Author: PeterH

Guide Report for March 11, 2014 – Honeymoon Safari

March 13, 2014January 26, 2018 by PeterH

Greetings from the Serengeti. I have concluded a wonderful safari with my two guests from Chicago, USA named Larry and Anne. They were celebrating their honeymoon with a safari to the Serengeti followed by a short trip to Zanzibar. We started the safari on 03rd March 2014 in the Central Serengeti area with 2 nights at the Four Seasons Lodge. After I picked my guests up from the Seronera Airstrip, we immediately headed for the Maasai Kopjes, where we saw herds of buffaloes, elephants, gazelles and giraffes.

The next day we encountered a mother cheetah with two cubs and we also visit the Makoma Hippo pool. After that we drove around Seronera valley where we saw a beautiful leopard, which is one of the most sought after animals in the Serengeti. We then decided to explore the Moru Kopjes, which is located about a 1-hour drive southwest of Seronera. In this area we saw part of the zebra migration, big groups of elephants and a large pride of lions. Lastly, at the place called the research Kopjes we saw a lioness chasing a zebra. It was exciting to watch even though she failed to make a kill.

On our way to the South Serengeti where we had 2 nights at Lake Masek Tented Lodge we had an incredible game drive around Gol Kopjes where we saw a black rhino, which is very rare to find in the East Serengeti. In the South Serengeti at Ndutu we saw a pride of lions, cheetahs and also the wildebeest migration. We also conducted game drives in the Ngorongoro Crater after departing the Serengeti and saw another pride of lions, big bull elephants, three black rhinos, and other different animals like buffaloes, zebras, hyenas, etc. We spend 2 nights in the Crater area with 1 night on the rim of the Crater at Lion’s Paw Camp folled by a 2nd night the luxurious Escarpment Lodge. We enjoyed a final game drive Lake Manyara National Park with many baboons, blue monkeys, and lots of birds which cannot be found in any other place in the world. I dropped off my guests at the Arusha Airport on March 9th for their flight to Zanzibar.

The following are some of the pictures I would like to share with you.

– Browsing giraffes in the Central Serengeti around Makoma Hill.

– Wildebeest with flamingos in the background at Lake Ndutu, South Serengeti.

– A lioness with her cub of about 1 year old drinking water at the Ndutu big marsh while her cub was jumping on her back playing.

-Female cheetah with a Thomson Gazelle kill and her four cubs of about 1 month old at Ndutu, South Serengeti.

-Zebras walking following the road in Ngorongoro Crater.

-Two zebras with a buffalo grazing in the Ngorongoro Crater.

– Congregation of elephant families around the Moru Kopjes area, Central Serengeti.

– Zebras and wildebeest under the balanite tree and up in the tree there is also a leopard (Moru area).

– Three lionesses up a sausage tree around Moru area.

– Two bull elephants sparing near Research Kopjes in the Central Serengeti.

– Bull elephant chasing the lions from his territory around research area in the Serengeti.

Thanks,
Peter Huka.

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Honeymoon

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By Peter Huka – Safari with Ann T. Family From Florida

AFRICAN WILDLIFE

December 15, 2013December 19, 2013 by PeterH

This is ADS driver-guide Peter Huka with my latest safari report. This time I had the pleasure of leading 3 guests from Florida named Ann, Damian and Michaeleen T. We started our safari on 02nd December 2013 in the Central Serengeti when I picked up the guests at the Seronera Airstrip at approximately 10.00am.

We did a game drive around the Seronera valley on the way to our accommodations at Sametu Camp. In the Seronera Valley we came across two leopards and a lioness and also a large herds of migratory zebras. During the afternoon near the famous Maasai Kopjes we found three lions with a zebra kill which was great to watch. We continued on our way to Sametu Camp arriving before sunset.

The following day we decided to explore the Western Corridor of the Serengeti in hopes of seeing the wildebeest migration. Thankfully, we were rewarded for our long drive as we got to see the migration around the Grumeti River. It was a beautiful day with the migration and many other species of animals including giraffes, elephants and gazelles.

On our 3rd day on safari, we departed Sametu Camp and headed for our Private Camp at Naabi Hill. We drove through Sametu Kopjes en route and we found a big pride of 17 lions there. Later in the day, we drove through the Makoma Hill area and we were lucky to see many highlights including two cheetahs, elephants, lions, topis and giraffes. We then headed to our Private Camp and Naabi Hill.

The area immediately around Naabi Hill was unusually dry for this time of year so the following day we decided to drive about 1-hour to the northwest to Moru Kopjes and Lake Magadi. The Moru Kopjes area is absolutely beautiful. It is one of my favorite areas of the Serengeti and it was nice because we found some large family groups of elephants and buffaloes.

