Posts From January 2017

Our 5th Safari To Tanzania!

It’s hard to believe but we just finished our fifth safari with Africa Dream Safaris. We keep heading back to Africa because of the warmth of the people and the new experiences we always receive from nature. We keep going back with ADS because their service is excellent. We know that there will never be a problem from the minute we land at the airport to the time we are dropped back off at the airport. This trip to Africa included a climb up Kilimanjaro and ADS was most helpful in arranging transportation associated with the climb.

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Top 10 Serengeti Highlights

The Serengeti is arguably the finest national park in Africa and offers a cornucopia of wildlife viewing. Just about every large animal in East Africa can be regularly seen in the Ecosystem. Truly extraordinary wildlife sightings are frequently reported by many of our returning guests and even our most experienced guides with 100 plus safaris under their belts can still be heard oohing and awing over some rare animal or behavior.

In fact, one of our veteran guides was explaining in delight about watching a pride of lions attack a young buffalo when the tables suddenly turned and the lions became the hunted as the entire buffalo herd parried in defense. This got me reminiscing about my personal favorite bush experiences and what other returning guests commonly report back as their own highlights while on safari in the Serengeti. Accordingly, here we have the Top 10 Serengeti list in my opinion:

#1 – Watching the antics of the Sametu Lion Pride at the Sametu Kopjes, East Serengeti. This unusually large lion pride was made famous by the booked entitled ‘Lions Share’ and was featured a few years back in the National Geographic movie called ‘Super Pride’. A coalition of 4 extraordinary large male lions, known as the “Greek Gods” (Zeus, Ares, Apollo and Demeter), led this pride for several years. Seeing the pride all together at the epicenter of their territory right at the Sametu Marsh with all the cubs, adult females and resident males in attendance is tough to beat!

Just game driving to the very remote Sametu Kopjes is an adventure in itself. What an amazing home for the Serengeti’s most famous lion pride! There were some great pictures posted a while back of the Sametu pride lounging on their favorite kopje (scroll down towards the bottom of the linked to trip report).

#2 – Witnessing the Great Migration. This is simply the pinnacle of wildlife viewing in Africa and no pictures, videos or even words can do justice though shock and awe comes to mind. Wild Travel Magazine ranked it #1 in all of Africa.  The Great Migration is a continuous cycle of movements by the dominant migratory herbivores in the Serengeti (wildebeest, zebra, eland and gazelle).

There is no beginning or end to the migration though there are quite a few noteworthy moments that reoccur every year including the following:

– Grumeti River Crossing in the Western Serengeti during May/June

– Mara River Crossing in the Northern Serengeti from July to October and in some years as early as June and as late as November

– Wildebeest Calving in the South Serengeti during January/February though zebra and gazelle do not have a pronounced birth spike like the wildebeest and their birthing period is spread from December to April

– Northward Migration and Wildebeest Rut in the Central Serengeti during April/May (this is called the Moru Crush when the migration exits the plains through the narrow valley at Moru Kopjes)

– Southward Migration in the Central Serengeti during November/December…this return to the plains is an exciting time

– The End of the Green Season (my personal favorite time) in March/April when the great herds typically come together (after calving) on the southern and eastern plains (usually near Naabi Hill) and reach their highest densities

#3 – Witnessing the ultimate speed contest on the open Southern Serengeti Plains. Cheetahs live their lives in pursuit of the migratory Thomson’s gazelles. Watching the world’s fastest land animal sprinting across the plains in pursuit of the fleet footed Thomson’s Gazelle is truly exhilarating. Due to enhanced visibility on the flat, short grass plains of the Serengeti, there is a higher then normal chance of seeing cheetahs in action. The tricky part is keeping a cheetah running at top speed centered in your binoculars or trying to snap off a picture!

#4 – Watching Giraffes in the Lobo River Valley of the North Serengeti. Lobo Valley is one of the most beautiful scenic spots in the entire park and is home to good numbers of giraffes (the national emblem of Tanzania). It’s a quintessential African Safari experience watching these polite giants as they delicately browse acacia trees. Stewart White was one of the first explorers to discover the Lobo River Valley. In 1913 Stewart wrote: “Never have I seen anything like that game. It covered every hill, standing in the openings, strolling in and out among groves, feeding on the bottom lands, single, or in little groups. It did not matter in what direction I looked, there it was; as abundant one place as another.”

# 5 – Dodging elephants in the Lower Grumeti Woodlands of the Western Serengeti. The Western Corridor is home to some of the Serengeti’s largest concentrations of elephants. Some of these elephants are notorious for exhibiting fake or demonstration charges where they rapidly approach the vehicle with ears spread, head held high and are often accompanied by an unfurling of their trunk with a loud trumpeting similar to a party noisemaker. Signs of uncertainty immediately before the charge including displacement activities like exaggerated feeding behavior (breaking off branches, etc.), swinging of the feet or swaying are usually indications for demonstration charge rather then a real charge. However, such mock charges can still be quite dramatic and the first time you witness one, you will undoubtedly remember it!

