Blogs from Serengeti National Park, North, Tanzania, Africa - page 2

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

Tanzania day 6 Sunrise to sunset, threatened by Maasai and big cats in the Serengeti, Tanzania, Africa To the Serengeti today....eventually! Come on guys, get a move on! The sunrise was meh again-see yesterday’s blog-and breakfast was due at 7:30. We met two new companions Mark and Uri (I think) who are from Hungary and tried and tried to upload previous blogs but to not much avail. Homestly, it’s like being on Vodafone it’s that bad! We were told we would be leaving at 9am which is really late for a start but we didn’t get on our way until 9:30. The best time for game viewing means getting there before sunrise as the big cats are still active. Setting off an a really long journey at 9:30 is frustrating as you just want to be ... read more

Today we get a sleep in of sorts as we don’t leave until 0800 for the Serengeti. Back up the road we covered yesterday to the Ngorongoro crater, but then past the turn off and onwards for quite a few kms. The morning is overcast and as we get to the gate it starts to drizzle rain, or is that just the fog.... Up we go again. Hard to see where we are going but Masha has it under control, that is until he swerves and a few of us see why. A bloody BIG elephant crashes through the bush and almost comes onto the road as we pass. I get a great view of him waving his trunk, ears and head by the side of the bushes and road. Way too close for comfort, and ... read more