Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti - 22nd October to 3rd November 2017

[Julian]

 

Our next sighting was what we had been hoping for – cheetahs – and amazingly exactly what Gabe had wished for - there were four of them. They were at a fair distance but looked like they were keen to find their breakfast. A couple of minutes passed, two of them were looking intently at something in the long grass, and then suddenly the two launched themselves forward chasing something at speed.

 

 It was a jackal that was being hunted by them and it decided to come towards us (there were actually two other vehicles at this sighting – a rare occurrence here as at nearly all our sightings here we were the only vehicle present).  The jackal approached the vehicles very fast further along the track then as it passed the first vehicle it ran underneath the second vehicle and came out the other side – just in front of us – completely putting the cheetahs off as they obviously could not run under the vehicles.

 

(Very poor quality photos, but it is the first time on safari we have ever seen cheetahs chasing prey).

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

This gave us a chance for some nice close-up viewing of one of the cheetahs as it strolled by.

 

 

 

Noel told us that the four cheetahs were a mother and three near-adult cubs, and that cheetahs would not hunt Jackals and what we had just witnessed was the young cheetahs ‘practicing’ their hunting skills.

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

We drove up to and round several more Kopjes including one where a klipspringer was sitting right on the top of a very high narrow rock, and on one of the trees on a kopje there was an eagle or hawk (which type?)

 

 

 

Over the next half hour we passed close to some zebra and more wildebeest.

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

Next on the agenda was another pair of lions, this male very distinguishable by his Mohican style mane.

 

 

 

We started to head back towards camp but the morning was not over yet and after passing closely by a few topi we found two more cheetahs. They were at a considerable distance and at first looked as though they might be hoping to hunt, but then settled down.

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

A few more zebra seeking shade in the heat of the midday sun followed by a lilac breasted roller was our last sighting before reaching camp. It had been a superb morning for wildlife sightings.

 

 

 

Another excellent lunch followed – with some new guests who arrived today – from the UK a very enthusiastic mother with her daughter and sister, who had been on safaris a lot over the last ten years, and they were very entertaining to talk with, plus a young couple from USA with their private guide, the woman having work connections with Asilia. (Also later in the day four Asilia agents arrived – the same group of four women from South Africa who we had met at the Highlands camp just a few days ago – who greeted us like we were good friends).

 

We started the afternoon game drive by going to an area of tall trees not far from camp – very uncharacteristic of this part of the Serengeti, and Noel drove very slowly through this area – looking for leopard and it was an area where very occasionally a caracal had been seen. Although we did not find either in this location there were some birds to photo. First a little bee-eater, then a bateleur eagle and finally a pair of Verraux’s eagle-owls.

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

 

Another hour passed before our next interesting sighting, it was another cheetah.

 

 

 

We did not manage to find a leopard but we had seen a total of seven cheetahs today, and the drive ended with a beautiful sunset followed by a group sundowner at one of the Kopjes close to camp with some of the other guests.

 

 

 

 

The campfire drinks followed by the evening meal were very sociable with the significantly increased number of guests and the Asilia agents, and the dinner was really nice as usual.  

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Lots of great sightings, but the second lot of cubs interacting with mother is wonderful.

[Julian]

@TonyQ 

thanks. Both of the sightings with the two young groups of lion cubs were amazing. Better than any we had ever seen before and, because it was close to sunset in both cases, there was no chance of any other vehicles to spoil the occasion.

[Marks]

I'm not all the way through yet, but you've got tons of absolutely stunning photos.

 

And some of those accommodations look very nice indeed!

[Julian]

 

Day 13: Wed 1^st Nov - 4^th day at Namiri Plains Camp

 

We have the vehicle to ourselves today, but for our final day we will be sharing it with four new guests who are arriving late this afternoon.   It was very cold this morning and when we arrived at the vehicle Noel had provided blankets and hot water bottles for us – which were very welcome.

 

We started off passing a few zebra, one containing a collection of oxpeckers.

 

 

 

For the next half hour we saw few animals out on the plains other than hyenas.

 

[Julian]

Then as we were driving past a waterhole I spotted a cheetah tucked away by a clump of grasses. It appeared as though it had been sleeping there, but the engine noise had woken it up. The cheetah stood up and started walking, looking all around the area.  It seemed uncertain as to which direction to go, but after a few minutes of scanning the horizon in all directions it made a decision and strolled silently into the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

For the next hour we there was very little wildlife about other than a few more hyenas, and herds of wildebeest in the far distance. As we approached a kopje I spotted a male lion climbing on the rocks (I was doing well this morning having spotted the cheetah and now a lion before Noel had seen either of them).

 

The lion disappeared among the rocks but as we drove around the Kopje it appeared again, now standing in the long grass. It had a magnificent mane and we watched the lion for a while but after it had determined we posed no threat it decided to settle down for a snooze.

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

We headed towards the Seronera valley area and the landscape suddenly became noticeably greener with more trees as we approached a large marshy area. In the distance an elephant family was heading further into the valley, the first elephants we had seen since arriving at Namiri.

 

 

 

The edge of the marsh had a large section of tall dense reedbeds and we spotted a reedbuck nearby. However we quickly forgot about the elephants and reedbuck when Noel stopped the vehicle and pointed to a tree – which contained a leopard - our first leopard of the entire safari.

 

 

 

The leopard had stashed a reedbuck up the tree and it appeared to be guarding it closely. Quite a lot of the reedbuck had already been consumed but there was still plenty of it left to feed the leopard for another day or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

After taking some photos we left the leopard to enjoy its meal and started to head back in the direction of Namiri Plains. As we approached another kopje a lioness was relaxing on a rock and it clearly found us totally of no interest as it closed its eyes immediately decided to go to sleep. 

