Magical Experiences in the Serengeti National Park – Part I

On July 27, 2021July 27, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Tanzania8 Comments

After spending the day in the Ngorongoro Crater, we continued north to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. We would spend two nights in the park where we spend two full days driving around and seeing so many amazing sights. We would see the one missing animal to complete the Big Five as we would have several incredible encounters with Leopards that was the only animal missing as we’d seen lions, water buffaloes, rhinos, and elephants already. We would see much more than just the big cats and we would have many encounters that were up-close and personal. The Maasai word Serengeti means “land of never ending plains”, which is certainly apt as you can see the endless grasslands in every direction that you look.

The Zebras Aren’t Snuggling, It is a Defensive Mechanism to See Both Directions

We stayed in the central part of the Serengeti National Park, which made it easy for us to get out and spend full days exploring the park. The sheer number of animals that live in the park is at times almost overwhelming. We were there as the wildebeest began the migration north towards Kenya, so there were times when thousands of wildebeest and zebras crossed the road in front of us with a distinct mission to reach their next destination. There were so many incredible experiences with wildlife that it is definitely a place that we will remember and cherish our time there forever.

Called a Sausage Tree Because of the Seed Pods

We started seeing giraffes as we neared the park, but since the giraffes eat the leaves of trees, seeing them inside the park is limited to when they go from one location to another. We also saw a variety of elephants in the park, which didn’t use to be the case, but they have naturally migrated to the Serengeti over time as the populations in surrounding parks increased. It was, however, the encounters with the large cats that would be the highlight of our first day in the park. At one point, we saw a lion so close to our Land Cruiser that we could have literally reached out and petted him, but that would not have been a good idea. For the most part, the animals could care less about the people who drive up around them to take their photographs, but occasionally they shy away from our presence. We spent about twenty minutes admiring the lion before any other vehicles arrived, at which point he decided to wander away into the tall grass where he disappeared.

The Dik-Dik is One of the Smallest Antelopes

Hippos Charging into the Water

We saw leopards at two different points on our first day, the first being relatively far away and the second that was relatively close and was eating the Thompson’s gazelle that he had killed. We spent about an hour simply watching him climb around the tree and eating his dinner. We often describe some of experiences as being like a National Geographic special, but instead of watching it on television, it was taking place right before our very eyes. In addition to these encounters with the big cats, we also had a very unique viewing experience of hippos charging down a river bed and splashing into the deep water. Seeing the hippos out of the water was always a unique experience, but seeing them running down the river bed was truly fascinating and it was amazing to see how fast they actually can run.

Our first day ended with a wonderful sunset as we enjoyed a glass of wine at the Thorn Tree Camp in the heart of the Serengeti National Park. Being in such a remote location, our access to WIFI was limited, but that was perfectly fine with us as we left the “real world” behind and simply enjoyed the natural beauty of the savannahs. Although we don’t have any photographs of the night sky, it was absolutely stunning with so many stars that spread across from horizon to horizon. Once again, we were not allowed out at night without an escort as there were many animals that wandered amongst the tents. Our days started before sunrise at 6:00 am and usually ended around sunset at around 6:30 pm. We slept better than we have in many years as we drifted off to the sounds of animals all around the camp.

Olduvai Gorge Monument Near the Serengeti National Park

Maasai Children at a Viewpoint Near the Park

As incredible as our first day in the Serengeti was, it was actually only the beginning of our time in the park. We know that because of the current travel conditions, many people either only visit Kenya or only visit Tanzania, but based on our experiences, we’d highly recommend doing the full safari circuit that takes you through both wonderful countries. We were definitely in the heart of our safari at this point and we had become experts at changing lenses quickly, learning how to use the telephoto lenses for both the camera and the iPhone. All of the photographs that we’ve shared here were just from our first day in the Serengeti. The Serengeti National Park definitely lived up to every expectation that we had as we investigated going on safari and was truly a magical experience.

Exploring the Ngorongoro Crater and Truly Settling into Our Safari

On July 26, 2021July 26, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Tanzania2 Comments

Visiting the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania is an absolutely remarkable experience for many different reasons. Although it is called the Ngorongoro crater, it is really a giant caldera with steep mountains covered in lush rainforests on all sides. The actual floor of the crater covers roughly 100 square miles and is very flat, making it easy to see the entire expanse of grasslands from any point inside of the crater. We were there as the wildebeest were migrating from Ngorongoro up to the Serengeti National Park and eventually into Kenya and the Maasai Mara. We saw many unique animals during our all day game drive in the crater, but the highlight was certainly seeing six of the eight black rhinos that live in the conservation area, especially since they do their best to avoid humans.

Our day started bright and early as we had to go to a local clinic to take another COVID PCR test in order to be able to go back into Kenya in a couple of days. Fortunately our guides made arrangements with the clinic to get us in before their normal hours, which allowed us to get our tests done quickly and still make it to the crater at dawn. There were heavy clouds hanging in the tropical rainforests as we drove over the mountains and down to base of the crater. The drive very much reminded us of our time driving in Bolivia and going down the famous “Death Road” and we were all happy when we made our way to the flat grasslands, especially our guide Shabani.

