I just received a satellite phone call from clients in the very remote Mahale National Park, Tanzania they were so ecstatic about their incredible day on safari in Tanzania that they had to call and share it with me.

Great migration river crossings are possibly nature’s most dramatic viewable event.
Photo courtesy of Asilia Africa.

This morning marked the end of their 3 nights at Sayari Camp. Sayari Camp is ideally located to view migration crossings of the Mara River. Having seen some small crossings over the last couple days there were masses of animals building last night but they never crossed. The guide rushed back this morning and just in time to see the mighty movement of thousands and thousands of wildebeest and zebra swimming across the Mara River.

They were still coming after more than an hour when the clients needed to head to the airstrip. Crocodiles were picking off prey left and right, even territorial hippos were charging wildebeest. It was every bit the drama and excitement that the great films have recorded and unlike the Mara River in Kenya there were not dozens of vehicles at this crossing, the Northern Serengeti still delivers such sightings without the crowds and thus adds the full wilderness feel to this spectacle. Beyond the migration the clients saw lions make a kill and black rhino among many highlights.

Only in Tanzania could you see this kind of spectacle and then come face to face with our closest living relative in the afternoon!

Orion, one of the up and coming males in the M group of chimpanzees.
© Bill Given

After a flight from the Serengeti to the shores of Lake Tanganyika the clients then traveled down the gorgeous lake by boat to arrive at Greystoke Camp. Typically you chimp trek each morning but wanting to stretch their legs the clients decided to go for a little jungle hike but they didn’t get far before the guide was radioed that chimpanzees had shown up right in Greystoke Camp! They immediately proceeded back and were rewarded with 30 minutes of face to face time with the chimps at Greystoke.

What a day, migration crossing in the morning and chimps in the afternoon. One day, one country, but two lifetime spectacles!

Connect and Interact with The Wild Source!