Rare Adventures

Tag: joining safaris

  • Serengetti Safari Experience: Comfort Over Camping

    Serengetti Safari Experience: Comfort Over Camping

    In the blog about planning a safari I mentioned that Wooksie, a woman who has suffered many holiday traumas in her life, was absolutely adamant that she would not be camping among wild beasts and creatures of the night on the safari.

    So in my discussions with Erick of Joining Safaris, I made it abundantly clear that a small tent would not be acceptable, but something with a bed would be fine, as long as it had a door.

    safari luxury hotel location

    After the day chasing elephants in the truck we were heading to our accommodation. We had seen our companions camp site in the morning when we collected the gear, so we assumed we would be staying there in a bungalow or something similar.

    When we pulled off the highway onto this dusty road and Rashid (our guide) shouted out that we had arrived, it’s fair to say we were a bit nervous and I got a look from Wooksie that said “I warned you”.

    We pulled up to some steel gates, that opened automatically and we drove into the parking area. It was like one of those scenes from a dystopian film where the people on the outside of the walls were living in squalor and the rich people inside the walls were living in luxury.

    safari luxury hotel bedroom

    Looking at the photos I still can’t quite believe how this oasis of greenery could exist in such a barren landscape. There were gardeners tending flowers and mowing the lawn, it was stunning, in fact, jaw dropping.

    safari luxury hotel gardens

    Even more weirdly we were the only people staying at the complex. I can only imagine that this had been built for the American tourist market and there weren’t many around so we got it cheap.

    safari luxury hotel pool

    Even Wooksie was happy and enjoyed the benefits of a warm shower, a comfy bed and protection from the mosquitoes. When we went to dinner, they even sent a chap come around to put mosquito treatment in the room, there were some big flying beasties around so we were grateful.

    safari luxury hotel bar

    Dinner was spent celebrating Argyle’s home win over Luton, which turned out to be one of the high points of the season as Wayne Rooney took us to mid table mediocrity, a place we wouldn’t see again all season !

    Meanwhile, our travelling companions had indeed been camping in some very nice tents and with some close up encounters with creatures of the night, so we kept a bit quiet about our luxury so we wouldn’t lose street cred.

    safari luxury camping

    In fact they meet creatures of many kinds and I’m glad I didn’t have to accompany Wooksie to the loo overnight

    safari luxury camping
  • Serengetti safari -The elephants of Tarangire

    Serengetti safari -The elephants of Tarangire

    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 !

    A person standing next to a parked safari vehicle in a dusty area, surrounded by trees and other trucks in the background.

    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.

    lunch with the team, Yente, Noa and Clara

    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.

    Our safari truck

    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.

    safari truck - not much leg room

    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.

    family of mongoose

    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.

    elephants at a water hole

    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.

    close up of baby elephants

    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.

    close up of elephants at a water hole

    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.

    safari truck traffic jam

    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.

    Safari trucks