I Took My iPad On Safari. Or, Look At These Lions!

We started out in the city of Dar es Salaam, flying to Arusha, a smaller city in northwest Tanzania, then driving to the Ngorongoro Crater, the husk of a dormant volcano that is now a protected habitat for wild animals. We stayed in a fantastic lodge overlooking the crater floor; on awakening one morning, this was the view from our balcony.

On arriving to the lodge, we stopped because a neighbor wanted to cross the street.

After touring the floor of the crater, we drove to the Serengeti. (“Serengeti” means “endless plain” in Swahili, which is a pretty spot-on description.) On the way, we spotted a giraffe and its calf on the side of the road; they broke into a run.

Arriving at the end of the rainy season, we were in the middle of the animals’ migration. At times, we’d be surrounded by literally tens of thousands of animals, mostly zebra and wildebeest.

Another herd of elephants, including some babies:

A close and not scary brush with a giraffe…

…some warthogs…

…and an enormous lioness, in transit.

My wife, whose camera had a zoom lens, admittedly captured much better photos than I did. Here, in order: a hyena, a jackal, a lion shaking off rain water, another relaxing in the sun, a cheetah, a giraffe eating, and a giraffe family walking down the road.

And that is the story of how I took my iPad on safari. Sorry if I got a bit distracted.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.