Posts From November 2009

Safari to Tanzania – November 2009

I’ve just returned from another research safari to Tanzania!  The purpose of my trip was two-fold.  First of all, I was in Tanzania with one of my co-workers for obvious business reasons… to visit our office in Arusha, meet with lodge managers, scout out new properties, inspect old properties, and take photos and notes to document any changes or renovations.  But I think it is equally important to mention that we were also in Tanzania to actually be “on safari”, as each experience “in the bush” strengthens our ability and resolve to help our clients experience this place firsthand.  For those of you that might be interested, I have attached a few favorite photos from this trip and included a brief account below!  A safari to this place, no matter how many times I visit, is nothing short of a magical experience.  I find that immersing oneself into the rhythms of nature in a place like the Serengeti has a purifying effect on the soul, and worries or problems that may have burdened the mind at home seem to dissolve effortlessly into the seemingly endless supply of space and time here. Once again, I am humbled by the very greatness of this wilderness.  It’s a feeling that transcends description, and once again I find myself tapping my fingers on my desk looking in vain for the right words to try.   In addition to finding peace of spirit here, there’s also the excitement of true adventure and the heart pounding anticipation of unknown events about to unfold!  What’s around the next corner?  A herd of charging elephants?  A family of tiny cheetah cubs?  A pride of hunting lions?  No need to tune in to the TV for the next National Geographic show, because a new wildlife documentary is unfolding right before your very eyes, and ANYTHING can happen!  The 2009 dry season had been a harsh one with very little rainfall, and prior to my arrival I had heard reports about how the landscape had become so very dry and tawny.  But as our plane skidded to a stop on the dirt runway of the Northern SerengetiI found a different scenario altogether.  Yes!  The rains had come!  Instead of the dusty lunar-like landscape I was expecting, I found the Serengeti washed in various shades of the color green and bursting with new life!  The air was brimming with the clean smell of damp earth.  The sun was shining but low tones of thunder still rumbled softly in distant thunderheads, heralding the official end of the dry season and the beginning of a time of plenty for the wildlife. We found our Tanzanian driver-guide waiting for us as we exited the plane sporting a huge smile and open arms, brimming with the very graciousness that is seemingly inherent to all Tanzanian people.  His vehicle was parked just a few meters away from the airstrip; suitcases in, top down, hop in!  We set off with the sun on our faces and smiles beaming, looking for our first adventure!  It didn’t take long!  Within 10 minutes of landing at the airstrip we found a pride of thirteen lions resting together in the cool morning air. Welcome to the Serengeti!  We were the only vehicle around.  The lions paused for a few moments as if posing for a family portrait, and no one in the vehicle spoke for fear of disturbing the pristine stillness of the moment; the only sound to be heard was the soft clicking of our cameras. This particular grouping was a motley crew of idle youngsters, most of them adolescents, with a few young males sporting the beginning scruffs of a mane.  We watched them gather together, rubbing shoulders in kinship, and amble off together in a loose grouping, undoubtedly looking for some form of cat-like mischief.  And the safari continued with a menagerie of highlights throughout the next several days, all special but far too numerous to mention them all here!  We had several leopard, lion and cheetah sightings on various occasions, along with countless encounters with the multitude of other wildlife that resides in countless numbers here including elephant, giraffe, zebra, hippos, gazelle, monkeys, hyena, Cape buffalo, and hundreds of birds. We saw the Great Migration on their southward journey, thousands of look-a-like wildebeest lined up in single file, marching from the woodlands to the plains in a series of long columns that stretched for miles.  Some of the migration stagnated in the greenest valleys, pooling into dense grazing herds that blackened the plains.  There are a few specific animal sightings that stand out in my mind, including a mother and father ostrich escorting their teeming family of tiny chicks along the road, a cape buffalo flushing out a leopard from his hiding place in the grass and running him up a tree, and a waterbuck chasing a cheetah (yes, in an ironic turn of events the waterbuck was indeed the one doing the chasing!)  One special evening in the Serengeti we found, not one, but TWO leopards in a tree; the setting was gorgeous as the sky was all purple twilight and a huge herd of migration were milling right below the tree where the leopards were perched.  Another special moment was during our last day in the Serengeti, when we drove out to Sametu Kopjes and found a pride of 20 lions, including the “Greek gods,” a famous coalition of 4 huge beautiful male lions in their prime, all golden and magnificent and just exuding royalty.  But my favorite moment of the safari was the evening we found a mother cheetah and her family of 4 tiny cubs; the mother had just killed a Thompson gazelle and was just starting to eat her dinner but the cubs were still too young to participate in the meal.  I felt privileged as the cheetah mother allowed us to share these intimate moments with her family, the tiny cubs crouching and pouncing in play among the frayed Serengeti grasses until their fringes gleamed gold in the dying light of sunset, and we were eventually forced to depart the scene to ensure we would make it to the lodge before dark.  Magical.  So now I’ve returned to the United States and I’m back to my beautiful job where I am privileged to help other people have this type of experience on their own safari – the only thing better than experiencing it for myself.  One thing is for sure, and it is the common denominator among all our staff and all our returning clients:  once you’ve gone to a place like Tanzania you will never be the same.  I truly feel a safari to this place is nothing short of a magical journey, and something that simply has to be experienced to be understood.  You’ll see!

