East Africa 2012 - Ngorongoro Crater

East Africa 2012 – Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania

February 12 – 14, 2012, Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge

On the long drive from Lake Ndutu we noted the changes from the wide-open Serengeti to the hills with farm and grazing land. We climbed in elevation to the rim of the Ngorongoro volcano crater at over 7,800 feet in elevation at the lodge. The vegetation became lush with many kinds of plants and trees including forests of the flat-topped acacia.

Flat-Top Acacia trees

We made one stop at a viewpoint before continuing to Sopa Lodge where we stayed two nights.

On the morning of the 13^th we got up early and drove into the crater for sunrise, dropping down to around 5,800 feet. This huge 102 square mile caldera was formed when the volcano collapsed. It is nine miles in diameter and contains a variety of habitats and a very dense population of animals. One can find the “Big Five” and just about all the other animals that we had seen in other places.

Hyena chasing wildebeest baby

Hippo pool

As we drove around in the crater we saw many special events. There was a group of lions stalking prey, hippos in a large pond, large herds of wildebeest and zebras, plenty of warthogs, logs of hyenas, ostrich, and many kinds of antelope.

We saw and photographed three unusual and exciting events. First there was a hyena chasing a baby wildebeest. Just as it looked like the hyena would win, an adult wildebeest ran into the picture and headed off the hyena, allowing the baby to escape.

Newborn baby wildebeest

This was calving time for many of the animals. We were privileged to arrive just as a wildebeest delivered her calf. We watched the mother clean off and eat the afterbirth, then encourage the newborn calf to get on its feet. We laughed out loud as the long-legged baby kept falling before it finally got on all four legs. Although we could tell it wanted to nurse, the mother kept it walking by turning in circles. What was so amazing was that from birth to running full speed with its mother took only fifteen minutes. Fast running is required for survival as we saw later as another hyena was stalking a small herd of wildebeest.

We all met near a large pond to enjoy our box lunches. At that time some changed cars so that those who wanted to stay out longer could, and those who wanted to wander back to the lodge could do that.

Photo by Gene Hassman

On our way back we came across some vehicles that had stopped near some lions. As we watched, one large female walked over and around our vehicle, and then laid down beside us to rest. First there were the cheetahs in the Serengeti using us for shade and now a lion. We felt special.

Back at the lodge it was a race to begin packing and for me to finish the slide show I had been working on. Those of us with laptops, who wanted, could present a three-minute slide show at our farewell gathering before dinner. Five of us showed examples of the pictures we had taken during the trip; you can see my pictures on our website.

Jack and Rikki Swenson, Lindblad Photo Expedition Leaders

At the farewell we had a chance to thank our driver guides who had been with us for the entire Tanzania part of our trip. They were great. We also tanked our Micato Safari Director, Lewella, for making sure the whole trip went smoothly. And of course, we acknowledged our appreciation to Jack and Rikki Swenson, our great Photo Expedition Leaders from Lindblad, for all their expertise and help both in the field and during our free time.

The morning of the 14^th, Valentines’ Day, we all boarded our five vehicles for the drive to Arusha. Much of the drive was on paved roads and through towns. We arrived at Serena Mountain Village Lodge in time for lunch. We each had a day room where we repacked for travel home and showered to be fresh for the trip.

Eventually it was time to leave for the Kilimanjaro International Airport where we checked in and waited for our flight to Amsterdam. There was a bad dust storm, but the plane did come in and we took off for Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and on to Amsterdam, arriving at 7:15 am the next morning. We had a 2 ½ hour layover before our direct flight on to Portland, arriving at 11:30 am.

We had a fabulous time on this second visit to Kenya and Tanzania, led by our friends, the Swensons. It was enhanced by a great group of fellow travelers. Now comes the task of dealing with all the photos, but this blog is one way for us to share them and our experiences.

 

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

East Africa 2012 - Lake Ndutu

East Africa 2012 - Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania

February 9 – 12, Lake Ndutu

Lake Masek Tented Camp

After a full day drive south through the Serengeti National Park we arrived at Lake Masek Tented Camp where we would stay three nights. In 2010 we stayed at the Ndutu Lodge, which is fairly close. There are two brackish lakes in this area, Ndutu and Masek. They are home to flamingos and many other water birds and they are located in the very southern part of the park.

