Tarangire National Park To Serengeti National Park
Tree Top Lodge is home to the leaf-nosed bats.
Today’s drive took us through Tarangire National Park, with lots to see along the way.
Today’s destination is Tarangire Treetops.
What a magical place. It's stunning in every way. The accommodation, staff and food are world-class.
A highlight is the baobab tree at the heart of the lodge’s open-air reception. It is home to hundreds of leaf-nosed bats.
If someone told me that one day, I would stand right in front of an entrance where hundreds of bats would exit, I would have laughed. But here we are, taking turns standing in the path of hungry bats, rested and ready for a night of feeding.
There were some close calls, but the bat’s amazingly turned on a dime to avoid collision.
The following days drive continues to treat us to some exciting and amazing sights.
A fascinating cultural visit is an impromptu stop at a local market in Karatu that only occurs once a month. It's a busy area with vendors and farmers buying and selling animals or merchandise. I love the energy and sense of organized chaos all around us.
We continued our trip to Ngorongoro Crater, one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders. Besides being the biggest intact (unbroken) volcanic caldera on Earth, this crater is also a natural sanctuary for some of the densest populations of large mammals in Africa. Because of its enclosed nature, the Ngorongoro Crater has formed its own ecosystem. We are here during the rainy season, so it is a beautiful lush garden we are fortunate to see as it is often clouded in.
While there, we stop for a lovely picnic lunch and share the picnic site with one of Africa's ugly 5, the Marabou Stork, and an eagle that keeps wanting to dive at our table to snatch up some chicken.
After lunch, we pass through the gates to the Serengeti National Park. Serengeti is Tanzania's most renowned national park and home to the most significant concentrations of large mammals on the planet.
Now, imagine you are on game drives, where you see some fantastic wildlife. You see herds of elephants here, some zebras and wildebeest there, some giraffes and antelopes of various kinds, and it's wonderful and amazing and unique. Then you come to a land where all of this is all together on steroids!
There are animals everywhere! It is so magical that photos don't do it justice.
We are even treated to a cheetah sighting where we park close to a cheetah just chilling in the grass. So amazing.
We end our day at Nyikani Camp Central, located in Central Serengeti. It's a fabulous tent camp open to all the animals that pass through here. In the dark, we have to be escorted to our tents as we never know who the next visitors might be.
The noises of various animals and creatures continue through the night here and tonight, including the roar of lions and howl of hyenas off and on all night. So crazy.
