Hello from Arusha, Tanzania. My name is Russell Thomas Temu, a senior guide with ADS, and I am submitting my August bush report after 9 days on safari with a wonderful family of six by name of Leonard W. Family and Friends.

We safari our started in the Northern Serengeti along the Mara River after my guests landed at the Kogatende airstrip. We really focused on seeing wildebeest crossings along the Mara river and luckily we found three amazing crossings. During two of the crossings we watched a Nile Crocodile killing wildebeests.

Below are the highlights of the 9 day safari starting on August 6, 2013 and ending on August 14, 2013.

One of the big herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River in the Northern Serengeti.

Wildebeest Crossing in a massive herd viciously.

Right side wildebeest caught by a Nile Crocodile.

A nile crocodile behind a line of wildebeest drowned and swimming off with a wildebeest tail.

A black backed Jackal preying on a helpless live baby wildebeest.

Some wildebeest crossing while big herd keep coming.

Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture drying up its wing feathers.

Spitting Cobra escaped to be killed by Brown Snake Eagle.

Long tusked bull elephant in the Ngorongoro Crater.

598: Tree Agama Lizard male advertising its territory.

601: Mother and her calf black Rhinos in the crater.

Regards,

Russel Thomas Temu.
ADS Guide.

Jambo Everyone! This is Arnold Mushi, head guide with ADS, and I submitted my bush report for my most recent safari with 4 guests from Connecticut named Carol, Jane, Robert and Linda D. The safari dates were August 4th, 2013 to August 14th, 2013. We spent 6 nights in the Serengeti (Sametu, Lemala Mara and Buffalo Camps), 2 nights at the Ngorongoro Crater (Lion’s Paw Camp) and 2 nights in Tarangire (Kikoti Camp).

The trip was really very good and it was a very good time to start from the northern side of Serengeti and have the chance to see crossing of the Mara river. This was more than one time and the guests enjoy very much to see this.

Coming to Lobo valley we got the chance to see a very big pride of lions on the top of the one of the very big rock in Lobo and they had prey next to them. We didn’t have the chance to see them make the kill. They had almost finished have the carcass and they also killed a buffalo not far away.

Coming down to the Central Serengeti got the chance of seen three leopards including one female and two cubs very close from the road. They walked across the road and jumped up on a sausage tree.

The crater was also good as we saw three rhinos but not very close and more than ten lionesses with four male lions feeding on a buffalo, as well. This was very close to the Munge river in the crater. Lake Manyara was also very good site because we saw a big numbers of buffaloes, wildebeests, zebras, and baboons.

In Tarangire at Silale Swamp we spotted a female leopard with two cubs and also saw a very big python up on a black barked acacia tree. Also, a Serval cat around Silale Swamp and big numbers of zebras and wildebeests along Tarangire River.

Close to Lemala camp at the northern Serengeti we saw a lioness drag half of the body of a wildebeest but unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to see her make the kill.

The hyena chase of a very big herd of wildebeests and four hyenas took one them from the herd and made a kill. We stayed at the site for almost 3 hours to watch the whole action and the hyena starting to feed on it before the wildebeest died. We stayed their util the Vultures started to come along with Marabou Storks.

Thus, the pictures include: The hyena site when made the kill of a wildebeest, Lionesses with male lions at Simba Kopjes area, Lion pride at Ngorongoro Crater, Elephants at Silale Swamp, Elephant Site at the Tarangire river area, Serval cat at Tarangire, Warthog crossing the road, A python at black backed acacia tree at the Silale Swamp, An elephant at the northern Serengeti, After nesting cubs lioness drink water at the Nyamalumbwa area, Male lion rest up on the one of the Kopjes at lobo valley, A lioness drag the prey close to lemala camp – Mara river, Lions rest at the Kopjes at lobo valley, Two cubs have the view on the top of Kopjes at lobo valley, Crossing at Mara river takes about two hours, The pride rest under gardenia bush, Lioness with cubs relax and cubs nesting.

Thanks,

Arnold Y. Mushi,
ADS Guide.

Greetings from Tanzania. This is ADS Driver-Guide Francis and Emmanuel reporting in. We just finished our safari with a group of 11 people from Texas. The first destination was Ngorongoro Crater/towards Serengeti. We experienced an overwhelming amount of game viewing.

