Tanzanian Safari

Our Safari took us to Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara, the Serengetti, Odupai Gorge, Ngorongoro Crater and Arusha National Park. We were extremely lucky to see some of the rarer animals such as the black rhinos, cheetah, leopard and colobus monkeys. We also saw lots of hippos (pictured above), elephants, giraffes, warthogs, mongoose, gazelle, baboons, cape buffalo, zebras, hyenas and jackals. 

Entering the Serengeti, it is immediately evident that the movie Lion King was set here. Once we pass through the plain, the savannah in the centre of the park is dotted with kopjes much like Pride Rock. We watch a female lion as she sits for long periods of time waiting for a gazelle to stray from the heard. Then her attention turns to the three zebras approaching on the horizon. The zebras have a strategy too and it is like watching a game of chess. Hyenas skulk along looking to steal something from the lions. Wildebeast migrate in herds to the watering holes. A mother and baby elephant pass our vehicle and another safari vehicle has to move so they can cross a stream. A solitary cape buffalo slowly chews its cud as the reddish sun sinks slowly below the horizon behind him.  

The sheer numbers of wild life and their accessibility keeps us in awe. We learned that we too are part of the equation. By participating in a safari we help to reduce poaching because the animals become more precious in their live state so the government strongly enforces anti poaching legislation. 

As we sit in the campground and eat our supper by the light of a kerosene lamp, our guide tells us what to do if we leave the tent to go the bathroom and see the glow of eyes with our flashlight. The fact that there might only be the canvas of the tent between me and a wild animal only adds to the depth of this experience and my own sense of aliveness. I am disappointed the next morning to learn that I slept through the sound of lions in the night.  ​