In collaboration with the locally owned and operated Tanzanian travel company KiliTwende. ​

Dear Serengeti and friends,

​I had heard so much about you and your family. About the reflections of your sun brightening up the endless plains; how the song of your winds are painting the sky. Now it was finally time. Thanks for having me.  

Let's go- with KiliTwende!

Bright and early at 6.30 in the morning of the middle of October, I jumped into the khaki- colored safari jeep of KiliTwende - the Tanzanian locally owned travel company that I climbed Kilimanjaro with in year 2016. I was greeted by Robert, also called Bobby, the owner of the company with a warm smile. He was born in the small town of Moshi, which is known for hosting safari and Kilimanjaro travelers from all over the world.

Bobby entered the Tanzanian tourist sector directly after finishing school; carrying up bags, water, and boxes of food of Kilimanjaro climbers. He carries the same peaceful and kind energy as the mountain and when meeting Bobby you instantly feel in safe hands. Now, more than 10 years after he carried his first bag up to the highest mountain of Africa, he is running his own travel company; KiliTwende Adventures Limited. ​

Heading out from Moshi

After picking up the rest of the safari travelers, it was time to get started. My lungs were breathing excitement as we left the roads of Moshi, the small town I had stayed at once before, when climbing Kilimanjaro. As we were driving along, I was wondering about the thoughts of the people we met on the road this particular day; Maasais keeping big herds of animals, women with colourful kitenge clothes selling vegetables, and a few men transporting various items on their bikes. Now and then my mind were filled up with interesting pieces of Tanzanian history told by our guide and driver Daniel; from the Tanzanian carrot industry to how the military system in Tanzania works. ​

Hello Tarangire!

After about three hours, we reached the gates of Tarangire National Park, known for its herds of elephants and beautiful sculpture looking baobab trees. After our guide Daniel had managed to pick-up our permits we entered the park, excited to explore the wonders of wildlife. The first animals we saw were impalas and shortly after that a herd of zebras. My strongest memory is when a tiny Zebra foal cantered across the road we were parked on; so full of energy and curiosity of life. From Daniel, I learnt that the stripes of Zebras are unique in the same way as we have unique fingerprints. 

After a bit of driving and seeing the Zebra foal, a female lion is running only 50 meters from our car, crossing the road exactly where we had parked. As she was running, we could see her muscles and how strong she must be. Luckily for the other animals around (and maybe us!), lions mainly hunt during the night. She might not have been hungry, but we were. It was time for packed lunch at the park’s lunch spot!

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A glimpse of a baby monkey

As I had finished my lunch, I went to the fence which was protecting the area from a steep hill. At the fence, I saw a particular type of monkey (which I’m embarrassed of not knowing the name of). As I was standing there watching them, I could notice one of them holding a tiny baby; looking so much like a human baby. For a few seconds me and the baby monkey made eye contact; noticing her face expressions was incredible, such as when she was yawning by opening her mouth widely. She looked very safe and comfortable with her mom.

​After several hours of game ride in the afternoon, it was time to drive to our tents that had been put up by Bobby. I felt so ready for dinner and I was happy that we had the same chef as from my Kilimanjaro experience- so delicious! After quite a bit of food in my stomach, I fell asleep to the sound of grasshoppers and other insects playing their own instruments outside my tent.

Ngorongoro crater

The next morning, it was time to head to the Ngorongoro crater. During my years in Tanzania, I had heard a lot about the crater, which was designed by mother nature by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. As we drove up into higher altitude, we were welcomed by a thick fog who had coloured all of the landscape. Ngorongoro is a conservation area, which means that both humans (mainly maasai) and wild animals are sharing the area. This was possible to notice as we were passing by large amounts of cattle on the side of the road.

As the colors of the fog were being exchanged with blue sky, we drove closer into the crater area. As we headed down in order to reach the lower areas of the crater, I was taken out of breath by the view of herds of zebras, wildebeests and other animals strolling around. Quite quickly, we drove past a sleeping female lion catching some shade below a tree. We then continued to explore other areas of the park and had several stops watching hippos, buffalos, and wildebeests doing their daily chores; eating, caring for their small ones, or having a nap.  ​

Lunch time with quite a view

The time flew by very fast and soon it was time for lunch. As we entered the allocated lunch spot in the park, we could see a huge male elephant standing only a few hundred meters from us having a snack from a big tree. As he started eating, so were we. Luckily, we didn’t need to worry about monkeys grabbing food since they yet hadn’t learnt this behaviour. They were still keeping their original ways of finding their own food in the wild. 

