A safari trip to Africa has always been on our “must take trip” list. When some friends went on an Africa Dream Safaris trip a few years ago, they highly recommended ADS. After retirement, we realized that it was time to make that trip a reality and we spent much time on the phone and emailing with Sharon with our endless questions. She answered all of them and put together a safari to meet our desires.

The date of our Tanzanian safari finally arrived and from the moment we landed in Arusha on April 8th until we departed on April 20th, we were in expert hands. When we met our guide Peter Huka, we knew we had hit the jackpot! Not only was he an incredible driver, he was an amazing spotter and knew absolutely all of the animals, birds, and even the insects. He was quite a teacher!

We had been a little hesitant about going on safari in April which is during the rainy season but we are very happy now that we made that choice. Not only did the rain not interfere with our game drives, it led to some quite exciting driving by Peter. We never got stuck though Peter did stop and help out some safari drivers from other companies that did. He stated “not very experienced” and we were so glad that our guide was experienced!

Another added benefit to doing a safari in April other than the beauty of the green grass on the Serengeti plains, was the lack of great numbers of tourists. This is not high season here so prices are lower too. Peter said that he guessed there were only 60-80 vehicles at that moment in the entire Serengeti National Park but that in high season it likely would be more than 300 vehicles…yikes! The place where it made a huge difference was at Ngorogoro Crater, which is a confined area. One morning we were in the crater for two hours before we saw another safari vehicle.

We were also quite pleased with our safari accommodations. Our favorite places were Seronera Sametu Tented Camp in the Central Serengeti and Lion’s Paw Tented Camp just inside the gates of the Ngorogoro Crater. The locations and service were excellent and unforgettable. We will always remember the excellent dinners, then requesting hot water to take showers after dinner, and then crawling into our luxurious bed warmed by hot water bottles to rest to the sounds of animals outside our tent…

There are countless wonderful memories from our safari and we tried to capture many of them by taking nearly 7000 photos. I was also able to keep a running journal on my notes app on my iPhone as we experienced our game drives so I wouldn’t forget a moment. I have posted eight journal entries from our ADS safari to babecks.blogspot.com and have included a few of my favorite photos there. Please check it out.

We’ve always said this was going to be a “once in a lifetime” trip but now after our wonderful experience with ADS, we are starting to think that it might be fun to back to see the Mara River crossing someday. Always dreaming!

Thank you Sharon, Peter, and all of the Africa Dream Safaris team!!!

Gary and Bonnie B.
Santa Cruz, California
Safari Dates: April 8, 2015 to April 20, 2015

PS. Here is a link to a map file for our trip: http://www.africadreamsafaris.com/misc/BeckSafariMap.html . If all goes well, it should open google maps in your browser with our route in a different color for each day. There’s a list in the upper right of each date. For some reason, 4/18 is out of order. You can click on each date to turn it off or back on. And zooming works as well.

Gary, Peter and Bonnie

The Great Migration – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Young Lions – Ngorongoro Crater

Leopard With Cub – Seronera Valley – Central Serengeti

Mother Cheetah Hunting A Thomson’s Gazelle – Sametu Plains – East Serengeti

The Mother Cheetah Brought Her Cubs To The Kill

Black Rhinos – Ngorongoro Crater

An Elephant Next To Our Tent at Sametu Camp – East Serengeti

Great Wildebeest Migration At Gol Kopjes – East Serengeti

Great Wildebeest Migration – South Serengeti

Hippos – Retima Pool – Central Serengeti

Grant’s Gazelles and Elands – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Buffalo – Ngorongoro Crater

Blacnk Rhino – Ngorongoro Crater

Lake Magadi – Ngorongoro Crater

Angata Kiti Valley – East Serengeti

Bonnie at Nasera Rock – East Serengeti

A special surprise at Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw Camp

Genet Cat at Ndutu Lodge

Mating Lions near Ndutu – South Serengeti

Black Backed Jackal – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Golden Jackal – Ngorongoro Crater

Side Stripped Jackal (note the white tail tip) – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Bat Eared Fox – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Spotted Hyena – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Elephants – Seronera Valley – Central Serengeti

Hippos – Retima Pool – Central Serengeti

Giraffe – Lemuta Kopjes – East Serengeti

Dik-Dik Antelope – Seronera Valley – Central Serengeti

Great Migration at Sametu Kopjes – East Serengeti

Maasai Village Excursion

Our First Hotel in Arusha – Mount Meru Hotel

Ngorongoro Crater

Serengeti Sunset

Leopard – Seronera Valley – Central Serengeti

Young Lions – Ngorongoro Crater

Cheetah – Ndutu Plains – South Serengeti

Lioness with Wildebeest Kill – Ngorongoro Crater

Baboons – Ngorongoro Crater

Vervet Monkeys – Seronera Valley – Central Serengeti

Secretary Birds

Long Crested Eagle

Tawny Eagle

Martial Eagle

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl

Barn Owl

Yellow Masked Weaver

Lilac Breasted Roller

Fischer’s Love Bird

Guinea Fowl and Banded Mongoose

Cattle Egrets

Butterfly

Camera Setup