On December 26th, we began our Northern Circuit Safari with Leopard Tours. This company was incredible. We were very impressed. After our night at the hotel, our company showed up at 9am and picked us up. After a quick stop at their office to explain the itinerary, we were off. The plan was to go to Lake Manyara, then to the Serengeti for 2 days, then finish at the Ngorogoro Crater.
On the way to Lake Manyara we got to see our first animal view, Giraffes. We were so excited even though they were 500 yards away. We made it to our hotel by noon and had a good lunch with no soup. Our driver then picked us up for a 4 hour game drive through Lake Manayara.
On the drive we saw elephants, hippos, more giraffe, water buffalo, monkeys, baboons, lions, impala, zebra, mongoose, birds, and eagles. We were extremely excited and happy with what we saw. They were amazing and very close.
We went back to the hotel for another good meal. The following morning we awoke and headed for breakfast. Right before going to breakfast, I thought I would get a picture of the sunrise and proceeded onto the deck to do so. I took the picture, closed the door and thought I had locked it prior to going to breakfast. After breakfast we came back to the room and when we opened the door, we saw it. Jennifer had brought a lot of candy to give to the kids. Well, little did we know that baboons like candy also. As a matter of fact, while we were at breakfast, they climbed off the roof and onto the 2nd story patio, opened the unlocked door, and completely ransacked the room. They trashed it, breaking glasses, smearing undisclosed things on the mirror and windows, and ripping open bags. We were shocked and a little humored. I walked in, closed the door and they returned minutes later. I snapped a couple of pictures and laughed.
We left and headed for the Serengeti. This was one of the most impressive drives. We got out into the plains and there were millions of animals. The wildebeast went on forever, as far as the eye could see. We saw lots of zebra, giraffe, lions (Up close looks too) and cubs, Cheetah, and hippopotamus. We drove the rough road and took in the sites. The drive was long to the Lobo Lodge which was located on the North end of the Serengeti. The hotel was beautiful and perfect. After a quick shower, we went to dinner. The dinner was good and we were looking forward to the next day.
The following day we went for a drive in the Serengeti. We began to head up the main road, then our driver went off road and started looking for animals. We drove through big lush field and eventually spotted a lion. They were on the other side of a small stream. We got a little closer and saw that there were 4 lions and 12 cubs. We watched for about a half hour as they began to move. Our driver stated it was the first time he had ever seen this many cubs.
We had also seen another lioness and cub, elephants, ostrich, water buffalo, giraffes, and impala. It was another incredible animal viewing day.
The following day we began the journey back to the Ngornogoro Crater. The drive back through the Serengeti was again perfect. We got to see lions up close, the best viewing yet. After making it through the plains, we made it to the Ngornogoro Crater wildlife lodge. The view from our room was incredible. It was a perfect view of the crater. The following day we went into the crater for our last game drive.
Again we saw a lot of the same animals. This trip we were not allowed to leave the road. The viewing of the animals were from long distance. The highlight of the day was viewing the black rhino. There are less than 35 left in Tanzania. Spotting one is rare but spectacular when you do spot one. We watched him for about an hour and then called it a day. We went back to the lodge for our last night in Tanzania. We had an enjoyable dinner and were excited to be heading home.
The last day in Tanzania was uneventful. We drove from the Ngornogoro Crater Lodge to Arusha. We were dropped off at the Impala Hotel and waited for the ride to the airport. We finally got on the plane around 10pm and head home. We landed in Amsterdam the next morning at 8am. The first thing we did when we got off the airplane was head to McDonalds for a Big Mac, proof that we had re-entered civilization.
It was the best kind of adventure, one we will not soon forget. Our experience with some wonderful people in such untamed country left us awe-inspired and internally richer.


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Pictures (top to bottom):
-Our ride - Land Rover efender 2 with pop up top, nice for Jennifer and I
-The hotel at Lake Manyara
-The rooms at Lake Manyara - two beds instead of one?
-Jennifers first view of an wild elephant at Lake Manyara
-Girafee eating at Lake Manyara
-Wild Elephants more intrested in us than him - Lake Manyara
-Wild stork in flight - Lake Manyara
-Storks in Love - Lake Manyara
-The room at Lake Manyara trashed after being broken into - Lake Manyara
-The little devils that broke into our room on a return visit - Lake Manyara
-The baboons knowing they were caught - Lake Manyara
-A Masai village on the way to the Serengeti
-Jennifer checking out the wildlife rich plains of the Serengeti
-Traffic jam in the Serengeti
-Lazy days in the Serengeti
-Out for a drink in the Serengeti
-An example how close you get to animals
-Lion and his woman - Serengeti
-Baboon and child - Serengeti
-Blue Monkey - Lake Manyara
-Impala - Serengeti
-Lobo Lodge - Serengti
-Lobo Dinning Room - Check out the rocks that the hotel was built around, pretty impressive
-Wild elephant - Serengeti
-Zebra - Drive back through the Serengti
-Monkey checking us out - lake Manyara
-Our view from the Ngornogoro Wildlife Lodge - the crater
-Moms and their cubs - Serengeti
-Baboon hanging out - Serengeti
-Hyena playing in the water hole - Serengeti
-Lion after a yawn - Serengeti
-Lion after another yawn
-Water Buffalo eating some dinner - Ngoronogoro Crater
-Zebra talking - Ngoronogoro Crater
-Yellow bird hanging out at lunch - Ngoronogoro Crater
-Rhino - great view and intresting animal - Ngoronogoro Crater
-Zebra yawning - Ngoronogoro Crater