Monkeys, and the Journey to the Serengeti

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Day 6

We met after breakfast at the very civilised time of 8am. We had been expecting some early starts, so it made for a more leisurely ease into things. We changed places in the jeep today, which is standard practise on safaris so everyone gets a turn in each place. This meant it was our day at the font of the jeep. On our way out of the lodge, a small boy was trying to sell us a chameleon, which we debated whether just to buy and release further down the road.

Our day started with a game drive in Lake Manyara NP. The park is approx 330sq km, of which 230km is the lake. The remainder is tall forest and woodland, and it is home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world.

Almost immediately as we entered the park, we saw baboons in great numbers, and a little further along vervet monkeys which are much smaller and nicer looking. In the trees we kept on seeing African starlings, and we also saw a Ground Hornbill with its giant red bill. The list of other animals included: elephants, impala, warthogs, giraffes, buffalo and dik dik - which are the smallest of the antelope family and small enough to smuggle home in a bag! Our game drive took us round to the hippo pool, were we saw a large number of hippo noses poking out of the water, but they were some distance away. We also saw a bushback, which is another sort of antelope, and one lonely wilderbeest, which out guide thought must of been separated from its group.

After the game drive, we returned to the Lake Manyara hotel for lunch, which was very nice, before heading off on the 5 hour drive to the Serengeti. We looked for the chameleon boy as we left, but we must have missed out to another group, because the young lad was empty handed as we passed by.

Considering the length of the drive, and the bumpyness of the roads, the journey was less painful than we thought it would be as the was always something to see out of the windows. On the highway, we had the roof down, as it was too windy and dusty everytime we passed another vehicle or one came the other way.

We entered the Ngorongoro Conservation area through a gateway, where our driver had to pay the fees to enter. This part is a conservation area rather than a NP, means that the Masai people can still farm their cattle and goats, but they are mixed in with the wild animals, so its not unusal to see impala, zebra or ostrichs next to the goats! It is always children you see herding the animals rarely adults. At the gate to the Serengeti, again we had fees to pay before we could enter the park. This is where we hoped the excitment would begin!

We were not on a formal game drive really, just driving to the Lodge after a long day in the jeep, but straight away, without making any effort we spotted a jackel in the long grasses. This is the dry season, so the grass is long and very yellow, The animals that remain here that havent migrated to the Mara are those that can survive longer without water. We also saw a black backed jackel lurking in the grass, as well as ostrich, impala, a bustard, giraffes, Thompsons gazelles and a couple of submerged hippos.

The lodge was again lovely. At the briefing, we were told that we could not leave our room at night after 7.30am without an escort from a member of staff as the hotel has no fences and the animals may roam into the grounds! We thought this was a bit excessive! On the way to the room, there was a gentle reminder as a couple of dik dik's were eating the vegetation outside someone's room. We duly went to dinner and afterwards, waited for our escort back to the room. We were only on our game drive at 8am, so it wasnt too bad and we could stay up for a drink and the delights of the African entertainment in the bar afterwards!

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Photos

Giraffe
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