Africa Trip 2024 - Day 5 (con't), On to the Central Serengeti

[This is post #9 of what will be multiple posts about our 2024 trip to Africa. To go to the first post in the series CLICK HERE.] 

It was already well past our normal lunch time on Day 5, September 14, as we turned south away from the Mara River.  As described in the previous post, it had been a busy morning filled with lots of wonderful animal sightings.  However it was time to think about digging into our box lunches. 

Water for the land animals.  I assumed we would leave the water behind as we turned south.  What I did not realize was that we would be following along or crossing over a couple of small tributaries to the Mara.  They might be rivers during the rainy season, but since it was nearing the end of the dry season they were more like creeks.

These creeks had much gentler sloping banks and sandy or flat rock bottoms.  All of the sand can be seen on the Google Earth image below taken in July, 2023, i.e. the dry season.

GPS track on Google Earth image (image taken 7/2023) of the area immediately south of the Mara River.  The Mara River is just visible in the center at the top.  The track follows a smaller mostly dry creek to the west.  A larger creek is a bit to the east.  We crossed over the larger creek on a small bridge in the lower right hand corner next to the green "Warthog" marker. 

These creeks appeared to be a favorite watering site for a large number of zebra.

Zebra in the creek

Zebra in one of the creeks

Of course there were plenty hanging around in the grass nearby, including a mother and her foal shown below  I don't know how old the foal might be, but probably less than a year.  Although they begin to graze when only a few weeks old, they are not completely weaned until 7-11 months.  Baby zebra also start off with mostly brown stripes.  The one below certainly still has lots of brown.

Zebra foal getting lunch. 

As Fazal told us numerous times, zebra are quite cautious around watering holes.  They know that it is where predators such as lions lie in wait for them.   As seen in the video below, it almost looked like several of the zebra stayed back and took the role of look outs while others drank.

Warthog family.  As we crossed over the larger creek on our way to some shade trees on the far bank we caught sight of a mother warthog and her baby next to the creek.

Momma and baby warthogs

It is hard to think of warthogs as cute, but this little one running along behind his mother really was.  Warthogs tend to trot when they move around, characteristically with their trail straight up like an antenna.  I couldn't help but notice in the video below that this little one was already starting to do that.

I don't know how old this baby was.  Baby warthogs are normally weaned by six months.  This little one was clearly still nursing. 

Lunchtime

I was somewhat puzzled by this "family" group.  There were four total that we saw. It is normal that a mother warthog stays with her young and possibly even daughters after they mature.  Male warthogs are driven from the group and tend to be solitary.

 

In this group there was clearly an adult female and one baby.  A litter is usually 2-5 piglets, but I only saw one very small one.  

 

There were also two other less than full size ones.  I am not sure how they fit in.

Four warthogs in this sounder, an adult female, a baby, and two juveniles.

I am guessing the two "medium-size" ones were juveniles, since they did not have tusks.

I am guessing this is a juvenile since those are light-colored tufts of hair, not tusks.

In any case the antics of this little group gave us something to watch as we sat in the safari vehicle on the bank above and dug into our box lunches.  As with so many of the animals we had seen,  they were certainly aware of our vehicle so close, but they totally ignored us.

Need to get moving.  By the time we had finished lunch we needed to get moving.  It was already nearly 2 pm and we had 75 miles yet to go to get to our new camp for the night, Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp.

Our gps track for the day is in blue.  Lunch was near the top of this map, just south of the Mara River.  Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp is the green square near the bottom.

A distance of 75 miles doesn't seem like much but we only averaged 15 mph and hence it took us five hours.  Admittedly we were slowed somewhat because we stopped when we saw something interesting.  However the real reason was the rough road.  All roads in the Serengeti are unpaved and all are rough.  We rarely went over 20 or 25 mph and often went slower because it was just too rough.

Ostriches.  Despite the long distance, we did not see a lot during our afternoon drive.  We did see our first ostriches.

Pair of ostriches.  The male (black feathers) is on the left.  The female (gray feathers) is on the right.

Ostriches almost always are together as a pair.  The genders are different colors to provide maximum camouflage and hence maximum protection from predators. The male is much darker, since it sits on the nest a night.  The female, which sits on the nest during the day, is a gray color.

Male ostrich

They are so big and awkward looking.  They did not seem like birds to me.  I don't know how big this guy was, but Wiki says males stand nearly 7 up to 9 feet tall and weigh 220 to 290 lb.  I never saw them moving any faster than a slow meander, but they can run for long distances at 34 mph.  For short bursts they can go up to 60 mph!  That is the fastest land speed of any bipedal animal and second only to  Cheetahs for all land animals.

Elephants.  We also encountered a group of elephants.  We actually drove back off the road to get a better look at them.

 

Unlike most of the animals we had encountered, they seemed somewhat concerned about us.  The kept shying away and generally shielding the little ones from us.  We never got very close, but that was at least in part because they kept moving away.

 

They finally turned around toward us and flapped their ears.  They were obviously not happy.  They seemed to be saying "Enough already.  Go away and leave us alone."

 

They turned facing us in unison and began flapping their ears.  I think they were saying  "Go away and leave us alone!"

 

 We did not want to bother them any further.  We sat still and let them walk away.

Giraffes.  We also saw several giraffes.  Compared to some of the other animals, they seem so calm and laid back.

Dagga Boy - an old bull African Buffalo.  We spotted a lone African Buffalo.  Given the grey on his forehead and down his face, he was certainly an older fellow.  He is what is often referred to as a "Dagga Boy".

