Oct2010 TRAVEL TALES FROM FIRST RESPONSE TRAVEL
Penne and the boys had come out to Tanzania to spend six months with us as we were running a safari lodge 30 kms outside of Arusha. It turned out to be a fantastic holiday, both for the boys as well as Penne.
Ron and I had been living and working in and around Africa for the last 20 years and so we’d had a good deal of experience being in the bush and felt that if ever there was a good time for the boys to see Africa it was going to be now.
That first night was bitterly cold on the volcano lip as we prepared to sleep in tiny dome tents set up for us by the African camp guides. The boys were a bit bemused about sleeping outside in a small tent especially since the elephant was still wandering around the campground looking for acacia nuts that had fallen from the few scraggly acacia trees that grew nearby.
I told them not to worry about the elephant but to listen for the hyenas that would come scrounging for scraps later that night. Needless to say by nightfall we had two very attentive children sitting on top of us around the campfire before heading to bed. We were staying in two man tents but the boys elected to sleep with their mother making for a very cosy, but uncomfortable night for Penne. And yes the hyenas did come and sniff around our tents their spine tinglingly raucous laughter frightening the heck out of the kids. Lions also could be heard roaring throughout the night.
The camp site rose early the next morning in order to undertake the early morning game drives into the maw of the crater, travelling by 4 wheel drive down the side of the crater on a less than safe dirt track to the bottom.
Upon hearing that there were people up and about the kids finally ventured from their tent full of bravado and kid jokes about surviving the night with wild animals sniffing and ferreting beside their tent. However, for their mother, it was a different story, Penne looked like the wreck of the Hesperus, complaining that both boys at one stage had tried to scramble under her at the same time or both sleep on top of her.
That day was spent driving across the most atrocious roads found anywhere in the world but it didn’t stop many of the African drivers in the other vehicles from careening past us in a pall of yellow choking dust. The road accidents statistics in Africa are horrific and all drivers seem to think they are immortal and drive accordingly. And the thing is when they do have an accident the driver of the bus/car/vehicle will inevitably if he can, run away as other passengers will most likely try to beat him up for being so careless.
It was the second night in the tents and by now the kids were less worried about it and began to look forward to the night sounds and the possibility of another hyena sniffing around their tent. But that night was to be a little different than the last, someone had forgotten to lock up the rubbish bins in the compound near the kitchen.
Consequently, it sounded like a hundred ravenous hyenas had found their way into the small enclosure and then proceeded to fight over the few scraps that had been deposited there. The noise was frightening and we couldn’t help but hear the frightened calls of several campers nearby, as well as Jordan and Lachlan calling out to see if we were ok.
Towards the dawn things settled down and we did get some sleep before the camp attendants were up and about getting breakfast ready for the early morning game drives.
Before leaving the camp grounds we wandered over to the rubbish pit to see how much damage the hyenas had done. The boys were amazed to see just how strong the beasts were after looking at a cooking pot that had been left overnight, it was a metal aluminium saucepan and the side had been completely chewed out of it, it was the most amazing show of the strength contained in their powerful jaws.
That day turned out to be the very best of what the Serengeti has to offer. Besides the plains game which abounds, we found three prides of lions, a mother leopard with blue eyed tiny cubs and two families of cheetah, again with youngsters in tow.
We had elephants galore, big and little. There were vultures in the treetops, martial eagles on the thermals up above. But the treat for the day had to be the hippos, hundreds of hippos wallowing in a dwindling mud hole. The pool was drying out and so there was more mud than water and the smell was almost overpowering. Still the sight of so many hippos together was pretty impressive.
Back to the campground for another night’s camping. By now the boys were pretty blazé about camping and Penne was getting a better rest, although that night the lions did prowl the camp site – the boys sleeping right through. However when I showed them the lion prints right outside their door in the morning their eyes almost popped out of their heads. “You mean to say they were right here beside our tent,” both boys gasped wide eyed and shocked. “Its OK” their Grandfather Ron said, “So long as you stay inside your tent at night you won’t have any trouble.” The boys took some delight in following the lions’ tracks to the edge of the camp ground and speculated on what they had been looking for. One of the African camp attendants overheard their conversation and mentioned that some lions really like juicy little white boys for breakfast, at which our blokes just scoffed but hurried back in a dignified rush to the mini bus.
Overall the safari had been a great success. Africa is like that. There is always something to see, a magnificent continent full of extremes, vast deserts, endless rolling grass plains, thick jungles and wide brown rivers that go on forever.
The six months went by far too fast and Penne returned to Brisbane Australia to move into her new home in the bustling little township of Dayboro just outside Brisbane. Dayboro, it turned out, welcomed the new family with open arms and Penne joined the ambulance service as a First Responder on a voluntary basis.
In the meantime Penne could see that there was a great opportunity in Dayboro to open her own travel agency operating from an office from home, as she had acquired a diverse knowledge and experience operating a travel agency previously in the ACT.
First Response Travel is a fully accredited Travel Agency and fully licensed with the Travel Compensation Fund. Penne has years of travel agency experience behind her as well as having travelled to many of the destinations that we are currently offering. We can provide advice as well as service and the fact that we are available at a moment’s notice to assist with any travel advice or travel solutions.
Penne can also arrange corporate and business travel arrangements at a moments notice, so if you are looking for a great deal in travel anywhere, give Penne a call as she will give you the best deal possible as our overheads are low. We are a family business based right here in Dayboro.
