{"id":13760,"date":"2020-04-26T17:34:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T15:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siv-sketches.net\/?page_id=13760"},"modified":"2022-06-22T17:26:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T15:26:46","slug":"chapter-39-photo-safari-tanzania-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/siv-sketches.net\/?page_id=13760","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 42 (Part1): Photo Safari through Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A proud giraffe and the savanna, on a background of acacias<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2012 John had a wonderful and exotic idea. We had already been to India in February of that year, but we usually made two trips in a year in those days. So we decided to go on a photo safari in Tanzania.<\/p>\n

We arrived in Arusha in the very north of Tanzania  and spent our first day in early October in the city, visiting a huge market and having a wonderful meal in a very African restaurant. I had a charcoal grilled fish that was deliciously fresh and tasty. <\/p>\n

Tarangire National Park<\/strong><\/h5>\n

On October 5 we started our safari in Tarangire National Park. From there we were going on to Manyara Lake National Park and then Serengeti dating back millions of years, and especially the Ngorongoro crater with its amazing wildlife.<\/p>\n

Our highly skilled guide and driver, Emmanuel, Manny that is, was amazing when it came to sighting animals that seemed to us to be completely hidden a kilometer away. And he knew even the names of birds, which interested John more than they did me, even though I of course admired their colorful plumage or other kind of decoration.<\/p>\n

For the safari the tourist agencies provided very special Toyota jeeps with a roof that lifts up at the press of a button. That way you can watch and take pictures from inside the jeep very comfortably. You are not even permitted to set your feet on the ground except in the picnic places that are provided in convenient picnic places for breakfast and lunch.<\/p>\n

We got up very early and only had breakfast when we had been out for a while and reached the most convenient picnic area. They usually offer you company varying from colorful little birds to oodles of mice (they did make me shrink though), to monkeys — all anxious to pick up crumbs from our meals.<\/p>\n

On the very first day we saw a beautiful herd of impalas at a waterhole, one male only who is at the very left end of the picture (gallery). A lot of wildebeests — our first sight of both these animals — joined them after a while and they mixed in the most friendly way, the way both these species always do.  Wildebeests and zebras together, and in great numbers, was a common sight.<\/p>\n

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Our mother cheetah stretching out before settling on a little hill to look for booty.<\/p><\/div>\n

The second event that stood out on this first day was a mother cheetah and her cub that Manny sighted with his usual sharp eyes. We spent forever watching them  She stretched out in all her impressive length and then she  moved with her cub a few meters away to a small hill. <\/p>\n

At the speed of lightning she then suddenly took of from this hillock, so fast that we barely saw her disappearing, leaving her cub to wait for the booty she was going to bring back. These wild females are wonderful mothers, and you get the impression that they basically hunt to feed their cubs. Which is not quite the case of course. Cheetahs are the fastest mammals in the world and it was just amazing to see how she disappeared without a trace, or so it seemed, as soon as she had caught sight of the booty.<\/p>\n

One more very memorable event was the next day when we saw a seemingly endless stream of buffaloes trekking along a small river. To get where?, we wondered.<\/p>\n

We had never expected to see such a mass of buffaloes in an immense more or less double line moving towards some unknown goal . We were thrilled.<\/p>\n