This was my second favorite safari day (the crater takes the cake for me). Tarangire is a beautiful park that was on the way back to the hotel. Our guides said we would leave around lunch, but Holly talked our guides into staying longer since our flight was so late that night. We wanted every last minute we could get to watch the animal. This park was full of elephants, giraffes, zebras, and impalas. It was our first good view of the giraffes. We were also more active in asking questions to the guides this day. We wanted to know more about the animals and their way of life. It was nice having the guides provide that type of information. We just had to ask questions to get them to that point.
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| I don't remember the name of this animal, but it is basically a very small deer and is adorable. |
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| Pumba the warthog |
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| Timon! (Yes I equated every animal to their Lion King name) |
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| I adored this baby elephant and its protective family. |
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| This park was stunning in its own way. There weren't mountains or beautiful rivers, but I found it enjoyable. |
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| So many elephants! |
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| One of my favorite shots. The baby was just trying to keep up with mom. |
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| These guys aren't pretty, but I wish we could have seen their migration. |
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| Have I mentioned how much I love the baby animals? |
We spent hours enjoying watching the variety of animals. On the way to our lunch spot, we spotted a few lions sleeping under a large tree. The guide said we would come back that way after lunch to see if they were awake. We enjoyed our last boxed lunch and had to keep an eye on our food so the monkeys didn't steal them. We were constantly watching for sneak attacks and I am proud to say that we kept all of our food. After lunch, we went back towards the big tree with the sleeping lions. As we approached, we saw 10-15 trucks sitting in that area. The lions were awake and looking to hunt! We sat there for what seemed like an hour waiting to see the lions hunt. We saw the one female stalking a few warthogs, but she wasn't rushing it. Finally, she took off and you heard a warthog squeal and run away. Sadly, she drove the baby warthog directly into three waiting lions. It didn't stand a chance. I found the experience amazing. It is the circle of life and amazing to see the lions in action. Some of our group was thrilled to see the kill while others were happy to look away.
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| The start of the prowl |
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| It was incredible watching every muscle tensed and ready to go. |
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| Sadly this guy didn't survive, but I felt his picture deserved to be seen. |
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| The other lions ready to trap the warthog |
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| And it was game over. |
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| And she comes back...not sure if she got anything to eat though. |
It was an incredible way to end the safari and the vacation. We had a 3 hour drive back to the hotel and flew out late that night. The Kilimanjaro airport is not a spot you want to spend much time at since nothing is open. Our flight was delayed and then we had a surprise stop in Mombasa (which I guess was listed on some websites, but not on Turkish airlines website). It is a long way home with a stop in Istanbul, but it was so nice to get home and take a hot shower, get my pup, and sleep in my own bed. I can't wait to return to Africa for another safari sometime!
