Serengeti April Trip Report
 

Trip report: 14 day Safari, Tanzania (April 6th - 20th)

Outfitter: Proud African Safari
Guide: Adam (2nd time)
Been Before? 3rd time

Itinerary:
Arusha – Mountain Village Lodge (2 nights)
Central Serengeti – Mbuzi Mawe (3 nights)
Western Corridor- Mbalageti Tented Camp (3 nights)
Ndutu Woodlands – Lake Masek Tented Camp (2 Nights)
Ndutu Safari Lodge (2 nights)
Ngorongoro/Lake Manyara – Plantation Lodge(2 Nights)

Summary:
Our 3rd time in Tanzania, probably counts as the best so far. We always go during April as there are far fewer people around. The rainy season had not started which was a bit of a disappointment as the migration was scattered and it was very dusty. Overall we did not see many lions (except for the close encounter we had at Ndutu) but did see many cheetahs and leopards, more than ever before.

Notes:
On our last trip with another outfitter, Adam had been our guide and was excellent so two years later we wanted to have him as our guide again. After some inquiries with his previous employer we discovered that he had started his own company so we decided to go with him and I must say we were not disappointed at all. He maintains the high standards that we had received before with other outfitters and provided an outstanding safari.

Just a few of the 5000 + pictures my wife and I took:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1043578...Lu547dkfrFmwE#



Stay tuned for daily blow by blow 

Looking forward to hearing lots more. In particular the Ndutu area and comparison of Ndutu Lodge with Lake Masek Tented. I was at Ndutu Lodge for 6 nights mid Feb this year. Also, have you been on safari to any other countries?

The picasa photo link does not work for me, I get - "Oops... there's nothing to see here. Either you do not have access to these photos, or they don't exist at this web address. Please contact the owner directly to gain access."

regards - tom

Opps Still learning Picasa. This link should work. Sorry...

https://picasaweb.google.com/1043578...88251/Africa3#

thanks, link works for me now, nice shots

regards - tom

Day 1:
We decided for the first time to take a rest day after the flight. We will now always take one as it really did help us relax and sort some of the jet lag out. It also worked out to be very fortunate as during the flight change in Amsterdam Jill’s bottle of eye contact solution was confiscated as it was too big. (we had not checked our bags) They are a lot stricter in Amsterdam it seems as we had no problem with the TSA in Oregon with regards to the size bottle as it was classed as a medical need however not so Amsterdam. We mentioned that to our tour company when they picked us up and they volunteered to take us into town the next day to see if we could find some more. Which we did and found the exact same brand and size bottle in the first optician we stopped at. It cost twice as much ($20 vs. $10) but was worth it. Whist we were out we went to the Cultural Center to buy some more things that Jill wanted to decorate the house with.
The rest of the day was spent walking around the lake right by the Mountain Village Lodge (nowhere in my notes can I find the name of the lake .. sorry) and relaxing in the grounds.

Day 2 – 4 Central Serengeti
Quick hop up to Seronera where we met out guide and off we went. The first thing we noticed was how dry it was as had very little rain and it seemed that the rainy season had not yet started. We spent the next three day in the central Serengeti along with a couple of excursions to Lobo and the Gol Kopjes. We saw a couple of cheetahs up in Lobo and four in Seronera along with three leopards and a closer encounter with a leopard and her cub. (walked past our truck). Distinct lack of lions in the area but with very little food sources around it was not surprising. We did eventually bump into part of the migration in between Hidden Valley and the Moru Kopjes although they were heading down towards Ndutu.
We also saw plenty of the regulars, elephants, hippos (Retina Pool), giraffes and large herds of buffalo.
We stayed at the Mbuzi Mawe Tented Lodge which I still think is the best lodge in the area although it does appear that the service is not as good as it was in previous years.

Day 5 – 7 Western Corridor
Now I know a lot of people will wonder why we went up into the western corridor this time of the year and you would be right there is very little happening up in that area however there are a couple of things that keep drawing us back. I love the area around the Grumeti River watching the wildlife in and around the water but what I really like is the Mbalageti Lodge. The tents/rooms are fantastic, the view is outstanding, the meals excellent and the service wonderful. We always take a day off from game viewing here so that we can relax and enjoy the surroundings. We did see a couple of young male lions, a large herd of elephants and the usual gazelles, tommies, elands etc.

