Tuesday, August 30

Another full day of game drives so we were up early and on the road again wondering what this day might bring.  Lots of animals!

Animals: Zebra, elephant, giraffe, spotted hyena, Thomson’s gazelles, Grant’s gazelles, black-backed jackal, Bohor reedbuck, army ants, leopard, impala, warthog, rock hyrax, lion, cheetah

Birds: Lappet-faced vulture, yellow-throated sand grouse, black-winged stilt, white-headed buffalo weaver, yellow-necked spurfowl, marabou stork, gray hornbill, ostrich, bare-faced go-away bird, and blacksmith lapwing (plover).

Morning highlights:

Zebras – long line making its way to the waterhole

Elephants – first we spotted a solitary male elephant, but it didn’t take long to find more.  Out on the plain there was a herd of 50 or more. 

We were quite near part of the group and one of the smaller (thankfully) females thought we were getting to close to her baby brother. 

Lappet-faced vulture – a common sight whenever there’s an available tree – there are six different species in Africa.

Giraffe snacking on acacia tree.

Spotted hyena out for a stroll. 

Love those Tommies!   One of their most endearing behaviors is the constant wagging of their tails - take a look at the video below.

Compare Thomson’s gazelle (left) and Grant’s gazelle (right). The Grant's gazelle doesn't have the black racing stripe on its side.

Bohor reedbuck 

Army ants that had just raided a termite mound and were carrying all the eggs back home for lunch. 

Leopard – on the ground, on the hunt, and in the tree.  She seemed totally unconcerned with all the tourists clicking away as she came through the grass, down into a ravine, across the road, and hopped into her favorite tree for a nap.  What a show!

Warthogs – female with young.

Lions – lying under the only tree in sight, we found two female lions and three cubs.  Our presence didn’t seem to bother them at all, but they got spooked when a flock of very noisy birds landed in the tree over their heads. 

Both lions sprinted out into the grass to have a look around.  After a bit, the mother lion called the kids to come to her; the cubs ran out to her and the whole gang moved down the road a bit and crawled under a bush. 

We went over to have another look and only then did we notice that they had stashed the carcass of a Thomson’s gazelle!  No wonder they were jumpy – probably worried that some other critter was coming after their lunch.  (Now look back at the first pictures and notice the red blood on mom’s cheek and foot.) 

Can’t stand much more excitement, so back to camp for lunch, a shower, and a nice rest on the veranda just enjoying the picture-perfect day.  This view from our tent was quite nice, but soon we were back on the road again, this time heading to the southern part of the park.  We had barely made the turn to the south when we spotted a new animals – secretary bird, eland, Defassa waterbuck, and best of all, a female rhino with a calf.

Animals:  Defassa waterbuck, impala, Cape buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, elephant, warthog, giraffe, black rhinoceros, olive baboon, eland, and dik dik.

Birds:  Secretary bird, Fisher’s love bird, and marabou stork.

Afternoon highlights:

Defassa waterbuck - Medium-large antelope, chestnut colored with white rump.

Grant’s gazelle – medium-sized gazelle differentiated from the Thomson’s gazelle by its larger size, longer horns, and lack of side stripes.

Soda Lake – salt is about all that is left at this point in the dry season.

Moru kopjes – Emerging out of the sea of grass are huge granite rock formations.  Out in the plains, few trees grown in the hard volcanic crust – in the kopjes, trees have taken root in the crevices of the rocks, creating a whole new environment with a distinct range of plants and wildlife.

Black rhinoceros – Massive animal built like a tank, with armored hide and fearsome horns.  Scarcest of the Big Five due to poaching – only 24 known in the park.   Our guides must have bionic vision to spot this female and calf. 

Olive baboon – mom gives baby a ride.

Secretary bird – bizarre raptor striding across the grassland in search of its favorite prey of snakes, which then bird stomps to death.  Its black feathered crest is said to resemble the quills used by Victorian secretaries.

Eland – Africa’s largest antelope, weighing up to one ton.

Cape buffalo

One more charming warthog … 

With today’s sighting of the rhino, we can say we saw the Big Five – not an easy task, especially given the scarcity of rhinos.  It was another great day in the field and a nice evening around the campfire.  Ringo told us about the history of Tanzania, and Yona led a discussion about a controversial topic here – voodoo and the mistreatment, even murder, of albinos.