 

 

 

 

The kopjes usually have trees and bushes growing among them and these sometimes contain a bird or two, and a superb starling gave a good photo opportunity.

 

 

As we approached the now familiar landscape close to the camp we spotted a steenbok, which I think was also a first sighting on this safari.

 

 

 

Back in camp we had another leisurely and very nice lunch chatting with the other guests. The group of three women from the UK who arrived yesterday been on their first morning game drive here, which was amazingly successful for them – they had seen nine cheetahs (but no lions or leopard).

 

It was now a pleasant very warm afternoon and as 4.00pm approached we headed back to the vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

Noel was going to drive us further directly south this afternoon to an area we had not yet visited, but within a few minutes of leaving camp we came upon another cheetah sleeping on a termite mound. The vehicle engine was again enough noise to wake up the cheetah and after yawning it decided to stroll off and scan the horizon, at one point using another termite mound to gain a bit more height, before disappearing into the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

As we headed further south the sky became very hazy and the wind strength increased. The landscape was very dry and open here, with no kopjes but more hilly – vast rolling plains – and it became increasingly dusty. 

 

The wind strength increased and you could taste the dust as the air was full of it as we drove along. We were driving quite quickly to try and pass through the worst of this dust filled location and we noticed that there were now many hundreds of Thomson’s gazelles. They were thinly spread out all over the plains and after a while the whole landscape seemed to be peppered with them. There were also many small groups, from two to five in number, of hyenas – we probably saw over 50 in this area.

 

Every so often a gazelle would suddenly start running very fast, a few others would join it and they would all race off a short distance, moving in an arc before stopping. This seemed to be happening all over the place, entirely at random, and we were convinced they were doing it just for the fun of it. Along with the strange hazy light it all felt very surreal. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of this as there was so much dust we kept the cameras covered while passing through this area, and afterwards we were certain that we had seen much more than 1000 Thomson’s gazelles in that area.

 

As we arrived back in more familiar territory the wind had dropped and we approached a Kopje as the sun was getting low.

 

 

A short while later we passed close by a kori bustard before finding two lions resting on a completely flat large area of rock – it looked like a kopje that had been sliced off at just above ground level.

 

 

 

 

The light was now getting low and it was time to return to camp.

 

It became another evening commencing with campfire conversation and drinks, followed by the now usual excellent sociable dinner, where we were able to talk with the group of four who would be joining us on the game drives for our final day. They were two couples from Belgium who are the owners of a company that ‘makes’ an unusual product - they breed cockroaches, locusts and other insects for the exotic pet trade.

 

 

 

[Alexander33]

What an interesting behavioral sequence with the cheetahs and the jackal. I’ve never seen anything like that. 

 

Hooray ah on the leopard. The elephants had to have been a welcome sighting, and that male lion is certainly a handsome creature. 

[Marks]

It's unusual for me to single out a lion in a post that contains cheetah and hyena...but that is a fine-looking lion!

[anocn4]

I think it was the best looking lion I have ever seen

[Julian]

 

Day 14: Thurs 2^nd Nov - 5^th day at Namiri Plains Camp – our final day on this safari.

 

As we left camp this morning we finally saw some of the resident lion pride – two of the males from the six brother coalition and two females, one with a collar (the only collared predator we have seen at Namiri Plains).

 

 

It was an extremely windy and very cold morning out on the plains, and the wildlife was noticeably absent. However we did see some hartebeest with their young, some topis and a kori bustard.

 

 

A short while later we found two cheetah brothers but they were not looking as though would be hunting soon.

 

 

We headed towards the Seronera valley area, where it was far less windy and therefore warmer, and in the large marshy area a young bull elephant took an instant dislike to us – even though we were well over 100 yards away – continually flapping its ears, raising its trunk, shouting at us, and making a couple of very short mock charges, before turning away and venting its aggression on the nearest tree.

 

 

We also saw the leopard again in the same tree – with a very full belly and with hardly any of the reedbuck left.

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

Around mid-morning we arrived at the kopje where we saw the very young cubs a few days ago.  They were not there but their mother and another lioness were resting on the rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

At the next kopje we found a dik-dik (the Guenther’s variety I believe), which was ‘frozen’ as something had disturbed it and Noel explained how they just instantly freeze to avoid being seen.

 

 

 

Further on we found a reedbuck by a marshy waterhole area, and around midday, by which time the wind had dropped considerably and it was finally feeling warm, another pair of lions – sleeping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

After a fine lunch it was soon time for our final Namiri game drive, and as we left camp we immediately had a much closer view of one of the six brothers from the resident lion pride.

 

 

Shortly after we found a few giraffes which are quite a rarity at Namiri at this time of year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julian]

 

For the rest of the afternoon we found very little – the bitterly cold wind in the morning appeared to have emptied the plains of wildlife. However by 5.30pm we came to a familiar kopje and as we drove round it very slowly the four six-week old cubs appeared, although on their own this time. They sat very close together in silence and seemed just as fascinated with us as we all were watching them. I could not help thinking how vulnerable they looked and wondered if all or any of them would make it through their first year.

 

 

 

 

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[Julian]

 

We left them after about 15 minutes and started to head in the direction of the camp. The cloudy afternoon skies were now clearing and the low sun made the light really striking so we took a few photos of the sky and landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun was just setting as we surprisingly drove past the turn to the camp and a few minutes later arrived at a kopje where there was a table set with drinks and snacks, and all of the guests staying at the camp plus some of the staff. We were the last to arrive at this special group sundowner, as for all of the guests it was their final day at Namiri – everyone was leaving tomorrow.  It was a really nice way to end our last game drive of our entire safari. 

 

 

 

As all of the vehicles arrived back at camp it was already completely dark, and within a few minutes everyone had gathered by the campfire for another very sociable and even more lively evening with a very nice final dinner here.