Happy Birthday Jane

When we looked at the excursion options on our holiday the one we immediately discounted was flying to mainland Tanzania for a day safari. It was expensive, indulgent and not good for the planet. But then Jane decided we would never have an opportunity and wanted a birthday to remember, so we did.

Being based at the north of Unjuga island (aka Zanzibar) we had to be up at 4am to be picked up at 5 to get to the airport. Any doubts as to whether we were of sound mind were dispelled when we landed at the outskirts of Nyere National Park. From then on it was an absolutely fantastic day. We didn’t see lions from the so called Big 5, but we really didn’t care.

Shout out to Betty and Sam from Germany who we shared a jeep with, they were excellent company and their English put my school German to shame. Here are pictures of some of what we all saw. I will do a separate blog about birds at some point for those interested in such things.

Happy Hippos at a watering hole

Impalas, male in the foreground in second shot

Giraffes (and Oxpecker top)

Hyena

Buffalo with Oxpeckers

Warthogs

Questionable taste baboon family shot

Tasteful baboon family shot

Wildebeest (and impala)

Kudu

I’m not going to lie though, it was all about the elephants for me. Before we set off they were what I really wanted to see. Our driver did a brilliant job of finding them and then enabling us to observe them without interrupting their feeding. Here are a few (probably too many) pictures.