African Safari – Out into the Serengeti
The Serengeti is a vast nature preserve and one of the natural wonders of the world. It wasn’t long before we had left all of the world behind as we traveled a road that seemed to go on forever. The weather stayed behind us and the animals cooperated. A great way to finish a travel day on the way to our accommodation for the evening.
African Safari – Oldupai Gorge to Serengeti National Park
As we left the Oldupai Gorge, our vehicles left a plume of dust behind at every corner. Looking off into the distance, it looked like we might be in for some rain. When on safari, a little rain is a good thing as it helps to keep the dust down and gets the grass growing. On the other hand, rain can make everything rather slippery, wet and messy. We had been blessed with perfect weather. so far. As we approached the Serengeti portion of our safari, we had our fingers crossed that the showers would be beneficial and not downpours.
African Safari – Lake Manyara National Park – Background information
The entrance to the park is quite nice with an interpretive centre, a nice nature trail and modern washrooms.
Our directions were simple for the day “Show us the tree-climbing lions”. We saw monkeys, owls and baboons in trees but alas no lions in trees during our visit to the Lake Manyara area.
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African Safari – Arusha to Lake Manyara
As we were driving along the road from Arusha to the Lake Manyara National Park we would pass by some Maasai villages and many donkeys doing their thing as beasts of burden.
African Safari – Masai Mara – Evening safari
This was our last evening safari on the Masai Mara and we were still hoping to locate that elusive Leopard or one of the rare Black Rhinos. We didn’t see either of those, but did manage to see a few more elephants and another lion or two and added another bird species to our ever-growing list.
African Safari – The big sale
During our period of R&R, I wandered down the pathway from the lodge to the small, three hut model Maasai village nearby. I was interested in buying a small mask. Seven Maasai women were interested in selling me cloth, masks, bracelets, beads and all manner of handiwork. After much discussion and bartering, I left with their picture and a mask and they kept some of my money :-).
African Safari – A restful afternoon at the lodge
After our early morning outing on the Masai Mara, we returned to the lodge for breakfast and a bit of R&R.
African Safari – Masai Mara – Breakfast with the Vultures
Not sure of i.d. of these vultures.
African Safari – The Vantelope Phenomenon
The Vantelope phenomenon is really quite an amazing sight to see. At any given moment, in the touristy parts of the Masai Mara, there may be a hundred or more safari vans with their tourist payloads looking for that elusive lion or the even more elusive leopard. The vastness of the landscape is hard to fathom and the ability of the animals and the vans to somehow be lost from sight is really quite hard to believe.
African Safari – The Masai River
The nice weather continued and our destination for the afternoon was the Masai River, home to many hippopotamus and African crocodiles.