Although each tented camp was different, they all had a feel of rustic luxury. The beds were always situated so you could view the outside if animals were to walk by. The tents were all on a raised wooden platforms. The sides were netted to allow for viewing and airflow, although at night the flaps were lowered for privacy.

The bathrooms all had hot and cold running water and flush toilets. This was the only camp that had a shower outside, which was very pleasant. It also was the only one with a tub, which we couldn’t imagine using. In no way did this experience resemble “roughing it.”

We had the usual two game drives every day. In 2010 this was the area where we found the migration of zebra and wildebeest. There were very few around this time. The grass had been grazed short and the migration was way north, as I shared in the last blog post.

There was, however, no shortage of lions. We came across a number of prides in the areas we explored. Lions are territorial and they stay in their area and don’t follow the migration.

With every pride of lions there were cubs of various ages. One morning we were late to the traffic jam of vehicles watching a pride of lions. I overheard someone count about 16 vehicles, and another about the same number of lions. As the safari vehicles jockeyed for favorable viewing positions the lions seemed to carry on with their daily activities generally ignoring the vehicles.

Depending on which vehicle one was in and where it traveled, the sightings could be very different, as our group’ five vehicles did not stay together. If there was a sighting, like a cheetah, sometimes we would all be able to make it and sometimes not.

We did watch three cheetah males slowly meander toward a possible meal of wildebeest. We positioned the vehicle so that we could observe the whole process. Unfortunately, another group’s vehicle came barreling into the area and scared off the wildebeest. For the most part, however, the drivers were very good about not disturbing the animals.

The last afternoon we were driving along the lake as a few elephants came by to enjoy the mud. They splashed around and sprayed themselves.

As it was our final evening there we were treated to another lovely “Sundowner” on the way back to camp. The camp staff and warriors were there to assist and make it a colorful event as we looked out over the lake and enjoyed the sunset.

The next morning there was an early but short game drive. For those of us who went we had to have our bags our before leaving.

After lunch we started the long, almost five hour, drive to the Ngorongoro Crater. On the way the group was scheduled to stop at the famous Olduvai Gorge where, over 50 years ago, the Leaky family uncovered the fossils of early humans. Since we had visited there in 2010, we chose the vehicle with Jack and Rikki and went directly to the crater. The road was extremely rough and dusty.

We were looking forward to spending the next day in the Ngorongoro Crater.

 

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

East Africa 2012 - Serengeti

East Africa 2012 – Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania

February 7 – 9, Serengeti National Park

Serengeti Sopa Lodge

It took three flights to get us from Little Governors’ Camp on the Mara in southern Kenya to the Serengeti in Tanzania. First we stopped in Kisumu to check out of Kenya and have our passports stamped. Then there was a short flight to Musoma in Tanzania where we went through an almost empty airport to the passport control area to be checked in. Last was the flight west to the Serengeti National Park. For me, the flights weren’t that pleasant because of some congestion, my ears would not clear. It took two more days for me to hear normally.

It was almost two before we arrived at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge where we had stayed two years ago. It is a nice large modern lodge in a good location. Lunch was the first thing on our minds and then we had a little time to settle in to our spacious rooms before heading out on the afternoon game drive.

The biggest change we noticed was that the migration of zebra and wildebeest was all around us instead of farther south as it had been in 2010. There were many, many thousands of animals and they seemed to bed down among the trees at night. In the morning they moved, in mass, usually running and kicking up lots of dust. It was absolutely awesome to be in the middle of this annual migration.

There were also lions, many of them in various prides. It is rare for lions to climb trees, but we came across one pride that seemed to have mastered the skill.

On our second afternoon at the lodge many of us chose to opt out of the game drive to download pictures, enjoy the swimming pool and just rest.

After two nights at the Sopa Lodge we left on the 9^th for a full day drive south across the Serengeti to our next destination. The vastness of the Serengeti was observable, with not much more than flat grassland as far as the eye can see. 

The Serengeti is peppered with large unusual rock formations called Kopjes (pronounced co-peas). As we passed them we sometimes saw lions sunning themselves on the rounded rocks or cheetah walking among them. We stopped at one Kopje to eat our boxed lunch, but were shortly called away by one of our other vehicles that had come across some cheetah eating a kill.

