Safari!!!

This past weekend, I went on a four day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater with 6 other volunteers- it was so much fun!  We saw every animal there was to see and did both a sunset and a sunrise game ride. I could just about die for a good sunset so that was all I needed to be happy...so add in a herd of elephants, and I go crazy.

A herd of elephants at sunset!

On Friday morning, Chui (our driver and ironically the word for leopard in Swahili) piled all 7 of us into the Safari jeep and drove us to Lake Manyara National Park.  We set up our campsite for the night and then drove thorough the park for about 3 hours sighting monkeys, zebras, giraffe, elephants, impala, and water buffalo.  The park was gorgeous; there were areas of lush trees followed by open fields of grass with roaming herds of animals.  We popped the top up on the car so we could stand and stick our heads out to get a better view.  After dinner at the campsite, we watched a music and dance performance which I was unfortunately pulled into and forced to katika, “or shake my hips” in front of everyone…pretty embarrassing.  Thank god I don’t have any pictures of that to share!

Can I fit him in my backyard?

Safari Van

A quick afternoon cleaning!

We spent most of the day on Saturday driving out to the Serengeti on windy and bumpy, dirt roads.  Along the way, we stopped at a Maasai village to see how they live.  Although we felt quite intrusive, it was very interesting to learn more about their way of life.  They welcomed us with a traditional dance routine and gave us necklaces to wear around while we were touring the village.  There are only three items that make up their diet- meat, blood, and milk…can you believe that?!

My boyfriends

The girls attempting the Maasai Dance

We arrived in the Serengeti on Saturday afternoon and did another game drive spotting tons of animals.  It is insane how close the animals get, at one point we had a leopard crawling around under our car!  We were so excited to keep going that we drove straight into sunset blasting “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata” on repeat and then Chui had to find our campsite in complete darkness.  It was quite the process trying to set up camp in the middle of the Serengeti with no lights and the threat of animals coming from all directions.  Thankfully we survived and were able to wake up at 5:30am to do a sunrise game drive through the plains.  As much as we wanted to keep sleeping, it was SO worth it to wake up early.  There were tons of animals out at this time and the views were unbelievable.  I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful and peaceful it is to be in the middle of endless plains, my pictures barely capture it.  In the Serengeti, we saw all of the same animals we saw in Lake Manyara with the addition of lions, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, meerkats, warthogs, and all sorts of birds.  I think my favorite animals were the lion cubs and the elephants.   Thanks to Chui’s amazing eagle eyes and ridiculous driving skills, we were up close to almost every animal we spotted.

Sneaky leopard under the car

Sunrise game drive

Our last night was spent in a campsite on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater with awesome views inside the crater.  We had some exciting visitors at dusk- a family of elephants was right next to our car and a bunch of zebras were hanging out outside our tent all night long.  I was pretty close to getting attacked by an elephant since I didn’t see him and walked right by without noticing.  Another guide had to get my attention and tell me that there was a gigantic elephant 10 feet behind me!  Obviously, instead of running away my reaction was “Oh my god!! Can you take a picture of me?”

Elephant invasion!

Zebras at our campsite

On Monday we drove through the Crater all day and finally saw a few Rhinos which completed the “Big Five”- lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and rhinos.  I think Chui said they are endangered and there are only 22 left in the Ngorongoro Crater so we were very lucky to have seen three!  It was such an amazing trip spent amongst great company.  I will be adding many more pictures on facebook in the next few days so keep an eye out for them! And if you ever find yourself in Africa, a safari is a must!