidd

Yes, we do eventually kill some stuff, but I've got about 1100 photos to wade through... Don't worry... I won't post them all!

Observation: ALL Massai seem to have cell phones.


We didn't think we could make it from the crater all the way back to Lobo, so we overnighted at a photo lodge (Manyara Ranch) in between.

The accommodations were wonderful. Here is the dining tent.


My tent.





Next day we were on the way to Lobo and stopped back by Lokasale for lunch.


Here are a couple of nice buff from the hunt before.


Steve is polishing up on his Swahili at a watering hole, and trying to buy a spear or two.


This is a spring that has been dug (by hand) into a huge pit. Notice the jug in the water? The Massai make a human chain and move water from the spring up to a trough for their cows to drink. The idea being that the steep walls of the pit prevent other animals from drinking here and competing with their cows for water.


Much later that afternoon, we make it to Lobo.






There was a hunter in camp that shot a leopard that same afternoon. I've never shot one, and I thought it would be cheaper to have my photo taken with his...


Here's a 45" buff that the same hunter shot.


We spent the night at Lobo that night and did some Massai shopping the next day.

First stop was a meat market in the bush.












Curio shopping in the bush.

Some cool pix of Ngorongoro! Both the buff and elephant are bruisers...

Great pic,Thanks for posting
Man I love that place...

Is that by chance Mama Juma in the last photo?

This is EXCELLENT...I'm looking forward to enjoy all the pics you care to post...

Fantastic images!!!

Thanks!

Chris very nice. Great photos.

Mike

After the meat-market, we made our way to a Massai market. This was Aug 8 (8/8), and it was a local holiday. It was made up of some locals selling goods but mostly vendors and their wares from Arusha that collectively compose a bit of a mobile flee market. Every Massai within a however far walk or ride was there; along with us 3 gringos.



Bicycle repairs


Bicycle parts and tools for sale


Tobacco balls... good thing I quit.


Rope weaver


Fruits of his labor


One of the "aisles" of the event... this puts the size into a little better perspective.


Dried fish.




Lots of Chinese imports














Meat Market








I looked all over for a pair of these, but they are only available in Arusha according to the locals.






An impromptu cock fight.

More fantastic photos, thanks again.

Great pics - thanks, Chris!

I love this format, long on pictures, short on text. I may model my next report after this one. Great pictures Chris, I look forward to Chapter IV!

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I love this format, long on pictures, short on text.

I agree, great entertainment. Thanks.

Absolutely beautiful photography. Thanks for posting.

Bull1

The crater is definitely one of my favorite spots on earth, been there twice now and your photos make me want to go back.

Chris,

You take some truly fantastic photos!

Thanks for sharing the experience. I look forward to the next batch.

Stay well,

Paul

Fabulous pictures!

Brett

Fantastic Pics. I agree with Mike. Love the myriad of photos with short descriptions.

Good photos, looking forward to update 4!

Thanks for the great Pics and Sharing your Safari. I was in that KMJ customs line recently. Not that long ago A person could be cleared, get baggage collected, and headed out in around thirty minutes. Thats long gone...

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
Good photos, looking forward to update 4!

+1 great report and photos.

Great photos!

Very enjoyable report. I did not know that Hillary Clinton had a chain of boutiques!


Dutch

What a hell of a fine report and photos!! Thanks so much for sharing!

I have apparently lost an SD card and some photos, but I do have the important ones... will try to get those up tomorrow and get you the details of the actual hunt.

Chris great photos. You think you could trade the real Obama for that elephant?!!!

Great photos!

Thanks for sharing...

Best,
Dave

Where's the rest? I am looking forward to it.