Safari Day 5 - Tarangire National Park

(This entry also written by guest blogger, Dave Youmans, Scott's dad.)

We arrived at Sanctuary Swala (impala in Swahili) late last night just after dusk.  So we were surprised to wake up to the watering hole view from our tents; there were elephants within 100 yards. We watched the mother and baby elephant take a bath while we ate our breakfast on the outdoor deck.

Perhaps in error, we jokingly suggested to our guide, Philip, that this should be "bird day" because we had already seen so many other animals.  He proudly informed us that there were 550 species of birds in this park, and he was a specialist in birds.  During the day, we may have seen more bird types than we ever need to see again.  We saw a huge variety of birds - storks, cranes, ducks, hornbills, ostriches, plovers, weavers, starlings, grouse, bustards, pelicans, vultures, etc.  Some were very iridescent (google a Superb Starling).  some had bright colors and some had extravagant plumage.

One of our first stops was a group of about 8 bull elephants.  One in particular was huge, with very long tusks.  They stopped all activity and stared at us from about 10 yards away.  Our guide took this opportunity to tell us about the disastrous poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks.  Only later did we learn that, while we were happily shooting pictues, both our guide and driver were concerned  about a charge from this arrogant bull.

We stopped during mid-day for a sumptuous picnic lunch overlooking a huge marsh.  A number of animals and birds drifted into and out of our huge field of view.

Our guide and driver are both fantastic animal spotters.  They found two male lions laying in the bush.  The lions had just finished a big meal, bellies were bloated; we hung around to watch them yawn, stretch, get up, look around a little, and then just lay back down in the shade.  It seemed like the post Thanksgiving dinner snooze.

By the way, the next picture shows the inside of our "tent" - king bed, sitting area, large bath area, and indoor and outdoor showers.  Room service brought coffee and tea for the wake-up call.  This was the what Sharon had always envisioned for "camping", and it is a break for Scott and Shannon from hostel world.

We returned to Sanctuary Swala in the late afternoon for a sundowner cocktail by the pool, while watching impala, waterbucks and monkeys at the waterhole.