1/3 of the park is grassy Plains. The rest is woodland, river line forest, rocky hills and rivers. The volcanic soils in its plains were laid down 3 to 4,000,000 years ago, being a product of volcanic ashes blowing from the near by crater highlands. The depth of the soil is shallow so trees have a hard time surviving. It was declared a game reserve in 1929 and became Tanzania‘s first national park in 1951. It has an area of 5700 mi.², slightly larger than the state of Connecticut. Seeing these animals in their natural habitat is just undescribable. We got so close to them. Is a good thing we were inside Landcruisers made by Toyota. The engines last about 10 years, but the body needs annual maintenance. Since these were once former English colonies, the driver is on the right side of the vehicle. There is even a snorkel that runs up the side of the driver‘s window to provide air to the motor if the vehicle is submerged in water. Besides the driver and the front seat passenger, the vehicle holds six people. The roof raises up so that you can stand up on the seat and see out. Riding in the backseat was very bouncy. It really is the best vehicle for the job. Our drivers ate highly skilled, not only in driving but in knowing the plants and animals. So here are the pictures. I just couldn’t help taking lots of pictures. On a previous post, I mistakenly identified hippos as rhinos. I have corrected it.

More elephant pictures. Elephants are born with six set of teeth. Every so many years they lose a set. When they’ve lost their last set of teeth, they will eventually die because they can’t chew food. A mama elephant will nurse a baby for up to four years. At five years, the male children are thrown out of the pack.

Now for the hippos. The pink spots on some of the hippos is caused by injury to the skin. They have the ability to produce internally some kind of salve that protects the injury from an infection. It is pink.