Ramblings from the bush & beyond
Ramblings from the bush & beyond
Tanzania 2008 - Crossings Galore & More!
We just returned today from a great 14 day safari to Tanzania! This was our 2nd safari to Tanzania (our first was in Feb 2007) and this time we spent 5 nights in the Serengeti, 3 nights in Ruaha National Park and 2 nights at Ngorongoro Crater, as well as a couple of nights in Dar Es Salaam and Arusha while in transit. Update: a selection of photos are posted here and a video here.
While never an exact science given the vagaries of weather and animal (mis)behavior, we timed our safari with the great migration in hope of seeing a river crossing. The Western Corridor of the Serengeti dried out faster than expected so literally just 2 days before our departure we moved our camp site from Simiti in the Western Corridor to Togora and Bologonja in the Northern Serengeti. This proved to be a good move. We witnessed our first crossing of the Mara River literally seconds after arriving at its banks and watched in awe as thousands of Wildebeest and Zebra thundered and splashed across for nearly 15 minutes. The next day we were fortunate enough to witness 2 more crossings, this time with the animals crossing towards us! We had heard of photographers spending days at the river without a single crossing, so felt very fortunate to see 3 (though if we were to nit-pick the big Nile Crocs were AWOL during the crossings we witnessed!). While the crossings were the highlight of our time in the Serengeti, also had a sighting of a Roan Antelope - a very rare occurrence in that part of Tanzania.
This safari was our first to Ruaha National Park in Southern Tanzania. In contrast to the Serengeti, most of Ruaha is unexplored. We were fortunate to be staying at Jongomero Camp, which was the only camp in the area around the Jongomero River. Jongomero was an excellent camp, with perhaps the most well thought out tent layout we have experienced. The food at the camp was particularly good - light, healthy but very satisfying lunches, hearty gourmet style dinners that have clearly exceeded the usual standard for luxury safari dining. But safaris are about wildlife.... and Jongomero, by virtue of its isolation, felt very wild! There were simply no vehicles from other camps in the bush since there simply were no other camps nearby. We (but, in truth, our guide, Kimaro) worked hard for our sightings, checking spoor, listening for alarm calls and thinking hard about animal behavior. But Kimaro and Jongomero came through for us - very large journeys of Giraffe (15+), several Lion sightings (including a mating couple right in the middle of the road), 2 Leopard sightings (one of which ran right by the vehicle) and... believe it or not... on our final morning... 3 Wild Dog! This was literally the first time Wild Dog had been seen all season.
We ended this safari at Ngorongoro Crater. While we had apprehensions about the Crater, given reports of heavily crowded sightings, the sheer abundance of the wild life and the opportunity to get close-up photos were compelling. And, we had what we felt was an advantage: we were staying at Lemala Camp, a new luxury tented camp on the opposite ridge from the Crater Lodge. Lemala (and only 1 other camp) were near a 2nd, rarely used access road, which could get us down to the crater floor in just 10 minutes and start us on the opposite end of the crater from guests coming from the other side of the rim or from outside the crater. Leaving Lemala at 620am, we found we would not see another vehicle until 730am, giving us over an hour of private shooting.
Our first day in the crater was a bit slow. While we did see a Cheetah and 4 Lion, they were far from the road (no off roading allowed in the crater) or were sleeping so soundly all you could see was a pile of fur.
Our 2nd day, however, started off with a bang, as we witnessed a stand-off between 3 Cape Buffalo and a weakened Lion cub (around 1 year old) in a shallow ravine. The cub may have been bitten by a snake, as it was walking weakly. While the Cape Buffalo were clearly agitated, it is a mystery why they did not charge this little Lion. Later that day we came across a family of Lion that were right by the road. Two male Lions we saw slumbering the day before were awake, showing their magnificent manes, which extended from their mid-section to high above their heads. They were joined by 2 Lionesses and 4 cubs. One of the cubs, however, was ill and was vomiting. The lioness was agitated by this and kept the cub separate from the other 3.
In all, on this safari, we saw around 30 Lion, 2 Leopard, 3 Cheetah, 2-3 Wild Dog, 3 Rhino, a large number of Elephants, Hippo, Cape Buffalo and Giraffe and, conceivably, hundreds of thousands of Wildebeest.
Update:
A selection of photos from this safari have now been posted here. We have finished editing a 4-minute video of a Mara River crossing and will publish other videos to the site as soon as possible.
Saturday, 26 July 2008