Africa Part 5/7: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

We left Kenya behind and took our safari adventures next into Tanzania.  Border crossings are rarely simple and at the border we spent several minutes looking for our new guide (who only gave us what I think is his last name, Mbaka, though Tanja thinks his name was Ekambe). Then we went through the painful process of going through several stations at the border checkpoint in Isibania, Kenya and Isibania, Tanzania before we were finally welcomed into Tanzania.

We then had to drive around three hours back on the Tanzania side of the border to get to Serengeti National Park (which borders Masai Mara on the Kenya side).  It would have been much more convenient if we could have crossed the border while inside the parks and saved ourselves hours of driving, but we did get to see several towns along the way.  Whereas the Kenya side of the border had dirt roads and sparse villages that looked very poor (houses made from dirt or metal sheets), Tanzania had paved roads, banana trees, houses mostly made out of concrete, was more populated, and the landscape was much more lush.  On the surface, Tanzania seemed much less poor.  It was interesting since our Kenyan guide Joseph proudly commented that Kenya was much wealthier than Tanzania.  While on average and overall that was probably true, perhaps the sections of Kenya we were in were much poorer than average.  It was a fascinating drive to get into Serengeti National Park and one thing we immediately noticed was that we weren't subjected to people desperately trying to sell us trinkets and souvenirs at the gate of the park entrance while we waited in the car like we were on the Kenyan side in Masai Mara. 

We found a leopard lounging in a tree.  Serengeti had more stringent rules than Masai Mara about staying on the roads, which made it a little more challenging to get close to the animals.

We spent our nights in the Serengeti Bush Camp, so we never had to leave the national park boundaries.  It was very remote, but it made for beautifully dark skies.  When combined with the nearly new moon, the stars were stunning and I loved playing with our new camera to take photos of the heavenly wonders.  I really miss seeing stars in Maryland, so I was thrilled with the dark skies and display of stars in Africa.  One thing that was different here was that when we checked into our camp, the hosts explained the rules that we weren't allowed to leave our tent alone at night without an escort.  They were concerned about predators that prowled around the park naturally, and there were no fences or other barriers to secure the camp.  When we were being escorted to our tent after dinner, the staff shone their flashlights out into the grounds and we saw dozens of sets of glowing eyes looking at us; fortunately in our case, they were small dik-diks and not a threat.  I did hear what I was told were likely hyenas yelping in the mornings somewhere outside our tent, though I have no idea how far away they were.  Here are some pictures of the night sky above our family tent with a band of the Milky Way stretching across.

 

 

 

I think this beautiful little bird is a lilac breasted roller. 

In Kenya we were driving around in a Toyota Hiace van, and I was surprised it was able to handle all the rough roads we drove on.  The kids liked having the bench seat in back where they could take turns laying down with a couple throw pillows when they were tired.  Our Kenyan guide told us that the vans were a smoother ride than the Land Rovers and since they were much lighter, they also got better gas mileage (which also made them less expensive).  In Tanzania, we had a Land Rover, which seemed to be the standard safari vehicle in Tanzania.  While it was missing the bench seat in back, it did have a mini fridge, WiFi (via a cellular hot spot if we were in cell service), power outlets, and more leg room, so I think I preferred the Land Rover.

A young crocodile sunning itself on a rock.

Elephants crossing the road are probably the African equivalent of bison crossing roads in Yellowstone.  They also cause similar traffic backups, though it's best to just let the elephants move at their own pace since they are so much bigger than the vehicles.

We watched this warthog take a mud bath and rub up against the bank of this pool to cool off and probably get some relief from insects.

 

I loved it when the warthog shook the mud off itself by shaking its body like a dog.  I laughed as its flowing mane bounced back and forth and had silly thoughts of it being a warthog version of a male model like Fabio with its hair blowing in the wind as it wallowed in the mud.

 

 

 

This one-tusked elephant was walking in our direction from far off.  He eventually crossed the road by us.  As we were trying to get photos, he became a little aggressive and our driver had to move forward, jolting us a little.  The elephant spread its ears out and did take a few aggressive steps toward us. Our driver said that lone males are often more aggressive than elephants in herds because they are insecure. His single tusk shows he is no stranger to fighting.

Lydia looking out at the savanna with giraffes in the distance.

We found this saddle-billed stork hanging out near the water.

One of my favorite bird species we saw was the crowned crane.  This picture was actually taken in Amboseli (our first safari stop in Kenya), but I missed including it there.  We saw more crowned cranes with their distinctive tufted crowns in other spots during our safari as well.

