Our tent camp is in the Serengeti National Park, on a little Naagi (small hill) that overlooks the plains which stretch to the horizon. Last night we watched endless lines of wildebeests in migration crossing those plains. Truly amazing.
We have a new camp crew at this location. The food is more about barbecue, and is still really fantastic. Our problem is that we are trying to wean ourselves away from the 6,000 calorie per day diet we got so used to up on the mountain. A very difficult task.
We got up early in the morning and headed out for the early morning animal viewing in the Serengeti. We all piled into three jeeps with roofs that open so we can stand up and watch things from all around. We still have Ben and Cobra as guides, plus we have our three drivers/wildlife experts: Kiago, Shange and Peter. These guys can spot the most amazing things on a bumpy 4wd track that we never would have seen, and we have radio contact between the jeeps so no one misses anything.
Everywhere we go there is a constant mass of wildebeests, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, zebras, and several other prey species. There are hundreds of thousands of animals here, all migrating towards the rains that are coming to this part of the Serengeti. It is baby season here too, so there are one-to two-month old very cute baby wildebeests, gazelles, and zebras everywhere. Unfortunately, they are the easy kills, so we see a lot of carcasses scattered around of said cute babies.
Now for the predators:
On our first jount out of camp, Larry wanted to get out for a phot op. We did that, and freaked Ben out, because we are not supposed to get out of the vehicles. We soon learned why, because about 30 seconds after the photo op, we saw a lion sitting there waiting for breakfast. Later one of the jeeps reported a leopard chasing them, and we all headed toward where they were. The leopard and its cub were in a den, and we were parked nearby to see if they would come out. They did, and then went to hide in the bush nearby and were nearly impossible to see after that.
We saw several Cheetah. One mother and three cubs were having a nice family outing around a freshly killed zebra. We sat and watched as the cubs got up periodically and took a hunk out of the zebra rump and then curled up by mom.
Later, there were a couple of lions sleeping next to a watering hole, clearly well fed. And a huge herd of wildebeest on the hill overlooking the pond- they wanted to go down to the watering hole but that was not an option at that time. Nearby a huge squawking mass of vultures and marabou storks (possibly one of the ugliest birds ever created) were finishing off the zebra carcass that likely was the lion's meal that morning. Nearby was a small herd of elephants with a couple of babies.
We took a mid day siesta, and then went out for an afternoon safari drive in another section. We saw a whole pride of lions sleeping on a hillside, lots of reedbucks along one of the streams, some crowned cranes and other really cool birds, and a few lions working there way to the reedbuck stream. We caught a couple of lions getting jiggy (as our guides phrased it).
PART TWO
Photos:
1. A herd of wildebeest and baby wildebeest
We have a new camp crew at this location. The food is more about barbecue, and is still really fantastic. Our problem is that we are trying to wean ourselves away from the 6,000 calorie per day diet we got so used to up on the mountain. A very difficult task.
We got up early in the morning and headed out for the early morning animal viewing in the Serengeti. We all piled into three jeeps with roofs that open so we can stand up and watch things from all around. We still have Ben and Cobra as guides, plus we have our three drivers/wildlife experts: Kiago, Shange and Peter. These guys can spot the most amazing things on a bumpy 4wd track that we never would have seen, and we have radio contact between the jeeps so no one misses anything.
Everywhere we go there is a constant mass of wildebeests, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, zebras, and several other prey species. There are hundreds of thousands of animals here, all migrating towards the rains that are coming to this part of the Serengeti. It is baby season here too, so there are one-to two-month old very cute baby wildebeests, gazelles, and zebras everywhere. Unfortunately, they are the easy kills, so we see a lot of carcasses scattered around of said cute babies.
Now for the predators:
On our first jount out of camp, Larry wanted to get out for a phot op. We did that, and freaked Ben out, because we are not supposed to get out of the vehicles. We soon learned why, because about 30 seconds after the photo op, we saw a lion sitting there waiting for breakfast. Later one of the jeeps reported a leopard chasing them, and we all headed toward where they were. The leopard and its cub were in a den, and we were parked nearby to see if they would come out. They did, and then went to hide in the bush nearby and were nearly impossible to see after that.
We saw several Cheetah. One mother and three cubs were having a nice family outing around a freshly killed zebra. We sat and watched as the cubs got up periodically and took a hunk out of the zebra rump and then curled up by mom.
Later, there were a couple of lions sleeping next to a watering hole, clearly well fed. And a huge herd of wildebeest on the hill overlooking the pond- they wanted to go down to the watering hole but that was not an option at that time. Nearby a huge squawking mass of vultures and marabou storks (possibly one of the ugliest birds ever created) were finishing off the zebra carcass that likely was the lion's meal that morning. Nearby was a small herd of elephants with a couple of babies.
We took a mid day siesta, and then went out for an afternoon safari drive in another section. We saw a whole pride of lions sleeping on a hillside, lots of reedbucks along one of the streams, some crowned cranes and other really cool birds, and a few lions working there way to the reedbuck stream. We caught a couple of lions getting jiggy (as our guides phrased it).
PART TWO
Photos:
1. A herd of wildebeest and baby wildebeest
2. Baby wildebeest
3. Herd of zebra and babies
4. Kori bustard
5. Pair of elephants
6. Cheetah cub
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