Advertisement
Published: July 21st 2017
Edit Blog Post
It took a couple of days from Dar Es Salaam to get to Arusha which is pretty much the gateway to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Fortunately we changed trucks before entering the Serengeti. Unfortunately the one we moved into was only slightly smaller, completely open, dusty and noisy!! We were easily the biggest (and noisiest) in the Serengeti and scared more than a few animals. On the way we stopped in at Oldupai gorge the "cradle of humankind". We were both looking forward to this but were more than a little disappointed both with teh display and talk.
From here it was a short trip to the gate into the Serengeti. We saw lots of Thomsons and Grants gazelles on the way as well as a few lazy lions Geoff thought were "log"abeests.
Unfortunately it was only one night in the Serengeti with this tour. We were camping in the open where all the wildlife had free access to the campground. We saw a few hyena with the torch before we went to bed then at about 3am Helen couldn't fight the urge for the bathroom and just had to go. I think my actual words were "You've got to be
f...ing kidding me" as she wanted me to give the all clear. Luckily it was uneventful and probably the quickest pee Helen ever had.
We had a couple of gamedrives where unfortunately we had to leave a mother cheetah and her cubs just before they made a kill. We saw a few more lions, scattered wildebeest and a big herd of buffalo.
We left for Ngorongoro and had a long trip because the truck overheated on the way up which is surprising considering it was only going 20 km/hr. That night we camped on the crater rim overlooking the crater which was awesome.
Ngorongoro was amazing. We saw a ton of hyaenas, lions and finally got to see some black rhino and eland which we had been longing to see.
We left the crater too soon and left our group at the gates where we met our guide and cook for our private safari which was another 9 days in Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Manyara. Goodbyes to our group were pretty quick as a torrential downpour ensued. We bundled our stuff into a decrepid green Landcruiser and stumbled on our way back to the smae campsite we had been at
with our other group that were now on their way to Nairobi.
Our new guide was a bit standoffish from the start which made things more than a bit uncomfortable. Then the tent broke the first time we tried to put it up so things were not off to a good start. We said we would like to go for a walk in the conservation area above Lake Eyasi and eventually we got to go. Our ranger was Laser who was very knowledgable and interested in what we did and we walked around the hillsides through small herds of zebra under a stormy sky. It was only for about an hour but really enjoyable and Laser although intimidating with his AK47 was good company.
We were lucky to get another day in the crater and again saw lots of predators including a cheetah catching a scrub hare right in front of us. We got much closer to a couple of black rhino than the day before and got to see a couple of big male lions get soaked in a torrential downpour. The wildebeest all got frisky as well after the rain and were charging and chasing each
other around.
We spent another night at the Simba campsite on the rim where a massive bull elephant would drain the water tank every day about 3pm before he stolled through the camp.
The next day we were off to Ndutu where we would supposedly catch up with the wildebeest migration.
Ndutu is just south of the southern Serengeti and part of the Ngorongoro conservation area so you can go off the beaten tracks and do your own exploring. On the first afternoon we saw a mother cheetah and large cubs trying to chase away the vultures after they had made a kill. We followed them for a while but they were intent on a lie down and digestion. We headed off on our own and saw other cheetah mums with young cubs really close to hyaenas. Evidently some trucks had to chase some hyaenas from these cubs after we left as they were hell bent on killing them. We also came across our first steinbok which is not quite as small as a dik0dik but has these long rabbit-like ears and are very cute. We did see a lot of dik-dik around the lake as well.
We eventually managed to find our fancy tent camp where we had a three course meal and a bucket of hot water for a joint shower which was pretty welcome.
The next day we went in search of more cheetah and saw another 3 groups of mum and kids. The grass hadn't really come away as there hadn't been the expected rains so the wildebeest had only passed through. We saw a handful of carcasses in one of the smaller lakes where they had gotten bogged or trampled.
This was also a good area for raptors. We saw about 4 different eagles and occasional goshawks and falcons. The flamingos were away breeding and lake Ndutu was a bit low anyway. It made for great photos but that was about it.
We spent that night in the Ndutu lodge. There are no public campgrounds in the area so it is not that crowded but more expensive to visit. We recommend it though and the lodge was the place to stay. Excellent food and a great vantage over the lake and lots of wildlife including genet cats which visited the restaurant at night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.156s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.1035s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb