This is one of those trips that you think you'll never be able to take. But, then you live on the continent and it's as if you'd be crazy not to take it. I could use every adjective to describe it - surreal, beautiful, exhausting, fulfilling, unbelievable, magical, inspiring, humbling, etc... but mostly I'd say it was pretty perfect! We went through a tour company recommended to us and they did not disappoint! We wanted the 'camping' experience - never fear, it was 'hands off' camping. There might be nothing more cool than to hear lions roaring outside your tent all night long, or to walk amongst cape buffalo, giraffe, and zebra around your camp. We also stayed in a lodge for two nights on the Ngorongoro Crater Rim for easy access. The time of year is important when you go on safari, but there are so many options in Tanzania, no doubt any time of year could work out. In January, the great migration of wildebeest and zebra is starting - making their way to Kenya. It is also the end of the long rainy season, and therefore, animals are out in droves as all the grass is lush and plentiful. In addition, and quite possibly my favorite part, is that it's still the birthing season. I've never seen so many baby animals in my life. The sight of a 2 month old baby elephant (that still weighs 350 pounds) made me cry. We saw the Big Five but really had to search for the lone leopard we finally spotted. In all, we have pictures of 76 different lions (to include many full grown males, lionesses, and cubs), and a list a mile long of all the different animals we were able to see in their natural habitat.
As you can imagine, we took a ridiculous amount of photos - I picked a few of my favorites but really - I could probably turn all my photos into a movie. I hope you'll enjoy them and maybe even feel a bit like you have been on safari too!!
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| Welcome to Camp No. 1 - Lake Manyara |
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| Home Sweet Home (And I think Drew has to go). :) |
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| Dinner under the stars Night One on the riverbed - I love meeting all the people who come from different parts of the world! We took a 4 hour night drive with these peeps - interesting but no photos - too dark - but we saw lots of bush babies and a white tailed mongoose, cerval cat, and other things. |
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| Flamingos in Lake Manyara |
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| The Crater Rim |
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| Good Morning Beautiful |
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| Big Guy NO. 2 |
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| In the Crater - the early morning began our witnessing a pride of 15 lions (including the two big daddies) |
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| And when their show was over, they walked in unison to a clearing, plopped down, and stared at us all from afar. |
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| Definitely the King(s)! |
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| A little playtime while the wildebeest stand alert |
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| Elephants in the Crater have the biggest tusks due to all the natural minerals available to them |
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| Wildebeest |
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| Crested Crane |
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| Hyena den |
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| dik dik |
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| bat eared fox den |
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| We videoed these two males testing for strength - they say the showdown can last hours |
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| pack of nine wild dogs (a rare find apparently) |
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| Vultures - not my fave but boy did we see loads of them! |
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| A birders paradise - I've never seen such pretty birds - too bad I was more interested in the big stuff. :) |
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| This was the moment Drew said, "I spotted a black chicken"! HAAAA!!! |
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| I could stare at zebras all day! Did you know that every single one of them has a different stripe pattern? |
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| We saw many rhinos further away, but these two dudes were close to us. Endangered and it makes me sad! |
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| Hungry Hungry Hippo |
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| Jackal (pesky little guys) |
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| Sweetness - snuggling while mamas are hunting |
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| Part of the large group of cubs before they went hiding in the ravine |
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| Leaving the crater - we spot these four lionesses in pounce position (a few zebras in the distance) |
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| All of a sudden, the fifth lioness comes back empty handed and the hunt is over |
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| They all make their way back across the road where they've left their cubs in hiding (this time, brushing so close to our car we had to turn it on) |
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| And out from the ravine, all the cubs come running - we got this encounter on video but the pride had a total of 22 lions traveling together.........unreal! And another make you cry moment when all those babies ran to their mamas. |
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| Baby Zebras are the cutest! |
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| Water Buck |
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| Dung Beetle pushing dung - pretty cool spotting for little boys |
| Our first cheetah spotting - mama and three pups tucked in the bushes....... |
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| She pulls out her recent kill from a nearby bush........you just never know what you will see in the wild. Fascinating! |
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| Mama is always on alert |
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| Eat little ones, eat! She is watching intently. |
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| I have so many amazing lion photos - maybe I'll do a lion wall. These guys just laid out in a big river bed - and as always we could drive up right next to them. |
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Private dining tent at Naabi Hills Camp (our living tent is also in the pic) with a campfire each night - we had a little rainstorm every night in this part of the Serengeti and it was great! Sleeping with rain hitting your tent......
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| Right outside our tent - Camp No. 2 |
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| Again, in the early morning fog, we spot this guy and his buddy just a short distance from our camp where we had heard them roaring all night long. :) |
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| Lioness and three cubs on the same morning just a bit further up (part of the 'camp' group) - she was busy calling for the others but we never saw them |
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| She's really calling out - and they have not answered. She is also wearing an enormous collar - many animals are tracked for research purposes..... |
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| She's looking for them - see those vast plains? It's really unbelievable that you see anything, especially right next to the road. :) |
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| One of the cubs picked up a twig as he was crossing to the other side |
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| These two boys travelled like rock stars |
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| Just love them |
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| I literally could watch them ALL DAY! Too bad they could also do THIS all day - so might as well move on to finding that leopard! :) |
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| I love this 'very safari' photo |
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| Here's what it looks like when someone thinks they see a leopard - ha! |
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| Well, there he is doing what leopards do - and in this moment, I wish I had the most expensive zoom lens available! :) |
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| Elephants are really amazing! |
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| One of my very favorite moments - teeny baby elephant! |
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| Birdies |
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| Near dusk on our last night - this beauty walked right across the road in front of us - and then paused for some amazing shots when the lighting was just perfect! :) |
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| Calm down - it will be okay |
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| Male cheetah on the lookout (two males together was a real treat) |
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| The males standing up to run - they've spotted a gazelle in the distance |
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| Those zebras better watch out......no, they aren't even worried - gazelles are called 'cheetah chips' but a full grown zebra is actually too strong for them. |
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| They liked to perform by the campfire |
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| Staff at Camp No. 2 |
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| Like little kitties |
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| I couldn't get over how lovable they were to each other - big kitties. :) |
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| Really? I could have taken this picture a hundred times and it still wouldn't accurately depict just how many wildebeest and zebra we saw. |
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| Believe it or not, we saw this same family three days in a row - all in completely different parts of the Serengeti. |
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| This dumb jackal just kept getting closer to the pack while this baby was giving her best 'scare'. After a bit, the mama took off after that jackal and he finally got the hint. |
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| I know I look dressed up - but this was an easy, quick morning to the airstrip - and I looked like a man every other day. :) |
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| Our amazing guide, Joshua. I cried when we had to say goodbye. But who knows - maybe we'll see him again one day. (fingers crossed). :) |
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Flying out of the Serengeti enroute to the island of Zanzibar
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| I'm going to miss these sweet faces so much!!!! Until next time...... |
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