Today was safari day! Wake up was at 0530 (0500 for those of us making breakfast). After french toast and fruit, we loaded our three safari vehicles and headed off at 0615. Our driver guides were Kanuth, Mike, and Victor of Kanuth Adventure Safaris. It was amazing how bustling the streets were at that hour - people going to market, kids on their way to school, etc. The traffic was significant and it took us a couple hours to get to Mikumi National Park. Once we entered the park, we were greeted by a troop of baboons, followed soon by warthogs, impalas and zebras.
After getting to the visitors center, we went onto the main area of the park, and spent the morning touring the loops on the western side of the park, including a stop for some tree climbing at an ancient baobab tree. We saw many many animals including elephants, Cape buffalo, wildebeests, giraffes, elands, hippos, brevets, a monitor lizard, and a mongoose. And that’s not mentioning the many kids of birds.
We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the savannah we had just toured, watching more baboons and giraffes. After lunch we went back to explore the eastern loops in the park.
We saw many babies (elephants, zebra, etc.) in this area. The one thing we wanted to see most was lions - one group had seen one cross the road but the others only caught a glimpse in the bushes. We were rewarded in finding a mother and two juveniles, who played with each other just meters from us for a half hour.
We then saw a male along the road just a half mile away. This was the icing on a rich cake. The time had finally come for our drive back to SEGA. We got back in time for another wonderful dinner and some birthday cake for two birthdays on the trip. Everyone crashed pretty early, exhausted from a long and magical day.
We saw many babies (elephants, zebra, etc.) in this area. The one thing we wanted to see most was lions - one group had seen one cross the road but the others only caught a glimpse in the bushes. We were rewarded in finding a mother and two juveniles, who played with each other just meters from us for a half hour.
We then saw a male along the road just a half mile away. This was the icing on a rich cake. The time had finally come for our drive back to SEGA. We got back in time for another wonderful dinner and some birthday cake for two birthdays on the trip. Everyone crashed pretty early, exhausted from a long and magical day.
For a slide show of safari photos, see https://www.flickr.com/photos/
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