The nights of March 9-10 were spent at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge where there were jaw-dropping views (see above). A group from a nearby community provided pre-dinner entertainment our first night there.
We slowly made our way from the Tarangire Safari Lodge toward the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
En route, we visited the Mao wa Abu village of about 18,000 people who represent all 120 tribes from Tanzania. A young married couple gave us a tour, including their banana plantation and the youth art project. We had lunch in the village before leaving. It was extremely interesting – I didn’t know there were so many varieties of bananas (the community grows more than 30 varieties) and I bought a painting of Maasai women that I love. However, there were men who approached as we loaded into our vehicles about buying random items from them and they did not like that we said no. They just griped about us and we were able to quickly drive off.
We finally arrived at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site. At the entrance, Gabi and James, our tour guides with #RegalAfricanSafaris (previously known as #MaasaiMagicSafaris), gave us a short presentation on the area during a break before entering the conservation area.
The real winners of the break were these naughty monkeys who stole my aunt’s bag of nuts and tauntedly finished them off while staring her down. They jumped into one vehicle, and stole a purse from another vehicle. While entertaining and frustrating at times, the experience reminded us to keep our doors looked and the windows up around these guys.
Then, there were the birds. I have no words about how amazing they are so I’ll just so you a few highlights.
Day 5 began with us preparing to leave Tarangire Safari Lodge where we stayed the last two nights. It was basically glamping and I can definitely say I didn’t expect it to be this wonderful but it was.
It was interesting that electricity was only on for certain hours each day, and we had to have a guide to go back to our cabin after dark due to presence of wild animals. And we definitely had visitors that included monkeys, Dik-diks and giraffes. Can you spot the giraffe in the below picture?
As we finished breakfast, one of the lodge workers asked if we’d seen the African Scops-Owl that sleeps in a tree just outside of the lodge’s front entrance. Naturally, I had to go find it and he was kind enough to point it out.
The rest of day 4 in Africa was spent on game rides across #tarangirenationalpark – it was absolutely beautiful.
Highlights were the lion cubs spotted with their pride in a tree, watching another pride cross a river for lunch (we found them eating later), and all the beautiful birds.
Day 4 was International Women’s Day! We celebrated by making new friends and eating cake.
Day 3 began early as we left Arusha and headed to Tarangire National Park.
Our first stop on the road was at Shanga, a social enterprise in Arusha that employs people with disabilities to create handmade jewelry, glassware and home wares out of recycled materials. I bought several pieces of jewelry and other items there that I still enjoy today. The tour was very informative. I loved learning how they made the various items and the employees were friendly. They encouraged us to be hands-on in learning how they completed their work. Also, their final products were simply wonderful.
The journey itself from Arusha to Tarangire National Park was interesting. We passed groups of women headed to the airport to celebrate the return of an oppositional party leader after the courts threw out the criminal charges against him.
We also made a quick stop to tour a meat auction where our tour guides said cattle went for $500 to $800. We also stopped to look out at another local market to observe it.
We began to see more wildlife as we neared, then entered Tarangire National Park. I absolutely loved this park.
Tarangire is the third largest national park in Tanzania and is best known for its large herds of elephants. We quickly found on why.
One animal I really wanted to see was the Lilac-breasted Roller. As I was preparing for my trip, a coworker (who lived in Africa and knew that I loved birds) told me her favorite bird in Africa was the Lilac-breasted Roller. She said it was the prettiest bird she had ever seen. When I arrived in Tanzania, I told my tour guides how I really wanted to see one and asked what my chances were? They just laughed and see I would definitely see the Lilac-breasted Roller. In fact, they said I would see the bird so often that I would get tired of it. They were right I would see the bird often, but I never got tired of it.
While the Lilac-breasted Roller was a highlight, the bird was not the only one seen. Below’s a highlight of the birds spotted that day.
Day 2 was mostly a lazy day. We met for a hot breakfast at 7 a.m. and then spent the morning on the hotel grounds as we waited for the last four members of our 10-person group to arrive.
Once everyone arrived, we had lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center where we also listened to performers, shopped and toured its art gallery.
The rest of the afternoon/night was spent back at the hotel where several of us hung out on the hotel grounds to drink, chat and (at least for me) birdwatch.
I arrived in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania a year ago for the start of an African wildlife safari and my first visit to Africa. The last 12 months have included several life changes with one result being I never shared my trip photos. I figured now’s a good time to do so.
I left Arkansas during the morning of March 4, 2022, for Amsterdam. A goal from 2022 that I am continuing this year is that I complete an eBird checklist each day. I actually completed that day’s checklist at the Amsterdam airport where I spotted a Carrion Crow.
It was also there that we met up with others in our group for our final flight to Mount Kilimanjaro. We arrived at 8:45 p.m. and completed our COVID-19 testing requirements and made our way through customs pretty quickly. By the time we got done, we were all pretty tired so we headed straight to Arusha Serena Hotel to get settled into our rooms. While we weren’t able to get a good picture of the hotel, we were happy with our rooms. My aunt Jodi also joined the group so we were roommates throughout the trip.
Today was the day of waterfalls.
Leaving at our usual time of 8 a.m., our first stop of the day was the 200-foot Seljalandsfoss waterfall. We were actually able to walk around and behind the waterfall – which was pretty neat and satisfying. I might have gotten pretty wet during the walk behind it but it was worth it.
