Tanzania

On the way to the airfield, Sean is telling me about the place we will be staying at (he spent two months building the 'camp' for a family friend). Apparently the friend is going to be leaving the country for a few weeks and was hoping that someone would keep an eye on it for him... after clearing customs and immigration we walk out to the waiting helicopter! It turns out that Mr. Smith has decided to squeeze in a last few days at the camp before he has to go. So he has offered to fly us down in his helicopter.

The flight down was amazing! Crossing over the Great Rift Valley and stopping for coffee, and cake on the top of the Ngureman Mountain Range was stunning. The feeling of near weightlessness on banking turns and dives as we followed the countours of the area lent a sense of giddiness to it all (nearly the whole cockpit is covered in windows, so one can imagine the amount of exposure there is compared with a plane). As we came in over the Serengeti we saw tons of animals: elephants, zebra, cape buffalo, lions, cheetah, and many types of game. I also saw the numerous kopjes that Sean had mentioned...

Since we were watching Mr. Smith's camp we were also granted the status of his crew. Thus being entitled to the various privileges that this encompased. Acting under these pretenses we were able to scout out 'possible future filming sites.' Sometimes this entailed the gaining of various summits (the kopjes are essentially granite outcrops and heaps of stacked boulders), yet the gaining of these summits were not always accessed in the 'easiest' way. We did several "game" drives as well and I saw more animals than I could have imagined. We counted over a hundred elephant one day, and hundreds of zebra too! We would drive around a kopjes to determine if it was a quality 'site' and then see lions laying around the backside of rocks we had just contemplated investigating... definetly not a place were one can just go on a late night stroll.

Here at 'camp' things are pretty plush. In terms of camping it would be on par with the Ritz or the Waldorf- Astoria. Comfortable beds, hot showers, and a friendly staff. How else could I be in the middle of the Serengeti and still be able to post this?. Unfortunetly we will be leaving this phenomenal place soon, but I must say I am eagerly awaiting whatever is to come next.