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Published: December 2nd 2006
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Cheetah kill in the Serengeti
So sorry for the little thing Apologies for the mammoth entry but we've seen so much in such a short space of time so we'll skip to the highlights and try not to ramble on too much. On Sunday we drove out from Kenya to Arusha in Tanzania and on Monday started our journey in 4x4's into the Serengeti via the rim of the Ngorongoro crater so named for the noise the cowbells of the Maasai's cattle make. There are 51,000 Maasai in the conservation area and we saw loads of Maasai villages and the Maasai themselves along the way. We entered the Serengeti past a very dry lake Manyara and the Oldoinyo Lengai Mountain which is the Maasai's God.
First spot into the Serengeti was a pregnant hyena which stank like pure evil. We spotted loads of animals: Zebras, Giraffes, herds of migrating Wildebeest, Gazelles, Antelopes, Buffalo, Lions, Warthogs, heaps of Birds, Hippos etc - many photos to show you all! Just before we reached camp, Copa, our driver, spotted a Cheetah and her cub on the horizon. We decided to hang around to see if they would come any closer, which they did and we then traced them to the watering hole, which was alive
with Zebra and Wildebeest. Mother Cheetah spotted a lone baby Wildebeest and went for the kill but it was saved by it's Mum. The Cheetah didn't give up that easily and hid behind a grass mound at which point another baby Wildebeest appeared, lost and confused. We waited for about 10 mins as the Cheetah prepared to strike again. It was really sad because we were all sitting with cameras poised to catch the impending kill. When the Cheetah eventually struck it shot off at a million miles an hour between the two safari jeeps and caught the Wildebeest in a matter of seconds. Cheetah suffocate their prey, and she waited for her cub to arrive before doing this to teach it strangulation. It was like watching the Discovery Channel, and so rare that even Jorn or Copa hadn't seen anything like it before.
It's quite a weird feeling sleeping in an open camp in the Sergengeti with an abundance of Lions etc roaming about. This wasn't helped by the minging toilets - we could only go by our tents in the night anyway in case anything was lurking.
We did an early morning game drive the next day and
Serengeti sunset
Doesn't get much better than this! watched Lions up to all sorts of things - eating prey, getting it on, and basking in the sun. We managed to spot the elusive Leopard up a tree and later found him on the ground with breakfast (still alive!) - another baby Wildebeest. This was really barbaric, as the Leopard proceeded to 'play with it's food' for a good 15 mins before killing it. One of his games was letting him get away for about 15 metres before digging a couple of claws into his hind legs so he couldn't move. The Wildebeest put up a good fight, butting the Leopard, and standing off to him and after a lot of what looked like play wrestling, he put the helpless thing out of its misery, then hopped up the tree for a snooze. Another amazing sight that neither Jorn nor Copa had ever seen before.
We headed for the Ngorongoro crater via a Maasai village where we witnessed traditonal songs and dance, looked around the huts and saw their kids in the Kindergarten.
Another (very cold) open bush camp was had with Elephants on the doorstep and a view into crater 610 metres below, brimming with its very own
wildlife. We took a game drive into the crater and saw loads more wildlife including hundreds of Flamingo's and had a very close encounter with a massive Elephant. We also saw a pride of Lions with a fresh Bufallo kill. Another amazing sight of the Ngorongoro crater is middle aged tourists in safari suits - didn't realise we were still in Colonial times! Just as we were leaving spotted 2 Cheetah's on the horizon who moseyed on over to take shelter in the shade of the jeep behind us. They were so close the driver would have been able to reach out and touch them.
Needless to say after 3 days of no showers and open top jeeps we stank, and our hair resembled scouring pads! Back at Arusha the gnats piss shower didn't help the situation so the only thing to do was get monkeyed in the bar! The cold beer (Si - we're on to Kilimangaro and Safari beer - beauty!) went down a storm thanks very much but the hangover the next day was like an endurance test with a 6 hour journey on the truck. Thank God for instant immodium and the charity of Internet cafe
The Serengeti
Buffalo at the watering hole workers. The private long drop loos were a great help - oh the joys of squitting from a dizzy height!
We're exploring Zanzibar now and will write again some time next week.
Cheers 'en
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