Into the Serengeti......

FOR SOME REASON THE MAP HERE IS WRONG - THE SERENGETI IS IN TANZANIA, NORTHWEST OF ARUSHA!!

Got up on Wednesday morning for the drive to the Serengeti.  Drove through the Ngorongoro Conservation area, our destination for Friday and saw lots of zebra grazing, interspersed with Maasai herdsmen with their goats, cattle and donkeys.

Passing through the Ngorongoro Conservation area we skirted the Ngorongor crater and got our first glimpse of the immense collapsed caldera where we would be returning in two days time.  the surrounding highlands were covered with thick temperate rainforest.

We stopped at Olduvai gorge, where the first humanoid footprints were discovered in the 1970s.  Saw the casts and read the history of the area.  Had lunch overlooking the gorge, where we were joined by some very tame bulbuls and weavers (birds!).

We drove on and entered the Serengeti.  Having the descended from the highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation area, the landscape flattened out into extensive plains as far as the eye could see.  The name Serengeti comes from a Maasai word meaning 'endless plain' and there is no other way to describe it.  The plains were not empty, however, as the short rains have made the area lush and green so the wildebeest had arrived from the Maasai Mara to the north over the past few weeks. The plains stretched out in all directions and they were dotted with wildebeest - I have never seen so many animals! Some of the wildebeest were very near to the road, and some zebras and gazelle were happily interspersed with the herds.

We stopped at the Park Gate to pay our fees, and took the opportunity to climb up the kopje to get a good view of the endless plains.  We were joined by a rock hyrax and saw many lizards basking and darting around on the hot granite.

*****GEOG GEEK***** The Serengeti Plains are dotted with Kopjes, which are known in Britain as tors - granite intrusions which have been exposed as less resistant surrounding rocks have been eroded away.  The tops of them are smooth from weathering and in some places are flaky due to the changes in temperature in the area.  Correct me if I'm wrong!!*****

Soon after entering the National park area of the Serengeti we saw our first lions.  A pride was resting and feeding on a recent kill in the long grass. More to come - we turned off the main road and headed to Simba Kopje (Simba = lion) as these granite hills are favourite resting and observation spots for lions.  On top of Simba kopje were a pair of lions. The male and female lying together in the sun. Soon after we got there they descended the kopje and walked between the assembled line of land rovers into the long grass. We had disturbed a 'date' so they disappeared to find some privacy.  the guidebooks actually say that lions are not at all bothered by vehicles. it's a different story if they see a person outside a  vehicle, but as long as everyone remains inside they don't see us as a threat.  We drove on through the plains into scrubland dotted with acacia trees en route to the campsite.  We saw vervet monkeys, many giraffes, gazelle and hippos wallowing in the rivers we crossed. Arrived at Ikoma Public campsite for our night of bush camping.  Quite different to the previous night - a couple of toilets behind canvas and a canvas shelter to eat under.  Dinner was prepared and we ate with the other campers, whilst being dive-bombed by huge bugs - I had 4cm of flying beetle land on my shoulder - not my favourite part of the Serengeti experience! Had a good nights sleep, with the wierd and wonderful sounds of the Serengeti.  I think I heard hyenas at one point, although I didn't find out until morning what the sound was. Torrential rain during the night so all was wet when I got up at 5:30 to watch the sunrise. To the east the sky was turning pinky orange and to the west the moon and stars were still out.  We had breakfast and headed off for our morning game drive en route back to Ngorongoro. Our first stop was at a hippo pool on one of the rivers.  There were at least fifty there wallowing in the water and basking on the banks.  Some of the males were absolutely massive, and the dominant male of the group arrived during our visit and made his presence felt! We sort of saw a leopard - a long way away up a tree. i got a glimpse of the silhouette before it moved, after which we could only see the tail (through binoculars!) As we drove through the scrub and back onto the plains we saw many more zebra and giraffes, ostriches vultures and another lion.  We marvelled once again at the mind-boggling number of wildebeest and headed back out of the plains up to the highlands of Ngorongoro where we pitched up at Simba public campsite on the crater rim.  Here it was noticeably colder due to it being about 2000m up in the highlands.