For The Love of Travel

August 31, 2017
by Lids
Comments Off on Out Of Africa, 8/6 – 9/6/17, Serengeti National Park

Out Of Africa, 8/6 – 9/6/17, Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, which helps secure it as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of Africa.

We did heaps of game drives across the 15,000 sq kilometres of the Serengeti, home to over 3 million animals, particularly lions!.

Lions languishing,draped over tree branches in the heat of the day, zebras enjoying a dip in the pool, hippos fighting, giraffes grazing at leafy tree tops, watching a male feeding on a hartebeest that had been caught for his lunch by the females in his pride, a lion cub mewing for his mother. A herd of about 12 elephants chasing a pride of lions away from a drinking hole to which they wanted access!

We had warm days with clear blue skies. Magic!

August 31, 2017
by Lids
Comments Off on Out of Africa, 7/6/17, Lake Manyara National Park

Out of Africa, 7/6/17, Lake Manyara National Park

Mariana, Vukoslav and I (small tour group!), headed for the Tanzanian border, arriving for a delicious lunch at Arusha Coffee Lodge, then travelling past a colourful and vibrant Maasai market.

We drove across the Maasai Steppe and onto the Great Rift Valley again, where our lodge was located high on the rim of the valley overlooking the national park. Some entertainment at the Lodge before dinner with jugglers and tumblers.

After breakfast, a game drive in the National Park, with lovely encounters – a huge troop of baboons with lots of newborns; flock of flamingos and pelicans.

Then a long and bumpy ride to our accommodation in the Serengeti.

August 31, 2017
by Lids
Comments Off on Out of Africa, 5/6 – 6/6/17, Amboseli National Park

Out of Africa, 5/6 – 6/6/17, Amboseli National Park

After a very early breakfast, we headed off for a boat ride on Lake Naivasha, which supports a whole host of water birds, inc. African fish eagles, crested crane (symbol of Uganda), pelicans, flamingos and pied kingfishers.

We then left the Rift Valley behind for our long road journey back to Nairobi, then heading south to Amboseli, 400 square kilometres of plains with a stunning spectacle of Mt Kilimanjaro (at the core of an 8,000 sq kilometre ecosystem that spreads across the Tanzanian/Kenyan border. The melting snow of the mountain flow underground into the park, continually feeding water to springs, swamps and marshes across the system. Lots of elephants, hippo, oryx antelope, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and a profusion of birdlife. Lions are rare.. but we saw a female guarding her ‘kill’, with 3 hyenas prowling around her, waiting to pounce on the remains if she got distracted.

We were disappointed that we didn’t get a clear morning view of Mt Kilimanjaro – but happy that there was at least a hint of the mountain through the haze.