Day 12: African Wildlife Safari
March 16, 2023
On March 16, 2022, we left Tanzania for Rwanda. We landed in Kigali and stayed the night at the Kigali Serena Hotel.
Tag: Tanzania
Day 11: African Wildlife Safari
March 15, 2023
Day 11 was my last full day in Tanzania. We spent it on game drives and at the camp site packing
Day 9: African Wildlife Safari
March 13, 2023
Day 9 was again spent in the Sereneti National Park on game drives. We saw large groups of elephants, zebras and lions.
Like the day before, that night was spent at Tanzania Bush Camps. We left March 14 for a second camp site of Tanzania Bush Camps in the Ndutu Areas.
Both sites were more like #glamcamping with bathrooms/showers in each tent. Internet was available in the recreation tent, and you could have hot water if you gave staff time to heat the water. We needed a guide to walk to our tents after dark because of the presence of wildlife, both prey and predators. The first camp site had a camp fire each night, and it was a nice way to unwind with not only my group but other guests.
Day 8: African Wildlife Safari
March 12, 2023
Day 8 was spent in Serengeti National Park on game drives. We took a morning drive and an afternoon drive, which included a pit stop at the park’s visitor center.
Day 5: African Wildlife Safari
March 9, 2023
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: Our Lodging
March 9, 2023
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.
Day 4 = African Wildlife Safari
March 8, 2023
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 2: African Wildlife Safari
March 6, 2023
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.
Day 1: African Wildlife Safari
March 5, 2023
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.
Memos for Me 