Safari - Days 31 - 34

I'm back from safari y'all~ What an amazing experience!

The 3 day safari I had purchased originally didn't include the Serengeti but the travel gods must have been looking out for me, because due to last minute changes, I got to spend 2 days in Serengeti and 1 day in Ngorongoro. The three other travelers I was originally grouped with got food poisoning and had to cancel at the last minute :( so I was re-routed and placed with another group. For the past three days, I was with a Swedish couple, a lady from Zanzibar and her penpal friend from Japan.

Safari is almost entirely based on luck and we were fortunate most of the time because we saw everything in the " big 5" and thensome. I've heard stories of people driving around for days in the Serengeti without seeing any animals. As the guide says, "This isn't a zoo." So true.

Every morning we'd wake around 5:30am and either go straight for a game drive or eat breakfast before heading out. The first two days we spent time in Serengeti, which means "endless plains" in the Masai language. We didn't see any animals for the first couple of hours so everyone was in low spirits. But the thing about being on safari is, as soon as you see one animal...that all changes. Even though we've all seen the animals in zoos, there's something about being guests in their territory and seeing them in their natural habitat. We saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, gazelles, ostriches, buffalos, wildebeests by the dozens or hundreds. Saw a few lions as well, including a couple that were mating. I tried to respect their privacy but couldn't tear my eyes away. Saw one elusive leopard in a tree and one black rhino. Who knew black rhinos would be so hard to find?

The last day in Ngorogoro was probably my favorite because it's a crater, well technically a caldera so all the animals were somewhat contained. There were animals as far as the eyes can see!

Arrived back in Arusha last night and met up with a couple of local guides I had met before the safari. Tomorrow I'll take the bus to Nairobi and stay there for 3 days before flying to Addis. Today I will take the bus and try to see Kilimanjaro if the weather cooperates.