Will continue tomorrow.

Wonderful photos especially that sleepy leopard! And I can never get enough cheetah.

Looking forward to reading more.

Side Note:
One thing we did notice is that the rainy season seems to be becoming popular for large tour groups (10+ people) especially in the Seronera area. One outfitter in particular who we jokingly referred to as “Blink Safari” seemed to be most prominent. They would descend on a sighting like a wave of vultures spend enough time for a few pictures to be taken then disappear in a cloud of dust to places unknown. In one case we saw a tour group (in the crater) of 15 vehicles all jammed packed with people. Jill and I have only ever done private safaris (just the two of us) and I can honestly say for us it is money well spent. Once out of Seronera seeing other vehicles became the exception not the norm.

Day 8-11 Ndutu Woodlands
Our favorite area, in fact our next safari is going to based exclusively in this area.
We did a quick search for some rhinos in the Moru Kopjes are but with no luck and suspected that they were down in the Hidden Valley area which is still has game viewing restriction in force. We caught up with a large portion of the migration just SW of Ndutu with some larges herds spread out across the Kisini plains although they were on the move again heading towards Moru. A first for us was actually finding a leopard in the woodlands close enough to capture some great pictures as we have normally never had any luck find them before. There were plenty of jackals, bat eared foxes and hyenas throughout the woodlands along with the resident zebras and elephants. The highlights were the 11 separate cheetahs we saw, a group of 3 brothers, a mother with three juveniles and a mother with two juveniles. The three brothers were resting fat and happy, we came across the mother and two juveniles having an early morning meal (we also say them a second time playing on the edge of Lake Ndutu, the juveniles showed a great interest in the vehicle but alas mom wouldn’t let them get too close). We stayed with the mother and three juveniles for about an hour whilst they were having a hunting lesson (see picture “training kill”) with a baby gazelle. Shortly after the picture (which Jill took) was taken Mom put an end to the lesson. The other big highlight was after we found a single female lion sitting at the edge of the big marsh, from previous trips we knew that the marsh was often the place that female lions come to give birth and hide their cubs until big enough to be introduced to the pride, so we decided to just sit and watch her whilst we ate lunch in the vehicle and it paid off as after about 40 minutes or so we saw her move about 50 feet further into the marsh and reappear with a what looked to be a 3 week old cub held gently in her mouth which she relocated to another area, she repeated this again with another cub about 10 minutes later.

The first couple of days we stayed at the somewhat new Lake Masek Tented Camp. We normally stay at Ndutu Safari Lodge but thought we would give Masek a try. Overall all it is very nice the tents are well laid out and all have a view of Lake Masek. The interior of the tents is nice and they have some of the most comfortable beds we have slept on and a large bathtub. There are a couple of quirks that some people may not like which are, the tent inside is open plan so there is no real privacy between the rest of the tent and the toilet and the shower is actually outside exposed to the elements (there is no cover over the shower see pic.) which did not bother me but did Jill and in talking to the manager I was told that they were in the process of having removable covers made for the showers as they had received similar feedback from other guests.

The food was excellent with buffet style eating and made to order dishes, breakfast started at 5:30am which I wish other camps and lodges would do as we like to have early starts to our day and it is nice to have the option of a hot breakfast rather than a boxed one. Talking of boxed meals, Lake Masek has it right!! Each morning there is a table laid out with a selection of cold cuts and other meats, along with different types of bread and all the other boxed lunch norms where you can put together your own lunch box with exactly what you want. Having eaten many many lunch boxes in the past this made a refreshing change.

The second two nights we stayed at our old favorite the Ndutu Safari Lodge and although it is not the most luxurious lodge you can stay at it is a must. The overall ambience of the place is fantastic and is steeped in history. The rooms are comfortable and the food good. It is a great place to relax with a cocktail after a long day’s game viewing chatting to the staff and other guests. We will always include Ndutu Safari Lodge whenever we go.

Close Encounters:
We had close animal encounters at both lodges. At Lake Masek at about 11:00pm I woke to the sound of elephants tearing up the grass right outside our tent, I woke Jill and we quietly crept out onto the enclosed deck of our tent and watched 3 elephants eat their way past us heading down to the lake. They were only a few meters for the tent backlight by a full moon. A beautiful sight.

