ONE LAST NIGHT IN NJOZI CAMP BEFORE RETURNING TO REALITY, BLOG 15, APRIL 19TH 2020

On our drive back to camp we again enjoy the lines of cattle egrets skimming just above the ground on their way to Lake Ndutu for the night. We also reflect on all the astounding encounters we have had on this safari with George. What amazing things we have had the fortune to experience.

Long-Crested Eagle

As we pull into the camps driveway, George tells us we should leave Njozi by 7:30 in the morning since the journey to Arusha will take seven or eight hours. Salama and Lema are waiting for us as usual and we take the warm towels they offer with appreciation. We bid George goodnight and tell him we will see him in the morning.

As we walk to our tent there are new guests being escorted by staff members to their tents. George told us this morning that two groups of people were arriving at Njozi today. Paul and I look forward to meeting the guests this evening. We both agree at the two camps where we were the only customers, we missed the socializing with other safari goers at the end of the day. It is always fun to compare notes of your days sightings and to get acquainted with other folks that love Africa as much as we do.

Another photo of Paul relaxing in front of our tent. Did I already use this photo??

When we walk to the bonfire tonight there are two young men seated near the crackling flames, each enjoying a beer. We introduce ourselves and find that the California natives are traveling with their parents and an uncle. When the rest of the family arrives and once Joseph has taken their order for drinks, we greet one another. The second group of people join us and we go through the same process of introductions, not that I will possibly remember all their names! One couple from the second group is from Colorado and their traveling companions are from California. As everyone is chitchatting, the two couples from California realize that they actually live in the same area and have attended functions together.  How small the world is!

Flowers that were growing around the tents in Njozi. Couldn’t do them justice.

David and Useph have joined this noisy crowd and readily answer questions from the new guests about their work in Ndutu.  At some point, Paul shows the researchers the video he took of the stealthy lion who got put in his place by the angry lioness. I can’t remember if it was David or Useph who nearly doubled over with laughter while watching the video.

David listens to a conversation Paul and I have with the Colorado couple about our African safaris. One of the topics we discuss is how disgusted we were with the behavior of humans at the wildebeest crossings that we witnessed in 2018 and they had witnessed on one of their safaris. David interjects that there is a new warden now and that rules have been put in place for guides at the river crossings. One of them is that vehicles must stay a certain distance from the riverbanks, (I think it was 80 meters). Another rule is that no one is allowed out of vehicles. The four of us are delighted to hear about these changes!

Another shot of Joseph and his liquor cart. Paul got in this shot.

Vana appears in front of us and announces that it is time to come to the dining tent for dinner. The staff have seated us all at the same table which proves to be a tight fit but we make it work. Paul spends his time enjoying the company of the California couple that are traveling with their sons. I am seated next to the couple from Colorado and the three of us visit all through the meal about our African adventures and travel in general. It is quite noisy in the canvas tent with all of us happily chatting away.

Paul and I are the first to leave since we need to prepare for our departure tomorrow. Our dinner companions say goodnight and tell us that they will see us tomorrow. We reply that unfortunately we won’t have that pleasure since we are going home tomorrow. We bid everyone goodbye and wish them the best of luck on their safaris in the coming days.

This morning we eat our last breakfast at Njozi alone as the people we met last night have already departed on their morning game drive. I wish I was out in the bush with them! We gather our luggage and meet George at the truck. We say goodbye to the staff and hand over the thankyou note which includes the tip money. For some reason we didn’t take a photo of the Njozi camp staff! I was sure we had but if we did it was deleted somehow. We wave so long to the wonderful people of Njozi camp as we drive down the driveway for the last time.

George has not popped the top of his safari truck this morning since we are in travel mode and not game drive mode. George does stop before we exit Ndutu so we can watch a hot air balloon land. The colorful balloon sits down near a line of grazing wildebeest and most of the animals ignore the colorful bag of gas.

Hot air balloon landing as we are driving out of Ndutu

Serengeti gate and sign pointing to Ndutu

We reach the Serengeti gate and continue towards Ngorongoro Crater. There is a scattering of zebras, various antelope species and wildebeests. I ask George to stop briefly so I can take a photo of a tower of giraffes looking elegant in the morning light. We begin to see Maasai herding their cattle to grazing grounds plus the neat circles of huts that make up the Maasai bomas.

Giraffe along the road to Ngorongoro Crater

Monument for Olduvai Gorge

In some place’s there are vivid purple flowers carpeting large swaths of ground which makes for a stunning scene. Regrettably, George informs us that the flowers are an invasive species but I can’t remember where the flowering plants came from.

A carpet of purple blooms

Two hours after leaving Njozi we reach Ngorongoro Crater. George parks the truck and Paul and I walk over to the viewing platform and look down at the crater floor far below us. Even with binoculars it is impossible to clearly make out the wildlife at the bottom of this deep hole. Paul and I visit the restrooms before clambering back into the truck.

Looking down into Ngorongoro Crater

George has to stop at the Ngorongoro entrance gate in order to sign out before we can continue our journey to Arusha. As we drive away from the Ngorongoro gate a troop of baboons is walking down the middle of the highway. The primates take their sweet time moving out of our way so we can continue on. The baboons are our last wildlife sighting I am sad to say!

Baboons on the road after we left the Ngorongoro Crater entrance gate

We drive in and out of small villages with plenty of interesting scenes to take in. We also converse with George on various subjects including George asking me how I got my Swahili name. I tell him a guide in Tanzania by the name of Tumani (sp), gave me that name because I was so interested in birds. George exclaims that he knows Tumani and that now Tumani has his own business. I’ll be darned.

I’m not sure what the woman in back is carrying but that appears to be a wing spread out behind her. A chicken maybe?

Paintings for sale along the road side.

Typical overloaded cart on the blacktop road

There is always room for one more!

We follow a tractor hitched to a disk and George explains that this is one of many custom workers who go around and disk up fields for villages or individuals. This practice of disking gets the fields ready for planting much faster than the old way of digging the soil up by hand or using oxen teams. It is bound to save a lot of aching backs and arms too.

Following a custom worker’s tractor and disk.

These trees with yellow blossoms were common. Quite beautiful.

We stopped more than once to let the Maasai boys move their herds of cattle and goats across the road.

One of the most heart wrenching things I see is a woman with a baby attached to her back, walking down into a river bed where there are only potholes of muddy water. She is carrying a small plastic container and I hope I am wrong but I think she is there to dip up some of the foul water.

Woman with her baby walking down to the muddy pot holes in the river.

When I blew this photo up I could see a small plastic container in her hand

Seven hours later we arrive in the bustling city of Arusha. There are numerous motorcycles and they follow no traffic rules, weaving in and out of the crush of cars which irritates our low-keyed guide. George has to make a stop to get the Masai sandals he ordered for me as a gift. George had to know my shoe size so that is why he didn’t have them with the gifts he presented us at the beginning of the safari. When George returns to the truck, he is holding two pair of sandals. I assume one pair is for Paul but George says no, he ordered me a second pair because I saw the first honey badger😊. I try the on the colorful sandals at George’s request and sure enough they fit. I thank this generous man for the sandals and all the other gifts he showered on us. It wasn’t necessary nor expected but much appreciated.

Often these two wheel carts were pulled or pushed by humans.

How does this man balance those buckets?

The Maasai sandals George gave to me. I made them part of my African wall display.

