We left the Ngorongoro highlands and came back down into the great Rift Valley.  Tarangire National Park welcomed us with Dik Diks, Banded Mongoose and a lion up a tree… and that was all within the first ten minutes.  Our three Landcruisers went deep into Tarangire. We passed hundreds of gigantic Baobab trees. We left the other visitors behind and made our way to the edge of a vast marsh where we saw elephants happily frolicking in the mud and swamp grass. A tower of giraffes charged across the horizon as if imitating a scene from Jurassic Park.  A rare Kudu made a guest appearance.  And as the light got good in the late afternoon, we started seeing leopards.  First, a shy male staking out a watering hole… the team endured an hour of watching and waiting in a majestic setting in order for him to show. Some of the crew left before that reveal and were lucky enough to see a female leopard strolling through a thicket on the way to our Safari Camp.  We are all safely in camp now, having just finished dinner.  Team members are escorted back to their tent/cabins in the dark.  We are still very much in the park and there are no fences.  We expect to hear some critters wandering through in the night. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Leopard courtsey of Megan Ryan