The bathrooms in Tanzania's national parks are so clean and convenient that they easily rival those in many hotels and airports.

Inside, everything is so spotless it practically sparkles.

This shot was earned through long waiting in pouring rain. But what a rush! A real wildlife photo hunt :)

We drove up to a tree where a leopard was supposedly hanging out. We stopped and waited for some action. About a dozen other vehicles were waiting with us. About 10 minutes later, we managed to spot a raised head, and then silence again.

After a while, waiting gets exhausting and people start leaving. Even we couldn't take it anymore and drove off. But we came back a couple of hours later to try our luck again. By that time, only two vehicles were left.

Heavy rain started pouring. Suddenly the grass rustled: the leopard didn't feel like lying in the water and leisurely went off to find a new spot. The predator showed up for just a few seconds and far away. But even so, not bad at all.

The guides radioed their colleagues about the movement and literally within a couple of minutes a dozen vehicles came rushing over. However, silence fell again, and we drove off feeling like we'd done our duty.

PS. The leopard is definitely in the photo. You just need to look more carefully (:

The guide-drivers have a very tight-knit community. They constantly share with each other the spots where they've seen animals, road conditions, and other useful information. Throughout the day there are frequent short stops to exchange news.

In addition to in-person communication, they even have a radio channel like long-haul truckers do. So if someone spots a leopard or some other rare bird, the others quickly mobilize to get there.

No one drives past a stuck car without stopping (well, unless there's already enough help), they always lend a hand.

Inside the parks, people never even lock their cars. Everyone's part of the community. But outside the parks, you have to be more careful.

Tourists swarmed all over a poor little monkey right before entering the national park. Inside the park there will be plenty more of them and even way more interesting ones, but the girls don't know what they're getting into yet :)

We had a light rain overnight, so the roads in the parks turned into rivers. No wonder the entrance sign says they only let 4x4 vehicles through.

We had planned to spend the night in a national park (you're allowed to do that there), but things didn't go according to plan with the accommodation.

The driver called ahead to confirm our arrival time, when suddenly it turned out that they mixed up the dates on their end and aren't expecting us at all today: everyone except the security guard was sent home.

The driver said the security guard could check us in, and the driver himself used to work as a chef for 7 years. So we decided to head there anyway. When we arrived, we found out that dinner was far from our biggest problem. The rooms weren't ready, something was wrong with the water, we couldn't get the car in order, and basically everything was a mess.

We had to urgently find other accommodation. We were driving to it in the dark on unpaved roads (on one hand it's an adventure, on the other hand not so much (: ). We arrived when it was completely dark, but everything's good.

The internet is absolutely terrible. I'll post photos later.

The park has a specially equipped dining area. During lunch, you need to keep a close eye on your food and not let your guard down. The monkeys aren't napping—they're constantly scheming ways to snatch a piece of your meal.

They usually sneak up from behind, grab something off the table, and bolt with their prize. I managed to protect my lunch all by myself :)

When people spot something really interesting and rare in the park (like a cheetah), it creates local traffic jams.

Everyone wants to see some action, but the cheetah just sits in the bushes thinking about life. Still, everyone waits around hoping something exciting will happen.

Usually after 10-15 minutes of waiting for who knows what, people get bored and leave, only to be replaced by new folks hungry for a show.

Tanzania has some amazing national parks (with wildlife). Nearly 40% of the country's territory is dedicated to them.

You can explore them on your own, but when I was planning the trip, it didn't seem like a great idea (at least not for the first time). Fortunately, local companies offer tons of ready-made safari routes (depending on your budget and preferences).

For safaris, they use customized extended cruisers (occasionally rovers) with enlarged fuel tanks and pop-up roofs (not like convertible tops, but literally rising up). The guide told me that customization costs can reach $80,000 (astronomical money for locals; on Zanzibar you can buy a decent house for $20k).

The white beauty in the photo is going to be my best friend for the next few days.

Pedestrian walkways in Spain are hit or miss in some places. The sidewalks are so narrow that barely one person can fit. And there are constant stairs going up and down. On the other hand, at least there's some kind of pedestrian zone.

Lassen Park is only open for 2-3 months a year. Because of its elevation of 2000+ meters and location, the snow doesn't melt until around July. Right now it's only +10°C at night, though it's still warm during the day. But soon it'll get really cold. About 0.5M people pass through the park each year (compare that to Yosemite — 4M). That's why it's easier to spot wildlife here: the human trails aren't as heavily trafficked.

The park is one of the few places in the world that has volcanoes of all four types. And with volcanoes comes plenty of geysers, sulfur springs, and other boiling lakes. I'll send photos this evening.

In the national parks where there were warning signs about bears on every corner, I didn't see a single one. In Lassen, where there aren't any warnings at all, I saw two in just two days!

The bears here aren't aggressive – if you make a lot of noise, they'll just take off. Of course, you still shouldn't get too close to them or, especially, try to feed them.

Just got back from an area with no internet. Spent the night at a campground in Lassen Park.

The campground infrastructure in the US is really impressive. Everything you need is there: toilets, fire pits with grills, tables, metal bear boxes for food, and some even have showers. You just need to bring your own tent and food.

It's really important to put all your food in the box for the night—if you leave anything in your car, animals can break in by following the smell.

There's this story going around about how someone left fruit in a yellow car at one of the parks, and a bear broke in during the night. After that, for several months, bears kept breaking into all the yellow cars in that park looking for food.

Even though it was Friday—a workday—there were quite a few people around. In a couple of spots, we even had to sit in traffic within the park and do an extra loop looking for a parking space. My friends say that compared to weekends (especially long ones), the park was pretty empty. Plus, the season is basically winding down now: the waterfalls have almost dried up.

If you show up at the wrong time (during peak season on weekends), you'll lose a bunch of time dealing with crowds of people wanting to enjoy the local scenery.

Made it to Yosemite Valley. Saw a disappearing waterfall for the first time. The water flows down, but literally dissolves along the way. Looks really cool.

Bears live in the redwood forest area. Detailed instructions on what to do if you encounter them are posted at the entrance. Throughout the entire park, there are bear-proof trash cans like these. Everything is done to ensure that animals continue to find food naturally rather than rummaging through human garbage.

Finally made it to the sequoias. They're absolutely gigantic. And there's a whole forest of them! Can't fit a single one in a photo.

I thought it would be fair to show you the crowds that gather here during holiday weekends. It's better to visit on weekdays if you can.

That's all for the waterfalls. Honestly (:

There's another park about 30 km away. This one costs money (a whole $8!). But way fewer people, though still quite a few. It actually feels more interesting in some spots, honestly.

I got to see so many waterfalls today. It was absolutely amazing. And the weather was perfect.

You can never have too many waterfalls, and since they exist in the northern part of the state, that means we have to go there (:

I wanted to visit this place back in 2013, but couldn't fit everything into the route. Now it finally worked out. Watkins glen park. Hooray!