Ngorongoro Crater

Ray of sunshine beams upon Ngorongoro's Lake Magadi

The temperature plummeted quickly as soon as the sun dipped below nearby peaks. All through the night and well into early morning, I lay ensconced in my toasty sleeping bag. Up in the rim of Ngorongoro Crater where we've camped, things can get even below freezing. But we've got more animals to see. So I peeled myself away from my bag and into a morning warm bath - quiet a treat really given how basic our campsite looked.

Serengeti: Day 3

Beware what's lurking in the bush

Something gruesome always happen in Serengeti. But such is the nature of things in the wild. One dies in order for another to live. "Survival of the fittest" as always. And this isn't just about a predator eating another prey. It also involves infanticide - especially among lions, the most feared killing machines in the bush.

Serengeti: Day 2

Leopard up a tree looking for prey

In the wee hours of pre-dawn darkness my bladder woke me up. Then I remembered Walter's reminder the previous night: "Don't just step out of your tent. Listen first to your surroundings outside. If you hear something, there's likely an animal. If not, then check before stepping out by pointing your torch outside. If there are no shining eyes looking at you, then you go. To go back in, make sure you are facing outside".

Problem was, there's something outside. "Whoop! Whoop!" 

Serengeti: Day 1

Dirt road on the western corridor of Serengeti National Park

"Oh, wildebeest!", Nickie, a Kiwi member of our group exclaimed. Spotting the first wild animal right after entering Serengeti National Park may not exactly win an award. But it's a promising sign of what she's capable of in the next few days while we scan the "endless plains" - or Serengit as the native Maasai tribe call this land - for its famed megafauna.

Tanzania: Biking in Musoma

"Mzungu! mzungu! mzungu!" Kids called our attention, waving their hands, smiling like it's Christmas Day. Ever since this overland journey began, we've pretty much been getting the same reception from young ones who get fascinated with "foreigners". Now that we're biking in Musoma - our lakeside pit stop before heading out to the great plains - the constant presence of kids remind me so much of the Philippines.

Tanzania: Lake Victoria

Big bird on the lake shore

What does the world's largest tropical lake got to do with the world's longest river?

In 1858, John Speke, a British explorer, stumbled into the shores of a huge body of water, naming it Lake Victoria in honor of the Queen of the United Kingdom. He proclaimed having finally found the source of the Nile river. While subsequent explorations showed 'other sources', the lake is generally regarded as a major reservoir of the legendary river.