Photo by Jack Swenson

A mother cheetah and large cub were eating something and we watched for a while. Soon the chance for some shade was too enticing and the cub, then the mother came over to rest in the shade of OUR vehicle. For pictures this meant pulling out the camera with the wider-angle lens.

The vultures guarded the kill until the cheetahs decided to leave us and go back to eating.

We continued the long drive which included a stop at the Naabi Hill Gate where the drivers did the paperwork for entry to the Ngorongoro Crater area .

It was late afternoon when we arrived at the Lake Ndutu area and the Lake Masek Tented Camp that would be our home for the next three nights.

 

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

East Africa 2012 - Maasai Mara

East Africa 2012 – Photo Safari to Kenya and Tanzania

February 4 – 7, Maasai Mara, Kenya

Little Governors’ Camp

The flight to Little Governors’ Camp on the Mara River in southern Kenya was uneventful. Before landing the pilot flew around the area to give us a great bird’s-eye view of the river and camp. This was our favorite tented-camp in 2010 and we were excited to return.

The drive from the airstrip to camp was eventful. We saw lions, and the lion pictured examined our vehicle and walked around it. The picture was taken through an open window, very close. His lady friend had walked around us ahead of him. They then walked a short ways away to continue their mating ritual. I’ll keep this G-Rated and leave out that picture.

Next we came across a large herd of zebras gathering at a water hole. It was pleasant just to watch them drinking and walking through the water. There were very few zebras in this area on our last visit.

Eventually we got to the Mara River. Since Little Governors’ Camp was on the other side, and there is no close bridge, we used a small boat which was pulled across the river by hand.

Our Lunch Buffet

As we walked the short distance in to camp, George, the camp manager, told us that one of the elephants that comes by every day about lunch time was in the area. George took us to the bar/lounge tent to wait and enjoy watching as the elephant walked carefully around tables, shook some of the trees to cause their fruit to fall for her to eat, and in general meander the area at will.

In due time, she wandered off and we went to the dining tent for lunch. The elephant had left our buffet alone. This general scenario was repeated each day, but with different elephants.

Conditions in the Mara were very different from our 2010 visit. The rains had come at a different time, and the grass was much taller and greener than before. This meant there were more zebra and wildebeest.

There were very few small antelope, as they like the short grassy areas. Therefore, the cheetah that prey on them were fewer and hard to find. We did come across a couple of cheetah and that created a traffic jam with many vehicles vying for a good photo position.

The lions and hyenas were around and one morning we came across a kill the hyenas had made, but which the lions had stolen. While two male lions ate their fill we counted at least eight hyenas circling, waiting to get back to finish what was left.

Hot air balloon rides are offered at Little Governors’ and sixteen of our group had signed up, before leaving home, for this opportunity. We went out before sunrise to take pictures and see them off. They had a good ride and finished with a champagne breakfast. This left just Jack, Rikki, Paul and me to go on the morning game ride. It was special to have some time together since the Swensons usually rotate among the vehicles so they can give advice to photographers.

On one drive we came across two hippos on land. They usually spend the day in the water and come out at night to graze.

There were the usual herds of elephants, of all ages, and this area is a habitat for the Masai giraffe, which has its own unique spot pattern.

Leopard, after sunset

One evening, as we returned to camp after sunset, we came across a leopard in a tree (other vehicles were there or we never would have found it.) Those of you who are photographers will appreciate this unedited photo. Using my Canon 7D with a 200mm lens and 1.4X extender, I propped the camera on a beanbag, set the ISO to 6400 and the shutter speed went to 1/8 of a second. It may not be perfect, but I’m still amazed I could capture the shot at all.

The last afternoon we had the privilege of visiting a Maasai village where the residents shared their dances, customs and culture. We learned about their social structure from an elder. All of the children go to school so Rikki presented them with supplies brought by our group.

My favorite shot. No cigarette, just a yawn.

On the way back to camp we stopped at a beautiful location along the Mara River to watch a group of hippos bathing below us. This was our final night “Sundowner” with drinks and nibbles. It was very sad to know we would be leaving our favorite camp the next morning.

In the morning it took three flights to leave Kenya, enter Tanzania, and go on to the Serengeti to continue our adventure.

 


That's it for now. Grace and Paul