An encounter at Ndutu…. We were heading out early one morning and had woken up at around 4:45am so it was very dark. I went to take a shower whilst Jill when outside to sit on the little porch to have a cigarette (I know, I know) a couple of minutes later she comes back in and says she thinks a zebra or wildebeest just walked right past our hut. I didn’t think anything of it so whilst Jill went to take a shower I went to go outside and have cigarette ( I know, horrible habit) as I opened the door there were two lioness on the small porch right were my wife had been sitting. I shut the door. They remained there for a few minutes and then disappeared. Now one of the nice things about Ndutu is that there is no real need for escorts to or from your room unlike other camp/lodge requirements also Ndutu lodge has no in-room phones, anyway safter about 20 mins or so we decided to head up towards the main building so with camera bags and flashlights we walked up to the main building where we meet a security guard who using his flash light showed us 4 lionesses and a large male sitting under a tree about 100 meters away. We can only assume that what Jill thought was a zebra or wildebeest was in fact the male lion but we will never know for sure…. anyway an interesting encounter to talk about afterwards.

More tomorrow

Tom, no we have only ever gone to the Serengeti and Conservation area.

Kath. Thank you

Phones in rooms? I don't ever in many years, recall seeing a phone in a lodge room (certainly not in tents... whistles maybe or horns, not phones). Who has phones in their rooms?

...who you gonna call? Lionbusters? :)

No need to apologize about the cig, but next time at that very early morning, when game are still wandering/hunting, do it inside the tent which dissipates very quickly. Lodge rooms are something else though!

Good report.

Sandi, Lake Masek Tented Lodge, Bilila Lodge, Some tents at Mbalageti, Serena Safari, Sasakwa (granted not in the Serengeti) all have in room phones. But your right most do not and only have whistles... ours was missing at Ndutu :)

Another April safari!

Great shots. Always love those cheetahs.
What is photo #20? An owl on the ground is different. Which owl?

Did it ever rain? Surprised you found it dry.

I had to reread, not 15 people, but a group of 15 vehicles. That's beyond a convoy all the way to its own traffic jam. And I was hoping April would avoid that sort of thing.

The owl was an African Marsh Owl although it was a long way from the marsh:)

It rained hard about twice for 30 minutes or so. Other than that it was very dry. There had been some rains in Arusha but still well below the norm. Have since found out that the rains have finally come.

We met the convoy whilst having a late lunch just prior to leaving the Crater. It was a group tour arranged for a company from France. Talking to one of the drivers he said they had just been to Manyara, were in the Crater for two days and that the group was heading off to Zanzibar the next day. A sort of drive-by Safari.

It sounds just wonderful, and you have some really lovely shots!

Well, I'd suspect that Bilila Lodge would. Surprised that Lake Masek Camp does. And now as I recall, maybe (or not) I saw phone at Ngorongoro Serena, as it is some distance to the Reception area if someone needed assistance. Oh, and it's no surprise that Sasaskwa would... at their price, they should wipe one's arse! :)

To me, anywhere on safari a phone would look so out of place... not something I'd even expect.

Great report Bill ,keep it coming!!!
I -really- like that thing of building your own box breakfast!! And lunch!!! The ones (and had many) given to me were just ok, but at least helped keep me on a weight loss diet!!

Talking about number of vehicles, I saw "Leopard Tours" vehicles constantly, everywhere. Our guide said they have around 200 vehicles.

FWIW, of the around 15 camps I've been to, I'm sure well over half had room phones. Could be an cost trade off thing, i.e. if room has a phone, camp liability insurance rates are lower?

regards - tom

Bill, I am glad you had a great safari with Adam. I know him well, and always enjoy seeing him and his rasta hair-do out on the Serengeti plains! Thanks for sharing your safari report with us. Looks like you had a great safari.

Tom, that is the outfitter who we refered to as "Blink Safaris" they were everywhere especially in the Seronera

Andy, yes Adam is a great guy only managed to get him to take off his hat once right at the end of our trip.

