The Lion King

We both returned intact from Safari and had the most amazing experience. We woke up Thursday morning and quickly finished packing our bags before breakfast. Our guides arrived at 8:00 packed up the Land Cruisers and we were off. Our first stop was Tarangire National Park, which has more elephants per square kilometer then anywhere else in the world. Tarangire is also know for the boabab trees, they are very unique and look like the roots are coming out the top of the tree, the legend is told that a long time ago the boabab angered God so he planted the trees upside down for eternity. This park was a great first stop; we saw lots of elephants, zebras, antelope, warthogs and wildebeest (Leah’s favorite). One elephant came so close to the second car everyone had to duck their heads in so it would not get angry and charge. We spent the first night at a campground just outside of the park, ate an amazing dinner cooked by our chef Albert (also known as kibu kuli which means small cup).

We got up bright and early on day 2 and started our long drive to the Serengeti. It was about 2 hours to the gates of Ngorogoro Crater and another 3 hours on a very very bumpy dirt road to the Serengeti campsite. We stopped for lunch in the Great Rift Valley (on the other side of the crater) at Olduvai, which is ‘the birth place of mankind’; it is the site where they have discovered the oldest bones and fossils of our ancestors. It was very cool to be in a place with so much history, we checked out the museum that described a lot of the findings and different digs that took place. After lunch we proceeded on to the Serengeti. Serengeti is the Masai word for endless plains, which is very suiting. It is such a beautiful park that goes on forever. As we were driving to the campsite we stopped to see a large group of hippos and a leopard sleeping in a tree, from that moment on we knew it was going to be an awesome place to safari. We were one of the first groups to arrive at the campsite and quickly set up our tents in a row claiming our spots. We had spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner, with one of Albert’s fantastic soups – and, of course, a heaping plate of mango and papaya for dessert. We finished the evening with ghost stories in our tent before settling to sleep.

Leah and I slept soundly the whole night - other people we less fortunate (the wild animals kept them awake). Turns out baboons and giraffes visited the site at night (some even swear they heard a lion). We woke up and had tea and cookies at 6 30 and headed out for a morning drive. The day started off better then we could have hoped, we saw another leopard right away, then four cheetahs walking in the distance. We wanted to stop to visit the hippos again, but our guide Kisali told us he had a lead on lions. We saw a mom and her young son sitting in the grass, the eventually both stood up and walked straight in front of the trucks to the river to drink, we were able to follow them and watch them drink, it was unbelievable. We continued on our way back to the hippos, saw some zebra’s, more elephants and more wildebeest. Just before heading back for lunch we saw three more lions finishing a meal in the grass, their mouths were smeared with blood and they were licking their lips. We watched them for a while before heading back to eat. After lunch it was time to pack up and drive to Ngorogoro for the night. Our drive out of Serengeti was just as eventful as the morning. We spotted a young male lion perched perfectly on ‘Pride Rock’, another female on the side of the road, and finally a full-grown male lion with the most incredible mane. We were blown away by our luck. We thought the day could not get better, but on the other side of the gates we came across a family of giraffes right on the side of the road, so close to the truck, we had been waiting to see them all day. The rest of the drive was uneventful and incredibly bumpy and dusty, we were filthy and coughing up dirt when we got to Ngorogoro campsite. It was very very cold there, we set up our tents, put on our warmest clothes, wrapped ourselves in blankets and went to the mess hall for hot cocoa and pop-corn. As we sat down to eat one of the other cooks popped in and yelled at us to look outside, a huge male elephant had wandered into the campsite… I mean HUGE!! Apparently he stops by often to drink from the water tank that is conveniently his height, it was unreal, the perfect end to a fantastic day.

Our final day had arrived, we woke up and ate a breakfast of crepes, toast, mango, and eggs and started off into the crater. We were bundled up in our blankets, as it was still very cold in the morning. The crater was absolutely stunning; we stopped at the top and at various places on the way down to take pictures. We spent the morning driving around, enjoying the views and the animals. We were on a hunt for a rhino and a closer cheetah. We had a lead on a rhino and went to check it out but had no success. We were lucky with the cheetah though, and saw him just as he was heading away from the road. We also saw many birds, more zebra’s/wildebeest, hyenas, jackals, as well as water buffalo and pink flamingos. All in all it was another good day. We got back to camp after a picnic in the park and packed the truck to drive home. It was an amazing 4 days that we will both remember forever. We have amazing pictures that I cannot wait to share with you.

Love you all and look forward to telling you about more adventures!!!
xoxo - Sarah