Friday Evening: Lisa looking at our plane to Amsterdam. We flew from there to Kilimanjaro on Saturday.
Snaps from the taxi as we travelled back to Arusha Airport
Arusha Airport not quite the size of Heathrow
Our plane to the Serengeti
Coming in to land at first airstrip
No tarmac here!
or posh airport buildings
With a fairly smart arrivals hall
Luckily we didn't need the fire engine.....? on loan from Trumpton?
Almost as soon as our driver/guide Sadiq drove away from the airstrip, he started pointing out wildlife.....here our first vervet monkeys
And zebra
A Sausage Tree (Kigelia)
A "sausage" can grow up to 2 feet long, provides food for numerous mammals and has many medicinal and cosmetic uses
First Elephants
well-hidden lions
Both male
and female
lots of hippos
Then an entrancing opportunity to see a large group of elephants coming for an evening drink - to the distress of the loudly protesting birds who had rashly nested nested on the banks (apologies for wind noise)
Our second day gave Lisa her first giraffe - not too visible but she says she will always remember this, her first giraffe in the wild.
Ostrich
Hartebeest
Lilac-breasted roller
Leopard kill hanging in the tree ..
Topi
And our first leopard........if you can spot him?
Easier to see when he changed position
More giraffe (all Masai)
First of many impala
Blue heron
Warthogs
More vervet monkeys trooping past
Gathering of Maribou Storks
Maribou
Our first cheetah, in hunting mode even though on the wrong side of the river
All gone....
Mum and 3-month old cub in shade beside the track
Aaahhh......
More zebra
Sun setting on our first full day at the Kati Kati camp
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It rained overnight which added to the driving hazards
but Sadiq still spotted a Kori Bustard
and a young cheetah on the prowl
A large herd of elephants appeared over the horizon and marched towards us
but she got bored and started to play soon after this snap
Crossing the road ahead of our jeep, some stopped for a mud bath - no wonder the tracks are in such a bad condition!
Many cattle egrets accompanied the elephants
The elephants were immediately followed by a line of ostrich
and then some warthogs
Lunchtime stop included several visitors - this a house sparrow weaver
Hyrax and 2 squirrels
A couple more Maribou storks admiring their reflections
and another leopard in a tree
Back at Kati Kati camp, this was the shower mechanism braved by Lisa and Karen
and the front of our tent
Next day we drove from the Serengeti to Ngorongoro, but lots to see as we left
a few of the hundreds of zebra gathered near the exit to Serengeti NP
a lappet-faced vulture plus nest
a male lion in the distance
one of many such boulder formations
yet another impala rear-end
mixed herd of zebra and wilderbeest
including many newly-born zebra
more giraffe to delight Lisa
And a very relaxed lion rolling in the grass oblivious to the potential dinners grazing in the distance
looking rather more dignified the right way up!
two foxes - spotted and snapped by Karen
Stopped at a Masai boma (enclosure) - thousands of Masai were displaced from the Serengeti NP to very barren dry areas when the conservation areas were created.
the schoolroom in which 5 year olds receive a year's education
Counting to 20 in English
Getting greener towards Ngorongoro National Park - wonderful skies and views
including the occasional giraffe -
looking as always very gangly
First glimpse into the crater
before we arrived at the beautiful Tloma Mountain Lodge for our last two nights
Next morning back to the crater entrance
An extremely steep rocky path down to the crater floor
When we got there, all was flat and smooth
and crammed with wildlife including our first buffalo
All the animals living peacefully together when not feeding time
Still smiling at warthogs
Thompson's Gazelle
Secretary Bird
This part of the crater absolutely flat
Egyptian Geese
Ahhhh......
Wildebeest & young
Nearest we got to flamingos
but we did get VERY close to zebras
We noticed their stripes go up their manes
like this
me and my friend
Another close encounter
Very picturesque lunch spot
Could have been the Lake District only these are hippo eyes
and these are black kites
A good spot to pose with our wonderful driver/guide Sadiq and van 
With many thanks to James Down & Audley for all the arrangements
Abdim's Stork
More Wilderbeest
days old calf
Sacred Ibis
Playgroup
As very commonly found, a mixed herd
Grey Crowned Crane
Young serval cat who had caught then lost its mouse
Finally time to leave the crater
the lush vegetation on the side of the crater
last glimpse
the very posh tiled exit road meeting the "main road"
re-surfacing Tanzania style - just add more dirt!
Back to our very own cabins at the Tloma Lodge coffee plantation
Coffee bush
Last day, trek to the airport, but first a stop here in the Rift Valley
White storks and pelicans
Very lush vegetation
although it could look like an English wood if you didn't look too closely
top of the rift valley
blue moneky
Sadiq reaching for these curious fruit which I thought he called "milkwort" but I can't find in google!
they felt very soft and spongy and if pressed, oozed a milky substance
Bog surrounding Lake Manyara
African Jacana with very long toes to spread weight
Squacco Heron
African Fish Eagle
More buffalo
Grey Crested Cranes and Sacred Ibis
Hildebrandt's Starling in background
Last vervet monkeys
Large mixed herd
Plenty of space dotted with animals and birds
which you can see if you zoom in
Malachite Kingfisher
This elephant suddenly stumbled out from the undergrowth
and went on his way.....
I had never noticed before that the tops of their ears fold over
Karen trying to take some far-away flamingos
A good spot for our last picnic
then on the road to Kilimanjaro Airport, with a reminder of our little counting Masai girl
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