After researching and being frustrated with other safari companies who would not help us with the intricate details of putting our safari together we finally found Africa Dream Safaris and what a relief that was. Right from the beginning Sharon put us at ease and was able to answer all of our many questions in detail. She listened to our desires and what was important to us and put together our perfect itinerary.

After 3 flights and being in the air for hours and hours, we landed over an hour late at the Kilimanjaro Airport due to our flight being delayed. We so appreciated being quickly led to the VIP Lounge where we relaxed while others took care of all the paperwork for us. One of my first sites was seeing Joseph waving and smiling at us through the lounge windows as he waited to drive us to our lodge, right then and there I knew we were in good hands.

The next morning, we were guided through the Arusha Airport and on our hour-long flight to the North Serengeti. We quickly found our Driver Guide, Fazal, who soon became a delightful friend. Soon after we were thrilled to be officially on our safari.

Fazal was amazing in his knowledge of the animals and of their habits. He would often see elephants, zebras, lions, buffalo, wildebeest, and even cheetahs in a distance, he would then line up our vehicle so that we would be in the right place when they approached us.

Time after time, this amazed us as we were able to be within a few feet of the wildlife. Fazal was always willing to answer our many questions and educate us on not only the wildlife but also on the country and people of Tanzania. We so loved learning everything about this beautiful country.

Each day of our safari brought us a new perspective on how the animals communicated and worked together. Before the first day was over we had seen thousands of wildebeest and hundreds of zebras and gazelles. We were thrilled on our second day to see over 12 wildebeest crossings of the Mara River. It was such an impressive site that will always be a favorite memory.

On most mornings we began our safaris before dawn. We loved seeing the sun coming up and found that the wildlife was plentiful at these early hours. We experienced hyenas in pursuit of prey, buffalos in incredibly long lines crossing the roads, and on one special morning a mother cheetah leapt up onto the back of our luggage rack four times as she was scouting for food.

Her 2 young cubs jumped up on the spare tires as they tried to follow her. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would have experienced anything like this.

Even though the North Serengeti is where we witnessed all of the wildebeest river crossings, we also saw many hippos, crocodiles, lions, leopards, impalas, topis, elands, baboons, giraffes, elephants, and warthogs.

The next two areas we experienced were the West and then the Central Serengeti. These two areas held an abundance of cat life. We enjoyed watching the lions walking through fields, taking care of their young, climbing up and down massive rocks, drinking water, working hard to protect and move their prey, and even one walked by us caring its prey in its mouth.

Many leopards were found in trees protecting their prey and cheetahs in fields working together as they moved toward a herd of wildebeest. Elephant crossings were plentiful, and we watched them taking care of their young and cooling off in streams and rolling in the mud. We found ostriches, jackals, hartebeests, giraffes, and many others.

Our next area was the Ngorongoro Crater. It was here that we first came upon the serval cats. We spent time watching one as it searched out, leapt, and then capture a small rodent. We watched as zebras made their way down to the lake for water, watching them line up waiting for their turn to scratch on rocks In the crater we saw flamingos, pelicans, hippos, warthogs, lions, jackals, giraffes, baboons, bushbucks, buffalos, mongoose, and kori bustards.

Our last area was in the Tarangire National Park. Here we learned about the baobab tree which were in great abundance. We loved this area because of the great number of elephants. We spent time watching mother elephants teaching their young how to dig holes for water close to the river by providing a filter of sand for the water to go through.

There was a huge expanse of green marsh where elephants were almost hidden from view as they tried to stay cool. We witnessed elephants and their young crossing rivers and working together to stay cool by spraying each other not only with water but with dirt. Most all of the other types of animals were present here along with many beautiful birds.

Besides our Arusha lodges we stayed at 5 different camps or tented lodges during our safari. Without exception each one was perfect. The rooms were spacious and beautiful furnished. All of the staff was amazing, and we felt very welcomed at each place. Every need was taken care of such as providing for our safety and comfort, serving us meal after meal of delicious food, and providing us with wonderful box lunches and early breakfasts.

We were treated to a bush lunch where we felt like royalty and a couple of bush dinners which included special songs and dances where we felt like family.

Our safari through Africa Dream Safaris was a dream come true. It was without a doubt an absolute amazing experience. Everything in every way was beyond our expectations. We will never forget the people, the places, and the wildlife that have been etched into our memories.

We love Africa, we love Tanzania, and we are grateful for Africa Dream Safaris and for their expertise in taking care of all our needs as they put our safari together for us.

Lonny and Carolyn P.
Lehi, Utah
Safari Dates: July 15, 2025 to July 28, 2025