We admit that our posts about our visit to the Serengeti so far have been a bit cat-centric, but there is a lot more to see in the Serengeti besides felines. We had some good luck with birds and elephants on our drives, but some of our best shots were produced while Mansour was dealing with a curse of his own—flat tires!
We had so many flat tires in the Serengeti that we lost count of them all. It seemed like every time we went out for a drive, somewhere along the way, we would have to stop to change a tire. We always carried two spares, which were quickly traded out. Eventually Mansour would have to run to the garage to get the punctures repaired before we could head out on safari again, starting the whole process over. On one particular day, we had a grand total of three flats. It was a little crazy!
The only bright side in all of this was that the garage happened to be located near the main Visitor Center, which is a pleasant place to hang out while your car is getting repaired. (It certainly beats the Jiffy Lube!) It features a well-designed nature trail over the kopjes with exhibits about the park and a little cafe serving simple snacks and cold drinks. There is also a shaded picnic area set in an inviting garden for eating and relaxing. The colorful flowers and food-bearing tourists attract an impressive array of song birds and a large population of tame rock hyrax. Rather than sitting in camp each time while Mansour dealt with the tires, we asked him to drop us off at the visitor center where we could take advantage of the opportunity to photograph and identify birds.
When all was said and done, we went to the visitor center three times. Here is what we call our “Flat Tire” Collection.
Click on photos to enlarge and view as a slideshow.
Once we were back in the car, we had a lot of other great sightings, too, particularly with large herds of elephants. They are such wonderful animals to observe. The gentleness and grace they display despite their tremendous size always puts us in a state of awe.
Part of what makes safari so much fun is that you never know what you are going to encounter. Whatever you find is bound to be spectacular. Here is a sampling of some of the other animals we observed over the course of our five days in the Serengeti.
What a magical place! We loved our time in the Serengeti and would go back in a heart beat. After five fantastic days, we bid a tearful goodbye to this wonderful park and hoped that our next stop in Tanzania’s famed N’gorongoro Crater would be just as rewarding.
Take A Hike Photography 
Matt and Alison fantastic photos again. Looking forward to your Ngorongoro Crater photos – it’s an interesting place.
Regards
Rob
The crater was probably tops on our list of places to see on this return trip to Tanzania. We would definitely book more time there if it weren’t so crazy expensive to visit! Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!
Hello, buddies! I am doing fantastic, guys. I am so happy for your blog. It is true that you have done a great job!
A lot of wishes in this X-mas season…
Hi Mandela! It is so nice to hear from you. We are glad that you are doing well. We wish we were spending the X-mas season back in Tanzania with you and the gang. We have so many wonderful memories of our time with you. Please take care and send our love to everyone. Happy holidays!
wow unbelievable fantastic photos!
Thank you!
Still looks as though you two are having amazing adventures. Your photographs are beautiful!
Thank you, Sharon. We try our best to take advantage of our summers and do something memorable with them. Do you have any fun future travels planned?
Excellent photos as always! Particularly the birds… so colorful!
Thanks so much. The birds in Africa are absolutely amazing. They practically steal the spotlight from their furry friends!
I agree–the bird shots are fascinating! Loved the wart hog and all the baby elephant pix, too. It must have been so hard to cull through all your images and pick favorites! Hope you get some of these printed and framed!
Last time we were in Africa, we managed to bring a laptop with us, and it was a lot of fun to go through the photos each day and discover the good shots, delete the bad and relive the game drives. This time, a laptop just didn’t make sense with all of the hiking and camping, so we had to wait until getting home to sort through the thousands of photos. It was quite a task! It makes us really pleased to know that you are enjoying them. Thank you!
Absolutely breathtaking. Love your pictures. You have an amazing talent with the camera. Thank you for this awesome post.
Wow, thanks so much for your kind words. You have a talent for making people feel good. We appreciate it!