Day 4 - Kigoma (and the crazy Zebra!)

Our flight to Kigoma left early. We were once again met by a driver who drove us to the Arusha airport only 5 minutes from our lodge. Blink and you'll miss it! Literally! Arusha airport is a small building at the end of a dirt road.

We were excited to hear we'd be making a stop in the Serengeti before heading to Kigoma. This was our chance to get a sneak peak of what we may see early next week! We found our pilot and boarded the 12-seater plane!

I'm not a fan of flying but I could fly over the Serengeti all day! It was wonderful! In the few seconds before we landed on an airstrip made of only dirt we got a very quick glimpse of zebra, wildebeest, hippos, and a vulture! Truly spectacular! (And nope, no fences to keep them off the runway here) And that was only seconds of the day... I'm so excited to return. But on to Kigoma...

We arrived in Kigoma, a small town with a lot of people! The town sits on the slopes bordering Lake Tanganyika. It's a very beautiful place with so much poverty. That Africa smell was replaced with the smell of rotting sewage in the streets. 

As we arrived at our hotel we were informed about the local monkeys and zebras who live on the hotel grounds! We were told the monkeys may try to steal our food and the zebras will run when we use flash photography. Unfortunately the animals weren't in site when we checked into our rooms and went to eat lunch. ( I snapped this photo of Kim just after we sat down for lunch)

After we ordered our lunch I kept feeling bites on my legs so I decided to run back to the room for my bug repellant. I grabbed my phone and headed back. On the way back to the restaurant I saw the zebras grazing in the open yard in the middle of the property! So I decided to snap a photo on my phone before heading back to the table. I took this photo before what will be referred to after this point as "the incident"! 

As soon as I took the photo, the zebra pinned his ears back put his head down and starting charging full speed directly at me! My heart stopped. I looked both ways.. No one was around. It was just me and the zebra in an open area with no cover. The closest protection I could see was a tree... So I took it. I ducked behind the tree. As quickly as he began the sprint, he stopped. My heart started again. I thought, "Awe, he was trying to intimidate me.. It didn't work, I didn't run.. Now he will leave me alone."  He started grazing again. I had won the game of chicken! Or so I thought... 

So I pressed my luck. Dumb move. I took this photo...

Now he decided to teach me a lesson about the rules of chicken. He turned toward me again, pinned his ears back, and with his head down kicked his back legs in the air and charged the 12 inch round tree I was standing behind. We dodged and weaved back and forth around the tree... Me with my heart in my throat and him making a racket of noises and barrel-racing like moves! Out of nowhere a groundskeeper appeared hollering at the zebra and running as fast as he could in my direction. He pelted the bugger on the rear with a few big rocks and the zebra turned calmly and walked away. After thanking my hero profusely I asked if this was a common occurrence. He answered with broken English "He is problem. You don't have flash, right?"

I told him no. My phone never has the flash on. Later I realized the photo I had taken of Kim earlier at lunch needed a flash because of the dimly lit room - so I turned on the flash on my phone... And hadn't turned it off. We realized the hotel staff must have meant that the zebra runs AT you when you use the flash. Later this evening, after the sun went down another member of our group was chased by the same zebra when she went walking through the grounds carrying her lit up phone. Note to self: keep flash "off" when visiting Serengeti.

The rest of the day was spent at the Jane Goodall institute in Kigoma where we were briefed on tomorrows activities. We are excited for the coming days... (And to say goodbye to the crazy zebra!)

Goodnight!