East Africa Day 7 - Safari: Ngorongoro to Serengeti
Here is the detail we received from our safari company for our safari today: After breakfast, you will continue towards the fertile highlands where wheat and corn are grown by the Iraqw people. Along the way we'll pass through the mist-shrouded rainforests of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where you might be lucky enough to see baboons, or even leopards and elephants in the dense undergrowth. Passing through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, you will be able to see the breath-taking Ngorongoro Crater before traveling onwards to the Serengeti National Park, which you will reach by midday. The Serengeti National Park is the largest park in Tanzania with diverse landscapes and habitats, such as grassy plains, swamps, lakes, savannah and mountains. After an extensive game drive, you will drive to your accommodation where you will enjoy dinner and an overnight stay.
We started our day at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It was only about a 15 minute drive from our accommodations. We entered the conservation area and headed to a viewpoint. The entire area was blanketed in a thick fog so we couldn’t really see anything from the viewpoint. Richard explained that down below us as the Ngorongoro Caldera. A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses. This is one of the largest calderas in the world and is considered one of the wonders of Africa. Richard told us it is often foggy here and we could likely be able to see the caldera from another vantage point later in the day. Richard also explained the difference between a national park and conservation area. The national parks are strictly for the preservation of animals and habitat and no people are allowed to reside there. A conservation area allows people and animals to coexist. Some Maasai people live in Ngorongoro. They can’t kill the animals and they can’t plant crops so they raise cattle instead. Richard also told us about Micheal and Bernhardt Grzimek. They were Germans who lobbied to protect Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. They were also scientists who tracked the wildebeest migration. Micheal actually died in a plane crash. He was tracking the wildebeests when a vulture got into his plane engine. He is buried at Ngorongoro.
After the viewpoint we continued on our way. The sun came out and the fog lifted. Then we were treated to stunning landscapes and we saw some animals. Our first animal sighting of the day was a dazzle of zebras. As we continued toward the Serengeti we did get to see the Ngorongoro caldera. We also saw a few towers of giraffes, as well as a flock of ostriches and another dazzle of zebra and some interesting birds. Along with the animals, we saw many Maasai settlements and people, as well as their cattle and goats. We made a stop at one monument in the park dedicated to two humanoid skulls that were found in Ngorongoro.
A herd of animals in the caldera below
A dazzle of zebras
A traditional Maasai village
A Maasai woman walking across the distant plain
Augur Buzzard
Secretarybird
Thompson Gazelle
Agamid Lizard
Spotted Kestrel
Eventually we reached the entrance to Serengeti National Park. It starts right where Ngorongoro Conservation area ends. The motto of the National Park is “Serengeti Shall Never Die”, which we thought was a nice sentiment. Richard told us the word Serengeti came from the Maasai language and means “endless plain”. It only took two minutes of driving on the Serengeti to see why they chose this name. It does seem to stretch on forever.
Collared Lizard
The first animal we came across was a hyena. Alison is not a fan of hyenas. She likes to say they are mean little bastards, but even she was impressed. We also saw numerous herds of antelope and some jackals. As well as some interesting birds. That was mostly it until we got to the next gate.
Hyena
Impala
Steppe Eagle
Side-striped Jackal
At the next gate we ate lunch and used the restrooms before heading further into the park. Richard took time to show us a map of Ngorongoro which is where we started the day. He also showed us a map of Serengeti. This is a large park and he told us we would see the most animal life in the center of the park. He liked to tell us the Serengeti has everything.
After lunch we saw more antelope and birds. As well as other animals that grazed. It was a little past midway through the day and it didn’t seem like we had seen too much today. Alison and I were beginning to think it might not be a great safari day. However, we learned not to judge things to quickly on safari because your luck can change so fast.
Kori Bustard
Secretarybird
Coke's Hartebeest
Topi
Herd of Thompson Gazelles
Umbrella Thorn Acacia
Richard turned us off the main road onto a side path that was little more than two well worn tire tracks through the grass. I think it is important to mention here that Richard is an excellent navigator. There are no signs in the Serengeti National Park and he navigates without a map or any directions. He is a total pro. He told us this area was leopard territory and that we should keep our eyes on the tree branches to see if we could spot a tail or paw hanging down. As we approached one tree he thought he saw a tail, but then he thought it was a branch. We stopped and pulled out some binoculars and sure enough it was a tail. There was a leopard lounging on a tree branch. It was amazing.
Do you spot the leopard?
