The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater!!


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Africa » Tanzania » North » Serengeti National Park
March 20th 2009
Published: April 20th 2009
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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 stopped for lunch just after entering but were soon being circled by eagles. We felt like prey, as they would swoop lower to take a look we were all nervous we were going to be lunch. In one quick swoop this huge eagle came down and took a piece of chicken right out of the hands of mel, one of our crew! From then on i didnt really want to eat.

From the very beginning of the Park the landscape changes from the foresty green hills to flat yellow grassland, and if you thought pride rock was just disney making things up it's not- large grey rocks literally rise up from the ground from nowhere, just slap bang in the middle of flat land. It's weird but you can imagine the big cats really taking over these as their terroritory. For miles there is nothing, just grass and grazing antelope and gazelle- which are extremely pretty by the way, if an animal can be pretty?!lol

That day was a serious adventure, we were so lucky in what we saw zebra, giraffe, elephants, buffalo, pumbas and even a cheetah and her two cubs from a distance. But not so lucky when our driver span in the wet muddy lane and got stuck! we all needed to get out and watch as another land crusier tried to tow us out- this took a very long time!! Then as we were out everyone drove off and literally 2 minutes later, about 200m down the road we got stuck AGAIN! We were horizontal in the road and it wasn't budging so.. with darkness closing in and lightening going off in the distance and not to mention all the wild animals out there we got out and pushed the Landcruiser out of the mud. Adventure - I think so lol.

We slept in the Serengeti, which actually was quite dangerous because you could hear how close the Hippos and Elephants were and you wouldnt stand a chance against one of those if they decided to walk through your tents. The next day were we even luckier in what we got to see. A leopard was spotted in the distance walking along by the Landcruisers, as we stopped to watch her, she started to get closer and closer. Soon enough she was right by our cruiser, its was such an awesome sight and she oozed arrogance and knew she was showing off; my heart was racing, we were all snapping our cameras so quickly lol then she just wandered off and climbed up into a tree.
We got up close and personal with a few overs, the zebra and wilderbeast (these guys stick together to protect themselvs) giraffe and some massive elephants that would gracefully walk 50m infront of us across the road.

Again we were incredibily lucky the next day in Ngorongoro Crater when we witnessed 2 lion cubs play fighting whilst their mother kept a watchful eye, a black rhino with her baby (black rhino are an endangered species) and 2 massive male lions walking alongside the cruisers not seeming to be bothered at all by us. To finish off the day we saw hippos relaxing in the waters.

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