This was my fourth trip to Africa; however, I had never been to Tanzania.
We left New York in the morning and arrived 14 hours later in Nairobi. Just a one-hour flight to Arusha and then a two-hour drive to our hotel, which is a working coffee plantation. (I would suggest spending two nights to recuperate from the jet lag.) The next day we took a small 12-seater prop plane to our camp. It was an amazing scenic flight that passed active volcanoes and the Serengeti.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by our Safari rangers, Henry and Moodie, who were amazing. Champagne was popped, a toast was made, and we were off on our wildlife drive to the camp. By the time we arrived at the camp, we had nearly seen five notable animals… and it was only a few hours’ drive!
I was not sure what to expect at the camp as I had only stayed in one tented camp in Kenya before, and it was quite luxurious. This is a nice four-star tented camp that had the true feel of the “Out of Africa” movie. I almost found myself expecting Robert Redford to drop in for dinner!
The game viewing and scenery was spectacular, and the camp is ideally located close to the Mara River and Serengeti, which is perfect for the Great Migration. This was the low season, and we hardly saw any other vehicles or people, which I much prefer.
We saw a very elusive black rhino and her baby along with leopards, cheetahs, elephants, lions, ostriches, and baboons… not to mention all the birds!
We spent two nights there and then moved to our next camp deep in the Serengeti. The drive took over six hours with some game viewing. However, I would suggest you fly as it is much more comfortable and shorter.
The scenery is now competently different with tall grass and miles of nothing except flat land, which is perfect for lions and cheetahs. We were rewarded with the scenes of a pride of 15 lions lounging in the shade under a tree, cheetahs hunting for their dinner, and one cheetah carefully guarding a recent kill.
We then stayed in a permanent tented camp complete with stargazing beds you can sleep in at night. It’s great for honeymooners. After three amazing days, we had a wonderful farewell dinner with our guides and the rest of the team, and everyone was sad to leave.
We drove to a small airport and, after a short 45-minute flight, arrived at Tangire National Park. Our guide was waiting for us and, in just a few minutes’ drive, we were rewarded with elephants, zebras, and the famous African Beboub trees. I don’t think I have ever seen so many elephants in any other game area before. There were 20 and 30 elephants at a time and all ages! There even was a three-week-old hiding among the older ones, who were extremely protective. We also saw a baby giraffe that was only a few weeks old with its umbilical cord still intact.
The camp at which we stayed is new and has a gorgeous pool and a common area. It is also all solar powered and a completely “green” property. It was hard to leave the next day… it was such a pleasant experience!
However, we were so very excited to get to Nairobi to meet Samson, one of two children who TravelStore sponsors. We had an amazing day with Samson and went shopping for supplies and lunch with him. In the afternoon, Samson went back to school, and we went to the giraffe center and elephant orphanage before heading back to the airport for our flight home to California.
What an amazing trip…
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