Safari

I arrived in Kilimanjaro International Airport on June 6, 2021. This is my dream trip, one I have wanted to take since I was a teenager and saw a documentary on the Serengeti. Today that dream is a reality. Well, not today since I had spotty internet for the first few days, but I am going to try to make some posts and catch up. As you can see, today is actually June 11 and …

My private safari guide, Alfred, picked me up at 6:00 am sharp from Acacia Farm Lodge for a full day game drive in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This is the place where I am meant to see the “Big 5” safari animals. These are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, cape buffalo, and elephant. I’d say I saw 3.5 out of 5… no leopard (here) and Alfred said he saw a rhino far away, but I could not …

For my second safari drive, Alfred took me to Lake Manyara National Park, which is very near Ngorongoro crater, but is a very different environment. While Ngorongoro, once you get to the bottom of the caldera, is a wide open plain that makes spotting animals at a distance easy, Lake Manyara is a forested area, so animals need to be close to be able to be seen. This was only a half day safari drive, …

On day 5 of my adventure, Alfred dropped me off at Lake Manyara Airstrip where I took a small plane to Kogatende airstrip in the northern Serengeti. There was a herd of impala running and stotting across the runway as the plane was landing. Quite a welcome that was. I was met by my new guide, Kanael, who drove me to my next destination, Olakira Migration Camp. The drive was quick and relatively uneventful, if …

The plan for my first full day in the Serengeti was to do a full day game drive, having breakfast and lunch in the bush. The first stop, however, was to go check on that elephant carcass to see if the lioness had decided to start feasting on it. Apparently she did as she looks fatter today than she did yesterday, but she has now ceded the feeding to the male and her cubs. https://youtu.be/cOmUQgFW8Oo …

Setting off for another full day game drive after breakfast, our first stop again was to see what was happening by that elephant carcass, and again it did not disappoint. Today, there were a couple of male lions feeding on it, everyone else seemingly having had their fill. Male lions eating elephant carcass https://youtu.be/oinxyae9v-w Male lions chowing on elephant We did not spend much time today with the lions as Kanael wanted to go a …

On my 4th day in the Serengeti, it was time to move to Namiri Plains Camp in central Serengeti. But that does not mean that this day was a bust for animal sightings. Au contraire! After taking a last scenic shot of the view from Olakira camp, being joined at breakfast by a lesser striped swallow, and being sent off by the staff with another song and dance, we drove back to the Kogatende airstrip …

Arriving at Namiri Plains Camp I was once again greeted with song. This is a larger, permanent camp that, unlike the last camp, had guests other than myself, so the greeting crew was substantially larger. https://youtu.be/7cIus_edvKE Namiri Plains Camp greeting The first order of business here was to get some lunch and check in to my “tent.” During lunch I noticed a herd of wildebeest in the distance, and I was joined by a superb …

Even before I left for my safari trip, I was told that Namiri Plains in the western Serengeti was one of the best big cat viewing areas, and this certainly proved to be true for me. Although I did not see any new big cats going forward, I saw more cheetah and had closer encounters with lions and the serval cat. On this 5th day in the magnificent Serengeti, I was greeted with an amazing …

For something different, I opted to do a hot air balloon safari for my 6th day in the Serengeti. This required leaving my camp at 4:00 am as the launch site was a couple of hours away and they like to launch at sunrise. Filling the balloonFilling the balloonBalloon lift offBalloon pilot and sunriseSerengeti sunrise As we were flying alternately low and high over the Serengeti (the pilot changes altitude mainly to steer the balloon …

After the balloon champagne breakfast, as we started the drive back to camp, we became almost completely surrounded by a huge herd of wildebeest and zebra. Wildebeest and zebra – Close encounter of the herd kindWildebeest and zebra – Close encounter of the herd kindWildebeest and zebra – Close encounter of the herd kindWildebeest and zebra – Close encounter of the herd kindWildebeest and zebra – Close encounter of the herd kindWildebeest and zebra – …

As always, all good things must come to an end. Today is my last day in the Serengeti and right after breakfast, Keko took me to the airport for my flight to Zanzibar, allowing a little extra time for the inevitable stops for wildlife. You should be able to identify everything in these pictures by now, so I will let them speak for themselves. Spotted hyenaSpotted hyenaSpotted hyenaSpotted hyenaSpotted hyenaSpotted hyena Lion cubLion cubLion cubLion …

Although it was very sad to end my safari, I know that the many amazing things I saw and experienced are now permanently burned into my memory… assuming I never suffer from some degenerative brain disease in my dotage. Plus I was looking forward to my first dives in the Indian Ocean and just relaxing for a few days. As fun as it was, my safari days were long, often 10 hours of driving, or …

Being home now and looking over what I posted, I realize it was a very forensic overview of the animals I saw and not much on what the experience meant for me or my interactions with the people of Tanzania. To be honest, other than the safari guides and the staff at the lodges and camps, I did not interact with the locals very much. The notable exceptions were my excursions to the Darajani Marketplace …

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