Northern Tanzania – Lake Victoria, Serengeti and Ngorongoro

(Originally published January 2011)

We crossed into Tanzania on Tuesday 28th and headed to the small town of Mosuma on the shores of Lake Victoria. We set up camp on the lakeshore and had the afternoon to relax and visit town and the lakeshore.

Thanks to the East African community agreements my single entry Tanzanian visa remained valid for a second entry as it was from Kenya and within the validity period of the visa. Result!

On Wednesday we continued our drive into Tanzania and into the Serengeti National Park. Coming here has been a dream for a long time having grown up with the David Attenborough books and BBC series, many of which focused on this spectacular national park. The name Serengeti comes from the Masai ‘siringet’ which means ‘endless plain’

In the afternoon we drove through the Serengeti from the Ndabaka gate along the western corridor to a campsite near the Serona river. Saw amongst other, a herd of elephant close up and a small pride of four lions stalking some hartebeest. In the evening we had dinner and a campfire and slept in an open campsite (unfenced).

Elephant in the mud

Serengeti sunset

Got up early (helped by the roar of hyenas fighting behind the tents) for my hot air balloon ride. This was my first balloon ride and what a place for it. The attraction of the ride was as much seeing wildlife from the air as getting an aerial view of the landscape. The flight was over far too quickly (we had just over an hour in the air) but held a final surprise as we landed 200m away from a pride of half a dozen lions relaxing under a tree who decided to take a liking to the hartebeest nearby as we hit the ground. The flight was followed by a couple of glasses of champagne as we stood in the middle of this great wilderness and watched the lions chasing a group of hartebeest. I could have stayed there all day and probably longer (although the champagne may have taken its toll!). This was followed by a full English breakfast at a table set up on a patch of higher ground overlooking the Serengeti plain, oh and washed down with a couple more glasses of champagne! Surreal and wonderful! We had lunch and some relaxing / siesta time back at the camp before heading out on another afternoon game drive.

Balloons over the Serengeti

The next morning (New Years Eve) we headed out of the Serengeti slowly, game driving our way out of the park… The highlight of the morning was an exceptionally close encounter with a leopard, who decided to very nonchalantly stroll towards our truck, cross the track in front of us and head off to a nearby tree where he decided to perch!. We drove out of the park along the Southern corridor where one really witnesses the endless plain that gave the park its name. At this time of year, the famous migrating wildebeest come to this area to give birth in the safe haven of the plain. Their numbers are lowest at this time of year (40% lower than when they migrate north again) yet there were still 100s of thousands of them spread across the plain.

Leopard strolling in the Serengeti

En route to Ngorongoro we stopped off at Oldupai gorge, site of several famous hominid fossil discoveries. As we drove up the Ngorongoro crater, clouds rolled perfectly over the rim and dozens of giraffe stood munching from the lush trees on the side of the track… Appropriate as giraffes are only found around the crater and not inside. The name ‘Ngorongoro’ comes from the Masai for crawling as the Maisa made the Irak tribe crawl out of the crater after defeating them and taking over the area. Our campsite for the night was on the crater rim. Campfire, good food, beers and the odd buffalo showing up… I went to bed shortly before midnight as I was getting up at 5.30am! Happy new year!

Started off 2011 with a morning game drive in Ngorongoro crater. The wildlife is incredibly concentrated, affording fantastic viewing in a stunning setting. The big game is scarce here so not always easy to see close up. We left the crater just after lunch and drove east towards Arusha.

After a night near Arusha, we arrived back in Nairobi on Sunday 2nd January in the afternoon. Met up with Pat and Rob who had just returned from their Uganda and Rwanda trip. Had a few beers with them and then a few more with those from the group staying overnight in Nairobi.

On Monday 3rd January, I left Nairobi and Kenya in the afternoon and boarded a flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.