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A Return to the Serengeti: Migration Season in the South (February 2017)


sek07

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After a dry and dusty hot morning we started out our PM drive on the 3rd day refreshed after a nice siesta and meal.   We got off to a great start by finding a beautiful solo female cheetah sleeping under a bush.  IMG_1243.thumb.JPG.cd1aa06117e784af0a39055639aa28c0.JPGIMG_1244.thumb.JPG.07df15d129190ee1fb5b9dd07eacbdc5.JPG

 

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We continued on and saw a first for us, a beehive!

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Storm clouds started to form and it rained very briefly and the smell of the rain hitting the dry parched earth was intoxicating.  After the short rain, a rainbowIMG_1254.thumb.jpg.34e098a9d796ded7227c272adde97654.jpg

 

Further on some slender mongoose outside of their den

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Can anyone ID this bird in flight?IMG_1193.thumb.jpg.045b9f86df5aeb9e75c06fd95fe9526f.jpg

 

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After an unsuccessful search for a leopard in the trees along a dry riverbed we returned to the kopje to see if the lions from the AM were still there, which they were...

 

Doing what they do best

 

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It was another beautiful sunset in the SerengetiIMG_1262.thumb.jpg.716df81e5bcf6ee8b9f2d9685bfec9b9.jpgIMG_1267.thumb.jpg.e5fcb8f9a424a4eb691d7a4ff6c1b149.jpgIMG_1271.thumb.jpg.15aa6ffe27ce9340e5fe99fd2c9f427f.jpg

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We are always sad to leave a camp as great as this one, but our final night at Serian Kusini was the usual great food and hospitality and a nice spirited political discussion with other guests and Alex.  Tomorrow we would be doing a game drive all the way down to Serian Kakessio via Ndutu.  

 

Kakessio, despite being not that far away, had apparently received rain and the bulk of the migration had headed further south.  Being in the Ngorogoro conservation area rather than the national park also allows for certain other activities such as walking, off roading and fly camping as well as night drives which are some of our favorite activities and why we chose to combine the camps.  

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19 hours ago, sek07 said:

yes @Atravelynn so many overlaps with you that week!  wish we had said hi even if briefly...

 

thanks @offshorebirder and @Alexander33, @AmyT @michael-ibk, going back through the pictures and my notes from my timeline it is somewhat surreal and we are so thankful for it.  the area is prolific and beautiful and the guides just so terrific at what they do.  I would also like to point out the general level of respect ALL of the guides we encountered had during potential cheetah hunts was really heartening and clearly a reason the cats are doing so well in this area.   Almost without exception a respectful distance was kept if it seemed at all like they were interested in hunting.   You are right that it was "almost without exception."  The selfie stick atrocity was one of the exceptions, and it was not during hunting.  The overzealous balloon operators (what a good way to put it) also did not disturb a hunt that we know of.  The vehicles really do give way and stay back in my experience.  Let's hope that culture continues.  And spreads to other areas as well.

i know @Atravelynn may have had a different experience with selfie sticks and overzealous balloon operators on her trip though so its not all perfection out there

That post-first-rain smell, along with the rainbow had to be a great multi-scensory experience.

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When we started the planning process for this trip but had decided that we'd like to go to Africa again (surprise surprise) I asked M what her priorities were to see-  

The Answer:  CHEETAH POOFS

 

We had seen cheetah before but it seemed we always 'just missed' baby cheetahs and their poofy hair.

Since our trip was going to be in the early part of the year, I knew from research here and elsewhere that the Southern Serengeti is one of the best places to see Cheetah in Africa and that often they have youngsters as this is a time of plenty.  

 

So here we were in the Tanzania, already having had some great cheetah sightings but Masha had something in store for us.  He knew that there were a few mothers still with young that hung out closer to Ndutu, and with this knowledge we set out early on our long trip first northeast to ndutu (to get our permits for the NCA) before heading south towards Kakessio in the Ngorogoro Conservation Area.

