Serengeti Serendipity

More than midway through my safari in Tanzania, I’ve taken thousands of photographs which will probably take me years to catalog. So I’d better pause here and just put up some of my favorites, as well as various random thoughts. First of all, let me recommend Tanzania to anyone contemplating a safari. Count me as one of the people who thought the Serengeti was in Kenya. Okay, a tiny little sliver of it is, but most of it is in Tanzania and certainly the part that is set aside as a reserve is all in Tanzania. Our guide Allan says, “The Kenyans are very good at promoting themselves. Half the things they boast about in their tourist literature are actually in Tanzania. They’ll even try to claim Mount Kilimanjaro.” Add to the Serengeti, huge tracts of Maasai reserve, Ngorongoro Crater — site of the largest concentration of large carnivores in the world — and Tarangire National Park with the largest concentration of elephants per square mile, and Tanzania is your place for a safari. Not to mention a stable government and one of East Africa’s lowest crime rates.

So, in no particular order, here are some of my favorite photographs so far:

Ngorongoro Crater, Earth’s largest unbroken caldera.

Curious giraffe.

Maasai warriors dancing.

Cooperative zebras.

Winking hippo.

Leopard descending from a tree.

Hartebeest? Kopi? One of those large antelopey things.

Lounging lion in a tree.

Collared lioness — tagged for research.

Big Daddy Lion smiles while headed toward a recent kill and his harem.

Yes, it’s good to be King.

Lion princesses.

Warthog patrol!

Mama and Baby elephant.

Mama elephants bathing their babies.

Wise old elephant.

Under African skies.

At some point, I’ll get all my photos sorted, cataloged and posted. Until then, hope this gives a sense of what I’m seeing.