A friend and I stayed for three weeks at Martha and Daniel’s place as a Workaway. During our stay we had the opportunity to take part in a four-day safari tour. It was a unique experience! Let me tell you all about this incredible adventure..
On the first day, we went to Tarangire
National Park. This park is a 2.5 hour drive from Arusha, in the north of the country. With a surface area of 2850km2, it's one of the smallest parks in Tanzania and is located in the heart of a migration zone. We were lucky enough to see many animals, including gazelles, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes and even a leopard in a tree! Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were able to see an impressive number of elephants, the famous animal of this nature reserve. We made our way to our first camp, on the shores of Lake Manyara. This camp was very comfortable, and we were welcomed by traditional Tanzanian dancers!
The next morning, we passed through the epic Ngorongoro Crater before we reached Serengeti National Park - the land that inspired the film "The Lion King”! This national park is well known for a number of reasons : it's the largest park in Tanzania (12,000km2), it is the home to the big five; lions, elephants, giraffes, buffalo and rhinos! The park's ecosystem is one of the largest and oldest in the world, and it's the ancestral home of the Maasai people of East Africa. We arrived in the late afternoon, and were able to take advantage of the golden hour to explore the park for the first time. In particular, we saw a family of lions, lionesses and baby cubs - adorable! We finished on a high note and were lucky enough to spot a leopard in a tree while admiring the magnificent sunset over the savannah. We headed back to our camp, which was right in the middle of the park. We spent the night surrounded by hyenas and buffalo... exciting stuff!
On day 3 we woke up at dawn to admire the animals at sunrise. We saw lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, buffalo, hippos, crocodiles, dik diks, antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, lemurs, ostriches, eagles and vultures. We were lucky enough to see a rhinoceros, the most difficult big five to spot in the savannah! For lunch, we returned to camp. Then, we drove around the park for another 2 hours before taking the road to Ngorongoro. It was quite a long journey, so please be patient. Polé Polé! The last night of the safari was much colder than I expected, make sure you're well-equipped, as the temperatures at the top of the crater drop significantly!
Finally, the fourth day was dedicated to the Ngorongoro Crater. We got up again at dawn to watch the sunrise over Africa's 7th natural wonder. It was a moment out of time! This empty, inactive volcanic crater is the largest in the world. In fact, the crater was formed by an erupting volcano that collapsed in on itself. It has been listed as a UNESCO heritage site since 1979. What we liked most about this national park was the beauty of the landscape. The expanses within these mountains added a magical aspect to the place. We also saw many animals, including pink flamingos and pelicans around the lake at the centre of the crater.
As you can imagine, we had an incredible time! We didn't expect to see the animals so closely or to sleep amongst them. The trip organised by Kilitanzania Pride Tours was extremely well organised, which made it even more enjoyable. Great team and great people! Long live safari and the beauty of Tanzania!