August 2, 2016

Safari Day 2 – Tanzania

The second day we decided to meet our guide at 7.30 so that we can leave early morning and get more time spending animal sighting, and driving to Serengeti. It was important to reach our destination before sunset. You don’t want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere in dark. We woke up early morning about 5.30 to be able to eat breakfast and enjoy some last minute views. As usual breakfast included hot items plus all the continental stuff, with various juices to choose from. It was nice to be able to enjoy coffee , unlike everyday in US we have coffee on go. After the breakfast we sat out in the balcony overlooking the beautiful vast park. We even spotted some elephants and water buck. As we were sitting in our jeep, our guide spotted some elephants right in the lodge’s premises. They were near the bungalows. As we head out they were walking towards the roads and we stopped for few minutes to watch them and then we head out to see more. As we went further, we spotted a big group of baboons. It was so much fun to watch them. There were a couple of young babies also in the group. They were all trying to climb up a tree and falling off. At one point I saw big baboon not letting the baby play or be naughty. I think we spent almost 15 minutes just watching them. That day we spotted more giraffes, impalas, gazelles, elephants and moved our way out of Tarangire National Park. Tarangire park is famous for elephants.

Permanent Tent at Tarangire Safari Lodge

Tarangire river and views right in front of our tent

If you read my previous post, this is how we spent our evening at Tarangire Safari Lodge

Impalas right outside our tents

My husband enjoying the views after checkout the next morning

You can see wildlife from the terrace of the lodge

On the way, there were these little roadside stalls selling paintings and souvenirs. I asked our guide Isaac, if we could stop to buy some souvenirs that would be great. He suggested instead he would stop in a boutique shop that would have more choices. So, we did that. On our way again we spotted lots of Masai people and kids going to school. We passed by so many villages also. It was good to see people in their element living life, doing chores etc. School kids would often wave good byes and be shouting out “Jambo” “Jambo” . Jambo in Swahili means hi or hello usually used to greet people. We stopped at this shop which was huge and bought a lot of souvenirs. That was the only time to really buy souvenirs, because we didn’t really have extra time for all that shopping. Tanzania is famous for lot of wood work household, kitchen items. We also passed by Lake Manyara National Park, we stopped to just look around from the road. So vast and a great place for bird watching. It has a lake which is pink in color due to the soil. If you have more time you should also visit it. We did not include it as we were short on time. But, looked like an interesting place to me. As we were passing by Mto wa mbu, a village which literally in English means river of mosquitoes we saw many women selling potatoes, yams and bananas. It was delight to my eyes to see all these local people. Our guide Isaac told us they grow a lot of bananas and yams so they try to sell roadside . It was like not one person but many of them selling them. Lots of Masai folks. I wanted to stop to take some pictures but it was not the best idea according to our guide as he was saying people would crowd around us. Finally, we were passing through Ngorongoro Conservation area and it started raining. The road was all muddy and little slippery. And, it was also foggy to see the surroundings but slowly we passed that road and it was better. we could not really see the crater but we stopped in between to spot zebras, Masai village and surroundings. There is a public viewpoint for the crater. We did not stop their as it was all foggy. But, nearby in a picnic spot we had our lunch as it was already 1 o’clock and we still had almost 2.5 or more hours to go. I was thrilled as you can imagine. Ngorongoro was my favorite. In fact, all three parks have their own charm. Finally, we were close to the main gate of Serengeti. And, the roads were so rough. Again, on our way to our lodge we would stop and look for more animals. Soon, we spotted a group of lionesses on a tree. They were literally taking a nap and there were 6 of them. I was counting all the wildlife we saw on our trip. We took lots of pictures and started going closer to our stay.

New born

Zebra sighting in Ngorongoro conservation area

As we were approaching our hotel, guide Isaac told us that we were entering a place full of tse-tse flies. And, he was right, they had really started biting me. They had a feast from me.

We checked in Serengeti Sopa lodge. We were greeted with warm napkins to clean our hands and face and fresh juice. We went to our room to discover that we were given the honeymoon suite. Honestly, it was the best surprise. It had a split level suite. The downstairs had a living space with french windows to enjoy the views. Upstairs was the bedroom and bathtub in the bedroom overlooking the views. The shower area was also huge. Bedroom also had french windows and a balcony. We were so excited for the surprise. We took long showers and dressed up for dinner.

The dinner as usual was a big buffet including soups, salads, some continental dishes and even some Indian dishes. We enjoyed our dinner with in house choir group. So, every evening there would Sopa choir group including their staff who would perform while guests are enjoying dinner. It was a good way of experiencing some local culture. We spent some time in the lobby as that was the only place to have internet. But, unfortunately the wifi was not strong and we wanted to spend some time in our rooms. So, we went back to our room. My husband would charge camera’s battery everyday to make sure that we have enough charging for the next day’s pictures. And, at the same time he would also remove the pictures from the memory card to our tablet. So, that we have more room for pictures in the memory card. It was a every night routine for us. We had a good night to sleep to start our morning early to set out to explore more that Serengeti had to offer. We were spending two days in Serengeti. This was the highlight of our second day of the safari. I would be doing a whole new post about Serengeti and then Ngorongoro as well. I know that means a lot of post coming up on your way.