Ang’ata Serengeti Camp and the Central Serengeti, part 6

The Wabaunsee crew of six are up early and eating breakfast at sunrise. Our bags have been brought from our tents by some of the staff and are loaded into the truck. We say our goodbyes to this friendly group of people who genuinely seemed to enjoy having us at Sanctuary Kusini camp. The workers were always smiling, friendly and had a great sense of humor. The chef even shared his recipe for squash soup with us!

George wants to drive up to the plains to look for Cheetah before we head off for Central Serengeti. Everyone searches the wide-open grassland for the fastest land animal, (they can reach 75 miles an hour), but none of the spotted cats are found. This looks like prime country for cheetah, it just isn’t this morning. I believe it is Jennifer who does notice a bat-eared fox near the road with that perpetual grumpy look on its face.

We may not have found cheetah, but we see something else that Paul and I have never witnessed. George points out a male ostrich in the distance, fanning his wings and dipping his head. George says that this is a courtship dance and the display is quite flamboyant. Hey, there is a female intently watching the flirting male and after a few minutes she lies down on the ground, signaling to the male that she is accepting his overtures. The flushed pink rooster struts over to the willing hen and the two begin to mate. Honestly, it is like watching a choreographed dance. The male fans his wings and moves his head back and forth as the hen also sways her head from side to side. Once the mating is over the two ostriches walk away, soon to build a nest and raise a brood of chicks I assume. How cool was that!

George says he is going to drive by the area where we watched the lions and cubs yesterday in anticipation that the pride won’t have moved very far. Before long, Jesse calls out that he has seen lions and tells George to stop and back up. Lying off the road in the distance is a beautiful male lion along with four, maybe five lionesses. There are no cubs in sight, but George assures us that this is the same pride since we are not far from where the lions were lounging yesterday. We watch the gorgeous cats for a while, but the females seem out for the count and even though the male is awake, he doesn’t seem to have any ambition either. Great spot Jesse! Jesse can’t help but tease George for not seeing the big cats.

Traveling on, George brings the truck to a halt so we can watch two Tawny eagles that are eating on a carcass. At first, I think I am looking at ribs through the tall grass but once I use my binoculars I can see that the “ribs” are the black stripes on a zebra hide. Soon vultures begin to arrive, swooping in from every direction and the tawny eagles are pushed away from the feast. As we observe the big birds, one vulture hops into a clump of brush and grass. The vulture emerges with a string of intestine and is tugging on it as the ugly bird tries to pull the guts free. We watch in amazement as a black-backed jackal emerges from the cover of the brush hanging tight to the other end of the intestines. No wonder the vulture was having such a time getting its prize free of the weeds.

The vulture wins the tug of war which seems to make the feisty jackal furious. The jackal runs to the zebra remains and chases several vultures away from their breakfast. The jackal then takes a bite from the carcass, gulps it down and charges a vulture that sidles up and tries to grab a beak full of zebra. The battle between fowl and canine lasts for several minutes. At one point the small jackal is literally air born, he must have sunk his sharp teeth into the vulture’s leg because he obtained lift off for a few seconds. I wish I had caught that on camera! Suddenly the brave fellow stops eating, turns around and trots away. The jackal’s belly is so swollen with the meat he has consumed it is a wonder he can even move. As soon as the jackal leaves, the zebra carcass is swarmed by vultures until there is just a heap of moving feathers. Pretty gross.

We are in Kopje country again and these formations are called the Moru Kopjes. Many of the kopjes have “balancing rocks” on them. It looks like the slightest touch would send the boulders tumbling off their precarious perches. There are Rhinoceros in this gorgeous place, but we aren’t lucky enough to find any of the endangered beasts.

George does spy a group of lionesses sleeping in the yellow grass, their hides blending perfectly with the dry forage. Who would believe lions would be lying around snoozing. The backdrop for these seven lions is a magnificent kopje so the scene is quite breathtaking. One of the seven lions does sit up at one point. Another member of the pride is lying on her back, feet in the air and never even twitches while we are there as far as I know.

We redirect our attention to a Black-headed heron who is stalking across the road in front of the Toyota. It appears the stately bird is walking towards the lions, but it veers off to the right and comes to a standstill. The long-legged bird begins to shimmy its neck while somehow keeping its head still. The heron does this several times and on one occasion the shimmy extends through the birds’ body, giving new meaning to “shake your tail feathers”!  I for one can’t take my eyes off this strange behavior. Suddenly the bird plunges its bill into the soil at its feet. When the heron raises its head there is a tail and hind feet of a black lizard sticking out of its beak. The lizard disappears down the herons’ long throat in short order. Whoa, I wonder if that morsel wiggled all the way down. Someone, (Carl I think), wonders if the herons’ shivering movements might somehow hypnotize the birds’ prey. I don’t know but the shimmying bird sure hypnotized me.

