Tanzania Safari

We had an epic three days of safari in Tanzania. Our first day started in the Ngorongoro Crater with rainy, foggy and cold weather. We drove up to and around the crater, and really couldn't see anything, but as we descended into the crater, we got below the fog and everything opened up. Because we were there just at the end of the rainy season, everything was so green and there were wildflowers in abundance. Just in that first morning, we saw 4 of the "Big 5": elephants, buffalo, lions, and the elusive black rhino, amongst other great sightings. After a late picnic lunch, we began a slow journey out of the crater and into the Serengeti, another of Tanzania's amazing national parks. On our drive, our guide joked that if we saw a leopard that day (to complete the big 5), we would just cancel the rest of our trip and go to Zanzibar or something instead. To make the story short, we did see a leopard later that day! Our guide, Yusuph, told us that he has been guiding for 21 years and that that was only the third time he saw all of the big 5 in one day!

We did not cancel our trip and instead spent the next two days in the Serengeti, camped right in the middle of the great annual wildebeest migration in a semi-permanent tented lodge. Our drives each day were long and bumpy, but the payoff was more and more spectacular sightings including a cheetah and her 5 tiny cubs (probably 2 months old), several baby elephants just a few weeks old, a wildebeest late birth cub at only a day or two old, more lions and elephants than we could count -- and very close up! Any of these would be an epic experience, but to pile them all on....we were just spoiled! We did see one adult female lion who had clearly been caught in a trap, freed but with a huge cut all the way around her midsection. It is hard to even imagine how people think they can and should try to poach these magnificent animals on their home turf!

As we conclude our various East African safari adventures in Malawi and Tanzania, we are so grateful for this incredible adventure that included seeing over 100 species of mammals, reptiles and birds along with soaring vistas, lush jungles, endless plains, and sunsets that we will surely never forget. Our immersion, experience and appreciation of all God's creation has been multiplied several times over. We live on such a beautiful planet and we are more motivated than ever to do our part to preserve it for future generations.