As we disembarked from our internal Tanzania flight, our ADS driver/guide, Arnold, greeted us with his big friendly smile, welcoming us to the Serengeti. From then on we could tell our safari would be a wonderful and exciting trip. He quickly took care of all the paperwork and we took off to watch nature unfold before our eyes. Within an hour of our arrival we were already watching the first of our three wildebeest crossing of the Mara River. By that evening we had already seen more wild animals then thought possible. As the days went by we kept checking off the animals from the ADS list, even adding several new species which Arnold would point out to us.

The Serengeti terrain was so diversified and beautiful. Around every corner there seemed to be another wondrous sighting, of Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Hippos, Nile Crocodiles, Elephants, Giraffes, herds of Antelope, Zebra, Buffalo and Wildebeest, all walking right by our LandRover. By the end of our safari we were able to list 47 identifiable animal/reptile species and 34 identifiable birds, all which Arnold explained in detail about their behavioral patterns from birth, child rearing, mating to death.

Arnold’s exceptional abilities to read the animals, allowed us to witness a rare sighting of the astonishing interaction of two male lions hunting down male cubs of a different Pride. Seeing the lioness intervening to distract the male lions to protect her male cubs was amazing. We felt like we were reliving last month’s article in National Geographic on “The Life of a Serengeti Lion”.

We started to accuse Arnold of being able to send an email message ahead to the animals, saying we will be there in 10 minutes for viewing and pictures. Sure enough, we would arrive at just the right time to see another amusing animal crossing right in front of us. His ability to position the LandRover so the lighting was perfect for our pictures was incredible. His continual patience of letting us yell out “Stop! Arnold I want to take another picture!”, just added to the excitement of our safari. Arnold even predicted rain, changing our planned “Nature Walk” to an earlier time, and sure enough at 3:30 it started to rain just as he predicted.

Our Massai Village visit gave us a real view of the village people of Tanzania and their hopes and hardships. Listening to the village people describing their traditional ways and how they are realizing there is now a global world out there which is requiring them to move their villages forward into this changing world while trying to keep their traditional values was inspirational.

We thank Dawn for helping us plan and setup our incredible safari. Her suggestions, directions, the choice of camp/lodging sites gave us various experiences “in the bush”. She always took into account our desires and answered all inquiries in a very timely manner. She was always just an email away.

ADS’s LandRover was in tiptop shape. As we traveled those ruddy roads each day, we appreciated traveling with a topnotch company. (Arnold kept the LandRover neat, clean and in good working order; he is a man of all trades)

Thank you ADS, Dawn and Arnold for this amusing and wonderful safari. As Arnold says “Every time is a good time in the bush”

Steve and Marie R.
El Dorado Hills, CA
Safari dates: Sept 4-16, 2013