Speke Bay, Lake Victoria

Speke Bay is located in the south-eastern part of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, East Africa. It is 15 kilometres from the Serengeti National Park, and 125 kilometres north of Mwanza. Speke Bay is part of Speke Gulf, named after the famous explorer John Hanning Speke, who, in 1858, discovered Lake Victoria to be the source of the Nile. 

The second largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Victoria dominates the area with its 70,000 km² surface.

The area is ideal for birdwatching as the lake attracts a variety of large water birds. The area is very pretty and as the lake virtually borders the western Serengeti.

You might find that lodges in the Masai Mara or Serengeti National Park offer day trips or fishing expeditions to Lake Victoria but it has never really featured on the Tanzanian or Kenyan tourism circuit. The Rubondo IslandNational Park - located in the southern portion of the lake - is the only major highlight of a visit to this area.

Despite its huge size, the murky lake is quite shallow - only 100 metres at its deepest. The giant lake borders three African countries - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Travelling between these countries via the lake is, sadly, a luxury of the past.

The basin is home to the Luo people, who moved into the area from Sudan in the 15th century and are now Kenya's third largest ethnic group. Although Western Kenya does not attract many tourists and is blissfully free of safari minibuses, it is the most densely populated area in the country and the most productive.

(taken from Go2Africa.com)

Our stay here was in the Speke Bay Lodge, a little village-type spot.   Each couple had a small round thatch roofed hut, looking out onto the beach.

The lake is a haven for birds!

and is renowned for beautiful sunsets.

The next morning a huge assortment of fishing vessels were out on the lake

pulling in tilapia, the predominant catch in the lake fishing industry.

The grounds were so well kept and beautiful.

Ready to depart and spend another day on safari!

Our group with the lake in the background.

Next stop - Serengeti!

Homes

These are all pictures of houses we saw while driving from the Masai Mara Reserve, crossing the border into Tanzania, and heading to Speke Bay on Lake Victoria.

The Others

Besides seeing the big herds of animals and the amazing big five, there were lots of other interesting birds and animals in the Mara.

Ostriches always seemed to be heading away from us and we figured out they are really quite shy.  This part of the reserve has been burnt off as part of the conservation management plan in order to allow fresh new grass to grow back.

Right outside our hotel balcony was a whole colony of mongoose, playing and chasing each other.  We never did see a snake during our whole time in Africa - which was just fine with me!

Waterbuck were also elusive but we spotted this one along a little waterway.

Chris would often scan the tops of the trees to find vultures, who were a good indication of carrion that might have been left by big cats. 

And he was usually right!  The acacia trees provide a perfect perch for these guys.

This topi baby was very new - maybe just born in the last few hours.

The funniest animals were the warthogs.  As soon as they were scared, off they would run with their tail sticking straight up in the air!  We were reminded of The Lion King movie many times.

Secretary birds are about 4 feet tall and wander along, eating rodents, snakes and insects.  They were named this because their wing feathers made good quills for writing.

And then there were the hyenas - we never expected to find them in mud but that's where they go to cool off.  They were not the most lovable of the animals at all!

Herds

We were amazed at the sheer numbers of animals we saw in the Mara.  There were herds everywhere!

Thompson's gazelles

zebras

elephants

and most impresssive - the wildebeests

The abundance of mammals in East Africa is unrivaled anywhere in the world!  It was mind boggling!

More In The Mara

Further along the river, we came to a place where 3 large pods of hippos were resting.  There were more than 200 hippos in total - an amazing site to see.  Some were out of the water, nibbling on grass, some were getting comfortable in the water and some were sound asleep.  Before we left on our trip Meadow had asked us to take a picture of a hippo so every time we saw some, I was snapping away, thinking of her.  There really are fascinating animals - and are considered the most dangerous of the African animals., especially if you come between them and their water home, where they feel safe.  We were happy to watch them from inside our vehicle.

Things to know about hippos - from Wikipedia:

The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers and lakes where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land.

Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored. The secretion is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat," but is neither blood nor sweat. This secretion is initially colorless and turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown. Two distinct pigmentshave been identified in the secretions, one red (hipposudoric acid) and one orange (norhipposudoric acid). The two pigments are highly acidic compounds. Both pigments inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria; as well, the light absorption of both pigments peaks in the ultraviolet range, creating a sunscreen effect. All hippos, even those with different diets, secrete the pigments, so it does not appear that food is the source of the pigments. Instead, the animals may synthesize the pigments from precursors such as the amino acid tyrosine.^[33]

Adult hippos cannot swim and are not buoyant. When in deep water, they usually propel themselves by leaps, pushing off from the bottom. They move at speeds up to 8 km/h (5 mph) in water. However, young hippos are buoyant and more often move by swimming—propelling themselves with kicks of their hind legs. Adult hippos typically resurface to breathe every 3–5 minutes. The young have to breathe every two to three minutes.^[8] The process of surfacing and breathing is automatic, and even a hippo sleeping underwater will rise and breathe without waking. A hippo closes its nostrils when it submerges.

The Great Migration

One of the things we hoped to see while on safari was the great migration of wildebeests - and we were so fortunate to witness an actual river crossing!!

Here's what the Masai Mara website says:

The Great Migration is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating back to the early 1960s. In the late 19th century a rinderpest epidemic eliminated over 90% of the wildebeest and cattle in the region. To prevent a further spreading of the disease, cattle was inoculated by veterinarians, and the disease soon disappeared from the area. As a result, the wildebeest population boomed in the 60´s and 70´s, from 260,000 to the 1.4 million individuals that currently inhabit the Serengeti - Masai Mara ecosystem.

The growing herds were thus forced to migrate in their search for water and grazing grassland, starting the circular migratory route. The first seasonal treks were probably observed -and documented- in the 60s by Dr. Grzimek, who first described a definite pattern in the migratory moves.

In spite of the exceptionality and sheer beauty of the event, not everybody sees it with sympathy. The Maasai, for example, must rear their livestock in competition with the migrant herbivores, which they regard as transmitters of diseases and guilty of poisoning the rivers with their foetal sacs.

If you're planning a photographic safari to the Masai Mara, make sure you coincide with the wildebeest migration (best between late July and September). Otherwise, if your schedule imposes travelling during a non-migration period, consider the Serengeti National Park. In any case, make the impossible to be in the right place and at the right time for meeting the wildebeest and their co-migrant companions and foes.


This map shows the route of the migration.  

So here is what we saw - and just to let you know it will seem like a lot of pictures but I've tried to give you a glimpse of the progression that we watched.


When we drove up to the river, we saw hippos and alligators and a lone zebra.

And then Chris noticed that a line of wildebeests was starting to form and they were heading to the river.  In his very quiet, unassuming way he let us know that something interesting might start to develop - and he was so right!

                                       

The animals milled around on the bank-

as more and more of them gathered.

Then suddenly the first one took the plunge and soon they were jumping into the river -

one after another, swimming across-

until suddenly a big white crane flew along the river bank and frightened some and they turned back.  You can see the dust here as they turned and headed back, regrouping and milling but not approaching the river again.

Soon the ones that had crossed started to come through the trees, emerging on our side of the river and plodding on their way.

The total time that elapsed was 15 minutes, exactly (I checked on our photo info!).  Chris said that in the 9 years he's been working as a tour guide, this was only the 4th time he'd seen a river crossing.  Once they spent several hours waiting, watching the animals gather and finally left because people had to go to the washroom.   By the time they returned, just a short time later, the animals were all across the river!  We really were in the right spot at the right time - again!!

This was the scene across the river!  At one point there were 30 safari vehicles lined  up over there - and 5 more were on our side.  I think this event was a highlight for all 4 of us.  It was the kind of thing you see documented in National Geographic and we were actually there!!  From the beginning of our planning, Clarence especially had hoped we'd get to see it - and we did!!