A Walk and a Float 2025: Serengeti (Day 3)

Today was a full day drive through the Serengeti which was nice because the area is so vast, and areas of interest can be so far apart, that two drives of two hours each (with 30 min to get out and 30 min to get back) can be limiting. We certainly saw plenty today. The initial goal was to find wildebeest - if there are going to be 2-3 million wildebeest and 0.5 million zebra migrating, why are we seeing 3x more zebra than wildebeest as we drive around? Our guide promised he would correct my impressions. We drove about 30 (crow) miles over about 2 hrs to get to the wildebeest staging area - stop one in their migration. The fields had a few wildebeest. Our guide estimated the crowd to be on the order of 1 million. It was unbelievable. I have attached some photos, but they really don't do justice.
A lot of other sightings today, too. We saw a (small) herd of a couple of hundred wildebeest stampede across the road in front of us (this was not part of the major grouping we visited). We saw a mating pair of lions do what a mating pair of lions does - which is mostly sleep. Giraffes, hippos, crocs, zebras (so many zebras), ostriches, elephants, and jackals all made appearances. At the wildebeest site, one of the animals had died and the carcass was being consumed by vultures and Maribou storks - and those birds to not share nicely (many squabbles). To finish the day, we got a radio-call and joined the party to see a leopard (we now have seen 4 of the Big-5 in Tanzania; we still need to spot a rhino, which will probably not be easy).

Tomorrow, we leave first thing for the Ngorongoro crater for 2 nights. Most of the animals there a residents, and do not migrate.
We have also been learning something new in our Tanzania adventures - our new guide tells us the relative taste of every animal we see. Eland is the best meat. Or maybe dik dik. Probably eland. Sand grouse is by far the best bird.

Pictures of the day:

Cape buffalo just outside of camp. An old crotchety male. I am beginning to relate.

A herd of wildebeest running in front of us. About 200. During the migration, it would be the same width of animals, but for miles.

And up the hill.

Baby impala with a bad left hind-leg. It probably will become a target and not last very long.

A pair of lions hiding behind a tree. Just after this photo, they ran into the woods, and out of view, to continue their courtship.

More hippos. A lot of hippos. Very smelly hippos.

At some of the parks, they have colored flags on trees. They are poisoned. They are to attract and kill tsetse flies.

Zebras crossing a stream. So many zebras.

At the staging area. Wildebeest as far as the eye can see.

Different direction. So, so many wildebeest. Our guide estimated that this location currently has about a million of them.

One wildebeest.

Ever feel like you were invited to the wrong party?
One of the animals in this picture is not a wildebeest. Identify.

Another direction. Wildebeest all the way up the next ridge. And 3 zebra.

One wildebeest died or had been killed. Vultures and maribou storks were finishing the carcass. They do not share nicely. A lot of squabbles. Vultures clearly are dominant (and fight a lot). The storks hung around the periphery and would sometimes dart in for a single bite. None of these animals is very attractive.

One wildebeest.

An interesting symbiosis. One type of acacia produces these 'fruits' which are hollow, but produce an enzyme that attracts ants. Each has a few ants inside. When giraffes and elephants eat the leaves, they get bit. For the acacia and the ant, it's win-win.

The full trees. They look like silver-pines, but all that silver is thorns.

A monitor lizard entering the water.

D'arnaud's Barbet. Colorful and spotted.

Grenadier Bird. Also very colorful.

Pumba!

A leopard resting in the tree. We have completed 4 of our Tanzania Big-5. We still need to find a rhino. Odds are not great.

Silver-backed jackals. They mate for life and are always found in pairs.

There can never be enough pictures of baby elephants.

Sand grouse. According to our guide, you split them down the center, add a pinch of salt, and there is no better fowl on Earth. For meats overall, it beats eland and dik dik. He said that when the British were expelled, their loss of access to sand grouse made them unhappy.