Tanzania Safari

August/SEPTEMBER, 2013

Serengeti Mara

The flight up to the Kogatende Airstrip in the Serengeti Mara was a little less than a hour, and flying at a relatively low altitude meant we had a very scenic trip.

Flying in this case was certainly a faster and more comfortable ride than if we drove the 155 kilometre distance, as the road goes quite a bit out of the way to get there.

Landing at the airstrip, we noticed that it was very similar to the one we had just left at Seronera. Essentially just a dirt strip, washroom facility and covered outdoor waiting area.

We were staying at Alex Walker’s Serian Serengeti, a mobil camp operated by a former big game hunting guide turned safari operator. I guess he finally figured out there was a lot more money guiding tourists around than there was guiding hunters. And unlike hunters, when the current clientele are gone, there’s still game around to show the next batch of high paying eco-tourists that fly in.

Aside from glowing reviews about this particular camp, a contributing reason for choosing this camp was the fact that every guest or group traveling together got their own private vehicle and guides. There was no concern about having to share a truck with strangers that might have a very different idea of what to do. And despite this apparent extra cost to the camp operator, this camp was priced very competitively with other camps in the area.

Serian Camp

The camp was managed by a delightful person by the name of Robyn-Lee Ghaui, a 28 year old Tanzanian born and raised girl whose family ownes a large farm in the south of the country. Having grown up on a farm who employed the local Tanzanian people, she could speak both English and Swahili fluently, and was a wealth of information about Tanzania and it’s people.

Unlike most camps, this camp was a mobil camp that changed locations depending on the season. In the dry season, the camp is located here in the Serengeti Mara, so as to provide its guests with a chance to see the migrating wildebeest and zebra as they cross the crocodile infested Mara River. In the wet season the camp relocates south to the Ngorongoro area so it’s there for the calving of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra. In both locations, there are also many other species of animals and birds to look at.

Each couple got their own private tent complete with full facility bathroom, although the shower was what they call a bucket shower. We just had to give notice about an hour prior to wanting a shower and the camp staff would heat up a five gallon bucket of water pour it into the raised shower reservoir that could then be turned on and off from inside the shower. It was quite civilized.

Bio Diversity

Although the Serengeti Mara of Tanzania, as well as the Masai Mara immediately north of the river in Kenya, are known mostly for the great migration and its crossing of the Mara River, the variety of species present in these areas goes way beyond the huge herds of wildebeest and zebra. The next few days of our visit here provided the opportunity to enjoy countless sightings of this varied collection of fauna, and to marvel at the simplicity of their way of life.

Birds of the Serengeti

Our first real bird encounter of the Serengeti Mara area, was the vulture. These large, powerful birds come in a number of diferent varieties, with the two dominant ones in this area being the Lappet-faced Vulture and the Rüppell’s Vulture. About the same physical size, the two are quite diferent in their appearance. Wherever we saw carrion, we saw both of these birds, as well as the Maraboo Stork. Often seen in the iconic pose high atop an Acacia tree, these were deinitely the predominant large bird in this area.

Also seen, most often perched high in the trees, were the various eagles. In this area, the two that we saw were the ubiquitous African Fish Eagle, and what we believed to be the Lesser Spotted Eagle. Similar in appearance, but not size, to the North American Bald Headed Eagle, the Fish Eagle with it’s white head and tail would avail itself of any available food; be it fish in the river, or carrion on the land.

Although the Rüppell’s Long-tailed Starling was seen here as well as in Tarangerie, their numbers were very few compared to other birds of their size. There were a number of colourful shore birds here in the Mara as well. They weren’t found down by the river, however, but rather in the short grass in areas that had some surface water present.

Several diferent type of heron were seen, although the most common was the Black Headed Heron, and we had a few sightings of Egyptian Geese as well. A Hamerkop, like the one we saw in Ngorongoro, was present, as well as an African Grey Hornbill and Grey Headed Kingisher.

Of all the birds in this area however, our favourite was the ever so tiny, Little Bee-Eater. We had hoped to see this colourful little guy, and were delighted to actually be able to get a few good photographs of them.

Lions In The Serengeti

Despite having been in the Mara for a whole day, we hadn’t seen any lions. But on our second afternoon drive, as we broke over a rise and neared a large rock outcropping, a group of lions came into view. It was a full pride with both male and female adults, as well as a pair of cubs. Preceded by several other guide trucks at this location, we moved in the best we could in the hopes of getting a few pictures of the cubs. What became ironic about this situation was that the poor weather actually made our viewing better. You see, being from the rainy northwest of North America, our tolerance for precipitation is apparently much higher than most other people, and it was this inclement weather that forced the people in the other guide trucks to give up and troddle of back to the comfort of their camps.

