After some thought, we settled on a 3 day safari in Tanzania, mainly because we just wanted to see the Big 5 animals in the wild rather than hunting around for obscure animals and we get bored easily so we wanted excitement !
Rashid our guide picked us all up nice and early, and we all piled into the Toyota truck where we found our travel companions already installed in the back. We have found that one of the best things about these trips is the people you meet, so we would never consider having a private tour.
Our safari companions
On this occasion we were lucky enough to have some young fun people onboard who could speak perfect English. Yente from the Netherlands was volunteering in a children’s refuge teaching English and having her first adventure abroad on her own.
We also had Noa and Clara who were young German doctors using their work year to volunteer at the local hospital in Moshi to develop their skills. So great company for the trip and fortunately the truck wasn’t too full either.
So we set off early from Moshi on the 5 hour drive to the Tarangire National Park, which is famous for it’s concentration of elephants.
It was a long dusty drive and if you have long legs, try not to chose the seat behind the driver, where your knees hit his seat like mine did. On the way we picked up the camp cook, and somehow an entire kitchen was squeezed into the back of this truck, along with tents, camping gear and all the ruck sacks.
We had various breaks at townships along the way, which were mainly long settlements spread along the road with various little shops and stalls that keep the local population going with supplies. The countryside is just miles of savanna grassland with a few hills, the odd lake and not much else to see!
There was much excitement when we finally arrived at Tarangire as we were finally going to see some animals. The park gate was overwhelmed by trucks, they were scattered everywhere around the car park and packed with enthusiastic patrons and after the normal faffing around wherever there is African bureaucracy.
Mongoose family
Our first animal encounter, rather than elephants, was the exciting the sight of a little family of Mongoose running along the verge and wrestling with each other as they played.
Our first of the Big 5 – the elephants
It wasn’t long before we found our first big herd of elephants as a watering hole. It took time for the truck to find a good slot to watch, this is the value of a good driver as they know where to position the truck and second guess where the animals will head.
Initially they were in the distance and our truck was positioned in the shelter of some trees. Within a few minutes the herd started to make it’s way to our little hiding spot and we had the wonderful experience of being surrounded by these enormous animals who seemed to enjoy a good scratch on the trees.
Being surrounded by the enormous beasts was a spellbinding experience. They are so serene together, the big bull elephant is clearly the lord of the herd and doesn’t look like a fella you want to annoy. The babies follow the mothers around and most of them seemed to enjoy a good scratch on the trees that made their day that much more enjoyable.
Elephant stops play
The journey around the park last about 3 hours and we took up numerous lookouts and watched herds in the distance. There were very few other species on view other than giraffes and zebras.
Another highlight of the day was the close encounter with the baby elephant who popped out of the bush and took a shine to our truck and wanted to play.
It is fair to say we were not alone. With numerous other safari trucks bouncing around the tracks and we had some amazing traffic jams when an animal appeared. Basically the best drivers seem to second guess where they will appear and within minutes all other trucks appear.
After the tour was over it was a 90 minute drive to find our accommodation. Yente, Noa and Clara were camping but Wooksie was absolutely determined she wasn’t camping, so we had booked mid range accommodation.
Everyone in the truck slept soundly on the way to the accommodation after a hot and dusty day.
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