As it is now several months from returning from one of most amazing trips in our live, it still feels like yesterday when my husband and I (along with two of our friends) were standing in a safari vehicle in awe of the beautiful wildlife. I am still in the process of going through over 1,000 photos – stopping and remembering as each photo was taken. The Mark Twain quote that is at the end of Africa Dream Safaris’ video clip, “Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take…but by the moments that take our breath away” is very profound. And I can truly say I’ve experienced that moment!

The amount of planning and attention to detail that the entire staff of Africa Dream Safaris (ADS) is superb! From the initial planning process with Dawn Anderson stepping us through ever last bit (it was about 1-year in the planning stages) to saying goodbye at the airport curbside in Kilimanjaro – it was about as worry-free travel as it could be and it made the long journey from San Francisco to Kilimanjaro almost effortless. (Also, special kudos to the Arusha team who had to help with a flight segment from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro!!!). The information that is sent (in the planning binder and the handy-dandy “handbook”) is spot-on! I couldn’t study each of them enough and even with questions, all were answered by ADS!

Even with the flight from Arusha to the Serengeti airstrip was amazing – seeing jeep trails, animals from the air and the stunning geography. As we landed on the dirt airstrip warthogs running across the runway greeted us. Within an hour of getting in the safari jeep, we saw lions hunting, a leopard, and zebra – now that’s an amazing way to start a safari! Our spectacular guide, Fazal, saw our excitement and said that we would be in for more “ah ha” moments…he was certainly right!

We joked that he must have had a magical button on his steering wheel that had all of the animals – because as we would be in conversation about a specific species, low and behold…it would appear within a ½ hour of mention. We had our list (along with the one printed in the back of handbook) of animals we wanted to see. He made the entire experience very memorable and in speaking to others in the tented lodges in the evening, we really realized how special of a guide we had! He pretty much knows every watering hole, rock out crop and tree that the animals frequent.

Me, not being the “camping” type – enjoyed the luxury tented lodges. I can sort of boast that I “camped” in the Serengeti, but after revealing the photos of the two beautiful tented lodges we stayed at (Mbuzi Mawe and Lake Masek), I would be quickly corrected that “I wasn’t really roughing it.” The last night in the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge was beyond opulent. I actually don’t think there’s a word that could do it justice. My only disappointment of this entire safari is that we couldn’t stay at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge longer!

At all of the places, the staff was friendly and the scenery was amazing. It did take me about 2-3 nights to get a good nights sleep – not because I wasn’t comfortable, rather I wanted to stay up and hear all of the animal noises and didn’t want to miss anything. We had vervet monkeys run up and across our tents, two elephants come very close for their evening dinner off nearby bushes and frequent post-dinner encounters with buffalo grazing. The food was very enjoyable. Taking boxed meals for breakfast & lunch was handy and it did allow us to stay in the field longer. It was nice to actually pull off and eat picnic style. Only once did we loose part of our lunch from a very bold vervet monkey who jumped into the vehicle and took off with a bag of apples.

I will never be able to really enjoy zoos again – being able to get so close to all of the animals! I loved that we would actually not be rushed and spend time observing personalities and traits of the animals. Very often we would be the first vehicle observing an animal (and the other tour safari vehicles would see us and make a bee-line to us). But more often, we would be the only vehicle around – not seeing another vehicle for hours! The variety and closeness to the animals is something I’ll never forget. In Ngorongoro Crater, two lions (one male, one female) were napping in the middle of the road and when vehicles pulled up to observer, they got up not to walk away, but to take advantage of the shade the vehicles could provide. I still won’t forget looking down on top of a lion’s head, holding my breath, to just listen to it breathe.

The remoteness was something to get used to – thinking it would be a very long walk if we broke down. ADS’s vehicles are beautifully maintained and we would giggle each morning, as the clean vehicle would pick us up only to know that we would find a huge mud puddle within an hour. Three times, we came to the aid of other vehicles that were broken down. Our extraordinary guide was like “MacGyver” (for those of you who remember this TV series – the guy who could fix his way out of anything).

I love telling this story about coming to the aid of a vehicle that clearly had a broken radiator (water puddle under the hood). It was before lunch, so we had our boxed lunches uneaten. Fazal asked if he could take a few hardboiled eggs to the broken vehicle. That’s fine – we’ll give them food – we thought…but as we watched Fazal, he was peeling the hardboiled eggs and cutting them up. He began stuffing the eggs in the radiator hose, poured water and asked the other driver to start the car to rev the engine. Water continued to pour out from underneath, but Fazal didn’t give up. He tried this a few more times, with several more eggs. Then the water stopped dripping. Fazal explained that as the heat of the engine increased, it made the eggs congeal and plug the hole in the radiator. So there…now you know if you have a broken radiator – just toss in a few eggs. Or as he said, elephant dung would have worked, too. (Didn’t have any of that near by). The other vehicle went merrily on their way, with a few extra water bottles from us and thankful they weren’t spending the night stranded.

