We woke up this morning to the sight of elephants outside of camp and hot air balloons drifting above the tree tops. We had our morning coffee and breakfast in the dining tent. I am happy with this idea of camping. We had a king sized bed, indoor commode that flushed and a bucket shower. Our wake up call was the arrival of the hot water for the “bucket”.

Our morning drive to the river confirmed how dangerous it is for the wildebeests to cross. We saw dozens of crocodiles lazing on the shores of the river. We also witnessed vultures and Maribu stocks clean the bones of a wildebeest that didn’t make it.

The word safari is Arabic for “going on a journey”. We have covered a lot of ground in our Jeep. We have also spent hours driving on bumpy trails. Typically we have hit the road at 8am and returned to our lodging between 5 and 6 pm with a lunch stop at a designated tourist stop. The Tanzanians do great bathrooms in the wilderness. Even my sister Brenda could be comfy😂.

While waiting to see if the wildebeests were going to cross the river we had the opportunity to watch a herd of elephants swim across. The elephants were dominant. The crocodiles and hippos moved off and gave them lots of space. The little ones frolicked surrounded by the big ones.

After 4 hours of driving around we went for a bathroom break at the airport, the only place around. While we were gone we missed the crossing. So we will have to see it next time. We were privileged to see two zebra make that crossing. We spent the afternoon encountering another elephant, another hippo…. we are content with all the animals we encountered on this trip. It has truly been a privilege. Tomorrow we transition from Tanzania 🇹🇿 to South Africa 🇿🇦 . We leave the northern Serengeti by a small plane and will travel all day to Cape Town.