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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Tarangire National Park Safari


After our day of rest after the Kilimanjaro adventure, we hopped in an old Land Cruiser driven by Vincent, our safari guide, and drove west into Masai lands.



I peppered Vincent with questions about the Masai and their customs, and his people, the Chagga, and the Meru people and the rest of the region.  He was opinionated and interesting to talk to.  We stopped to get water, snacks, and cash in Arusha, the large city at the base of Mount Meru.


Em, rejuvenated from her day at the hotel pool, summoned the strength to shop, blowing tens of thousands of shillings.


Early in the afternoon we arrived at Tarangire National Park, famous for its elephants and giant baobab trees.


We stopped to picnic at the park gate.  Before anyone took a bite, a monkey ran up lightning fast to our table and stole some of Ben's lunch.  We threw some rocks and kept vigilant and tried to stop laughing long enough to eat.


The sun was high and hot and we set out into the bush searching shady areas for game.  We were astounded at the size of the baobab trees.  The above photo shows an ancient baobab dwarfing an adult elephant.


Within an hour or so we spotted elephants, waterbuck, warthogs, and this diminutive Dik-dik in the shade.


Tarangire Park straddles a river, and the ridges provided us a great view into the river valley where we saw a variety of game.



Eventually we drove into the valley and along the bank of the river.  We came around a bend and we were right in the thick of an interesting meeting.  The above photo shows a herd of elephants passing up the river bed in the foreground with a small pride of lionesses and cubs in the shady background.  The elephants showed some angst when they noticed the predators and hustled single-file past the lions, taking special care to protect the youngsters.  It was an amazing sight.


After the herd moved away without incident the lions decided to wander the local vicinity.  We loved watching the cubs splash and play in the river.



Everywhere we wandered there were elephants.  There were various herds grazing in the river bed.


The herds were used to eating on the run - they tore up clumps of grass and beat the dirt off by swinging their trunks against their legs and bellies.  Into the late afternoon we continued surveying the bush, hoping to spot a leopard.  We didn't have any luck with the cats, but even after turning around at a muddy, rutted river crossing we continued to see more game.

Despite Emily's guarantees, Vincent reluctantly turned us around rather than attempt the crossing

Tarangire delivered more than I expected.  The terrain and the flora and fauna were perfect and made leaving very difficult.  Our next day at Ngorongoro Crater was equally awesome.

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