The Game Drive
Today was my first ever “game drive” and it was stunning! For all of you that are not in safari business: A game drive (“game” in terms of “animal”) is basically an animal-viewing tour in a National Park or a Game Reserve (which in turn is a special area in or outside a National Park). Your whole safari will most likely consist of multiple game drives.
I always used to ask myself: What is so special about driving in a 4WD through a restricted area? The answer is: Everything.
A National Park has the most delightful flora. We drove through the Lake Manyara National Park. It is gorgeous. On 330 sq km you will find hills covered with jungle-like forests, many small streams (coming from underground waterfalls) and the enormous Lake Manyara itself. The air is filled with the sounds of thousands of birds and insects. Overall it is an amazing place to be!
Our guide and driver, Mohammed Kachui from Kearsley (T) LTD, opened the roof of our car so we were able to stand up and have a panoramic view while we were gliding through nature.
Suddenly a group of baboons rushed through the undergrowth. While we still admired their acrobatics, Kachui spotted the next animals: “Elephants!” They calmly picked some plants with their trunks, flapping their huge ears to keep the insects away. And so it went on over the next couple of hours: “There! Giraffes!” “Look to the right: A herd of Impalas!” “Did you see the Warthogs?” “Look, some Ostriches!” Spotting the animals was like a fantastic game and we got very childishly excited about it.
The Hippo Pool
In order not to disturb the animals and for security reasons, every National Park has its rules. You are not allowed to leave the track or to get out of your car. In Lake Manyara National Park however there is one exception; At the “Hippo pool” we were allowed to get out of the car to see the Hippos. There is a boundary a safe distance away from the Hippo lake because it is said that Hippos might be aggressive towards humans. And if a 2,5 ton Hippo rolls over you, well … Our Hippos in fact were very lazy. They relaxed in the mud and water and sometimes tried to get in and out the water on their short legs causing serious waves with their massive bodies. It was very amusing!
On our way back we shortly said “hi” to a herd of Buffalo and saw a couple of Flamingos in the distance on the lake. After 5 hours of seeing wildlife we returned to the National Parks gate. This day was one of the few adventures that were both exciting and relaxing at the same time – I am definitely looking forward to our next game drive!
Ngorongoro
After the wonders in the National Park Lake Manyara we moved on to the next amazing place: The Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This area mainly consists of the huge Ngorongoro crater, which we will visit tomorrow. For today we were going to the Serena Safari Lodge. This Lodge is directly located on the upper edge of the crater. It’s a fantastic location with open pathways leading through the wild to your room. We enjoyed the incredible view and are extremely excited about our trip to the crater and what tomorrow will bring.
01
The view from an opened safari 4WD
02
Lake Manyara National Park forest
03
Water streams are keeping the flora green
04
A group of male impala in Lake Manyara National Park
05
Flora in Lake Manyara National Park.
06
An elephant in the forest of Lake Manyara National Park
07
A group of female impala in Lake Manyara National Park
08
An infant baboon is hanging around in the trees
09
Elephant munching some plants
10
A group of Warthogs
11
Two giraffes in an area where heavy rain washed away the trees
12
Lower jaw of a Hippo
13
Palm trees
14
A herd of buffaloes at the horizone
15
A hippo in the hippo pool
16
Way to reception in the Serena Safari Lodge
17
View on the way to the rooms in the Serena Safari Lodge
Comments
Hi Jan,
Die Seite samt Inhalt ist schon wirklich sehr ansprechend - hätte hier und da noch n Tipp, jedoch würde dies zu weit gehen, wenn ich jetzt jedes einzelne Bild zerrupfe…
Nein, im Ernst; die Fotos sind schon wirklich sehr sehenswert!
Was mir schon wirklich sehr positiv auffällt, ist die Bildwirkung bei Offenblende, begünstigt durch das Vollformat.
Besonders gut zu Betrachten siehe Nielpferd.
Es verbleibt ein neidischer, die Schulbank drückender Schleswig-Holsteiner, der sich auf den starken Nordost-Wind zum Wochenende hin freut!
Viele Grüße,
Till
Hi Jan,
these Pictures are amazing. I can say that i am a little bit jealous.
We will see us after your adventure.
Nearly every day i will take a look onto this Side and read about your trip. I hope that you have a goot time
With this in mind there is only one thing left to do:
In the Words of Lin Yutang:
No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.
So enjoy your time, share it with us and than be back securely.
Again WOW! when I see the pics. Looking forward to see the Ngorongoro crater and its story.
JB
Wow! This is a wonderful blog! Appreciations to my friend Clive to introduce me to this blog. I never knew Tanzania is sooooo amazingly beautiful! This has made me want to go on a safari as part of my honeymoon in October this year ;o)
Thank you for taking such wonderful pictures, they’re really enticing and I’m sure there are more to come! Can you please display more pictures of the vehicles(both inside and external) and rooms (honeymoon suites please) at all the lodges you visit as I would like to use the same companies and lodges you used.
I’ve just read that this is the perfect time for the annual migration of wildebeestes and zebras. I think my dream is getting nearer to be true as since childhood I’ve dreamt of going on a safari in East Africa and your pics and blog have helped me to decide that it will now be Tanzanie and not Kenya.
Sorry to use your presence to my advantage!
All the best and enjoy your time there!
Au revoir!
Hi Jan,
those are amazingly brilliant and well shot photos! I envy you for this experience
Safe travels & enjoy the rest of your trip!
Mara
Bielle, you are most welcome. I will see what I can do for you regarding the pictures. I’m staying now a couple of days in Bilila Lodge - I will provide lots of pictures. Having honeymoon here is definitely a beautiful thing!
Hej Jan!
These Pics are amazing. Tommorrow we go on holiday to DK. I will take my notebokk with me to see what will happened next! Thank you for sharing your impressions with us an come back save!!!
Marco
Moinsen dem Jan,
wau, ich wußte gar nicht, daß Du so gut fotografieren kannst: Ruhm und Ehre!
Ein wahrlich wunderschönes Land!
Mein gönnender Neid und beste Grüße von der Kieler Küste begleiten Dich
Dutch
Keep the pics coming !
no doubt, very amazing places you got. no one can compares to you guys. amazing really! God bless you.