George takes us to N’gong rock for lunch. A beautiful kopje where people congregate at times to bang rocks against some of the large boulders to make music. This explains the white spots on the said rocks. Jennifer gives it a try and the various musical sounds that are produced is amazing. We enjoy our lunch as we look out over the endless plains. A male ostrich and several hens can be seen in the distance. As we are finishing our lunch, a herd of elephants are climbing up on a kopje a half mile from where we are eating. George says they are drinking water from the depressions in the rock that were filled up when it rained last night. Yes, we have run into some wet roads today which is nice compared to all the dust we have endured the past few days.

We hurriedly pack up the lunch debris and drive closer to the drinking elephants. Some of the pachyderms have already come down from the kopje when we arrive but there are two elephants atop the large boulder who are still drinking. It is quite a sight to look at elephants standing on top of this big rock. George says that the elephants can have some problems walking off the slick granite. We watch these two elephants come down from the steep rock and they handle it just fine.

The matriarch of the group looks ancient and George estimates that she is around forty years old. In contrast there is a baby elephant, but I forgot how old our guide said this cute thing was, a few months I believe. As the elephants walk away from the kopje they pass very close to our truck. Even though they have a little one in their midst they show no sign of stress due to we curious humans. We can hear the low rumbles some make as they walk by our vehicle.  What a terrific experience.

Leaving the elephants, we come across a very placid bull giraffe. The grand fellow chews his cud and stares at us before gliding behind our vehicle hopefully on his way to find some friends. George drives around a small lake where flamingos are feeding around the edges. We also encounter a Defassa waterbuck, more handsome in my opinion than the common waterbuck that were in Tarangire and Kusini. I love the Defassa’s heart shaped nose.  What a wonderful morning we have had.

As we draw closer to Ang’ata Serengeti camp we begin to meet lots of safari vehicles. On the next road over from the one we are traveling on there are thirty or forty vehicles lined up along the road. George asks if we want to join the melee to see what the tourists are watching and I say that I am not interested. No one else wants to go either so we continue down the road. We have been so spoiled having most of our sightings to ourselves that it will be hard to adjust to the hordes of vehicles and people who occupy them.

Our next encounter is with a vervet monkey sitting near the edge of the road. He suddenly walks off a few steps, bends over and gives us an unobstructed view of his very blue testicles. What the heck? George then drives us along a waterway lined with palm trees. Yes, palm trees and yes, they are an invasive species to Africa and doing quite well. The stench of the water is overwhelming but when we see the raft of hippos that have deposited themselves in the receding stream we know why. I would guess there are at least fifty of the bulbous beasts half-submerged in the fetid water. Jesse thinks you could run across the hippos backs to reach the other side and never touch water. The hippos are so smashed together that it might be possible, but I don’t think anyone is willing to give it a try.

We reach Ang’ata camp where the routine of hot towels and cool drinks is offered and gratefully accepted by this happy but tired group of Kansans. We are escorted to our tents which are unsurprisingly duplicates of the first Ang’ata camp we stayed at. What a great day we have had.

There were lions roaring and hyenas whooping during the night. I love lying in bed and listening to those wild sounds. We had an early breakfast and were out of camp by 6:15. George had driven only a short way when he stops by a pride of lions bedded down next to the road. Two males, several lionesses, several cubs, most are half-grown except for one small cub. We count a total of twelve lions. The light is very dim, so my camera is protesting that it can’t take a photo in these conditions. Soon the sun is creeping above the horizon, so my camera is happy, and I am happy. I think there was only one other vehicle at this incredible scene and they didn’t stay long.

The young male is restless and when a flock of guinea land across the road he gets to his feet stares at them then wanders close to the noisy birds. The flock of guineas know he is there and know that they can escape the hungry cat easily so they don’t panic. The old grizzled male has disappeared into the long grass, possibly because we have made him nervous. The lionesses and cubs stay huddled together for warmth and are unconcerned with our close proximity.

Suddenly we see the young male lion dashing after a dark critter in the grass just beyond where the rest of the pride is lying. How did he get over there, a few minute ago he was on the other side of the road? None of us could make out what he was after, perhaps a wart hog. Almost as one the pride sits up staring at the area where we had caught a glimpse of the running lion. The little cub begins walking in the general direction of where the hunter had been, and it is followed by a few other lions. The lions soon come to a stand still and seem to be listening. After a bit they turn around and come back to the few lions who had settled back down. I guess they know that the hunt was not successful as we too had come to that conclusion since we heard no struggle or squealing of a captured animal.

Perhaps what the lion was chasing was a baboon because a troop of baboons are roosting in a yellow fever tree situated a short distance from the pride. The primates are waking up, with many just sitting in the branches soaking up the sun. The younger members are beginning to play climbing up and down the limbs and trunk of the massive tree. I’m not a huge fan of baboons but watching them interact this morning is fascinating.

George is taking us to Nimiri Plains today which will allow us to escape the circus closer to camp. On our way we see a couple of vehicles parked along a road across a field of grass. They are watching lions which are walking down the dirt track. The beautiful cats are far away but we see three lionesses and at least two small cubs.

