Greetings from Tanzania. It is your friendly driver-guides Raphael Mollel and Francis Peter from Africa Dream Safaris reporting after the conclusion of another successful safari to the famous safari circuits of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Ecosystems. This time we guided a family of seven persons from Pelham, New York. This family included three generations with the grandparents Brian and Barbara, parents Greg and Lara and the kids named Marnie, Ian and Clare who ranged in age from 8 years to 14 years old. We utilized 2 vehicles to give our guests the most flexibility on their game drives and activities.

We started in the North Serengeti on August 2nd, 2013 when we picked up the guests at the Mara River Kogatende Airstrip. The North Serengeti is where the great migration is currently located and we saw the wildebeests and zebras crossing the Mara River. Apart from the migration we saw a lot of other animals including buffaloes, topi, elands, cheetahs, hartebeests, thomson gazelles, hyenas etc. Also, we saw three cheetah cubs of about 6 months old hunting a baby impala and they succeeded. What we believe is that probably their mother died or she came into estrus and abandoned them, though it was not a right time as cheetah cubs dont usually come into independence until they are about 18 months old.

In the Loliondo game reserve, which is adjacent to the Serengeti, we visited a Maasai village and we enjoyed very much seeing their culture. The dancing was amazing and the Maasai warriors were jumping very high and we tried it, but we didn’t succeed. Around the nearby Lobo Valley circuit we saw a leopard on the rock and he was surprisingly not skittish. Also, we saw three cheetah brothers along the road and their stomach were full (they had eaten recently).

In the central part of Serengeti, especially retima hippo pool, there were a lot of hippos (more than 200), as well dozens of lions around the Seronera valley. In the Ngorongoro crater we saw 6 big male lions and a couple of lions mating.

Lake Manyara National Park has an abundance of primates including troops of baboons, blue monkeys, black faced vervet monkeys and other animals like giraffes, elephants, impala etc. Also, the park is famous for its diversity of birds inlcuding white pelicans, Egyptian gooses, Africa jakana etc.

Tarangire National Park was fabulous because it’s a park with a higher concentration of elephants than any other park in Tanzania, especially in the dry season when a mini-migration takes place. Silale Swamp was especially good as it was full of elephants drinking and bathing.

The following are some of the photos taken during our trip with this family from August 2nd to August 12th, 2013.

Thanks,

Raphael Mollel and Francis Peter
ADS Guides.

A male lion in the crater stopping to itch the ADS lion logo on the spare tires (we see this behavior frequently as the lions appear attracted to our company logo)

This reflection of a hyena was taken in north Serengeti.

The hunting dog (wild dog) around buffalo camp, North Serengeti

This male cheetah was enjoying the late afternoon sun

A lion cub on a log in the Central Serengeti

Zebras in the crater were scratching but they looked like they were listening to something. It was very amusing!

Teenager bull elephants playing in Silale Swamp, Tarangire National Park