It all seems like a fabulous, surreal whirlwind, but I will try to describe it.

Day 1: Upon arriving at Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport and being privately whisked away from the crowds and confusion, I was a bit bewildered and overwhelmed as the 20 something hours of travel were quite taxing to put it mildly. After the awesome ladies at the private check in completed that process, Ester met us and said, “Don’t worry, I am going to take good care of you” and she did!

Day 2: We spent the day in Arusha per Dawn’s suggestion and it was so welcomed just to relax and catch our breath and get used to the time difference. I wanted to go to the local market and experience some local things and then the Heritage Cultural Center to buy too much Tanzanite (is there such a thing?) Ester arranged for a local gentleman by the name of Thomas to take us through the HUGE market and it was right up my alley. Then onto the Heritage Cultural Center where indeed I bought a good bit of Tanzanite.

Day 3: After breakfast we met Ester who again ‘took good care of us’ and we flew out to the Serengeti to meet the greatest guide ever! With our guide we never missed a thing, he spotted animals before we could, and he was so knowledgeable. He had already secured a box lunch for us with plenty of water in the cooler (there were other drinks and snacks but all we drink is water). We spotted 4 of the big 5 on that first day. We got to the camp exhausted but quite exhilarated.

Day 4: It’s impossible for me to differentiate the days into what we saw when. On one of these days, we had lunch right under a tree where a leopard was lounging. How many people can say they had lunch with a leopard? I had small sealed packages of honey for my tea at night and when we returned to the camp they informed me that a baboon had gotten into our tent and eaten 6 of 10 packets of honey! No wonder he was so loud that night (hyped up on sugar I guess).

For all of the remaining days we left camp/lodge by about 6:30 am and returned after 5 PM. Long days, but nothing short of amazing.

We are planning a return trip for next year!

Tara C. and Jim A.
Red Rock, Texas
Safari Dates: May 22, 2023 to May 30, 2023