Day 3: Thursday 5:53AM Serena Mivumo River Lodge

8AM yesterday, our hearty gang loaded into safari trucks with high spirits and packed lunches for a long and ambitious day. Simon, our driver/guide handled the Land Rover with skill and flair, leading the pack on a brisk, chilly run onto game rich plains. At first we see nothing, then animals everywhere. Encountering lilac breasted rollers and Giraffe nurseries with half a dozen little ones guarded by matrons, were special treats.

Then we hit the jackpot. Simon spotted a pride of lions
lounging under trees. With great skill he maneuvered our truck through and over brush to follow lion social interactions for an hour. He radioed the other trucks to join the fun.  

After a picnic lunch we drove around the lake to see great birds and hippos out of the water. Boats were waiting by the river to ferry us back to camp for more hippo and croc encounters along the way.

To top off a superb day, a family of elephants crossed the river in front of us,  trunks and tails splashing merrily. Babies wrapped their little trunk around mom’s neck and held on for the ride. Lodge personnel declared they had never seen elephants cross before, and our boatman, who is on the river every day, has only seen elephants cross four times in seven years. Lucky us. The elephants celebrated their passage by eating a bush.

We headed for cold beer.
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Serena Mivumo River Lodge and Huts

lilac Breasted Rollers © Susan Tryon

Giraffe nurseries with half a dozen little ones guarded by matrons.

Impala lunch and some lion social interactions

Lions getting a drink

African Fish Eagle

Hippo © Susan Tryon

Swimming Hippos 

Crocodile

Family of elephants crossed the river in front of us, trunks and tails splashing merrily. Babies wrapped their little trunk around mom’s neck and held on for the ride. 
Extremely rare to see according to our guides.

The elephants celebrated their passage by eating a bush.

Day 2: Log Entry Wednesday 5AM from Selous Game Reserve.

Our driver got little sleep yet valiantly slid behind Fang’s wheel for our 7:04 AM start. Dignitaries, jumping Masai Warriors, an inflated START arch and a lively crowd cheered us out of the parking lot and on our way east to Morogoro. 
  
Even the heavy rush hour traffic here is at the mercy of Policewomen who command intersection passage in an unfathomable system that seems to omit only us. Fifteen minutes, no problem. Then a 30km crawl eastward. Fang’s trunk monkey must have caught the eye of a motorcycle cop. He signaled us out of line to enjoy 20km of VIP escort service right down the middle of the formerly two lane highway, siren howling. Rushing toward massive oncoming trucks that gave way at the last moment, wedging  between buses, flying free. Now that was fun.
 
Rally cars abandoned in a hotel parking lot, a quick Tucker’s beer, another bus, an airplane ride over mountains to our two night stay in the enormous Selous  Game Reserve. 
Bumping and jolting our way toward camp we passed thru sparse scrub which was control burned to increase new growth. This unpromising landscape yielded animals and glorious birds at every turn. Boar, zebra, giraffes, eland, baboon, even Cape Buffalo. We felt truly on safari. 
 
Then an evening boat ride amongst hippos aplenty, masses of crocs and kingfishers (in a flock), fish eagles, on and on.
Our accommodations are enviable, the drinks included, and laundry is free. Now 5AM Thursday as we head out with packed lunches for another day amongst nature.
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Day 1: Log entry Tuesday AM

An action packed forty eight hours indeed. After two days of lounging by the pool between spa visits we were startled into gear. A caravan of eager crews and support vehicles launched  toward our awaiting rally cars through 22 km of impressive and varied Dar es Salaam traffic.  We were overjoyed to fire up Fang, clear away two vision holes on the dirt covered windshield and head to a gas station.
A quick hand wash by enterprising gentleman at the hotel parking lot put things right and got Laurie in the mood to bleed Fang’s brakes. Then time for a quick, if poisonous, meal at the hotel before safety inspection, signing in and a two hour briefing. Now to organize and pack the car, revisit ATMs, check documents and car prep, all before the dire effects of lunch keep many crew members and the rally doctor up all night quite ill. 
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Day 01 Stats: Dar es Salaam to Morogoro/Selous, 198km/123mi in Tanzania

Dubai International Hotel view from our room

They Are Off!

After carefully sneaking bags out the back door so the dogs wouldn’t see them, our team is off to Africa!  (No, the dogs weren’t fooled)

After much concern about the size of the bags, I think the final pile was quite reasonable.  I left our travelers in search of a check in counter and hoping Emirates has a nice lounge.

They should be wheels up by 6 PM, 14 hours of flying and a few time zones later they arrive Dubai tomorrow at 7 PM.  After a half day of sightseeing in Dubai, they fly again to arrive in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania  Saturday afternoon, the starting point of this grand adventure.  They have a couple of days to rest up and free Fang from Customs before they present him on Tuesday to the scrutineers for a pre-race inspection, the green flag drops Wednesday morning.  One little pre-race adventure has been added.  As a result of complicated import rules in Tanzania we were unable to include any extra oil or brake fluid in the car and group attempt to ship it separately from London has recently failed for all of the cars.  This will result in a small mob of foreign motorists prowling the streets of Dar Es Salaam trying to translate things like “5W/30W synthetic motor oil” and “Dot 3 or 4 synthetic brake fluid”.  Stay Tuned!

Your Crew Chief, Charlie

Onward!

Thank you to all who will be watching and reading about rallying in Africa, for your love, encouragement, and support. Onward! 
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