Wildebeest

The large migratory wildebeest herds are a haphazardly thrown together group of individuals.  The mother-calf bond is the only family tie.  Any individual can start walking and tens of thousands may follow.  On the next day, another individual might take the lead.

The wildebeests’ broad muzzles, loose lips and wide incisor row allow close rapid bulk feeding of short grasses.  The wildebeests’ reproductive system has evolved and adapted to the migratory way of life.  Wildebeest have a unique breeding strategy.  The result is a short annual birth peak.  Eighty percent of the calves are born within a three-week period in February.  This is the beginning of the most reliable rainfall season.  Wildebeest can detect recent rainfall events when new grass grows with a high protein value. 

The approximate wildebeest population in the Serengeti is 1.3 million.

African Elephant

The African elephant is the largest living land mammal.  Males can weigh up to six tons and are about nine feet, 10 inches tall at the shoulders.  Elephants grow slowly and can live up to 70 years of age.  

Female elephants live in herds.  Elephant society is based on age.  There is a matriarch and then the rest of the herd is ranked by age.  Males live with their natal herd until puberty, then they are on their own or in bachelor herds.  

An elephant’s trunk is a modified nose and upper lip.  It can pick up the tiniest twig and can push over a mature tree.  It can detect smells up to several kilometers away.  The trunk can hold up to 12 liters or 2.6 gallons of water.  The huge ears help the elephant regulate its body temperature.  Hot blood is cooled as the ears are flapped.  

These elephants are gathering at the watering hole in front of my hotel.  Channel 1 is a camera that is focused on the watering hole.  

8/31/2023. Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro

8/31 Ave low 55/high75. Lake Manyara National Park is located at the base of the Great Rift Escarpment. Our first game drive…

Baboon, monkey, elephant, water buffalo, wart hog, 

We had lunch as we traveled to stay at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.  Going on a drive we could see giraffes, baboon, hippos, elephants and 100s of species of birds.  The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has an estimated 25,000 large mammals in the area.  Our lodge is on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater rim and offers great views of the crater below.  The tropical forests that surround the crater are beautiful as well.  We saw zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and baboons as we traveled about an hour to the hotel. .  Our hotel is at an elevation of 7000 feet.  The base of the caldera is about 5000 feet. After the game drive, there was a reception and dinner.  Chris, our guide, gave us each a Shula, a woven, thick cotton blanket which is worn wrapped around the body.  

Ashura is in the middle of Africa.  The president of the country is coming tomorrow to open a new place.  Tourism is a main economy followed by farming. Irrigation has allowed farmers to grow crops all year.  Africa expects 5 million visitors a year.  Mining is important, also.  Tanzania gained freedom from the British in 1961.  There are countries in Africa that fight other countries.  Refugees are moving because of this.  Africa has National ID’s.  This allows the government to track people.  There are 127 tribes in Tanzania, but no fighting.  Tanzania has a common language, Swahili.  Tanzania is the size of two Californias.  Animals are protected.  There are 24 national parks.  Hunting is allowed but there are rules and it costs a lot of money.  That money is used to pay for the equivalent of the game commission and to build roads.  

8/29/30/2023 Arusha, Tanzania

8/29&30

8/29/23.   Average temps 59 to 78.   Pre-night We are staying in Arusha, Tanzania at Arusha Gran Malia, an 18 acre coffee and tea plantation.  We have arrived one day early, and it was a late arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport.  We needed to be processed by customs.  Then we drove an hour to the hotel.

8/30. Ave low59/high78. We are staying in Arusha, Tanzania at Arusha Gran Malia, an 18 acre coffee and tea plantation.  No meals are included today.   We toured the adjacent workshop.  The workers  have meaningful employment.  They make a lot of items that the hotels use - pillows, placemats, rugs, weaving, glass blowing (they gave me a glass heart and I bought a glass elephant.),sewing, etc.  Other hotels order things too.  

Gran MELIA Arusha

Workers really enjoy their jobs.  Meaningful employment is rewarding.  

Coffee beans are drying for several weeks before roasting.  

Coriander, bananas, kale, strawberries, sage, celery, parsley, raspberries, are a few of the plants being grown for use in the hotel.

9/3/2023 More drives in the Serengeti

9/3. Serengeti National Park grasslands for AM and PM game drives.  Enjoy meals in the hotel.  

