When you think of Africa you think of the animals. So you think of the most famous national park - The Serengeti. For the next few days that would be our home. The first morning we changed from our lovely truck into smaller 4x4 Safari Jeeps. The ride up was so smooth! Not bumpy at all! It was such a change. But when we started driving up to the Nrongorongo Crater it got bad. It was like we were driving up a range, but a very bumpy, unsecured one. It was a bit terrifying, I won't lie. The drop off from there was a long way down. It was a very beautiful view though. About half way up we stopped at this look out, it was of the centre of the crater, and wow. It was insanely amazing. There was the watering hole with animals all around, so much space & so green. We would get to drive around down there was well. We continued on our way for quite awhile, enjoying what the plains had to offer.

After awhile we stopped at a Masai village. We had to pay to go in, but the experience was so good. We got welcomed with a traditional song, and I got up and danced with them! It was so fun! All the females had so many holes in their eyes, which were stretched and filled with beaded earrings! The long, heavy, dangly ones! Everything was beads! They had these massive necklace things as well. After the dancing we interacted with them, and they were very surprised I was 20years old without a husband or baby. No thank you! We then got a tour of their village, and saw inside their houses, which were tiny and could house up to 9 people! We also saw the kindergarten there! The kids were so cute, they kept singing the Jumbo song! We then said our goodbyes and continued on our way.

We passed into the Serengeti and had a small game drive! We mostly saw zebras though. We did see some elephants up close, they were chowing on some grass quite close to the road! That was pretty cool. We got to our campsite & got so spoilt. Our tents were already set up, with a mattress cover & a pillow! We also got dinner made for us, and someone else cleaned up! It was so good! That night however, we had animals roaming all around us. If we needed to go to the bathroom, we first had to scan the area and stay close to our tents!

The next morning I had to be awake at 5am to be picked up for my first hot air balloon ride! It was so cold and the ride to where it was was so long! We finally got to where we were going and saw 3 massive khaki coloured balloons getting blown up. It was still cold & I was annoyed we had to wait another hour for the balloons to get blown up before we could go. So petty. By the time we were getting a safety briefing I was getting really excited! It was apparently different to other balloon rides, the basket was on its side and we had to lay down before we got lifted up. It was so fun!! We finally had lift off and it was so... Smooth.. I was so used to the bumpy rides we've been having, gliding through the air was so peaceful. The air was brisk against my face but the heat from the flame keeping the balloon up was welcome. We were up flying across the Serengeti. We saw some hippos and a lot of animal tracks but not too many animals, it was too wet from the rain the night before so the animals didn't have to venture out as much. We flew for about an hour before landing, which was a lot smoother then I expected. We then got driven to where our breakfast would be! We had a toast with champagne, which is traditional after a balloon ride & sat down for food! We started off with fruits & coffee (and champagne still!) before moving onto our English breakfast. It was so good, we had scrambles eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, the whole shebang! We met some lovely Americans next to us as well, and exchanged stories of our trip so far. The alcohol kept coming (which I have NEVER done at breakfast) and when we left we took to bottles with us and drank of the jeep! By 10.30am I reckon I'd have had a whole bottle if not more to myself and was feeling pretty drunk. Probably not good considering I was about to go on a game drive! Lucky the 6 of us were feeling the same, so it wasn't just me!

This game was better! We saw a leopard and its cubs in a tree playing! What a sight! We stayed for about an hour watching, it was so lovely to see. We then continued on and saw heaps of zebras, wilder beast, some giraffes (so cute), buffalo, warthogs, heaps of birds, hyenas, and lions. They were mostly up close as well! My camera was not the best and died the day before so I had to rely on my iPad to document my experience. It was a long day, so getting to the camp was very welcoming. We arrived and the first thing we see if a massive African elephant drinking from the water tank next to the kitchen! They were just wandering around the campsite casually! A few if us were busting for the loo, and on our way back, being very tired, walked back to our jeep, but got too close to another elephant in our way. Next thing we knew, we were being shouted at by people and this elephant was honking at us and started running towards us! It was terrifying! I honestly thought I was about to be trampled but it stopped after we got to the other side of the jeeps. Never getting close to an elephant ever again!

I had a quick nap before dinner because I was so tired. Dinner was made for us again, and I wasn't feeling well from all the alcohol & the most bumpy ride ever so I didn't eat much. I headed to bed shortly after, we had an early day the next day and I was b*****ed. One of the best days on this trip though!

Next day - breakfast was made for us (I was LOVING not having to prepare/clean) and we saw the most amazing sunrise over the Nrongorongo Crater. If you have the chance to get to Africa, I would say its a must do. We were late leaving, but that didn't matter too much. We had another game drive where we saw heaps of flamingos & black Rhinos! That finished off the Big 5 for me. I saw them all! It would be pretty pointless coming to Africa without seeing the animals in the wild. We were also extremely lucky to see two male lions fighting each other to become the prides king. There aren't really words that explain seeing that. It was truly special. We drove out of the national park and back to our camp in Arusha. The Serengeti & Nrongorongo Crater was amazing! I'm super glad I got to do it.

That night we had dinner prepared for us YET AGAIN! I could get used to this! We had a BBQ buffet! Omg, yum! It was our last 'official' dinner, so they went all out & we had a couple of drinks & stayed up late playing games and reminiscing about the last 3 weeks. It was the best way to end our tour.