Hunting Big Cats on the Serengeti, Tanzania

Day 26

After Erin and the senior truck left for their hot air ballooning adventure, the rest of us had tea and coffee before starting our pre sunrise game drive. Our camp, Nguchiro, was situated in the middle of Serengeti National Park without any fencing. Overnight, we were all warned about leaving our tents and told to avoid bathroom breaks during quiet times. The tour guides, drivers and chefs were usually up until midnight and get moving around 5am so we were told their noise should keep any animals away. It was the midnight to 5am we should worry about. Neither Will or I had the urge to get up in the middle of the night and we didn’t venture to the bathroom until 6am. During morning tea, we learned that there were buffalo about 50 meters from our path to the bathroom – good thing they were not interested in us! We also learned that some others in our safari group had animals rummaging around next to their tent during the night – now this is real camping!

Our two safari trucks set off on the numerous side roads to find some animals. Our tour guide, Godlove said that we were driving in the direction of where the balloons launch so hopefully we could see them glide past. Along the drive, we saw hordes of wildebeest and zebras slowly migrating through the plains. Just as the sun peaked above the horizon, we saw a balloon in the distance. We positioned closer and saw a second then third peek above the horizon. They looked so majestic and peaceful above the migrating animals – we were instantly jealous of their morning flight.

As the hot air balloons disappeared again in the distance, Godlove drove us along the wandering roads looking for excitement. After seeing monkeys, hyenas, and a giraffe, we were feeling lucky as Godlove stopped the truck and pulled out his binoculars. Gazing in his direction with our camera’s zoom lenses, we could see a head sticking up form the grass – a lion! Being so far away, Godlove was on the hunt and took us down an adjacent road to get a better look. Unfortunately, they stayed hidden in the grasses and were not seen again.

During the chase, Godlove was talking on his CB radio – apparently, someone found something more exciting because he increased his driving speed and seemed to have a destination in mind. We approached a few other trucks parked on a side road near a tree. Godlove pulled up and got us a perfect view of a leopard perched on a branch. The leopard was stunning! As we were taking pictures of the beautiful animal, it stood and climbed down the tree into the tall grasses. We lost sight of the leopard, but Godlove scanned the area and saw some zebras nearby. He reasoned that the leopard might be looking for a meal and wanted us to have a front row seat so he pulled the truck forward to the herd. We all watched anxiously as the zebras carelessly grazed. Someone spotted the leopard passing through shorter grass heading towards the herd – this might be it! The zebras did seem to start acting like they sensed something and they all kept moving rather than grazing in one spot. In fact, as the group moved past a specific point, they all started running. It seemed like they were on to the leopard’s strategic attack. After the zebras passed, Godlove said he thought the leopard would climb a nearby tree log. Sure enough, the leopard jumped up just a few minutes later. We watched as he tried to get comfortable on his new perch but he eventually jumped back into the grass. Godlove quickly started the truck and pulled back to the original tree getting us the perfect spot because he said the leopard would be back. We all watched the leopard climb back to the original spot impressed with Godlove’s intuition. The group decided we had enjoyed watching the leopard long enough so we continued on. That’s when we realized there were about 30 safari trucks parked on the road – he became one popular leopard!

Next, we stopped to watch a nearby parade of elephants. There were several babies in the group but they were hard to see in the tall grasses. Godlove kept us moving towards the camp because we had not yet had a proper meal (although Godlove did bring us snacks to hold us over). We slowly made our way back to camp due to the warthogs, zebras, impala, topi and jackal we found along the way.

Back at camp, we we reunited with the ballooning group who made us even more jealous of their morning adventure. We all enjoyed a brunch consisting of salad, veggie pizza, hotdogs, and fries (side note: all meals were prepared by Tanzania Experience so Nash had a break from cooking). After brunch, we had several hours to relax before our afternoon game drive.

The afternoon drive started off with finding buffalo grazing close to our camp – maybe the same group that visited us in the morning?! As we continued, we found warthogs, coke’s hartebeest, wildebeest, zebras and a black cobra. We again approached a couple of trucks parked near trees and got excited to possibly see another leopard. As we zoomed-in on the tree, we were surprised to find lions! There were several lions presumably sleeping with their limbs hanging free from the branches. After we snapped photos, Godlove pulled forward to more trees filled with lions. After getting the sight from several different angles, we noticed vultures on every branch of an adjacent tree – they must be interested in something!

