We toured three parks in four days. I was thinking it'd be a nice way to relax and unwind after the gruelling climb on Kilimanjaro. But it wasn't quite like that. The dirt roads were full of pot-holes and often our driver would hit the gas peddle when he saw a cluster of jeeps in the distance. It made for a dusty bumpy ride. The roof of the jeep was raised. We were by no means permitted to exit the jeep.
Tarangire National Park was the smallest of the three at 2600 square miles, but had the widest variety of animals and these massive Baobab trees.
1: Ashy Starling 2: Superb Starling 3: Hornbill 4: Guinea Fowl 5: Lilac Breasted Roller 6: Tchagra
Giraffes look so aukward when they run.
1: monkey 3: Marabou stork
This guy gets the right-of-way, no arguments. He passed within 10' of our jeep!
pic 1: cooling off on a hot day 2: stork, wildebeast & elephants by a watering hole 3:Vultures by the carcass of a gazelle 5: Dikidiki
Toward the end of our 4 hour tour, dark clouds closed in and a welcome rainstorm hit.
Spent the night in the Lake Burunge tented camp. They had guards on constant watch, 24/7.
pic 2: Wendy standing by a termite mound.
The lake was dry.
The dining area.
Ngorongoro Crater contains over 20,000 large animals including Tanzania's remaining black rhino. We saw one but from a far distance. There were plenty of zebras, wildebeests & gazelles.
Strong winds were whipping up dust by the lake.A
It was a 600 meter drop into the crater.
4 pic slider -- pic 2: pic 3: African March Harrier Hawk
3 pic slider -- ostrich / Blue Heron / Yellow-billed Stork
Water buffalo below a tree full of Weaver nests.
Warthogs & Crowned Cranes
Hippos graze at night.
We spent the night at the Rhino Lodge on the ridge of the crater at 2000m high. In contrast to the day, it was cold. These Waterbuck were nibbling right by our balcony.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is unique in that it allows over 40,000 Masaai pastoralists with their cattle & goats and sheep to live alongside the abundant wildlife in a natural setting.
It was an hour drive from Ngorongoro to the entrance of the Serengeti.
The young pregnant girl was selling trinkets to the tourists that stopped at the gate for a photo.
The Serengeti is the largest national park in Tanzania, at 14,763 square kilometres. Here we saw the most lions.
pic 4: Bustard birds.
The less common Koke Hartebeest.
Water buffalo
The elusive leopard. His head is hanging on the other side of the branch.
Three mothers with their three cubs. They find what little shade there is in the day and hunt at night.
Two cubs with their mother who didn't want to wake up.
We stayed two nights at the mobile Kati Kati Tented Camp. At this point Wendy, me and our driver were a bit under-the-weather. Our driver was in pain from gout, me from digestive issues and Wendy lost her voice from a cold. The servers at dinner time were not happy with my choice of rice, tea and more rice.
We had to be accompanied to the dinner tent in case of roaming lions.
Tasty dinner for the lions, cheetahs, hyenas, leopards, serval cats and jackles.
An Acacias tree.
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Visitors at our lunch spot. pics 1 & 2: Rock Hyrax pic 3: Kuro
A baby on top and a baby below.
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