The Serengeti, Tarangire National Park; and the Ngorongoro Crater

We could have written about Tanzania in a single post, but we decided to separate this part out as it is a little bit special; due to the incredible animal sightings we would experience along the way, we really felt that this was one of our bucket list destinations! The last part of our African adventure began in Arusha, where our tour company had arranged an overnight stay in a hotel on the outskirts of town. It was more of a local’s hotel and I’m not sure that they were used to seeing many tourists. That said, everyone we met was welcoming & keen to engage with us; starting with dinner-time where our difficulty understanding the menu options brought a few smiles from the restaurant team! You may have forgiven us if you’d seen the menu, which consisted of many different types of goat; including one item called “climax marinated goat arm” (we still don’t know exactly what this meant!); we eventually settled on the less adventurous roasted chicken which was delicious, despite the lack of “climax marinade”.  The following morning, we went down expecting the generic egg options for breakfast, but had to smile when we were served goat soup, which was honestly bloody lovely (and made us feel less like we had wussed out the night before).  We were then picked up by our driver to take us to our first destination, Tarangire National Park.

Tarangire was quite a surprise, out of the three safari destinations that we were to visit, we hadn’t read a great deal about Tarangire prior to our booking. It turned out to be a fantastic park in a beautiful setting with lots of big baobab trees, and where we had the first of our Tanzanian lion encounters, saw and heard our first wildebeest, plus heaps more elephants, zebras, antelopes; and very colourful bird life. The park is named after the river that crosses it, the landscape was epic with varied terrain; stretching as far as the eye could see. It was our first time solo in a safari truck, a converted Land Cruiser; with just each other to fight over the perfect photographing spot, and our hawk-eyed driver finding the most ridiculously well-hidden animals. It was a truly wonderful experience, one that is so difficult to put into words (if we spoke about it one on one and you saw my Nicolas Cage eyes you would feel my passion and excitement!), and this was just day one of three days, back to back. It was also at Tarangire that we saw our first glance of what could be deemed similar to the great migration; a giant herd of zebra in single file, crossing the Savannah. We spent hours in the park, driving, spotting animals, and just sitting and watching them doing whatever they did. It was such a privilege to be able to observe them in their natural habitat; even those lazy lions. If you think that cats are lazy, just wait until you see their big cousins!  We stayed in a simple lodge overnight close by,

The following day, as we entered the iconic Serengeti National Park, the excitement was indescribable! How many  times have we, as children or adults, sat and watched as Sir David Attenborough said its name in those dulcet tones, I get goosebumps just thinking about it. The park is just how you have seen it: vast, open, seemingly endless savannah plains, solitary rock formations sporadically rising from them; rivers and waterholes containing unknown animals, of varying beauty (or terror). The space is endless, which is good considering how popular the park is, and how many jeeps and trucks you see going in each day. Despite this, you can go for hours without seeing another soul, making you feel like this really is a lonesome adventure; just you, your driver, and all of the animals out there. I know that in previous posts I have talked about how great safari is, but it REALLY is an experience of a lifetime, hence why we kept going back; time and time again.

The variety in the Serengeti is staggering, but most of all I wanted to see cats, big cats, prides of lions, leopards; and cheetahs, and boy was I not disappointed!! From our first encounter with a real lazy lioness sitting on a rock, yawning extensively, preening, and generally being very accommodating and photogenic, to so many lazy leopards, sleeping on a rock, or dangling from the branch of a tree. We saw a pair of cheetahs, their pinheads on elongated bodies, as they coordinated to hunt together. The Serengeti delivered everything we could have hoped for. We saw an elderly bull elephant, his skin sagging, showing his bones beneath, having separated himself from the herd to live out his final time; his teeth worn down over the years, he sought out the marshland grass to feed him during his final days or weeks. Sad to see, but an incredible part of natural life that was again a privilege to witness. We saw a wake of vultures, picking apart the remains of an earlier kill; their heads looking like the skin had been peeled from them. We watched the sun rise over the savannah, the sky lit up in colours I had never seen before; #thatafricansun strikes again! We saw so, so much in the Serengeti; and even writing about it now brings that smile back to my face. It was a childhood dream realised, a massive bucket list item, and one that we are truly thankful to have experienced.

The last leg of our final safari took us to the Ngorongoro crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area; a large volcanic caldera within the area. It is the largest un flooded and unbroken caldera in the world, at about 20kms across, 600 meters deep, and 300 sq kms in area; the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. As we embarked on our final day of safari, we were sad to be saying goodbye to African wildlife (until we can  save up to visit again!), but at the same time so happy to have seen what we had, and the crater gave us a few final surprises to remember the continent by. For example we were very lucky to see a rare member of the cat family, the caracal.  Like the cheetah, the caracal has a tiny head but elongated body; and the kind of eyes that you would associate with the cat like gods from Egyptian mythology. We were watching a family of jackals in the distance, when suddenly, the caracal stood up from its late morning nap; we did not know at the time, but this was a very rare sighting indeed.

Unfortunately, it was also at the crater that we saw the downside of safari, it seemed that due to the smaller size of this national park and the high concentration of safari jeeps, there was less respect for the animals and their welfare.  For example we saw a pride of lions surrounded by jeeps and trucks on every side, some lions even leaning up against the wheels, with excited tourists leaning right out of the windows to almost selfie with them. Now I know everyone goes on safari to see their favourite animal, and that some of the drivers want to ensure that their passengers have the best possible experience (and to pocket the biggest tips); but this was really upsetting to see.  Our pleasure should never be at the expense of the animals nor should we ever humanize them or interfere with their natural habitat and ability to live a wild life. We would prefer to see them from a respectable distance, doing what they want in their own space. We therefore requested that our driver move away from this spectacle, as we did not want to condone it; let nature be nature, it’s not the circus.

We had many more natural encounters in the crater, a pond full of hippos, the dominant male grunting so loudly that the water on his back vibrated and jumped around as if by magic. We saw (and heard) a herd of wildebeest honking away beside the trail, countless zebras using rocks as an impromptu scratching post, we saw buffalo standing with that gormless look of theirs, a bird adorning their heads; not looking one bit the apex killer that they are. We saw flamingos, heads in the water, searching for those tasty morsels lurking below. We saw a group of ostriches, that I swear to this very day were doing the dance routine from Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’; I will post the photo, but unless you were there (with a very active imagination) you just wouldn’t get it. All in all it was a fantastic end to 3 days of amazing safari, looking back on it now it still fills me with that sense of amazement that I had as a child, watching wildlife on one on BBC one; with Sir David giving me the chills. We never imagined that we would get to see it in person one day, we were just happy to see it on screen, and to know that these magnificent creatures existed. Our advice to you reading this, make plans to go and see the animals of Africa in person; due to the evils of human nature and the way that things are going, they may not be around forever, and whilst it is good to watch on television, it is a completely different experience to see it for yourself … just make sure you try to make ethical choices wherever you can.