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We went on a 2.5-day safari with KLM Safaris from late August to early September in 2022. KLM Safaris, a small but highly successful, family-run tour operator, had very kindly invited Ellie on the 2.5-day trip. Like any good husband, I tagged along.
NIGHT IN ARUSHA
We spent the night before the start of the safari in Arusha. Arusha is the starting point for many Tanzanian safaris, as well as the base town for Kilimanjaro climbs.
PICK-UP FROM ARUSHA HOTEL
The first day started very early for us, with pick-up from our hotel in Arusha at 4am. We dropped off most of our luggage at the reception. Only one carry-on bag per person was permitted on the safari. We took about an hour, in our minivan, to reach the other side of town, where we were picking up a couple from Slovenia, both in their twenties: Tom and Lisa.
MAKING OUR WAY TO THE SAFARI STATION
We then made our way to the safari station, about another 2.5 hours’ drive. Upon arrival, we were greeted with friendliness and made very welcome. We were walked over to ‘our’ safari jeep and put our jackets onto the seats we had picked. The spacious vehicle had space for 8 people.
SEATING ORDER
In the driver’s seat was Jim, who was also our guide. Beside him was seated Johnny, our chef.
Two fellow Londoners, lovely ladies in their thirties, Kim and Jane, one of Togolese-Guadeloupean, the other of French-African descent, were seated in the second row of seats. They had already done one day at Tarangire National Park and had spent the night at the safari station. Ellie and I were seated in the middle row, behind Kim and Jane. Tom and Lisa had picked the row at the back of the jeep, behind us.
ALL SEATS ARE EQUAL, ALMOST
We never regretted the seat allocation. Each pair of seats has a trade-off. Traditionally, you might look at the passenger seats towards the front of the jeep, right behind the driver and co-driver, as being the most attractive ones. Most of the time, the vehicle will move forward, meaning you are where the action happens.
THERE WAS WILDLIFE IN ALL FOUR DIRECTIONS
However, surprisingly often, we spotted animals moving all around us, when the jeep was stationary or slow-moving. Because of this, we thought our middle-row seats, came in handy. While the view is slightly restricted into most directions (with other passengers’ heads ‘in the way’ and so on), you nonetheless get a view in all directions. If you are at the front, it’s hard to spot animals at the back, and vice versa. We felt that it was a good trade-off.
There is also gradually more legroom from back to front. I’m rather tall, but fit into the middle seat just fine. In essence, all six passenger seats in the jeep offer a very similar experience.
BREAKFAST AT THE SAFARI STATION
After saying Hi to Kim and Jane, all of us guests sat down at a big table on the patio of the safari station. There was a lot of food for everyone. Lots of fresh fruits, pastries, porridge and cereal.
A LONG DRIVE
If you do not make any unnecessary stops along the way, the trip from the safari station to our B&B of the first night would probably take just over 4h. However, the plan was to stop for some wildlife spotting along the way. This was, after all, the first day of our 2.5-day safari.
ENTERING NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA
One hour into our drive we entered Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We learned that, different from a National Park, there were people living inside the area: Masai farmers.
CRATER VS CALDERA
We soon spotted our first giraffes and zebras from just ten metres away. For ten minutes we stopped at the so-called crater rim, which is, in actual fact, a caldera rim. The giant circular plains, surrounded by an equally circular mountain ridge, are not the result of a meteorite strike. Instead, they consist of the top of a volcano, that had blown off almost in its entirety a three million years ago.
TINY GREY SPOTS
The views over the caldera, high up from the rim, are among the most beautiful ones Ellie and I have ever enjoyed anywhere. You can watch small grey spots move across the steppe. We learned that they are herds of elephants. The many other moving spots are hard to identify, unless you use binoculars.
QUICK STOP AT A MASAI VILLAGE
We bade farewell to Ngorongoro for now. It was going to be our chosen location for Day 2 of our safari. Today, the Serengeti was all that we had on our list. We briefly stopped at a Masai village, where locals performed traditional dances for us, showed us their homes, and explained how they were built using cow dung.
REACHING SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
After half an hour we were on our merry way again. We crossed over into Serengeti National Park, where an eagle was inspecting us from a near-by treetop.
WATCHING LIONS HUNTING
And then, just another twenty minutes later, the most amazing thing happened. We spotted two female lions stalking a gazelle. One of the lionesses was no more than 20 metres away and had her back turned towards us. She was slowly approaching the gazelle, ducked all the way into the tall grass towards the unsuspecting herbivore. The other lioness was going the opposite way, towards us.
