Really funny Sealord, 2 days ago we had a really bad internet connection so I did not mention our visit to a Maasai village and the stay by the Ngorongo crater where we drove down to the caldera where we saw a lot of animals and had a catered lunch in the middle of the day. The flamingos were awesome, sacred ibis, Grey crown crane, velvet monkey, kori bustard, a beautiful pelican and many more, today was the serengeti and we were lucky to see leopards, lions, cheetahs and hyenas, we have one more day in the serengeti.
Today was our last day in the serengeti and it was amazing, cheetahs, leopards, lions, hyenas, hippos, many birds, elephants etc. Tomorrow we depart for Kenya.
Smiling Sam - No rhinos so far they say tomorrow in Sweetwater.
Arrived in Kenya yesterday the 28th and were picked up by Martin, actually it was a pretty long day. Went for safari drive on our way to the hotel and saw jackals,marabou stork, wildebeest, a few gerenuk antelopes, jacana bird, elephants registered in hotel and had a talk about elephants before drinks and dinner.
Today we went for an early drive saw Kilimanjaro pretty clearly, zebras,, more lions and elephants, will go for another drive at 4 PM.
Why, yes it is. At the time, however, I had other things on my mind than taking a photo of it! While it was a much appreciated view, as far as scenery and animals, the view from the other side of the hill was much better:
Alan and Smiling Sam, you're a riot, great pictures thanks.
No rhino encounters like Sam's as of yet, We arrived in Sweetwater Serena yesterday, nice tents, waterhole in front of my tent with mane cape buffaloes, warwebucks and 3 whit rhinos that were very amusing it was like the duel in the wilderness as one was trying to intimidate and charge the other, we saw a black rhinos in our first and second drives together with cheetahs.
Today we went lion tracking but couldn't find any lions instead we saw more cheetahs and then we went to the Spinners and Weavers, very interesting, we'll have another drive at 4.
British- - I love the rhinos especially the little ones.
Rhinos sure got a bad rap from the old Tarzan, etc. movies. They are nothing the like fierce animals portrayed in those old movies that always seemed to be charging a fair damsel, only to be shot dead by a heroic bwana at the very last second! While still dangerous, in reality they can be fairly docile (though large) animals, especially if socialized. However, hippos are something else! Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, lore has it that hippos kill more people each year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos combined.
And a bit of clarification- Sweetwaters is the chimpanzee sanctuary established by Jane Goodall in cooperation with the Kenyan Wildlife Service in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy.
Alan - As far as the chimpanzee sanctuary I had always known it as the Jane Goodall sanctuary was very surprised that she was never mentioned and her name was nowhere to be found.
The last days were a bit hasty, the afternoon of 10/1 we went on another drive in the afternoon, we were looking in spotting the straight striped zebra, jackals and visited the Equator.
On October 2nd as we were leaving Sweetwaters Serena we had a great sight of Mt. Kenya, flew to Ngerende and drove to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club my least favorite of the hotels mainly because internet was very spotty and only in the main building which made it difficult to post, after a day of drives it was hard sitting in the lobby after dinner but we had great signts there, a cheetah had killed a gazelle and her 3 little cubs were feeding on it and also her, it was a good representation of "the circle of life" , we saw a lot of elands, beautiful lions and 6 lion cubs with their moms.
October 3rd I was finally able to enjoy a hot air balloon ride (which had been canceled in India) it was exciting and the sunrise incredible, we spotted zebras and a couple of lions from the balloon, had a great champagne breakfast afterward and a nice safari ride back to the hotel, spotted another cheetah, a family of jackals a baby warthog and a couple of topis. That afternoon it rained pretty hard so we decided not to go out, had a cocktail hour and dinner in the patio which was very nice.
October 4th we flew to Nairobi and made our way home, all the flights were on time, arrived home 10/5 late afternoon.
This was the most exciting of my 21 Tauck trips.
Gladys, sounds like you had a great end to a great tour! Were you able to see the glacier on Mount Kenya? I understand it has gotten smaller and may soon disappear if it is not gone already.
FYI- it took two tries and the upload was extremely slow. I'll notify Tauck.
Alan it was an awesome trip, I did not see the glacier on Mt. Kenya can't tell if it's because the picture is too far or it's not there or smaller, when I upload the pictures from the camera I'll look again because I believe I took some good ones at Sweetwater.
The walking tour to the Tulusia Falls was great and at least we got some exercise, sorry you missed it. Did you see the black and white colubus monkeys? We stayed at the Gran Melia in Arusha which was a new and very nice hotel.
Alan, and British, and I differ on a number of recommendations. Arriving one or two days early is a great idea … we always arrive a day early. You are going to do eleven consecutive days of pure safari. In my opinion the Arusha National Park is ;event jamming;. We really liked the itinerary when we had three days at the Mount Kenya Safari Club, cuz we could take one ‘day off’ and just relax. As it is in June we will probably skip the chimps and go horseback riding at Mt. Kenya. There are ‘few’ things that you might see in the Arusha National Park, that you will not see in the next eleven days. If you have not been to Africa you might not appreciate how far away it is. We plan on resting up for the next really exciting days … again.
