Serengeti

Day 2 in the Serengeti started with a game drive for us while some of the group did an early morning balloon ride.

Balloon in the morning haze.

 What a magic morning watching the migration of the Wildebeests making  there way across country...... thousands of them. 

We weaved our way in and out of dry river beds looking for another surprise. Today we noticed a lot of dead animals as we made our way across country so there were plenty of vultures at work.

Wildebeest .......feed time for the vultures 

Hippos submerged in the water.

Hippos on land briefly

Baboons everywhere one with baby on board

Looking back at our tented lodge on the hill

Tony & Kerry by the pool chatting to staff

Tony checking for wildlife before we leave our tent. The buffalo are so dangerous and come quite close to the tents so the guards are always patrolling with their slingshots as well as a ranger with a gun. I saw a buffalo right below our deck early morning. There's quite a chorus of animal

noises once we go to bed. 

After our morning game drive we had a much needed afternoon free before meeting for drinks and watching the sunset.

Serengeti

Leaving the Acacia Farm Lodge with Joshua the manager in the foreground.

Another early start with a long day ahead on route to the Serengeti National Park a whole 14700 sq km of park. We drove around the Ngorongoro crater rim through lichen covered trees and through the reserve with plenty of nomadic farming on route.

We had a short stop here at the Olduvai Gorge known for its ancient archeological sight  where they have found fossils from animals and humans going back 2 million years. We also visited the museum before hitting the corrugations again.

 Finally arriving at the Serengeti border.

For the whole day we drove on HEAVILY corrugated rutted roads that you had to drive fast over to keep it as smooth as possible, some parts being a real 4WD experience. Quite bouncy when you're sitting in the back seat for half the day. 

We think these trucks were carting water and looked as though they were in big trouble buried in the thick soft soil.

Finally we arrived at the Naabi Hill Gate the entrance to the Serengeti Plains where we had our picnic lunches while the drivers checked into the National Park for our 3 nights stay. Still a few more hours to our destination.

Once we're in the park it's back into animal spotting so the roof goes up.

These Landcruiser trucks are modified here in Tanzania. They cut their tops off and turn them into comfortable 7 seater passenger trucks.

A couple of Lions feeling content

A Cheetah with her 4 cubs a lucky find we are told.

My turn for the front seat.

By sunset we were arriving at our Kirawira tented camp after about 11hrs on the road but so worth it once you arrive here. 

Safari

After an early breakfast we were back out for a morning game drive as we were only checked into the park for 24hrs. 

Our tented lodge accommodation for the night

Looking out of our tent over the Tarangire National Park

Panoramic view of the lodge and view over the park.

Looking down from the Lodge

Lunch was back at the Lodge then we headed to Ngorongoro. Since leaving Arusha at the start of our Safari most of the farming we have seen on route has been nomadic with the Maasai all along the way out grazing their precious animals on the bare dusty landscape.

A typical scene of this nomadic farming. This was a big herd many with young boys out watching over them.

More surprises as we go

Baboons & gazelle by the water

We drove through the Great Rift Valley & into the red fertile farmlands of barley & wheat to our accommodation in the Ngorongoro Highlands where we overnighted at the Acacia Farm Lodge

On our arrival we were welcomed by a line up of the staff clapping and singing the most beautiful African songs that brought tears to your eyes. 

Before dinner we all sat around a big fire burning in a wheelbarrow and chatted to the staff & other visitors then dinner & bed.

On Safari

By 9am we were on Safari with Tandari expeditions traveling in landcruiser trucks with Erick as our guide, a local man. Our first stop was Arusha where we all changed money & visited the supermarket for the last minute necessities,then we were off to Tarangire National Park stopping on the way at the Meserani Snake Park and a Maasai museum that a Maasai showed us through and explained how they live. It was so interesting 

Tony holding a small snake

Holding a turtle 15kg and grow up to 30kg

 Then a walk around the corner to the Maasai Boma Cattle Market. It was obvious that they don't see tourists in there as we were certainly something new to them. What an experience that was to see dozens of groups all there with their cattle not in yards but just kept together in small groups with their owners and they never ended up getting boxed with the next herd. 

Arriving at the cattle market.

Women in the background preparing bundles of cut grass ready for selling

Sue chatting up some Maasai men to try and get them to talk about themselves and accept us being amongst them 

Maasai doing their business 

After that dusty experience never to be forgotten we drove off to the National Park where we were provided with our individual boxed lunches which we enjoyed before driving into 2600 sq km of park. We were entertained by tiny little monkeys who were quick to steal your lunch if your box wasn't closed.

These cute little Vervet monkeys had the prettiest lilac coloured balls.

The rest of the day was spent game driving which was amazing.

The Baobab trees are scattered throughout the park. A lot of them have the bark stripped off by the elephants during drought times as they hold a lot of moisture.

 Our accommodation was in the National Park  staying at the Tarangire Safari Lodge. We all had our own outdoor tent with ensuite. We could hear the Lions during the night and plenty of other sounds. We kept our tent flaps up all night with just the screens closed so as we could view any wildlife that sometimes wanders past the door but unfortunately nothing came by. 

The group having our evening meal.

We had to be escorted back to our rooms after dinner and security were around all night.

Tanzania

Today was a very long day traveling with a 5am wake up call. From Dubai we flew with Emirates to Dar Es Salaam. This was where the experience began. Quite a contrast from Dubai. We waited in a very long stuffy que to go through the visa ritual and be fingerprinted etc.and all the other formalities. It seemed to be one thing after another and then a long wait to catch the next flight to Kilimanjaro in a much smaller plane.

Some of our crew waiting for our flight to Kilimanjaro 

 We landed around 9pm and met our safari guide who transferred us to Mt Meru hotel another 3/4 hr away in Arusha.  We all managed to sample their beautiful buffet meal that the chef was so proud of. By now it was about 11pm and we were all ready for our beds. 

Dubai

After a much needed sleep we all met at breakfast and planned our morning. Some went shopping but we chose to pick up a little boat and view Dubai from the creek. At least by doing this we also had a gentle breeze to cool us.

The 2 farmers taking in the sights...... an hour well spent on the water.  So this is what they call the Dubai Creek......looks more like a huge river to me. 

The lower building is our hotel.

Boats from Iran loaded with herbs and spices.

Time for some cool refreshments by the pool and catch up with the rest of the group for show and tell and hear how they had filled in their morning. 

Later in the afternoon we were picked up from the hotel for our desert experience arriving at Al Maha an hour later. This is the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve 225 sq miles .....the biggest piece of land in Dubai dedicated to a single project and owned by the government. 

A few of the white Oryx that we saw in the Reserve. They were very close to becoming extinct. 

The flighty little Mt Gazelle. 

We heard about the history of the  Falcon and saw how they caught their prey. A very interesting story.

Arriving to watch the Falcon display and were welcomed with bubbles. It looked quite strange in the middle of nowhere.

Tony holding the Falcon

There was also a small man made lake which is now attracting the bird life. 

After the sunset it was back to the hotel and by then it was time to call it a day.