The scenery was astounding and changed dramatically as we travelled.
Because these parks have no fences, it's absolutely essential that you stay in your car the entire time. Our safari vehicle (hilariously named 'Tellulah' by our local guide) was this amazing 4 x 4 land rover with a pop-up roof, so we could stand on our seats and view animals from a good height.
Because we travelled with our own personal guide, we specifically asked him to seek out areas of the park that were more remote so that we would be away from other tourists. So we drove for hours without seeing another 4x4, and when the engine was turned off, all that we could hear was the sound of the wind.
Middle picture: yes those lions are mating. It lasted about 7 seconds. Not kidding.
We kept track of everything we saw and could identify (well, we could not identify much, but our guide could identify almost everything we saw) and our final count put us at 45 types of birds and 39 types of animals. We won't subject people to the complete list but we saw all the 'greats' multiple times (lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, leopards, warthogs, hippos, vultures - it was like a reunion of the cast of the Lion King).
The animals also cooperated, for the most part, and did Discovery Channel types of things. We saw lions mating, leopards dragging a kill up a tree, cheetahs jogging, vultures circling, elephants trumpeting, and serval cats stalking. Alas, we never actually saw a "kill" in real time. We did, however, learn a valuable lesson about Susan-- she can get pretty blood thirsty and alternated her tactics between goading/encouraging/scolding the big cats in her efforts to see them make a kill. Takeaway - stay on Susan's good side.
One of our favorite experiences while in the Serengeti...
We camped out in tents every night in the middle of the Serengeti. Because there are no fences around the camps, visitors are instructed to be pretty careful going to the toilets in the middle of the night. Susan was never able to heed this warning, because she NEVER makes it through the night without a bathroom break. But on our last night in the Serengeti, when Susan needed the bathroom most of all (see 'Master of Disaster' entry), she did NOT venture to the bathroom.
The reason? Our campsite was where the wild things were! We woke up in the middle of the night to elephants trumpeting, just feet away. A couple of lion prides had entered the campsite to duke it out for bragging rights, but were no match for a hungry herd of elephants, who, after chasing the lions away, spent the entire night munching on trees just behind our tent. Hearing them breathe, snack, and call to each other was just miraculous. We also poked our heads out of the tent and watched the elephants eating in the moonlight. A highlight of the entire trip.
Because these parks have no fences, it's absolutely essential that you stay in your car the entire time. Our safari vehicle (hilariously named 'Tellulah' by our local guide) was this amazing 4 x 4 land rover with a pop-up roof, so we could stand on our seats and view animals from a good height.
Because we travelled with our own personal guide, we specifically asked him to seek out areas of the park that were more remote so that we would be away from other tourists. So we drove for hours without seeing another 4x4, and when the engine was turned off, all that we could hear was the sound of the wind.
Middle picture: yes those lions are mating. It lasted about 7 seconds. Not kidding.
We kept track of everything we saw and could identify (well, we could not identify much, but our guide could identify almost everything we saw) and our final count put us at 45 types of birds and 39 types of animals. We won't subject people to the complete list but we saw all the 'greats' multiple times (lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, leopards, warthogs, hippos, vultures - it was like a reunion of the cast of the Lion King).
The animals also cooperated, for the most part, and did Discovery Channel types of things. We saw lions mating, leopards dragging a kill up a tree, cheetahs jogging, vultures circling, elephants trumpeting, and serval cats stalking. Alas, we never actually saw a "kill" in real time. We did, however, learn a valuable lesson about Susan-- she can get pretty blood thirsty and alternated her tactics between goading/encouraging/scolding the big cats in her efforts to see them make a kill. Takeaway - stay on Susan's good side.
One of our favorite experiences while in the Serengeti...
We camped out in tents every night in the middle of the Serengeti. Because there are no fences around the camps, visitors are instructed to be pretty careful going to the toilets in the middle of the night. Susan was never able to heed this warning, because she NEVER makes it through the night without a bathroom break. But on our last night in the Serengeti, when Susan needed the bathroom most of all (see 'Master of Disaster' entry), she did NOT venture to the bathroom.
The reason? Our campsite was where the wild things were! We woke up in the middle of the night to elephants trumpeting, just feet away. A couple of lion prides had entered the campsite to duke it out for bragging rights, but were no match for a hungry herd of elephants, who, after chasing the lions away, spent the entire night munching on trees just behind our tent. Hearing them breathe, snack, and call to each other was just miraculous. We also poked our heads out of the tent and watched the elephants eating in the moonlight. A highlight of the entire trip.
The next morning, the elephant herd was still near the campsite, and Josh took about seven thousand photographs in ten minutes.
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