TANZANIA

SAFARI

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Serengeti

This seemingly never ending Serengeti plain was created a long time ago when dust from surrounding volcanoes (including the 5000m high volcano that used to stand above the Ngorongoro Crater) filled the originally wavy landscape.

Typical view of the beautiful Serengeti plain

Every year, hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras migrate from the Masai Mara park in Kenya south to Ngorongoro. We saw them on the move in southeast Serengeti. The herds stretched as far as we could see.

The wildebeests

The zebras and wildebeests travel together.

Our safari car, which we shared only with our driver/guide and our cook. When we were choosing our safari company, one of the main selection criteria was if the roof is high enough for Marek to stand up under it.

Many animals came really close to our car - including this lioness.

It gets very hot on the Serengeti plains during the day. Most animals try to cool off in shade.

Ostriches are the largest birds in the world.

We saw many spotted hyenas. Their call is considered one of the most typical night sounds of the Serengeti plains.

There are many gazelles and antelopes in the park.

Lake Myanmara in Tanzania used to be the only place in East Africa where lions climb on trees. Not any more. They started to move up into the trees in Serengeti a few years ago. Our well educated and very experienced guide told us that only females and cubs can be seen up in a tree, since the males are too heavy and clumsy to manage to climb up. To his and our surprise, we saw this male trying so hard that he finally managed to join his two female companions up there!

Evidently, while he managed to climb up, he did not find a comfortable position and actually looked really funny.

This majestic giraffe became very interested in our car and decided to explore it. She walked directly to us and came so close that our driver lost his nerves and moved the car out of her way. Did he not do that, she probably would have licked our faces.

Little baboons often catch a ride on the backs of their mothers. But climbing was not a challenge for them even at this early age. Baboons live in large groups that can become quite dangerous - even leopards run away when they see them.

African elephants move freely throughout the plains. Unlike the Indian elephants, they have never been domesticated.

Our great cook Jonathan. He prepared very tasty and huge meals for us three times a day. And he was a lot of fun. 

Marek - ready to dive into our big breakfast

This otherwise very swift hyrax was hiding in a huge bush during the mid-day heat. Otherwise we would not have gotten his picture that easily.

Cheetahs are very shy and therefore very hard to spot. We got lucky and ran across this couple, which was watching zebras drinking at a nearby pool. The cheetahs often follow the zebras during their migration, so that they stay close to their prey (lions and leopards are territorial and do not move).

Ngorongoro Crater

The Maasai tribe traditionally lived in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Maasai are herders who used to be nomadic. They cannot enter Serengeti, but are allowed to take their herds to the plains around the Ngorongoro Crater.

Circumcision is one of the typical customs of many African tribes. After the ceremony, Maasai boys hide in seclusion for some time, wear black and paint their faces with white ornaments. During that time, only one person from their tribe takes care of them and nobody else should see them.
These boys are not trying to escape from the seclusion. Instead, they dress like this just to become an attraction for tourists and make some money for allowing tourists to take photographs.

One can drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater where there is high concentration of wild animals. These hippos are trying to cool of in a pool.

The hippos sometimes turn around or lift their head and rest it on the back of their neighbor.

This Black Kite is not looking for wild food - instead, it is trying to steal lunch from tourists and is often successful. He picked up a pack of peanuts directly out of Jitka's hands without even touching her fingers.

One of the many beautiful wildlife sceneries

There is plenty of water during the rainy season and zebras like to drink in small water pools.

Elephants constantly wave their large ears to cool off their blood.

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