Serengeti National Park (Part 4) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Day 7

It would be our last day in Serengeti so we wanted to get up early and make the most of it.  As we started our game drive, we passed trees that were covered in baboons and storks.  They hadn’t started their day yet and were slowly working their way out of their homes.  Then, we saw 2 lionesses laying out in the open.  They were enjoying the cool morning before it got too hot.  

Then we saw several hot air balloons gliding in our direction.  We watched as they floated over us before continuing on our way.  The next thing we saw was a male lion on top of a termite mound as if on a throne.  He showed off his position in the hierarchy shamelessly.  There was an umbrella acacia tree behind him that made it look like a scene from Lion King. 

 

 

A little further down the road, we found the large pride of lions from the day before.  They must not have hunted during the night as they were still in search of food.  They were laying around near the stream as if not interested in hunting and there were 2 reedbucks in the tall grass.  Sam told us that the lions know better than to hunt them, but suddenly a Thomson’s gazelle wandered into their area.  

One of the lionesses watched closely and then made her move.  She chased the gazelle with all her might, but the fast gazelle was out of range in no time.  More of the lionesses appeared, yet again out of nowhere, and then the cubs came out to join the rest of them.  They’d have to wait for another opportunity to have a meal.

Then, we saw something that was new to all of us.  There were 2 female ostriches that were feeding in the savannah when suddenly a lioness started chasing them.  This was a rare event as typically lions chose to hunt animals they are more likely to catch.  An ostrich is much faster and has a claw that could slice the lion open quite easily.  The hunt was unsuccessful as we would have guessed.

Carrying on, we saw several cheetahs sitting up in the distance.  There was a group of Thomson’s gazelles and it looked like the 4 cheetahs would be hunting.  They planned their attack and slowly got in position.  It was far away, but we followed along with the binoculars.  They made their move, but the speedy gazelles got away yet again.  All of the unsuccessful hunting attempts made us realize that even though National Geographic makes it look like the predators kill more often than they fail, the reality is that they struggle for their food.

As if we hadn’t already seen enough lions, we saw even more.  On our way back to camp, we saw 2 male lions with 4 cubs as if they were the babysitters while the females were away hunting.  Then, we passed large boulders that had a lion basking in the morning sun on the top.  It was incredible how many different prides we saw and how well they hid or didn’t care to as they knew they were the top of the food chain.

 

We reached Seronera camp and had brunch before we loaded everything and left the park.  As we drove out, there were gazelles, but nothing as exciting as everything we’d just seen over the past several days.  We still had a night left in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area so our game viewing wasn’t over just yet.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The landscape changed back to dusty plains and we watched as dust tornadoes formed.  We passed the same villages and cattle herds that we had seen a few days earlier.  But this time we stopped at the Simba campsite to spend the night.  We unpacked the car and set up our tent.  The night would be spent on the rim of the crater and we’d have the next morning to drive down and see the animals.

 

 

After relaxing, we had dinner in the dining hut.  Tico went to the bathroom and came back saying there was an elephant nearby.  I went out to see it and saw the large animal drinking water from the water tank.  We later learned that this elephant is a regular around the camp as it knows where to find water.  Dinner was served and we looked at the sky full of stars before crawling in.  There were hyenas calling out somewhere in the distance and we purposefully took all of the food out of our tent so the bush pigs wouldn’t come looking for it.  

 

Just before 3 am, we woke up as there was something chewing outside of the tent.  Tico stuck his head out and saw a herd of zebras grazing right next to us.  We usually stay inside the tent when there are animals, but as they were zebras we got out to see better.  There were several sitting under the tree while others ate.  They didn’t seem to care that the tents were in their way nor that we shined lights on them to try to get a picture.  

 

Day 8

The next morning we woke up in a cloud as there was fog everywhere.  It seemed to get worse during breakfast and by the time we started our descent into the crater, we only saw silhouettes of the zebras along the road.  We worked our way out of the moss-covered forest and down into the plains of the crater.  

 

The sunrise could be seen through the clouds and the yellow grass glowed in the light.  There were wildebeest everywhere, but these were residents and didn’t migrate as those we’d seen in Serengeti.  We saw 9 hyenas moving across the field and 2 of them came up to the car in front of us and started smelling it before continuing on.  

 

 

 

 

Just as we had done in Serengeti, when we saw a group of cars we knew that a predator was there.  We went to a gathering and found a pride of lions eating a buffalo in a ravine.  There were 20 in total, of which 3 were males.  Younger lions were also part of the group, but they were older than the ones we’d seen previously.  We watched as they moved around until one of the males got up and marked the territory.  This was the sign for them to leave.

They got up and started walking away from the cars.  We turned around and followed them and anticipated where they would cross the road we were on.  Slowly, they walked towards us and crossed directly in front of us.  The cars moved with them and when we were ready to leave, we had nowhere to go.  

 

 

 

Once we made it out, we saw crowned cranes.  We’d seen other birds, but these had a special beauty to them with their yellow crown.  Our last stop was at the hippo pool, where we could get out of the car.  This was the closest we’d been to the hippos out of the car as 2 came over to see what was happening.  They watched for a bit and then went to the other side of the lake to rejoin the rest of their group.  

 

 

 

We finished the loop to exit the crater and watched as the wildebeest moved in their typical single file line to reach the water.  It made us realize how lucky they were to only have to worry about predators and not constantly moving to reach greener pastures.  One last lion gave us our last goodbye before we started our ascent.

 

Back at the top, we stopped at the viewpoint to look down where we had just been.  Then we were back on the tar road and en route to Arusha.  It was several hours to get back and we slept on and off.  We stopped once at a tourist shop that was more overpriced than the usual ones.  It even included an upscale art gallery so we looked around, but kindly declined everything.  We started seeing more and more civilization before Sam and Marcel dropped us at a hotel.  After so much excitement, we took showers, enjoyed some ugali (maize dough) and then passed out.

The tour was more than we had expected.  For months, we’d seen animals and imagined what the crossing of the river would be like.  There was so much adrenaline and excitement involved and we also got to see our first lion hunt (and kill!).  We saw animals that were sick, which we also hadn’t seen before and still can’t believe how many different animals were wandering around.  The week was well worth the cost and something we think everyone should experience in their lifetime. 

 

 Helpful tips:

• We chose Sunny Safaris based on reviews and cost.  They did an excellent job and we would recommend using them.
• Most tours to Serengeti visit a different park the day before and after as the commute from Arusha is long.  There are other options than the route we took.
• Central Serengeti had by far the most action considering the number of lion prides.