A Tanzania camping safari from Lake Natron.

Are you looking for Tanzania camping safari from Lake Natron? Well, Once all is set and you have stayed in the camping areas around Lake Natron, you wake up very early in the morning for your breakfast prepared by the camping organizers, and then you leave the magical Natron with all of the flamingo birds and the clear sights of the Masai villages as you drive on one of the very dusty roads but full of experience. Small group excursions have the advantage of taking you places a larger vehicle would not dare to go. You might be a little tired, so you can avoid engaging in conversation with other passengers in favor of becoming lost in the big, open countryside. Once more, Ol Doinyo Lengai Mountain catches your attention. This roughly translates to “God’s mountain” when spoken in Masai. The Masai consider this mountain to be the home of their god, Engai. They believe he leads a tranquil and contented life here. The mountain, however, spits lava and smokes when he is angry. Even a deity’s oozing of rage is understandable when it occurs to him. Fortunately, it only occurs sometimes; the most recent instance was in 2020. On the other hand, the rising steam that can be seen over the mountain this morning appears to be more caused by the warming coffee water. This camping experience as you enjoy the wildness is brilliant.

Getting to the magical Serengeti National Park for a Tanzania camping safari

After receiving a relaxing African massage, you will reward yourselves with a quick lunch break in a café in a small village around 3.5 hours later. Before you join the others in sitting down, you are free to extend your legs a little. You will take advantage of the spare time to fill the spaces in our bellies that the bumpy roads left empty by first clearing the dust from our throats with refreshing beverages, then exchanging our observations of the day thus far with the addition of one or two facts from your guide. Then you will carry on with our small-group excursion. This is not too far from the Serengeti at this point, and you can almost taste our excitement. When we speak of the Serengeti National Park, we are referring to the well-known Great Migration of Animals, which includes millions of wildebeest, in addition to tens of thousands of zebras, Grant’s and Thomson gazelles, eland antelopes, and impalas. We are referring to the Serengeti, so it obviously cannot perish. We are positioned to see the first sizable pride of lions and are already in awe of setting up our first overnight camp without any surrounding fences.

drive to the magical Serengeti National Park

Then, when the timing is right, you will arrive at Klein’s Gate in the Serengeti National Park’s northeast. In the grass near the entryway, crowned cranes pick at seeds and insects. Flat atop a boulder, a steel-blue rock agama is displayed in its most exquisite mating season splendor. A woman lies across him, wearing dull gray-brown clothing. It doesn’t take long before the first wildebeest turns to look at us, then Thomson’s gazelles, topis, and eland antelopes. The lions are genuinely trying to help us. A large group of animals in the Lobo region are resting under an acacia tree halfway to our campground. Every possible sleeping position is used by the fifteen family members as they unwind under the shady tree. It’s hard to see if there are any more still dozing in the shallow ditch behind them. But it is impossible to ignore the wildebeest that are lying on their side. or what’s left of it, at any rate. Then, as if anticipating our desire to observe, two of the wildcats quickly approach the disassembled antelope and begin vigorously pulling and shattering it. We can smell the smell of carrion, which is unpleasant. But the vultures are drawn to what repulses me. They wait calmly on the branches, watching from above.

Spend the nights in the Serengeti National Park’s world.

When night falls, the sense of relative security is replaced with a growing sense of being at the mercy of nature. A camping safari’s unique, extremely adrenaline-filled exhilaration begins to take hold. You will kind of like it. You can only feel relatively secure in the company of others around the campfire, in the enclosed tent, and in the shower and toilet facilities. However, do you? Especially when the tour leader begins telling a few terrifying Serengeti anecdotes over supper.

A camping safari in Tanzania is a truly unique experience because of the bedtime stories over the campfire that make you shudder and look over your shoulder. For instance, consider the tale of the lions who, after a protracted dry season, were attracted to the ablution block by the alluring sound of trickling faucets. A camper enters at this very moment, out of the blue, acting a little too carefree, half asleep, and possibly experiencing too much urine pressure. Sadly, there is no documentation of his facial expression as the lions and he unexpectedly came face to face. My bladder becomes swollen at the mere mention of it. You must act when you are in that situation. What then? According to reports, the man was fortunate.

