On safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

After a few days relaxing on the amazing beach town of Kendwa with its sand like flour, we took what amounted to a private flight (since we were the only people on the tiny plane) from Zanzibar all the way to Arusha, the jumping off point of Tanzania's most famous safaris.

We did a three day tour with two excellent Swiss girls that included Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro National Reserve, as well as a night overlooking Lake Manyara, the perfect place to see England's second game in the World Cup. The safari was amazing. Our time in the Serengeti and incredibly fruitful; we saw all the exotic but usual species including zebras, giraffes, warthogs, wildebeast (well, the few who didn't make it on the migration with the rest of their friends), loads of other ungulates and lots of gorgeous birds. On top of that we also spotted loads of elephants and hippos, and an entire pride of lions gorging themselves on what was left of a zebra. We were able to get within a few meters of the action with our guide jostling for position with about 20 other tourist-packed jeeps. We also got a great view of a cheetah as it sauntered across the road just a few meters from where we were parked.

We spent our last night on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater which provided breath-taking views in the day and an unexpected assortment of wildlife at night. We were thrilled with half a dozen zebras wandered into the camp but not so happy when a few buffalo followed suit, running around the tents in a craze just before we headed to bed. I was walking to the bathrooms to brush my teeth before bed, concentrating on not stepping in the poo that covered the camp when I looked up and saw a buffalo about 3 meters in front of me, completely taking my breath away and getting my adrenaline pumping (buffalos are one of the most dangerous members of the 'big five'). I don't think that buffalo was too worried about my presence.

The Ngorongoro crater is gorgeous. It was formed by a huge volcano that collapsed sometime long, long ago creating steep, green hills running all the way down to a few lakes that remain wet year round. At first glance we didn't think that we would see much in the crater since it looked pretty dry and small, but it was incredible. We saw lots more zebras, wildebeast, buffalos, hippos, and, amazingly, lions. Most spectacular was the huge male lion that sat down about 4 meters from our car and posed majestically. It was incredible and really the last sight that I wanted to see. It was perfect.