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Tanzania`s Northern Circuit - Home to the LFC`s


mvecht

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Really like the crowned cranes on page 2.

 

I also thought that this:

 

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is an especially captivating scene.

 

I'd also like to add my appreciation for the (no longer) underappreciated honey badger sighting.

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So many really outstanding and beautiful photos. Also photos of two different honey badgers - you were very lucky to see two. Sad to hear about the injury to the second honey badger.

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Last morning in the Serengeti.

The plan was to check out the central part of the Seronera so we would encounter a lot of traffic and we did. We had a bit of bad luck in the beginning. A leopard had just left a tree when we got there and some Lions that had been in a tree also disappeared just before our arrival. We did see a Male Lion (or the top of his mane) slinking away in the tall grass. We had a Cheetah sighting but the Cheetah was just sitting in tall grass. This is where we saw the only really bad behaviour by any other vehicle. The two young guests in the vehicle were both standing on the roof of their vehicle to get a better view. We saw several drivers attempting to have them stand Down but with no success. Hopefully the driver was reported. In Tarangire we had to "rescue" a vehicle that had been stuck in deep sand for 3 hours. He had ventured into an area that was of limits for commercial traffic.

In general however I was very pleased with the conduct of the other guides even at very crowded sightings. In the Crater we had one sighting that attracted 35 vehicles!

Finally we got to see the only Leopard of the trip. Poor lighting and quite a distance but still a Leopard :D

Other noteable sigthings for the morning: Male Harrier sp., Cape Longclaw, Diderichs Cuckoo, White-bellied Bustard, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Rüppels Starling, Blackshouldered Kite taking off and Nile Grass rat.

 

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The last day of our safari was to be spent in the Crater which was truly home to the LFC`s.

We entered the crater from the Eastern side as the first vehicle at exactly 6 am. Most other people were asleep. This was the 1st of January! We did not see another vehicle for one hour. Our first sighting was 2 Rhino`s but they were so far away that we needed binoculars. The most fun was a Bat Eared Fox "playing" with some Thomson Gazelles. We saw several Crowned Cranes and ofcourse the Flamingoes. Wethen came across a Zebra scratching itself over and over again.

The weather had been beautiful on the safari sofar. Only a few clouds around and less than 1 mm of rain in total. However in the Crater it was overcast all morning and the lighting situation was quite difficult.

 

 

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~ @@mvecht

 

The zebra scratching images show a behavior I've never seen.

In Amboseli I've watched elephants scratching their underside on the stone cairns supporting park signs.

Your series showing a zebra doing likewise is a pleasant surprise.

Flamingos?

I haven't visited Tanzania so was unaware flamingoes were there — nice!

The crowned cranes with dozens of Cycnium tubulosum, Wastepaper Flower, is a lovely image. Baboons would literally have a ‘field day’ with those delectable flowers.

The running hyenas and the buffalo shot has the feeling of morning on safari.

Thank you for this fine group of Crater images!

Tom K.

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Crater drive continued.

Time for breakfast. Only one Yellowbilled kite around but the Weavers and Fantailed Widowbirds were quite active. As we were having breakfast the Lions took Down a Wildebeest not too far away. This was probably the busiest of all sightings we had on the trip. When we arrived there were app 35 vehicles but with plenty of room no fighting for position. We then saw 6 Rhino. Again some distance away and with the heat Building up not easy to take Pictures. Just before leaving the Crater we saw mating Hippos. Just after leaving the Crater we saw our second Marsh Mongoose crossing the road. This one stopped for a few seconds. Enough to have a good look but no Pictures. Our safari was over and we headed to Arusha to spend the afternoon/evening at Ilboru Safari lodge. A nice place to kill time before our 02.40 am flight from Kilimanjaro.

 

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Another safari is over and time to wrap up the experience.