Our safari truck pulled forward to the other side of the tree and we found more lions! The first one I spotted was actually sitting right under a parked safari truck – are they allowed to get that close? As we parked, we noticed the lions had a kill sitting right beside the road! Godlove reasoned that this pride is overall well fed which is why they most likely did not seem interested in eating. We sat in the area for about 30 minutes watching lions come to the area and greet each other. Several would pass close to the truck making us react by closing the windows, but none seemed to be interested in our presence (one did get startled by noise from the window closing). Finally, a lion walked from the trees straight to the kill. The kill was a wildebeest . She first inspected the meal then used her mouth to search for available meat. It was really interesting to watch their technique. Godlove explained that they will not consume the hide or the bones but that scavengers such as vultures or hyenas will finish it off. We also saw two young lions among the pride. They went up to the kill but rather than eat, they started playing which Godlove said is typical behavior. During all the excitement, we saw a hyena approach the area. They are able to smell the kill and approach in hopes of a free meal. The lions were still protective of their kill though and stared at the hyena to make their presence clear. The hyena kept moving at a distance which to me seemed like a large circle to ensue he’s first when the lions do leave. We could have watched the lions for hours but eventually agreed it was time to move on. As we drove away, we saw more hyenas anxiously awaiting dinner.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around taking in the beautiful scenery where we found a few rock hyraxes, a giraffe, a dik-dik and a topi. We witnessed another spectacular sunset before heading back to camp. As we approached Nguchiro camp for our second night stay, we saw wildebeest, zebras and monkeys practically inside the camp – seems like we’ll have more visitors. That night, the chefs made us soup and spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner and we had mango for dessert.

Day 27

After an uneventful night, we had a nice breakfast of fruit, eggs, toast, and crepes. We set out for a game drive mid-morning. Godlove headed in a different direction than the previous day and we were quickly in a vast field of golden grasses where thompson’s gazelles were grazing. We passed an interesting bird which Godlove explained was a secretary. We continued driving passing more migrating zebras and wildebeest. We were actually visiting after peek migration but with seeing as many herds as we did, I could not imagine what peak season is like!

Cheetahs!

Godlove again stopped the truck and got out his binoculars – this will be good! We glanced his direction and saw two heads above the grass line. He explained that we had found cheetahs! Godlove listed how they differ from leopards; their spots are more circular, they have a black teardrop marking, and they hunt with their speed rather then strategy like leopards. We watched as the two cheetahs periodically laid down, sat back up, and looked all directions. Suddenly, they both started walking in the direction of the migrating zebras and wildebeests. Their pace picked up as they started closing in and the herd started to run. The cheetahs were running so fast it was hard to keep up with our zoom lenses or binoculars. We saw one of them pounce on a wildebeest which seemed like a direct hit but the wildebeest kept running and the cheetah lost grip. Both cheetahs stopped and watched the herd get further away. It was the most exhilarating moment on the Serengeti!

It was such an amazing start to the day and we still had the whole morning ahead! Right after, we found a group of hyenas along the road. One was making a lot of noise, another was completely covered with horrible smelling mud, and others were milling about. Godlove said he thought the group was living in drainage pipes under the road which is how the one got so muddy and the one crying seemed to be trying to join the group in their home but the others would not let him. It was creating a lot of commotion.

Next, we found lions gathered at a watering hole. They seemed to be just passing through the area but got comfortable in the shade of safari trucks. When a lion approached our truck, Godlove instructed us to not move the windows because the noise startling them would be worse than it being open. We obliged as a large lioness laid within feet of the window. We noticed the largest lion of the group was female and was wearing a collar. Godlove explained that all prides in the Serengeti are tracked by scientists that are locally stationed. Right down the street, we found more members of this pride relaxing in trees. They really do seem to have the typical cat life; hunting, playing and napping!

As we continued, Godlove mentioned that we had yet to see a grown adult male lion (yeah, where were they hiding?). Next we saw more zebras, ostriches and hartebeests. This place is packed with animals! Godlove stopped the truck in front of a large rock formation and we all started looking. Finally, there he was – a mature male lion with the biggest mane we’ve seen. He was beautiful! We drove along the rock mound and found another male with a lioness and three small cubs – such a cute family right out of the Lion King!

Godlove continued fulfilling his last goal of finding male lions when we joined several other safari trucks. There was a group of five male lions laying right in the middle of the road. They definitely did not look as healthy as other lion and I assumed they needed a few nice lionesses in their life. The caravan continued down the road where we found another pride walking through the grass. The safari trucks followed them as they approached a watering hole, found a good spot to drink, then continued on. Godlove thought that this was a different pride than we had seen earlier that morning.

Our caravan started heading towards the exit of the park. Along the way, we saw kob antelopes, warthogs and wildebeests. We then approached another tree with trucks parked near and anticipated a predator cat. But instead we found the rest of our caravan stopping for a lunch break (is this safe?). Everyone stood outside of the trucks and enjoyed another box lunch while the animals stayed away. We piled back in and drove to the exit headed for Ngorongoro Crater while passing giraffes, antelope, wildebeests, zebras, and ostriches.