“Galloping Gnu” sightings from Tanzania Guides – April 2013
Seif was with the Dehoney Party, spending time in Arusha National Park for a full day g ame drive with picnic lunches. A couple of kilometers from the gate, they came across the infamous black and white Colobus Monkeys. They were very close to the road and were not shy at all. A family together with young ones and adults all in playful mode. Stunning view of the Ngurdoto Crater rim and they got to see the beauty of the crater. Later they drove to Momella Lakes and got to see Giraffes en route, stopping for their picnic on one the Lake shores . This was beautiful moment with nice view and lovely breeze from the Lake. After lunch driving next to Lake they saw beautiful pink Flamingos lined up close to the Lake shore. With nice weather they took the opportunity to stretch their legs and took a short hike!
In Afternoon we visited a Maasai village. A fabulous experience Mrs. Les ley De Honey really enjoyed herself as she participated along with the other Masai in the dance while Barry capturing the moment on video, surely a trip highlight!
As we approached the Serengeti Explorer camp we started to see part of the great migration (Wildebeests and Zebras) from a distance. We drove closer and closer and stopped to see the mighty herds scattered across Ndutu plains. We decided to have lunch at the camp and relax thereafter , before going out for an afternoon game drive. Our Game drive was thrilling and w e saw lots of game, the magical moments of seeing the mighty herds in Ndutu plains was breath taking.
We came across to the single female lion feeding on wildebeest ba by. I noticed that the Wildebeests had started calving. There were quite a few new born among the big herds. We got back to Serengeti Explorer camp in the evening and after the guests freshened up, we sat around the camp fire, had an evening talk with drinks and snacks, reminiscing on the day’s adventure.
It was our last day on safari. We left early and explored the Ngorongoro plains and Lake Masek area. We spotted Cheetahs up close. They were playing chasing each other, going up on small trees etc. I t was very interesting to see a mother and 3 sub -adult cheetahs.
Around 1100 hours, we came across a Leopard feeding on a migrant stork (White Stork) on the branch on big acacia tree. We drove carefully up close and managed to position the vehicle to en able us to take good pictures this was truly a special sighting and we were very lucky to have spotted the Leopard in the moment. To top it all off the Migration was all around us and we saw herds of Wildebeest all around. It was great day.
A full day’s game drive in Tarangire National Park after walking in the morning, we enjoyed birding and the highlight was seeing elephant wallowing and a mock charge by a big male. This created the opportunity to talk at length on Elephant behaviour.
En route to Serengeti Explorer Camp for lunch, after lunch we saw a cheetah with 4 cubs they tried to hunt but with little luck. During the night at Camp, we spent time star gazing and saw the Southern Cross, Scorpio and great dipper. Hearing the sounds of the African Savannah and the cry of the hyena in the background. The following morning we left very early and spotted a rare sighting the stripped Hyena.
As we continued our game drive we saw the same cheetah we spotted yesterday hunting in the morning where two brother cheetahs had a full stomach. Our cheetah spotting’s continued as we spotted another cheetah with three cubs who tried to hunt twice with spectacular runs, but failed both attempts.
The next day we left early, in h ope to catch some action and an early morning kill. We followed three cheetahs as they crouched and tried to hunt but again they were unlucky and did not manage . We were in the middle of the great wildebeest migration with the herds surrounding us. We managed to spot a very unique moment as a mother wildebeest gave birth; the calf was up on its own feet in no time. That was truly a very unique moment to have witnessed a true bonus we did not expect. Later during the day we also spotted a pride of 11 lions.
Game drives in Tarangire were nice, they managed to spot and find resident gam e and then came across some action as a Solitary old Bull Elephant was weary of his surroundings and gave them a warning and charge trumpeting towards them. With enough warning and knowing Elephant Behavior, we managed to keep a safe distance and move away swiftly. After the action, later during the day we came across two lionesses that seemed to very famished, we observed their hungry looks and could easily tell from the skinny build and rib cage showing. They seemed to be interested in hunting at silalei i swamp and we watched and observed for a while but they did not manage to catch anything.
We decided to explore the Ngorongoro crater and left at the crack of dawn with breakfast hampers and drive back to the lodge for late lunch. We had an amazing game viewing experiencing. So amazing we were greeted by a large pride lions, we managed to spot a total of six black rhino, and managed to spot great game with the abundance of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles.
The Serengeti lived up to its game viewing expec tation. We found ourselves totally surrounded by wildebeest and zebra. Breathe taking experience with endless black, grey colours covering the Serengeti savannahs from the mix of wildebeest and zebra . Later during the day we spotted five cheetah, a mother and four cubs that seemed young and looked about five month old.
The other highlight was the sheer number of big cats we spotted particularly Lions and Cheetahs . Also managed to spot three Leopards in Seronera area but were quite far away. The sight of the Leopard however topped our highlights as it was the most wanted cat by the clients. We were truly lucky to see such an abundance of wildlife and so many cats.
