Big Five Minus One

We are to be the last Oasis truck to get Lake Manyara and the Ngorogoro Crater included in the cost of our trip :) I’m back today after visiting two national parks and getting my fill of wildlife and beautiful African landscapes. Of the big five, we saw a Rhino, Lions, Buffalos, and Elephants. Such an amazing trip!

Lake Manyara: All of us got picked up from the Meserani Snake Park in Arusha, sorted ourselves into 4 4x4s, and were on our way. We saw a ton of animals: baboons, blue and vervet monkeys, giraffes, zebra, hippos, wildebeest, warthogs, bushbucks, waterbucks, ostrich, elephants, and buffalos. I’d never been in such close proximity to baboons before and their behaviors are so interesting! Females in heat look kind of diseased, and males like to show off their penises seemingly all the time! The way they groom each other is actually really sweet. Vervet monkeys also have bright blue balls, in case anyone is wondering.


Definitely a lot of of interesting observations about animal behavior but the highlight for me was the Hippo Pool. I realized I’d never seen a hippo out of water before and here lay at least 50 of them. Really amazing sight to see! Hard to imagine that hippos probably cause the most human fatalities because they are very territorial. Out of the water though, they look fat, frumpy, and move about pretty ungracefully.


Ngorogoro Crater: While game driving in the Ngorogoro Crater, I think many of us shared the same thought: This is Africa. Acacia trees dot the landscape and animals are visible en masse. At one point, our 4x4 was surrounded by literally thousands of wildebeest and zebra.


I can’t imagine places like the Serengeti or the Masai Mara that are supposed to have even higher concentrations of animals! Unfortunately, we did not see any leopards, and only saw a (black) rhino at a very far distance, but we enjoyed thousands of zebra and wildebeest, a lot of deer varieties (giselles, springbok, bush/waterbucks) and birds (cory bustards, white storks, fish eagles, guinea fowl), less, but numerous buffalo, some jackals and hyena, and exactly 14 lions. Game driving in the crater has been a once in a lifetime experience that I feel so lucky to have had!


I chose not to do the optional Serengeti trip (because the Great Migration had passed already, it was an extra $250 for one day after already visiting two national parks that weekend, and I like to think that I’ll come back to Tanzania with more time for the park and a renewed sense of wonder for wildlife) and I have no regrets!

Recovering now in Arusha, with Nairobi coming up tomorrow (Jun 28)! In approximately one week I will be gorilla trekking in Uganda! So excited!