When the roar of the lions and the laughter of the hyenas genuinely fill the chilly night air of the wilderness around you, dinner tales like these seem much more real. Your eardrum vibrates once the sound first echoes in your ears. Your entire body starts to quake from there. We concentrate on trying to interpret every sound into movement and distance as the voices of the night frighten us: Do the animals move closer to our tents or farther away from them? They may have been keeping a careful eye on us for a while, drawn in by the alluring aroma of the succulent steaks cooking on the grill. In any event, it’s appropriate to recall your colleagues.

camping in Serengeti National Park

Another Tanzania camping safari day in Serengeti National Park.

Of course, the night’s activities are the main issue the next morning. According to our pair, a night like this out here is a true bonding experience because it brings people closer together due to the roughness of the woods as well as the gorgeous starry sky. We go only a few hundred meters on our first route of the day to reach the lions’ feeding grounds for their nighttime prey. Although we couldn’t see the hunt, we could hear it. It’s just a shame that there isn’t much to see this morning.

The shrub in front of it is excessively dense. However, the day has only begun. The wildlife we see over the following few hours more than makes up for the sight restrictions at first, including leopards, buffalo, lions, enormous ground hornbills, colorful lilac-breasted rollers, wildebeest, hyrax, white-backed vultures, giraffes, impalas, zebras, a wildebeest calf hanging in the tree branches, topis, Thomson’s gazelles, and many others. And that was only early in the day.

You will feel like we are in the front row of a movie theater when we are in the Land Cruiser because we are so close to the action. But in this case, it is real as well as feeling real. The coolest vehicle I could want for a safari tour is a Land Cruiser like this. Most importantly, they include an adjustable roof that enables 360-degree panoramic views. No coach has that. It brings people even closer to the animals, making photographing them “perfect” rather than “simply excellent.” Additionally, there are refrigerators that you may treat yourself to as well as connections for charging batteries. You then take a seat in the Land Cruiser and hold a drink in your hand as if you were in a bar with an amazing view.

Naturally, you can only do this on a vacation with a small group because you can bargain much more effectively in small numbers. The atmosphere in the group will typically benefit greatly from this. Anywhere can have ricochets, but my safari tour had none. Everyone is quite kind and occasionally exercises their right to participate fully in the group or to entirely retreat. Yes, there is less privacy than on a private excursion. We had plenty of that during the pandemic, though.

We are all eagerly anticipating the forthcoming afternoon game drive following another delicious lunch break. A troop of baboons bids us goodbye. We immediately disappear from view and move toward the Retina Hippo Pool. This is one of the few locations in the Serengeti where we can exit the vehicle and get a close-up view of hippos. There is hardly any water present. The dry season is here. However, there are even more hippos visible. They are positioned close to one another in the dirt and shallow water, as though they were dangling on a pearl necklace. The scent of naturally fertilized mud is disagreeable. This silt water hole is contaminated with feces and is not comparable to a watering hole fit for hippos. 

Camping around Ngorongoro Crater.

A Tanzania camping safari to Ngorongoro Crater.

The Serengeti National Park must be left the following morning. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is where we are going. One could believe that nothing could match or even surpass this experience after the Serengeti. But doing so would be wrong. Ngorongoro has a wonderful flair for display. The natural reserve is another top-notch location to see wildlife. It also provides breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, particularly inside the extinct crater. Today, you will continue to be unsure of what to anticipate when entering this large stadium as we stand at the top of the crater rim and look down onto the crater floor. The splendor of this Garden of Eden only becomes truly menacing once we reach the vast crater floor. In the middle of tall and short grass, lakes and wetlands create beautiful islands. Here, the hippos feel at home. Elephants, buffalos, and rhinos enjoy making impromptu appearances at pool parties. Leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs also appear for a drink at the bar. Every 20 minutes, a pair of lions are busy turning on their reproductive system. What anxiety for them both, but what enjoyment for us.

Today, you will spend our final night on the crater rim, where a few Masa will keep vigil over us. Then, the pull of civilization draws us back to the presence of asphalt roads with their numerous cars, stone buildings along the way, and the commotion in populated places like Karatu and Mto wa Mbu. Only as souvenir figures in shops can you find the Big Five here. To pull me away from my current close interaction with nature almost seems cruel. But what a blessing to be able to spend at least a few days in the woods. In Tanzania, camping safaris are among the most thrilling ways to experience nature and animals. This place is worth a visit. We are delighted to assist you in the planning of your trip to Tanzania and to respond to any inquiries you may have. We are always up to date on the situation here on the job site. Your ideal Tanzanian experience combines your dream with our knowledge. Please come and contact us at Africa Adventure Vacations for the best camping safari experience in Tanzania.