Zebra Foal
Brothers
Leopard Lunch
Cheetah Afternoon
Lover's Spat
Lion Cub
No Comments
Read Full Post

The rains have finally arrived in the Serengeti!

Over the last 10 days, thundershowers have been falling throughout the Serengeti ecosystem including the far southern plains around Ndutu. Over the last week we have seen long columns of wildebeest marching south through the Central Serengeti woodlands and flooding onto the plains. This is the southward migration in full glory!

The wildebeest have just edged onto the beginning of the plains with the onset of the rains. Massive herds can be found all throughout the Central Serengeti with the main concentrations at Moru Kopjes and Maasai Kopjes. These herds stretch as far south as Simba Kopjes but they have not made it (just yet) to the far southern and eastern plains around Ndutu and Gol Kopjes, respectively. If the rains continue, we have doubt that the wildebeest will continue their southward migration and move further south down the ecosystem to Ndutu and Gol by December.

In any event, large herds of both wildebeest and zebra along with their attendant predators can easily be seen at the moment in the central areas of the park. Game viewing is incredible at the moment with these large concentrations of herbivores filling the predator rich Seronera Valley of the Central Serengeti. Needless to say the large lion prides of the Seronera area are extremely content. Much of the prides have come together in this time of plenty and almost the entire Sametu pride (over 30 members) was seen all together including its 4 resident males names by the Serengeti Lion project the Greek Gods. What a sight

Please see below for 2 pictures just submitted from our very own Dawn Anderson and Sharon Lyon who just returned from safari. The first picture is of a herd of wildebeest with the beautiful Maasai Kopjes projecting out in the background. Look how green it is! The second picture is of a group of cubs from the large Sametu lion pride taken nearby the Sametu Kopjes (the center of this lion prides territory).

No Comments
Read Full Post

Quote of the Week: Robert and Colette Sawyer

What an experience. Your selection of a guide I believe made the safari trip. His knowledge and professionalism completed the whole safari experience. As you know we started the safari in the Northern Serengeti with an Air Excel flight only to be greeted by our guide and a herd of elephants. From that moment my camera was on nonstop picture taking. Our stay at Migration Tented Lodge met all of our expectations. In fact all the accommodations were all that we had expected. During the trip we were constantly impressed with [our guide’s] ability to spot the animals and describe the specific animal behavior. Because of that, we where able to leave the trip with some one-of-a-kind photos […] Thanks for all your help with the planning for this trip!

Robert and Colette Sawyer
November 2009

No Comments
Read Full Post

Just returned from two weeks in Northern Tanzania

Its been an extremely dry year in Northern Serengeti in Tanzania Safari and the Mara River is at its lowest in recent history. The mega herds were located north of the Mara River while I was there but small groups of wildebeest were crossing (ie. walking) back and forth across the not-so-mighty Mara.

The river was so low in fact even the giraffes were attempting to cross the Mara this year.

The dry weather didnt seem to hinder ostrich romance, the males booming calls could be heard from miles away and we were an audience to one showy wing waving, head shaking dance performance which impressed a female.

We experienced a great leopard sighting around Lobo, a large male had recently killed a young zebra and was quietly feeding in the trees. In the Western Corridor rains had recently fallen enough to attract sizable wildebeest herds along the Grumeti to Kirawira. Around the Kirawira ranger post, we came upon three lions peacefully resting under a tree after a large wildebeest meal only to be rudely awakened and chased away by a group of trumpeting elephants.

Central Serengeti did not disappoint for large cats. The dry conditions around Seronera Valley only enhanced sightings of the large cats hunting during the day at predictable watering holes. Lions, cheetahs and leopards were seen daily.

Ngorongoro Crater floor was extremely hot, dusty and windy the day that we were there. Despite the temperature, we were able to spot a black rhino snoozing in the tall grass. A couple of other exciting sightings were a cheetah giving chase to a hare and a pair of falcons hunting birds at the hippo pool.

Tarangire also did not disappoint for large cats. Lions, cheetah and leopards were all seen in one day. Kudus were also spotted around Swala Camp. My personal highlight at Tarangire was witnessing a juvenile martial eagle hunt a baby impala. A herd of impalas were spread out grazing in the open when all of a sudden a martial eagle swooped down and grabbed a baby impala, lifted it 10 feet up into the air, lost its grip and dropped it. The impalas immediately grouped together, snorting and stomping and looking up into the sky for further danger, then as a group moved towards the brush for cover. The baby impala survived. It all unfolded so quickly and unexpectedly, we werent able to take any photographs. It was heart pounding to watch.

Each day we were on safari, dark clouds were slowly gathering in the east showing promise of rains to come, perhaps by now the much needed life-giving short rains have started heralding the southward migration.

No Comments
Read Full Post