An hour after our flight landed at Kogatende Airstrip we were on the banks of the Mara River watching a wildebeest crossing. We couldn’t believe our luck. Our safari was already a success and everything else would be icing on the cake. And, boy did we get a lot of icing.

When we had first decided we wanted to see the great migration, we talked with several safari travel operations, read as much as we could find online, and watched a lot of BBC and National Geographic documentaries. When we found ADS and talked with Dawn, we knew we’d found the right place. She immediately put us at ease by calming any concerns we had while also amping up our excitement.

Dawn is knowledgeable, patient, kind, understanding, efficient, and detail oriented. She walked us through every step of the process from itinerary planning, to flight options, to visa applications, and all of the other myriad details. We always felt we were in good hands and that we had an advocate who we could turn to anytime we needed help or just reassurance that everything was going to be okay.

We were fortunate that our flights were on time and relatively uneventful. We flew Qatar Airlines from Dallas to Doha, had a layover of a little more than four hours, then flew from Doha to Kilimanjaro. We splurged on a lounge in the Doha airport. It was very nice but we would have been fine without it. The airport is huge and beautiful.

Shortly after deplaning at Kilimanjaro, we experienced the VIP treatment. We had flown in the cheap seats, and most of the passengers were already forming a very long line for customs when we finally made our way down the stairs onto the tarmac.

We quickly saw the VIP lady holding a sign with our names and waived at her so she would know we were there. As we approached, airport security told us we needed to go the back of the line, but our greeter quickly intervened and escorted us past the crowd to the VIP. We were served drinks and snacks, then met with a customs representative to process our visas. It was a very welcome indulgence after more than 30 hours of driving and flying.

Soon, our checked bag had been retrieved and we were introduced to our welcome guide, Joseph, and driver, Sumbe. On the drive to the Arusha Coffee Lodge, Joseph told us we were in for an amazing safari and charmed us with stories about Tanzania. He made sure we got checked into the lodge and settled into our room, then returned later to go over our itinerary.

The Coffee Lodge was a perfect place to decompress after a long day and a half of travel. We toured the grounds, relaxed in the room, and in an effort to stay awake and adjust to the local time, we did the coffee plantation tour.

Dinner was fabulous, and we enjoyed a very comfortable night’s sleep. The room was large and beautiful. We almost wished we could stay another night, but we couldn’t wait to get our safari underway.

Joseph and Sumbe met us after breakfast (by then we had already begun to love the Tanzanian coffee) to take us to the Arusha airport for our flight to the north. Joseph made sure we got our boarding passes, and stayed with us until we had cleared security and were being escorted to our plane. For the first leg, we had the 16 passenger Cessna to ourselves, then picked up two more for the final leg to Kogatende.

Peter greeted us at the airport with a warm smile, and we were soon on our way for that first magical game drive. We learned quickly that in addition to being warm and friendly, Peter is also a wealth of knowledge about wildlife, geography, geology, and history.

Though he’s been a guide for 20 years, Peter seemed as excited about safari as we were. He made every minute of game drives, and reliving those drives over dinner, an absolute pleasure.

After that first amazing day of multiple river crossings, we had nine more days of one amazing encounter after another. In addition to the wildebeest, zebra, and various antelopes, we saw more cats than we could have imagined.

We lost count of the lions, including four mommas with a total of 12 cubs. We also saw leopards with cubs, cheetah with cubs, serval with cubs, and on our last day we saw a caracal.

But, it wasn’t just the simple sightings that made this trip so special. It was the drama often playing out.

We watched a momma leopard taking care of her adorable playful cubs and the next day stalking a wildebeest and making a kill. We watched the 12 lion cubs and their moms hiding in tall grass from angry elephants, and eventually escaping after a harrowing 45 minutes of danger.

We saw another leopard lounging high in a tree with its recent kill stashed just above it. In addition to spotting the extremely rare caracal, we saw it make a kill. And, we saw the drama of several river crossings including crocodile attacks, rapids sweeping wildebeest downstream into dangerous waters, and wildebeest making daring leaps from high on a river bank into churning water below.

Each morning, as we loaded up at 6:00 with breakfast and lunch packed, we would joke with Peter about what he had planned to outdo the day before. To our astonishment and joy, it often happened before we even stopped for breakfast. And, what a treat it was to enjoy breakfast and lunch under a shade tree with the vast Serengeti spread out before us.

We typically headed back to our lodging in the late afternoon, but almost every day the Serengeti gave us a reason to stop and soak it in a little longer; a serval leaping across the road in front of use and staying around long enough to be admired; momma lions with cubs in tow heading back to the safety of the kopjes; giraffes enjoying a late dinner with the sun setting behind them.

We spent three nights at the Mara River Camp, three nights at Lemala Kuria Hills Tented Lodge, three nights at Seronera Sametu Camp, and two nights at Lion’s Paw Tented Lodge on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. All of them were spectacular, each in its own way.

Everyone on staff at all of the lodges was friendlily, attentive, and helpful. We felt welcomed and at home immediately at each one. The food was always excellent, with enough variety that we always had plenty of choices. The rooms were spacious, comfortable, and wonderfully decorated. We travel with electrical adapters and always had enough power for phones, watches, and camera batteries.

We both came home feeling like our first Serengeti safari could not have been any better, and we’re already talking about when we can go back.

Matthew S. and Colette C.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Safari Dates: September 29, 2024 to October 10, 2024