Tanzania - Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Arusha National Park.

21/5/2011 to 1/6/2011.

This safari was probably the forerunner of the larger groups that are our current format, and this larger group went without any problems. I think that this is primarily due to the way that the groups are put together and because they stay with the same guide throughout the safari.

The migration was very much in evidence in the western corridor and particularly in open space, which enabled us sight of much larger masses of Wildebeest than over the previous couple of years. Some members of the group who opted for an early morning Balloon Ride were amazed by the extent of the herd, seen from above.

We also had very special sightings of a mother Leopard and her three cubs, as well as two other lone Leopards. Again, we were lucky with Cheetah and cubs, as well as sightings of other adult Cheetah on a kill. Lions did not disappoint either. There is a tendency to overlook Zebra, Elephant and all the other plains’ game that one sees, but this is possibly because these other species are so plentiful, as they were on this safari.

We enjoyed a particularly spectacular sunrise over the Ngorongoro Crater and later were able to get reasonably close to Black Rhino in the Crater. These animals are extremely rare and this is one place where we are sometimes lucky to see them.

Once again the bird life lived up to expectation and as always happens, we managed to see something not seen before.