Travelogue

I dived in to the blog again in the middle of our Serengeti safari, so thought I'd better back up and start at the beginning.

We left Edinburgh on Monday 19th on a Qatar flight to Kilimanjaro - via Doha - and arrived early on Tuesday morning to be met by our guide Solomon. On our way to Ngorongoro, we stopped first in Arusha for breakfast and then continued to Lake Manyara National Park. Spent a couple of hours on a game drive where we saw Baboons, Vervet and Blue Monkeys, Buffalo, Elephant, Plains Zebra and Wildebeest. We also saw Steppe Eagles, Tawny Eagles and even an African Crowned Eagle (a first)!

Another hour brought us to the Ngorongoro Conservation area gate and then a further 40 minutes of dirt road to our home for our first two nights. Pakalula Safari Camp is a mobile tented camp - comfortable but a little basic. Very friendly welcome from Margaret and her team and almost straight to dinner - it had been a long day. We hadn't reckoned on the 2300m (7000ft) altitude so weren't really prepared for the cool temperatures but very grateful for the hot water bottles in the bed since the temperature got down to 5C overnight.

Solomon had planned an early start for our drive into the crater to beat the rush so we were up at 5.30 with time for only a quick coffee before we were headed out in the mist to the security checkpoint, passing Giraffe and Zebra just outside the camp and arriving at the checkpoint just after their 06.00 opening.

It was cool in the truck with roof open as we headed down into the crater but the whole day was an incredible experience. We saw Thomson's and Grant's Gazelle on the crater wall and then came upon a pair of Lioness asleep in the grass with their cubs as we waited for a large bull Elephant to cross the road ahead of us. 

The day continued in that amazing vein : three more pairs of Lioness with cubs; two male Lions having a bit of a chase; and an older male looking for a shady spot to sleep; 

Wildebeest and Zebra; three Servals; Vultures feeding on a buffalo carcass that one pair of lionesses had abandoned with a couple of Jackal's awaiting their turn; 

and a host of Hippos sunning themselves and cooling off in a large pool as we had our breakfast. 

 

We also watched at least 28 bird species including both Greater and Lesser Flamingos and 3 or 4 species that we hadn't seen before. 

It really was quite a magical day and our early start meant that we had avoided the convoys of safari trucks that were building up as we headed back to camp for an afternoon snack and a celebratory beer before we tried to negotiate the bucket shower which we had declined in the early hours of the morning!

We were the only guests in camp for our second night - unless you count the Zebra and Waterbuck which arrived just after dinnertime. 

It was another cold morning as we got up at 5.15, with time for quick breakfast before we were on the road back to Lake Manyara and our flight to the Northern Serengeti.

 

 

Relaxing

 After more than a week away and  6 days of excellent game drives in Ngorongoro and the Northern Serengeti - we are enjoying a bit of R&R on a sun lounger at the beach with cold beer at hand - obviously

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Jambo Jambo

 

Slightly disconcerting to be addressed as Jambo Jambo  by everyone  - Gavin and Jane would feel right at home while Neil would probably not. Then learned that it is a Swahili for Hi or Hello – just wouldn’t recommend them moving to Leith!!

On the subject of football, we were stopped on the beach by a tour guide who promised to be able to arrange any tour we wanted – and at 20% cheaper than our hotel. As he handed over his business card I was surprised to see that his name was Thierry Henry – taking a break from coaching the Belgian team before they travel to Qatar for the World Cup - or perhaps getting use to the temperature.

Wildebeest everywhere

The Northern migration is estimated to consist of about 1.5 million Wildebeest and 300,000 Plains Zebra. 

This year they started crossing earlier than usual so most are already across the Mara River - there are huge herds of them wherever you look. They also make up almost all of the diet of local predators and scavengers. 

At the start of our second all-day game drive we saw wildebeest carcasses feeding two separate groups of lions, numerous groups of hyenas, and hosts of vultures.

The Cheetah we saw relaxing on the plain had probably fed on something smaller, while the Serval and her kitt were still hunting for their breakfast. 

We were still hoping to seeing a large group crossing the river so, after an eventful early drive, we headed for one of the most northern crossing points where we found a group of nearly 3000 wildebeest milling around - trying to decide on the best place - ' I used to be indecisive but now I am not so sure'. 

We had time for a coffee break while we were waiting and were wondering whether to open our lunch boxes when they finally started to move.

About half of the group made it across before a large Nile Croc grabbed a calf and discouraged the rest of the group - just like yesterday. It was an incredible sight - not sure the video does it justice but I will post it in a couple of days. 

Lions-2; Hyenas-3; Vultures-2; Crocodile-1; drowning-1; Wildebeest-1600-ish

Better late than never

It's been a very long time since my last post but.....

Last year, we celebrated our anniversary and our big birthdays with a bunch of friends at Stucktaymore - a very comfortable shooting lodge on the banks of Loch Tay.

This year we're in the Serengeti in a tented safari camp close to the Mara River. WiFi is limited so photos will have to wait till we're back in the city. 

However it was a very different birthday - we started with 5.30am call for breakfast and on the truck with Edgar - our guide - just as it got light. Before we stopped for coffee we had seen elephants, lions a serval cat & her teenage kitten, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, hippos, warthog. Hyena, jackal, vultures on a fresh carcass, an eagle or two and of course thousands of Wildebeest. As we drove along the river we saw a group of 800-1000 Wildebeest on the other side and followed them as they looked for a place to cross. After a couple of hours they found a crossing place that suited them - despite a large Nile croc - which took one of the calves and brought the crossing to a halt with only 100 or so having made it. 

As they milled around trying to build up courage to start again, we spotted a large male leopard laying in the shade. As the Wildebeest moved back from the river bank, he leapt on one, managed to bring it down and dragged it into the bush.

Croc-1, leopard - 1, Wildebeest - 0.

Quite an exciting day in all!