(Photo © John Geary)

Tanzania boasts some of the world's best-known African wildlife parks. Who has not envisioned images of Mount Kilimanjaro or the Serengeti when the topic of Africa comes up in conversation? Tanzania is home to the African scenery most people visualize when they start having "safari dreams."

We did not see Kilimanjaro; however, we did spend three days in Serengeti National Park. We had barely entered the park when a cornucopia of exotic wildlife began to parade before us. In the first hour, we saw elephants, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes and a variety of antelopes. After supper, we picked up a guide and really hit the jackpot. He took us to within five metres of a young lion that lounged under a tree. (You can view a picture of that lion on the first page of this section.) As our drive continued, we encountered hippos and Cape buffaloes, one of the two most dangerous of all the African wildlife. (Can you guess what the other one is? The answer is at the bottom of the page.)

The highlight of the night came when we encountered a leopard. The big cat was snoozing in a tree limb. They are very shy, mainly nocturnal and very difficult to spot. Many travellers spend weeks in Tanzania, and never see one. We were fortunate enough to spot one our first night!

Ah, the African night. The darker it grew, the better we could hear the lions roaring in the bush surrounding our campsite. I lay in my tent and listened to them all night. This was what I came to Africa to experience!

Our good fortune continued the next morning. We were able to maneuver very close to a cheetah. We sat watching and taking pictures for half an hour before he left us and trotted toward some potential meals. Just as the zebras and wildebeests grew nervous enough to start trotting away, the cat sat down under a tree and began cleaning himself.

The next morning was our final one in the Serengeti and some of us put an exclamation mark to our time there by flying across the pre-dawn plains in a hot air balloon. After the flight, we set down in the middle of nowhere to eat a full-course champagne breakfast, complete with fine white linen, sparkling crystal and real silverware. No breakfast could ever compare to that one; after all, how often do you get to eat a five-star meal while a giraffe saunters past, a mere 300 metres away?

Later that day, we drove to the Ngorongoro Crater, a huge extinct volcano that collapsed in on itself thousands of years ago. It is now home to lions, elephants, Cape buffaloes and the one animal of the "Big Five" we had not seen yet: the black rhinoceros.

Driving down into the crater through the next morning's clouds - yes, clouds! - it felt like we were entering some mysterious land that you might find only in Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. While we did not have to deal with a Tyrannosaurus rex or velociraptor charging us - although we would not have been completely surprised if we had - we did have our share of close encounters of the wild kind.

First, a primordial-looking rhinoceros bluff charged our Landrover. Then, during lunch, some of our group ended up with beak and talon marks, courtesy of some bold African kites that kept dive-bombing us in an attempt to steal sandwiches right out of our hands. Then, we had to finish our lunch in the relative safety of our vehicles when an elephant came sauntering through the picnic area. (One girl did not make it back to the vehicles ... but just in case her fear got the better of her, she was in the right place to deal with any "accident": she was hiding in an outhouse.)

Our day in the crater whizzed by all too soon, and before we could say "Kwaheri!" (Swahili for "good-bye"), we found ourselves driving south to new countries and new adventures.

Conservation Corner 

Want to save any of the endangered species found on the east African plains? Visit these sites:

	African Lion Working Group
	The Cheetah Conservation Fund
	Leopard Ecology and Conservation
	International Elephant Foundation
	Save the Elephants
	International Rhino Foundation

Travel Tips

Planning a trip to Africa? Visit some of these sites for a start (not an endorsement, simply a resource): 

	Guerba
	Serengeti Balloon Safari
	Tanzania Trips at GoNomad

Finally ... the most dangerous animal in Africa, in terms of number of people killed is ... the hippo. More people die from encounters with these animals than any other in Africa.

Continue on safari with us ...

	Gorilla Trek: Into the Rainforests of the Congo
	Lions & Leopards and Cheetahs, Oh My!
	Challenging Nyamanyami: Up and Down the Zambezi by Raft and Houseboat

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