Heading to Serengeti

As the lunch was eaten, we continued the game drive for several more hours exploring new areas of the crater area. It was then time to head to Serengeti, our next destination. On the way out from the park, we met five elephants on the side of our road of red soil. The elephant population in Tanzania has been heavily affected by pourching. Luckily, the government is now putting in more effort and legislation when it comes to stopping it. Another factor might be that China finally made trade with ivory illegal.


The gates of Serengeti

After around 3 hours in the car, we arrived at the magical entrance gate; Serengeti! On our way to the main gate we could see a number of impalas, a medium-sized antelope that Tanzania’s neighbouring country Uganda’s capital Kampala is named after. As we arrived at the main gate our KiliTwende guide Daniel sorted out our permits easily. We then spent the remaining time of the afternoon watching hyenas, cheetahs and leopards with an amazing sunset as the background. ​

Sunset and camping in Serengeti

It was dark when we arrived at the camp and all the tents had already been set up by Bobby. Before we entered them we received a small safety briefing from Daniel; we were advised not to have food in the tents since some animals might be trying to get it. We were also advised to not leave smelly boots outside the tent, since the hyenas might be tempted to find out if they are tasty! The camp we were staying at was a public camp located in the middle of Serengeti. It had a new system of solar power set up; now running the operations of the camp. I was super fascinated by the solar driven electricity plugs in the lockers. Never seen that before, impressive! 

Good morning Seregenti !

After a night of sleeping next to the sounds of birds and unidentified animals (I think quite a few pumbas!), it was time to discover more of Serengeti by an early morning drive. Serengeti means “endless plains” in Maasai language and I can really understand why, as we saw the sun taking her first breath of the day. As she was exhaling, she lit up the endless savannah meter by meter. 

As we continued the drive after watching the sunrise, we met several others who also started their day early. Our first encounter was with three adult elephants and two babies making a large tree their breakfast. A little bit later we met a taller friend; a young and single giraffe, finding his morning meal further up on a similar looking tree. Later in the day, I learnt that the animals in the Serengeti ecosystem are eating different parts of the vegetation, which makes it enough for everyone. Nature is truly amazing and I wish we humans could utilize our resources in a similar sustainable way. 

Morning stretches of a cheetah

Serengeti is home to 70 large animals and later in the morning we met a cheetah having a bit of a morning walk by herself. As she stopped by a large pile of soil we managed to take some pictures of her doing her morning poses. We then continued driving straight ahead in the direction of a few safari cars. Guess my excitement when I was looking out the window seeing three lion moms and four cubs walking towards us on the side of the road! As the cubs were walking, they were playing along. One of them had found a plastic bottle which she was holding in her mouth. Cute but quite sad that the plastic waste reached them too.  
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At noon, after the long morning drive, we headed to the museum of Serengeti. In the museum we learnt about the history of the area and more about its animals. As we returned to the camp, we were ready for a delicious brunch; homemade pizza slices, chips, pancakes and other things. Not long after that, I was taken by surprise when I saw 30 “timons”, meerkats running towards the camp. Sadly, all looking for food waste to become their own lunch. It really shows how fast animals (and ourselves) can adapt into new lifestyles and behavior. 

530 types of birds

After the brunch, we had time to relax and I took a closer look at the many birds at the trees near my tent. Serengeti has 530 different birds and only at the camp, I saw at least 5 types of birds that I had never seen before. Soon after my bird observation activity, it was time for our last game ride in the park. As we were driving I did my best to leave the camera in the bag and just enjoy the view and fresh wind coming from my open window.  ​

Time to head back

The morning of the fourth safari day, it was time to head back and drive the long distance back to our starting point; Moshi. Luckily we had several stops, such at a Maasai village. As we were driving back, I felt very grateful for the amazing days I had and hope to be back one day.  
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Thank you KiliTwende Adventures Limited for amazing days! I hope to soon join you for another adventure!