Thrilling Tanzania
Tanzania continues to thrill me, no matter how many times I’ve been there! Because I had so much trouble with flights last year, we flew in a day early before our Takims Holidays familiarization trip started. That allowed us to get fabulous massages at the Gran Melia in Arusha, shop at the Cultural Center and generally have a relaxing day. Dinner on the rooftop was delicious!
Tarangire National Park is one of my favorite parks – known for elephants, birds and baobab trees. In our quick two game drives, we saw 14 lions including 2 males, 2 cubs and 1 female in a tree, numerous elephant sightings, baboons, and many birds. We stayed at Lemala Mpingo Ridge with its stunning views and beautiful tents – I always enjoy the outdoor showers there.
Our next night was at the lovely Gibbs Farm where we were able to do a birding walk through the impressive organic gardens before my outdoor shower, cocktails and dinner. The spacious bungalows have fireplaces which I had the staff light and enjoyed an Amarula in front of the fire before bed. Electric blankets kept me toasty warm all night!
Onwards to the Ngorongoro Crater where we witnessed huge flocks of flamingos, hippos, 8 lions including 3 males and 2 male cubs about 4 years old. Our Crater night was spent at the newly opened Melia Ngorongoro Lodge with its stunning views. Rooms are on the small side with each room having a Crater view, weather permitting. Meals are served family style and they have a vegetarian option for every non-veg dish. The next morning we did a site inspection and saw much larger suites and family units.
Our Central Serengeti morning game drive was awesome as we saw a rhino and serval at the same stop, 2 lions and a cheetah with 4 cubs at a distance. Our after-lunch game drive thrilled us with a handsome leopard in a tree and 6 more lions, 2 of them male, en route to Nimali Africa’s newest camp, Nimali Serengeti at Makoma Hill. The common areas and tents are quite spacious and beautiful, both overlooking the Serengeti plains. Bathrooms are large with double vanities, a lounging sofa, soaking tub and outdoor shower. I regret to say I was violently ill with food poisoning (from our lunch site inspection camp) and did not get to enjoy dinner or breakfast. My travel companions raved about the food – I’ll just have to go back soon!
Although migration season was over, we went to Kogatende to stay at Nimali Mara. Game viewing is still great even without the river crossings and it’s much quieter. Nimali Mara is a stunningly beautiful tented camp with the coolest bar ever! Built into the side of a kopje, the bar overlooks 2 lounge areas overlooking the Serengeti plains. The team is fun and wowed us with their energetic singing and dancing. Happy to report I was able to eat and enjoyed 2, non-pasta dishes for dinner. First night was a chickpea dish followed by a tasty cauliflower steak the next night along with yummy desserts. My biggest complaint traveling as a vegetarian is all the pasta dishes – too many carbs and not enough protein.
Takims Holidays surprised us with a balloon safari! It’s surreal to float quietly above the Mara River and wildlife. It’s a serene, quiet floating experience that reminded me of skydiving when your parachute is open. However, when our Miracle Experience balloon pilot turned on the burner, the zebra, eland, topi and other antelope were startled and ran away. We even saw a leopard sunning on a rock as we floated over. Champagne afterwards was a treat, then on to the bush breakfast. Our afternoon game drive in Kogatende saw elephants, antelope and more lions – 2 males, 1 female and 2 rambunctious cubs about 2 months old. We enjoyed our private sighting for over an hour with no other vehicles anywhere near us – what a treat! To top off our incredible day, Nimali Mara treated us to a fabulous sundowner on a kopje near their camp.
To recap, on 8 game drives (including site inspections and lunches) we saw 34 lions, 1 serval, 1 leopard twice, 1 cheetah and her 4 cubs, 1 rhino, many elephants, zebra, wildebeest, eland, topi, Coke’s hartebeest, impala, klipspringers, dik diks, mongooses, baboons and birds….quite the wildlife experience.
Takims Holidays is a 3rd generation family owned and managed DMC that has been in business for 73 years. Their new vehicles are fully customized with extra large windows for better viewing. Our eagle-eyed guide, Freddy, amazed us with his sightings – how can he spot a dwarf mongoose on a rock 50 feet or more away? Amazing! It was quite rainy during this trip due to El Nińo, everyone said, but our vehicle was spotless for every game drive. Attention to detail and little touches make all the difference while traveling.
Balloon safaris are amazing experiences that I highly recommend – you can do them in Kogatende, Central Serengeti and Tarangire while in the northern circuit.
kiki paris / November, 2023 Proud to represent Takims Holidays and Nimali Africa.