Day 11 - The Safari Trip Wraps up

This is our final post for the Safari. It's been quite a trip, and the last day was spent with a visit to Manyara National Park enroute to the Kilimanjaro airport.

The Manyara national park was much hillier and lusher than many of the previous sites we visited. There were two standout observations for the day. The first being a couple groups of elephants (including a baby elephant approx. 1 month old) that wandered out of the grassy forest, directly past our Land Cruiser (we could almost touch 'em) across the road. What a sight to behold! 

The other observation was the "baboon migration". There had to be several hundred of all ages that passed close by, then they were gone. 

We then left the park, stopped for a little tanzanite shopping to finalize the 45th anniversary, then onto the airport for travel from Kilimanjaro to Dubai to London. The Dubai airport is impressive (all new, garden area, many video displays. etc.) and quite the reflection considering that of Africa that we had just departed. 

Day 10 - Ngorongoro Crater and Cultural Experience

 Today we travelled from Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater with a stop enroute at a Maasai village, which was quite an experience.

Upon stopping at the village we were greeted by Elijah, the son of the village Chief. Consistent with the Maasai people , the Chief has multiple wives, in his case 21 wives! The 21 wives live in 21 separate huts that the wives built from sticks, straw and cow dung. The wife and their children live in the hut. The older boys sleep with the cows, to keep them safe and maintain fire through the night to ward off any predators. This is definitely a life that's not for us!! Amazing there are people living like this in 2025.

We then witnessed and participated in a dance and song performance. Next, a demonstration how to start fire using a stick, piece of wood with straw and donkey dung. As you can tell, dung from several sources is important. Water is a very valued item, and used extremely sparingly. Their diet largely consists of milk (goat, sheep or cow), blood (yes that's right) and meat. Again. not our preferred diet. The final stop in the village was the school hut, where we heard 3 - 7 year olds sing the alphabet song, recite numbers and go through the alphabet. 

Then it was onto the 12 mile X 12 mile Ngorongoro crater. The wildlife is once again on display...a pride of five lions, six hyenas feasting on a water buffalo, flocks of African crown crane, more hippos, several elephants, and more.

Our lodging for the evening is at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Very interesting room, elevated tent structure. Yes, it has running water, king size bed, screened in porch and a separate bathroom. Quite impressive, especially considering where we're at.

The last day of our safari is tomorrow. There will be one more blog post. This is definitely a trip we will never forget.

Day 9 - Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti

     Today started leaving our camp at 5:15 AM for a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. This is the first time we have been on a hot air balloon ride. 16 people + the captain for over an hour airborne. Our flight varied from approximately 500 - 1000 ft altitude. After going thru the safety protocol, and getting the balloon upright, it was another new experience being carried by the wind and viewing from above. We saw hippos, crocodile, giraffe, monkeys, zebra and more.  

Upon landing we were treated to a champagne toast for a successful voyage, then off to a fantastic breakfast in the bush. Another special notice with song and dance was the recognition for birthdays and anniversaries. Yes, we were recognized (again) for our 45 years together!

Following breakfast, our guide located an amazing group of hippos in the stream. Then we saw a couple families of baboons. The one week and two week old playing together was precious. Finally, as we approached our camp this afternoon, there were three elephant brothers along the path to welcome us home.

Tomorrow, off to the Ngorongoro crater.

Day 8 - The Circle of Life in Person

 We thought that we had sights that could not be topped, but we got to say that today was awesome! The circle of life displayed in action, over and over with three sightings...

The first sighting were the scavenger vultures cleaning the carcass of an elephant. The second sighting was a leopard in a tree resting after completing breakfast with the partially consumed wart hog by his side. Finally were the cheetahs (mother and two cubs) sharing a meal on the grant gazelle they had just taken down. It's amazing that we were able these actions in process, up close, considering the area of the Serengeti National Park is 12000 square miles. 

In addition to the events noted, we witnessed two separate groups of four lions (both male and female) about 8 feet away. There were hyena, battling for the final remains of an earlier kill, several elephants and giraffes, and more. 

Tomorrow morning starts with a hot air balloon flight over the Serengeti, a champagne toast and breakfast in the bush.