Serengeti Pt. 1

Saturday, August 17th:

Ben, Jenna and I arrived in Tanzania at Kilimanjaro airport in the mid afternoon on Saturday. After making it through immigration and customs without incident (a surprisingly expedient process), we met our guide Nic and headed to a small reserve on the outskirts of Arusha to spend the night. The beautiful guest house was located on a golf course, a completely out of place remnant of the colonial era that made for a surreal setting. I went for a run with Nic and spotted a few impala as well as the comically named “dick dick”, a small antelope-like creature, but avoided any larger/potentially dangerous predators. Later that evening, my parents arrived and we all headed to bed before the busy day to come.

Sunday, August 18th:

After a quick run around the golf course (the last time I will be able to run in at least a week as we enter an area with larger, free-roaming predators), we ate breakfast and headed to a small airstrip to fly into the Serengeti. The flight was a quick 45 minute hop that featured a beautiful view of Mt. Meru (although Mt. Kilimanjaro was masked by the clouds) and Elephants drinking in the Mara river as we landed in the Serengeti. We immediately headed off into “the bush” as our driver/guide Emmanuel instructed us to look for ALT – (Animal looking things). 

After our initial awe at seeing a few Wildebeest, an animal that could have only been designed by committee given its appearance, we quickly realized that they were not exactly a special occurrence and that there are ~1.5 million of them in the broader area. This led to a build on looking for ALT to avoiding calling out when we saw an AFW – (Another F***ing Wildebeest).

After the initial Wildebeest excitement, we saw a few Zebra and a giraffe before checking into the lodge, a stunning collection of the structures perched on a hill in the middle of the Serengeti. In the afternoon, we headed out again in the Jeep in search of cats and termite mounds (a subject my dad was somehow fascinated by). Before long, we spotted a majestic Cheetah as well as a family of Lions emerging from their afternoon nap. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the evening, we enjoyed a traditional Swahili buffet before being escorted back to our rooms by a spear-armed guard (which quickly was validated as a necessary precaution when we spotted buffalo dung outside our rooms the next morning). The escort also provided us further practice on our Swahili (limited to hello – “Jambo” and thank you very much – “Asantasana” as of this post)

Monday, August 19th:

The animals are most active in the cooler times of day, which meant an early start and we were in the Jeep by 6am in search of larger animals. The first spotting of the day was an elephant attempting to take down a tree, followed by an encounter with a near-full pride of Lions including 3 males, 3 females and 4 cubs. Next, we drove towards the Mara river to see a Wildebeest crossing – one of the most stunning moments of the annual great migration, made famous by Sir David Attenborough’s narration. While a bit more crowded than our more isolated exploration (about a dozen jeeps arrived to watch), the spontaneous decision of thousands of Wildebeests to determine it was time to cross the river was a spectacular sight. Everything from the anticipation, to the traffic jam upon entering the water and a couple babies being snatched by Nile Crocodiles made for a captivating show.

• 

• 

• 

After a picnic breakfast, we continued our search and encountered some massive Hippos and another Elephant before lunch. In the afternoon (following the obligatory afternoon nap, somewhat justified by the early wake-up), we moved back towards Sunday’s cat theme and came upon a sunning Lioness. Then, we spotted an elusive Leopard enjoying a Wildebeest feast as her cubs napped in the waning sun. Celebrating a successful day with a sunset beer as a pair of giraffes walked by, we then headed back to the lodge.

• 

• 

• 

(Uploaded as many images as I could with the spotty internet, will share a full google album when I have better connection