Serengeti trip

In late January, 2011, Shell, Catherine and I travelled to Arusha in Tanzania to begin our Serengeti game park adventure.  The trip was planned to run for five days, which included visits to Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.  We met up with our driver, Duncan, and cook, Aaron, (also known as the ‘Food Doctor’) in Arusha, stocked the car and then began our journey.

The first day included a visit to the Lake Manyara National Park and an overnight stop at Twiga campsite.  Inside the national park we were able to see a large number of animals including baboons, monkeys, elephants, giraffes, hippos and zebras.  Unfortunately we didn’t spot any of the famous tree climbing lions that are known to inhabit this park.

 

The second day started with a long drive to the Serengeti National Park.  En route we visited the Olduvai Gorge Pre historic site before entering the park.  The Serengeti National Park was massive and allowed us to spend two days driving around looking at the animals in their natural environment.  In the park we were able to see some more of the wildlife, including, lions, cheetahs, wildebeest, gazelles and buffalos.  For two nights we camped under the stars inside the park at the Seronera Campsite.

On day 4 we had an early morning drive through the Serengeti National Park before another long drive to the Ngorongoro Crater.  We set up our tents at the Simba campsite in the late afternoon before being treated to a visit to a local bar by our Driver, Duncan.  The evening was freezing cold so we rugged up and headed off to bed after dinner.

On day 5 we got up early and drove down into the canyon to see the animals.  The canyon was like a natural amphitheatre and allowed us to see so many animals in close proximity.  We finally saw our first rhinoceros in the canyon, which completed the viewing of the ‘Big Five’ (the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot - Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard and Rhinoceros).  Although we never saw a kill, we did see a few vultures and a hyena making a meal of some poor creature.  After leaving the crater, our driver took us on a side trip to show us more flamingos.  This was followed by a drive back to Arusha, which ended our adventure.

The whole trip was an amazing experience and I would recommend the Serengeti game park adventure to everyone.  Given the chance to go again, I would be there tomorrow.