My travel wishlist activities come in three categories:
- Wouldn't mind doing
- Want to do
- The Bucket list
After researching looking for the best place to safari in Africa I finally decided on the Serengeti in Tanzania because I wanted to see one of the Greatest Wonders of the World, "The Great Migration". The Serengeti is primarily located in Tanzania with small portion in Kenya. This is one of the more "authentic" viewing experiences because many of the animals are following their natural movement for survival.
Manyara Stop Over
We departed Arusha and started our 7 day Safari in the Manyara Reserve which is known for a lake with Flamingos. This was a great location to break of up trip from the city to the Serengeti. Greeting us right outside the reserve were some baboons crossing the road looking for food from passing vehicles.
I had a difficult time containing my excitement and I wasn't disappointed because as soon as we drove in there were elephants on a few feet away from us eating their lunch.
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| Manyara Elephnts |
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| Our Ride Toyoto Landcruiser |
The next morning while traveling on the highway we suddenly stopped because elephants were running across the road. I don't remember seeing an "Elephant Crossing" sign along the highway!!Ndutu Bound
The Ultimate Goal of this trip was to visit Ndutu, an area near the serengeti where the migration was supposed to be that time of year.
Our route took us through the beautiful Ngorongoro Conservatory Area and the highlands of the rift valley. As we drove along the highway that turned into dirt rough road we spotted a variety of animals grazing along the side of the highway. Zebras, buffalo and ostriches were more plentiful that the deer we see along our highways. It was soooo coool!
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| Beautiful Antelope |
The Ndutu area was my favorite location on the safari not only because this is where the Great Migration was located, but we could drive off road anywhere we wanted. Sometimes this resulted in vehicles getting stuck in mud. It was an incredible experience to have lunch in the middle of a heard of wildebeast and zebras.
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| There were Wildebeast Everywhere! |
I felt I had to pinch myself when leaving our camp because we often saw Giraffes hanging out and eating along the side the road. Lions were also eating alongside the road. Starting out at 6am gives the best chance to see lions active and hunting for their food.
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| The Lion's Breakfast |
It's the Serengeti
After two days exploring Ndutu enjoying the abundance of wildlife, we then headed to the Great Serengeti. There were many more people here and this wasn't the busiest season. The star animals of the Serengeti were the leopard and the cheetah. The leopard was often spotted resting in a tree but when it started to climb down the tree our driver was anxious to drive off. I wonder if he had a bad experience with leopard in the past.
We also watched a cheetah hunt a gazelle while the paparazzi (us and 25 others) stood in the way between he and his dinner.
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| Leopard in Tree |
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| Cheetah in Action |
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| Paparazzi |
The animals see the safari trucks as another animal that is just hanging around so they don't mind, usually, when we get close all except for a Mommy Elephant that charged our truck because she thought we were too close to her baby.
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| Bat Foxes |
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| Lion Cub |
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| Hyrax |
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The balloon safari that took about 16 of us on an sunrise ride over the Serengeti was very peaceful and graceful. The finale was a bush English breakfast with tasty mimosas. Can you believe this was my very first real balloon ride? and I did it in the Serengeti!
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| This is how the balloon basket was loaded |
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| Bush Breakfast |
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| The animals travel the same path year after year |
Ngorongoro Crater
The crater is a very scenic volcanic caldera in the highlands that is only inhabited by the animals. At first I wasn't planning to visit this area because I was concerned about crowds and didn't want a zoo-like experience but I was told that viewing the animals was unpredictable and at this location we were guaranteed to see almost anything that we didn't see in the Serengeti.
Also, this is the only place where we could see the nearly extinct black rhino that is being poached for Chinese aphrodisiacs. I am so glad we took the time to visit this park because the views were lovely and the crater rim cloaked in the clouds provided a mysterious backdrop.
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| Rare Black Rhino |
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| The Crater View |
Where We Laid Our Heads
During the safari we stayed at 3 different camps and lodges.
On our way to Kirurumu tented camp, outside of the Manyara Reserve, we drove down a long dirt road that seemed to go no where but ended at a cute little place where we stayed in canvas lodges with hardwood floors. The Maasai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai_people) escorted us between our tents and the restaurant.
Our next camp was in Ndutu on Lake Masek home to some hippos. This
was a lovely accommodation with beautiful tents, a large tub and
an outdoor shower. The Maasai also escorted us after sunset between our rooms and the restaurant for security. This camp is located in
the middle of the wilderness so there are wild animals all around.While in the Serengeti we stayed in a mobile tented camp that usually follows the migration. I selected this option because I heard that it is in the heart of the animals' home and sometimes you can hear the wild animals right outside of the tent zipper. I wasn't let down. In the middle of the night I heard heavy breathing and mooing...it turns out that the buffalo were right outside with nothing separating us except some canvas.
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| Our Deck |
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| Wash Room |
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| The Toilet |
Our last place was the Rhino Lodge on the Ngnorongoro Crater. I selected this location because the rooms had a fireplace to keep us warm during the cool nights and animals roam the grounds. As soon as we checked in I walked out on our small patio and buffalo were right outside of our room roaming around. There was a warning not to get close to the railing while the animals were out.
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| Between Us and the Animals |
What I liked the best...this view