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It was another absolutely stunning morning, chilly requiring long sleeves but it never gets old looking at these skies

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First sighting was a very shy female who seemed headed out to hunt.  Given her skittishness and Masha's mission we kept moving but not before snapping a few more photos in low light

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We continued on the road to Ndutu with the plains on our left and the forested area that leads up to the highlands in the East on our right.  The sun was slowly making its arc higher and we were all on full alert trying to make out the slinky spotted silhouette of the speedy cat against the sandy colored grass.  And lo and behold, not long after encountering the first female Masha (of course) excitedly said- there they are!!!  A female and four cubs in the drainage ditch on the western side of the road.  M bolted upright to get her first view of the 6 week old cubs overtaken by pure joy.  

 

We proceeded to follow this family for the next 1-2 hours all by ourselves with no one in sight as they played, climbed trees, tackled each other, nuzzled their mother and made their way towards the plains where it was evident that mama was looking for a meal to feed 4 growing bellies.    This was a really special morning for us, as the volume of pictures that follow will indicate, and hopefully you will all enjoy (i'm talking to you @madaboutcheetah!!)

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IMG_1324.thumb.jpg.67017b184ddbc843bc5508f38c2cc060.jpgIMG_1332.thumb.jpg.7bfc5be7f041866ed2f4652bc01bbfc2.jpgIMG_1333.thumb.jpg.c66a6b061ea72d295df8587b36eaab6a.jpgIMG_1341.thumb.jpg.7c5743bd3f266905eff9bbe3b9762943.jpgIMG_1342.thumb.jpg.5439908b13ea303cceb34f57d94f7854.jpgIMG_1343.thumb.jpg.36cbc7208e2c3c8a75e40a7919d126b5.jpgIMG_1347.thumb.jpg.6b83e3e5e8d351bf8cc464d53996d7f7.jpg

She is simply stunning 

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Another tree was too much to pass up for the curious cubs.  Masha said that the cubs claws will be extra sharp at this age and climbing the tree is easier for them and may even feel good for the cubs to use them on something like tree bark.

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Edited by sek07
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While mom was very patient letting the cubs play and climb trees she definitely kept moving them towards the large thompson gazelle herds off in the distance.  Eyes on the prize

 

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We finally made the difficult decision to continue on as Masha said he had some other things he wanted to show us and we had a decently long drive ahead through some great areas and we wouldn't want to have to rush.  Despite it looking like she was definitely going to hunt maybe us leaving would help her avoid being seen and she would have a better chance.  It was nice to deliver the poofs for M! Thanks mashaIMG_1438.thumb.jpg.7ddf0c162da7cb5f949e8bb759ec453c.jpgIMG_1449.thumb.jpg.1399ad3849c804246440e74f411503b7.jpgIMG_1454.thumb.jpg.8a908b4b0cf871dd0461832a0b688e69.jpgIMG_1456.thumb.jpg.9dfdbb30249d998d88f291353d207c84.jpgIMG_1457.thumb.jpg.a2e8917c2cb945a4cf002c6330a24010.jpgIMG_1465.thumb.jpg.ffb63f9e76d20dc079defca98850839d.jpgIMG_1474.thumb.jpg.804a5d3aacf7e5697c1a3abd07638d56.jpgIMG_1475.thumb.jpg.44d7d86c5b4f8e6053544a87ed6260e0.jpgIMG_1482.thumb.jpg.7702525e2a00ce9aef2060ac3c0fa558.jpg

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After leaving our cheetah family, we then set out to find a den where a lion was keeping her very young cubs.  Approximately 2 minutes later we ran into another cheetah, this time a solitary male.  Unbelievable how great this area is for seeing these cats.  But Masha encouraged us to continue on as sometimes the mother lions would leave the den and hide the cubs deep in the thicket at certain times of day and we didn't want to miss them

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Pictures of the solitary male who we only briefly enountered

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We arrived outside the known den sight to find one of the females laying outside- score!  the cubs were tucked away inside and we could see another female in with them but it was somewhat tough to see them at first and there were a few vehicles so we had to position ourselves and be patient.  apologies for the poor quality of some of these photos- it was very windy/dusty and i am an amateur and did a poor job of cleaning the lense and applying the best settings for this situation especially with them tucked away. 

