The safari that had been planned was for three days (and two nights) to visit three separate parks which each had their own feeling:
I didn’t think they would be that different but they really were, as you will hopefully be able to tell in the photos. I had my camera with me with a fairly cheap 70-300mm zoom lens [link] and some binoculars were also provided by the safari company.
Arusha is a pretty common base for safari as we found out in the morning by looking at the vehicles on the road. The Toyota Landcruiser is a classic of its type due to its reliability and quality - and the safari variant was everywhere. The variation was that the roof popped up on little stilts so that you can stand up and look out but under a roof.
The setup was that the guide (called Benny) would drive around the park and stop when he saw things. He was excellent and a very fun guy. We were somewhat reliant on his guiding and spotting skills but this was not a worry at all as he was brilliant.
We went to a supermarket first to stock up on some supplies before making our way to Tarangire which was about an hour away.
In all honesty, I think the photos do a better job of explaining the day’s joys than my words so check out the photos in the album:
Driving in to Tarangire
Park, there were not so many people there and I was pretty excited
and when we first saw the elephants, I went a little crazy with
photos - eventually I became a little jaded. It was still amazing,
but obviously moreso when it was the first time. To be honest, it was
more densely packed with wildlife than I was expecting. The lunch was packed by the safari company and we had it in a picnic area which I found quite strange. Logically, it makes a lot of sense of course, but it still felt odd.
We returned to the car
after the day was over and went to the camp/lodge we were staying at.
We stayed in a camp that was convenient for the three parks we were
going to. There were a few different lodges in the area that were
aimed at different price ranges and stuff and ours was very much the
basic end - this meant not much electricity, not much entertainment
and some pretty dodgy showers (cold rather than anything else...).
The food was provided by the safari company and we had a "chef"
that travelled with us who prepared our dinners and lunches. It was
nothing special but they were at least thought about and not bad. I
did find the popcorn starter a little odd though. Once dinner was
over, we retired to the tents we had and, with very little light, we
had little to do. It worked out pretty well as the main reason was,
of course, the safari itself.
The next day was Lake Manyara.
No comments:
Post a Comment