Tanzania Safari Photography

“Serengeti”. No, it not come from the Greek. The name is derived from the Masaai word “Serengit.” In essence, this means “Endless Plains”. The Serengeti spans 12,000 square miles from north-eastern Tanzania to south western Kenya. It is home to more big animals than you’d dare shake a stick at. Twice a year the forests, swamps, grasslands and woodlands of the Serengeti region set the stage for the largest annual mammal migration in the world. Over 2 million gazelles, wildebeests, zebras and buffaloes follow the rain in search of greener grass.

Last month, we spent 5 days on safari in the Serengeti. Memories of a Kenyan Safari when I was 9 are still with me. But things tend to seem smaller as our bodies get bigger. 22 years later, I wasn’t sure what size I would feel. Not long after our brief stopover in Amsterdam, we found ourselves bouncing along bumpy dirt roads in Tanzania. We veered around Acacia trees, and hung onto a lurching Land Cruiser. By and large, we marveled at the paradox of being able to drive right into the heart of one of the wildest places on Earth.

Forget clean. Dust clouds surround you and your squeaky-clean camera gear from dusk till dawn. We passed through Masaailand, where Masaai tribesmen continue to graze cattle as they did 100 years ago. I quickly realized that the landscape of the Serengeti is far bigger than you, no matter who you are.