By Todd Gustafson

After a flawless journey overseas to Tanzania (all travelers including their luggage arrived on time) and a comfortable night at the African Tulip Hotel, we met our drivers and headed out of Arusha. We drove through the rural countryside and up the wall of the Great Rift Valley to our first lodge, the Manyara Serena. 

Our game drive was designed to be a beginners course that included getting used to both the safari vehicles and our photographic logistics like how and where to place super telephoto lenses, communicate with the driver, and spot game, all while holding on for dear life. This beginner course quickly turned into a full-fledged game drive filled with lots of dark spotted giraffes (which are common to Manyara), close up elephants, crowned cranes, cute Blue Monkeys, and a specialty of the park – the famous tree climbing lions.

Our first encounter with a tree-climbing lion was a 3-year-old male who was just getting his mane. We spotted him resting in an open area of one of Manyara’s groundwater forest trees. He gave us several nice poses and one yawn to capture on film. All in all it was a nice first day.

Next day >>