Keeping with our previous guides philosophy of being patient, we just sat with the engine off and hoped for something to happen. This practice certainly served us well in the past, and it would apparently do well for us this time too. As it had been for us with most lions, they were napping when we arrived. Only the two cubs were active, trying to drum up some excitement. But they soon found themselves on the growling end of the adult’s patience. It was this bit of feline ill humor that forced the cubs into amusing themselves, and therefore us, with their antics.

Although not exceptionally young, these two cubs were still young enough to fall into the, “Ahh, aren’t they cute” category, and as we sat there snapping photo after photo through the open sides of the truck, an hour in the life of a typical pride of lions played itself out. Fighting poor lighting on two fronts, the heavy cloud cover and diminishing light of the late afternoon made trying to photograph these two rampaging kittens quite a challenge. At one point they decided to go out onto the plain for a wildebeest hunt of their own. Trying to freeze their movements in low light, with a focal length of 600mm, was next to impossible. Fortunately their efforts were short lived and they hurried back to the security of the pride. We stayed with them for about an hour, until they started to move off, and our light finally disappeared.

We did observe a funny thing about lions, though. With all this soft, flat ground around, why is it that lions are always found sleeping on hard, uneven, and uncomfortable rocks?

More than crocs in the river

Approaching the end of the morning drive for our second full day in the Serengeti Mara, the hunt for the a phantom rhino has yielded nothing in the way of results. So just before reaching the airstrip, and then the camp for lunch, Mosha detoured down by the river, along its southern bank. With what seemed like odd instructions from a guide… we were urged to get out of the truck and walk down to the river’s edge.

In the water, only a hundred meters away, were about two dozen hippos milling about in the shallows. Off in the distance to the north, we could see a road, and on the opposite bank, a group of people looking back at us. It was our understanding that both the road and the people, were on the Kenyan side of the border.

Out in the middle of the river, and slightly downstream of us, were several wildebeest carcasses. It seemed a strange place to see them, as this section of the river was very tame. The water was so shallow that the hippos could only walk about, rather than swim, and the banks on both sides of the river were very gradual, an easy climb, even for a wildebeest. Now I suppose if a group of 10,000 wildebeest came through here at the same time, the confusion alone might cause a number to get jumped on, or trampled by their fellow beasts. But still, it seemed a little odd.

Moving away from this part of the river, we carried on towards camp. We made brief stops here and there for a look see, and usually some photos of the animals we came across. Just before moving away from the river to get to the road that took us back to camp, we stopped one last time at an elevated section beside the river where several larger groups of hippos were having their afternoon siesta.

One of the bigger ones on the opposite bank was so obviously exhausted that he couldn’t even muster up the energy to lie down. He just stood there on the sand, unmoving, with his eyes closed. I suppose if a hippo can sleep underwater, and automatically surface for air every three or four minutes without waking up, then sleeping while on its feet shouldn’t be much of a problem. Either that, or he had the hippo equivalent of arthritis, and it just hurt to much to move.

Down river from the rest of the hippos was a female and her calf. She struggled for several minutes trying to get positioned in just the right way. You see, she wanted to sleep, but her calf wanted to suckle. It took a bit to get the orientation right, but she finally succeeded and they both got what they wanted.

Migration and the Mara River

Our biggest concern before arriving in the Serengeti Mara was that the migration might have already passed by, and there was no spectacle left to see. We knew it was a possibility, but were relieved nonetheless when we were informed that it was still ongoing. But this was still no guarantee that we would witness a crossing. Wildebeest are cognitively challenged, and this makes predicting their behavior more of an art, than a science. This simple fact is what changed our daily routine to include a wider variety of game watching. Sure we came here speciically to see the crossing, but because predicting a crossing is like buying a lottery ticket, we now had to hope that our number would eventually come in a winner.

Just how tough it was to predict a particular crossing point became evident when we got to our destination. Spread out before us on the other side of a small valley, were who knows how many wildebeest all moving towards us. At first the guides thought they were massing close by, to take advantage of the river crossing we were headed for. But as we and all the other guide trucks sat and watched, it became evident that they were bypassing this crossing, and moving on to another one much further up river. Since that crossing was still some distance away for these animals, we had time to sit and marvel at how many wildebeest there must truly be.

Across the valley we could see at least a half dozen guide trucks doing the same thing as us. And as our guides contemplated our next move, other trucks from Serian came over beside us to confer. It was only 10:20, and this activity could go on for hours before an actual move might be made to cross the river. The decision now was if we should give up on the crossing for yet another day, or stick with it and the hope that our time wouldn’t be wasted. We only had one more full day here in the Mara before we headed southwest to Katavi. If we didn’t see a crossing today we were really putting all our money on it happening tomorrow, and that’s a pretty big crap shoot. We elected to persevere with this days quest for a crossing. But unlike the trucks across the way, our guide wanted to be more centrally located than here.