We arrive at the day hotel mid-afternoon, (we ate boxed lunches as we traveled that Njozi camp provided for us), and George makes sure that the hotel has a reserved room for us and plans to take us to the airport before he says goodbye. We profusely thank our guide for the wonderful experiences we had in the Serengeti and Ndutu. We hand him a thankyou card with his well-deserved tip money. As George drives away I stand at the doorway and wave at him but he doesn’t see me.  I think his thoughts have turned to seeing his wife and children who are waiting for him on the other side of Arusha.

I had to go back and get a photo of George from 2018. I can’t believe neither Paul or I took a photo of George or with George. Geez

We have our room for three hours so we shower and I repack our suitcases as our weight limit for our carryon luggage is 26 pounds each. I have a set of luggage scales and with a few things stuck in our coat pockets we manage to keep our two sets of carryon luggage around twenty-five pounds. Paul says he bets they won’t even weigh our luggage here in Africa and I bet him that they will. I lost that bet by the way!

While I was packing Paul went to use the complimentary computer the hotel provides to check in and print our boarding passes. Paul got along fine until it came to printing out the boarding passes and the office staff couldn’t figure it out either. Tenacious Paul kept trying various things to get the tickets printed and, in the end, he got it done. Once our time in the room is up, we go to the restaurant and share a pizza then wait for the shuttle to take us to the airport.

At the airport we wait in line to put our luggage through the first screening machines. Then we wait in line to check in. Once we reach the desk Paul drops my Swahili name to the woman who is helping us. The young lady starts laughing and says no she is Bibi Ndege and tells Paul he is Babu Ndege. Paul and I had wondered why several people would laugh at my name on this safari and now we know. I am too old to be Mama Ndege, I am a Bibi, translation Grandma while Babu is of course Grandpa. Hilarious. Paul again drops my Swahili name at the passport check desk and he gets the same reaction, laughter. Hey if it puts the security folks in a good mood it is worth it.

You might be yawning like this lioness through this part of the blog:)

From Arusha we fly to Dar es Salaam where we sit on the tarmac for over an hour while people got off and others boarded. From Dar it is a seven-and-a-half-hour flight to Amsterdam where we have a two-hour layover. I find a café where I buy a triple chocolate muffin and chocolate milk. I was craving chocolate to say the least and oh my gosh was that muffin delicious! We leave Amsterdam and nine hours later we arrive in Atlanta where we use our global entry card for the first time. It was so easy, no long lines to stand in and we just breeze through customs. We leave Atlanta and arrive in Kansas City and we are so tired when we get here that we spend the night in KC.

So that is the end of our adventure. We have had eight wonderful safaris to Africa but if I were to rank them, I would have to put this trip at the top of the list. The camps were incredible, our guides just fantastic, all the staff people friendly and caring, and the wildlife sightings and behavior we experienced was unbelievable.  Nancy

A good photo for the end of my blogs.

OUR LAST DAY IN NDUTU, BLOG 14, APRIL 15TH 2020

Paul and I are up early as usual and having breakfast at six. There is a place set for Alex but he doesn’t show up while we are eating. We thank the staff for the tasty breakfast before we leave with George for our morning game drive. Not to be redundant but we have another stunning sunrise to start the morning.

Another wonderful sunrise

George tells us as we are leaving camp that a leopard has been found in a tree near Lake Ndutu and he asks if we want to go see the big cat. He adds that every vehicle in the area will be there. Paul hesitates and then replies that since we were so fortunate to see a leopard in the Serengeti that we will pass. I totally agree, being part of a traffic jam to start the day has no appeal for me.

I’m certain that George is very happy with our decision. George then maps out his plan for our morning which is to drive to the Hidden Valley via the Big Marsh. The Hidden Valley is the beautiful vista that was spread out below us when we climbed Naabi Hill. Great, let’s go!

When we arrive at the Big Marsh, George scouts the area hoping to find the lion pride that claims the marsh as their territory but there are no big cats to be found. In fact, there is nothing here in the way of four-legged wildlife at all which is very surprising. We do see some flamingos wading in some shallow water.

A greater and lesser flamingo in the early morning light

Once we are up on the plateau it is a relief to find that we aren’t facing the high winds of yesterday, at least not yet. That means George won’t have to rescue Paul’s hat today like he did yesterday when the wind blew Paul’s hat off his head and deposited it on the ground. We are heading in the opposite direction of the colossal wildebeest herd and the road we are driving weaves in and out of the stone markers that establish Ndutu’s and Serengeti’s border. We catch a glimpse of a hyena, a smattering of wildebeest, and a pair of jackals on our journey. Right before we start our descent into the valley, we encounter a few zebras.

This is a zebra photo from the day before. Never took any photos of the ones we saw today. Enjoy another baby zebra

As we drop down into the valley, we find ourselves in a sea of rippling grass as high as what we encountered in the Mara Reserve. George looks over the expanse of land before us and remarks that the valley is empty. Yes it is, there is not an animal in sight for as far as we can see. Even so the lush valley is beautiful to look at. George points out the distant Naabi Hill on the horizon.

George cruises by a small lake where we can hear hippo’s grunting, sounding very much like hogs. There is raptor perched on a dirt clump ahead of us and George stops the truck. He doesn’t recognize the bird, so George consults one of his bird books where he and I go over the obvious markings. Leg color, beak color, eye color, pattern on chest, tail, etc. We are fairly sure it is a harrier but can’t make a positive id as nothing completely fits the patient bird. George grabs another bird book and I look through the first one again. We both shake our head in frustration and agree that it must be an immature harrier but we are unable to get beyond that. I take a few photos of the young raptor and when I get home, I will examine my East African bird book, which is different than the guides George owns.

Our mystery raptor. I think it is an immature African Harrier Hawk

As we are leaving the valley, we notice a lone safari vehicle across a ravine from us. Using our binoculars, we can see that the occupants of the vehicle are watching a male lion resting in the grass. George begins to pick his way across the big ditch as another vehicle farther down from us is attempting to do the same. I’m sure the people who found the lion are mumbling about the interlopers coming to join them😊.

When we arrive, we see that there are two male lions and a female lion. Hmm. The handsome dark-maned male is lying near the lioness who is curled up like a housecat, while the old (his nose is completely black), scruffy fellow is a few paces away from the pair. Occasionally the old lion lifts his head and sniffs the air, probably smelling the scent of the female. The timeworn cat occasionally coughs which makes us wonder if he is sick although he does groom himself which is a good sign. David and Useph had told us that there have been three male lions succumb to a disease recently and themselves and other researchers plus veterinarians haven’t identified the sickness. I don’t think all the lions that died due to the unidentified disease were in Ndutu.

Lion and lioness that must be mating partners

Old lion sniffing the air

The dark-maned male collapses onto his side and soon he is sound asleep. Gramps scrutinizes his fellow lion and then rises to his feet. The old lion takes one step closer, peering again at the sleeping male, than takes another quiet step. I am taking photos and whisper to Paul and George that I think we may see a fight. We watch the older cat literally creep in slow motion towards the female. The stealthy lion has to walk behind the zonked-out lion but the youngster doesn’t wake up.

The chosen male sound asleep. The mound on the horizon is Naaibi Hill

The old fellow tiptoeing towards the female

He bypasses the young male without awakening him

Just as the cheeky lion reaches the sleeping lioness she wakes up, snarls loudly and strikes out at the unwelcome visitor. This brings her slumbering male immediately to his feet. One look from the dominant lion is all it takes for the thwarted male to back away. The alpha male walks between the female, who is still crouched down and snarling, and the elderly lion. The old cat immediately flops on his side in submission. The dominant male looks the situation over and then proceeds to lay back down keeping himself between the two cats. Although the lioness didn’t find this funny at all, we couldn’t help laughing at the image of the elderly lion silently tiptoeing through the turf towards the lioness.

