Sunday, November 24th – Tuesday, November 26th

World Tour Days 22 – 24

On the 16th overland tour day we kicked it off with a full day drive from Nairobi, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania where we spent the night at a campground with a pool. Tanzania is a large country so we had many long driving days in order to get to the places we wanted to see. The following day was a 7 hour drive finally making it to the Serengeti National Park. Nick and I did an afternoon game drive through the park, slowly making our way to our camp for the night.

The action was quick as a big leopard ran across the road a few feet in front of our jeep as we were entering the Serengeti National Park. We also learned from our guide that wildebeest change how long they are pregnant for depending on if it’s rainy season or not, if it’s rainy season they are pregnant for less time. The dry season they are pregnant for longer because without rain the babies would not survive. There were what seemed like millions of wildebeest in the park. We saw wildebeest crossing the road in huge numbers, fighting and playing. We saw more giraffes than we’ve seen anywhere else, including two young males play fighting. There were greater flamingos, which are white and taller than their pink ‘lesser flamingo’ cousins.

One of the highlights was spotting several lions hiding in the grass nearby a few thousand wildebeest. A lioness sprang up and chased them away, so we got to witness a stampede which was very neat. Elephants were slowly making their way across the plains as well. Our safari luck continued when we spotted a serval cat, a small cat looking similar to a small cheetah with pointed ears. It was hunting in the long grass, and would pounce on its prey by jumping straight up into the air and landing on its snack of choice. The animal sightings continued even as we drove into camp. There were sleeping lion prides, a lion pride with very young cubs and two hyenas nearby camp.

Once we made it to camp we were greeted with our own private permanent tent. There were two beds inside, an attached outdoor bathroom with a bucket shower, bedside tables, and robes. There was outdoor seating, lanterns, maps of Africa, and more decor that made it cozy and charming. It made us feel like we were living in luxury after so many nights in our tent, wet from the torrential rains at night in our previous camp sites. There was a communal tent with a bar and a communal tent where we ate our meals. The sunrises were phenomenal, and the food was good, too. At night, you could hear the sounds of animals very nearby as there were no fences and we were located right in the heart of the Serengeti National Park. There were times when we could hear hyenas laughing, lions roaring, frogs, and more right outside of our tent. We were not allowed to walk alone and needed to be escorted at night time from and to our tent.

The only downside to the campsite was that because it was the short rainy season there was an explosion of a type of beetle that was attracted to the lights. These beetles appeared shortly after our dinners completely covering the lights and couches, and filling the air. They would fall on our hair, and were everywhere. It was impossible to walk to our tent without being bombarded by beetles. When we laid down in bed in the tent we could hear dozens of beetles consistently hitting the walls from the outside as they tried to fly around. Besides the beetles, which did cause me to scream frequently—much to the amusement of the rest of our group—the campsite was amazing.

In the mornings our camp had several animals walk through including a family of giraffes and a bull elephant. Nick had a too close for comfort encounter with the bull elephant with some other travelers while enjoying the sunrise. Our second day in the camp we did a full day game drive in Serengeti National Park, starting at 7:30am and ending at 4:30pm. It felt like we could’ve spent several more days there, so much to see and take in. The landscapes were the most gorgeous of any park we had been in so far this trip.

We saw loads of hippos; they were the most playful we have seen with adolescents play fighting constantly. Similar to the day before there were a uncountable number of giraffes. When you’re on safari a good trick is to follow where other trucks are parked, because it likely means they’ve spotted something unique. We pulled up beside a few other trucks and watched a leopard hanging out in a tree for awhile.

There were lots of strange looking birds that we had not seen before, but the only name I remembered were the Egyptian geese. These were very cute and had several babies behind them. Our truck also saw two types of mongoose throughout the day, usually atop rocks or termite mounds looking for snakes. One of the favorite sightings of the day was a female lion who had climbed up a tree (apparently there are only a few parks where you can see this). She was looking for wildebeest, and directing other lions in the grass with her tail movements according to the guide. A hyena came up very close to our vehicle but was moving quickly so it was hard to capture a good photo of it. Was still neat to see, though. We had seen many hyenas but never this close which was something I had been hoping for. Later in the day we saw a large herd of elephants, and the baby with them was teeny tiny. Off in the distance there were two cheetahs hanging out slightly apart; usually this means they are brothers or a mom with young cubs as cheetahs otherwise are solo animals. Another serval cat made an appearance running through the tall grass.

Our guide took us to a spot where there had been a rhino sighting earlier in the day. He was convinced that although we could not see it now, it would stand up at some point. We sat there for over one hour waiting for anything to happen. It felt like a lost cause since there was no way to guarantee that the rhino was even there anymore. Our guide told us we were in for a treat as a massive elephant herd we had seen earlier was making their way to the area the rhino was resting in, and those animals do not like each other. We learned to always trust the guide, because we got to witness one of the funniest things of our trip. As two elephants got closer to the bush where the rhino was hiding in, the rhino sprung into action. The rhino appeared from the grass, and charged the elephants, who ran with their tails up, petrified. The rhino even had a baby with it which also charged the elephants with it’s mom.

After the excitement of the rhino chase, we saw a black face velvet monkey in a tree close to the road. The notable thing about this monkey was that it had bright blue balls. There was also a small leopard turtle, which looked like a baby tortoise with leopard spots. It was an unforgettable one and a half days of game drives in the Serengeti.

Our third morning at the camp was a bittersweet one as we packed up our small bags, and left the Serengeti National Park. Hard to be sad though when we knew what was coming that day, another amazing national park.