The climate was so welcoming as we found the animals all over the crater but the interesting sight for the first day was the resident pride of lions.  They were along Munge river and they were killing a full size of african cape buffalo. The incident  occurred down to the river which caused the lions to work hard to pull out the prey from the river. Not only that but also they were surrounded by a large group of hyenas.

We proceeded towards Serengeti as it was arranged. Weather was was dry, sunny, and dusty across the plains. We had a lot of different and unique sights. We came across a black rhinoceros which is unusual in the Central Serengeti, but it seemed that this was one which escaped from the rhino project area south of Seronera in the Moru Kopjes. As we were there we saw the rangers were coming and tried to chase him back to his original place.

We extended further north which is buffalo springs camp where by we shared cultural tourism with Maasai.  They organized traditional dancing and showing us how to milk the cows and drinking the blood from the cows.

Here with are some pictures to accompany the story above.

With Regards,

Emmanuel Kichao and Francis Peter,
ADS Guides

Greetings from Tanzania. It is your friendly driver-guides Raphael Mollel and Francis Peter from Africa Dream Safaris reporting after the conclusion of another successful safari to the famous safari circuits of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Ecosystems. This time we guided a family of seven persons from Pelham, New York. This family included three generations with the grandparents Brian and Barbara, parents Greg and Lara and the kids named Marnie, Ian and Clare who ranged in age from 8 years to 14 years old. We utilized 2 vehicles to give our guests the most flexibility on their game drives and activities.

We started in the North Serengeti on August 2nd, 2013 when we picked up the guests at the Mara River Kogatende Airstrip. The North Serengeti is where the great migration is currently located and we saw the wildebeests and zebras crossing the Mara River. Apart from the migration we saw a lot of other animals including buffaloes, topi, elands, cheetahs, hartebeests, thomson gazelles, hyenas etc. Also, we saw three cheetah cubs of about 6 months old hunting a baby impala and they succeeded. What we believe is that probably their mother died or she came into estrus and abandoned them, though it was not a right time as cheetah cubs dont usually come into independence until they are about 18 months old.

In the Loliondo game reserve, which is adjacent to the Serengeti, we visited a Maasai village and we enjoyed very much seeing their culture. The dancing was amazing and the Maasai warriors were jumping very high and we tried it, but we didn’t succeed. Around the nearby Lobo Valley circuit we saw a leopard on the rock and he was surprisingly not skittish. Also, we saw three cheetah brothers along the road and their stomach were full (they had eaten recently).

In the central part of Serengeti, especially retima hippo pool, there were a lot of hippos (more than 200), as well dozens of lions around the Seronera valley. In the Ngorongoro crater we saw 6 big male lions and a couple of lions mating.

Lake Manyara National Park has an abundance of primates including troops of baboons, blue monkeys, black faced vervet monkeys and other animals like giraffes, elephants, impala etc. Also, the park is famous for its diversity of birds inlcuding white pelicans, Egyptian gooses, Africa jakana etc.

Tarangire National Park was fabulous because it’s a park with a higher concentration of elephants than any other park in Tanzania, especially in the dry season when a mini-migration takes place. Silale Swamp was especially good as it was full of elephants drinking and bathing.

The following are some of the photos taken during our trip with this family from August 2nd to August 12th, 2013.

Thanks,

Raphael Mollel and Francis Peter
ADS Guides.

A male lion in the crater stopping to itch the ADS lion logo on the spare tires (we see this behavior frequently as the lions appear attracted to our company logo)

This reflection of a hyena was taken in north Serengeti.

The hunting dog (wild dog) around buffalo camp, North Serengeti

This male cheetah was enjoying the late afternoon sun

A lion cub on a log in the Central Serengeti

Zebras in the crater were scratching but they looked like they were listening to something. It was very amusing!