The lioness striking out at the rascal

The young male giving his buddy a stern look

I think the lioness is giving her mate a chewing out

Is that a smile on the dominate males face?

Both males go to sleep as the female still keeps an eye on them

Since the lions have now settled down and are sleeping, we proceed to leave the valley. George returns to the migrating wildebeests taking us to the far side of the bog. Our guide wanders here and there stopping to scope for the cheetah that was supposed to be here yesterday. There are a few vehicles ahead of us and George studies them and quietly says “I guess we will be scavengers and see what they have found” which we find quite a telling statement! When a vehicle is sitting still, other vehicles swarm towards them like hyenas or vultures. I love it!

Just as we are moving towards the cluster of trucks, another guide pulls up next to us and George stops to chat with him. When the man pulls away, George begins to laugh as he tells us the vehicles ahead were checking out why one truck was sitting in that area. Come to find out the safarists were just taking a break. The man that drove over to us had noticed George using his binoculars and though we were watching an animal. Scavengers indeed. Hilarious!

European roller taking off.

George drives on and stops to talk to another guide who delivers the news that there are cheetahs in the Twin Peaks area. We can see the aptly named hill on the horizon where Ngorongoro crater provides a backdrop to it. Driving the road that leads to the Twin peaks region we come upon places where zebra and wildebeest are lying on the road. The comfortable animals reluctantly stand up and move off the road to let us pass. George tells us that the dung beetles will soon be busy making dung balls with all the material these animals are leaving for them when they get on their feet!

All the wildlife that is standing or lying in the road. Forgive all the glare from the windsheild.

On our arrival at Twin Peaks we see two separate groups of vehicles. The band of trucks closest to us are cruising along the edge of a small ravine. George crosses the gulley and we catch a glimpse of a cheetah on the move. We then see another cheetah but Paul insists that there are three felines. George states it must be the three brothers that are seen here on occasion. It takes some creative driving by George before I finally see that indeed there are three cheetahs although we never get a very clear look at them. Because there are so many trucks jockeying for position trying to get a look at the trio of cheetahs, we vacate the premises and decide to go see what the smaller group of vehicles have found. Surely it can’t be more cheetah as the other trucks are no more than an eighth of a mile away. Hey, twenty-one different cheetahs since we have been with George!

One of the three cheetahs that keep to the cover of the bushes

That is the clearest look we get of the three “brothers”

There are only four vehicles at our next stop and George and Paul spot the mother and cub cheetahs as they are sauntering along near the trucks. We are two cheetahs away from the goal George and Paul have set. Unbelievable. Mom and cub approach a whistling thorn shrub and stop in the thin line of shade the scrawny bush is producing. George tells us that the mother is hungry and is looking to hunt but there are no impalas nearby, the closest impalas can hardly be seen with the naked eye. The mother sits down next to the cub who has already laid down. We continue to watch the pair but then mama cheetah lays down plus there is a stream of trucks coming our way so we decide to head back to Njozi camp.

A gorgeous cheetah and her young cub

Mom and cub laying in the thin slice of shade

As we drive back through the section where the three brothers were, we see that they are on the move. One of the three is very skittish and runs for cover when a vehicle comes to close. George appraises the situation and decides to move over to the other side of the line of trees the cheetahs have disappeared into. There are zebras and impalas over here so we sit and wait since George thinks the cheetahs will come to us.

The trio of cheetahs on the move. Well to of them are on the move, the other can barely be seen laying under the two trees to the left

In time there are several zebras that start walking toward the tree lined ravine and it appears they want to go to water. Suddenly the lead zebra becomes very alert and is staring into the heavy foliage and soon other zebras adapt the same alert posture. The striped denizens all stop their forward motion and retreat back to the open field. We continue to wait in anticipation but if what spooked the zebra were the cheetahs, they don’t show themselves to us.

I’m cheating again, for some reason I took no photos of the zebras on alert. This is a filler photo

Driving back through the area where all the wildebeest and zebra were lying on the road, we again have to wait for the animals to rise to their feet and move out of the way. George draws our attention to the movement of balls of dung everywhere! George tries to dodge the busy dung beetles as best as he can but it is next to impossible. I don’t see how the beetles don’t get crushed by all the animal hooves that tramp up and down the road as well. Well, I’m sure many beetles do die but since there are numerous beetles to be seen obviously some of the bugs are successful at bringing the next generation into the world.

We are late getting back to Njozi for lunch but boy did we have a good excuse. Five new cheetahs and twenty-three cheetahs total. The staff has a tasty lunch waiting for us consisting of meatballs and Chinese rice with carrots and green beans. When we return to our tent, we see a Marabou Stork land in a dead tree that stands next to one of our neighboring tents. The large bird appears very awkward as he perches on the lifeless limb.

Marabou Stork perched in dead tree in camp

George sets our departure for our afternoon game drive at four o’clock instead of four-thirty since he wants to return to Twin Peaks which is over an hour’s drive away. We end up leaving at ten to four since George, Paul and I end up going to the dining tent early. George drives at a fast clip in order to reach the Twin Peaks area as quickly as possible. We do stop to admire a pair of Secretary Birds that are atop a tree and cooperate for a photo op by not flying away.

Secretary birds, normally you see them striding along on the ground.

When we reach Twin Peaks it is déjà vu all over again only with less vehicles. There are a trio of vehicles close to where we first saw the three brothers this morning. There is one lone vehicle in the region where we enjoyed watching the mother and cub. George asks what we want to do and since we are closest to the three vehicles we decide to go there first. George was told that people had seen a mother and two cubs at Twin Peaks today and since we had witnessed the three brothers moving on this morning, we are hoping this is the mother and cubs.

When we arrive at the sighting spot, two vehicles move away leaving us with a good view of the cheetahs. It is a mother and two nearly full-grown cubs. We are elated, this makes twenty-six cheetahs! Our elation is short lived when George says, no, these are the same cheetahs that we saw this morning. He adds that he mistook them for the three brothers that are known to frequent this territory. I am not completely convinced they are the same cheetahs. I will grant that we did not get a close up view of the cheetahs except when they were on the move and then they were a long way away from us. Later, when comparing my photos from this morning and this evening it is obvious that these are the same cheetahs. How could I have had a smidgeon of doubt with George’s statement, a man who definitely knows cheetahs! Well darn, we are back to twenty-three cheetah.

Mother and two cubs. They are the same cheetahs we saw this morning that we thought were three brothers

We don’t spend much time with the trio of cats as the other vehicle has some annoying people in it who are loudly grousing at their guide that they can’t see the cheetahs well enough. Good grief, the cats are hiding in the tall grass so what is the poor man supposed to do, drive the truck at them to make them get up. Sigh…

Mom and one of the two cubs

George begins driving towards the lone truck a quarter mile away. We are about halfway there when the truck starts moving and makes a sudden U-turn and speeds up. I call out that the cheetah must be making a kill but George has already hit the gas. We arrive at the scene to see the last feeble kicks of the full-grown impala as the mother cheetah clamps down on the poor beast’s throat. We missed the actual chase by a couple of minutes!

