We spend one night at the famous Snake Park with Ma and BJ before heading out to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. 8am on Sunday morning we’re all packed and ready to head off on our 2-day game drive. Lunch is spent huddling together at a picnic spot on the chilly Crater rim as we try and stay out of dodge of the Back Kites that do everything in their power to prey on your afternoon feast!.....Most of us were lucky….one person lost their chicken. Having gathered our selves together and stayed out of the way of the Bush Pig we were on our way again and began our descent into the Serengeti. The views you get driving into thepark are totally breath taking and unmistakably worthy of their name: “The Endless Plane”…it looks like the planes stretch all around the world and back! Our drive to our campsite was fruitful with hyenas, giraffe, elephant and gazelle all close by, but it seemed the following day was to offer more than any one could have hoped for.
Monday morning we leave our Serengeti camp at 7 and shorty into the drive we came across 11 8 month old lion cubs chowing down on a giraffe right on the side of the road, shortly after this we had our first cheetah siting of the day – 1 female with 2 cubs, later we would see 2 more cheetah females with cubs, and then just before lunch “She” graced us with her presence…possibly the most aloof animal in the plane, we saw a Leopard, who jumped from her perch and walked along side our vehicle for a few meter’s before heading back into the thick bush. People come here time and time again just to get a glimpse of her spots and many come away disappointed so we were super lucky!!!!
Monday night was spent on the Ngorongoro crater rim and due to the altitude it was FREEZING!!!!!! However completely worth it as we woke with enough time to catch sunrise over the world’s largest unbroken caldera. After breakfast on Tuesday morning we drove into the Crater for our morning game drive. Despite the close proximity of the Serengeti the views you get here are so different. The 260sqkm floor of the crater offers everything from thick jungle like forests to wide open lakes and planes. The morning was a complete success with 2 big male lions sunning them selves in the middle of our path, black rhino and an abundance of colourful birdlife.
Tuesday afternoon saw us heading back to Snake Park camp for 2 nights. I feel I just need to mention a bit about Snake Park and what it’s all about. It’s a camp site ran by possibly the most selfless people on the continent Ma and BJ. Just outside the gates of the camp is their clinic, one of the best places in East Africa to be treated for snake bites and is funded completely by them…..and us, 100% of the camping and 25% of the bar tabs go towards the clinic and the local community. They have an array of different snakes, reptiles and a few injured birds all expertly taken care of by Deon, and together the 3 of them (Ma BJ and Deon) run a place you can easily call home! So “home” is where we spent the next 2 nights….our final 2 nights of tour. The final days were taken up by a masai walk which includes visiting one of the local masai villages and the masai museum, and what would a trip to Tanzania be without looking at the local “gem”….Tanzanite. Tanzanite is a precious stone of purple blue in colour and is mined only around the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro.
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