# 6 – Scouting for Cats in the Gol Kopjes, East Serengeti. The Gol Kopjes complex (called the world’s largest Japanese rock garden) extends roughly 100 square miles and covers dozens of kopjes or granite outcroppings. Hundreds of game loops bisect the constellation of kopjes and photographic opportunities abound (perhaps the best in the park). Exploring this beautiful area while checking each outcropping for lion or cheetah is always a memorable experience. One never knows what surprises may lurk on each kopje!

# 7 – Peering down at Hippos at Retina Hippo Pool, Central Serengeti. One can climb to within just a few feet of these enormous creatures. The riverbank here is about 10-feet above the pool and it is possible to climb to only a few feet away from the approximately 200 hippos that inhabit the pool. Great photography opportunities abound here as the large groups of hippos huddle together, spouting and grunting in the water.

# 8 – Tracking Rhinos at Moru Kopjes, Central Serengeti. Coming across one of these critically endangered creatures, especially in the beautiful Moru area, is a real safari treat. Moru is an excellent place to lose yourself in the magic of the Serengeti and is home to the remaining population of black rhinos in the Serengeti. Last year, there were several black rhinos reintroduced to the North Serengeti (they were flown from South Africa) and we are just now having more regularly sightings. However, nothing beats coming across one of the original rhinos in the Moru Kopjes!

#9 – Exploring one of the more remote and off the beaten path areas. The Serengeti Ecosystem (roughly the size of Massachusetts) is so enormous that there are still plenty of opportunities to get off the beaten path and explore area where few tourists have ever traveled. Named after one of our guides, one of my favorite hidden spots (pictured below) is a place called ‘Reggie’s Kopjes’ in the East Serengeti, which is located roughly 1/2 way in the middle of a giant plain that stretches perhaps 30 miles between Naabi and Lemuta Hills. There are no roads here but rather just mile upon mile of pristine wilderness. You can climb up one of the kopjes here (just make sure there are no lions) and look east towards Lemuta Hill and Nasera Rock for arguably the finest view in the Serengeti. And, I guaranty you won’t see a single other soul. When the migration thunders through this area, this place would surely be tough to top.

#10 – Spotting Leopards along the Seronera River, Central Serengeti. The banks along the Seronera River, along with the nearby Songore River,are the best areas in Africa to find leopards. Elegance personified, leopards are notorious for being especially graceful and enigmatic. Maybe it is their stunning beauty, or perhaps their incredible power, that captures the imagination of all visitors who travel here. A study in the Serengeti found that there were 7 resident adult leopards in a 72 square mile study area in Seronera. This equates to about one leopard per ten square miles, and when cubs and a smaller proportion of nomadic leopard are factored in, Seronera boasts one of the highest concentrations of leopards in all of Africa. Click here for an excellent leopard article entitled ‘The Prince of Stealth‘.

I seem to have run out of slots and failed to mention one of the most exciting thrills anyone can receive while on safari, which is coming across one of the Serengeti’s rare and unusual inhabitants like the pangolin, bushbaby, rock python, wild dog, caracal, oryx, serval cat or bat-eared fox. Check out this posting entitled The Bizarre, Quirky, Rare and Deadly to see some of the more unusual animals that live in the Serengeti.

What are your top highlights or favorite memories from your Serengeti Safari?

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Top 10 Reasons to Visit St Judes while on Safari with ADS

The School of St Jude is a charity funded school that provides a free, high-quality primary and secondary education to over 1,600 of the poorest, brightest children of Arusha region, Tanzania, East Africa. The school, located across three campuses, also provides boarding for 1,100 students, and employs over 450 Tanzanians. It was founded by Australian Gemma Sisia in 2002.

(all photos by School of St. Jude)

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Ways to Give Back on Your African Safari

In appreciation for all the beauty and inspiration Tanzania has given us, it is time to GIVE BACK. When guests choose Africa Dream Safaris, they have effectively partnered with our front-line efforts to improve the lives of the local people and conserve the precious wildlife that make their home here. And it is WORKING! Here are just a few ways our partnerships are helping to make a difference.

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We Knew It Would Be Wonderful But Were Not Prepared For An Experience Like This!

From the moment we made our reservations, to the time we arrived in Arusha and even after, Africa Dream Safaris provided a high quality safe adventure beyond anything we could have imagined. Even several months later, we all agree that we still can’t believe what we experienced during our 12 days safari.

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Retina Pool Offers the Best Hippo Viewing in the Serengeti

Approximately 5 miles north of Seronera, the flowing Seronera River and Orangi River converge to form a deep pool of water called the Retina Hippo Pool. Although hippos are common throughout all the rivers in the surrounding area, the deep pool at Retina is certainly the best spot in the Serengeti to view these enormous and fascinating animals. Retina Hippo Pool is also a great spot to see other animals including crocodiles, baboons, impala, giraffe, elephants and topi.

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Our Most Fabulous Ever Vacation!