Spotting a leopards is fairly difficult since they are quite secretive and tend to be solitary. Of the big 5 (lions, elephants, African Buffalo, leopards, and rhinoceros) leopards are the second most difficult to find and only because rhinos are endangered. This one was sitting so that we could see it’s entire body. Richard suggested we hang out and watch the leopard to see what it would do. We stayed for nearly an hour. While we were there the leopard got up and walked to another part of the tree. It moved around quite a bit. We noticed it had a nasty looking gash on its neck. Richard said it was probably from the horn a midsize antelope, the tusks of a warthog, or a bite from another leopard. It seemed to be doing okay, despite the wound.
While we were watching the leopard it began to rain. At first the rain was coming down softly, be eventually it became harder. It got hard enough that we put down the pop top and watched the leopard from open windows. Then it really started to pour. Richard advised us that we better get out of there before our path turned so muddy we would get stuck. He hightailed it out of there like a bat out of hell. He navigated the muddy trail like a champ and we never even got close to getting stuck.
I think it is important to note what would happen if we get stuck, because Alison’s mom was worried about us getting stuck or breaking down in a remote area of the Serengeti. Richard told us first he would try to get us out. The Toyota Land-cruiser is well equipped to handle all sorts of situations. If that didn’t work Richard would call for help from other guides. All of the guide vehicles have radios that the drivers use to communicate about where they see interesting animals. They also use the radio to get help in case of an emergency.
Richard drove us to a spot where the rain was coming down lightly. Here there was a pond that contained a bloat of hippopotamus. They were so cool. We watched the hippos wiggle their little ears in real life. There were also a couple of baby hippos wrestling in the water. It was unreal. When we turned around and looked the other direction there was a lioness. What is this? Hippos on our right and a lioness on our left. The lioness got up and walked away. We followed at a distance and notched she also had an injury on her back flank, which is probably why she was alone.
A bloat of hippos
Grey Heron
A siege of Grey Herons
We watched these baby hippos playing
A lioness
This lioness has a nasty wound above her back leg
We headed up the road and came upon a parade of 50+ elephants. There were so many, and there were even some baby elephants. We were so excited. We sat and watched the herd for a while.
A parade of elephants
We had just moved on and were heading in another direction when a call came over the radio. There were two cheetahs right by the elephants. We raced back and sure enough on the other side of the road were two cheetah brothers. Again what world is this? Cheetahs on our left and elephants on our right. It was crazy. Richard explained it is quite common for cheetah brothers to stick together and hunt together. We sat and watched them looking for something until eventually they ran off into the bush and we lost sight of them.
Cheetah
In the meantime the parade of elephants had moved right up to the road. We were once again enamored with this herd. The elephants were close enough we could hear them chewing. We watched groups of young elephants play with what looked like unbridled joy. We also saw a young elephant breastfeed from its mother right in front of our vehicle. It was a cute little baby elephant. Richard told us that it was less than one year old because it could still walk underneath its mother. Eventually the elephants crossed the road right in front of us. It was incredible.
Taken on an iPhone to show some perspective of how close this hard moved toward our parked safari vehicle.
Then we began to make our way to our accommodations for the evening. We stopped to see wildlife on the way. The coolest thing we saw was another hippopotamus. This one was out of the water. This is so cool. Usually hippos come out of the water at night to eat grass. Since it was cloudy, this one was getting an early start.
Yellow-beaked Stork
Common Reedbuck
Egyptian Geese
Black-headed Heron
White-bellied Bustard
Topi
Herd of Hartebeast
Eventually we arrived at the Serengeti Heritage tented camp. We are basically glamping for the next couple of nights on the Serengeti. We have our own tent that is complete with a private bathroom. It is quite nice. What more could you want. We sat out on our porch as the sun went down. We aren’t allowed to go out alone after dark so we have to use a walkie-talkie to get an escort. To go to dinner a Maasai guide came and picked us up. We asked him what animal we could hear near our tents and he told us it was hyenas, hence the no being alone after dark. He also shined his flashlight on some nearby jackals. This is really a unique place to stay. We both showered tonight because hot water is only available at certain hours of the night. Then we got ready for bed. As I am writing this we are laying in bed in our tent listening to a lion roaring in the distance. Male lions roar at night to warn off other male lions and the sound can carry for miles.
The day got off to a little bit of a slow start, but it ended in spectacular fashion. I didn’t think there was any way today could exceed the experience we had yesterday, but somehow it did.
Today it felt like we walked into the song “Africa” by Toto. Not only were we driving around the Serengeti for most of the day, but it rained. I just kept hearing “I bless the rains down in Africa” echoing through my mind.
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