Cheetah finishing the job of killing the impala

Paul is very disappointed but I have mixed feelings about failing to see the whole show. I am getting a bit more soft-hearted in my old age, I guess. The mother cheetah waits until there is no light of life left in the impalas’ eyes then she begins the arduous task of pulling the carcass towards a thorn bush in hopes of hiding her kill from other predators. The cub who was waiting in the wings begins walking towards his mother and dinner.

Dragging the carcass behind the thorn bush

Junior coming for dinner

The successful hunter finally reaches the bush and drops the dead impala to the ground. The youngster waltz’s in and pretends to kill the impala all over again, that is how they learn I suppose. The exhausted mother lays down while the cub moves to the rear end of the impala and before long is heartily eating. We stay with the cheetahs for thirty minutes in which time the adult never takes a bite out of the impala. The cub eats for ten minutes or so and then he disappears behind the spikey bush and lays down. There are more vehicles arriving all the time and we have a long drive back to camp so we leave the huntress and cub and start back to Njozi.

Mission accomplished

Cub playing with carcass

Huntress taking a well deserved rest while the cub dines on the impala

George begins berating himself for not going directly to the mother with the single cub because then we would have seen the whole hunting scenario. Paul tells him not to blame himself as it was our decision to check out the trio of cheetahs first. George still voices his regrets and I point out to him that if we hadn’t left camp ten minutes early, we would have missed everything. I think Paul and I finally convince him that there is no sense lamenting what can’t be changed. We enjoy the late evening drive home where the vultures are already roosting in the treetops. George stops the truck to look at a Lilac-breasted Roller who is holding a small pebble in his beak. How in the world did this amazing man see a bird with a rock in its bill while driving down the road? Paul informs George that he has decided to include the two cheetah we saw in Kenya to the twenty-three cheetah we saw in Tanzania which equals a total of twenty-five of the gorgeous felines. I’m not sure George approves of this change in the rules but he nods his head in agreement. Nancy

Vultures settling in for the night.

Lilac-breasted roller with pebble in its beak.

ANOTHER DAY IN NDUTU, BLOG 13, APRIL 10TH 2020

A nice start to the day

We have another gorgeous sunrise to enjoy after eating our hot breakfast of bacon, sausage, crepes, and eggs this morning. George picks us up at the usual time of 6:30 and he informs us that today we return to the wildebeest herd but we will go to the other side of the marsh. We drove along the edge of the marsh yesterday while inspecting the wildebeest, however there was no place to cross the spongy ground in that area. One of the reasons George wants to go to the other side is that he heard through the grapevine, well guidevine, that a cheetah was seen in that part of Ndutu yesterday. Might as well try for number nineteen.

Before we reach the wetland, we stop to watch a pair of hyenas engaging in play. I would guess this is a mother and a nearly full-grown pup that are chasing and nipping at each other. The two run out of steam fairly quickly and shuffle away from us into the grass.

Hyena having fun

Hyena nipping and chasing one another

Once we reach the marsh George drives along the edge of the boggy ground until he finds the solid-bottom crossing near a small waterhole. It is only a few bumpy yards to the other side of the marsh. Of course, the wildebeest and other wildlife can cross the swamp any place they want as they don’t have to worry about getting mired down in the mud.

Another sweet baby zebra

We investigate the wildebeest on this side of the bog for cows giving birth driving slowly through the herd’s midst. At one point George has parked the truck and I notice a male wildebeest charge a calf that is lying down making it jump to its feet. The male begins chasing the poor calf and a couple other wildebeest join in, (one might be the calf’s mother). The big bull dashes after the baby who runs quite a distance trying to escape this knucklehead.  I have no idea what instigated the bull to torment the calf, probably it is just boredom and orneriness.  I noticed this same behavior yesterday of males chasing after little calves. It ticked me off then and it ticks me off today but my feelings don’t change a thing. The wildebeest finally stops his pursuit of the hapless calf and walks away.

On our search for a calving wildebeest, we do find a few calves that are very new but are already up and stumbling around. George drives towards one pair where the calf is dripping wet and just attempting to get up, man we couldn’t have missed its birth by more than a few minutes. I caution our guide to not drive too close to the pair in case our intrusion would interfere with the mother bonding with her calf. George begins to drive away as I am still observing the pair. The mother can’t seem to make up her mind about the calf and a couple of times turns as if to walk away. I speak out loud and tell the cow several times “don’t leave, don’t leave”. George thinks I am talking to him and brings the truck to a halt. The poor man looks completely confused because I had just instructed him, we should leave the wildebeest pair alone. I explain to him that I was talking to the mother wildebeest and not him, which makes him laugh.

New mother I was begging not to leave her calf

George using his binoculars to look for the cheetah

George covers a lot of ground in search of the cheetah and while on this mission we always find other interesting things to survey. One of the things of beauty we see isn’t an animal at all but an exquisite acacia tree. For some reason I fall in love with this tree and the proof of my enthusiasm for the acacia tree is evident when I see all the photos I took of the beautiful tree.  At one point on our tour there is a Bateleur eagle sitting on the ground who seems to have no objection to us stopping to snap a photo of him. We observe a zebra stallion pursuing a mare. It is obvious that thoughts of mating are on the stallion’s mind but the zebra mare wants nothing to do with him. At one point when the stallion tries to mount the tiring female, she kicks out with both back legs and lands a sharp blow to the side of the stallions’ head. That seems to cool off the overzealous stallion at least for the moment.

The acacia I dubbed as perfect despite the big rift in its trunk

Bateleur eagle posing for us

Zebra stallion chasing the unwilling mare

It was breezy shortly after we reached the plains this morning but now the wind is really blowing, and occasionally the truck shudders when the wind catches us broadside. The dust the safari vehicles kick up when we are on a road gets blown into our vehicle if we are close to them. George tries to avoid the dust clouds by moving off the road into the bush when vehicles approach which helps some but the invasive dirt still manages to find us. At times we see dust devils swirling over the plains. Paul remembers that he has a bandana in our pack and now when we meet another vehicle, I hold the cloth over my nose and mouth which helps keep the gritty dirt out of my lungs. The wind reminds us of the Kansas gales that are too common, but we would have preferred not to have experienced this blustery wind in Ndutu.

This baby zebra had deformed back legs. It could hardly walk let alone run. How it has survived this far is a miracle.

We still haven’t found that elusive cheetah but a few elands put on a wonderful show for us as they playfully run and leap into the air. Now that is beautiful. Another display that brings our truck to a stop is a dung beetle who is rolling an enormous ball of dung over the rough ground. George points out the female who is following the hard-working male. George tells us that the female will climb onto the dung ball occasionally. I can’t remember if this is to show the male that she accepts him as a mate, or if the female dung beetle is just giving the male encouragement. Nevertheless, it is quite a spectacle to see this bug rolling a sphere ten times as big as he is. The purpose of the dung ball is a medium for the female to lay her eggs in. When the larvae hatch, they consume the dung for their first meal. This nearly perfect orb the beetle constructed really is amazing despite the substance that it is made of!

Elands having fun

Yipee. See the dust devil on the horizon?

A couple more eland join the fun

How did that small beetle construct this huge dung ball? A part of the female can be seen following her mate

George gives up on finding the cheetah and turns back towards Njozi camp. We have to drive near my “perfect” tree on our way to the crossing. There is a mass of wildebeest and a few zebras spread out around the acacia tree which makes for an iconic African scene.