Margaret and I wanted a big celebration for our 25th wedding anniversary and we eventually settled on a ten day Tanzania Safari created by Africa Dream Safaris. We wanted luxury as well as game drives and so ADS selected the most stunning lodges for our trip. There were no issues with altering the trip to make it exactly how we wanted it, but what we didn’t realize is that the whole trip would be far better than we’d even imagined!

Although our trip officially started at the Arusha Coffee Lodge, for us it began with a flight from Arusha to the north west Serengeti – and even on this flight we saw Zebra and Ostrich on the edge of the runway!

Russell, our ADS driver, met us when we landed, and drove us to our first lodging at Bushtops Serengeti. But this first drive was through the beautiful Serengeti, seeing Zebra, Giraffe, Hippos, Wildebeest, Buffalo, and even Lions; so even before we’d “arrived” we’d had an amazing drive.

Our second days drive took us temporarily into Kenya and offered our first views of Elephants. At first we saw one Elephant in the distance; then later a family group very active just yards away!

Throughout our Safari, this kept occurring – we’d see a great view of animals, and later a better view, and then even better still. Multiple times our view went from needing the provided binoculars, to being so close that a phone camera took National Geographic quality photos!

On our third day we transferred from the North East Serengeti to Central, at the Elewana Pioneer camp. Here our lodging was more tented but still very luxurious with king size bed, private shower, electric lighting…

The transfer drive was amazing as we drove through typical Serengeti plains, to more forested areas, hilly areas – and all the time seeing a constant variety of animals including our first Leopard, again just a few feet from the road. We were stunned too by the sight of eight Lions in a tree.

The Pioneer camp offered very fast internet too, giving a chance to share our experience with friends and family.

Another day, another drive – our first Cheetahs, Baboons trying to chase a Leopard from it’s tree, a pride of 16 Lions, and Elephants on top of rocks!

Our next lodge was Singita Faru Faru in the private Grumeti reserve, which forced us to separate from Russell and the ADS vehicle, and switch to the lodges transport. This change meant sharing the vehicle with other people, being unable to stand for the best views; but instead the vehicle was able to go off the roads which gave our very closest views of animals.

In the Grumeti reserve we also took an interesting walking tour, and an early morning balloon ride which included flying over a herd of more than 100 Elephants.

From Grumeti we flew to Manyara and met back with Russell who drove us to our last lodging at the incredible Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. We clearly had saved the best for last as this lodge has amazing cottage style rooms, constant friendship from the staff, and spectacular views of the crater!

Our drive into the Ngorongoro Crater was exhilarating and once again there were game views almost everywhere. We saw our only Black Rhino view here, rather too distant for good photos but with a calf to make the view more special. Also here we saw our only kill – a “cackle” of Hyena trapped and drowned a lost Buffalo calf but then a nearby Lion pride moved in and took over the kill, dragging it from the water.

Our final day driving from Ngorongoro back to Arusha detoured through the Lake Manyara Park for final views of Zebra, Buffalo, Elephants, Baboons, as well as hundreds of Pelicans.

Other than the end of our trip, there really were no negatives. We’d been concerned before we left USA about insects / bites, about how distant our views would be, about weather / temperature. None of these were an issue.

Insects were almost non-existent on the game drives and lodgings, except at Singita Faru Faru where they were very noticeable at dinner – the choice was lights that attracted them, or darkness with no way to see what you were eating! For some reason many flying insects also got into our room, though the net around our bed kept them from being too annoying.

Temperatures were perfect; during the hot day time the canopy of our ADS vehicle kept us shaded – at night because our Lodgings were all 4,000-5,000 feet altitude, temperatures dropped to very comfortable low 60s or even 50s. On our early morning drive at the Grumeti reserve we definitely needed the provided blankets.

As for the views, almost all animals were seen at least some of the time less than 50 feet from the vehicle – and some views were much closer. I was very pleased with my Nikon Coolpix P900 camera with it’s 2000mm equivalent maximum zoom, but I was also very pleased with the video and photos I was able to take from my iPhone, sometimes.

Our two days at the Singita lodging gave us a flavor of what Safari trips are like from companies other than ADS. With ADS, Russell was our personal driver and guide; he took us where and when we wanted and was a constant friend, providing a major enhancement to our vacation.

We would have been less thrilled with having to share our drives, obey set times and have less control over our days. Additionally, the experience of driving rather than flying from one lodging to another seemed to be a significant benefit in being able to see the changing terrain from one part of Serengeti to another.

Thank you Michael for creating our special trip, and Russell for making it so wonderful!

Ian and Margaret C.
Winter Garden, FL
Safari Dates: November 28, 2016 to December 7, 2016

P.S. It’s hard sometimes when watching a Safari program on television to get a realistic idea of what a Safari drive is like. So here I’ve put together a few videos taken during our trip, using just my iPhone (so these views are close to the truck, not zoomed in from far away!) You can see that the terrain is sometimes grass plain, sometimes more full of trees, sometimes no animals visible and sometimes you have to stop because the animals are blocking the road!

Driving in the Serengeti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXkr2o-6gW4

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