After summiting Kilimanjaro, our group separated for various adventures. On Thursday morning right after breakfast, Risa, Dave, Keri, Eric, Doug and I traveled to Arusha to meet with Serengeti Select Safaris for a 3 day safari. Our guide’s name was, Audix, and we were SO excited to be going on safari in Eastern Africa as we had heard it was different from our experiences in Southern Africa.
Risa, Dave and Doug ready to see some animals!
Unfortunately, we had quite a journey to our first destination, Lake Manyara, and we quickly lost steam. Risa, Dave and Doug sacked out (this photo was not staged!).
Whenever we travel, I am always curious about the ‘day-to-day’ life; therefore, I snapped a number of pictures of the roadside views along the way.
Check out the toddler sacked out on the front stoop of the shop
Transporting bananas on a really nice, wide, paved and SAFE sidewalk. I might send this picture to the King to campaign for a similar design in these parts...
Rice fields
Recycled concrete shop
Clothing store
Selling bananas
At last, we arrived at Lake Manyara National Park where we checked in with the park service, ate our boxed lunches, and then began our safari
Snoozing baboon
Crazy birds; a little blurry, but too cool to pass on posting
This is the local version of the ‘Steinbok or Dkyer,’ called the ‘Dik Dik.’ Hilarious, every time you call out that you’ve just spotted a, ‘Dik Dik.’ Mature, I know
Elephant
One of the biggest differences between Tanzania and Southern African safari is the landscape. In Southern Africa, there is a lot of ‘bush’ and underbrush. It makes spotting animals a bit more of a chore, but it also means that you might see animals closer because they have a bush to hide in and to feel safe. This picture represents the ‘great wide open’ that is safari in Tanzania. These are a couple of giraffe. Not very close, but very easy to spot!
The termite mounds are insane. Here’s Doug helping to put into perspective the size of this particular termite mound
And last, but not least, our friend the ‘Baobab Tree.’ Doug’s favorite
On Thursday evening we stayed at a Lutheran Guest House in between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. We arrived a little later than expected because Audix hadn’t been there in a while and forgot the turn-off; but, we were quick to ask for directions and eventually made our way.
Bathroom
We had a simple meal at the dining room and played cards while everyone took turns taking showers in order for the hot water to recuperate in between showers.
On Friday morning we got up early and headed toward the Ngorongoro Crater, the Mecca of all safari spots. The Crater is a large, unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. It was formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 2,000 ft deep and its floor covers 100 square miles. Basically, it's like a breeding and feeding ground as the majority of the animals never move out of the crater bottom. Doug liked to refer to it as the 'colloseum' for safari animals.
We saw a lot! So, I will try to do the highlights of the day…
Buffaloes
Wildebeest far; you can see the crater wall in the background
Wildebeest close
Hyena! This was my first hyena sighting. Usually hyenas only come out at night and scavenge, so it was very exciting to see these sinister little fellows up close!
Warthogs
Zebra; I love how his mane is a continuation of his stripes!
Our safari vehicle had three openings in the roof that allowed us to stand up and to get a better look. This is how we spent most of the day…Risa and Dave
The ‘DLT’s’ in Tanzania were different from ours in Southern Africa; this is a Thompson’s gazelle (kind of close to an impala, but not the same…you’d have to ask Eric the difference)
At lunch, we stopped by this watering hole to eat our boxed lunches
After lunch we were lucky enough to cross paths with two, black rhino. This was also my first time seeing the black rhino. The black rhino is more aggressive than the white rhino and also less common
As we were driving out of the crater we came upon a lioness who had just stolen a kill from a cheetah. She was prancing away with the gazelle in her mouth and we watched her cross the prairie and then hide in a bush to eat her prize.
Audix turned our vehicle around and went in search of the cheetah. Eric was the first to spot her lying in the grass nearby where the lioness had come from
Since my camera only has 12x zoom, I tried to take another picture through the binoculars...you get the idea...
Being satisfied with our cheetah sighting, we continued on our way up the crater wall and on to Ndutu National Park
We saw this elephant in the distance as we climbed the wall
Here’s a view looking back at the crater from the rim
Group photo
After leaving the crater we continued driving toward Ndutu National Park where we were going to stay in the bush camp for the night
There really wasn’t a road, so it was like we were just driving across the expanse
We saw a lot of jackals; Risa had special radar for the jackal and spotted them every time. You can also see the ‘great wide open’ in the background of this picture
As we approached Ndutu we saw a couple of giraffe up close and I’ve included them here because their spots and coloring were so different
Flamingos
Leopard in the tree; easiest way to 'spot' him is by his tail hanging down
After a solid 12 hours of safari we went to our 'bush camp' for our last night. While finding it was a bit of a debacle, it was well worth the wait.
Here's a view of the exterior of our palatial tent
Interior
Bathroom
Shower
Shower origination
Breakfast table
Still sleepy
On Saturday, we drove back through Ndutu and around the rim of the crater and all, all, all the way back through Arusha to the airport in Moshi. It was one, long continuous safari and our morning started with multiple herds hanging out together; for example, zebra, wildebeest, and giraffe
Giraffe family cruising along
Amazingly, we also saw three lazy cheetahs sunning themselves in the early hours of the morning
Close-up
Gross. Vultures feasting on a zebra
And one of my favorites; lionesses, spooning!
Rolling around
And being serious
After leaving Ndutu and on our way back to the Ngorongoro Crater we tried to catch a glimpse of the 'wildebeest migration' whereby millions of wildebeest move clockwise around Tanzania and Kenya
Eric really, really wanted to see the migration; therefore, he spent a lot of time out of the roof searching
While I thought we saw quite a few wildebeest, Doug and Eric informed me that it wasn't 'the' migration. Regardless, there were still a lot of wildebeest
The final furry friends we encountered included a lioness and her three cubs
Brave little cub
Snoozing
At 5:00pm Audix dropped us back at the Kilimanjaro airport and we began our journey home to Swaziland after an amazing safari experience. Unfortunately, do to munitions explosions at a depot nearby the airport, numerous flights had been cancelled in the days prior. This meant that our flight was oversold as the airlines booked delayed or stranded passengers from the previous days. So, Doug and I didn't get on our original flight and we had to be rerouted through Nairobi, Kenya. It wasn't really that big of a deal, but it did add a little drama to our return journey. We spent the night in the Dar eSalaam airport (not the cleanest place on the planet) and then connected back to JoBurg where our car hadn't been stolen (yay!) and we completed our travels with a 4 hour drive back to The Kingdom. And then our adventure was really over. Boo.
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