Tanzania
Tanzania 2022 – The Northern Circuit
The journey that began it all — where Africa stopped being a place I visited and became a rhythm I keep returning to.
- tarangire
- serengeti
- ngorongoro
- northern circuit
Trip Modules
Tarangire National Park — Where It Began
The first dawn in Africa — a lioness with newborn cubs and an elephant herd that redefined scale.
Lake Manyara National Park — The Forest and the Elephant
Dense forest, endless baboons, blue monkeys, and a lone elephant that dictated the day’s pace.
Ndutu — Southern Serengeti
Lionesses at sunset, hyenas circling camp, lions roaring through the night, and dawn cheetah hunts — where awe turned into belonging.
Central Serengeti — The Heart of the Plains
The great pride on the kopjes, a leopard in the fig trees, and nights alive with sound — abundance meeting stillness.
Ngorongoro Crater — The Circle of Life
A volcanic amphitheatre holding Africa’s rhythm — lions feeding, rhinos resting, warthogs defending their young.
Tanzania 2022 – The Northern Circuit
December 20 – 31 · Arusha → Tarangire → Lake Manyara → Ndutu → Central Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha
The Trip That Started It All
A few weeks before this journey, I’d gone to a small forest in southern India called Kabini — my first real attempt to learn the rhythm of wildlife photography. I thought I was preparing for Africa.
But nothing prepares you for Africa.
Tanzania was the trip that reset everything. Eleven days through the Northern Circuit — Tarangire’s elephant corridors, Manyara’s green silence, the endless migration of the Serengeti, and the volcanic bowl of Ngorongoro. Somewhere between the dust, the light, and the sound of lions calling through the night, I understood that this wasn’t a vacation. It was the beginning of something that would keep pulling me back.
Everything between these trips now feels like downtime.
Route
Arusha → Tarangire → Lake Manyara → Ndutu (Southern Serengeti) → Central Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater → back to Arusha.
Moments That Defined It
| Place | Memory |
|---|---|
| Tarangire National Park | A lioness stepped out from the brush with cubs barely two months old. Later that day, we were surrounded by more than two hundred elephants — the first time Africa spoke in scale. |
| Lake Manyara | Baboons everywhere, blue monkeys in the canopy, and a lone elephant blocking our path for thirty quiet minutes — a reminder that time belongs to them. |
| Ndutu (Southern Serengeti) | Lionesses at sunset, hyenas circling camp, lions roaring on either side of the tent, and cheetahs hunting in the morning light. This was the night Africa stopped being a destination. |
| Central Serengeti | The great pride sprawled across the kopjes, hippos filling the pools, a leopard asleep in a fig tree. The noise, the heat, the impossible abundance. |
| Ngorongoro Crater | Lions teaching cubs to open a buffalo, a rhino with her calf across the lake, and a mother warthog fighting off a jackal — life and protection intertwined. |
Gallery Preview
What Stayed With Me
The landscapes and wildlife were extraordinary — but what caught me off guard were the people. The easy laughter, the patience, the quiet competence. Nothing felt rehearsed. Every karibu — welcome — sounded real.
I know I was a visitor, camera in hand, but it never felt like performance. It felt like being invited back — like the continent had been waiting.
This trip didn’t end when I flew out of Arusha. It began there. Every return since has just been continuing the same conversation.