life's a safari

'Safari' in Swahili translates to adventure, so perhaps our real safari starts tomorrow when we begin our Mount Kilimanjaro hike - yikes! Today we finished our 6-day wildlife safari in northern Tanzania, visiting the Tarangire National Park, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

The safari started off a bit rough for me as I caught a bug that limited my food intake to that which is bland and white. This was particularly sad as our lodges were serving up some nice multi-course meals and buffets. At least Matt got to enjoy several 8-course dinners this week. :) I'm better now, thankfully in time for our hike! A few highlights from our safari:

We had some great sightings on our game drives in Tarangire, which a bit underrated as compared to its famous northwestern neighbor, Serengeti. Early into a game drive we chanced upon a pregnant lioness fresh from feasting upon her morning kill, a wildebeest whose carcass was a few feet away, hidden from vulchers in a thorny bush. We drove a bit off road and were close enough to hear her breathing. It was incredible to watch her swollen belly, full of cubs and wildebeest, rise and fall as she panted in the hot sun. It was truly awesome.

Serengeti is famous for having the largest mammalian migration on earth. We got to see the start of the trip for approximately 2 million wildebeests as they travel from the northern woodlands to the southern plains in search of fresh munching grass. We drove into the Serengeti late one afternoon, the only vehicle on a long, rocky dirt road that cut through a seemingly endless plain. Thousands of wildebeest and zebra surrounded us on both sides, jumping out of the road as we passed or even darting full speed in front of us to cross the road! There were so many of them dotting the landscape - it was very cool. 

One morning we left at 6am for a sunrise game drive in the Serengeti and were duly rewarded: the early bird spies the leopard! Two leopards, a mother and her young one, were lounging in a tree just 20 feet away from us. We were mesmerized by these beautiful creatures for quite a while. The mother lazily descended the tree in choice of one across the road, leaving us with her son who was more than happy to continue posing for us. He'd drape one paw over the tree limb, then two. He even showed us his teeth....we left shortly after that!

One day we stopped for lunch at a picnic area and as we settled I with our lunch boxes, 3 monkeys settled in to our truck! Sangha (our guide) and Matt ran over, shooed the monkeys out and closed the truck top. Minutes later the monkeys were squeezing in through a half open window! Meanwhile, back at the picnic table, another group was entertaining me. A couple caused a ruckus on my left, which was the perfect opportunity for another monkey to steal in on my right and snatch my muffin! Clever distraction strategy...

On a game drive in Tarangire we spotted a herd of about 20 elephants and stopped to watch as they crossed directly in front of us, heading towards a nearby watering hole. They all, little ones included, squeezed around a fairly small pond and took long drinks of water, spilling plenty in the transfer from trunk to mouth. From the looks on their faces, the water was quite refreshing.

We never tired of giraffes and watching their long, lean bodies walk gracefully across the plains. Such tall and elegant creatures! They would glance our way and size us up before continuing with what they were doing, which was usually munching on leaves on a 15 foot tall tree.

Three young cheetahs put on a show for us, rolling around in the dirt, jumping over streams, walking around to find the perfect tree to nap under and marking their territory. Once they found the perfect tree they cuddled together like big kitty cats and napped together, taking turns keeping watch. 

We finished up in the week in the Ngorongoro Crater - a huge caldera that houses a massive plain full of wildlife where a mountain, supposedly bigger than Kilimanjaro, once stood. We had a blast this week. Our guide, Sangha, was awesome and ensured we saw the "big 5" most dangerous and prized animals: elephant, black rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard in addition to dozens of others. We loved riding around in the safari vehicle which let us stand and get 360 degree views through the open roof. Though it's rainy season the weather mostly held out, usually just raining at night or towards the end of our game drives. Here's hoping for more luck as we live on the mountain for the next 8 days!