Migration and Weather in the Serengeti

Short rains were good in December and early January and the male wildebeest herds have arrived on the southern plains. I saw many males in the Gol Kopjes and areas of the Ngorongoro Conservation Land between Olduvai Gorge and the entrance to the Serengeti National Park. The females spent most of December in the Seronera area and have now been moving between Naabi, Ndutu, Gol and Kusini. The large zebra herds were enjoying the long grass near the Moru Kopjes in December, due to the good rains. The last few weeks of January have been quite dry on the southern plains and the majority of the females were moving back and forth to Kusini and the nearby woodlands. Toward the end of January clients were witnessing masses of the huge herds near the triangle of the southern plains, but in just a few days the females were in the Kusini area with calving having begun. Everyone is hoping for a good dose of rain, to bring the females back to Naabi and Ndutu for the remainder of the calving period. Calving was just beginning the first week in February, although calving in the Crater is in full swing. Rain has been good in the northern Serengeti and the grass is green and high, especially near Lobo and Loliondo. I counted 32 giraffe just outside of the Klein’s Gate on the way to Buffalo Luxury Camp. Good locations for accommodations have been Unique Safaris’ private mobile camps, Kusini Camp, the new Lake Masek Tented Camp and Ndutu Lodge. The road between the Crater and Serengeti is in good condition, in fact one of the best road conditions I have seen in a long time. The drive only took about 1.5 hours.

Migration and Weather in Tarangire National Park

Clients have been visiting Tarangire, mostly to enjoy birding and elephants. There are few herd animals in the park with the exception of the resident elephants and the few remaining resident zebra and antelopes. Grass is high, but the park is stunningly beautiful and the European migration of birds is in full swing.

Update on Buffalo Luxury Camp, Black Rhinos and Wild Dogs

We are excited to announce that Buffalo Luxury Camp, a new permanent tented lodge in northern Loliondo, will be opening the beginning of March. For the past year, Unique Safaris has been booking this property as a semi-permanent mobile camp until the main lodge and tents have been completed. I conducted a site visit the first week in February and was impressed with the surroundings, the staff and the activities, not to mention the unique design of the main lodge nestled beneath one of the hills of northern Loliondo with stunning views of the Serengeti. While most people might not have heard much about northern Serengeti and Loliondo, the area has resident game (wildebeest, zebra, elephants, buffalo, impala, tons of giraffe, hyena, a large pride of lion and a resident male leopard up on the hill). A pack of 18 wild dogs is being tracked near Ololosokwan. There are 12 adults and 6 young puppies, but the pack is moving the den frequently, so it is still unpredictable if the trackers can locate them on any given day. If you do sight the dogs, we are working cooperatively with the Frankfurt Zoological Society to provide documentation about the day, time and location of the sightings. Any photos of wild dogs should be taken from the side so that identification can be made. It is the pattern of the spotting that allows researchers to identify each individual. Northern Serengeti and Loliondo will be even more exciting in 2010 as the Tanzania National Parks gets ready to release 32 black rhino into the area. This will be the largest rhino release ever in Africa with all 32 individuals being flown in from South Africa. The first six rhino will be released near the Lobo airstrip on May 21st. The rhino will be released into a large man-made enclosure for a short period of time before they are fully released. We will keep you posted on potential future release dates and encourage you to try to plan a safari to coordinate with these dates.

Sundowner over the Serengeti at Buffalo Suite tents at Buffalo Luxury Camp

Safari Highlights
» Lions, lions and lions galore! Lazy lions and full-bellied lions are being seen everywhere. Pride of 8 females and 6 cubs were seen playing on the open southern plains near Naabi Hill. It is hard to find hungry lions during this time of the year and it is more likely to see lions lying around, cubs playing and individuals relaxing or sleeping for almost 20 hours a day.
» Near Ndutu Lodge a leopard was seen in a tree nearby four hyenas that were finishing a kill. It appeared the leopard had made the kill but could not get the carcass into the tree before the hyena appeared and stole the kill away.
» A highlight for one client was finding a cheetah near Lake Masek. The cheetah was lying down but when she heard the vehicle approaching she woke up and came straight toward the car, jumping on the hood to be able to have a taller vantage point for scanning for gazelles. The cheetah spent about 5 minutes looking for animals and of course, this was thrilling for the clients.
» Toward the end of January, there were many wildebeest that had crossed Lake Masek (near Lake Ndutu) and became stuck in the mud. It was quite the sight with many carcasses and many vultures feeding on the wildebeest.
» There is always time to stop and enjoy the smaller species that play important roles in the eco-system. One client was fascinated by the many dung beetles and the many butterflies that were emerging. I was also impressed with how many butterflies I saw on this recent safari – blue pansy, brown pansy, diadem and African monarch butterflies were easily seen.
» There were enormous numbers of European and Abdim’s storks throughout the area between the Crater and Serengeti. The past few years, there have not been as many European (or White) storks due to the lack of good rains. Guides are hoping this is a sign that the rain will continue to be abundant this year.

