February 7, 8 2016

Tanzania – Serengeti

 

We had an over 7-hour flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, where we boarded very small (to me) bush planes for our 1 hour flight to the Serengeti National Park and a one hour plus drive to our Hotel, the Four Seasons! (There is a God).

 

 

The Serengeti is host to one of the largest wild animal populations in the world! Wildebeest, monkeys, antelope, lion, zebra, cheetah, crocodile, gazelle, elephants, secretary birds, and leopards all roam this amazing place. We saw Elephants, Cape Buffalo, Dik-Diks, Thomson’s Gazelle, Maasai Giraffe, Hartebeest, Hippopotamus, Rock Hydrax, Impala, Topi, Warthog, Zebra, Cheetah, Jackal, Leopard, Lion, Mongoose, Baboons and many birds including Falcons, Egrets, Eagles, Secretary Birds, and Starlings!

 

 

Upon arrival in Serengeti National Park, we went on a game drive on our way to the Hotel! We saw Zebra, elephants, a Leopard in a tree, Hippos and more! The Serengeti National Park protects the greatest and most varied collection of terrestrial wildlife on earth and is famed for its annual migration where over 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest trek for fresh grazing and how I wished we could have seen that! Even without the migration, we saw plenty!

 

The Hotel was of course, great! We had to be escorted back to our rooms at night by Maasai! So cool!

 

Tanzania is a little more than twice the size of California and has about 48.2 million residents. The life expectancy is about 61 years…..seems so young!   The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “extended place”. The National Park is about 5,700 square miles and it is the most complex, and least disturbed ecosystem on earth, can you imagine?!

In 1959, the first hominid footprints were discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge. The excavation still continues and is under the supervision of their granddaughter, Louise Leaky. She actually came to our hotel and spoke to us about her efforts and her journey. Most impressive!

On one of our game drives, we were surrounded by a herd of elephants. There was a quite young baby and two juveniles. The little guy would just collapse to take a nap on the road…very funny and oh so cute! They stayed with us for over 30 minutes and at the end the big bull elephant, who was watching from afar, approached and off they all went. Quite a thrill to be among these enormous creatures!

 

 

Africa …. a dream come true. I’d definitely return.

 

 

Next, Jordan and Petra –  Bucket List Porn.