Serengeti National Park, Part 3

Day 5

The previous day we asked Marcel if he’d ever seen the crossing.  Over the many years that he was a cook in the park, he had never made it to the river as he was always back at camp working.  We invited him along with us and after we reassured everyone that we could wait extra for dinner to be ready that evening, the 4 of us climbed into the truck.

We passed multiple lions as we drove, but none of them looked like they would be hunting.  Again, we spotted cars off the main road and went in search of what they were looking at.  We saw a cheetah that was wandering about and calling out.  She had either lost the hiding spot of her cub or something had come to take it.  Repeating the noise over and over again, she walked around and used termite mounds to get a better angle.  We followed her as she continued across the road, but it didn’t seem like she was going to find her young so we went on.

 

As we neared the spot of the buffalo calf, we searched the surroundings to see if we saw anything.  Once we reached the exact spot, the only thing left was a piece of the intestines.  We got out of the car to look at the prints and identified the footprints of a lion.  It had been an easy meal, but that didn’t stop it from taking the calf.

 

Further down the road, we found more cars that were searching for a leopard.  They had spotted the tail, but it escaped without anyone seeing which direction it went.  We used the binoculars to search around us, but there was also a culvert under the road and we had no way of knowing if it was hiding inside or not.

We moved on and passed vultures that were tearing at the skin of dead wildebeest.  By the fact that so much of it was left, we assumed it had died of natural causes.  We started seeing more wildebeest and then went past the spot from the previous day.  It was empty as there were no wildebeest in sight.  We crossed over to the other side of the Mara River and found several cars parked under trees.  There were more wildebeest than we could count on the edge and hopefully they would be heading towards us this time.

After just 15 minutes, someone started their engine and we gunned it to the edge.  This time there were thousands that were ready to make it across.  The first ones jumped into a fairly deep section of the river yet they still managed to get across.  A leader of a herd further back in the crowd decided that the water was more shallow up the river so it started a second line.  Just as we’d seen the day before, one-by-one they threw themselves into the river in hopes of reaching the other side.  Their trajectory changed as they went and soon they were curving around something black in the middle of the river.  Tico thought it was a crocodile and we all got excited, but later realized it was just a rock.

 

 

About halfway through, several that reached our side of the river appeared lost as the wildebeest in front of them had already made their way up the side of the hill.  The group turned back and we thought they were going to cross to where they’d just come from.  Some of the others that had just crossed led the way and saved them from having to go back across the river.  A few crazy ones jumped in wherever they pleased and really struggled to get across.  We thought a few wouldn’t make it, but they swam hard and reached our side.  Even though so many had been successful, it didn’t stop some herds from backing away from the river.

 

 

The previous day watching the wildebeest cross the river had been amazing, but this was a different level.  As we’d already seen it (and captured it on video and in pictures), we got to set down the electronics and just enjoy the moment.  We grabbed the binoculars and got to see a magnified view of their jumping.  It also lasted more than 10 minutes so we had plenty of time to take in the extraordinary event.  Marcel also thoroughly took advantage of his time and it was great to see the look on his face as he got to see something that his country is famous for.

We pulled away from the river and ate lunch under a nearby tree.  There were wildebeest everywhere as those that had just crossed were feeding on the grass.  We thought another group might make the decision to cross, but they backed away from edge and went back into the trees.  When we were done eating, we drove along the edge of the river and found a herd of elephants on their way up from the water.  They ate and walked and occasionally looked over at us to see what we were doing.

 

 

The river was full of hippos and we stopped to watch as a baby followed its mother around.  We started to move away from the river and drove through herds and herds of wildebeest as well as some herds of zebras.  It was clear that the crossings would continue for the coming weeks, but we were glad we had timed it as we did.

 

 

Day 6

As we wouldn’t be rushing to the river, we slept in and ate breakfast at a decent hour.  The same baboons that had stolen our sandwiches a few days before were back in full force.  They sat along the tip of the roof and watched for their moment to react.  The dining room hut remained locked and everyone paid much more attention to make sure that they shut the door when they passed through.