My recommendation is "it depends." Most flights arrive at Kilimanjaro late afternoon/evening, so you shouldn't really consider that one of the "days early." Also, a lot depends on how well your body clock adjusts after a long flight. By my convention we arrived a day early.
If you are new to Africa, in addition to seeing many of the animals (lots of giraffe, water buck, bush buck, impala, Thompson's gazelles, various monkeys, zebra, flamingos, etc. (no elephants or predators however) probably up closer than on tour, you also get to see what a game drive is like- experience a safari vehicle and figure out your own personal routine- how much personal stuff to take, how to handle your camera (whether you'll want extra cushioning (you know where) on game drives, etc., so you are ready to rock and roll from the get go. I think it is a really good primer. Plus, depending on how many people join you, you are in absolute control of how long to spend viewing or photographing a certain animal. On second or third trip to Africa, I probably wouldn't bother unless you have nothing else to do, then why not? We haven't done the waterfall trek so if we do K&T+R we might go back.
Unless there is something you really want to see or purchase, I would not venture into the town of Arusha, certainly not without a guide at your side, and especially in view of COVID, The markets are for locals, there is almost nothing for tourists. It is a place to buy 5 gallon cans of cooking oil, a branch of bananas, household goods, firewood, clothing, etc. they are dirty and very crowed on market days. If you stay at the Serena Lake Duluti you may see Colobus monkeys there, you may see them in Arusha National Park, but you will also see them at the little conservancy zoo just outside the entrance to the Mount Kenya Safari Club.
Comments
Really funny Sealord, 2 days ago we had a really bad internet connection so I did not mention our visit to a Maasai village and the stay by the Ngorongo crater where we drove down to the caldera where we saw a lot of animals and had a catered lunch in the middle of the day. The flamingos were awesome, sacred ibis, Grey crown crane, velvet monkey, kori bustard, a beautiful pelican and many more, today was the serengeti and we were lucky to see leopards, lions, cheetahs and hyenas, we have one more day in the serengeti.
British I haven't had time for the pool, will let you know.
The Four Seasons is a fabulous place !
Today was our last day in the serengeti and it was amazing, cheetahs, leopards, lions, hyenas, hippos, many birds, elephants etc. Tomorrow we depart for Kenya.
Get ready for the rhinos. Likely you didn't see them in Tanzania, but you'll see them in Kenya!
Smiling Sam - No rhinos so far they say tomorrow in Sweetwater.
Arrived in Kenya yesterday the 28th and were picked up by Martin, actually it was a pretty long day. Went for safari drive on our way to the hotel and saw jackals,marabou stork, wildebeest, a few gerenuk antelopes, jacana bird, elephants registered in hotel and had a talk about elephants before drinks and dinner.
Today we went for an early drive saw Kilimanjaro pretty clearly, zebras,, more lions and elephants, will go for another drive at 4 PM.
Hope you get a similar experience to the one below.
Did you go up 'Observation Hill' and see the legendary restroom?
To clarify AlanS's comment. This is the view he was referring to.
Why, yes it is.
At the time, however, I had other things on my mind than taking a photo of it! 
While it was a much appreciated view, as far as scenery and animals, the view from the other side of the hill was much better:
Well if you wanted the other side you should have said so.
No, you meant this Amboseli !
Hope you enjoyed the rhinos Gladys!
Alan and Smiling Sam, you're a riot, great pictures thanks.
No rhino encounters like Sam's as of yet, We arrived in Sweetwater Serena yesterday, nice tents, waterhole in front of my tent with mane cape buffaloes, warwebucks and 3 whit rhinos that were very amusing it was like the duel in the wilderness as one was trying to intimidate and charge the other, we saw a black rhinos in our first and second drives together with cheetahs.
Today we went lion tracking but couldn't find any lions instead we saw more cheetahs and then we went to the Spinners and Weavers, very interesting, we'll have another drive at 4.
British- - I love the rhinos especially the little ones.
Rhinos sure got a bad rap from the old Tarzan, etc. movies. They are nothing the like fierce animals portrayed in those old movies that always seemed to be charging a fair damsel, only to be shot dead by a heroic bwana at the very last second! While still dangerous, in reality they can be fairly docile (though large) animals, especially if socialized. However, hippos are something else!
Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, lore has it that hippos kill more people each year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos combined.
And a bit of clarification- Sweetwaters is the chimpanzee sanctuary established by Jane Goodall in cooperation with the Kenyan Wildlife Service in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy.
We saw something similar that I dubbed 'rhino battles' in the distance during our trip.
Alan - As far as the chimpanzee sanctuary I had always known it as the Jane Goodall sanctuary was very surprised that she was never mentioned and her name was nowhere to be found.
The last days were a bit hasty, the afternoon of 10/1 we went on another drive in the afternoon, we were looking in spotting the straight striped zebra, jackals and visited the Equator.
