As I mentioned in my previous blog, Sam and I got an incredible opportunity to go on a SAFARI (first time for either of us) in the magical Tarangire National Park, just a couple hours drive from where we are living. Tarangire isn't the largest national park in Tanzania but to our amazement we were able to see an incredible variety and density of animals right out of the gate. More often than not, we saw multiple species simultaneously co-existing ever so naturally with one another. Here are some of the pictures Sam and I managed to snap throughout the day!

Vervet "Blue Ball" Monkeys 

[because their testicles have a bright bluish hue (not pictured)]

Warthogs galore! Pumba and his whole family were out 'n about all day

And the species that Tarangire is known best for... ELEPHANTS! :D

We were so close to a great migrating family for so long... and it was remarkable. I have never imagined being this close to these animals in their most wild, natural habitat. Thankfully they seemed undisturbed by us, except one juvenile who sent us a rebellious trumpet from his trunk as we drove by!

After a brief stop, I was excited to see more wild creatures. We'd seen impala, wildebeest, and bush buck in addition to what I'd managed to photograph. But I was really hopeful for some giraffe and zebra. And maybe a lion or leopard if we were lucky!

And before we knew it, we were encountering more giraffe than we could count! Old, young, ones with different coloring and coat patterns... they were all so majestic.

They are so stoic and beautiful! We couldn't get enough.

Our safari driver picked up on some activity (and the most other vehicles we'd seen all day) by a dried up section of the river...

We gazed out onto a bluff and were able to spot a couple lions lounging in the grass! We were trading off binoculars when they got up to playfully nuzzle before walking stride in stride towards a shady area. We were speechless!

I couldn't zoom in far enough to snap a good picture, but by putting the binoculars up to the lens I could get a decent shot! Shortly after, we saw a juvenile "simba" get up and saunter their way as well.

One final young lion joined them under the new spot to do what lions do (second) best: sleep! 

Except for a passing group of elephants, we didn't see a single other species in the lion's domain the entire time.

After lunch at a beautiful lodge, we went on a longer drive to scope out some areas where we might see a leopard. But we were far from disappointed when we didn't see any and instead saw so many other animals... like these zebra!! I never knew I loved zebra so much until I was face to face with this many of them. Each ones' markings had a different pattern and were such a crazy contrast to the natural tones around them... such cool creatures.

Besides those pictured, we saw emu, water buffalo, jackal, mongoose, dik dik, baboons, vultures, and so many beautiful birds, plants, and jaw-dropping vistas. Sam was especially good at spotting things from super far away - even before our guide! Maybe he has a new career path in his future ;)

Many thanks for following along our adventures here! It's definitely not all sunshine and elephants, we have spent chunks of time without electricity or water, and are frequently met with the wrath of the African heat, bugs, and overall harsh environment... but days like this make us feel pretty lucky and grateful to be living on this big, beautiful continent.