After its long anticipated arrival, the safari arrived. While it meant it was one of the coolest experiences of the trip, it also meant it was wrapping up.
We got to indulge on one of the main tourist attractions of Tanzania and it didn’t disappoint. We started our safari (which in Kiswahili means “journey”) in Tarangire. When we arrived at the starting point we were greeted by these cute little monkeys that seemed very accustomed to the presence of humans yet still weary of them. The first warning our driver gave us before we got out of the car was to close our windows because; “they’re very sharp and fast. If they see snacks in the car they will get them.” Taking a quick bathroom break, walking around the area and just letting it sink in that we were possibly about to encounter t
he big 5 was a lot to digest and take in. You could feel the excitement in the atmosphere and the small encounter with the monkeys was just a small taste of what was about to come. A little into the drive we encountered a herd of “tembo” (elephants) enjoying their lunch. They were about about 15 ft from the car and were completely unfazed by our noisy Land Rovers and our excited squeals. One of the highlights of the day was when we finally got to see, mostly hear, some female “simbas” (lions) hunt and kill a pumba (warthog). While it was hard to witness, as the Lion King would say “it’s the circle of life.”
We continued to see more animals from Twigas (giraffes) to swala (Impalas) and colorful birds, when we took what we thought would be an uneventful lunch break our guides warning about the monkeys, like a prophecy, came true. When we got to our picnic site, we noticed how persistent and fearless the little guys were. How, regardless of us shooing them away they really wouldn’t flinch until our guides intervened. By the end of lunch we thought we had outsmarted them until our group got distracted and in a matter of seconds a chocolate bar and some biscuits were stolen. While that commotion was going on I (Paula) looked away from my lunch to see what was happening and when I turned back there was a monkey sitting in front of me making direct eye contact. Thinking he could get some dessert too, when I screamed at him he didn’t even flinch so I packed what I could and ran. When I looked back, there was a chocolate wrapper on the ground and one happy monkey.
After enjoying the sights of more animals, we headed to our campsite for the night and got to bed for an early morning. We set out for the Ngorongoro crater before dawn. The Ngorongoro crater was once a volcano the size of Mount Kilimanjaro that collapsed on itself and is now a natural sanctuary for wildlife. We saw hundreds of zebras, wildebeest and flamingos. We were blessed with the opportunity to see two male Simbas and the luckiest thing of the day was to see two rhinos. We got to see some hippos, water buffalos and enjoyed the sunny day in the crater. After a full day of safari we began our way back to Moshi.
Kwaheri wanyama, we’ll be back! Asante sana. (Goodbye animals, we’ll be back! Thank you so much)
Paula and Brittany