Iconic African scene

As we near our turn off to the camp there is a few trucks under the tree where Babs the lioness was perched yesterday. We join the sightseers and are happy to see the tawny beauty in a much more comfortable position today. She is lying flat upon a thick, sturdy limb and is sound asleep. We stay with Babs for awhile and other than shifting her position a time or two, she never really wakes up.

Babs looks so much more comfortable today

Using her leg as a pillow

Another guest has arrived in Njozi camp and Alex joins us for lunch. One of the first things Alex says to us is “you must be the people who saw the honey badgers”. It is nice to be semi famous even if it is only for a few days! The young man is a writer and is here penning an article on the Big Cat Research project, at least this is what we understood. It seems he travels internationally writing pieces on wildlife and I think he particularly writes about big cats. I do know this; Alex often uses words which I have no idea what they mean so I have to sort their meaning out using the context of his sentence. Whoa.

Paul and I take a short nap after lunch, the wind and the dirt took a toll on us so we can’t imagine how tired George must be. After naptime we sit in front of our tent and relax while reading, journaling and enjoying the solitude. Oddly enough there are hardly any birds to watch today. Paul and I do walk around the camp although it is hot so we don’t walk for too long.

The view in front of our tent makes us feel like we are sitting in the middle of the bush.

George arrives at four and he wants to go back to the part of Ndutu where we saw the tongue-injured cheetah yesterday. It is a long trek to the place where we encountered the spotted cat and some parts of the park we drive through are fairly empty of wildlife. One good thing is that the wind has died down.  When we arrive at our destination there is not another vehicle around. There are thousands of wildebeest speckling the plains but our cheetah search proves to be futile. I hope this means she has moved to a location that isn’t infested with hyena. We take time to sit and watch the placid herd of wildebeest. There are cattle egrets hitching rides on the wildebeest backs or shadowing them as the animals are walking, snatching up insects that are startled into flying to avoid the wildebeest’s hooves.

An African hare sitting in the open.

Ostrich next to wildebeest. This shows how huge these birds are.

Cattle egret hitching a ride on a unconcerned wildebeest

When we are driving back to camp this evening it happens to coincide with the cattle egret’s flight to Lake Ndutu where they roost in trees for the night. George and I marvel at how low to the ground the stark white birds fly. We also question why it is that the egrets prefer to fly around bushes and tree trunks rather than fly higher and go over the top of the obstacles.

A line of cattle egrets

When we arrive to the driveway of the camp, George passes it by and drives up to the staff’s quarters. Paul and I raise our eyebrows but don’t say anything to our guide. When George realizes what he has done he utters his distinctive “whaat” and then starts laughing. Putting the truck in reverse George backs down the long, narrow drive until he reaches Njozi’s entrance. Salama and Lema are waiting at the end of the drive to greet us and both are shaking their heads and laughing. In order for George to save face we encourage him to tell the young women that we saw a bird and that is why drove into the wrong entrance. When we climb out of the truck the two women hand us our towels and then begin kidding George speaking in Swahili. George responds to the women but the only word we understand is the word ndege, which is bird in Swahili. We assume George decided to try using our excuse of bird watching but the two women don’t buy our cover story as they shake their heads and laugh. Poor George will probably not live this down anytime soon.

Paul and I appreciate our hot showers even more tonight after that dirty, windy morning game drive. At the bonfire we enjoy our Kilimanjaro beer that Joseph has ready for us. Joseph is featured in the camp book in our tent among other stories about Tanzanians that Wild Source has teamed up with. I won’t get the details perfect but the gist is that the owners of Wild Source noticed Joseph while they were in Arusha (I think). Joseph was selling souvenirs to tourists from a nifty little cart that made him stand apart from the other vendors. The Wild Source people began visiting with Joseph and were impressed with the entrepreneurs winning personality and motivation. Joseph had dropped out of secondary school due to lack of funds. I believe it was after a few more visits with Joseph that Wild Source offered to financially support Joseph so he could finish school. A job awaited him after his graduation at the Wild Source camp if he wanted it but that was his decision to make. Obviously, the young man took them up on their offer, thus the distinctive liquor cart at Njozi camp. Paul and I learn from Joseph that he hopes to get a college education, possibly in biology. We wish this enterprising young man all the best in his future endeavors.

The employment of, and aide to locals is a trademark of Wild Source. In the camp book there were other stories of giving people a helping hand. I remember that one of the reports was about helping a young woman start up a business. Kudos to the owners of this business for assisting people to achieve their dreams.

We visit with David and Useph as we relax next to the bonfire. David shows us photos of an old male lion they found today that died from his wounds after being in a fight with a pair of lions. Seeing the dead lion was a somber lesson that defending territory can cost you your life. One of the interesting tidbits David told us is you can age a lion somewhat by the color of their nose. When a lion is born their nose is completely pink. As lions age black spots begin to show up on their noses. Around age nine the nose becomes completely black.

Paul and I enjoying our beer and the bonfire

During dinner we hear about Alex’s day of adventure which included seeing Babs in the tree. The chef outdid himself tonight with coconut chicken which was delicious, braised beef, potatoes, and snow peas and avocado green salad. I am grateful it is a buffet so you can try to limit your portion size! Paul enjoys an after-dinner drink of Amarula which is a favorite ritual for him when we are in Africa. We say goodnight to Alex and the staff and retire to our tent for the night. Nancy

A MORNING AND AFTERNOON GAME DRIVE IN NDUTU, BLOG 12, APRIL 7TH 2020

Another early morning and we are eating breakfast by six. The food which includes bacon, sausage, and crepes are sitting over chafing dishes but oddly the food is only lukewarm. It is no big deal, bush breakfasts are always cold, I just always have to ask why when something doesn’t make sense to me. There is enough food here to feed a dozen people so this must also be the staff’s breakfast.

Stunning sunrise just outside of camp

George drives the same route out of camp that we took yesterday because we are returning to the wildebeest migration. There is a beautiful sunrise to enjoy as we are leaving Njozi camp. George takes a short cut through some trees and brush looking for anything that might be hiding here but we find nothing.

When we have reached the main road and traveled down it a few miles, we are astonished to find the abandoned baby wildebeest and it is standing nearly in the same spot as where we saw it yesterday. George comments on the fact that the calf managed to survive the night. I’m not sure that is a good thing since starving to death is going to take a lot longer than being quickly taken down by a predator. This is not a happy start to the day.

Traveling on down the road there is a hyena walking in our direction, or maybe I should say waddling. The animal’s stomach is so full it actually sways back and forth as he walks. The overstuffed hyena has blood smeared all over its chest which adds to the rather disgusting image. Hyenas are not exactly a favorite of mine but like everything in nature they are a necessary part of the system.

Overstuffed hyena

George drives a long way in our quest to find the endless expanse of wildebeest but we finally reach them. The wildebeest obviously don’t stay in the same place! George meanders through the wildebeest herd looking for cows in the process of giving birth. We find a newborn that is literally just a few minutes old so we just missed the actual birth. The calf is soaking wet and still trying to master the use of his very long legs. Unlike our cows who seclude themselves from the herd when calving, the wildebeest calve right in the midst of the herd. That makes sense with all the predators that are a constant threat. We also notice that the long-legged calves must get down on their knees to nurse their mothers.

