Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch

March 11, 2008 – Fantastic First Day on Safari

Karen, Greg, Julia, Hannah, our driver and guide Jacob and I are now finished our first day on a six day safari. WOW!

I am currently watching a refreshing thunderstorm from my panoramic tree-top room. The lodge is really beautiful; filled with dark mahogany wood, all of the amenities and windows all around with an amazing view of the African plains; words cannot describe.

We started our morning entering Tarangire National Park. The anticipation of which animal we would spot first got us all “eagle eyed” out of our Land Cruiser windows.

A large elephant moves through the brush

We saw many animals, and with no exaggeration, over 200 elephants were seen throughout the day as they were migrating along the Tarangire River in this dry season. It was exciting to see the elephants pull out the grass and shake it out to remove all the dirt before eating it. We saw moms with their babies and males off in the distance.

Later on we stopped at a view point for a picnic lunch. The black faced monkeys were constantly in strategy to try and get our lunch. They succeeded with a lady down the way. Cute, sneaky and fast they are!

We then made our way through the park in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather; quite the change after trekking in the cold up Kilimanjaro!

We then made it to Tarangire Tree Tops, checked in and received our keys. The keys have whistles on them in case we get into any predicaments with some wildlife! We each have our own private tree room; six star plus camping I would call it! We all have to be escorted to dinner together tonight as a walk could include encounters with some of the local wildlife!

Stay tuned as I will report on what will possibly be news of a giraffe or elephant visiting one of our room windows!