 

 

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Mom outside the den meant we had a chance to see the cubs!

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For a while they remained in the thicket but eventually the two adult females (mom and her sister presumably) moved outside and some of the cubs ventured out as well

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Edited by sek07
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We spent some more time with these amazing tiny lions and their caretakers before several more vehicles showed up and we decided to keep moving on our journey

 

A few last shotsIMG_1572.thumb.jpg.cad30146b9ce67028b4e1b1c019e0782.jpg

Her tongue is the size of its little head!

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From reading @Atravelynn's trip report, i believe this sister had lost her own litter recently and is now helping her sister raise her cubs which is an amazing trait of lions

 

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A quick movie from the den sight

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Next we drove towards the Ndutu marsh.  This area, after all of the dryness of Kusini, was like a little eden.  While the water level was clearly lower here, there was so much birdlife and clearly this water was a lifeline for the local mammals as well

 

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this video is as we were pulling up into the ndutu marsh area.  admittedly i accidentally did a slow motion video as we flushed a flock of birds but you can see how the marsh on the left is much greener (and i thought it came out kind of cool).    

We saw a small cluster of vehicles stopped along the marsh up ahead (not unusual in the busier Ndutu area) but it was worth investigating as it provided one of my favorite sightings of the trip

 

As we pulled up we thought it was another cheetah (are we really ever going to say ANOTHER cheetah like that??).  Well no,IMG_1593.thumb.jpg.7eea7efc2c492b60311d016257013d14.jpg But it wasn't cheetah, it was a serval hunting in the marsh.  And it was a BEAUTY.   

 

 

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Please turn and face us....IMG_1597.thumb.jpg.bc245463abb00310c52c0a62fd2edc53.jpg

Thank you!IMG_1602.thumb.jpg.eed3f369199b21b83042fcae1e41bb32.jpg

 

Look at those ears..

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We have seen two serval before- one at dusk in South Africa in very tough light, and one on a previous trip with Serian in the Masai Mara main reserve in the early Am.  Both were very skittish and the light made photography very difficult.  This serval proceeded to hunt while very relaxed with numerous vehicles in broad daylight.  

 

It was fascinating to watch it move its huge ears around clearly trying to detect slight movements around it (mice and frogs etc..) and then pounce as the following pictures depict

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What a morning so far-  Cheetah with cubs, extremely small lion cubs, and now a serval hunting in broad daylight.  While Ndutu was clearly much busier than Kusini, i can see why as there is a tremendous amount of life around the water sources.  

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We continued our drive past the marsh and into a dry riverbed.  It had been windy and dusty earlier, particularly at the lion den, but as we entered this area it was almost channeling the wind and dust and funneling it.  Despite of this the wildlife sightings continued to be extremely strong in this prolific area

 

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eland grazing

 

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These two i believe sired the cubs which are not too far awayIMG_1633.thumb.jpg.887cf0fe46e5e4c5a954ed1c7356ef64.jpg

You can see the dust storm in the backgroundIMG_1634.thumb.jpg.2e1342241f416cb4e988cf85999ec765.jpg

 

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Not far past the sleeping lions were these two giraffe 'necking' or neck fighting, two tall silhouettes on a palate of dusty white trying to establish dominance

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On 10/5/2017 at 6:22 PM, sek07 said:

M bolted upright to get her first view of the 6 week old cubs overtaken by pure joy.  

 

We proceeded to follow this family for the next 1-2 hours all by ourselves with no one in sight as they played, climbed trees, tackled each other, nuzzled their mother and made their way towards the plains where it was evident that mama was looking for a meal to feed 4 growing bellies.    

Wow, the cubs are only 6 weeks old??  Cats really do grow so fast, don't they?  Adorable poofs!