A brand new wildebeest calf

Wildebeest calf on its knees nursing

Eland mixed in with the migrating wildebeest

As George continues through the sprawling throng of wildebeest, (there are zebra, gazelle and even a few elands mixed in), I notice two wildebeest intently staring into a weedy patch. As I am watching the pair, one of them jerks back and I catch a glimpse of a black body topped with silvery hair that caused the reaction of the wildebeest. I yell out honey badger and George reacts with a drawn out, skeptical,” whaat”, followed with a dubious “where” as he brings the truck to a stop.  I point to the wildebeest which is still staring into the weeds, and soon the honey badger pops its head up and takes a look at us. Unreal, Paul has never seen a honey badger and I just saw one briefly when we were on another safari.

Curious Honey badger

Wildebeest checking out the honey badger

The amazing thing about this honey badger is that we seem to have made him curious. The usually secretive animal keeps poking his head up from time to time and looking intently at us. A few wildebeest keep their eyes on him and in two separate cases the honey badger decides a wildebeest is crowding him and the cantankerous animal lunges at the wildebeest causing it to jump away.

Wildebeest retreating after the badger jumps at it.

Now comes the really astonishing part. The honey badger begins to move through the weeds, raising its head up in order to keep an eye on us. Eventually the animal emerges from the cover of the foliage and parades in front of us, looking towards us now and then. After walking in the open for several yards the fearless animal reverses course and returns to the patch of weeds where the honey badger promptly disappears. The honey badger must have a den here and it is beyond lucky that the reclusive animal put on a nearly ten-minute show for us.

Look at the claws on this fellow

Honey badger returning to its den area

George, puts away his camera, and tells me that he is awarding me one hundred points for spotting the honey badger which is the highest points he awards for finding wildlife. We didn’t know that George awarded points for finding various animals and we assume this is a game he has played with other clients. George then begins to laugh and shake his head while telling me that he still remembers the Rhino I found in 2018. I ask him if that rhino was worth one hundred points and his reply is that it absolutely was!

Baby wildebeest often stand pressed against their mothers side. They look like they are attached to mom’s side with velcro.

George begins zigzagging through the wildebeest again and at one point stops the truck so we can listen to the grunting animals. Paul says that the wildebeest remind him of the old Budweiser commercial where three bullfrogs are croaking out Bud-Weis-Er, which cracks me up. Then we all start laughing as a yearling wildebeest next to us lets out a high-pitched squawk. Paul likened the sound to a squeaky door. We never heard a sound like that again from the wildebeest so I don’t know what his story was, maybe the youngster just had a sense of humor.

Hyena eating afterbirth. Nothing goes to waste out here

As we continue our drive through the grazing wildebeest and cute babies, we find a hyena feasting on fresh afterbirth. We have noticed many piles of placenta this morning which probably helps sate numerous predators. We probably are a half mile from our honey badger encounter when Paul calls out that he has seen another honey badger. Get out! George is just in disbelief at seeing two honey badgers this morning. As we are gazing at Paul’s honey badger, I exclaim that there are actually two honey badger! This is crazy.

Paul’s honey badger. You can just see a bit of the second badger

The two badgers walking in the open for us

A closer image of the pair of badgers

The pair of badgers go through the same routine as the first one did. Sneaking looks at us, picking their way through the weedy cover, and then breaking into the open to give us an unobstructed view, before disappearing from our sight. George declares that this is the very top to see three honey badgers. He then tells Paul that he is getting back up there. We aren’t quite sure what that means but find it hilarious anyway.

Grant’s gazelles

George decides to move away from the mass of wildebeest and see what else Ndutu has to offer. There are Thomson’s gazelle and Grants gazelle scattered across the prairie but after being encircled by the sea of wildebeest it feels very empty here. We are driving cross country with no real destination in mind, when George stops the truck and pronounces that one word, we have heard quite often from him. Cheetah! What are the odds that George drives a course in this wide-open park that takes us right by a reclining cheetah?

Our 18th cheetah

There are several Thomson’s gazelles in the vicinity and they obviously haven’t seen the cheetah judging by their lackadaisical attitudes. George decides to park the truck behind the cheetah leaving yards of space between her and us. We haven’t been sitting for ten minutes when three Thomson’s begin bounding straight towards the cheetah. As they get nearer, they slow to a walk, nibbling on grass now and then. I find myself holding my breath as the cheetah looks the gazelles over as they move ever closer. The trio of little antelope stop to graze not thirty yards from the cheetah and we are stunned when the cheetah completely ignores them. What an opportunity to pass up. George surmises that the indifferent cheetah is aware of the numerous hyenas that are in the vicinity and therefore the cat won’t waste her energy on making a kill when it would likely be stolen from her. We have now broken George’s record of seventeen cheetahs on one safari! However, George and Paul have upped the ante, they have decided they are going to try to obliterate George’s record of seventeen cheetahs and have set a lofty goal of seeing twenty-five different cheetahs😊. These guys!

Thomson’s gazelles so close to the cheetah! The cheetahs’ head can be seen to the right about a third of the way up from the bottom

A pair of sand grouse

Leaving the elegant cat behind we continue to explore this part of Ndutu. There are a lot of hyena scattered around and we count twenty of the scavengers, all which aren’t that far from where the cheetah is laying. We reach the border between the Serengeti and Ndutu which is defined by stone markers, (they resemble grave stones), that are planted several hundred yards apart. George turns around and decides to visit the cheetah again. This time the lovely feline yawns, stands up and stretches for us. We notice that her tongues on one side is jagged and bloody so perhaps this is another reason the cheetah wasn’t interested in hunting. We also see that she is very thin and George thinks she will have to move to new territory away from all the hyena as she needs to hunt soon.

Her tongue looks so painful

A beautiful cat

It is time to return to camp for lunch so we mosey back through the wildebeest, still on the lookout for a cow calving but no luck with that. It seems everywhere we look we see hyena and we also find vultures picking at what is left of a gazelle.

Not pretty but necessary

A Kori Bustard displaying

We have chicken pizza, spring rolls, pita bread and guacamole for lunch. It was all quite good. Yesterday we agreed with George that because of the pesky flies and heat that it wouldn’t be much fun to eat our lunch in the bush. Paul and I agreed that we made the right decision as it is very nice to relax for a few hours between game drives. We spent quite a bit of time sitting in front of our tent, Paul reading, me writing in my journal, and watching the many birds in the trees and bushes that border the camp. We also get some exercise by walking the path in front of the guest’s tent.

Blue-capped Cordon-bleu by our tent

I am particularly entertained by an Abyssinian Scimitarbill, that is probing the bark and holes in a large tree in front of our tent. The curved billed bird pulls many insects and worms from the old tree. The unique bird eats some of its catches but on occasion the Scimitarbill flies away with the bugs, always returning in a relative short time. I assume that the Scimitarbill has young ones it is feeding in a nearby nest, or perhaps the bird is feeding a mate that is setting on eggs.

Abyssinian Scimitarbill on tree by our tent

A reward after searching the hole in the tree

We meet George at four-thirty to begin our afternoon game drive. George decides to take us to the Big Marsh to look for the lions known as the Marsh Pride. The lions are nowhere to be seen but we do come across a pair of jackals who are throwing their heads back and howling. Pretty soon three half-grown pups appear from the weeds and grass. Two of the pups begin to grovel, that is the best word I can come up with. The pair lower their front halves to the ground in a kind of bow, and their little tails are wagging so hard that they are going in a circle. About that time the nearest adult to the pups, to put it bluntly, barfs up some meat. One of the pups grabs a piece but the other pup isn’t impressed and walks away. Mom or dad starts eating the unclaimed stuff probably not wanting to waste it! Upon closer inspection it is clear that the regurgitated meal is afterbirth. This wasn’t the most pleasant thing to watch but George makes the point that these little canines have found the safest way to carry a meal to their offspring and that way is to swallow it. That makes sense, nobody can steal the jackal’s food from them when it is already in their stomach.

