We left Dar early to to try and avoid the mental traffic, arriving in Pagani early afternoon to play tennis and chill out by the pool. The next day we headed to Arusha and the Meserani Snake Park (which I'd been nervous about for weeks!). Luckily the snakes were all locked away in a separate bit so I didnt have to see any! Bad taste party for Vickys 21st... pics to follow! (Andrew loved the pink dress and headband I bought him!)

Slightly hungover the next morning we started our 3 day 2 night safari tour of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater in 6 seater landcruisers. It was right in the middleof the dry season so the animals were blending in well with the dry grass and we struggled to see much on our first afternoon game drive to the campsite, which was open to any animals that fancied us.

An odd experience of eating supper in a cage so that the aniumals couldnt steal it! We also ended up pitching our tents in the poring rain for the first time so it was lucky we had taken the fly cover in case we needed it for extra warmth the next night due to the altitude of the crater rim!

We did an early morning game drive the next day and saw a lion with 2 tiny cubs walking along in the grass - very cute but rubbish photos as they were almost hidden by the grass. We were radioed that one of the other trucks had spotted a leopard in the grass by some trees and some gazelles, so we sped off to the spot in hope of seeing the last of the Big 5, but after about an hour of searching we moved on to an information point about the migration (they had all already migrated to the Masai Mara which was a bit disappointing). We then had another radio call to a leopard sighting and this time could clearly see the leopard up the tree with its Impala kill hanging on a nearby branch. They are beautiful animals and we were so lucky to see them so it was v exciting, we had been told we had a 1% chance of seeing them before! The leopard even stood up and walked across the tree which was very cool! Unfortunately we are both still regretting not having a camera with better zoom so the photos aren't great but we'll hopefully steal some off someone else!

We then drove back to the Ngorongoro Crater viewpoint which is stunning, the photos don't do it justice! Animals can stay in the crater all year round and only migrate within it due to the fertile soils. The edges of the crater are all really green in contrast to the dry centre.

After a night on the crater rim (nice and cool at night) we set off early through thick fog to the steep descent road. As we got lower the visibility became better and we saw zebra, wilderbeesthippos, buffalo, monkeys, elephant, warthog, gazelles and lions and a black rhino in the distance. However the highlight of the day was definitely seeing a cheetah, the 2nd hardest cat to spot after the leopard, so again we were extremely lucky! We saw it sitting, walking and 'jogging'! but left fairly quickly as it was surrounded by about 40 trucks in the end so the park ranger came to fine all the drivers - supposed to be only 5 trucks around cheetahs! I felt a bit sorry for it in the end because it obviously wanted to cross the road but couldnt. WE then headed back to Arusha and the snake park for our last two nights withthe trip.