 

 

We took down the tents and loaded everything in the truck.  This was the last time we’d be at this campsite so we made sure we had everything.  As we went down the rocky hill we hadn’t been able to climb days before, we saw a hyena.  When we looked around, we found more.  By the end of our count, there were 12 spotted hyenas in the area, most who were laying down and relaxing after a long night.

We reached our campsite in Seronera and emptied the car.  The welding job on the axel came undone on our ride back to Central Serengeti so we drove to the mechanic.  The driver that had the replacement part was back in the park and had given it to Sam the night before.  So the mechanic fixed the car for good and we were back out looking for animals within 30 minutes.

 

 

We saw cars parked along the road so we went to see which cat was around.  There was a tree in the distance that had a leopard sleeping on a branch.  On the move again, we saw more vehicles so we stopped.  There were 2 lionesses and a lion near a stream of water.  We waited for something to happen and then one of the lionesses made her move.

There was a herd of zebras not far away and she was moving in their direction.  Sam mentioned that they would use the cars to hide from their prey and sure enough that is what she did.  She walked on the other side of the line of cars and slowly made her approach.  As we were the 2nd car in the line, she crouched down just a car length away from us and waited.

 

 

 

She started her attack and the zebras were ready.  They barked and sprinted as fast as they could and the lioness came up with nothing to eat.  When she made her attack, several more lionesses appeared in the tall grass.  There was one not far from us that we didn’t even realize was there.  Another lioness came to the one that had attacked and they rubbed heads in a such way to express her love and appreciation for the hunting attempt.  This was also the sign for the cubs to come out and join the hunter.

 

She stayed behind with the cubs, but the lioness that had come out to console the hunter started walking in our direction.  Another lioness joined her and they stopped not far from us.  Suddenly, they both pounced at a bush next to our vehicle and a serval came running out.  While much lower on the food chain, this smaller cat was in their territory and they were not happy about it.  The cubs tried to chase after it, but they were unsuccessful.

 

In the end, we counted 7 lionesses, 2 male lions and 13 cubs.  The lioness who now appeared to be in charge walked along the road.  She would stop occasionally and continue on until she stopped on top of a termite mound.  We took this as a sign that she would not be hunting any more and moved on.

 

Near another patch of water, we found 2 lionesses laying down.  There were Thomson’s gazelles nearby so we thought they might hunt.  Tico then noticed that there were several hyenas close to the gazelles.  Without the preparation that lions go through, one hyena made its move and quickly grabbed its meal.  Within seconds, 2 hyenas had ripped the animal in 2 and they both took their pieces far away.  The lionesses nearby caught the smell of the kill and went to see what was happening.  They didn’t seem too bothered about the situation as they did nothing or maybe it was because it had started to rain.

We continued on and found a cheetah and her 4 young ones on the lookout.  The mother was watching the gazelles closely, but they were too far away to be worthy of a hunt.  Not much further down the road, we found 2 lionesses with their 4 cubs.  They had killed a warthog and the cubs were gnawing away at the face.  The cubs also played with their mother and made it appear perfectly normal to be pulling meat off the bone.

 

As we started back towards camp, we spotted a leopard on a tree branch eating a Thomson’s gazelle.  With the binoculars, we got a good view of the animal and saw how it used the different branches to sit and also provide leverage as he tore apart his kill.  The sun was starting to get closer to the horizon so the dust from animals running was illuminated perfectly.  We saw one last male lion jumping a creek as we got closer to camp and watched as the rays of the sun disappeared, but not without leaving behind a double rainbow.

 

 

 

 

 

Our time in Serengeti National Park was coming to an end.  We’d seen the strategy that went into lion hunts and the lack of such in hyena hunts.  We were lucky to witness more wildebeest cross the Mara River and got to spend a longer amount of time taking in the special event.  It was hard to believe we’d seen so much in less than a week.