Our group spent eight wonderful days on safari in the South and Central Serengeti starting April 15. The weather was perfect…maybe a total of 15 minutes of daytime rain, plus a couple of showers at night while we slept.
We were fortunate to see three lion-wildebeast encounters (the lions won) and even lions mating. We saw cheetahs, leopards, rhinos, hippos…the whole list of hoped for game.
We loved our guides Russel and Thomson. We enjoyed their senses of humor and appreciated their enthusiasm and ability to see and identify animals and birds. With the naked eye, our guides routinely spotted wildlife that we could barely see with binoculars. I still don’t understand how they do that.
We were very satisfied with the tented camps. They are much nicer and more comfortable that we expected… or even hoped…and the food amazed us all, especially at the Seronera Sametu camp. The evening meal at the Seronera Sametu camp always started with soup, and the three soups we had were some of the best I have ever tasted. By all means, if you have the opportunity to stay at this camp, do so.
Our final two nights at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge capped off the trip. We had been told that it was luxurious, but I did not expect the rooms and the food to be THAT wonderful. What a nice way to end the trip.
I am not much of a photographer but I have attached a couple of pictures. Others in the group will send much better photos I am sure.
Bob and Pat D.
Madison, Mississippi
Safari Dates: April 15, 2014 to April 23, 2014
Corin and I joined Bob and Pat along with two other couples on this trip. It was indeed the experience of a lifetime. From Michael’s very careful instructions about preparation well in advance to our warm reception in Arusha by Mathias and Teeman and especially to our two guides, Russell and Tomson, who were deeply knowledgeable about all the wildlife and habitat, funny and gracious, the ADS team lead us through a magical experience in a magical place.
In addition to the incredible sitings that Pat listed above, I’d like to add one more. Near sundown on our second day, we were motoring back to the Lake Masek Tented Camp, a wonderful place with great hosts, and came around a curve descending into a dry lake bed and found ourselves right in the middle of an unusually large herd of giraffes of all sizes including babies. I hopelessly lost count at 39. The image of the low angle sun on these gorgeous creatures, who calmly tolerated our intrusion and slowly walked around us before moving on, will never leave my consciousness. Although we had exhausted our camera battery earlier with hundreds of other pictures that day and therefore do not have a photo to share(perhaps one of our safari companions will send their photo of this scene), it doesn’t matter. That experience of sight, sound and sheer wonder is locked in our minds forever.
Thanks, Michael, Russell, Tomson and the whole ADS team, for helping us find that and countless other once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Bob and Corin M.
Vicksburg, MS