Safari Day 2

January 26, 2019

Safari Day 2

We left the first camp at about 9:30. In the morning, we explored the rim of Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Our itinerary said we’d go to the Serengeti on Day 2 but since safaris can spend only 24 hours in the Serengeti, it’s better to arrive there in the afternoon so that the next morning one can do an early morning game drive. Ngorongoro is a huge area, almost 8300 sq km / 3200 sq miles, so it’s easy to spend a couple of days there, both on the rim and in the crater.  The biggest draw to Ngorongoro is the crater which hosts most of the animals like the endangered black rhinos. (On Monday, day 4, we went into the crater.)

Here are photos taken from a viewpoint on the rim. What you see is Lake Magati. It’s about 1 mile straight down to the bottom. (Notice the wifi sign.  HeeHee)

That morning, we saw lots of scenery and animals so take a quick look.

Baobab Tree

Elephants...again

Don't remember the name but it's lovely.

Ostriches can be 4 meters high!

More ostriches

Can you see the lion head, right center?

Fighting Impala

Same fighting impala

Giraffes

Notice the termite hill....

A view....

Before going into the Serengeti, we stopped for lunch. Here you see a ½ sandwich with a filling of margarine and grated carrots. Yes, I gave it a taste—two bites, actually.  The first one didn’t count because I couldn’t believe what I was tasting. The samosa was excellent.

Here are some of the other visitors we dined with.

At the rest stop, we climbed up a hill and saw a gorgemous view. Well, I guess my backside isn’t exactly the view you were expecting….

Finally, back on the road, we made it to the entrance of the Serengeti.  Phil remarked that it’d be a good place for a pub. (LOL!)

Now we began to see Africa in it’s raw natural state.  We saw a carcass along the side of the road.  Notice the lion to the right and back a bit. (You might need to enlarge it.)

There were lots of lions in the Serengeti.  I was reminded of the Lion King.

Although lions are natural enemies of zebras, they occupy the same space, seemingly peacefully.  We came upon a pride of sleeping lions. A few feet away, were the cubs and in the background, you can see the zebras cautiously grazing and watching.

Speaking of zebras, they were everywhere. Some of them were brown instead of black and white striped.  I thought that was odd until I realized that they roll around on the ground and the brown is actually the sticky dirt on their black and white hide.

Wildebeasts.  What strange creatures. What are they?  Janet says that they seemed to have been designed by a committee. Their faces are a bit like horses, but there’s a hairy bump behind the neck, somewhat like a buffalo (but way smaller), then they have a narrow backside with skinny legs and a long swishing tale.  They kind of lope along. What odd creatures.

Every year the wildebeest migration takes place in January.  Usually, it’s earlier in the month but huge herds of these animals move north.  This takes place in only a few days so most people on safari don’t get to see the great migration.  The migration was late this year because there has been more rain than usual and the herds were enjoying the green grass on the plains of the Serengeti. We were fortunate enough to see several large (did I say BIG) herds of wildebeest moving across the Serengeti.  They would move a ways, then spread out and eat, then move again.  It reminded me of what it must have been like with the buffalo on the plains of the Midwest in the United States 300 years ago. Take a look. This vid is a very small group of wildebeasts in migration.

Now comes the most exciting part of the day.  It was late in the afternoon…approaching evening really.  We joined some other safari jeeps that were parked on both sides of a small field.  As our eyes adjusted to the outlines of the grass, we saw a leopard that appeared to be stalking….something.  Occasionally, he stopped… and waited… and watched.

ALL OF A SUDDEN!! the leopard moved! Briefly, we saw that he had grabbed an animal in his mouth.  Before we could blink, he was in the tree and the dead baby impala was draped over a branch.  It happened so quickly! so fast! that our brains couldn’t process what had actually happened.  After a few seconds, there was a collective gasp as we realized that we had just seen an authentic kill on the Serengeti. It’s beyond words to describe!!!

Take a close look at the leopard's face. It's a little dark from early evening shadows.

Our guide, Ronald, said that what we saw was extremely rare. First of all, leopards are solitary creatures who hide in the trees away from the safaris. Very few visitors get to see them.  THEN, to see a leopard stalk and kill an animal is practically unheard of.  Ronald said that he didn’t know of anyone who had seen a leopard kill like that.  I was completely overwhelmed with awe.

As we drove to camp, I looked out over the serenity and beauty of the Serengeti and wondered about my small place in the world.

The second night we stayed in a more primitive camp.  The tents were quickly put up in a large field. We had to set up quickly because it was dusk when we arrived and we didn’t want to try to organize everything in the dark. I bunked in with Marianne that night.  Other groups of campers were sitting around campfires doing all the noisy fun things you do around a campfire. Although I wore my earplugs for part of the night, the ground was hard through my pad and the cooks were up at 3:30 to start breakfast. The rest of us rose at 5:30 to be ready to leave at 6:10 after a quick cup of coffee.

(A Fun Sign on a portable kiosk beside the road in a village: “Mr. Barack Obama”)

So, on to Safari Day 3.