My wife, our 20 year old granddaughter, our 17 year old grandson and I went on a ten day safari to the Serengeti in Tanzania May 19 to May 28, 2016. This was a private safari with just the four of us and Peter, our driver guide. The first three days we spent in the Central Serengeti and stayed at the Serengeti Serena Lodge.
The first day we flew from Arusha to the Central Serengeti Airport and our guide met us for a game drive for the rest of the day. We had a good box lunch and saw lots of animals that first day including elephant, hippo, leopard and cape buffalo for 4 of the big 5. We told the guide that we wanted to spend most of the day on game drives with a box lunch and go to the more remote places.
We spent 8 to 9 hours the next three days on game drives and part of the time rarely saw other people. We left the lodge each day about 7 am after an excellent breakfast and finished the day with an excellent dinner. A highlight of our stay at Serengeti Serena Lodge was a bush dinner the third night. This was an interesting buffet dinner with white table cloth and china and Maasai singers and dancers and a huge bonfire. We were the only people at the bush dinner which was in the bush.
The fourth day we had an all-day game drive to the Western Serengeti to the Mbalageti Tented Lodge. This was our favorite lodge since it was on a hill overlooking the valley in all directions. The staff were extra friendly and helpful and there were less people there than the Serena Lodges since it had fewer cabins. Here we went out the first day with a breakfast picnic at 6 am to see early morning animals including a pride of lions.
We came back for lunch at the lodge and then back out at 4 pm to see the evening animals. The second day we went on a walking safari to the river at midmorning which was not very interesting and then at 4 pm we went for another game drive until 6 pm. During the day we visited with staff and had an excellent lunch.
After the third night, after a good breakfast we had a long game drive to the Southern Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. This was a very large lodge with an excellent view from our rooms of the Ngorongoro Crater. The next day we took picnic breakfast and lunch to spend the day on a game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater. Again we saw lots of animals including 4 rhinos to complete the big 5.
The next day we left after breakfast and went to Lake Manyara National Park where we say elephants and 15 giraffes at one time several monkeys and at least 100 baboons in one location. We also saw lots of beautiful birds. At the end of the day we drove to Arusha to spend the night at the Mount Meru Resort.
Overall the safari was excellent and much better than smaller ones that my wife and I had been on previous in other parts of Africa. We saw the huge numbers of wildebeest and zebra in migration as well as tree climbing lions, leopards and cheetahs. The wide variety of country side was surprising.
Peter our driver-guide was superb with his knowledge of animals, birds and plants. He was able to spot some animals at some distance and then take us to see them up close. He was a very safe and capable driver as well as concerned about our need and what we liked to see.
We would highly recommend the private Africa Dream Safari. The contact with Michael Wishner was excellent as we inquired about the safari and finalized it. The fact that ADS takes care of everything from the visa, all accommodations and meals from arrival to departure is excellent and assures that there are no mistakes.
James and Judy W. and Abby and Daniel A.
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Safari Dates: May 19, 2016 to May 28, 2016
