Our much anticipated safari on the Serengeti begins around 8:30 a.m. with our guide Pascal who will be with us for the next 7 days. We are in Northern Tanzania in the Seronera region which is approximately in the central part of the Serengeti. It is actually the transition region between the Forest region and the Savannah plains. Serengeti stands for "endless place" and the open plains stretch for literally 100's of kilometres unfettered. Imagine looking in one direction and seeing nothing but endless fields of grass to the horizon and then turn in the opposite direction and see an abundance of acacia trees dotting the Savannah grasslands. We experience this switching from one topography to another frequently throughout the day and it seems absolutely remarkable to have such a change in ecosystem next door to each other. The area itself was formed from volcanic eruptions well before the existence of any form of life. The volcanic ash is rich in minerals so when there is a rainfall, the grasslands flourish. Unique to this region is the oddest looking rock formations called Kopjes (pronounced "copies") where almost perfectly round boulders sit atop other round, smooth surfaces and you wonder how they don't roll off. It is these Kopjes that we see our first male lions of the journey. They actually don't do much of the hunting and rely on the female lions to do their beckoning. I would say they got it good.
The massive migration itself is south of where we currently are (where we will be heading tomorrow January 17th) but it will eventually move North depending on the conditions of the wet versus dry season. We find out from our guide and the literature that while the migrations followed a circular clockwise pattern for more than 3 million years, the timing of where and when it will be is not predictable. While we got to see a lot of wildlife it is certainly not in the realm of a million plus wildebeest which is the approximate size of the migration herd. This we expect to see when we move on to Olduvai. However, what we did experience and also learn from our guide does not let us down. Water buffalo were in abundance in breeding herds and these creatures weigh in at approximately 800 kilos (or 1700 pounds). Lions will try to take them on but are often rebuffed since the buffalo will team up together to fight them off. According to our guide, when they attack it is to kill not simply maim. The breeding herds has over 100 members with a dominant male and several young calves. But this is where the male gets his "come-upance" as he ages. When the male gets to old to lead the herd, he is booted out to fend for himself. We saw a herd of 24 of these older male water buffaloes roaming the savannah together to live out their days as outsiders.
We got to get close up and personal with a herd of about 70 elephants including a baby elephant maybe a week old. They surrounded our vehicle and were no more than 15 feet away at times. The savannah elephant has very large ears compared to the forest elephant which you don't find on the Serengeti. I really like the way they move slowly but gracefully and we spend a lot of time just watching them do their thing. There are plenty of hippos at these water holes as well but they tend to stay submerged most of the time with only their snouts and eyes showing. By the way., the red on the skin is not blood but a red oil they secrete to keep their skin protected.
A pleasant surprise was the number of giraffes that we encountered. The odd one would be solo but most of the time we saw them in groups of 10 to 20 eating from the tops of thorny acacia trees by grabbing the leaves with their long tongues. (Apparently their tongues are long enough to wrap around your head....wouldn't that come in handy?).
Herds of impalas are everywhere and the guide tells us that is because they are not many lion prides in the area. They are male-lead and some of these herds have over a 100 females. I'm not going to go there. Other similar species that we see that are easy to confuse with the impalas are Topi, hardebeest, water bucks, gazelles but somehow the little frenchmen manage to tell one specy from another. They are having a blast marking down the various breeds in their illustrated books and there is a bit of a competition going on between them.
Two funny stories to share with you occur in the vehicle itself. Although real roomy with seat belts we are often standing up taking pictures through the covered roof and thus disregard them for most of the journey. You have to remember that while there are established paths on the Serengeti, the guides do make their own modifications. Louise is sitting taking a picture out the side window when Pascal does one of these maneuvers and the next thing you know, Louise is in the air launched over the isle and lands in Di's lap. Of course I think this is pretty funny. A few minutes later, I attempt to get out of the jeep for a "Bio break" and our guide Pascal panicks and says you can't and I find myself hurled backwards by my loving wife landing on my ass looking up at Louise with a contented smile.
There is lots more to tell but this blog will get ridiculously long. In future blogs, we will try to concentrate on unique or new things so as not to be redundant.
It's 4:30 in the morning when I am writing this blog and there is a couple of impalas outside the tent rummaging around and grunting. Di is tenting with Weezie for the night.
We got to get close up and personal with a herd of about 70 elephants including a baby elephant maybe a week old. They surrounded our vehicle and were no more than 15 feet away at times. The savannah elephant has very large ears compared to the forest elephant which you don't find on the Serengeti. I really like the way they move slowly but gracefully and we spend a lot of time just watching them do their thing. There are plenty of hippos at these water holes as well but they tend to stay submerged most of the time with only their snouts and eyes showing. By the way., the red on the skin is not blood but a red oil they secrete to keep their skin protected.
A pleasant surprise was the number of giraffes that we encountered. The odd one would be solo but most of the time we saw them in groups of 10 to 20 eating from the tops of thorny acacia trees by grabbing the leaves with their long tongues. (Apparently their tongues are long enough to wrap around your head....wouldn't that come in handy?).
Herds of impalas are everywhere and the guide tells us that is because they are not many lion prides in the area. They are male-lead and some of these herds have over a 100 females. I'm not going to go there. Other similar species that we see that are easy to confuse with the impalas are Topi, hardebeest, water bucks, gazelles but somehow the little frenchmen manage to tell one specy from another. They are having a blast marking down the various breeds in their illustrated books and there is a bit of a competition going on between them.
Two funny stories to share with you occur in the vehicle itself. Although real roomy with seat belts we are often standing up taking pictures through the covered roof and thus disregard them for most of the journey. You have to remember that while there are established paths on the Serengeti, the guides do make their own modifications. Louise is sitting taking a picture out the side window when Pascal does one of these maneuvers and the next thing you know, Louise is in the air launched over the isle and lands in Di's lap. Of course I think this is pretty funny. A few minutes later, I attempt to get out of the jeep for a "Bio break" and our guide Pascal panicks and says you can't and I find myself hurled backwards by my loving wife landing on my ass looking up at Louise with a contented smile.
There is lots more to tell but this blog will get ridiculously long. In future blogs, we will try to concentrate on unique or new things so as not to be redundant.
It's 4:30 in the morning when I am writing this blog and there is a couple of impalas outside the tent rummaging around and grunting. Di is tenting with Weezie for the night.
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