Africa Travel 8

We have just come from the beautiful island of Zanzibar and the interesting city of Dar es Salaam, and have now just finished visiting the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti Plains. However, as I write this blog I am torn because while I just had the most fantastic experience of my life, I am also sad because the overland portion of our trip is over and I had to leave the people I had been with for the past six weeks.

Anyway, I would put my experience in the crater and the Serengeti in the top 5 events of my life. We left late one afternoon and headed to our campsite that was just outside of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This area is an extinct volcano crater that is 20 kilometers wide and offers, in my opinion, the best game viewing in Africa. Within the coarse of half a day we saw thousands of zebras, water buffalo, hippos, wildebeests, gazelles, and flamingos. We also saw 4 different prides of lions including lions lying in the road. We also saw the cubs nursing on their mother and two male lions lying side by side together. Along with this we saw lions mating and buffalos mating, hyenas, and cheetahs. However, the highlight of the crater was seeing the rare but famous black rhino lumber right across our path. The setting with the spectacle of all the animals made for a surreal experience that made me want to pinch myself just for a reality check.

As if that was not already enough, we then headed to Tanzania's most famous game park, the Serengeti Plain. We reached the plain, and it was a massive expanse of flat land that was covered in knee to waist high grass with acacia trees dotting the landscape. Not long after we entered the park, we saw yet another pride of lions and then as we continued on the game drive toward our bush camp was yet another one of the most fantastic sights of my life, the great wildebeest migration. As we drove up it looked as if there was a massive black wall in front of us, then we saw it moving and knew it was the wildebeests. There were thousands upon thousands and the line of them stretched beyond the horizon. We stayed there for several minutes before we moved on, but I cannot think of a grander spectacle than that event. The day was still not over though; we kept driving deep into the park passing more zebras, wildebeest, buffalos, and giraffes. Then we told our guide that we wanted to see a leopard, so we weaved down the dirt paths until we came to an abrupt stop. Our guide then pointed into a tree, and we could barely see the outline of the leopard lying there in the tree with its tail swinging below it. We stayed there for quite a while and then the leopard moved to where we could get a better view of it, and we were then elated that we had seen "the big five" in one day (water buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino).

The next day was our last day in the park, but it was still exciting because we saw more lions up close and mating as well as cheetahs pretty close and then finished off the day with another incredible viewing of the wildebeest migration. I have literally been in a state of disbelief since then and have to keep reviewing my pictures to make myself believe that I actually saw those sights.

In close, to my friends that were on the overland trip that are reading this, your friendships and our experiences together are definitely counted among the best experiences of my life, and if any of you wish to come to the States, then I will gladly meet you or have you come to where I am in order to show you America. Also, if you ever need anything from me please do not hesitate to ask. You all are my best friends, and I am sorry that the trip had to end for us. It was "a good burn!"

While the Crater and the Serengeti were a tremendous experience, Ian and I are now moving on to another great experience, hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. We will spend the next few days sorting our guides and gear, but then we are going to attempt to climb to the summit by way of the most difficult route, the Umbwe Route. Till next time, cheers.