31st – More… MORE!

Today we went on morning and afternoon drives. We left at 0730, came back for lunch at 13300, left at 1530 and returned for the night around 1845.

The drive was like any other game drive; we drove around and looked at animals. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. We got to see elephants up close, a very large herd of buffalos walking in almost single file, stretching out as far as you could see. And we got to see a cheetah up close and lions several times. Who said they were hard to find?

Tomorrow we go on an early game drive and have lunch in the park before leaving to go to the camp at the Ngorongoro Crater.

The second pride of lions had a small one which was full of energy bothering almost all the others. When it started raining all the young ones (below app. 3 years) began moving around and also playing for a bit. That was probably the group of lions we saw with the most amount of energy, a nice change to otherwise just seeing them… lion around.

Bat-eared fox.

Dik-dik.

Kori bustard.

A long herd of buffalos.

The line just keeps on going.... 

... and going... 

... and going... 

... and going... Doesn't it ever stop?!

Little bee-eater.

Red-necked spur-fowl.

Rock hyrax.

Lilac breasted roller.

D'Arnaud's barbet.

Spotted hyena.

Cheetah.

A small group of lions doing as little as possible.

Peek-a-boo!

Martial eagle.

30th – Cats, cats, cats…. Oh my!

We departed according to plan – after breakfast the tents were mostly already taken down. We started with the visit to a Maasai village which the Planterra Foundation (part of G Adventures) has helped (among other villages) with building ovens with chimneys in the huts to get rid of all the smoke from the fire places.

After that we set out on the 4-5 hour drive to Serengeti. We passed through the check in for the Ngorongoro NP as it was on the way, a bit later we entered Serengeti where we checked in and had our lunch. Game drives are game drives, so just a short list of noticeable events:

• Cheetah with 3 cubs
• Leopard with 2 small cubs
• Lion with cubs – but after all the previous encounters it didn’t feel as awesome as the two others

Yes, 3 big cats in less than 4 hours. It was amazing. The cheetahs were out in the open so they were relatively easy to see, unfortunately the leopards were more hidden away, making decent shots difficult.

Camp was reached and dinner was had. A small vehicle came by the camp with refreshments, or as some of us called it; the Bar Car. A small bottle of Zanzi might have been bought (a Tanzanian version of Amarula).

The camp isn’t fenced so there is a chance that animals will come through during the night.

Full game drive tomorrow with lunch at camp (not much time is wasted on this as we are in the area anyway). The drive will likely be great but I’ll be relaxing having seen all the cats. Only missing rhino of the Big 5, but the biggest (only) chance to spot those won’t be until we reach the crater – and even then chances are slim.

I have less than two memory cards left, so I should probably try and limit the constant shooting when something interesting appears. My 50-500mm has been hitting my batteries but when reaching the crater after tomorrow we get to recharge, so I’m not as worried about that as I am with my memory capacity.

Two giraffes fighting. It's fascinating seeing them using their necks as clubs.

This was how it looked when entering Serengeti. 

Giraffe with yellow-billed oxpecker.

Blue-eared starling.

Red-headed agama lizard.

Speckle-fronted weaver.

Three cheetah cubs on the run.

The female cheetah with the three cubs in the background.

They might not be it, but they do look fluffy!

Leopard cub hiding in the bush.

The mother with the two cubs just visible.

Lioness with cub. 

Grey-backed fiskals.

Yellow-collared lovebirds.

Crocodile.

29th – Lake Manyara

It was pouring down last night and when waking up it was pouring down. According to some of the others it hadn’t been raining throughout the entire night but it still meant that it was damp when coming outside in the morning. The plan was to meet up for breakfast at 0700 and leave at 0745, but as the breakfast wasn’t ready until 0715 meant that the morning schedule got pushed. No worries, though as we still had a couple of hours drive before arriving at our camp; Twiga Camp. Once again flashbacks to 4½ years ago.

We visited the local village with 120+ different tribes. We had a tour seeing how they lived, tasted banana beer (still horrible – sorry; still not to my taste) and fermented banana wine (not bad at all, actually, it was a bit like cider). We finished with lunch before being picked up and drove to Lake Manyara NP to do our first game drive. We saw large amounts of monkeys (baboons, blue- and vervet monkeys), buffalos far away, a few giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and not much else. Still a good drive, the amount of monkeys made up for the lack of cats.

Back in the camp we had dinner and afterwards we ended up in the bar. Tomorrow we will visit another Maasai village before driving 4-5 hours to Serengeti where we will have a short drive before arriving at our new camp in the early evening. Breakfast at 0700.

One of many irrigation channels going through the fields at the village.

Banana beer tasted just as I remember it. 

When they do the laundry they do it all.

Blue monkeys.

More blue monkeys.

Young baboon.

European roller.

Vervet monkey.

Egyptian goose.

Another very young baboon.

Zebra keeping an eye out.

This was just a small part of many large groups of baboons we encountered.