My previous school trips both as a teacher and as a student have included some great places (Paris, Morocco, London) but also some really crap places too.
But on this occasion, I accompanied my year six students from Isamilo International School in Mwanza, Tanzania, to the Serengeti National Park… not to Alton Towers or the Old Warden Aeronautical Museum or Bishop’s Stortford or the Yorvik Centre or Verulamium Abbey, but the to the Serengeti National Park, yes the Seren flippin’ geti!
Travelling in up front in the safari jeep, with a group of very excited children in the back, I sat with a permanently smug look on my face as I couldn’t help thinking to myself that I could possibly be on the best bus-man’s holiday ever.
Located in north-central Tanzania, bordered by Lake Victoria to the west, Lake Eyasi in the south and the Great Rift Valley to the east, the Serengeti Plain is world renowned as an ideal location for wildlife and nature photography. Its sweeping vistas cover over 60,000 square kilometres, which is about the size of Northern Ireland, and the area offers some of the most breathtaking and undisturbed natural habitats found anywhere on earth, with more than two million herbivores and thousands of predators.
Seeing scores of zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, gazelles, buffalos and elephants freely roaming around in the vast space and watching families of big cats lounging around in the sun is a truly magical experience.
In addition to this, I learned about so many new animals, I had never even heard off – the dik-dik, thompson’s gazelle, rock hyrax, secretary bird, kudu, impala, superb starling and my particular favourite the impressively coiffured grey crowned crane. Although, on one occasion I did let my guard down and blurted out a rather unprofessional laugh in front of my students when the guide said he had spotted a kori bustard in the grass (and if you are curious it’s a bird, if like me you didn’t know!).
I’ve learned so much about the flora of Tanzania too and can now tell the different between an Acacia Tortilis (Umbrella Tree) and an Acacia drepanolobium (Whistling thorn).
In short, the scenery was breath-taking, the animals incredible and my students were impeccably well behaved.
A personal highlight was sharing a boiled egg with a pair of very cheeky mongooses. Ever since I was about 7 and knew that a mongoose could kill a snake, an animal I am a little more than scared of, the mongoose became my favourite creature. So when I sat down to have my lunch in one of the designated picnic areas in the Serengeti and spotted a group of these little creatures nearby, I could hardly believe my luck and sat as quietly as I could, hoping one would come near enough to me for me to get it one film.

A close up meeting with one of my favourite animals ever – a mongoose
I almost exploded with excitement when two of the mongooses came so close that they even shared a little of my food (and I know I was not meant to feed them, but I felt that in the circumstances it was an exception). Judging from the little glint in this mongoose’s eye, I believe he (or she) too knew that we were kindred spirits.
Here are a few snaps from my trip…
- Cheetah on the lookout in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Crowned stork in the Serengeti National Park
- Giraffe and Whistling Acacia trees in the Serengeti National Park
- Migration of the Wildebeest in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Cape Buffalo in the Serengeti National Park
- Tree in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania
- Wildebeest in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Ostriches in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Superb Starling in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- African Elephant in the Serengeti National Park
- Thomson Gazalle in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- The Spotted Hyena in the Serengeti National Park
- Buddha Belly flower at Bunda Campsite near the Serengeti
- A very bold hyrax in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Acacia Trees in the Serengeti Landscape
- Euphorbia – Symmetry in Nature, a species of Euphorbia at Bunda Campsite near the Serengeti
- African Elephant in the Serengeti National Park
- Male impala in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Female impalas in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Zebras in the Serengeti National Park
- A family of banded mongooses at the campsite in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
- Giraffe in the Serengeti National Park
- A pride of lions in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Here I am with my year 6 students, and an old fashioned selfie in the wing mirror of the safari car.
- 6I and 6M on the Year 6 Isamilo School Trip in February 2015
- Wing-mirror selfie in the Safari Jeep in Tanzania
Ann Curran February 12, 2015
So pleased you (and your pupils) had such a fantastic trip. What did you bribe the wildlife with to get such fantastic photos !? So pleased you are embracing the whole African experience. Continued enjoyment to you all. Ann xx
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 20:37:34 +0000 To: ann.curran@hotmail.co.uk
alidunnell February 13, 2015
Thanks Ann… Tips for photos… get a good zoom and a bit of nerve! Much love, Ali x
Bill & Joan Dunnell February 13, 2015
Can’t wait to see it for ourselves. xx
alidunnell February 13, 2015
You will love it Joan… so so much. We can’t wait for you and Bill to come and visit. The children are so excited about it. And we are going to the Ngorogoro Crater, which will be out of this world! Much love, Ali xxx
Natasha February 16, 2015
Ha! Ha! Serengeti better than a trip to St Alban’s?! Were there any toffs there that you had to tell to ‘Bog off’? Fantastic to see Ali. Love from your old school trip companion, Tash xxx
alidunnell February 17, 2015
Dear Verulamium Abbey school trip accomplice from 31 years ago… Tash. I did not tell anyone to “bog off”, neither did I kick an expensive lunch box across a mosaic hypocaust floor. But did flout the rules when it came to feeding the mongeese at the Serengeti people’s centre… couldn’t resist! Glad you enjoyed the post. Off to Serengeti again at the end of next month and the Ngorongoro crater. In the meantime I am in charge of the school play and have to get the entire junior school into gear for the greatest performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… Miss you loads and thank you once again for the gifts for the children, they were over the moon. Your old school chum, Ali xxx
TheGlobetrotterGP February 10, 2018
Some beautiful photos! I absolutely loved my safari to Tanzania – I think it was even better than kenya though thats a tough call!
Ali Dunnell February 10, 2018
Thank you 🙂
Brianne Miers February 10, 2018
That sounds like such an incredible experience for you and the students! (and your little friend :-)) Your photos are absolutely stunning, and I hope to see this landscape for myself some day.
Ali Dunnell February 11, 2018
I hope you do too Brianne – the Serengeti is so beautiful 🙂
Megan Indoe February 10, 2018
Wow, such amazing wildlife photography!! What an amazing experience for you and the students! We would love to experience a safari one day ourselves!
Ali Dunnell February 11, 2018
It really is a wonderful experience 🙂
Kaylie | Happiness Travels Here February 11, 2018
Wow your photos are amazing! I love mongoose as well!
Ali Dunnell February 11, 2018
Thanks Kaylie – I really wish I could own a family of Mongooses, they are so cool 🙂
Gemma Laing February 11, 2018
This sounds amazing, you’ve really expressed your experience so gorgeously! And the photos are amazing ❤️
Ali Dunnell February 11, 2018
Thank you Gemma 🙂
sandykul February 12, 2018
Eee Africa is one of my dream destination! I LOVE your photos. Thanks for sharing <3
Ali Dunnell February 12, 2018
Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting 🙂
MC Adventure Blog July 5, 2018
That is such a stunning photo of a cheetah! I’ve in Africa for 27 years and still not seen a wild one. Definitely an amazing school trip 🙂
alidunnell July 7, 2018 — Post Author
Thanks so much – they often sit on that rock and watch over the Serengeti plain – just amazing animals 🙂
kamranAwan October 22, 2018
The way you express experience is great..
alidunnell October 31, 2018 — Post Author
Thank you 🙂
Nina Out and About February 3, 2019
The shot of the leopard on the rock totally captivated me. It’s the reason I clicked on this post and then there were more absolutely brilliant shots!
alidunnell February 8, 2019 — Post Author
Thanks so much Nina – I also love this photo of the cheetah – by the mongoose is the favourite 😉