Day 11: Tarangire National Park

Saturday was the day we left both Arusha and the Esperanto conference behind and set off on our private safari excursion. Our safari driver had been in touch yesterday to say he would pick us up from the hotel at 07.30, so we had a fairly early start. We had a final breakfast in the hotel, packed up our things and went down to reception to check out. Our driver - Estomih - was already waiting for us and loaded our suitcases into the back of the jeep.

The jeep was just like the ones I've been using for group excursions during the week, but we soon discovered that they're way more spacious when there are only two of you in the back rather than six!

Our destination for today was Tarangire National Park, which is around a 2-hour drive away from Arusha. Much of the route was familiar to us, as we drove along the same route as to Lake Manyara National Park for the first hour or so, before turning off in a different direction towards Tarangire. Before 10am we'd made it to the entrance to the National Park.

There was a slight pause here while the driver went to sort out the permit paperwork, so we were able to have a stroll around the entrance area. There was quite a lot to see just here! We saw a massive termite mound...

...as well as an elephant skull...

...and a small Maasai village with its traditional round houses.

We also found our first example of one of the iconic baobab trees which the national park is famous for.

The baobab trees, which can be as much as 400 years old, don't have leaves at this time of year (in the dry season).

When we got back in the jeep and entered the park properly, the first thing we saw was a group of vervet monkeys.

We drove past a small lake...

...and then caught sight of not just a zebra but a giraffe too.

There were a couple of zebras in fact and we soon witnessed what our guide referred to as a zebra crossing  

Shortly afterwards a giraffe decided to cross the road too, which was pretty cool.

The next animal we saw was a warthog.

I got a much better view of this one than I had on my walking safari in the Arusha National Park yesterday.

There was a baby warthog too!

From here we drove to a viewpoint overlooking the river Tarangire, after which the park is named. There isn't loads of water in the river at this time of year, but it still attracts animals to drink.

Our guide drove us down to river level and spotted something in the distance...

It was a male lion.

Wow!

That was exciting! The safari was off to a great start However, there's one animal which the Tarangire National Park is particularly famous for and that's elephants. We hadn't come across any of those yet, but that was about to change.

We came across a group of elephants, a little way back from the road.

They were so much fun to watch

There were some other herbivores nearby, including this one which I believe is a waterbuck.

As we drove further on we heard a very loud noise by the side of the road. This bird seemed to be warning everyone that there was something scary in the vicinity (presumably us!).

It wasn't long before we spotted another elephant.

This one was making its way down to the river.

We saw it using its trunk to drink water, which was really cool.

Our next animal was less dramatic, but very pretty: a colourful blue bird by the side of the road.

Then there were more giraffes, which I really enjoyed watching...

...and more zebras too.

Our guide explained to us that the zebras often stand in pairs like two in the photo below - each facing in a different direction - so that they can spot predators coming from different directions.

Our next animal sighting was a really exciting one: a group of elephants playing in a pool of water.

They were drinking, splashing water and rolling around in the mud. It was so cool to watch

One elephant came out of the water and walked towards us, so we got a really good shot.

Just as we were getting ready to move on, we witnessed the matriarch chasing away an intruding elephant who wasn't part of the family!

I don't think I'd ever get tired of watching elephants.

As we continued around the park we saw our first wildebeest...

...and some monkeys sitting on a tree trunk.

Then it was time for lunch. I didn't really know what to suspect with food on the safari but it was booked as an all-inclusive trip, so we were getting breakfast, lunch and dinner provided for us every day. I was pleasantly surprised when our guide took a large picnic hamper out of the jeep and began producing an array of hot food, not to mention beer, wine and coffee  

We enjoyed our lunchtime feast but some other tour groups weren't so lucky. While we were finishing up we witnessed a monkey jump down from one of the nearby trees, race over to a table and steal food from somebody's lunchbox. He then retreated to the tree to eat his prize.

There was a great view from the picnic area down over the Tarangire river.

If we looked carefully we could even see a group of zebra crossing the river.

Once we got back in the jeep for the afternoon we saw more elephants.

Lots more elephants!

We also saw our first vultures sitting in the trees...

...more giraffes...

...and did I mention we saw elephants?!

I was also pretty excited to see ostriches!

We left the park mid-afternoon and began the drive towards our accommodation for the evening. Going on safari mostly involves staying in tented lodges, where the accommodation is essentially like a tent but a more permanent structure and much fancier. I was hoping it wasn't going to feel like camping, and when we finally arrived at our home for the night after a long drive up what felt like the world's bumpiest road, I was pleasantly surprised.

While technically it was a tent, it had a roof and was on stilts.

We had a very comfy bedroom...

...and our very own bathroom too which included running water, both hot and cold.

It was all pretty civilised and the grounds which the tents were set in were absolutely beautiful.

There were lots of bright and colourful flowers and everywhere was very green.

It wasn't long until sunset by this point so we unpacked the essentials and then went for a little stroll around.

Then we made our way to the dining tent where we enjoyed a three course meal

It didn't feel particularly cold to us but we had our own little heater at our table to keep us warm.

When we got back to our tent after dinner, we found we had hot water bottles in our bed too! It was a nice end to what had been a great first day on safari