Timing of our safari was in the spring – in the midst of the Great Migration. It is indeed “Great”. The temperatures were very pleasant and being from the Bay Area, knew we wouldn’t tolerate high summer heat. We are so glad that we used ADS for this trip! I can’t wait to get back to Tanzania again. I loved it so much, I am planning on a Kilimanjaro climbing trek and then treating myself to a post-climb safari. I’ll be back in touch with ADS!

Kindest Regards,

Nanette Nanjo-Jones
Pacifica, California
April 2011

Our Serengeti Plains trip with African Dream Safaris

Our group of 4 toured the Serengeti Plains with African Dream Safaris arriving April 11, 2011and departing April 18, 2011. The experience was everything I had hoped for and more. Dawn Anderson set pretty high expectations with the suggested itinerary. It was even better than that.

Our flight contained a bonus – an overview of the Serengeti with stops at Manyara, Kogatende and Grumeti, before Seronera. Our guide met us at the airplane. He matched up well with our group. Peter was skilled at finding game animals, helped to interpret their social interactions, and we often spoke of the inter-relationships between the animals and their environment. He also had a keen eye for birds, which he could quickly identify; I liked that! In addition, Peter was a good traveling companion to our group. We had a wide variety of conversations traveling, and in the evenings. He kept things light, informative, and had a good sense of humor. We were comfortable with him and enjoyed his company.

We saw more animals than I thought we would. Around Seronera, we saw a large variety of animals. Peter could spot leopards in a tree when others could not (including one in a sausage tree ½ mile from the Seronera airport). The hippos at Retima Pool in the morning and experiencing about 100 elephants walking down through a large meadow and passing so close to our vehicle we could almost touch them were highlights. The herds of impala cavorted and had mock battles in the morning in the same area. The giraffes were majestic.

We got some great shots of warthogs towards Moru Kopjes. And driving down the dusty main highway (it has not rained in a while) to Naabi Hill, we encountered our first serious wildebeest, with a herd about a mile long crossing the road, single file, in front of us. Quite a site!

Gol Kopjes was dry, and the big herds had already left the area. The remaining Grant’s and Thompson Gazelles looked sleek and clean. The lions, cheetahs and hyenas looked healthy and well fed. One morning we watched as a pride of lions confronted and chased off another female lion that may have wanted to join the pride.

In the Miti Mitatu area, we encounter the large, as far as the eye can see herds of wildebeest and zebras. We learn that there is a symbiotic relationship: the zebra have good eyesight, the wildebeest have a good sense of smell. We watched cheetahs (the 3 brothers) make a mad charge into the wildebeest, but fail to make a kill. Worn out from their efforts, they lay down and we leave. We do see them the next day – Peter says they are looking hungry, so apparently they did not make a kill.

We later watched a mother cheetah with 3 cubs who have found a young Thompson Gazelle. She watches while her young take turns chasing the animal and try to kill it – Nature in action. And on Saturday, after driving through the big herds for some time, we encounter a pride of lions in the open plain near a waterhole. They have fed (a young male has a potbelly from overeating) and are now sleeping. Since it is noontime, we crack open our box lunches and eat lunch in the middle of a pride of lions. We look at each other and remark “No one will believe us.” It seemed like every day, Peter would come up with another scene different or better than the day before.

On Saturday, we drive to Matiti Mountain, seeing innumerable animals and birds as we pass thru the woodlands. We have our box breakfast and tea sitting on the mountainside with the dik-dik, looking out over the green Matiti Plains. We drive 5 miles out onto the plain and visit a dead wildebeest that the buzzards and marabou storks have congregated at. The social interaction of the buzzard community is intense—much squawking, fighting, even landing on each other out of the blue.

On our trip back to Seronera to catch the plane, we travel via Kusini airstrip, then towards Moru Kopjes, and on to Seronera. We do see game all the way to Kusini, along with lions and hyenas at various times. In the area of the Simiyu River, we encounter very large herds of Wildebeests. It is impressive to see several hundred thousand of the animals all about you. Appears they are on the move. We are sorry to be leaving!

Our accommodations were excellent. Mbuzi Mawe was super. I particularly liked the Private Luxury Camp since it was just our group. It was fun sitting with our sundowners around a campfire looking out over the endless plain. The staff, food and service were excellent. Lake Masek was Kathy’s favorite as we could sit on the veranda before dinner and watch the giraffes and zebras parade by with the hippos grunting in the lake. The doves provided a musical background. Food was excellent at all the lodges and camps.

It was a superb trip. You may add our names and phone number to the ADS reference list. We would be happy to share our experiences with others.

David and Kathy Cook
San Mateo, California
April 2011