Tumbili Public Campsite Serengeti National Park

... in the long grass somewhere but the mother clearly wasn't convinced and was starting to look extremely ****** off with the whole situation. She circled us again then stopped a metre away by the back window of the jeep. Crouching down she started to snarl and show her teeth. Looking like a coiled spring we were convinced the leopard was about to jump in on top of us, looking for her cub The roof can be a pain to close as it’s in three open sections, but with a ...

... and ended up chatting to 3 very nice Germans and exchanged travel plans....a Kilimanjaro beer later, we headed off again to part 2 of our bum-busting ride but already we were marvelling at massive boulders in the middle of plains and a cheetach chilling under a tree, and all sorts of other aMiNals....snap snap snap. I gave up on this form of "capturing the moment" because a lot of them came out like I was drunk and lopsided with fuzzy pics as our rally across ...

... and zebras, as well as a Martial Eagle, a mean mother with Hertz yellow eyes and a clear command of the situation. He had a Patton air about him.

We got back in time for our first R&R. Lunch on the patio overlooking the Serengeti. Then a trip to the pool, where the disappearing edge ALSO overlooks the Serengeti. Very pretty. Very relaxing.

At 5:30, Rachel did a briefing on the logistics for tomorrow. The main thing I remember ...

... lion, eating the head on the other side. We continued on our drive and I finally got to see my first Giraffe. He was just munching next to the road on a tree. The tree was all barbed, I was worried for a minute but then found out that they have special tongues to eat that stuff. I was worried my poor giraffe would have a sore mouth!
The place was teaming with wildlife, we saw ...

... tent at 10:30 PM. This is necessary because the camp does not have a fence around it and the animals and big game can come through at any time. We saw buffalo at the entrance on our way back from the game drive today.

The winds whistled across the Serengeti and increased during the night causing our window and door flaps to heave back and forth. We didn't seem to get much of a rest as a result.

We went to breakfast at 7 AM and we were the ...

... price of 6,500 (3 quid). Brilliant.

Entered the Ngorongoro crater and made our way up to the rim. Unfortunately it was low cloud cover so views were slightly obstructed. Nevermind, will hopefully be clear when we return.

From the cool misty jungle covered crater rim, where we were at about 2,300m we drove down towards the Serengeti which, as Jamie often said, was just one big field with a few animals running about. Quite apt when ...

... train!!! We went on following the jungle path through the brush and came across a Giraffe feeding on the leaves of a acacia tree right next to us, so close we could almost touch. This Giraffe was not shy and kept on eating ignoring us completely. As we round a bush we saw another 4X4 right in front of us. The passengers were peering through the bushes up at a tree. I quickly grabbed the binoculars and ...

... great migration of the wildebeests.



At the end of two days, I returned to Arusha to prepare for the next leg of my journey. I arrived in Zanzibar, Tanzania yesterday, but I will recount my adventures since leaving Arusha in my next post.

I hope to update that post after a few days of diving in the Indian Ocean. Sorry again about my inability to upload pictures. Asante Sana (Thank you very much in Swahili) for keeping up with the blog.

... of their large size and height, the adults have few predators except for perhaps lions, who have to catch them while they're asleep sitting down or when they have their necks bent down to drink. Nonetheless, they are large and formidable animals and it is said that a kick from an adult giraffe can kill an adult lion. The young calves are still vulnerable to predators, however. A little about our guide Ben ...

... did mean however that there was a huge concentration of game here now. Perhaps next time we could time it to see the famous crossing of the Grumeti River, where many are taken by waiting crocodiles. As we continued on the drive we saw and photographed Giraffe very close up, Hippo, Buffalo, Black backed Jackal, and crocodile. Then as the drive was nearing it's end and after passing through a number of Kopjes (pronounced koppies) in search of Lion ...