Lion sightings (14)

Cheetah (7)

Leopard (1)

Honey Badger (2)

Marsh Mongoose (2)

African Wild Cat (1)

Bat Eared Fox (4)

Black Rhino (2)

Lesser Kudu (1)

Hunts (0)

Kills (0)

We were very pleased with the sightings: Lots of cats and quite a few unusual daytime sightings.

The negatives were the tall grasses and the fact that we could not go offroad except for Ndutu. We also missed the night drives.

It was wonderful to see Africa in the green season something I would love to do Again but then it would have to be in an area that allows offroading.

We loved the scenery and especially Tarangire with all the Baobab`s.

I have consequently asked my wife about our next safari destination and she has made it clear that we should go back to Botswana.

Although I loved our experience in Tanzania I am sure thatthe next trip will be Botswana as I almost always comply with my wifes wishes :rolleyes:

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Thanks for a great trip report. Could you comment on costs etc? :)

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@@kittykat23uk

 

The Z hotel was app 1200 USD for 5 nights

The safaripart including a flight from Zanzibar to Arusha incl 2 nights Tarangire, two nights Ndutu, 2 nights Serengeti, 1 night Ngorongoro Sopa, and 1 night Ilboru safari Lodge including a guide and very nice Toyota Landcruiser came to app 6800 USD.

Flights on Turkish Airlines from Copenhagen to Tanzania for 2 pax was app 1600 USD. I was Lucky enough to have a lot of miles and some upgrade coupons.

In Zanzibar we had most of the dinners at the Z hotel simply because both the food and the service was outstanding. Typically 80-90 USD incl a bottle of nice wine.

A lunch with pizza and a couple of beers at one of the other hotels was app 12-15 USD.

Edited by mvecht
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Thanks for sharing, are the prices quoted for the safari for two of you or per person?

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All your photos are really superb, but the last section of your report contain some really fantastic ones - the ostrich head and neck , the cranes, and the lion running toward the camera, and so many really good bird photos.

The contrast, sharpness and colour are all outstanding, I wish I could achieve that quality.

Are the photos 'as taken' or have they been 'photoshopped', ie altered later?

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@@kittykat23uk

The prices are for 2 people total.

@@Julian

The Pictures are high quality jpegs. I have used Canon`s Digital Photo Professional software to "alter" them by cropping where necessary and then adjusting contrast and highlight as well as adding a little sharpening.

I do have all the rictures as RAW files and will spend some of the Winter evenings working on the ones that either require a lot of work or deserve to be printed in high quality. :D

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Loved the read and photos and detail. We were also in Tarangire at the same time and recognized the place you had a shot a two elephants crossing the road next a big rut on the road. We were camping the public camp site and had it all to ourselves for 3 nights. We got hit by a massive storm one night which made getting out of the camp a mission.

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@@kittykat23uk

A lunch with pizza and a couple of beers at one of the other hotels was app 12-15 USD.

Very meticulous record keeping, right down to the pizza and beers.

 

All your photos are really superb, but the last section of your report contain some really fantastic ones - the ostrich head and neck , the cranes, and the lion running toward the camera, and so many really good bird photos.

 

I would agree. The lush, verdant green season really comes through.

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Great thread, the recent photos from the crater were very nice.

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  • 9 months later...

Thank you very much for sharing with us your experiences from your great safari trip, @@mvecht! Very nice photos and narration! Thanks also for the pricing info.

I was just wondering if you saw the wildebeest and zebra migration either in the area of Seronera or around Ndutu. I couldn't see photos of the big herds on your report.

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@@FlyTraveler

Thank you for your kind Words.

We missed the bulk of the migration by half a day! As we entered Ndutu they were entering the South western part of the Serengeti. We could see it in the distance but were not allowed to drive there.

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@@FlyTraveler

Thank you for your kind Words.

We missed the bulk of the migration by half a day! As we entered Ndutu they were entering the South western part of the Serengeti. We could see it in the distance but were not allowed to drive there.

 

Thanks very much for your kind response, @@mvecht!

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