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SERENGETI SAFARI - The Greatest Show on Earth
Take the breathtaking trip ofyour life - see the vast numbers of majestic wild game in their natural habitat in Tanzania.
We flew to Arusha, the gateway to Tanzania's Serengeti adventures. We stayed at the Arusha Koffee Lodge, a lovely place to recuperate from jet lag before starting your safari.
While there we visited the Cultural Museum to see and buyexcellent arts, crafts, jewelry, and clothing in a delightful environment. And we visited Shanga, an environment for disabled craftspeople to create beautiful things you can buy to support this wonderful institution.
Then we hopped on a tiny plane to reach the airport at Lake Manyara where we were greeted by our &Beyond guide.
The trip to the &Beyond Lake Manyara Treehouse Lodge took us through the Lake Manyara game park where we immediatly were introduced to dozens of animals and birds, such as these.
We took a bicycle trip in a local village, meeting many people including this lovely classroom who greeted us with singing and clapping. We also visited a Masai Boma - a small circle of huts where a nomadic tribe lives until moving on. They greet us and demonstrate their skills.
The Lake Manyara Treehouse Lodge is lovely. We dine under the stars and retire to a luxurious tree house with a full veranda where wild animals play during the night. The Lodge has a lovely lounge and bar and
Then we went to the Ngorngoro Crater where we stayed at the amazing &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, best described as "Versailles meets Masai".
There you can get up close to all kinds of wildlife, such as these warthogs fighting over a nearby female, and these snoozing hippos.
Then we hopped on another tiny plane to reach the very northern part of the Serengeti, near the Mara river. We were greeted by our &Beyond guide and whisked to &Beyond's "Serengeti Under Canvas" camp which is created from bare ground to be near the game, and then disassembled and moved leaving no trace. It was an amazing combination of comfort while sleeping among the animals which you could hear all around you all night.
"Serengeti" means "endless plain" and it is a gorgeous ever-varied land with sunny clear days and beautiful setsets. But of course the animals are the stars of the show.
We arose before dawn for a sunrise ballloon trip which provided panoramas of the endless array of wildlife below us, such as this herd of migrating wildebeests, also known as gnus.
One can see all aspects of the circle of life carried out every day, including preditors having their meals of unfornate pray. And usually there are vultures nearby to fight over the scraps.
During our all-day game drive (on our last day) we concluded that this experience is just plain addicting. Every minute was a delight. You just never knew what amazing or beautiful thing would pop up at any moment and in the meantime it was a glorious day driving though this beautiful territory. We really hated this coming to an end.
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We then went to Zanzibar to relax. Take a look at that report.