Author: Peter Meena

By Peter Meena – Serengeti Safari

We spotted this female cheetah near the Maasai Kopjes in the Central Serengeti. We watched as she began stalking a Thomson Gazelle. With much anticipation, she finally took off and sprinted towards the gazelle and was able to chase it down in less than a minute. It was an awesome spectacle to watch.

This big herd of Gnu’s was seen at Nyamalumbwa plains in the North Serengeti. The area looked so beautiful covered by large herds of wildebeest. This herd was moving from Nyamalumbwa plains towards the Mara River. This is what the northern part of the Serengeti is so famous for during the dry season including July through October.

Tarangire National Park is sometimes referred to as the Baobab National Park and consists not of plains game only, but also animals that inhabit the woodlands such as these elephants. We saw this group of elephants with the young ones marching towards Silale Swamp. They made this part of the world looking very elegant and naturally splendid.


Regards,
Peter Meena.

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By Peter Meena – Safari Report July 3, 2013

My name is Peter Meena the driver guide for ADS. This time I had a great group with the last name of Kedda where our trip started from 21st to 27th June. There were seven adults it total and it was nice to all be in one vehicle together. We started our safari by visiting the Western Serengeti (Mbalageti Lodge), Central Serengeti (Seronera Sametu Camp) and then we finished up with Ngorongoro (Crater Serena Lodge).

Here are a couple of interesting pictures to share with you. It seems everyone is sharing pictures of the big cats (lions, cheetahs and leopards) plus the other big 5 animals (elephant, rhino, buffalo). Here is something to mix it up at they say.

GIRAFFE: This solitary giraffe was quenching his thirst in the Grumeti River. It’s amazing to see this alpine animal spreading it’s fore limb’s and tossing it’s long neck into the water. It was very interesting to see how he was bringing his long neck up and down as if he was playing see – saw.

STUCK ZEBRA: The Zebra in the photo was deeply stuck in the mud of the Seronera River. To my experience he was trying to cross and make it through the water not knowing that sometimes mud can turn into quick sand.

MATING PUFF ADDERS: This couple of Puff Adders were seen mating. We stayed on to watch this exercise. It’s unbelievable to see how long these Serpents lasted in the affair because we left before they were done. It was awesome.

FLOCK OF BLACK HEADED HERON’S: We viewed this flock of Black Headed Herons perched on top of an acacia tree accompanied by young chicks, together with females and males. The entire flock was busy. Some were mating and some were nurturing the young one’s. What a great great scenario.

With appreciation,
Peter Meena.

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By Guide Peter Meena – A Few Pictures From My Safari

Hello, this is driver-guide Peter again posting a few pictures from my most recent safari. This time I had the privilege of being the guide for a very fun and kind family of six from Florida. Here are just couple snapshots from our 6-night safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

This time my dear Croke was viewed down on the Grumeti River desperately looking for something for the gastronomy. Surprisingly he had no alternative other than going the smallest prey. ”You know what this was? Cat fish”.

Sun bathing monitor was seen along the Grumeti River lying down undisturbed taking advantage of the morning’s free of charge of sun vitamins. He looked very energetic, friendly and welcoming.

Like mother like daughter, this leopard cub about 6 months old was viewed going up an umbrella acacia tree. It was so nice to see this very young cub practicing what the mother was teaching notably survival tactics from larger predators by climbing high in a tree. This occurred in Seronera of the Central Serengeti.

This lion cub perched on this dead tree was kind of watching the rest of the pride of about 18 scattered around Sametu Kopjes. It seemed as if the cub was on guard, and passing information to the pride of any approaching prey. This was an excellent moment.

Here is one of the big five majestically walking, wanting to cross the road from Gorgor Swamp to the plains. This was in the Ngorongoro Crater.

A Crowned Crane bird with a chick on her tail showing the way to go and getting the chick fed. We thought the mother was alone, but a few seconds the father showed up, to keep the promise of caring and mate for life. It was in Lake Manyara National Park.

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By Godson Mbonye – Adventures in the Wilderness

This is driver-guide Godson Mbonye with Africa Dream Safaris. Having just finished my most recent safari with a very cheerful family of 2 parents and 2 children from California, I can say that the wildlife viewing is exceptional in the central and southern regions of the Serengeti. We enjoyed a comprehensive itinerary with 2 nights in the West Serengeti at Serengeti Soroi Lodge , 4 nights in the Central Serengeti at Mbuzi Mawe Lodge, 1 night at Lake Masek Camp, 2 nights at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge and 1 final night at the beautiful Ngorongoro Manor Lodge. Please enjoy a few of my pictures below.

Cheetah at Gol Kopjes on the Eastern Serengeti Plains. We have had very good cheetah viewing at Gol Kopjes over the last couple of months.

Lioness with wildebeest kill on the Southern Serengeti Plains

A group of male and female ostriches in the Ngorongoro Crater. The males have the darker feathers.

Matriarch elephant with a calf trying to bring down a branch of an acacia tree for breakfast

Klipspringers (a rock dwelling antelope) near Mbuzi Mawe Lodge

Springtime in the beautiful Ngorongoro Crater

Mount Kilimanjaro

Ruppell’s and white backed vultures

Thank You,

Godson

 

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By Peter Meena – Evergreen Safari

This is ADS driver guide Peter Meena reporting from Tanzania. I have just finished another amazing adventure with my guests Sandara and James. This was their 3rd safari to Tanzania! I have included below a few pictures I took while on my latest safari (April 1, 2013 to April 10, 2013).

