Hakuna Matata

,

Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase…
Hakuna Matata means no worries for the rest of your days, that is how we were feeling when we were in Arusha. We were relaxed and ready for some fun!

We were very, very excited to go on our first game drive ever! Our driver and guide, James picked us up at the Korona Villa (the place we were staying) and we were on our way. We were about three hours away from the park and it was really hard not to start jumping up and down with excitement in the car. We drove in huge four-by-four that was so awesome because the roof could pop up and you could stand while moving!

Here is our car!
Here is our car!

We were especially excited when we saw the first few animals……. cows, goats, and sheep! 🙂 MOO!

Here are our first animals we saw!
Here are the first animals we saw!

Since there are no fences around the parks, the animals can walk freely around the area. Aside from the cows, sheep and goats, the first animal that we saw before we arrived at the main gate of the park (that are wild) were….

Guess, I will give you some hints… They have four legs… a mane… a tail… white and black stripes… look a little like a horse… You guessed it – A ZEBRA! Our first wild animal we saw was a zebra.

(Zebras are now one of my new favourite animals. I plan on getting one, naming it Marty like the one in Madagascar and riding on it to school. First, I need your help to convince my parents).

The firs wild animals we saw
The firs wild animals we saw

The next animal we saw was as exciting as the zebra. We saw a giraffe! Our game drive was off to a fabulous start!

A giraffe
A giraffe

We went into a national park called Lake Manyara. It is a very scenic part of Africa and is famous for their elephants and tree climbing lions. It is 330 sq km or 127 sq miles.  It is full of Acacia trees which are great for looking for tree climbing lions because the leaves are mostly on the top.

When we arrived at the main gate, I was so excited, I think I could have jumped more than 200,000,000 meters in the air. (Well, maybe not that high but you get the point)! 🙂

We popped up the roof and officially started our game drive in the park.

We wanted to see the “Big Five” animals which are:

-Lions
-Buffalo
-Elephants
-Leopards
-Rhinoceros

They are called the “Big Five” because during colonial times hunters considered them to be the hardest animals to hunt on foot in Africa

Our first animals we saw in the park were BABOONS!

yum yum!
A baboon!
Here is the monkey on the front of our car
Here is the monkey on the front of our car

We stopped the car to take some photos and guess what! One jumped onto the front of our car and started to try and eat the antenna!

 

Here are some of the other animals we saw:

Zebras

We were able to see two zebras either playing or fighting which was really neat. We also saw a big group of them right beside our car!

Here are the two zebras either fighting or playing
Here are the two zebras either fighting or playing

Giraffes

The giraffe is posing for us
The giraffe is posing for us

 

The giraffes are so tall! Did you know that giraffes have blue tongues?

Can you see its tongue?
Can you see its tongue?

Hippopotamus

Hippos, out-standing in their field
Hippos, out-standing in their field

We saw the hippos grazing which was really interesting because hippos don’t eat meat and they are so large! I think that if you look at a hippo, you think “Those hippos look harmless.” Well actually, a hippo is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa and more people are killed by a hippo then any other animal. (I don’t want a hippo for Christmas).

Monkeys

Here are some baboons crossing the road in a perfect diagonal line
Here are some baboons crossing the road in a perfect diagonal line

The monkeys are so cute, we saw a lot of different species such as baboons and blue monkeys.

Elephants

A big elephant
A big elephant

I like elephants! They seem a lot smaller than they were at the zoo many years ago… Or maybe I was just small…

Big ears, good for hearing!
Big ears, good for hearing!

Impalas

Two impalas
Two impalas

You may not have heard of Impalas, but they are like deer except with twisty horns and a more orange colour to their fur. They are very graceful animals, and really remind me of deer.

Warthogs (Pumbaa)

Here are the wort hogs
Here are the warthogs

Hakuna Matata, who sings this song in Disney’s famous movie The Lion King with Simba and Timon? PUMBAA, THE WARTHOG! 🙂

Here he is:

Pumba- from the Lion King
Pumbaa- from the Lion King

Wildebeests

Here are the wildebeests!

Wildebeests look like a mix between a bull and a horse. A bull because it has horns and a horse because it has a mane.

Buffalo

A big buffalo!
A big buffalo!

Buffalos are huge animals that are mostly hunted by lions because they are so big. They are also one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

At home, at the Toronto Zoo, there is a section for each continent of the world with the animals who live there. In the African section, there are a lot of the same animals we saw while on our game drive like baboons and giraffes. There used to be elephants but it was much too cold for them so they were moved to California.

It was a very successful game drive! We saw two out of the “Big Five” so far…

Kwaheri! Goodbye!


About the Author


Comments

14 responses to “Hakuna Matata”

  1. Hi Zoe,
    Thanks for the fun! I really enjoyed reading your blog–I never knew that giraffes had blue tongues! Thanks for sharing! Baba
    Hakuna Matata! Kwaheri!

    1. Hi!

      I think it is funny that the giraffes have blue tongues!

  2. Looks like you had an amazing time Zoe! Thanks so much for sharing your enthusiastic report on your safari adventures. 🙂

    1. Hi!

      We had a fabulous time on our game drive!

  3. It’s like you are living the scenes from the Lion King! Tell the truth, how many Elton John songs did you sing while on your adventure in the park?

    1. Hi!

      We mostly sang the beginning of “The Circle of Life”, “Naa Tzavenia!”

  4. Zoe – I wish you every success with getting a zebra and riding him to school – that will certainly be a sight to see! I suppose Nicola will have to build a zebra parking area……perhaps you will start a trend!
    This article was quite entertaining, the game drive looks like it was awesome, and I must say, your writing style was interesting in this one, I could hear you saying all of this, well done.
    Abby reads her way through all of the posts you and your sister make every couple of weeks, I will make sure she reads this one.
    And, just so you know, the temperature gauge here has read -25 here, before you factor in wind, and in an eerie repeat of last year we have also had freezing rain warnings/issues, Ottawa/east Montreal got hit pretty good – Tanzania is definitely a better choice!

    1. Hi!

      Maybe Nicola will let me take my zebra to my classroom and park it there. What a great thing to use for show and tell! I can just picture myself saying “This is my pet zebra from Tanzania, Africa.”

      I agree, it was a good decision to go to Tanzania instead of staying in Canada for the winter. (We don’t miss the winter). It is -25 in Canada and 30 here. We are having a lot of fun!

      It is really nice to know that abby is reading our posts and I hope she enjoys them.

  5. This was an amazing blog Zoe, I felt like I was along with you. I remember the first time I went on a game drive, the first animal we saw was SPOT the Zebra. Ask your mom to tell you about our encounter with the rhino, your mom was so busy taking photos and the rest of us were freaking out!!!! Happy Memories! I am behind you with getting your own zebra when you come home, will there be room to keep him in the castle?
    Travel safely and love to all, Teta Doreen xoxox

    1. Hi!

      I remember my mom saying that a rhino stuck its head in the window! Luckily, none did this time!

  6. Zoe,
    What wonderful pictures and memories! “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas” is one of my favourite Christmas songs though I always thought it was a bit impractical as a pet. A zebra is a much better idea and useful for transportation!
    Ginny

    1. Hi!

      I am now going to sing that song like “I want a zebra for christmas…” 🙂

  7. Hi, Zoe, as always, it is a lot of fun to go with you on any excursion and I can just imagine your excitement when spotting all the different wild animals. I love your posting, the great photos and especially your humorous comments. I really liked the photo of the warthog, it is rather fierce looking. Gazillion XOXO’s to all

    1. Hi!

      Pumbaa, the wort hog in The Lion King definitely does not look as fierce on the TV than he does in person! 🙂