Tanzania

-10 minute read-

When I was 19 I volunteered in Arusha, Tanzania for about 6 weeks. I volunteered at a school through IVHQ (International Volunteer Head Quarters). IVHQ is an incredible company to work with, and had amazing staff on the ground to help volunteers get set up. I am happy to share my experience working at the school with anyone who is interested! However, for this blog post I will be sharing the safari experience that I went on.

First off, Tanzania is one of the most beautiful countries out there. Everyone is extremely friendly and the atmosphere is so welcoming. Living in a volunteer house is great because you get to meet people who have been living there for weeks, sometimes months, before you so they can help you plan weekend trips. Volunteers got a special deal on safaris, so naturally a group of us took a week and went to experience Lake Manyara, Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.

The entire safari takes place in the car, so it makes for an easy trip! The goal of most safaris is to see the “big five”, which include: elephant, lion, cape buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard.

The food on safaris is incredible. Sleeping is quite comfortable in large, sturdy canvas tents. Nights were spent in designated camping areas, though they are still in the middle of the national park. Sometimes the campgrounds would have dining areas, which were essentially cages, because monkeys or baboons would come and steal your food.

I remember the first day seeing mostly monkeys and baboons. They would get quite close to the car and seemed used to people driving through their habitats. The guide was extremely quick to point out animals that we passed, even ones hiding in bushes that we couldn’t see very well without stopping the car. He ensured we all saw as much as we could, which was much appreciated!

We got to a watering hole filled with hippos, something I wasn’t sure we would be seeing on this trip. You were allowed to get out of the car to get a better look, but I”m not sure if you’re still allowed to these day. I guess I’ll have to go back to find out!

Starting at Lake Manyara was a great starting point because it eased you into what to expect throughout the safari. You get to know your guide, see some animals and get a feel for what is ahead. Which was great, because the next stop was the Serengeti and it was such an experience to the wildlife that live there first hand.

Besides the welcoming gate, our first experience in the Serengeti was pride rock! The Lion King may have exaggerated it a little bit.

The first lion we saw was a lonely male lion in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Our guide said he probably got banished from his pride, or was unsuccessful at joining a pride. He was so thin, because female lions do the hunting. We pulled up next to him and some papers flew out of our car. The guide quickly stopped the car, got out and got the papers, all with the lion mere meters away!

Because there are so many companies that offer safaris, the guides all talk to each other and when you see any of the big five, or something really unique there will usually be a ton of cars there. An example of this was a mother lion was dragging her kill up to a rock to enjoy it with her cubs trailing behind her. If I had filmed what was behind us, you would have seen about 25 cars.

Safety was our guide’s number one priority. When the wheel came off our car (yes that happened), he had to run through the Serengeti to get help from the campsite and left us with the car because that was the safest place to be. Everyone kept an eye out, luckily we were stopped somewhere very flat and could see that nothing was around us for miles and miles.

The Ngorongoro crater is, well, exactly what it says; a huge crater. What makes it so interesting is that there is a dense population of animals that live in the crater. They are able to migrate in and out, but it is amazing to see so many animals co exist in a crater.

We camped at the top of the crater, and when dusk came, we were above the clouds.

Below you can see the views of inside the crater, and the route animals take to make their way out of it. Inside the crater was the one and only place we saw a rhinoceros. We had to keep very far away from it so as not to disturb it. It is pictured in the “big five” slide show at the end.