Morning in the Serengeti

We stayed in Serengeti National Park for 3 days and took several game drives.  One day we started out early in the morning and came upon this setting where a company was getting ready for the ballooners to land and enjoy their champagne breakfast.    It looked very elegant with tablecloths and wine bottles set out.  We left the balloon ride for our next trip - it looked like a great activity but would have been an extra $1000 for the 2 of us.  

There were countless species of antelope grazing everywhere.  These are Thompsen's gazelles and Chris always called them "Tommies".

The track wended its way past this quiet pool.

And we used Clarence and Sandra's zoom lens to capture some bird pictures.  This was a lilac-breasted roller.  Rollers are named from a tumbling courtship or territorial display flight in which birds "roll" through the air. (from Mark Nolting's African Safari Journal)  We never saw them flying or rolling, just perching and watching.

Further along the way, we came upon another hippo pool where cranes were standing in the sun on the shore.

And then we found the lions!!  On the other side of the hippo pool, this matron climbed to the top of the hill to lie in the sun - 

while across the way , the rest of the pack was intent on watching a herd of Cape buffalo.  When the lions were standing, the buffalo were very wary and didn't graze.  

But when the lions laid down in the shade, the buffalo went back to grazing.  It was an amazing display of the predator - prey relationship. 

The matriarch left her hilltop -

and sauntered down - 

to cross the road right behind us - 

and rejoined the pride.

This pool, across the road from the lion's tree, marked a crossroads on the trail and after spending an hour or so, we headed out again.  We loved this corner!

Further along, we found another group, this time with cubs.

They were tuckered out and slept soundly beside mama.  We never did see any young lions playing.

All that - and more - before lunch!!

Serengeti Serena

Our hotel in the Serengeti was another interesting spot.

I'm glad I got these pictures with the data on them.  It's so amazing to reflect back on the fact that we were just 2 degrees from the equator at this place!

The hotel was built as a series of individual huts with 3 guest rooms in each one.  We were on the top floor.

There was a good space between each unit and they all blended into the surroundings.  The main dining area and pool was up behind us.  Everything was connected with an extensive walkway system that was lit with clay pots, full of holes and candle lanterns inside them.  At night we were escorted from our room to the dining hall because there are no fences and the animals can come and go as they please.

We had a balcony that looked out over the hills and trees.

The view from our balcony as the sun came up

and the zebras had breakfast right out our door.  The black line on the left side is the balcony post.  Bob had to be really quiet while doing this because zebras spook really easily. 

Loading our luggage again!  Note the two spare tires we now had!  This hotel had a beautiful swimming pool complex but I can't find any pictures of it.  Hmmm - how did I miss that?!  

One more sunset picture, this time with less sun but an acacia tree!

Serengeti

Lest anyone think that we are still in the Serengeti, I better finish these posts before I forget absolutely every detail from our trip!!

During the whole safari, we were inside our vehicle so it was nearly impossible to get pictures of us with animals.  While driving to our hotel, we happened upon this giraffe who was kind enough to give us a photo opportunity!

He was a huge one!

The thorns on the acacia trees were amazing!  So, so long!  The little black balls on this one make a whistling sound when it's windy.

Chris took us to a spot where there was a gigantic group of hippos soaking in the river.  The flow of the river is down alot due to the drought so the dung of the hippos doesn't wash away.  Instead it collects in what looks like mudbanks.

There were so, so many - quite fascinating!

This was Bob's try at capturing an African sunset -

Pretty good try!  Too bad there were no cooperative acacia trees in sight to give that classic African postcard look.  

Serengeti

I was researching information about the Seregeti Plains today and found this interesting list on Wikipedia.

Natural travel wonders

1. Serengeti Migration
2. Galápagos Islands
3. Grand Canyon
4. Antarctica
5. Iguazu Falls
6. Amazon Rainforest
7. Ngorongoro Crater
8. Great Barrier Reef
9. Victoria Falls
10. Bora Bora

I have been to half the places on this list!!  Only 5 more to go :))

Back to the Serengeti:  Covering an area of 30,000 km2 in northwestern Tanzania and southwestern Kenya, the plains are covered with grasslands and more than 70 larger species of mammals can be found here.  Wikipedia goes on to say:  Around October, nearly 2 million herbivores travel from the northern hills toward the southern plains, crossing the Mara River, in pursuit of the rains. In April, they then return to the north through the west, once again crossing the Mara River. This phenomenon is sometimes called the Circular Migration. Over 250,000 wildebeest alone will die along the journey from Tanzania to Masai Mara Reserve in upper Kenya, a total of 500 miles. Death is often caused by injury, exhaustion, or predation.^[1] The migration is chronicled in the 1994 documentary film, Africa: The Serengeti.

We entered the Serengeti National Park (part of the Serengeti Plains area) on the west side at Ndabaka Gate, just a little ways from Speke Bay, after crossing through customs at Isebanjia,  the Tanzania border crossing the day before.  At the border, they were more interested in the registration of our safari vehicle than they were in us!  There is a big market for stolen 4 X 4 vehicles so Chris had to have all the documents in perfect order - which he of course did.  We stood in the shade and watched people come and go while kids selling peanuts and bananas tried, with no success, to convince us to buy something.  Our cameras were tucked safely away as government sites are definite "no photo" zones.  

The park gate - you can see it's 136 km to our hotel.

This was a private safari vehicle that needed a new tire - a fairly common occurrence while driving - 

on these kinds of roads.

We had hardly entered the park when we started spotting animals like this baboon sitting up in a tree -

elephants pushing trees over - 

giraffes grazing on tree tops - 

small herds of wildebeest milling around -

and Thompson's gazelles.  This was a herd of bachelors - you can see they all have horns.  

Females will be found in a harem guarded by a dominant male.  The bachelors will individually challenge him as they mature and begin to look for their own harems.  

Chris spotted this small gazelle carcass that a panther had hauled up into a tree, which they will often do to preserve their kill from other predators.  Can you imagine a cat dragging this UP into a tree??

And this was the morning when we watched the Amazing Elephant Bath!

From two playing in the mud - 

it grew to many rolling and spraying - 

taking turns -

until all 28 had finished and moved off into the forest.  

It was absolutely marvelous and is probably the single thing we have most shared 

and talked about since we got home!

We stayed in this park for 2 nights so stay tuned for many more pictures!!