We then departed our Camp and Naabi Hill for 2 final nights in the South Serengeti at Lake Masek Tented Lodge. The highlight here in the Masek / Ndutu area was watching a mother cheetah with two cubs hunting. Her first and second attempt to hunt a Thomson gazelle were unsuccessful but she didn’t give up. Her third attempt proved successful and she was able to chase down and kill a Thomson gazelle. Surely this was great to witness!

The last day in the South Serengeti we went around the big swamp where we saw a pride of lions before departing to the Ngorongoro Crater which was also very nice. After two nights on the Crater rim, we proceeded to Lake Manyara National Park and then finally Tarangire National Park and Kikoti Camp.

We were very lucky in Tarangire to have so many exciting wildlife encounters. We saw a leopard cub, several lions and a large pack of wild dogs. There were 23 wild dogs total and it was the highlight of the safari and perhaps the year! Wild dogs are critically endangered in Northern Tanzania and sightings of them are extremely rare.

The following are photos to share with you.

– Cheetah with a kill around Central Serengeti.

– Three lionesses with a zebra kill near Sametu camp.

– Wildebeest Migration – Western Serengeti.

– Zebra with a new born baby.

– Male lion on the rock – Maasai Kopjes.

– Two cheetah cubs playing around ndutu area.

– Cheetah killed a Thomson gazelle in the ndutu area.

– Lion cubs playing around the marsh at ndutu. They were about 4 to 5 months old.

– A leopard cub on the tree around Silale Swamp.

– My clients having a great time at the Moru Maasai painting – Central Serengeti.

– Hunting dogs at Tarangire near Silale Swamp.

Thanks,
Peter Huka.
ADS Guide.

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By Peter Huka – Lions Hunting Buffalo

AFRICAN WILDLIFE

November 14, 2013 by PeterH

This is ADS driver-guide Peter Huka reporting from Arusha, Tanzania. I would like to provide a report from my latest safari (Nov 1st to Nov 9th, 2013) and also share some photos that I took while on this trip. This time I had two delightful guests from Florida named Donald and Jennifer. We had a great safari together and we were very lucky to see many extraordinary animal sightings. We saw several hunts from the various predators in the Serengeti including lions, cheetahs and crocodiles.

Our safari started on 01st November 2013 at the Kogatende airstrip next to the Mara River in the North Serengeti. We started a game drive along the Mara River and we saw some groups of hippos and crocodiles. We also drove around Kopjes where we saw a few groups of wildebeest and Thomson’s gazelle. Then we were very fortunate to spot a lionesses with three cubs, as well as several spotted hyenas.

We departed the Mara River area of the North Serengeti for our accommodations at Mbuzi Mawe Lodge. Along the way, we encoutered families of elephants and many groups of zebras and elands, which are the largest antelope in Africa. Near the Grumeti River circuit we saw a pride of lions (six in total) before reaching Mbuzi Mawe very late in the evening.

The next day we started early in the morning and we decided to explore the Central Serengeti area around the Seronera River Valley. There were big herds of zebra and we were entertained watching several lionesses trying to hunt them. It was incredibly exicting to watch. We also saw a big pride of twenty-two lions. It was really nice to see such a strong and healthy pride. Also in the Central Serengeti but this time around the famous Maasai Kopjes we were fortunate to get a good leopard sighting.

For our 3rd and 4th days on safari we headed to the beautiful Western Serengeti for 2 nights at Mbalageti Tented Camp. We had a great experience in the Western Serengeti, which we also refer to as the western corridor of the Serengeti. Highlights included seeing some of the wildebeest migration, a cheetah successfully hunting an impala and a black and white colobus monkey.

After 2 nights at Mbalageti we headed to Serena Serengeti Lodge to continue our exploration of the Central Serengeti. We conducted a game drive around the Moru Kopjes and Lake Magadi area. One of the highlights was at the Mawe Meupe picnic site where we found a female leopard with two cubs with a kill in a tree. She came down to the picnic site and was seated on the table. In all my years as a driver guide all over Tanzania, I have never see anything like this before. It was unbelievable and good thing I have the pictures to prove it! Afterwards we headed into the Moru Kopjes where we saw a lion in a tree and also a family of elephants.

On our last day in the Seronera Valley of the Central Serengeti, we watched a pride of lions hunting and chasing a buffalo. We spent about 1-hour watching that action which was great as it was just 5 meters from our car.

The following are the photos:

We watched from the beginning with the lionesses hunting this male buffalo all the way up until they began eating. It took about 1-hour.

Zebras drinking at Seronera River – Central Serengeti. Several lioness tried (unsuccessfully) to chase down the zebras. It was very exciting for my guests and I to watch.

A big pride of lions together at Seronera valley.

Lions with a zebra kill around Makoma Hill in the Central Serengeti.

A Crocodile caught a wildebeest in the Grumeti River in the Western Serengeti. This was really interesting to watch because of the shallow water in the river. The crocodile was trying to pull the wildebeest down but the water wasn’t deep enough.