After a few minutes, we suddenly saw the gazelle jump and shoot off through the gap towards the left at roughly the speed of sound. It clearly felt it was too early for dinner. The two lionesses did not even bother for a second to make a futile attempt at chasing after the much faster gazelle.
DROPPING OFF THE LUGGAGE
When we continued our journey, we spotted some cheetahs from about 120m away, plenty of more zebras, gazelles, impalas, and ostriches from 2 to 5m away. We arrived at our B&B at around 5pm. We dropped off our luggage, and were right back on our way for some more wildlife spotting.
SURPRISINGLY VARIED LANDSCAPE
One of the things that surprised me the most about this safari, is how outrageously varied the landscape is. At times it might not feel like it. You drive for half an hour through the steppe and there is absolutely nothing to distract the eye. No geological or natural features of any interest. Then, suddenly, you start spotting rock formations, palm trees, and thick vegetation. A few minutes later, you’re in a completely different environment.
HIPPOS AND CROCODILES
We passed by a small pond, no bigger than 25m x 100m, filled to the brim with hippos and crocodiles. Maybe three dozen hippos and half a dozen crocodiles.
BABY ELEPHANTS
We drove a few hundred metres further. That’s when we saw a group of elephants with two tiny little baby elephants making their way through the woods, maybe 300m away from us.
LIONS DEVOURING A BUFFALO, HYENAS STEALING INTESTINES
We saw a few more giraffes from no more than 20m away, when we realised that there was a huge congregation of safari jeeps half a mile further down the road. We joined our fellow explorers and that’s when we spotted them: two lions devouring a fully-grown cape buffalo. Dozens of hyenas were trying to steal bits of the kill. One giant hyena had managed to pull some of the intestines out of the bull, while the lions had been distracted. Now, a dozen other hyenas were trying to steal the bowels from it.
MORE BUFFALOS, ELEPHANTS, AND GIRAFFES
Time was short, so we decided to leave the group of trucks and look for some more wildlife. There were a few cape buffalos, surprisingly close to the lions that had just killed one of theirs. We spotted more elephants and giraffes from quite a distance.
LION PUPS
Our guide, Jim, received a message via the radio. More lions had been spotted nearby, including two lion pups. Five minutes later we arrived on location. There they were, maybe 30m away from the dirt track. At first we couldn’t see the pups, but then we saw them. Usually it was just one tiny head popping up from the grass for a second or two. At times the little ones were play-fighting, and we could see a paw here, a head there. The pups were obviously rolling across the ground, having a ball.
BLACK SHEEP
We had enjoyed the spectacle for no more than five minutes, when one of the other jeeps broke the rules. It was driving all the way to the lions and almost accidentally ran over the two pups. Not a proud moment to be a human.
SEEING A LION FROM 2M DISTANCE
One of the lions was so upset, it started walking towards the jeeps and then alongside us, while we were moving at the same speed. It was one of the lions that had been tagged by the park rangers to better track and protect them. The electronic tag was inside a leather collar around the cat’s neck.
CHECKING INTO OUR B&B
Shortly past 7pm we arrived back at the B&B. Our place for the night consisted of several brick bungalows and a few other buildings spread out over an area the size of a football field. The compound was not fenced. Each bungalow contained two completely separated ensuite rooms. We shared one bungalow with the Slovenian couple. The fellow Londoners had their room in a separate bungalow.
DINNERTIME
It was a short, half-minute walk from our bungalow to the pavilion where the table and chairs had been set up. John, our cook, had done an excellent job with the food. Three courses and several options to choose from for the main, despite the fact that we were just 6 guests, 8 people in total. Ellie & I loved the spaghetti Bolognese and the soup, in particular.
NICE, CLEAN ROOMS
It had been a long day, so everyone went to bed straight after dinner. We had a quick shower and crashed for the night. The bed was comfortable. It had a mosquito net around its four-poster frame. Everything was clean and tidy. As you would expect, the water at the shower did not have much pressure. We were in the middle of nowhere after all, in an area with little water. However, we were very pleased.
TO BE CONTINUED
What would Day 2 have in stall for us? It was hard to imagine that anything on Day 2 could possibly top today’s experience. All the animals we had seen, including the baby animals. Everything had gone so smoothly. Whatever tomorrow would bring, our safari with KLM Safaris had already delivered all and more than we had ever hoped for.