Next, we traveled to the 197-foot Skógafoss waterfall, which is 82-feet wide. According to the nearby Skógar Folk Museum, legend claims that when the sun shines, a store of gold hidden by original settler Prasi may be glimpsed glittering behind the water. The waterfall is south of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier volcano, and flows through the Skógárgil gorge which has more than 20 additional waterfalls. Someone brought a traveling piano to the waterfall so we had music to go with the view.
We first learned of the museum through our taxi driver on Tuesday night. The taxi driver’s grandparents lived in one of the last old turf farmhouses (the typical one of the southeast has the household living above the cowshed) that was lived in. He stayed with them until he was 8-years-old, and his grandparents moved out of the home in the 1960s/1970s. The home was then donated to the museum, which moved and reconstructed the home on the museum’s site along with some other buildings.
The museum itself preserves the cultural history of the Rangárvallasýsla and Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla regions. It’s collections include old books, paintings, needlework, tools and equipment, boats, and outfits including three dresses around 100 years old. One was a black wedding dress with a veil.
Later, we drove along the natural reserve Dyrhólaey, which translates to door-hole island. The name comes from an arch created by the sea. During the drive, we also passed the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. The picture below is of the volcano that erupted in 2010.
We ate lunch in Vik at Halldórskaffi, a cafe located in a historic house called Bryde’s Store (Brydebúð). The Settler’s Cheese Pizza was delicious! It has a varieties of icelandic cheese and is served with a red currant jam.
Afterwards, we stopped by Icewear/Vik Wool to look around and to step onto the nearby black sand beach. We shopped a little before hopping back into our van to go to the nearby Reynisfjara Beach, which has black sand, a small cave and the Reynisdrangar basalt columns. The winds were as strong as the waves crashing to shore. Our driver warned us before we got there of two things: Don’t turn your back to the sea because the waves are too strong and don’t go into the water even to dip our toes in.
Tonight was our final chance to see the Northern Lights; however, our tour was cancelled once again due to cloudy weather. Getting back to Reykjavik at 7 p.m., we decided to instead go to Perlan, a modern interactive museum that had a Northern Lights planetarium show called Áróra. I did enjoy learning how the Northern Lights are created, and the roles it played in various cultures. We originally planned on going to the 8 p.m. show; however, we were 4 minutes late getting there so we had to wait until the 9 p.m. show. We spent our hour-long wait eating at the Ut I Blainn, which overlooks Reykjavik. I had the steamed cod with kale, onion, preserved lemons and beurre blanc. It was good, but I left still hungry – the same as one of my aunts who also had the steamed cod.
Today involved the Golden Circle and a Secret Lagoon – kind of sounds like a book or movie title!!
We started off at Þingvellir National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are separating. One trail actually walked us down the middle of them. Þingvellir is also the site where the Vikings first assembled, and an important gathering place for various historical events for Iceland’s people.
My best purchase ended up being from here as well: an orange wool headband made in Iceland. The wind was so strong it was a godsend to have not only to keep my ears warm but to keep my short hair in place. You’ll see me wearing it in later photos!
It also had a pretty cool waterfall, although it was discomforting to learn that drownings were a common way to execute people in the past.
Afterwards, we went to the Geyser Sprouting Spring. First, we ate lunch at the Geyser Center Restaurant and Coffeehouse. I simply had the ham and cheese panini and an apple pie, but one aunt had a fish stew that was delicious. Their fish soup was good but that’s not really something I’ve ever enjoyed so I’m happy it wasn’t my dish.
The Geyser itself has been inactive for years, but a smaller Stokkur sprouted frequently with one small burst and then a larger one.
Our last stop on the Golden Circle was the Gullfoss waterfall which is 32 meters two with two drops and an average flow rate of 140 cubic meters per second. It was extremely windy but beautiful! It was definitely one of my favorite stops so far!
We ended our day at the Secret Lagoon, which is the oldest swimming pool in Iceland. The geothermal area near Fluðir was made in 1891 and, according to the company, it was the site of the legislative body of the community until 1894. One thing: it’s an site to see people swimming while the lifeguards and people walking near it are bundled in heavy coats and clothing.
It was refreshing to swim in its hot waters. While I enjoyed the hot springs and the proximity to a small geyser that erupted about every 15 minutes (see above photo).
We were supposed to go on a tour to see the Northern Lights but it ended up being cancelled due to all of the clouds and slight rain we had. So, instead we tried the newly opened Flyover Iceland in Reykjavik’s Grandi Harbour District. It took us on a virtual flight of the island. I was skeptical of it at first; however, I ended up having a great time. The only thing I was disappointed in was that it showed no viewings of whales or puffins which I figured would have been obvious to include. It did picture Elephant Rock – a cool rock that is in the shape of an elephant off the south coast – that I won’t get to see this trip although I would have loved to.
We closed our night with a delivery from Domino’s. We typically try local places – but we were tired and hungry, and decided to just call it a night.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
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Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Think left & think right & think low & think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" -Dr. Seuss
I previously worked as a news and sports photographer. Recently I have been enjoying wildlife photography. My approach toward bird photos is similar to sports photography. I attempt to capture mostly action and hopefully a unique perspective.
Urbanites in the woods, doing all our own stunts.
WILD IN FLORIDA: Exploring and Photographing Florida's Threatened Ecosystems, Wildlife, and More
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Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
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