2 nights & 4 spp of Cats in Serengeti. TZ quickie report
May 19th, 2006, 07:49 PM
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2 nights & 4 spp of Cats in Serengeti. TZ quickie report
2 nights & 4 spp of Cats in Serengeti. TZ quickie report:
I’m not not much of a writer but I’ll try to summarise my last week’s safari
1/ landing at JRO, lunch Arumeru L. o/n Serena Manyara
2/ g.d. Manyara NP o/n Ngorongoro FarmHouse
3/ with lunchbox to Serengeti. o/n Sopa
4/ Serengeti - g.d. at Seronera & afternoon Moru Kopjes
5/ with lunchbox to Ngorongoro o/n Ngorongoro Sopa
6/ late lunch Serena Mt. Village L. & afternoon to JRO
2 nights & 4 spp of Cats in Serengeti:
on the road to Serengeti – lots of zebra & gazelles (on the closely shaved grass planes) out of Naabi gate
Headed to Gol & Simba Kopjes, (+a bit Barafu & Maasai Kopjies). Didn’t count the lions, but have seen 5 cheetahs on the game drive. It seemed like the producer had planted a lioness or cheetah on every other kopje. The first 2 cheetahs, spotted while watching lions on a Gol kopje – mom hunted a hare & aggressively wouldn’t share the snack (“for god’s sake start hunting your own dessert…”) with offspring. Finally she gave it the remaining tit bits.
Leopard-land near Seronera proved itself again the next day: maybe 300 meters after seeing a lioness (on a tree this time) we saw our first “juu” – a leopard on a tree which eventually came down after an while & disappeared in the grass. Our second leopard on a tree was as beautiful. Later, we saw (probably the first) on another tree on the other side of the lioness still hanging on a high branch. 4th species? Serval Cat waiting on the road, diving into the tall grass just to give us another glimpse inside the sea of grass, before merging with with the oat-grass Temeda triandra… (on the way out of Sopa the next day some glimpsed a leopard in the dense acacia woodland near the road)
Most of the park we visited was empty of the migrating herds. A single herd of migrating zebra gave us an impression. Out of the gate, we passed through a couple of migrating gnu herds to get the feeling…
Ngorongoro we’ve finally spotted the really big male Danielle wanted to see (learned to say in kiswahili “where is the big lion?”). The big lion answered by coming to sleep in the very shade of her car to the envy of all others. Actually they were 3 big males lying like old rugs around partly in the mud the lionesses and cubs dispersed in the viscinity. A rhino mom with a cub was aggressive towards another rhino which tried to approach them. A Marabou caught a flamingo creating havoc, and minutes later a pair of Jackals, running in the shallows, caught another Flamingo…
The finale was a hunt performance by a cast of 3 lioness, but the show continued after the audience rushed out to meet the 18:00 o’clock curfew…
Aby
I’m not not much of a writer but I’ll try to summarise my last week’s safari
1/ landing at JRO, lunch Arumeru L. o/n Serena Manyara
2/ g.d. Manyara NP o/n Ngorongoro FarmHouse
3/ with lunchbox to Serengeti. o/n Sopa
4/ Serengeti - g.d. at Seronera & afternoon Moru Kopjes
5/ with lunchbox to Ngorongoro o/n Ngorongoro Sopa
6/ late lunch Serena Mt. Village L. & afternoon to JRO
2 nights & 4 spp of Cats in Serengeti:
on the road to Serengeti – lots of zebra & gazelles (on the closely shaved grass planes) out of Naabi gate
Headed to Gol & Simba Kopjes, (+a bit Barafu & Maasai Kopjies). Didn’t count the lions, but have seen 5 cheetahs on the game drive. It seemed like the producer had planted a lioness or cheetah on every other kopje. The first 2 cheetahs, spotted while watching lions on a Gol kopje – mom hunted a hare & aggressively wouldn’t share the snack (“for god’s sake start hunting your own dessert…”) with offspring. Finally she gave it the remaining tit bits.
Leopard-land near Seronera proved itself again the next day: maybe 300 meters after seeing a lioness (on a tree this time) we saw our first “juu” – a leopard on a tree which eventually came down after an while & disappeared in the grass. Our second leopard on a tree was as beautiful. Later, we saw (probably the first) on another tree on the other side of the lioness still hanging on a high branch. 4th species? Serval Cat waiting on the road, diving into the tall grass just to give us another glimpse inside the sea of grass, before merging with with the oat-grass Temeda triandra… (on the way out of Sopa the next day some glimpsed a leopard in the dense acacia woodland near the road)
Most of the park we visited was empty of the migrating herds. A single herd of migrating zebra gave us an impression. Out of the gate, we passed through a couple of migrating gnu herds to get the feeling…
Ngorongoro we’ve finally spotted the really big male Danielle wanted to see (learned to say in kiswahili “where is the big lion?”). The big lion answered by coming to sleep in the very shade of her car to the envy of all others. Actually they were 3 big males lying like old rugs around partly in the mud the lionesses and cubs dispersed in the viscinity. A rhino mom with a cub was aggressive towards another rhino which tried to approach them. A Marabou caught a flamingo creating havoc, and minutes later a pair of Jackals, running in the shallows, caught another Flamingo…
The finale was a hunt performance by a cast of 3 lioness, but the show continued after the audience rushed out to meet the 18:00 o’clock curfew…
Aby
May 21st, 2006, 08:17 AM
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lovetodiscover:
about being lucky with leopards:
there were 5 groups (incentive tour) during the end of April to mid may.
all stayed 2 nights at Sopa, ALL saw leopard/s on the game-drive to Seronera (on different days of course).
3 guys have seen a leopard on a tree from the baloon !!!
The local guides call the area "kilometer 16" & "jonny's valley"
It is one of the best areas for leopards in Africa
aby
about being lucky with leopards:
there were 5 groups (incentive tour) during the end of April to mid may.
all stayed 2 nights at Sopa, ALL saw leopard/s on the game-drive to Seronera (on different days of course).
3 guys have seen a leopard on a tree from the baloon !!!
The local guides call the area "kilometer 16" & "jonny's valley"
It is one of the best areas for leopards in Africa
aby
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