We found three lion cubs lounging about without their mother.  They began walking around, exploring, and soon a baby Thompson gazelle happened to come close by.  Two of the juvenile lions (about 4 months old) began chasing it, trying to hunt.  They weren't particularly effective, but I guess everyone needs to start somewhere when learning.  Here's one of the lions trying to chase down the gazelle, who is on the right side of the picture, but blends in well and is hard to see.   Even baby gazelles are fast.

Plotting for the next move perhaps.

Karina - there's an elephant behind you!

Derek, our silly boy, on safari.

Try to spot the leopard in this tree.

Here it is closer up just lounging.

A couple Masai giraffes.

I guess this one had an itch on its neck to scratch (and since its neck is so long, had to use the entire tree to scratch it).

Here's a bloat of hippos in the Mara River.

It was always easy to tell you were coming near hippos due to their distinctive odor.  The kids were disgusted by the stench and could announce when we were near hippos without seeing them first.

It is so fascinatingly disgusting watching them as they thrash around in their water made so filthy by their own droppings. 

This giraffe has several oxpecker birds on it to eat ticks and insects or possibly to drink the blood of the giraffe itself.  

Velvet monkey.

Zebras next to a termite mound with Thompson gazelles in the background.

Apparently zebras work out a buddy system and have preferred buddies in their herd.  They stand like this with their heads pointed toward their buddy's rear so they can team up and look in all directions for predators.  The stripe pattern of the combined team probably offers some defense as well since it might be difficult for predators to determine where one zebra ends and another begins.  Or maybe it's just comforting to have a friend nearby while crossing the plains.

When we were arranging our safari, one of the places that Tanja found that we could have gone was Lake Manyara in Tanzania.  This national park is famous for its tree climbing lions, however she learned that it was far from a guarantee that you would see lions in the trees there, so we didn't include it as one of our stops and Tanja admitted questioning in her mind whether it would have been worth it to squeeze Manyara in to try and find lions in the trees.  We were thrilled when we were driving around Serengeti and found what may have been the same three lion cubs that were hunting that morning lounging and relaxing in the branches of a tree near the road.  Their mother was down on the ground farther away, probably looking for some dinner to feed the cubs.  We stayed there for a long time watching the cubs and taking pictures.  We eventually lost sight of their mother, so she must have not been too worried about them up in the tree.  Our guide said he only sees lions in trees about once every few months, so we felt very lucky!

 

 

Karina and Tanja looking out at the lion cubs in the tree.

Here are the girls at our bush camp in Serengeti (the Central Serengeti Bush Camp).  Notice the lack of any fencing to keep animals out.

Our tent was called Nyani (Swahili for hyena).

Don't feel bad for us staying in a tent, it was huge and we were hardly roughing it.

In the middle of the tent was a large living room with couches, chairs, and a table.

Each side had a king bed, desk, and other furnishings.

The bathrooms (one on each side of the tent next to the bedroom areas) had a shower and sink with cold water all the time.  We had to schedule our hot water for showers with the staff, which was different and quaint, though not without some charm.  We never determined what they really had to do to get hot water flowing whether it was move some hoses or hauling in hot water to a tank, but we did have hot water for our showers every morning.

The view looking out onto our tent's porch and further out across the Serengeti.

The hospitality we experienced at this camp was phenomenal.  One of the staff named Lulu took a particular liking to Derek.  When she first asked him what his name was, he joked that his name was DooDoo and from that point on, every meal she would come up to him and greet DooDoo, making sure he had food that he liked and convincing him to eat his fruit and vegetables.

 

This was easily our favorite lodging of the safari.  Despite having to schedule hot water, and not having enough solar electricity to charge electronics (only enough electricity for lights), we loved being here.  The food was delicious, the tent luxurious, and the service amazing.  The best part of course was being in the middle of the Serengeti with no fence.  The remoteness was part of the charm.  The kids loved knowing any kind of wild animal could be nearby, though we only saw birds and various antelope.  One night, the staff member Lulu convinced Derek to eat the rest of his meal by promising to show him a hyena outside the dining tent.  After Derek ate his food, she took him to the tent railing, shined a flashlight into the darkness, and eventually found the eyes of a 'hyena' looking back at them. It was never hard to find animal eyes peeking at us at night when using the flashlight, but finding a 'hyena' was special for Derek.  Below are the dining tent (on the left) and lounge tent (on the right) for the camp.