(all pictures are High res, for Low res click here)
We began our
safari adventures for
Lake
Manyara National Park at the visitor's center
, where
we got to learn a lot about what we were going to see and what not to do in the
park
(believe me, I wouldn't take any liberties with game animals - whatever that
means-, but I'm not so sure about Vern). As we started
going thru the park
we
were instantly thrown into the surreal by a curious giraffe
.
Moving from high alpine desert to a plush forest was a little too much to
handle, and seeing this calm giraffe really put everything into perspective.
With
culture shock taking hold, we stumbled upon some playful
apes (video)
. As
seeing rare wildlife up close was becoming a little less shocking, we came
across our first view of
impalas
.
Moving on, we got our first (but certainly not last) glimpse of
African Cape buffaloes
. We
moved closer to the lake and we noticed hundreds of thousands of
pelicans (video)
and our very first zebra
sighting. Finally, we worked our way out of the park, as we passed more apes
and
sausage fruit trees
. So,
we left the park and had lunch at the
local Serena lodge
(yet another classy lodge in the middle of nowhere) and headed to
Ngorongoro Crater National Park.