Through the Serengeti.

It is mid term for the kids and we like to be able to get out a little as a family. We love these times because it gives us a chance to go and be apart of what Nick is doing in so many different parts of the country. Mwanza it was for this break. Mwanza is many hours away and for many years there was this only road to get there and it was through the Serengeti. The road there is awful... and I thought the Ruwaha was washboard! It was our first time as a family through the Serengeti. We left the house early Saturday morning. Drove through to the Ngorongoro crater. (I wish we could have gone in but it cost so much money). We got to the Serengeti gate and hung around there till about 2. We had lunch and let the kids climb some rocks to waste time until 2. You only have about 24 hours in the park or you pay more. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time the next day to get out to the Mwanza gate, which was four hours away from our destined campsite.

Lake Manyara... on the ascent to the conservation area.

The Ngorongoro Crater, birds eye view. We went left.

Looking inside the crater the soda lake and the fresh lake.

Once we got into the park we drove around near where we would be setting up camp. We found a beautiful place to pitch the tent and start our fire. As soon as we got the tent up it rained for about 30 mins which was so great. It cooled everything off. We had a great easy dinner, homemade tomato soup, steak, baby potatoes and green beans. It was a good dinner to a long day of travel and to end the evening, a cup of tea by the fire made it all the more perfect.
That whole night I did not sleep. Baboons decided to roost in the trees above our tent. They would make a noise anytime something came near. We also heard lions all night long. At 3 in the morning I was freezing and tried pulling Ethan closer to me. Needless to say I did not get much sleep and neither did Nick. It is an exciting adrenalin feeling to be sleeping out in the wild never knowing what may come and visit your camp. :) In the morning as soon as we got out of the tent 3 Hyenas were passing by. I tried to take a picture but in the moment of extreme caution :) it turned out really blurry. We all hid in the tent like it could save us or something lol. It me laugh out loud. We made breakfast and packed up our camp and headed on our way.

Serengeti flat plains.

The road to get there. Hours on this road.

The birds we saw, Ostriches and secretary birds were the two we loved to see.

climbing rocks to waste some time. What fun!

Enjoying the scenery of untouched land as far as the eye can see.

These guys stuck out and were easy to spot amongst all the tan colored grass and granite rocks.

The road we just covered to the Serengeti gate, where you pay.

Masai are allowed to live in the Serengeti. These are two boys about to be circumcised... that's why they have their faces painted and are wearing black.

Some of the coolest trees grow here.

The beautiful Zebra's.


Night light from our camp.

The mist on our tent in the morning.

Our camp. The kids would get up on the roof rack and watch all the activity going on around us while we packed up.

Sunday morning on our way out of the Serengeti we saw so many beautiful animals. These lions were on the side of the road drinking out of a puddle, not far from where we slept. The lions here are shorter and thicker looking than what we have seen.

All the animals we saw within the 24 hrs:
Wildebeest
ducks
storks
Ostrages
Secretary birds
Monkeys
Mice
Lizards
Impala
Water bucks
Elephants
Meerkats
Guinea fowl.leopard
Baboons
Hyena
Giraffe
hippo's
crocodile
zebra's
lions and cubs
warthogs
gazelle
dik dik
buffalo
Vultures

This beautiful leopard rubbed up against our car. I have never seen one so close.

Walking away in our rear view mirror.

The trees on the hill, viewed through the binoculars.

The elephants through the binocs. My camera can't zoom that far.

I love Elephants and this was the only herd that we saw the whole 24 hours we were in the Serengeti.

We left the park around 2. We had lunch at the west gate, while a monkey tried to steal our twix from our table. It was a great adventure but we were ready to get there... Mwanza coming up. :)