The vehicles are thinning out and as George navigates the truck down a quiet road he slams on the brakes and says there is a Serval cat walking on the road. It is mid-morning so having this small cat out in the open seems a bit unusual. Even more surprising the stunning feline continues walking straight at us and upon reaching our truck, it walks into the grass. Unbelievably, the serval sits down in the waving grass right next to our vehicle. We take photos and just enjoy the privilege of observing the little cat as it pays us no mind. At one point the serval acts as though it has heard prey in the turf and looks as though it is getting ready to pounce. It must have been a false alarm as the serval sits down and eventually lies down in a bed of grass.

At the same time, we were watching the serval George spots a hyena that has emerged from the grass onto the road a few hundred yards ahead of us. A Thompson gazelle is barely visible in the lanky grass to the hyenas left but the skulking animal either smells or sees the small antelope. The hyena runs into the field as the gazelle beats a hasty retreat. The hyena rears up on its hind legs occasionally in order to see over the lofty grass trying to locate the gazelle. It doesn’t take long for the hyena to say to heck with it and ambles away.

As we continue on our way to Nimiri Plains we enjoy watching a parade of elephants walking through the dry plains while above the regal tuskers is a vivid blue sky dotted with puffy clouds. Except for the elephants it reminds me of the prairies of Kansas.

Oh why not! A handsome male lion is lying a short distance from the road. At times the big male is looking very regal for us and at other times is literally nodding off. It is hilarious to watch the massive head move downward as the big lion begins to fall asleep, only to jerk his head back up bringing himself back to wakefulness. Who can’t relate to that feeling of trying desperately to stay awake.

After a long drive we arrive at the east side of the Serengeti which is known as Nimiri plains. This country is wide open, a few kopjes here and there but very few trees. George picks out a small kopje and once our guide scouts around the rock to make sure nobody is home, this is where we have lunch. All of us are ready to stretch our legs and relax. There is no one else around, no fences, no electric lines, no hint of humans at all except for the tracks left by tourist vehicles. What an incredible feeling of freedom out here.

After lunch George drives around a few of the kopjes but all we see are several jackals. One of the jackals is being fiercely pursued by another and the chaser even knocks the fleeing canine down at one time. George says it must have strayed into the other fellow’s territory. This wide-open grass land appears to be empty of wildlife but we see giraffe, topi, hartebeest and other animals scattered about.

As we draw closer to our camp there is a large herd of elephant strolling towards our truck. The pachyderms are completely relaxed, very unlike many of the elephant we encountered on our last safari in Kenya. Frankly, many of those elephants were irate and down right scary. George has stopped the truck and there are a few other vehicles that are also parked. Soon we are surrounded by calm elephants. Some are in the road, some have crossed and are on our left while others are still on our right side. George is a bit nervous because there is one very small baby but none of the elephants become protective. It seems George literally had a run in with a mother elephant in the past that left his truck a bit bent up. Luckily, the elephant didn’t stick around to finish the demolition job. I can see why George would be a little shy when elephants come so close.

Oh for crying out loud, this is just nuts. There are two lionesses lounging in the grass a fair distance from us. We also saw the paw of a lion sticking up above a pile of dirt closer to camp. Carl says we can’t count this as an actual siting because all we saw was a paw, (we think he is kidding) but the rest of us vote him down. I have written in my journal that we saw 25 lions today!

One disturbing thing we came across as we near camp is a vehicle off-road looking at a cheetah. We can only see the cheetahs head and we couldn’t understand why George wouldn’t take us over to get a closer look at the cat. George points out that there is no road that leads there and this is as close as we can get.  Soon another vehicle plows through the tall grass and joins the other rule breakers. This obstructs our view of the cheetah’s head so we leave. George tells us we will find another cheetah but he refuses to break the rule of going off-road. All of us praise him for having the integrity to stay on the road. We meet several vehicles speeding down the road towards the cheetah siting and I would bet money that all of them will drive into the bush to get their clients close to the cheetah. Hopefully a ranger will catch them and they will have to pay a stiff fine.

As we are nearing Ang’ata camp, George lays out our plans for tomorrow morning. We will go on a game drive before breakfast, then at 8 a.m. he will take us back to camp so we can eat while he goes to the airstrip to get our permit that allows us to enter the northern Serengeti. Since we are driving right by the airstrip now we encourage George to just stop and obtain the permit today. He seems delighted that we are willing to wait while he gets the permit and that he won’t have to return in the morning.

All of us take the opportunity to use the nice restrooms and then we wait. We wait some more at which time we three women decide to do laps around the dirt parking lot even though it is darned hot. The guys have a conversation with a guide who is waiting on his clients. We wait and wait and then George finally shows up without the permit. It seems that the airport has a new computer system that is giving them fits plus it is Sunday so the main headquarters is understaffed which is where the permit number must be faxed from. TAB, That is Africa Baby. George delivers us to camp and we are back to plan A for tomorrow morning.

Although we are all tired, we enjoy a tasty dinner and marvel at our incredible day before retiring to our tents .

Next stop, Njozi Camp and the Northern Serengeti. Later, Nancy