After begging one of the parents regurgitated food

Yummy, thanks mom or pop

The other two pups and mom or dad

As we are driving through the mostly dry marsh bottom, we happen to pass by three sleeping bat-eared fox. It is pretty odd that they are sleeping above ground during the day albeit they are pretty well hidden by the ground cover. Even stranger, the little foxes hardly notice us, in fact the one that is sleeping on his belly only twitches an ear when we drive up. This was an unexpected and great find.

One of the bat-eared fox did stand up briefly

This guy is sleeping on his tummy

We find giraffe browsing on thorny bushes and I will never come to grips with how they manage to remove leaves from the spiked limbs without getting a hundred pricks with every mouthful.

Browsing giraffe. Ouch.

We leave the big marsh and make our way back to Lake Ndutu. As we are turning onto the road that leads to Njozi we see several vehicles clustered under a huge tree with sprawling limbs not far from our turn off. George stops the truck to take a look and then tells us that there is a lion in the tree. Oh, for crying out loud. Sometimes I just can’t believe how fortunate we are. We decide to go take a look as there are only four or five vehicles enjoying the tree-climbing lion.

A small part of Lake Ndutu. Flamingos along the edge of the lake. The tents you see are mobile, they won’t be there in a couple of months.

How can this big lioness sleep in this position?

When we arrive all of us are astounded at the awkward position of the lioness and yet she is sleeping. The massive cat is sitting with her ample bottom wedged tightly against a branch while her front legs and paws are braced on crossing branches in front of her. The show stopper is a Yellow-necked Spurfowl that seems completely perplexed by this enormous “bird” that is in the tree. The brave/silly Spurfowl is clucking as it walks around checking out the lioness, first looking at the tail, then the lioness’ bottom, eventually walking up a limb to look directly at the cat’s huge head. The lioness pays the curious bird no mind although I did see her open her eyes a bit when the cheeky spurfowl is peering at the lioness’ face. That has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Spurfowl looking at the tree climbing lion

Spurfowl puzzling over this big bird

We leave the lioness and her feathered companion and return to the camp. After thanking George for a wonderful day, we retire to our tent and enjoy our much-needed showers.

Paul and I make the long trek to the bonfire, just kidding, the fire is probably twenty yards from our tent, and order our beer from Joseph and his liquor cart. David and Useph(sp) soon join us and I show them the photo of the cheetah and the tree lion. The big cat researchers both identify the lioness as Babs. The two young men can recognize her by sight but to make absolutely sure it is Babs they blow up the photo and check certain face whiskers above her main line of whiskers which is unique in every lion. Hmm, I can’t explain it and David made it so easy to understand when he explained it to us. The two also congratulate us on seeing the honey badgers. David tells us we need to watch a you tube video called “The honey badger don’t care” that shows how tough this animal is. The personable young man starts laughing just thinking about the video. We will check it out for sure.

A Kili beer by a bonfire. Hard to beat that. Oh yes, that is little blue, he travels with Joy and Paul who share custody of him. He gets his photo taken all over the world!

When David looks at the cheetah photo, he tells us this is a young female and that she is in early pregnancy. David is intrigued by the damaged tongue and is unsure what caused the wound. He makes a hesitant guess that the cheetah somehow bit down on a thorny branch. Actually, that makes sense to me as it would explain the jagged nature of the wound. Maybe she was trying to make a kill and a thorn bush was next to the animal she was trying to clamp down on. Well, we will never know.

Tonight, Vana comes to our table and announces that there will be no supper served tonight. Paul and I look at him and then I say, “yes there will be, I can smell the food”. Vana replies that there will be no supper because they are going back to serving dinner. Paul and I have a good laugh over that great line. Last night we told the staff we would see them at supper and they had no idea what we were talking about. We explained to them that in our rural life we refer to the noon meal as dinner and the evening meal as supper. So, on our first night they welcomed us to supper! I love people’s sense of humor here.

The chef has prepared lamb, pork chops, potatoes, zucchini and banana/caramel dessert and it is all delicious. Useph eats dinner with us and we have an educational conversation with him learning more about the two friends work with Wild Source. They really seem passionate about what they do and why wouldn’t they be! Nancy

ALEAVING NYUMBANI FOR NDUTU AND NJOZI CAMP, BLOG 11, APRIL 2ND 2020

Before Paul and I go up for our seven-a.m. breakfast, we pack up most of our belongings. We are leaving later than usual this morning because George must fill up with fuel near the Seronera airport and the fuel station isn’t open until eight o’clock.

The dining and community tent at Nyumbani

After breakfast the staff gathers our luggage and all of them accompany us to the vehicle. We give Goodlove the envelope with the tip money for the staff telling them how much we enjoyed staying here and how much fun we have had with them. Once we are settled in the truck, we see Amani making a heart with his hands and Bazile is pretending to cry. Hilarious. These guys are such characters.

Paul and I with the staff of Nyumbani camp

On the drive to the gas station about all we see is a beautiful young giraffe who strolls across the road in front of us. The gas station consists of an austere concrete building with one fuel pump. George goes to pay the attendant, who then comes to fuel up the truck.  There are beautiful kopjes next to the gas station and an unidentified bird is perched on the peak of one rock singing its heart out. Paul and I have to laugh when we see the station attendant rocking the truck back and forth in order to be able to get a little more diesel in the fuel tank!

Lone giraffe we saw on our way to get fuel

Fueling up

We have a long drive to Ndutu which will take us through half the length of the Serengeti, (Seronera is located in the middle of the Serengeti). One of our first encounters after leaving the gas station is a good-sized herd of Cape buffalo crossing the road in front of us. You bet they have the right away!  There is a cow with a brand-new calf which is struggling to keep up, though mama does turn to check on the little guy now and then. Thank goodness the herd leaders stop to graze not long after they have crossed the road as I don’t know how long the wobbly calf could have kept going.

Mother cape buffalo checking on her brand new calf.

Wobbly Cape buffalo calf made it across the road.

We don’t find much more in the way of wildlife for quite some time. Well, George does stop at a kopje to laughingly point out several hyraxes that are squished together soaking up the sun. As we continue driving through the lovely grassland, we come upon a vehicle parked alongside the road. The people are focused on a solitary tree quite a distance from the road. George immediately declares that there is a leopard in the tree. Wow, we had no expectations at all of seeing a leopard in this country. George tells us to look for the tail of the leopard that is hanging down from a limb. Paul and I find the leopard but I don’t see a tail, I see hind legs hanging down on either side of the limb the stunning cat is lying on. George says there is another road not far away that will get us closer to the mottled cat so off we go. We have just turned onto the road when we see two vehicles approaching from the other direction. The leopard panics, climbs down the tree, and “poof” it immediately disappears. We have experienced this magical act when watching leopards before but I still don’t know how such a large feline can seemingly vanish into thin air. Alright, we are absolutely delighted at seeing a leopard in the Serengeti.

