Day 1: Tarangire National Park
It took about 3 hrs to get to Tarangire from Arusha; along the way we picked up my Safari companion Wolf, an elderly gentleman from Germany. His spoken english was excellent, but didn’t seem to understand a word I said. Needless to say, our conversations were often awkward; mostly him telling stories and I nodding along in pretended fascination. We had a nice picnic lunch at the park gate, then proceed with our afternoon game drive, which ended up being a dud. Perhaps it was the heat, but we saw very few animals, and the ones we did see were at quite a distance. The landscape, however, was beautiful; a lush and fertile green. After hours of what felt like aimless driving, we arrived at Sopa Lodge, which was a welcomed oasis from the dust and heat. Flawlessly integrated into the natural surroundings, we saw more wildlife at the lodge than during our drive! I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool, drinking S African Chennin Blanc. The rooms were rustic luxury and the food was surprisingly good; I could easily have wasted several days here.
Day 2: Tarangire NP
After a large breakfast, we departed the lodge and resumed our game drive in Tarangire; fortunately the day was better for wildlife viewing and we saw a number of large animals, including Elephants, Giraffes, and Lions. The Giraffe was my favorite; she was right by the side of the road only about 3m away, using a bush to scratch her legs. She looked almost prehistoric with her long neck and stunted horns reminding me of a brachiosaurus. The lions we found because our guide went off road and nearly ran over the beasts in his eagerness to earn a big tip, which I was none too pleased about. They looked to be juvenile males, escaping the heat under a brush, before we so rudely disturbed them. Bird watchers would have been ecstatic as the wildlife we saw the most abundance of were a variety of birds both great and small. Lunch again at the gate, then it was 3hrs on the road to Karatu town where we overnighted to break up the long journey to the Serengeti.
Day 3: Serengeti
We made our way to the Serengeti via the Ngorongoro Crater area; pausing briefly at the crater rim to photograph the spectacular view of the caldera. It was like peering down into the garden of Eden; lush verdant greens, sparkling blue waters, and herds of animals all co-mingling together. I looked forward to driving through there on our return journey. As we passed down the other side of the volcano you could see the vast expanse of the Serengeti stretching out beyond the horizon. It was just as I had imagined it to be; the endless plains of tall grass swaying gently in the breeze, dotted with a variety of animals. We passed herds of Impala, Emu, and Elephants, a swamp full of wallowing hippos, and three juvenile lions cooling down in the muddy banks of a pond; all within the first hour of arriving into the park. We continued the game drive until early evening before heading for our bush camp; a semi permanent tented camp in the middle of the wild, reminiscent the bygone safari era of Hemingway. I fell asleep to the sounds of buzzing insects and the lonely call of a hyena.
Day 4: Serengeti
Today was a full day of game driving, as we ventured into the south Serengeti hoping to encounter the Great Migration. After a few hours of bumpy roads and a pride of lions, we were lucky to come across a great herd of wildebeest and zebra. The mass of animals stretched out as far as the eye could see, our safari truck surrounded by them. It was a stunning sight, the expanse of which could not be adequately captured on film. We spent some time among the animals, before heading back to camp; spotting a couple of shy leopards along the way.
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater
It was goodbye to my elderly and strange companion (a retired German professor, who felt strongly that Germany was the wounded party in WWII); my guide and I heading to the Ngorongoro Crater for one last game drive before heading back to Arusha. The crater was every bit as beautiful as it had appeared from the rim, though the animals seemed a lot less active than their brethren in the Serengeti. The lake was teeming with pink Flamingos, but unfortunately the track did not close enough to truly appreciate their beauty. Some more lionesses; one of which decided to take shelter under our tires and was reluctant to move as my guide tried to maneuver away without running her tail over. She gave us a rather disdainful look as if we dared to take off with her shade. We departed, my only regret not having seen the rhino. However, after 5 days of long stretches of time in the car over bumpy dirty roads and biting tsetse flies, I was eagerly looking forward to a couple days R&R beachside in Zanzibar.
