Tarangire National Park, Tanzania - After an overnight in Arusha, our guide Emmilian returned the following morning to pick us up from our hotel. This time the Toyota Landcruiser was packed with all the gear for our safari which also included our cook Octavian. After a quick stop to pick up a weeks supply of drinks (28 litres of water, some juice, and a 6 pack of beer for Dad) it was off to see the wildlife of Tanzania. Along the way we got to know our guide a little better as he answered some of our questions about what we had been seeing as we drove along the highways of Kenya and Tanzania.
Our first stop on our safari was Tarangire National Park. Although, not one of the more famous of Tanzania's national parks it was only a few hours away from Arusha and with 10,000 elephants it was an ideal place to begin. After dropping off our cook at the campsite to set up camp and prepare supper, we headed into the park for our first game drive and lunch over looking the Tarangire River. By the time we had stopped for lunch we had seen our first elephants, giraffes, and even a couple of lions. And at the picnic area there was a troop of monkeys who gladly shared your lunch if you were not careful.
We spent most of the rest of the afternoon driving along the river observing elephants, lots and lots of elephants. We saw family groups with baby elephants and some very large solitary bull elephants. As we learned from our guide, the elephants will make a daily trip down to the river to drink and cool themselves off. The rest of their time seem to be devoted to eating, this probably has something to do to the fact that they eat 100kg of grass and leaves every day.
It was a great first day on safari. We were able to get very close to some large family groups of elephants. Along the way we also saw zebras, ostriches, more giraffes, a couple of lions, impalas, lots of birds, and a cheetah. We had also discovered that our guide was very knowledgeable about the animals and their behaviour as well as their habitats. Finally, Niall had someone else to ask questions and started to give Dad a break. It was a great first day.
After a good supper we prepared for our first night camping in Africa. Just before we turned in, we met the campground's night watchmen. He was armed with a bow an arrow which he proudly showed us and assured us there was no poison on the points. We went to sleep in our tents as he paced back and forth across the campground making his rounds. I didn't ask him if the bow and arrow was use to fight off robbers or wildlife, I am not sure which would have been the better answer. It didn't seem to matter as I slept well anyway.
The next morning we headed out early and traveled more slowly and through a less traveled part of the park. This morning we were to discover how much and how diverse the wildlife existed in Tarangire National Park. Our first sighting was a leopard tortoise, one of the small five. Shortly after that it was a large herd of giraffes gracefully striding among the Acacia trees. Then it was a colony of baboons coming down from the trees where they spent the night hiding from predators. They were comical to watch as some wrestled each other and others dropped baobab fruit onto the ones on the ground. Ostriches were next, feeding and taking dust baths in the middle of the road. It was after this that I realized since our sighting of the tortoise we had only traveled a few hundred metres. And amongst these animals were families of warthogs, wandering elephants, impalas, birds, and the list goes on. I was just in awe seeing so much and so many kinds of wildlife in one place. It was incredible.
The rest of the day was spent along the river again, looking for more wildlife and seeing more elephants. As these elephants walk just metres away from you, it is truly amazing to see just how big and powerful these animals are as they pull up grass and tear off tree branches with their trunks and push themselves through the bush. Then you see their gentle side as they communicate with each other with these gentle grunts from their stomachs or watch them gently caress and care for the baby elephants. There is a lot to be said for understanding an animal by observing it in its home. So far the safari had been giving us that opportunity.
Our time in Tarangire was coming to and end but our guide had planned one more stop. He had some contacts at a near by safari lodge and it had a pool and a great view. As a treat for the boys we would head there to cool off while Susan and I could enjoy the view. There was just something wonderful about sitting on a patio of a safari lodge looking across the African landscape and watching 50 elephants go about their lives. I couldn't decide if I was part of this place or just a lucky observer. I did know it had been a great two days of safari and we had 5 more to go. I really began to think how lucky we are to see this and what we owed the Tanzanian people who had found a way to preserve this wildlife. This was going to be a special experience for Aaron and Niall, two boys from Newfoundland who had never been to a zoo were for their first time seeing elephants and other African animals living and thriving in the wild. Yes, we had made the right decision to go to Africa.
See more of our pictures of Tarangire National Park on our web album.
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