 

A male lion feeding on a wildebeest with another ADS vehicle in the background.

A leopard has killed an African Wild Cat.

The leopard playing with the dead wild cat on top a fallen acacia tree. It was very sad to watch.

Olive baboons enjoying the view from my car’s hood.

A female leopard posing on top of an acacia tree.

Close up shot of a friendly leopard.

A pride of lions shading under the Balanite tree along Matiti plains in the South Serengeti. They seem well feed because of the great super market (Wildebeests Migration).

A lioness near Hidden Valley in the South Serengeti.

Wow! A gorgeous sunset on the Serengeti Plains.

Vultures feeding on a zebra carcass.

The Gol Kopjes region in the East Serengeti was covered with the wildebeest migration.

Zebras behind the whistling acacia tree.

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By Peter Meena – Gorgeous Serengeti!

Warm greetings from Tanzania. This is Peter Meena reporting to you from our offices in Arusha. I have just concluded my latest safari with a very nice family from the U.S.A. Thank you Randi, Richard, Gloria, Rebecca, Samuel and Alexis. We spent 6 nights on safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater from March 4th to March 10th. Follows is my bush report and also some snap shots.

There were big herds of wildebeests and zebra in the Moru Kopjes area of the Serengeti and also around Simba Kopjes. We did have some rain showers on the safari and I estimate more of the migration will move back onto the plains in their normal range over the next couple of days. There were several prides of lions and cheetahs in both the Ndutu area and Gol Kopjes area.  The Central Serengeti region including the Seronera River Valley was good for soem resident game including elephant, giraffe, buffalo and hippos (retina pool). Also, we saw a mama leopard with her two cubs to the west of Seronera and they had an adolescent wildebeest kill. At Sametu Kopjes in the Eastern Serengeti we came across a pride of lions with 13 individuals that were feeding on two buffalo kills.

I think the highlight of the trip was watching a leopard stalk a warthog family. The leopard dashed out and successfully caught one of the baby warthogs while the family ran away. However, after a few meters the mother warthog turned around to rescue her baby and charged the leopard. In disbelief, we saw the leopard flying up in the air like a kite and the baby was rescued. It was an incredible sequence of events and one that I will always remember.

 

This is Ngong Rocks in Moru Kopjes.

Marabou Stork reflecting himself down by the water hole.

Cokes heartebeest enjoying the green pasture in the Gol Kopjes.

Hyena feeding on a Zebra Carcass, this is Gol Kopjes.
A Black Crake down by the Sero Valley
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By Peter Meena – Adventure in the Serengeti

This is ADS driver guide Peter Meena reporting from Tanzania. I have just finished another amazing adventure with my esteemed guests. The wildlife viewing in the Southern and Central areas of the Serengeti is very good this February. I have included below a few pictures I took while on my latest safari (February 15, 2013 to February 25, 2013).

Sincerely,

Peter Meena
ADS Driver-Guide

 

A pride of lions enjoying the cool breeze down by water hole in Gol kopjes.

 

Leopard with her prey (Baby Gnu) decided to hide it after harassed by vultures.

 

A pride of lions enjoying a buffalo at Sametu kopjes.

 

Verreauxs Eagle Owl relaxing on top of an Acacia tree
 

My guests enjoying the view in the Ngorongoro Crater.

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By Peter Meena – Awesome Black Rhino Sighting!

Jambo Everyone! This is ADS driver-guide Peter Meena but many of my guests know me as Petro, which is my nickname. I have been a guide in Tanzania since 1993. Despite my 20 years of experience at being a guide in the Serengeti, I always see something different and exciting on every safari. This is one of the reasons why I love being a guide not to mention that the Serengeti has to be the most amazing wildlife sanctuary in the world. The concentration and diversity of animals always surpasses the expectations of my guests.

On my most recent safari from 16-January 2013 through 25-January 2013, I had the pleasure of leading two guests on safari named Jim and Nancy. We spent 9 nights in the bush divided between 3 national parks including the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park.

One of the highlights for me was this very rare sighting of a black rhino crossing the main road between Naabi Hill and Seronera. It was an amazing sight!  This was near the famous Simba Kopjes, a great hangout for lions too. The male rhino looked to be heading back towards Moru Kopjes.

The rhinos in the Serengeti were almost wiped out from poaching many years ago but thankfully a few survived in the Moru Kopjes area of the Central Serengeti and now the population is growing. It is very unusual to see a rhino out on the open plains this far from the Moru Kopjes as the black rhinos are browsers as opposed to the white rhinos, which are grazers and prefer the open grasslands.

Here are some other highlights from the safari that I was able to take a few pictures of.

These are teenager cheetahs stretching under the acacia tree at the Gol Kopjes in the East Serengeti. The Gol Kopjes is usually a very good place to see cheetahs in the green season from December to April.

Another highlight was this Honey Badger roaming around Lake Ndutu in the South Serengeti.

Lastly, this is our charging elephant and the highlight of our safari.

Sincerely,

Peter Meena
ADS Driver-Guide
January 30, 2013

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