Western Serengeti - Land of Elephants & Lions

After a good breakfast, we said good-bye to Eileen's Trees Hotel with a packed lunch and brimming with anticipation. (There was a minor few-fa, as the hotel wanted to charge us for the wine we'd had with dinner, but it was quickly cleared up.)

Breakfast table at Eileen's

Our first stop would be Ngorngoro National Park, home to the Ngorongoro Crater. The habitat was created a couple of million years ago, when a volcano erupted. The crater is approximately 326km squared and 620m deep. The name is onomatopoeic, in that it's the sound of the cow bells that hang on the necks of Masai livestock. (The Masai equivalent to ding dong, more or less.)

It took a while to get all the paperwork registered (there was a bit of a booking error), so we watched all the comings and goings at the gate to the park. There are over 1000 safari/tour operators in Tanzania, and it felt like it, even in this shoulder season. Before we knew it we were heading up to the rim of the crater to take a look at all it had to offer. It would be several days before we actually headed down to the crater floor, but the views just whetted our curiosity about the unique ecosystem down at the base.

It was a quick pause at the crater's edge and then we headed on towards the Serengeti. En route, we stopped at a lookout and Ron met a group of Masai men, conveniently hanging around just waiting for opportunities to have their photos taken, for a nominal fee, of course. (This is completely against park regulations, just so you know.)

The white Masai - aka Ron

The view point - that's the Serengeti in the distance

 Saying "kwaheri" (good-bye) to the Masai we were off again, descending from the edge of the crater down into the savanna. (Serengeti means "endless plains".) The terrain changed quite dramatically, from rolling hills to flat endless expanses by the time we reached the park's perimeter. 

Be prepared, photo inundation coming:

Heartbok

Hyena

Mama lioness and cub

Unimpressed jackal

Cory Bustard

Wild little pink and purple lizard

Woodpecker

Artsy tree shot

It was a long day, filled with lots of beautiful scenery, incredible animal sightings and interactions with the locals. As the sun was slowly lowering, we headed to our first remote camp at Tanzanian Bush Camp - Simba Camp. We were warmly welcomed, with hibiscus juice and friendly staff. The main take away was that we weren't to leave our tents in the night, without an escort. We were given a walkie-talkie, to let them know if and when we wanted to go out. Fortunately, dinner came before the sun set and the Masai warriors were available to take us back to out tent

Our glamping digs

Sunset on the Serengeti

Gotta be honest, the "tent" camps are pretty lush set-ups. We had hot water, charging stations, a full bathroom and a king-sized bed. Not exactly roughing it. As the sunset on our first "real" day on safari, we could only look forward to what was to come. Next up: unique elephant encounters and Ndutu National Park.