DAY 41: Camping with the elephants

We left Seronera in the centre of the Serengeti at 06:00 and headed straight for the Gol Kopjes. These incredible rock formations are not only situated in the short grass plains, favoured by the migrating wildebeest, but are apparently also home to several prides of lions. Our hope was to find both lions and large herds of wildebeest! We were surprised to see how dry the area around Gol is. As a result there were no large herds to be seen, but a few impressive strings of ant-like specks lined the horizon. A pride of eight lions were basking in the sun on one of the kopjes.

A special Serengeti scene

The Gol Kopjes. Can you spot the lions?

From Gol we headed to Naabi Gate to officially exit the Serengeti and enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Then we headed for Lake Ndutu with high hopes of catching up with the migration. Along the way we did see loads of herbivores, but it was still less than even the tail-end of the massive herds. Amongst a herd of semi-relaxed wildebeest we found a lone male lion that had just made a kill. He was still out of breath from the hunt.

Still out of breath

At Ndutu we found nothing but dust. The short grass plains are extremely dry and none of the other drivers we passed seemed to know where the migration was. "The drought has made it very difficult for us" said one. It seems like it's much harder to find a million wildebeest than we thought! At the swamps west of Lake Ndutu we found another pride of lions along with three lazy cheetahs.

We decided to take the back roads to Simba A campsite, past Lake Masek and through Maasai communal land. I haven't seen so much dust in a long time! Ji and I had to open the car windows every now and again to take photos, but the dust suffocated us to the point where we decided to become bandits with buffs over our faces. It worked, sort of.

The dust behind the Hyena, photographed wih the GoPro

The two Serengeti bandits, also photographed with the GoPro

It's amazing how quickly the scenery changed from the barren, dusty short grass plains to the lush, tropical forests on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. The temperature also dropped again as we reached the summit of the rim. We found ourselves a great little spot at the edge of the camping ground and used the afternoon to kick around a football and throw our tennis ball until our arms came off. Whilst we were playing, six bull elephants came into camp to drink from the water tanks! They were incredibly relaxed! So much so that we could stand less then 10 metres away from them! They visited again just before sunset. Again there seemed to be 100% respect between man and beast... Three spotted hyenas just ran past our car and a buffalo is now staring at us from 25 metres away. I think we're camping under his tree!

Our campsite for the next two days

Mutual respect

Ji made his delicious toffee bread again, a Simba A special, and I braaied some very tough Arusha steaks. Tomorrow morning we go into the Ngorongoro Crater, hopefully without an official guide... We'll keep you posted.

We may not have found the migration, but we loved the Serengeti. And hey, it gives us a reason to come back, now doesn't it?!!

Have a great day!

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers and Ji: Elephants in camp!

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: More dust!

Ji: To leave the Serengeti