Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 12

July 7, 2014



Good morning Tanzania!

What an AWESOME night......Brett and I awoke to a loud elephant trumpet at 1:50am.....right outside our tent.  We immediately jumped to the end of the bed to look out the side of our tent.....through the mesh curtain, a giraffe walk by in the distance.  It was so amazing. My other vision was to see an elephant walk past our tent as I lay in bed.  That, we would see later in the morning, but for now, a giraffe was way better.  For the rest of the night, we didn't sleep.  Our ears were perked and our eyes were constantly focusing on seeing wildlife.  About 4:15am, some of the workers walked down the path with flashlights.  Brett decided to step out on our porch and unzip the curtain on the outside of the front of our tent.  He was quickly instructed to get back inside the tent.  As we lay awake the rest of the night, we heard constant noises from animals, purring  and cooing.  We got out of bed early to take advantage of the warm shower.  We had a scheduled game drive at 6:30am and wanted to enjoy coffee on the veranda at 6.  During our coffee hour, we learned that the purring and cooing outside our tent were several lions that had come to visit.  (I tried to record the sounds during the night, but it didn't pick up the sound.  I will never forget that night!) 



The sun coming up over the Tarangire....beautiful!

Vultures - huge owl....you see different
animals and creatures in the early
morning!

Time for our game drive.......It was a beautiful morning.  There was a chill in the air, but the sun was coming up over the horizon.  There are so many different animals that are out in the early morning.  We started off seeing some impalas and warthogs running after each other.  There were some vultures waiting to eat off some leftover prey.  We saw many different birds and smaller animals.  Our mission of the morning was to see some lions.  Along the way, we saw many tracks, and lion paw prints.   We knew they were near.  They would not be the same lions that were outside our tent, but we were all determined to find the lions belonging to these prints.  It didn't take long.....ahead were to young male lions.  We were so lucky to have one of the lions cross our path.  They are so strong and confident at they walk by us without a care in the world.  It was the most amazing experience, and I will never be able to look at a lion at the zoo the same way. 





Impala enjoy the sunrise!

Lion paw prints!



 

This was the best part of the morning....we saw two male lions!

Lion selfie!

The Tarangire Safari Lodge was the most amazing
place to stay.  The view was breathtaking!  We watched
an elephant walk through the river while eating breakfast!

After driving through the Tarangire a bit further, it was time to head back to the lodge for breakfast.  And what a great breakfast that was waiting!  There was an omelet bar, homemade crepes, fresh fruit, sausage, oatmeal with toppings including fresh rhubarb.  Did I mention we ate well?!  I think I am repeating myself!!! 

Homemade crepes and omelets!  Fresh rhubarb!

The view outside our tent....where the giraffe walked by!

Wildebeest in the Tarangire River - looking out our tent!

An elephant didn't walk right past our tent, but we watched one while
laying in the tent and looking out our curtains!
 

Toni peering through the tent!

The Tarangire River

Next time we visit, I am getting a massage!

As we were driving out, vultures
were feeding on left over prey!

A giraffe came to see us off.....

After packing up our belongings and buying a few treasures from the gift shop, it was time to head to our next adventure....We were off to Lake Manyara (http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/manyara.html).    It was the least exciting of our safari stops but still full of new sites.  We drove through the lush, green Rift Valley, described by Ernest Hemingway as "the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.  We saw tons of baboons, blue monkeys, wildebeest, giraffe, zebras, warthogs, pelicans, storks, pink flamingos, and hippos.



Orange, hard boiled egg, cheese
sandwich, water, juice, fruit,
cookie...

We stopped to enjoy our boxed lunch the view of the flamingos and greenery.  We were hoping to see a leopard but no luck. 

giraffe, flamingos, wildebeest, storks, remains from an animal, zebra

 

 

 
 
 



Hippos peaking up through the water!

We would retire for the night at the Lutheran Guesthouse in Karatu (http://www.karatuhotel.com/).  It was a wonderful place for our group to stay....lots of space and large rooms for our group to spread out.  Kyler and Nathan shared a room, while Brett, Connor and I shared a large space.  Dinner was very good, with  chicken, noodles, rice, veggies,  fruit, spaghetti, rolls, and a split pea soup.  All our meals are very filling.  After a hot shower, it was off to bed.....

 

games and cards....

 

Dinner!