Hyrax piled up together, basking in the sunlight

Leopard in the tree. I had to use my full zoom to get this documentary photo

Startled leopard on the move, Oops, wasn’t fast enough to get his head in the shot

This is the last we see of the big cat

As we continue on our way, we find an overheated hyena cooling off in the middle of a small pond. Immersing itself in water doesn’t make the hyena any more attractive! As we are driving alongside a herd of zebras George finds one zebra with a bloody slash on one of its hindquarters. It looks like this fellow barely escaped death, probably from an attacking lion. The wound looks nasty but the zebra itself is grazing and otherwise seems healthy.

Hyena cooling off in the water

That is a nasty wound. Probably a result of a lions claws?

Our journey takes us back through the Gol Kopjes and we see the mother and cub cheetah again but for some reason I only have a photo of the mother, I guess the cub was hiding in the grass. There are some safari trucks ahead of us parked by a Kopje so we decide to see what they have found. Two vehicles are leaving when we arrive and a third guide is attempting to turn his truck around in a tight space. As the driver pulls forward, he startles a male lion that jumps up and limps into the towering grass. This is the same untidy male we saw with the two lionesses yesterday so maybe his injury is the reason he hasn’t been grooming himself. One of the lionesses is on top of an immense rock and the other one is barely visible as she is holed up in some dense bushes.

Startled male lion

Lioness laying on Kopje rock

George has to sign in at a place called Naabi Hill so we can continue on to Ndutu. When we arrive, George suggests that Paul and I hike the path to the top of Naabi Hill as signing in will take some time. Paul and I think that is a great idea and we climb the steep but short path to the peak of Naabi Hill. I am gasping for breath when we reach the top but the birds eye view of the endless plains spread out below us was worth the exertion.  Upon our return to the truck George asks if we want to eat our lunch here and we agree. There is a picnic area but it is so full of other safarists eating lunch that all the tables are taken so we have to settle for a wooden bench which is fine. As we are leaving, George gives our leftover apples to some construction workers who seem very appreciative. George is such a kind and thoughtful man.

Faded sign at the top of Naabi Hill

This lizard was next to the sign

View from the top of Naabi Hill

Once we leave Naabi Hill we come across a large number of zebras who have congregated into small groups. Each cluster of zebras is pushing tightly against each other in an effort to protect a small part of themselves from the voracious flies. There are white storks everywhere and George tells us that they are migratory birds. At one point on our drive we have to come to a stop as a line of wildebeest are dashing across the road, many of the cows have long-legged babies running beside them.

Zebras in small clusters trying to protect themselves from the biting flies.

One of the hundreds of white storks we saw in Ndutu. This isn’t a very good photo but I think it is the only close up I have of a white stork

Wildebeest and calf dashing across the road

When we arrive at Ndutu lake there are greater and lesser flamingo wading along the edge of the placid lake. We spend a little time looking for a pride of lions that frequent this place but we don’t find them. We drive into Southern Njozi camp at three o’clock and the staff is waiting with hot towels and welcome drinks. The camp manager, Vana, takes us to our tent, which happens to be the closest tent to the dining tent. Vana then gives us the tent tour while explaining camp rules and giving us other information. It is a very nice tent and Paul and I get settled in, then rest before our late afternoon game drive.

The bedroom

Back room of our tent

It is really dusty here so it is hard to believe that they were having terrible rains and flooding here a few weeks ago! Unlike the Serengeti, you are allowed to drive off road in Ndutu which is nice as you can get off of the dusty roads. We were driving cross country when Paul and I thought we saw a hyena chasing a few wildebeest quite a way ahead of us. George corrects us and says that it is a baby wildebeest. The little calf is having trouble keeping up with the adults and then we lose sight of them.

As we draw nearer to where the wildebeest were stampeding, we catch sight of a golden figure scampering our way. Oh no, it is the baby wildebeest and he is bleating in terror. The lost calf catches sight of our truck and begins running towards us. George drives onto the road but now the baby wildebeest falls in behind us and trails us as though we were its lost mother. There are a few wildebeest several hundred yards away, and even though we know it isn’t the ones that this calf belongs to, Paul and I ask George to drive towards the wildebeest in hopes the baby calf will keep following us. Our idea is that the calf might stay with these wildebeest and with luck its mother will come looking for it.  Sadly, the bewildered calf stops following us after we have driven another hundred yards and it stands and stares at us as we drive away. I am used to how cruel nature can be since I have spent my whole life on a ranch. But I must say the sight of that lost, confused, baby brings tears to my eyes. At home if we have a calf that the cow didn’t want or a twin that didn’t keep up with mom, we can gather that baby up and raise it on a bottle. Here all we can do is leave it behind and hope that the mother will return.

This calf is staying right with his mother unlike the lost calf.

When I know my voice won’t break, I ask George what the chances are that the misplaced baby’s mother will return for her calf. I don’t get the answer I was hoping for as George admits the chances aren’t good, adding that wildebeest aren’t very good mothers.

We drive on until we reach a spectacle that Paul and I can’t quite comprehend. There are thousands upon thousands of wildebeest in this part of Ndutu including lots and lots of young calves. George tells us to look through our binoculars in order to see that this vast herd of wildebeest seems to be endless in all directions! Wildebeest are very noisy so we are inundated with their odd, almost bullfrog like call. George drives slowly through the wildebeest around us and they react like our cattle do on the ranch. The creatures move out of the way of the vehicle, walk a few steps and most begin to graze again but a few will turn and stare at us.

My camera is good for zooming, not good for landscape scenes so this photo does not clearly show the wildebeest in the background. Every dark bump all the way to the horizon is a wildebeest

It is getting late, so we must leave this jaw-dropping wonder behind and return to Njozi. I would have loved to have ended the day with the image of the unfathomable wildebeest migration in my head. That isn’t the case as when we reach the spot where we left the abandoned baby it is still standing there looking confused and very alone. There is another vehicle stopped by the little calf and the looks on those people’s faces mirror mine. Like I have said before, real nature is nothing like a Disney movie.

When we return to camp, Paul and I order our water for our bucket showers and boy does it fill good to wash the grit and the dust off. We go to the bonfire and order a beer from the young man that is manning the liquor cart, (that is another story for another blog). Since we are the only guests tonight the bartender isn’t going to be very busy!

Joseph and his liquor cart. One of the Maasai who escorted us to and from our tent decided to get in the photo too.

We meet David and Useph, who are Wild Sources big cat researchers. David says he met us in 2018 when we were at the Northern Njozi camp. Paul and I can’t truthfully say we remember David but we do have a vague recollection of being introduced to a big cat researcher while there.

While we are sitting at the bonfire, we hear someone whistling, suddenly the Maasai that are sitting near the fire jump up and start running towards the parking area. Someone starts honking a horn and then Paul catches a glimpse of an elephant running down the road with the vehicle in hot pursuit, furiously honking its horn. The people chasing on foot are whistling and whooping. It seems this elephant discovered the kitchen tent awhile ago and took a liking to the various fruits and vegetables inside. We understood that the elephant demolished the tent on that escapade too. The elephant returns now and then but so far, they have thwarted the pachyderm from carrying out another successful theft.

David eats dinner with us and we have a fascinating conversation with him about he and Useph’s work for Wild Source. If I had another life, these two young men are doing what I would love to do. The two men work with other groups who are following big cats in nearby regions such as Ngorongoro crater and they are building up a data base on lions, leopards and cheetahs. They compile movement of the various cats. They work at identifying the individual animals among a myriad of other interesting work.  It has been a long day and it will be an early morning so Paul and I say a reluctant goodnight to David and retire to our tent. Nancy