Day 12-13 Crater and Lake Manyara
We left the woodlands early to head off to the Crater stopping to have breakfast on the way. There were a scattering of the resident zebra, wildebeest and a few giraffes as we drove to the Crater entrance. I strongly believe the Crater is a must see for anyone visiting Tanzania but this being our third time the only reason we were going into the Crater was because we wanted (hoped) to get some better rhino sightings (i.e. closer) as the times before they had been a fair distance away. This time we were not disappointed as we were lucky to have two cross the road right in front of us. We did not spend a lot of time in the Crater maybe 4-5 hours but still managed to see lions, elephants (one with the biggest tusks I have ever seen), hyenas and a serval who was sitting beside the road without a care in the world.
We left the crater at around 3:00 and headed to the Plantation Lodge which is about half way between the entrance to the Conservation Area and Lake Manyara.

Now this is where I wax lyrical about what I think is by far the best lodge outside of the national parks. The Plantation Lodge is idyllic with wonderful rooms, a huge beautiful garden to explore and relax in and great food. The rooms are large with comfortable beds, the bathrooms have a huge tub and an even bigger shower and are very nicely decorated. The food is excellent, the wine list extensive and the coffee delicious. (They grow and roast their own). A small thing that showed the level of service that their staff provide….. Jill had done some laundry when we arrived at the lodge and it was still quite wet when we left for Lake Manyara the next morning whilst we were gone the housekeeper not only cleaned our room, but took the damp laundry to the staff washing lines to dry out. When we returned she told us what she had done and said she would bring the laundry over to us a little later….well about 20 minutes later she showed up with our laundry dry and neatly folded…. now I know this sounds like a small thing but it was unexpected and very thoughtful. So needless to say we will be returning to the Plantation next year. Oh and the breakfast hamper they provided was very well stocked with a delicious breakfast.

We spent our last day on a half day drive around Lake Manyara which although is not the largest park in Tanzania hosts a large amount of elephants and baboons. What I like about Manyara is that invariably you get close encounters with elephants as they wonder through the wooded areas. There were plenty of gazelle and baboons to be seen along with a few baby giraffes.

Day 14 Home
We took a leisurely drive back to Arusha stopping off at a couple of souvenir stores (always always haggle :) ) before returning to the Mountain Village for lunch and to relax in a day room before our flight back to the US.

Conclusion:
It seemed like the fastest 2 weeks ever and was over before we knew it. This was probably our best safari so far with regards to leopards and cheetahs but not so much for lions. The only downside was how dry it was as this really changes the dynamics of the Serengeti but until I am able to control the weather…..

We are now thinking about our next trip (4th) which will be in April again as I cannot think of a better time to go. Will probably spend more time in the Ndutu area and skip the western corridor although I cannot imagine not going to the Mbalageti Lodge :( and of course we will spend time in Seronera.

Other Stuff:
I have not mentioned very much about Proud African Safaris because I did not want this to sound like an advertisement for their company (nor be accused of working for them) but I would be remiss if I did not mention them again.

As I mentioned at the start Adam had been our guide on a previous safari with another outfitter and the reasons we wanted to have him guide us again was because of his depth of knowledge, his passion for wildlife, his love for Tanzania, his knowledge as a guide (where to go for the best game viewing etc.) and his sense of humor. Our safari would not have been the same without him.

Proud African Safaris is not a huge outfitter but they still provide the same level of service that we have come to expect based on our other safaris. They have new, well maintained 9 seat stretched LandCruisers with power outlets to recharge batteries and a cooler in the back, along with binoculars and beanbags.
Nandi their Director of Sales here in the US is both knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with and their Arusha based staff are friendly, efficient and very helpful.

I can say nothing but good things about them and will definitely be using them for our next trip.

If anyone would like more details please email me.

Anyway thanks for reading!

Bill & Jill Carr

You're welcome!
And thank you for writing!

Next year for a change why not try Ndutu area in May? Should for sure have rain by then, Ndutu Lodge rates are 20% lower (than April).
http://www.ndutu.com/rates/Ndutu_Rack_Rates_2010.pdf
And the outfitters are really looking for business. I'd also be tempted to try Kusini Camp (a little west of Ndutu), Andy likes it, 'nuf said. But it's in the Serengeti(?) so off-roading not allowed(?).

Of course for a really big change you could try South Africa. But only if you want to see rhino (white), and leopard, and lion, and elephant, and buffalo, up close, personal, and often. Sabi Sand or Timbavati reserves, South Africa.

regards - tom
ps - as you say, two weeks goes by too fast, so next time try closer to three!!!

Thanks for sharing a great trip with us and letting us know about Proud African Safaris.