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I've really enjoyed reading this report. Thanks again for taking the time to share.
In search of Father Jack.
- Thread starter Drumacoon Lad.
- Start date
Thanks folks. Great to have interested readers. Makes the writing worthwhile.
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Before leaving Tanzania I had hoped to see some game and I'd heard the Ngorongoro Crater was a special place to view animals. After a hearing it may not be possible, I then got an offer from a safari guide to borrow a vehicle and take me there and he took his kids and friends kids along for the ride.
The weather was overcast and not promising but we headed off. Its a few hours ride to the crater from Arusha, not helped by frequent police speed checks. The driver was stopped once and had to forfeit a gift to the officers involved. The crater is a natural phenomenon, and is 20km across and 600 metres deep. It is what is left of an ancient volcano, that blew its top, some time in ancient history. It now provides a unique contained environment for wildlife.
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The weather was overcast and not promising but we headed off. Its a few hours ride to the crater from Arusha, not helped by frequent police speed checks. The driver was stopped once and had to forfeit a gift to the officers involved. The crater is a natural phenomenon, and is 20km across and 600 metres deep. It is what is left of an ancient volcano, that blew its top, some time in ancient history. It now provides a unique contained environment for wildlife.
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Here's a few photos, of zebras, including some youngsters with brown stripes, the wildebeest also had young, lots of these Thompson's Gazelles and this chunkey Buffallo.
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Some striking birds too, a Pelican, roosting Yellow-billed Storks, a reflecting Avocet, a wet Secretary Bird, an African Sacret Ibis, a Kori Bustard, a Hildebrandt's Starling eating the crumbs from our lunch and a Grey Crowned Crane.
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This last little group has first a Jackal, a Warthog, a little family group of Baboons, this posing young male Lion and a male and female Lion working on securing the next generation.
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Superb photos,great to see thanks.
Brilliant ending to a fantastic trip! I may not ever get to see Africa, but by following trip reports from people like you and Simon, I will have some knowledge of the continent. Thank you.
Phil
Phil
One thing I wanted to see before I left Tanzania was Kilimanjaro. I'd thought of riding the little bike from Arusha but the weather was poor and it was likley to be shrouded in cloud. My last chance was the taxi ride to the airport which passed close to the mountain. I got the driver to get closer to the mountsin and show me where it was and I took the photo below.
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When the plane took off I hoped I may get a view of the mountain from the right side of the plane but it headed east, which was disappointing but then it turned through 270 degrees and my hopes lifted, but the mountain was still covered in cloud. Then as we climbed, a window opened in the cloud and there the mountain was, in all its glory. My last view of Tanzania was pretty spectacular.
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What a fantastic shot,
A fitting ending to an epic trip you did and for the trip reports you gave us all..
Mike..
A fitting ending to an epic trip you did and for the trip reports you gave us all..
Mike..
Thanks guys for those last comments. I thought the write-up could do with an updated map. This is the output from the Garmin Inreach Explorer tracker that I carried. It sends my location up to website every 10 minutes via the satellite network to create this map. It also has an SOS feature should I have needed it. This map started in Congo, Brazzaville where I bought the bike and covers my ride of 20,000km. The earlier part of the trip, from Congo, through Angola into Namibia, and in and out of Botswana, was covered in another RR(blog) which I shared with Simon before he headed north and returned to Europe.
https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/491947-Gael-warning-in-the-Congo/page11
Looking at the map now, it seems I used the teleport button on my tracker, to get from the Angola border down to the Etosha National Park
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https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/491947-Gael-warning-in-the-Congo/page11
Looking at the map now, it seems I used the teleport button on my tracker, to get from the Angola border down to the Etosha National Park
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Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. Was a great trip, the little 125 served me well. Wishing I had that bike still down there.
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Hi! What a wonderful adventure. So well documented with your write up and photos. I’m up since six this morning, what a great start to the day. I loved the family connection. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, thanks for the comments. Great to see people are still enjoying that write up. Was lucky with the timing. I was initially planning to return in April for the last leg up to Tanzania. Then thought, I can miss out out on a couple of cold months in UK by going down in January. That proved to be a great decision, allowing me to finish before UK lockdown and before flights got difficult, even if it rained a tiny bit.
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Yes, agree. The Suzuki was the star. Like me it didn't like gravel but coped with everything else. I'm sure it still being ridden around northern Tanzania. Glad you enjoyed it!
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One result of this trip and the search for Father Jack in Tanzania, was a determination to make one more attempt to find his father's grave, located in a vast graveyard in Glasgow. I had searched twice before and failed, the horizontal rain on those occasions did not help. This September I arrived at the graveyard in sunshine, with more information and an able assistant, Simon. We searched 2 areas of the graveyard which were possibilities, without success, but in the 3rd we found Sapper Edward Sherry's grave. It was a great relief to find it and as I was the first in my family to visit the grave, quite a moving experience. As he died in service during WW1 this seemed an appropriate day to recognise him here.
His brother, my grandfather, lived with us till I was about 10, so I knew him well. Father Jack is buried in California, so I hope to visit there some time in the future.
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His brother, my grandfather, lived with us till I was about 10, so I knew him well. Father Jack is buried in California, so I hope to visit there some time in the future.
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That's a fitting end to the story Jim.
Great to hear he was in the Royal Engineers as well. Go Sappers!!!
Great to hear he was in the Royal Engineers as well. Go Sappers!!!
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