Safari day 2

A bit of a marathon.

8.30am departure (that's a real long lie by safari standards) from the forest camp close to Lake Manyara.

Up the escarpment of the Rift Valley, and then on into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. But that was not our destination - just in transit.

So out the other side and into the Serengeti National Park. A lengthy wait at the park gate as our registration details were dealt with. 3 vehicles, 12 touroids and 3 driver/guides. Can't be that difficult, surely. Is it security they take seriously, or bureaucracy? To be honest, the first hour of waiting was a welcome respite from the journey. After that, I was hot and grumpy.

By the time we got to our lodge in the centre of the park we must have been on the road for over 8 hours. Less waiting time, of course.

95% of that was on unmade roads at good speed (say 45-50 mph, on the best bits) with a lot of bouncing around. Not sure how the vehicles survived.

The Serengeti is known for being vast. It is. It is also known for its herds of wildebeest, zebra & antelope. Rightly so. We were just too early for the big migrations. Ah well, timing...