9/3. Ave low 66/high84.  Serengeti National Park staying at the Four Seasons Safari Lodge.   We will look for wildlife in the savanna with both AM and PM game drives.  The extended morning game drive will take us into the heart of the Serengeti savanna.  Animals spotted may include prides of lions, zebras, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, buffalos, jackals, gazelles, wildebeests, and giraffes.  Enjoy the sunset from the lodge and have Pan-African food for dinner.  

This morning we left for our game drive at 6:00.  Very near the hotel we saw impalas, gazelles and other similar animals.  

We also found a lion resting up on a large outcropping of rocks.  We saw some other lions and a jaguar in a tree.  We also saw ostriches, zebras, hyenas and giraffes.  

Jaguar is in the center of the tree in the center of the picture.  

Jaguar is stretched out on the branch to the right.  A foot and his tail are hanging down.

We stopped for tea, coffee, soda and some snacks.

 

8/31/23 Lake Manyara National Park

8/31 Lake Manyara National Park.  Ave low 55/high75. Lake Manyara National Park is located at the base of the Great Rift Escarpment. We had lunch as we traveled to stay at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.  Going on a drive we could see giraffes, baboon, hippos, elephants and 100s of species of birds.  The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has an estimated 25,000 large mammals in the area.  Our lodge is on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater rim and offers great views of the crater below.  The tropical forests that surround the crater are beautiful as well.  We saw zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and baboons as we traveled to the lodge through the park.  Our hotel is at an elevation of 7000 feet.  The base of the caldera is about 5000 feet. After the game drive, there is a reception and dinner.  Chris, our guide, gave us each a Shula, a woven, thick cotton blanket which is worn wrapped around the body.  Very cool.

Ashura is in the middle of Africa.  The president of the country is coming tomorrow to open a new place.  Tourism is a main economy followed by farming. Irrigation has allowed farmers to grow crops all year.  Africa expects 5 million visitors a year.  Mining is important, also.  Tanzania gained freedom from the British in 1961.  There are countries in Africa that fight other countries.  Refugees are moving because of this.  Africa has National ID’s.  This allows the government to track people.  There are 127 tribes in Tanzania, but no fighting.  Tanzania has a common language, Swahili.  Tanzania is the size of two Californias.  Animals are protected.  There are 24 national parks.  Hunting is allowed but there are rules and it costs a lot of money.  That money is used to pay for the equivalent of the game commission and to build roads.  

Masaii women, part of the entertainment.

We were greeted by Masaii men wearing shukas, a traditional robe that is predominantly red.  

Our guide, Chris, he is awesome.  Chris is very knowledgeable and a lot of fun.  He gave us each a Shuka and a decorative copper bracelet.  He supports many meaningful causes.  The bracelets were made by young women in an effort to give them choices and not be the 6th wife of some old geezer.  

Old-fashioned Ngorongoro Safari Lodge

Most pictures have not uploaded from phone to iPad.  

9/2/2023. Endless Plains in Serengeti National Park

9/2. Serengeti National Park We will look for wildlife in the savanna with bothAM and PM game drives.  Animals spotted may include lions, zebras, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, buffaloes, jackals, gazelles and giraffes.  Enjoy the sunset from the lodge and have Pan-African food for dinner.  

 We left Ngorongoro and headed to the airport in Arusha.  Our large suitcases will be waiting for us when we return.  We packed a duffle bag and a carry on and headed to the Serengeti.  On our drive to the Four Seasons lodge we saw a black rhino and a leopard.  This completes our quest to see the ‘big five”.  (Sadly, none of these photos have uploaded from the phone to the iPad.)

The hotel is lovely and animals roam in front of our rooms.  At 4:15, nine of the twenty-four of us went on a game drive.  We spent time watching lions and saw a few other animals. 

Sunset in the Serengeti on 9/2/2023.

Some of the lions we saw yesterday afternoon.  Most of my pictures of the lions have not uploaded.  



This group of lions must have had a run-in with a porcupine.  Notice the two quills in the chest of this lion near the right front leg.  

 The lion in the middle has a quill in the lip.  Painful!

Phone and iPad not syncing.  Hopefully, tomorrow.    Limited syncing on 9/3.

Zebras in front of my hotel.

In my room, I could watch channel 1 and see what animals were at the watering hole which was next to the guests’ pool.  

There was a raised walkway in the resort so that wild animals could not easily attack the guests.  I was in the last building at the end of this walkway.  There were maybe four rooms that had to go further than I did.

On our way from the airport to our hotel, we joined a crowd of jeeps to see this jaguar in a tree.  

More animals in front of my hotel room, topi and zebra.