My trip to Africa was AMAZING. True, it’s a long trek halfway across the world, and air travel is not getting any easier, but once we hit the ground, the sacrifices to get there were worth it. We landed in Arusha and, over the course of several days, travelled overland to Arusha National Park, the fabled Ngorongoro Crater and the legendary Serengeti. From the Serengeti, we flew east across Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar, where we stayed for a couple of days before we returned to the continent, to Saadani National Park. From Saadani we drove to Dar es Salaam right before we flew back to the United States. I could write a novel about our trip, and maybe someday, I will. But today, I’ll just share the highlights and some of my favorite photos.
Tanzania is an incredible destination, and our itinerary ensured that we were exposed to the best wildlife viewing a safari can offer, along with an excellent snapshot of the culture and history of this beautiful country. We usually prefer to travel on our own but, for this trip, we chose to travel with Smithsonian Journeys. It was the best choice we could’ve made and it provided us with comfortable transportation that took away the logistical headaches involved with complex traveling and freed us to enjoy our trip.
All of the lodges and hotels we stayed in were full of character and especially well located to our activities. The food during the entire trip was excellent. The Serena lodges at Ngorongoro and Serengeti offered breathtaking views of the crater and the plains respectively. The African Tulip in Arusha and the Serena at Zanzibar were particularly responsive to our needs, with very personable staff. The Saadani River Lodge offered stunning accommodations right on the Wami River and exquisitely trained and friendly staff.
Special thanks and kudos to the drivers who navigated us through the bumpy roads on the Ngonogoro Crater and the Serengeti, especially to Mr. Godson, who drove the Land Rover I rode in. A loud shout out to our tour director, Malley Simon for anticipating all of our needs and taking the work out of traveling. Our study leader, Grant Nels enriched our traveling experience, sharing a wealth of knowledge and a gift for story-telling that infused us with his passion for Africa and left us wanting for more. I can’t imagine what it’s like to travel with someone as curious as I am, firing questions all the time—annoying, right?—but Grant was generous, sharing his extensive, impressive knowledge with us and answering my millions of questions with patience, grace and enthusiasm.
If you crave the outdoors and you enjoy wildlife viewing, put Tanzania at the top of your list.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of this amazing trip:
Baby elephant at the Ngorongoro Crater
Giraffes at Arusha National Park, amazing how they blend into the hill!
Cheetah on the prowl at the Serengeti.
A majestic Baobab at Saadani National Park.
A mirage of giraffes on the way to the Serengeti.
Cape Buffalo drinking water from our hotel’s pool.
Hippo in the water at the Ngorongoro Crater.
Jaguar stretching after a nap at the Serengeti.
Lion, king of the crater.
Lion, sleeping in the crater. Yep, that’s what lions really do all day.
Lioness, eyeing dinner at the crater.
Massai Boma on the way to the Serengeti.
Garden of Eden at the crater.
My Massai friends and I.
Fiery sunset over the Serengeti.