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@AmyT i had written in my notes 6 weeks old but i agree you may be right (after some google searching).  much more likely they are 6 months old given the size.  argh let me know if I can edit that @Game Warden as it appears i'm past the time to do so manually.   If anyone else has opinion on their age or knows (i believe @Atravelynn saw the same family so she will likely know the correct age).   Anyhow will get that corrected if it needs to be

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I thought i would include a couple maps so people have an idea of the locations i am describing and will continue to mention additional spots 

 

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So on the bottom of this map in the green section you can see Kusini Camp with a green dot.  That is the area where our trip began.  I have most recently been writing about driving from there to where the Ndutu Safari Lodge and Lake mask tented camp green dots are to the right of that in the pink area (ngorongoro conservation area).   Our trip will continue and end by driving straight south (Down) towards where the Expert Africa trademark is at the bottom of the page.

 

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On this map  you can see Lake Ndutu on the left hand side in blue (although the lakes barely register relative to the much bigger lakes eyasi and manyara) and the vertical dotted line running down to lake eyasi separates the serengeti on the left from the ngorongoro conservation area on the right.  

There is a road you can drive which effectively runs along this.  Our final camp was just above Lake Eyasi on the map in a little explored area with few other camps.

 

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This final map is a closeup of the Ndutu area with the marsh being part of the left extension.  We followed the southern contour around to Lake Masek.

We proceeded to go to Lake Masek to have lunch in the shade along the banks of the river.  It was stunning but we saw very little game nearby which was surprising but perhaps too windy and the sun was higher in the sky at this point.

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Edited by sek07
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After another great meal off the back of the land rover (is there a better way), we stopped at the TANAPA station to get our permits, which took a little longer than expected.  While we were sitting in the vehicle waiting our spotter Felix saw two Lillian's Lovebirds in their nest in a tree.  My wife is not a birder, and while i enjoy birds i don't consider myself a twitcher, but we both thought this was one of our favorite avian sightings on any of our trips

 

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Pumba near the TANAPA stationIMG_1665.thumb.JPG.9f49e15416083097c86f1007d8847a60.JPGIMG_1666.thumb.JPG.6ee6cd3d3d3b1d7cbb43a8a4d64747e2.JPG

Lovebirds

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Permits in hand, we left the Ndutu/Masek area and got on the road to head south to Serian Kakessio.

As we start along further into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area it is wide open and greener with the Ngorongoro hills off to the left/east of us.  As we begin the last leg of the morning journey, what do we run into but a mother cheetah and ~1.5 year old cub.  With full looking bellies they were likely returning from a hunt in search of some shade in one of the oasis like areas of trees we were passing when we saw them

 

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As they seemed desinited for a nap, we carried further on and not so slowly the migration reveals itself.  There were wildebeests in Kusini but not in nearly these numbers.  And a preponderance of smaller/lighter wildebeests started showing up in higher densities.   We had found the migration and the birthing season was in full force.

 

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Finally we reached camp, exhausted from a very long morning.   While we had stayed in these same tents in the northern Serengeti Mara (they move them seasonally), the setting was new and always exciting to meet new people etc..  We seemed to have reached the 'bottom' of the serengeti and a line of woods was ahead and hills behind. As we entered the woods we started seeing signs of masai villages and livestock.  Alex had explored the area scouting a few years previously and had negotiated with the local people to put his camp nearby. 

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Fantastic shots of the serval. What a great morning drive. I like the lovebirds, too, and thank you for the maps. Very helpful. 

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Realizing the video's i posted are upside down?   i have no idea why they are showing up this way or how to fix, argh

 

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thank you @Alexander33.  at this point we were on cloud 9 and everything we got to see is gravy every day

 

A few shots of the Serian Kakessio camp located in a grove of beautiful trees with nice long views out to the plains

 

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The dining/living tent

IMG_1674.thumb.JPG.1c4f406c86efd92bc664a529a046f409.JPGThe family tent (huge!)

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The long views from the camp.  The tents basically wrap around along the treeline looking out towards this view.

6 en suite tents with bucket showers, great food with plentiful, fresh healthy options usually served buffet style at one big table so guests interact unless you eat out in bush.  

 

 

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