Blogs from Serengeti National Park, North, Tanzania, Africa

Frokosten ble inntatt med sebra og elefant som tilskuere (iallefall nesten), mens vi spiste hørte vi tre som knekte og lyder bare en elefant kan lage. Litt etterpå sto elefanten fornøyd å spiste av treet sitt. Det var ikke mange minuttene etter vi satt oss i safaribilen at fire løver rundt en død sebra å nød dagens første måltid. Et spesielt skue, samtidig vet vi at slik er dyreverden. Fra hotellet til selve safariområdet i serengeti er det nesten to timer å kjøre, men dagen har på langt nær vært kjedelig. I dag har vi sett mer dyr enn noen av de andre dagene, helt tilfeldig kom vi over en leopard. Først lå han i treet sitt å slappet av, men ganske så plutselig var han på bakken. Dette er svært sjelden det skjer, iallefall slik ... read more

From our quiet time in the Selous, we flew to the other extreme and hit the busiest part of the Northern Circuit. We were booked on a private tour with our one driver to take Caleb and I around the parks in our own car (as a result of my fussiness in the safari-planning stage in wanting to go to particular areas and stay in one place for more than a day). Our initial few days in the North were a shock to the system - driving through busy towns, on horrible roads and staying at lodges with heaps of tourists (in contrast to our boutique camp in the middle of nowhere in the South). We drove through busy Lake Manyara National Park en route to our accommodation near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area - no tree ... read more

The Serengeti is possibly the best-known wildlife National Park in the world and with more than two million wildebeest and a quarter of a million zebra has the greatest concentration of game in Africa. As part of our overland tour we bush camped in the Serengeti, with a stop at the magnificent Ngorongoro crater on the way. We set off from Arusha- a town that is the starting point for many safaris and headed in 4x4s towards the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We were all excited to be out of our huge truck and knew it would be better to be in the smaller vehicles with pop up roofs for the game drives. After spending a night at a campsite near the entrance to the national park we departed early and headed into the Ngorongoro Crater. ... read more

This morning I woke up at 4.00am desperate for a pee but decided to hold off until 5.00am when everyone would be waking up for breakfast. We got up and went for food then headed off to do another game drive, seeing sunrise as we drove. Today was amazing, our guide Simba drove like a lunatic making sure that we seen a leopard, more lions and two cheetahs. It was a great game drive and we were back at camp for lunch before heading back towards Arusha where we would be staying the night before heading to Dar es Salaam. We had a great time at the Serengeti and it was really interesting seeing the difference between it and the Masai Mara due to the climate differences. The drive back took quite a while due to ... read more

We got up for breakfast around 6.00am and headed towards the crater. The crater was formed after a volcanic eruption and now has lots of different types of animals in it. We were told this would be our best opportunity to see a rhino, however this didn’t happen. We did get to see lots of other animals though and the jeeps were great as we got to stand up through the roof for most of the safari. Seeing so many wild animals is truly incredible in their natural habitat. After the crater we headed towards the Serengeti and did a game drive on the way to our campsite, which was in the reserve itself (this was something I didn’t know until I got to Africa, I promise Mum, however when I found out I decided not ... read more

After arriving in Tanzania and trying to readjust to the lifestyle here, we quickly embarked on our safari adventure. We met out driver, Joshua on Thursday and the poor guy has been stuck with us since! Although I admit we have had a lot of fun, he will probably be happy when he is finished with us. We always bug him about how lucky he is and call ourselves his 6 muzunga wives lol! You can tell that he absolutely loves his job! Our adventure started by spending two nights at the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge and enjoying safaris around Lake Manyara the first two days. During that time we saw elephants, giraffes, baboons, blue monkeys, velvet monkeys, hippos, impalas, warthogs, wildebeast, zebras and flamingos. On Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Serengeti ... read more

We are up at 6.00am for an early morning game drive. We haven't gone far when we spot a Hippo wandering back to his waterhole after his night's exertions. Then almost immediately afterward we find a super-pride of around 27 lions stalking a lone Buffalo that has separated from the herd. The Buffalo wanders slowly out of range of the Lions who don't seem too keen on taking on the Buffalo. Further on a smaller pride of lions with a Wildebeest they have killed overnight. Later, we are watching a Leopard hanging in a tree when we notice a family of Cheetah, a mother with 4 grown cubs, circling slowly in the tall grass. As we watch a herd of Thompson's Gazelle take fright, but it's too late for one of them as there is a ... read more