Teenager bull elephants playing in Silale Swamp, Tarangire National Park

Jambo again. This is ADS driver-guide Anglebert Pantaleo reporting from the Serengeti plains. I had had five adventurous nights with a family 4 adults from Alabama, USA (Angelo and Beverly C. and Haywood and Stephanie B.). This time we started our trip at the northern part of Serengeti for two nights at BushTops Camp, two nights at Buffalo Camp, and one night at the Serengeti Four Seasons. The Mara area, Lamai triangle and Nyamalumbwa plains were amazing. There were huge herds of gnus and zebras at Lamai triangle and they were all heading east to the Nyamalumbwa plains. We saw them crossing the river twice and that was one of the highlights of the safari. Another highlights we had during the trip was a baby leopard (see picture below) we spotted in the Seronera valley of the Central Serengeti. The baby was so close to the road and we had great photo ops. Again I would like to share with you three of my pictures I took with this family of 4 persons while on safari. The safari dates were July 28th to August 2nd, 2013.

Habari (Howdy)! This is ADS driver-guide Claude. I have just finished a wonderful trip that we started with the most diverse and active circuit of the Serengeti (Kogatende and Mara river). The Northern Serengeti was great with large herds of migration, crocodiles, big cats (lions, leopards and cheetahs) and other species of large game were seen in abundance.

We went to Lobo Valley (North East Serengeti) which was a little scattered with game but the sightings we found were amazing. Beautiful leopards, elephants etc.

The central Serengeti (Seronera valley) including Moru Kopjes and  Sametu Kopjes was stunning. It is very dry now in the central Serengeti especially to the south, but along the streams and marshes and around the kopjes we had great wildlife viewing.

After the Serengeti, we visited Ngorongoro and Tarangire with beautiful sights of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes and  greater Kudu…fantastic! In all the circuits in Northern Tanzania, Tarangire National Park is the only place one can spot a greater Kudu.

I hope you enjoy my pictures below. I certainly enjoyed taking them!

Regards,

Claude Shitindi.
ADS Guide.

The Great Migration at the Sand River, North Serengeti.

Giraffes browsing in the Central Serengeti.

This is a klipspringer seen here grazing.

Elephants going for a drink near Lobo hill (shown in the background)

At Lobo valley in the North Serengeti, we came across these leopards (mother and cub).

A nervous black rhino crossing behind our vehicle on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater.

Elephant in the Mara River.

Hello…My name is Wilfred Fue, a senior guide with ADS. This time I had a family of seven join me for a safari with the last name of LaRose from Minnesota.  This was their second safari to Tanzania.

Our Safari was great as we started to explore the Northern Serengeti, then Central Serengeti, and there afterwards we went to the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara National Park, and finished up with Tarangire. In all those places we saw an amazing variety of animals, birds and habitats. It was a very comprehensive itinerary.

(a) There were around 14 lions including full grown cubs, waiting near the water hole, perhaps they may get the advantage of thirsty prey around Nyamalumbwa.

(b) After completing their little meal, these cheetahs decided to sleep and relax right in the middle of the road on the way to Moru Kopjes.

(c) A rare hunt as giraffe are very tall for the lion to kill. But in absence of average size prey, formidable lions will do it.

(d) A live hunt, this lioness is strangulating a wildebeest at Mara River.

Regards,

Wilfred Fue
ADS Guide.

Jambo! My name is Thomson and I am guide with ADS. I just concluded my most recent safari tour (August 3rd to August 9th, 2013) with two guests from Florida, USA named Natalia and Judy. My clients arrived on time at Lobo Valley Airstrip in the North Serengeti on August 3rd and we begun the game viewing soon after their arrival. My guests were very enthusiastic and I was delighted that they wanted to carry on with the game drive well into the twilight. We saw a lot at the first day around Lobo Valley, Lobo Hill and Kleins Woodlands. It was an impressive safari for them and we were very luck to see the wild dogs at Ololosokwan valley. We conducted a walking safari within a few meters of the wild dogs with an expatriate from the wild dog project and wild vision game ranger.

Pictures include:

– A family of cheetahs at lobo hill.
– African wild dogs – the most endangered species in the savannah, the wild dog project helps monitor and protect them in the Ololosokwan valley
– Great migration crossing the Mara river from Lamai to Kogatende. ”Impessive”.
– A group of hippos sun bathing in the Mara river,  North Serengeti.
– A key stone species – elephant (bull) pulling down a tree to debark.
– African hippo grazing along the Mara river.
– Vultures eating a wildebeest carcass.
– Cheetah hunting.
– King of the jungle roaring.
– Lion marking its territory.

Thanks,
Thomson Malekia.
ADS guide.