My dream for almost my whole life has been to go to Africa and see elephants and lions in the wild. That dream came true in the summer of 2011 when my husband and I took a photo safari to Tanzania.

Tanzania is surprisingly much like Washington State because of its varied climates.  Tanzania has mountains, inactive volcanos and craters, coastal, grassy plains and forested areas.  We didn't visit the coast but saw other regions during July.  It is estimated that our safari drove about 1200 miles in the 6 days we were on the road.  I found the country beautiful and the people wonderful.

Baboon families with clinging babies were in the trees near Lake Manyara and our first hippos were seen in this park when our driver stopped for us to get out.  We looked out in the distance to the water and saw the hippos soaking to protect their tender skin from the hot sun.  Suddenly to the left something huge just appeared, walking around under the trees.  We all grabbed our guide, yelling "What is THAT???" and he calmly looked over and said it was a Marabou Stork.  Really?  they are 5-6 feet tall, have a huge pink gullett hanging down, blueish tinged back, cream chest, long yellow legs - carrion eaters - an amazing site.

In Washington State we see Bald Eagles, Osprey, Sandhill Cranes, Blue Herons, Tundra and Arctic Swans.....but none of those compared in size to this stork.

I saved for years to go on this trip and managed to get it done for my husband and I by using our Worldmark timeshare credits and paying our own airfare.  The airfare cost was HUGE (to us) because we were going to Arusha, Tanzania, instead of to Kenya where the flights are cheaper.  To stay within our very limited budget, I selected the least expensive safari  by Abercrombie & Kent that was offered through our timeshare.  Some British women we met in Arusha asked what company we were using and when we told them, they exclaimed that we were using the MOST expensive company.  A&K took great care of all the guests and we were quite happy we used them and would definitely use them again.

Sculptured Figures at Arusha Cultural Center

Our safari was broken out into 3 vehicles and the people in our vehicle got along well and enjoyed each other's company.  In the evenings during dinner we were able to meet those who rode in the other vehicles.  All 3 drivers and our guide were excellent drivers and provided narratives and useful information.

Future posts will include more details of this fabulous experience.