Wednesday, August 31st

Early, early start to this day – up at 5:00 am for star-gazing – nice to see the Southern Cross again, and awesome to see the Milky Way, several planets and endless other stars across the night sky.  What a difference the dark makes!









Today we’re on the road in time to see the sunrise out on the plains – not a bad way to start the day, but once again, it kept getting better.  In the barest light of dawn, we saw a couple of leopards before we headed to the northern end of the park.   

Up north the grass is greener, the dirt is redder, the river is full of hippos, and there’s at least one more cheetah waiting to say hello.  Given our early start, we were happily surprised when our guides pulled out baskets and ice chests for a nice picnic with hippos serenading in the background.

Animals:  Topi, side-striped jackal, giraffe, Thomson’s gazelle, spotted hyena, leopard, elephant, Grant’s gazelle, hippopotamus, olive baboon, zebra, impala, Cape buffalo, dwarf mongoose, rhinoceros dung beetle, wildebeest, Nile crocodile, cheetah, Bohor’s reedbuck, warthog, Coke’s hartebeest, and impala.

Birds:  Ostrich, blacksmith plover, Egyptian geese, marabou stork, Ruppell’s long-tailed starling, African fish eagle, and secretary bird,

Morning highlights:

Leopards – We stopped to look at the hyena eating at the base of a tree, only to see a leopard up in the limbs.  Look again, there are two leopards.  Look again, there is a third one, still working on the kill (Thomson’s gazelle).   

Zebras grazing and feeling frisky. 

Red elephants? 

Warthog – charming fellow.

Hippos in the Grumeti River – guides estimated 200 in this pool.  A noisy bunch. 

Nile crocodiles – the only animal that can co-exist with hippos in a pool/river.

 Rhinoceros dung beetle – another charmer – these guys pile into fresh animal droppings and roll away balls of dung, backwards.  The female beetle lays her eggs inside these ‘brood balls.’

Cheetah – what a beauty, taking a rest in the shade and in sight of one very nervous reedbuck.  

Great guides – Yona, Ringo and David – these guys were amazing – very knowledgeable and with the eyes of eagles ..

Same routine – delicious lunch, delicious shower, and a little time to kick back and watch.  It’s going to be hard to leave this place …

This afternoon’s game drive was preceded by a visit to the kitchen.  We’d been wondering how our gourmet meals were prepared out here in the absolute middle of nowhere.  And now we know – the chef is a magician!  He does have occasional electricity from a generator, but otherwise, it’s just one big camp kitchen and a lot of work.

We’re off to the south again this afternoon, back for a closer look at some kopjes. 

First stop was Gong Rock, used by the Maasai elders to summon people from all over the Serengeti plains.  The large stone (about 12 feet long and 3 feet high) is covered with round depressions from the impact of generations of strikes with smaller stone. 

Nearby was another kopje that contained a cave used by the Maasai for circumcisions and other ceremonies (before the park was established and the Maasai were thrown out).  It is considered a blessed place for making sacrifices; the paintings were done by young men preparing for circumcision.

Having done a bit of exploration in the kopjes and learned a little more about the Maasai who once lived here, we were off into a most beautiful (albeit dusty) landscape – open plains, rock outcroppings, and very few trees.  And remember that leopards like to dine in the treetops…

Animals: Impala, Thomson’s gazelle, Cape buffalo, Defassa waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, eland, spotted hyena, olive baboon, leopard, elephant, warthog, banded mongoose, and impala.

Birds:  Secretary bird, augur buzzard, fish eagle, red-necked spurfowl, Kori bustard, and little bee-eater.

Photo highlights:

Cape buffalo 

Leopard resting in tree 

Little bee-eater- colorful little bird capable of eating stinging insect, which they disarm by scraping against a branch.

Banded mongoose - small carnivore that feeds on rats, insects and other small creatures.

Two impalas – part of a herd of bachelor males

It’s our last night in camp and the whole camp crew came to say goodbye.  We remain in awe of their work ethic and the high level of comfort they provided for our group.