Cheetah kill of a wildebeest calf

» Leopards were seen significant times in central Serengeti. Leopards were spotted in Seronera Valley, the Moru Kopjes, the Maasai Kopjes and the Boma Kopjes.
» One of the leopard highlights was actually witnessing a leopard kill of a reedbuck from stalking to bringing the kill up into a tree in the Seronera River Valley. The driver guide noticed the leopard in the tree, but also noticed he was scanning the area where a reedbuck was hiding. The leopard came down from the tree quickly, stalked the reedbuck which was foraging, and then jumped suddenly to strangulate the buck. The leopard plucked some of the fur before he started to open the belly to begin feeding. The leopard is the only big cat who is known to remove fur before eating.
» Elephants were also abundant in the central Serengeti and clients was able to watch a bull in musth mating with an adolescent female.
» Rhino were seen along the Sand River in northern Serengeti near Bologonja.
» Other sightings in northern Serengeti and Loliondo included large herds of elephants, huge herds of eland, buffalo, many giraffe, large numbers of topi and big prides of lion.
» In December and early January the wildlife near the Klein’s airstrip was quite exciting. Planes were flying over large herds of elephants and big groupings of giraffe. It is quite a sight to fly into the Serengeti area for the first time in your life and see so much as you land.
» Clients being accommodated at Buffalo Luxury Camp enjoyed going into the town of Ololosokwan for the Maasai market, which is held every Saturday. This was quite a highlight for a number of guests at Buffalo Luxury Camp.
» The night drives at Buffalo Luxury Camp included sightings of hyena, large herds of impala, black backed jackal, elephant, white-tailed mongoose, lions and one aarkvark! The lion was especially exciting because the guide heard lions roaring and asked the spotter to shine the light in a particular direction, catching the eyes of a lioness. She passed right in front of the vehicle and they followed her for a bit as another two females approached her and greeted each other. The guide continued to follow the three females across the river and heard more calling and they managed to find the rest of the pride consisting of another 22 individuals, feeding on a very recent buffalo kill. There were two males, eight females, four sub-adults, five cubs around 5 months old and three more very young cubs of not more than 2 months old. Now, that was a great night drive.
» In the Crater, it is babies, babies and babies. Wildebeest are calving and zebra are foaling. Clients observed a zebra giving birth, watching for over 20 minutes, until the mother began to clean the foal and the foal began to suckle. The Crater boasts the densest population of hyena and given the small size of Ngorongoro Crater, births are often detected by hyena due to their amazing sense of smell and ability to detect afterbirth. This particular zebra was quite lucky because a hyena approached in the distance, but the mother and foal were able to move closer to a larger section of the herd.


» Due to the good rain, rhino were easily spotted during this time period. In fact, clients were treated to baby rhino only 200 meters away from the vehicle. At the end of December, clients were regularly seeing the three young calves that are down in the Crater and one clients saw 8 different rhino in two days.


» A few of our clients planned to visit different villages, NGO projects and the Children for Children’s Future Orphanage in Arusha. One mother and daughter purchased food for a special Christmas meal for the kids at CCF and they had an incredible time helping to cook, serve and eat with the children, who enjoyed a holiday pilau, chicken, roasted goat and a cake!

We welcome you to submit your images for our next Bush Report. If you have a photograph you are particularly proud of or want to share with others, please email images to meg@uniquesafaris.biz and we will be happy to include them in the next reports and credit you for the image. It is wonderful to share your pictures and experiences and we would love to include them in our future reports.