A trip to the Serengeti in the heart of Tanzania is an unforgettable journey that will be fondly remembered forevermore. There is plenty of dust, plenty of driving, and plenty of early mornings. But none of this even registers once you reach the plains and witness the sheer incredible concentration of animals all around you.
Like a David Attenborough documentary come to life, you can witness the great zebra and wildebeest migration, come face to face with lazy lions and enormous elephants, and try to spot a leopard or cheetah camouflaged in the vast surroundings.
Getting to Serengeti
Our tour was provided by Intrepid Travel and was superbly professional throughout. Everything ran like clockwork. Our guide was knowledgeable and answered all questions. We always knew where we were going and what we were supposed to be doing, which isn’t always the case on group tours!
We began in Nairobi in Kenya and drove for a couple of days through the country before crossing the border to Tanzania and reaching Lake Victoria, our first campsite. Along the way we admired the beauty of the Kenyan countryside and the Maasai herdsmen with their colourful flowing robes.
We also had the opportunity to visit a soapstone co-operative where the local men and women joined to create beautiful soapstone figurines. Seeing their skill in chiselling, polishing and painting was eye-opening and we happily purchased some gifts for those waiting back home.
Enter the Serengeti
Once we reached Lake Victoria we set up our tents and had another great experience as we were given a bicycle tour of the neighbouring town.
We saw the local fishermen bring in their hauls of sardines and visited a market with an incredible variety of fruit, seeds, grains, and materials for sale. Some sellers were delighted to take a photo opportunity with us and posed like professionals! This was great fun but the best was yet to come.
Our next stop was a church where the worship took the form of song and dance and we joined in with our best efforts – no doubt we gave the regulars a good laugh with our attempts. With lots of hills to climb we were ready to rest and prepare for our journey into the Serengeti National Park the next day, our main event.
Serengeti National Park – The Main Event
At the gate entrance we stopped for lunch and saw our first animals close up with some mongoose and a baboon crossing. We were delighted but soon such animals would be small fry.
We were travelling at a good speed to make it to our campsite with time to spare to set up our tents. The slower game drives would be the next day but we still stopped a couple of times when something caught our guide’s eye.
By chance it was on this initial journey we had our only opportunity to see the ‘king of the jungle.’ A male lion lounged at the roadside casually sunning himself, not bothered in the slightest by our presence. He was a majestic figure with his crowning mane. However as we soon discovered, the lions in the Serengeti are a relaxed bunch and he hardly moved a muscle. We didn’t mind as seeing such a creature up close and personal was all we hoped for.
Camping under the Serengeti stars
We camped two nights in the wide open Serengeti plains, which was an experience I will never forget. The sky was perfectly clear at night, every star shined brightly and we were out in the open without any fences separating us from the animals.
After strict warnings regarding the procedure for any night-time toilet trips we went to sleep in eager anticipation of a day’s game drives.
We woke at 5:30 to make the most of our day and after a hearty breakfast hit the roads.
The Group Safari
This was what we had been waiting for and it did not disappoint.
Soon zebra, buffalo and wildebeest became as common to our eyes as sheep and cattle back home, they were everywhere. The predator cats will surely never go hungry!
We soon saw the destruction a group of elephants can cause as they tear up and devour trees in their path. These beasts lumber around at a leisurely pace and work their trunks with remarkable skill. A couple passed directly across our vehicle, their sheer size was so impressive, likewise the giraffe who almost stuck his head in our window to say hello.
There were warthogs, baboons, gazelle, hippos, and various birds in abundance. The rarer sightings were leopards and cheetah, leopards generally relaxing on the branches of a tree. We went off our track for a view of two cheetah hiding in the long grass and were very appreciative of our driver for bending the rules this once!
Lionesses relaxed on the rocks and all animals tried to avoid the piercing heat of the sun. The simplicity of watching these animals go about their daily lives was wonderful and hours felt like minutes as we drove around in the dust.
The landscapes were awe inspiring and a great sense of peace can descend as you contemplate another world very foreign to our hectic daily lives back home.
Ngorongoro Crater
The next day was our final destination for safari activities as we made our way to Ngorongoro Crater. It spans 260 square kilometres at its base and was formed when a volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself two to three million years ago.
This is the only place where we could potentially see a rhino although there were no guarantees; sightings of this conserved animal are rare. The crater itself was fascinating, with a huge amount of animals contained within.
It was here that we encountered the most exciting experience of our trip, pulling up at the roadside to see three lionesses only a few feet from our jeep. Imagine our surprise when a fourth suddenly popped up from its hiding place in the grass and strolled over right to the edge of our jeep to enjoy the shade!
We could have touched her through the window if we were foolhardy enough, but scrambling to take photos and videos from the safety of our jeep was more than enough excitement.
We also spotted one rhino in the very far distance. Even with binoculars it was difficult to make out, but we counted it to make sure we completed our viewing of the “big five”. These big five are the elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, and leopard. They are so named because unfortunately they are the most popular animals for poachers to target and also the most difficult for them to hunt.
Goodbye Serengeti
This concluded our trip, there was the option of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the brave but we had done more than enough for one holiday. This was an amazing experience and once you do not mind a little hardship I would recommend it for any adult. Our trip would not be well suited for younger children and would be ideally suited for single travellers or couples. Take a chance on an African safari adventure and you will have eternal incredible memories.
I live in the UK, in the country’s most uneventful city, where the most interesting story in the local paper is about banning dressing gowns in supermarkets.
I travel and I write, because surely there are more interesting stories than that to write about and share.