Day 14: Tarangire National Park

The final day of our safari started slowly, with another tyre-related delay to our jeep, Edwin having rejoined us late the previous evening. We weren't feeling all that confident, but Edwin assured us everything would be OK. Off we set on the long drive back southeast towards Tarangire National Park.

The drive itself was uneventful. We arrived around 10:30am, no animals in sight and a light but insistent drizzle falling. As usual, the rain kept the animals in hiding, though we did see a distant elephant and some large birds like osprey, eagles and vultures. The highlight was an osprey plucking a small mongoose out of the grass and carrying it to a nearby tree.

Then, just before lunch - contact! A cheetah, lying on an anthill just 30m from the road. Not quite as close as our last cheetah encounter, but much longer this time as it was happy to lie there just looking around. Took a bunch of photos and enjoyed the sight of the magnificent creature before heading to lunch.

Funnily enough, the lunch spot was at a lookout less than a kilometre from the cheetah. I was a little worried, but Edwin assured us that cheetahs were scared of humans, and that we were in much more danger of monkeys stealing our lunch. Sure enough, we saw a monkey steal yoghurt tubs from a nearby table!

After lunch we saw a few warthogs, gazelle and some close-up ostrich, but the rain was insisting and the animals weren't cooperating. Out of the park we drove, starting on the long drive back to Springlands via Arusha and Moshi. Only exciting events were going past a rolled car in a ditch and a massive roadkill python. I amused myself taking photos of the daladalas (local busses) decorated with Man United livery. Said goodbye to Edwin and enjoyed our last night at Springlands.Read more