December 19, 2004 -- A collection of pictures taken in the Serengeti National Park can be found at Elwai Esirenget.
Our personal wakeup call was before 5am as James came calling in the dark, "Carol, Carol. Are you awake? Come see the Southern Cross." Carol had wanted to see the constellation and the only time it is visible near the equator is before sunrise. It turned out to be a clear morning sky so Carol got to see her Southern Cross along with James, who is also an avid star gazer.
We were on the road by 6:30am in a southeasterly direction towards Naabi Hill Gate. Our main objective on this day was to meet up with large migrating wildebeest herds. The day started well for us but not for the wildebeest. Before reaching Naabi Hill Gate, we encountered a hyena clan finishing a wildebeest breakfast. About five minutes later, we stopped to let a 100 plus herd of wildebeest cross the road -- the source of the early hyena breakfast seen earlier no doubt. A single and maybe unfortunate wildebeest had broken from the herd and headed in the direction of the hyenas. Near Naabi Hill eight giraffe were browsing in a small woodland in the middle the open savannah.
After leaving the Naabi Hill Gate Visitor's Center we came upon a pride of lions (one male, half a dozen lionesses, and cubs). They were hunkered down waiting for an opportunity to pounce on a migrating animal. The farther south we drove the bigger and more mixed the herds became -- wildebeest, yapping zebra, and gazelle. The wildebeest are funny because they march with their head down in a single file (like ants to a picnic) for miles. Golden jackals were also seen following from a distance. We discovered that jackals will let the hyenas and lions do the hard work of bringing down an animal and then dart in and out at the kill site trying to grab a morsel.
We turned off the main dirt track and headed south towards Lake Ndutu. Our guides, Pascal, James, and Alex were getting nervous because we still were not finding the gathering of herds they expected. We were also seeing other vehicles headed back north. But we persisted, past Nungunungu (Porcupine) camp grounds, Ndutu Lodge and airstrip, then a beautiful drive along the Oldibai River through the Ildapashi and Elemetti swamps. The herds began to appear in earnest, pouring into the swamp bed. I counted 100 animals passing me every five minutes.
We drove on to Miti Mitatu (three trees), spotting cheetah and lion seeking protection from the blistering sun under acacia trees, an abandoned ostrich egg, and a timid but well camouflaged African hare. Passed into the Maswa Game Reserve at the southern tip of the Serengeti and stopped for a picnic lunch under a spreading acacia.
Afterwards we drove south towards Twin Peaks, then turned east and north to return to Makoma Hills. We arrived back at camp around 3:30pm, affording us plenty of time to rest, talk at the campfire, and try to accept the fact that we had just completed our last game drive of the safari. I thought it would go on forever!
We celebrated our last game drive with a traditional Tanzanian dinner of barbecued meats, rice, and polenta. Finally, I could eat an entire meal without utensils by rolling the meat into balls with the rice and polenta. During the night the hyenas were in the camp and we heard leopard "huffing" loudly just in the shadows beyond the camp's lantern lights.
