One year ago today: Oct 4, 2005 (Serengeti Day 1)

[Note: original post from the trip is posted here]

We bid adieu to Lake Natron and head for 3 nights in the Serengeti. I take one last look at Ol Doinyo Lengai as we move on...



One thing that the safari brochures don't really talk about is the long hours spent in the jeep. Distances are quite long and the rides can be rather bumpy. But the amazing Tanzanian landscapes, occasional Maasai on the side of the road, and sense of serenity -- especially out in the middle of nowhere -- more than makes up for any discomfort. Incidentally, here's a reasonably readable map of the area.

It's late in the afternoon by the time we enter Serengeti National Park. Unlike Lake Manyara or Murchison Falls, the Serengeti is a huge park with many different areas to explore. We entered in the northeast side of the park and immediately see evidence of the famous wildebeest migration. Hundreds of zebra and wildebeest constantly in motion, often travelling in orderly rows. The density of game was astounding.

This was the part of our travel I had looked forward to the most, and I wasn't disappointed. There's something amazing, humbling, and moving about witnessing this spectacle of life, the collective effort, nature's gradeur as expressed through these animals. The landscape and skyscape delighted as well. Travelling through the Serengeti in the Jeep, with my head sticking out the top, wind in my hair, delighted by everything around me, fulfilling my lifelong dream of seeing the migration. I was truly happy and deeply content, the happiest I had been in a very long time.







We stayed that night in the Lobo Wildlife Lodge, an amazing architectural gem built into and around large kopjes (humongous boulders). Funny rock hyraxes lived among the boulders and wandered about the grounds of the lodge.

Click on the blinking box below to see the route of the wildebeest migration. The animals were just arriving from Kenya's Maasai Mara when we arrived in the Serengeti: