Blogs from Serengeti National Park, North, Tanzania, Africa

My http://www.heygo.com live stream tour took me to Tanzania, an incredible insight into life in a Maasai village near the Serengeti with Mufasa our guide. Welcomed with song & dance we then ventured into the village where the gate is made out of a pile of Acacia sticks to keep them safe from wildlife. Cow dung & mud are daubed onto the houses by the womenfolk. The sun was setting as the cows returned from their grazing with one of the mothers immediately taking milk for the children which was served to them by the fathers. We listened to the children practice their counting skills and Mufasa sang them a song, much to their delight. As darkness fell it was time to eat, on the menu soup & goat. The younger men served the elders. A ... read more

Very early this morning two of us, Patsy and I, were woken at 4:30AM since we were the only two in our group to sign up for the optional tour "Sunrise Safari & Hot Air Balloon Ride Over the Serengeti." At first I hadn't signed on because of the expense, but I had never been up in a hot air balloon, plus when would I ever have the chance again to do it over the famous Serengeti? So I signed on. I was a bit afraid at first, not knowing what to expect, but once we all clambered into the basket it lifted off as gently and silently as a train leaving the station. Waking up early is no hardship for me; I've usually been up by 4AM every day so far and was lying there ... read more

After a great week in Kenya it was time for the next chapter in the adventure: Tanzania...three weeks here, jam-packed with safaris, Kili climb and some R&R on Zanzibar, but we'll start with the safaris... Made our way overland from Nairobi to Arusha, a healthy day on the road but decent enough...border crossing was relatively quick and painless (our guide Moses knew what to do, where to line up etc.) and by late afternoon we had made it to our hotel for the evening...6pm get-together to meet the new folks joining us and go over the game plan for the week, followed by dinner and some pints, nothing too exciting as we were leaving town the following morning... The next day we did a quick stop for supplies and then a 90 minute drive or so ... read more

This blog entry covers our days in both the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater conservation area. We have 2 full days in the Serengeti and a morning game drive in Ngorongoro. It’s unfair to try to compare the two different parks as both are excellent and quite different from each other, so really it's the combination of the 3 areas (these 2 plus Tarangire) that makes a very good short safari. As with any wildlife activity there is a huge amount of luck as to what you actually see on any given day, but a good guide certainly helps and Pablo our guide and driver is a wise old bird who knows the country well and seems to be able to find almost anything on demand. The Serengeti is a huge area of grassland ... read more

Waking up in the Serengeti is an amazing experience (unless it was unintentional) and lying in my tent I could hear various birds and animals making a variety of sounds. They were accompanied by the sounds of the rangers and cooks who talk endlessly, I'd love to know what about! In the distance a large herd of zebra were grazing and I'm sure I heard baboons. During the night we were surrounded by the grunting of buffalo grazing around the tents, plus the yowls of nearby hyena. It's still more peaceful than living in Stoke on Trent! At 6.20am it was extremely bright out despite the sun not having risen yet, so we could easily avoid all the buffalo dung when walking to the toilets. We met Molisi there and I proudly bragged how I managed ... read more