Our trip to Tanzania in July 2010 was truly a dream come true! An African safari had always seemed like one of those trips that might never happen – it’s so far away, how do you chose when there’s so many safari options to pick from, is it really ok to take our son and the biggest obstacle – my husband really didn’t have a desire to go! Fortunately a friend traveled to Tanzania with ADS in 2008 and after hearing about her trip we were convinced we had to go (thank you Sally!)

From the moment we landed in the Northern Serengeti until we departed a week later we couldn’t stop smiling! The week flew by for us with something exciting every day. Our guide was amazing – we would give him our “wish” for the day and somehow he made it happen – including spotting the elusive black rhino in the last 30 minutes of our safari! People in vehicles next to us couldn’t see them, so apparently our binoculars were superior (thank you ADS!).

We can’t say enough about our guide. We would be driving down the road at 30 kph and he would stop and back up and point to an owl in a tree that couldn’t have been more than 6″ tall – and it had a mouse in its claws! I loved that he didn’t always point out the wildlife to us, he let our 16 year old son do a lot of it, which added to the excitement for him. While we were in the Central part of the Serengeti, where there were a lot more tourists, our guide took us off the beaten path and we only saw a couple of other vehicles in several hours but LOTS of wildlife. One day we saw FORTY-SEVEN lions! Another day he spotted a leopard sleeping in a tree – how he saw it we’ll never know! We were the only vehicle there and were able to watch quietly for as long as we wanted – what an awesome experience.

I’d like to stress to anyone considering a safari the importance of having the freedom to control your entire day. Obviously our guide had recommendations, but he would defer to us on how long we wanted to watch the martial eagle, a lion stalk her prey, the vultures finishing off a wildebeest or crocodiles feasting on a hippo. It was always hard to leave one area, but the excitement of what was around the corner was constantly urging us on. I would highly recommend at least a couple of nights in a tented lodge – there’s nothing quite like getting ready for bed and hearing lions roar in the distance!

Thank you ADS for helping to make this trip so memorable!

Debra, Chip, Preston Cazale and Mark Swierc
July 2010