Berg Adventures International Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route: Doc Martin Trip

July 4, 2007 – Our Final Two Days of Safari Were Idyllic

Frank being welcomed at the Tarangirei Tree Top by a group of Masai

It seemed that we were just getting into the routine of traveling through the vast Serengeti ecosystem, surrounded by thousands and thousands of animals. It was peaceful, always interesting and we did not want it to end. Becky said to me at one point, “I am having the time of my life.”

From Ngorongoro we drove down past the western escarpment of the Gregory Rift Valley and entered Lake Manyara National Park. Doc saw his very favorite type of monkey there and we enjoyed stopping along the shores of Lake Manyara and watching the variety of wildlife next to the water. There is more water in Lake Manyara this year than I have seen in many years.

We saw the largest antelope, the Eland and the smallest antelope, the Dik Dik on safari this time We have seen both the largest type of antelope on earth on this trip, the Eland, which can weigh over 800 kilos and the smallest, the dik dik, which is only about 5 kilos. The Martin girls always laughed when they saw a small dik dik in the bush.

Our final night on safari was spent at Tarangire Tree Tops Lodge. We were met when we arrived by a tall group of Masai men and later we were escorted to our very luxurious tents set along a path in the wilds.

The final day of a safari drive often finds people distracted, anxious to get back to civilization, but that was not the case at all with the Martin family group. Our last game drive through Tarangire was probably our best. It was cloudy and the air was cool as we drove for hours through the lonely expanses of Tarangire. We did not see another vehicle, except for park wardens all day. No one was in a hurry for it to end.

Tarangire is the land of Baobab trees, those spooky looking ancient trees that represent the wild African landscape perhaps better than any thing else. We never got tired at looking at their unique and surprising shapes. We also were relaxed and fascinated by watching elephant families go about their business all around us. In the final hour of our Tarangire drive we found yet another leopard; she was sitting in a low branch of a tree, watching the grass around her. We sat for a long time with our binoculars focused on her. I think her peaceful, wild unchanging world will stay in out hearts long after we have all left Africa.

We loved seeing all the Baobab trees in Tarangire on our last day of Safari

Dennis had a special camo bean bag stabilizer that he used with his cameras
in the Land Cruiser while on safari

Warthog

In the final hour of our safari on the last day in Tarangire,
we found another leopard in a tree