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.
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The view from an opened safari 4WD
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Lake Manyara National Park forest
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Water streams are keeping the flora green
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A group of male impala in Lake Manyara National Park
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Flora in Lake Manyara National Park.
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An elephant in the forest of Lake Manyara National Park
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A group of female impala in Lake Manyara National Park
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An infant baboon is hanging around in the trees
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Elephant munching some plants
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A group of Warthogs
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Two giraffes in an area where heavy rain washed away the trees
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Lower jaw of a Hippo
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Palm trees
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A herd of buffaloes at the horizone
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A hippo in the hippo pool
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Way to reception in the Serena Safari Lodge
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View on the way to the rooms in the Serena Safari Lodge
