http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Tanzania , North , Serengeti National Park en-us Sun, 06 Dec 09 21:31:27 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 09 21:31:27 +0000 From Shell I have to say the trip to the Serengeti NP and back was one of the best travel experiences I have ever had. It was rough dirty tiring confronting and great fun. I'm still dreaming about it 2 weeks later.Things that stick in my mind are how fertile the land was in Western Kenya answering Marja's call for me to open the window in my campground shower and looking straight in the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-454971.html To go to the Serengeti we had to split up into 4 jeeps and leave the truck behind in Arusha. It was a long enough drive to the Serengeti so we stopped off at the Ngorongoro crater for our lunch and a few photos. Lunch was difficult as there were some black kites in the area that wanted our food just as much as we did. On the way we also had an unexpected break when one of the 4 wheel drives broke http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-452426.html The middle of October 2009 brought the end of my first term of this school year 2 teacherinservice days and Denia My sister came to visit me for a quick but wonderful 10 days during my week off from school and together we terrorized read photographed and sang to the Northern circuit National Parks of Tanzania. Denia arrived on a Thursday evening and we had a quiet night in together http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-451431.html Here are some pics from the 5 day safari we did around Lake Manyara the Serengeti and Ngorogoro crater. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-442606.html The next leg of my adventure started when I met my fellow Overlanding travelers in Nairobi on Sept 26. This started the largest part of my trip. I will be Overlanding with 24 other people driving through Eastern and Southern Africa in a large truck for the next 42 days. Not all will be going to Cape Town. Some will be getting off along the way and others will be joining us. If you can imagine a tr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-442317.html We had a long journey to get to the Serengeti by the end of the day so most of the day was spent in the car. It was interesting to pass through the villages most towns had buildings which were little more than shacks and generally were built with logs and mud and thatched rooves whilst other housesshelters outside of the towns were made of anything that was available sticks logs canvas bags http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-432784.html Friday April 3 2009 James had approached me the night before about transportation. I was given the choice of driving in the Land Rover or flying with the others though there might not be enough seats for all of us. Someone would have to forfeit his place. I said ldquoI'll see more if I go by car won't Irdquo And so it was decided.After our lunch at the Serena the others departed f http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-431064.html Sunday April 5 2009 I felt so good after getting a full night's sleep that I opened the sliding doors and walked onto the balcony. I watched two small dikdiks midget antelope with large eyes eating the grass below and searched for animals on the plains in the distance.I showered dressed and looked forward to having a light breakfast. As I stood in the buffet line a hornbill swooped down http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-430220.html Saturday April 4 2009 When it was light outside I dressed and went to the front desk asking how contact the physician. Dr. Edmund Nzella was there in a flash. After hearing my symptoms he determined it was bacterial. He said to do go to the dining area where I had been heading. He would find me and bring what I needed.I saw my colleagues and told them my predicament. They were very co http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-430219.html After two flights on Qatar Airways which had awesome service and a 9hour layover in Doha I arrived in Nairobi Kenya. I had about 5 hours to kill while waiting for my brother Sarah and Jared to arrive so I made friends with some of the airport employees who were extremely welcoming and taught me some Swahili while I hung out in their office. In Kenya the two official languages are English a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-429043.html After the mountain gorillas the Serengeti National Park and Ngorogoro Crater Conservation Area are the highlight of our trip and wersquore all hugely excited as we head out from Arusha in jeeps leaving Hyena behind for a few days. We drive up and along the crater rim before descending onto the vast Serengeti plain a truly awesome place barren and dry.Now that wersquove seen all the prey http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-428941.html Preface Wildebeests also called gnus are antelopes. They are not as agile as their cousins the impalas who according to nationalgeorgraphic.com can ldquoleap distances of up to 33 feetrdquo often ldquosoaring some 10 feet in the air.rdquo Nor are they as sleek as their cousins the gazelles. They both run 50 miles per hour but wildebeests lack the grace of their slimmer relative http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-428741.html Day 4 Arusha Tanzania 2809 Arrived at Hotel Boulevard for the departure of the tour which left Nairobi at 0930. We stopped off for some last minute supplies and made our way to the Tanzania border. The roads were awful shaking us around like rag dolls up and down up and down in the truck. On the tour therersquos 23 of us picking up a couple of extra people in Zanzibar. Eventually aft http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-426375.html Irsquom one day back from 24 hours spent on the Serengeti and with the fear of having to pay an extra USD50 it wasnrsquot one minute more and I havenrsquot the slightest clue how to start. It felt like being in a National Geographic documentary and I kept expecting to hear the dull drone slightly British of the narrator. Even now looking back at the photos itrsquos hard to believe th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-424988.html As we wait for the car to be loaded up for our long drive to the Serengeti I chat with one of the camp staff. Inevitably we end up on the subject of marriage and kids. As a greying balding foreigner presumably advanced in years my unmarried status usually raises eyebrows and I've long since decided to be honest by declaring that I don't want children the constant lying in India about my fi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-417064.html How do I even begin to talk about the madness that has been this week I guess I'll begin with the essentials I am safe happy and haven't been mauled by any wild animals so that's a good start. Anyways the trip here was relatively uneventful except for the fact that I was in such a state of exhaustion from Germany that I foolishly wore shorts to the airport. Thus the 9 hour layover in Egy http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-407580.html So after long drives through Kenya and Tanzania we were actually going to do something and this was huge. The Serengeti is a National Park in Tanzania that is home to nearly all the wild animals you associate with Africa this is were the Big 5 live and many more.The big yellow truck Tokoloshe that's it's name stayed behind and we jumped into 5 Landcrusiers that took us into the Serengeti. We http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-392339.html We flew to Kilmanjaro Airport and then took a small hop to the Serengetti Nationla Park. We stayed at the Sopa Lodge which has a gorgeous view of the Serengetti. We went on several Safaris and saw many animlas. In adition there was migration of the Wildebeest near us where we observed thousands of animals moving to different areas of the park. We also witnessed a lion chasing a Wildebeest. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-389648.html I had been having a difficult time in Tanzania. To the point that I considered cancelling the safari that I had booked onto. It was only because Donna who runs Maasai Wanderings the company I had chosen because they support local communities had been so helpful that I even got as far as Arusha. After 18 hours on a bus that went from Musoma via Nairobi a border crossing at 4am is never fun http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-387223.html Hi allLast Fri to Mon I went on Safari. I went with the group I arrived with and we decided to go sooner rather than later to avoid the rains. All in all we visited 3 national parks the Serengeti Nogorogoro Crater and Lake Manyara. We also stopped off at a Massai village on the way. There were 5 of us a tour guidedriver Ben and a cookspotter Ottman. The Massai village was amazing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-386696.html