On October 2nd as we were leaving Sweetwaters Serena we had a great sight of Mt. Kenya, flew to Ngerende and drove to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club my least favorite of the hotels mainly because internet was very spotty and only in the main building which made it difficult to post, after a day of drives it was hard sitting in the lobby after dinner but we had great signts there, a cheetah had killed a gazelle and her 3 little cubs were feeding on it and also her, it was a good representation of "the circle of life" , we saw a lot of elands, beautiful lions and 6 lion cubs with their moms.
October 3rd I was finally able to enjoy a hot air balloon ride (which had been canceled in India) it was exciting and the sunrise incredible, we spotted zebras and a couple of lions from the balloon, had a great champagne breakfast afterward and a nice safari ride back to the hotel, spotted another cheetah, a family of jackals a baby warthog and a couple of topis. That afternoon it rained pretty hard so we decided not to go out, had a cocktail hour and dinner in the patio which was very nice.
October 4th we flew to Nairobi and made our way home, all the flights were on time, arrived home 10/5 late afternoon.
This was the most exciting of my 21 Tauck trips.
I have tried to upload pictures before to no avail (I'm not techie inclined) but will try again once they are uploaded.
Gladys, sounds like you had a great end to a great tour! Were you able to see the glacier on Mount Kenya? I understand it has gotten smaller and may soon disappear if it is not gone already.
FYI- it took two tries and the upload was extremely slow. I'll notify Tauck.
Alan it was an awesome trip, I did not see the glacier on Mt. Kenya can't tell if it's because the picture is too far or it's not there or smaller, when I upload the pictures from the camera I'll look again because I believe I took some good ones at Sweetwater.
Well, it was pretty far off! Here is my first shot. The glacier is just a tiny white dot.
I didn't even see a tiny dot, I've been babysitting my great granddaughter this week and haven't done a thing with the pictures
Here is what is happening to the glaciers in Africa: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/world/africa/mountain-glaciers-disappear.html?algo=combo_lda_channelsize5_unique_edimp_fye_step50_diversified&block=1&campaign_id=142&emc=edit_fory_20211019&fellback=false&imp_id=217943657&instance_id=43252&nl=for-you&nlid=26359413&rank=2®i_id=26359413&req_id=100853123&segment_id=72085&surface=for-you-email-wym&user_id=c38972cdc6b6a74486bdc40632d1c981&variant=0_combo_lda_channelsize5_unique_edimp_fye_step50_diversified
Thanks sevenseas
The walking tour to the Tulusia Falls was great and at least we got some exercise, sorry you missed it. Did you see the black and white colubus monkeys? We stayed at the Gran Melia in Arusha which was a new and very nice hotel.
How many days ahead, should you arrive in Arusha? Is there much to do? Is the Park enough and worth another day?
Two days ahead is good, one to recover from jetlag and one to go to Arusha National Park.
Alan, and British, and I differ on a number of recommendations. Arriving one or two days early is a great idea … we always arrive a day early. You are going to do eleven consecutive days of pure safari. In my opinion the Arusha National Park is ;event jamming;. We really liked the itinerary when we had three days at the Mount Kenya Safari Club, cuz we could take one ‘day off’ and just relax. As it is in June we will probably skip the chimps and go horseback riding at Mt. Kenya. There are ‘few’ things that you might see in the Arusha National Park, that you will not see in the next eleven days. If you have not been to Africa you might not appreciate how far away it is. We plan on resting up for the next really exciting days … again.
My recommendation is "it depends." Most flights arrive at Kilimanjaro late afternoon/evening, so you shouldn't really consider that one of the "days early." Also, a lot depends on how well your body clock adjusts after a long flight. By my convention we arrived a day early.
If you are new to Africa, in addition to seeing many of the animals (lots of giraffe, water buck, bush buck, impala, Thompson's gazelles, various monkeys, zebra, flamingos, etc. (no elephants or predators however) probably up closer than on tour, you also get to see what a game drive is like- experience a safari vehicle and figure out your own personal routine- how much personal stuff to take, how to handle your camera (whether you'll want extra cushioning (you know where) on game drives, etc., so you are ready to rock and roll from the get go. I think it is a really good primer. Plus, depending on how many people join you, you are in absolute control of how long to spend viewing or photographing a certain animal. On second or third trip to Africa, I probably wouldn't bother unless you have nothing else to do, then why not? We haven't done the waterfall trek so if we do K&T+R we might go back.
Unless there is something you really want to see or purchase, I would not venture into the town of Arusha, certainly not without a guide at your side, and especially in view of COVID, The markets are for locals, there is almost nothing for tourists. It is a place to buy 5 gallon cans of cooking oil, a branch of bananas, household goods, firewood, clothing, etc. they are dirty and very crowed on market days. If you stay at the Serena Lake Duluti you may see Colobus monkeys there, you may see them in Arusha National Park, but you will also see them at the little conservancy zoo just outside the entrance to the Mount Kenya Safari Club.
Great post Alan, I would totally agree with all you say.