Driving into the Crater

We Saw Many Types of Water Fowl. This one is the Egyptian Goose.

Seeing the herds of wildebeest with their ever present partners along the migration trail, the zebras, was truly fascinating. We would also get to see more lions relaxing in the tall grass and getting to see one of the black rhinos close to our Land Cruiser was also a special treat. This would be our first of many days learning what it really means to be on safari. Since the vehicles are restricted to the various roads that traverse the parks and conservation areas, it takes a little bit of luck, lots of patience, and keen eyesight to see many of the different animals. For us, seeing a Caracal, which is a medium size cat that is rare to see, as well as a white tailed mongoose were as amazing as seeing the hippos, rhinos, lions, and other large animals that live in the crater.

Family of Black Rhinos Off in the Distance

All of the guides have radios in their vehicles and when a unique animal sighting is found by one of the guides, they radio the other guides so that they can bring their guests to the location to see the animals as well. This cooperative attitude helps ensure that everyone has the best opportunity to see the various animals, especially when one of the big cats like the lions are spotted as well as rare sightings such as the black rhino. One of the rangers in the park actually used his vehicle along with another guide’s vehicle to move a lone black rhino towards the location on the road where several of us were located. At a certain point the rhino decided that it was tired of being herded and it just stopped before heading back to an isolated area, but not before we were able to get some wonderful views of these amazing animals.

The Contrast of the Mountains Compared to the Grasslands Below

By the time our day ended, the skies had cleared and we were able to get a true sense of the actual crater walls that surrounded us. Although there were still far fewer tourists on safari than under normal circumstances, we probably saw the most other people at the Ngorongoro Crater than anywhere else on safari. It probably has as much to do with the limited size of the crater as well as its popularity, but there were still many hours where it was just us and the hundreds of animals that were grazing in the grasslands. As our guide went into the ranger station to register that we were leaving the park, he made sure to close the roof as there were many baboons in the area. Unfortunately, he forgot to roll the passenger window all of the way up, and within a couple of minutes of him going into the station, a curious baboon jumped onto the hood of our Land Cruiser and was trying to climb in through the window. We had to use our guide’s duffle bag to block the baboon while frantically rolling the window up. The baboons will steal anything that they can get their paws on and we saw another baboon grab a shiny bag from another vehicle and climb into the trees above the parking area.

Viewing Point Above the Ngorongoro Crater

We finished our third full day on safari by going to the Bougainvillea Lodge where we had them light a fire in the fireplace in our room. It would turn out to be our last night in something other than a tent for several days. For the next several days, we would start by waking up around 5:00 am and getting into the back of our Land Cruiser by 6:00 am. Although it is possible to go out in the morning, returning to the camps for lunch, and then going back out in the afternoon, we spent our entire day on safari. We would become quite comfortable bouncing around in the back of the vehicle as we drove along the rugged roads of the different parks that we visited.

The Zebras Were Everywhere in East Africa

Entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Getting a Sense of the Vastness of the Crater Floor

The Dense Foliage of Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania

On July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Tanzania, Uncategorized1 Comment

After enjoying a day and a half in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, we made our way to the border of Tanzania where we were to change guides and take a COVID Antigen test in order to gain entry into Tanzania. The cost of the test was just $25 US dollars per person and only took about 20 minutes, but the border customs process at the border was not particular easy to understand or follow. So, in all, it took us about an hour to get through the border checks and make our way into Tanzania where we met our guide, Shabani, for this part of the safari. We made our way to Lake Manyara National Park to spend several hours in the park before going to our lodging for the night.

Lake Manyara is the seventh largest lake in Tanzania and is known not just for the wildlife and famous tree-climbing lions, but also for the fish that is found in the lake. The scenery of Lake Manyara National Park couldn’t be more different than that of Amboseli and shows the diversity of different ecosystems that exist in East Africa. We entered the park late in the afternoon, so we only had a couple of hours and the it was getting dark before we exited to go to our lodge. We were immediately greeted by a large number of baboons as we started along the road that winds its way through the park, but we knew from our guide that seeing wildlife in the Lake Manyara National Park isn’t easy as they hide in the lush foliage of the forest that is the park. In fact, we passed another Land Cruiser exiting the park as we entered that had not seen any animals during their visit.

Colorful Red-and-Yellow Barbet Joined Us for Lunch

We were a little more fortunate as we saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, as well as a monitor lizard and a king fisher bird eating a crab. This, however, was the first time using our new manual telephoto lens and it would be the first lesson on using it in low light conditions. We would master the lens within the next couple of days, but it was definitely learning on the job, so to speak. We were quite content with seeing what we saw, including the amazing landscapes that included the enormous lake.

Our accommodations for the evening at the Pamoja Africa Lodge were quite different from the tent and camp that we’d spent our first two nights in, but we would be back to tents very soon. The landscaping of the property was quite nice and the owners believe in self-sustenance, so they grew their own herbs and vegetables for the meals right on the property. It made for quite a relaxing evening before our adventure would continue the following morning and our next day would once again be something completely different.