It was now almost noon, and unlike us, many of the guide trucks had been out here since before dawn. A number of them had brought provisions for the whole day, and started setting up to provide lunch for their passengers. We hadn’t planned for this, and were therefore forced to endure the passing time in hardship. Several of the other Serian trucks, who’s passengers were also without lunch provisions, but had gotten up very early, were starting to feel the strain. One by one, they peeled off and headed back to camp. At about 1:15, we badgered Mosha some more about what we should do, and wondered if we too should call it a day and head back for some lunch. Mosha called over the radio to the spotters, to see if they thought a crossing at either location looked imminent. But the reply must have been a bit noncommittal. Mosha suggested that we wait another fifteen minutes or so before making the call to abandon our hopes. Remembering Said’s words about having patience, we agree to stick it out.

Fourteen minutes later a frantic call came over the radio, and before it had ended, Mosha had already started the truck and we found ourselves racing, yes, literally racing, towards the eastern location. We didn’t realize that this was going to be a Dakar style rally to get to the finish line (the crossing) first. Holding on as best we could given the bumpy terrain, and holding on to all our gear, Mosha passed truck after truck, on road or off, to get us there ahead of the crowd. In the process, Jalolo’s hat blew off, and despite the pained look on his face Mosha just kept driving. As we approached the edge of the river, ahead of all the other trucks, we were instructed to jump out over the side of the truck even before it came to a complete halt, and run to the edge to get a good spot to see the action. If we didn’t, we would soon be three or four people deep, trying to see over their heads.

As we ran over to the river’s edge we realized that there were already animals in the water swimming across. But just as we positioned ourselves to start taking pictures and video of the spectacle, it all stopped. Was that it? Did we miss it? Or did someone do something to halt the crossing, just like the day before? We didn’t know, and we couldn’t see around the bend in the river to see how many animals were left still standing there. Feeling a sense of extreme disappointment start to wash over us, we sat looking at the lead animal at the front of the remaining herd, now waiting on the beach. Again, that phrase came back into our heads, “Remember, Africa is all about patience”. So once again, but this time with our breath held, we waited and watched the lead animal to see what it was going to do. It was as if the last time it crossed, it narrowly missed being grabbed by a croc, so it was sniffing the area to see if there were any traces of one. But of course we’ll never know the real reason for the trepidation, we just hoped they wouldn’t turn around and go back upslope to the grass and start munching again.

For the second time today, our patience paid of. Presently the lead animal moved closer to the water, and as it did, the rest of the herd seemed to sense that they were about to get going again. They all started to push up from behind. Within seconds, there were so many animals packed together on the beachhead, that the lead animals couldn’t have turned back even if they wanted to. The animals at the front were now pretty much committed to taking the plunge, and they did. Within seconds the throngs of wildebeest in the rear all rushed ahead and started jumping in, oblivious to what they might land on.

Fortunately for the wildebeest there were no hungry crocodiles in the river for this crossing, so all the animals made it across. The irony here is that only a half mile upstream there was a weir that crossed the river, which is what the guide vehicles used when wanting to explore the territory on the far side. If the animals came here they could walk across the weir in ankle deep water with no risk whatsoever.

Learning About Elephants

Passing through yet another wide open field in the search for our rhino, we came upon the bleached bones of what could only be an elephant. Arranged neatly alongside the road, it was clear that this had been set up as a teaching aid for the guides. We stopped and hopped out of the truck for a closer look. Mosha gave us a short course in Elephant 101, much of which we had already learned from Said, Mosha’s mentor, and our guide for the first five days of our safari here in Tanzania. But it was nice to hear another version of the same material. This time, however, we had the ability to actually see the immense teeth that come six times into the mouth of this gentle giant. How this particular elephant met its demise, we didn’t find out. But one thing we did notice... there were no tusks.

Onward to our Next Camp

Having enjoyed our last sunset in the Serengeti Mara, it was time to move on to our next camp in the far west of Tanzania. To get there we would have to fly for about three hours in the 12 seater bush plane, and when about half way there, stop at the Tabora Airport for refuelling.

To get underway we had to make the twenty minute drive to the Kogatende airstrip, and along the way had one last mini game drive to get them most of our stay. Once at the airstrip it was just a matter of waiting for the plane to land and unload the next group of wildebeest watchers. Turn around time at the airstrip was about twenty minutes.