Tanzania: Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, & Zanzibar!

After traveling back to Nairobi, we met up with our overland adventure travel group on the 8th and headed for Tanzania. We're the only Americans in the camping group- the other travelers are from Great Britain, Germany, Korea, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic- a very multi-national group! Along the way we passed Kilimanjaro, but the skies were too cloudy to catch a glimpse of the glacier-capped mountain. Our first few days in Tanzania were spent on safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks. We loaded into old, sturdy, green 4x4 land rovers, passing through Maasai villages until we arrived at Olduvai Gorge- a fascinating place! We then kept 4x4ing it until we arrived in the Serengeti. We only had a couple hours before sunset to try and look for wildlife, but we were able to see giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, gazelles and other antelope, a female lion with her kill (a zebra), lots of birds, a cheetah, hippos, hyenas, vervet monkeys, and a leopard! We spent the night camping in the Serengeti without fences or even a boma, listening to hyenas. The next day we went on safari and saw tons of wildlife, including elephants, baboons, Cape Buffalo, and a family of lions.

After the Serengeti, we drove all afternoon to the crater, and camped on the rim. After dinner and nightfall, as Bryan and I headed to our tent, we were surprised to find 7 zebras and a big cape buffalo surrounding our tent, their eyes glowing by the light of our headlamps ... it was surreal (and maybe a little scary). The following day we had an amazing safari in Ngorongoro Crater, first with the view of thousands of wildebeest! The highlight of the safari was encountering a female lion with two young cubs, walking along the dirt road. We were able to watch them for some time, even when they came to a river and crouched down to drink- the experience is very hard to put into words, it was so awe-inspiring! After the safari, we went back to campsite to tear down our tents and found two huge male elephants in our camp!! What a surprise! (We gave them a wide berth and kept our distance).

Following another couple days of travel, and a boat ride from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania- we are now on the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean. The beaches have powdery white sand, the waters are turquoise, and each morning the north monsoon season winds blow for a couple hours. I've gone SCUBA diving a few times- the biodiversity of fish and reef life here is incredible. Today I saw my first wild green sea turtle! Sadly, after only 3 days here, we are leaving tomorrow to head back to the mainland- although this is really a place we could spend months at: swinging in hammocks, eating lobster, and diving (for relatively cheap!)! We also spent a day exploring the historic "Stone Town" full of carved wooden doors, beautiful architecture, and a colorful market with tons of spices and scarves.

Next we head to Malawi...