Wednesday October 1, 2003
I’ve done a poor job (read: none at all) of keeping my journal up for the past few days. So here is a brief snapshot of what we’ve done and where we’ve been.
We left Ngorongoro Crater and drove out to Serengeti National Park. On the way there, we had a spectacular sighting of a giraffe convoy passing across the road in front of us as we dropped down out of the highlands and onto the Serengeti Plains.
We made a quick stop overlooking Olduvai Gorge. This is where Mary and Louis Leakey did a lot of their research into early human evolution.
The park itself is huge, with millions of animals. What’s most impressive is that you can see so far in any given direction. You can spot wildlife from miles away.
The Serengeti Serena Lodge was OK, but my least favourite of the properties we have stayed at to date. We did swim here. Unfortunately, I took ill here too, which lasted a couple of days. We did go out on a hot air balloon ride at sunrise which was magnificent and well worth the splurge. It ended with a champagne breakfast under an acacia tree.
Migration Camp was fantastic – more rustic than other places we’ve stayed, but secluded in the heart of the bush.
This is where my sickness peaked and I spent part of the trip just resting in our tent. We were able to do a walking safari around the immediate area, and were rewarded with sightings of buffalo, crocodiles, a python nest and hippopotamus.
We also came back to our tent after dark one night and discovered giraffes right outside our door.
We arrived at Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge after a very long day of driving.
We had our picnic lunch under a single tree – the only one for miles around.
This was a beautiful property, and one we are glad Raphael suggested adding to our itinerary!
We are here tonight and will be sleeping in a bit tomorrow (and enjoying the pool) before we start our day. Among today’s top sightings were some cheetahs chasing a bat-eared fox; 2 male lions eating a buffalo; and a couple of leopards.
Cook Family Travels 