Dagga Boy

Older bulls cease to rejoin the herd when they can no longer compete with the younger, more aggressive males. These old bachelors are called dagga boys, which literally means "mud covered" since they often spend time wallowing in mud.  These cantankerous old guys are not to be crossed. They are widely considered the most dangerous to humans

Getting Late.  It was already nearly 6:30 pm by now.  The sun was sinking rapidly in the west.  We really needed to make it to our next camp since we are not supposed to be moving around in the park after dark.  However, we couldn't pass up a couple of birds we saw along the road.  

Secretarybird.  We are not what most people would consider to be birders, but we do have some interest.  One of the birds we had hoped to see on this trip was an unusual African bird, the Secretarybird.

Secretarybird

It is a predator but is unusual with an eagle-like body and head on crane-like legs.  It is very large.  It stands over 4 feet high and has a wingspread of over 6 feet.  

Unlike most birds of prey, the secretarybird is largely terrestrial, hunting its prey on foot.  Prey ranges anywhere from grasshoppers to mammals the size of mongooses, although smaller mammals and reptiles are probably more common.

Kori Bustard.  Next on our list of "hope to see birds" was the Kori Bustard.  As luck would have it, there was one in the same field as the secretarybird.

Kori Bustard, reportedly the world's heaviest living flying animal

The Kori Bustard is also a large bird.  According to Wiki, a male Kori Bustard is 3.5 to 4.5 feet long with a wingspan of 7.5 to 9 feet.  However it is its weight that is most noteworthy.  Males in the Serengeti weigh on average 27 lb, but can range from 15 to 40 lb.  This makes them the second largest bird in Africa behind the ostrich.  However, unlike the ostrich, bustards can fly.  That makes them what some believe is the heaviest flying animal living on earth.  Between the ostrich, the secretarybird, and the Kori Bustard, we had seen quite the collection of "Big Birds" this afternoon.

Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp.  We finally made it to our new camp for the night, Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp.  However we made one more quick stop just short of the camp to catch yet another beautiful African sunset.

Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp.was one of the more interesting camps on this trip for several reasons.  First, the room had actual tent walls.  We had to unzip the opening to enter  

Our home for the night.  The opening in the back is to the bathroom.

Secondly, the camp is built on the side of one of the many kopjes, the granite outcroppings that are an iconic feature of the central Serengeti.  Finally, we actually had some up close encounters with animals here  All that and much more are the topic of the next post.

 

Africa Trip 2024 - Day 5, More Exploring the Mara River

[This is post #8 of what will be multiple posts about our 2024 trip to Africa. To go to the first post in the series CLICK HERE.] 

It was now September 14, Day 5 of our Africa trip.  Our time thus far on safari had all been spent in far north Serengeti National Park along or near the Mara River.  Today we were going to head up river to explore a different part of the river, then begin the trip south as seen on the blue track on the map below.  Our destination for the night would be our next camp, Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp (the green square near the bottom of the map), which is at the far northern edge of Central Serengeti. 

Northern Serengeti showing gps tracks for Days 3-5, Sept. 12-14, of our trip.  Red is the small plane (Day 3, Sept. 12).  Green is the remainder of Day 3, Sept. 12.  Yellow is Day 4, Sept. 13.  Blue is today, Day 5, Sept. 14.

As we were walking back to the room from breakfast, we could see and hear huge numbers of wildebeest in the area behind our room.  By the time we got to our back patio they had mostly dispersed, but it was still obvious there were many of them and they all seemed to be on the move. 

Lots of wildebeest in the distance as seen from our back patio, unfortunately taken with my iPhone.

Fazal suggested we check out the the river to the west one more time before heading onward in hopes of catching an early morning river crossing. That is what we did.  We first headed west along the river (blue line partially obscured by yellow and green lines.)

GPS tracks for Days 4-5 along Mara River.

 We had barely left camp when we encountered the wildebeest, this time with elands.

Wildebeest and Common Eland.  The eland in the center has two birds, oxpeckers, eating the insects on his back.

Once we got to the river, there was a large group of wildebeest that looked like they were going to cross.

Unfortunately it was yet another false alarm.  

Other critters.  Waiting for the wildebeest did give us the opportunity to see some other animals that we had not seen before.

Baboon

Waterbuck, yet another type of antelope.  I am guessing female in the background (no horns) and juvenile male in the foreground (tiny horns).

Male Waterbuck.  Only the males have horns.

Of course there were also some birds.  We are still in awe at how many brilliantly colored birds we saw.

Superb Starling

Juvenile black-headed heron (I think)

Since a river crossing did not look promising, we decided to move on.  Having seen how indecisive the wildebeest can be even with huge numbers of them assembled, we felt very fortunate to have seen two river crossings.

Even moving away from the river, there seemed to be wildebeest everywhere.  When on the move they seemed to travel in long, single file lines.

Wildebeest on the move.

Wildebeest trudging along

Mob of Mongooses.  With so many wildebeest on the move in the area, it is not unexpected that some did not make it.  We came across this group or mob of Banded Mongooses on a Wildebeest carcass.  Yes, "mongooses" really is the plural, not mongeese.

Large group of Banded Mongooses on a wildebeest carcass

I am not actually sure what they were eating, the wildebeest meat or insects on the carcass.  I assumed when we saw them that they were eating the carcass, but Wikipedia indicates they primarily feed on insects and small animals.  They don't mention anything about scavenging.

Whatever it was, it is obvious from the video below they were aggressively going after it.

My only previous "knowledge" of anything related to mongooses was the story of Rikki Tikki Tavi (thank you Rudyard Kipling).  According to Wiki, mongooses really do have a mutation that protects them from snake venom.  Fortunately I did not have to witness anything along those lines first hand. 

Zebra.  Zebra are also part of the migration along with the wildebeest, so it was not surprising that we kept encountering plenty of zebra.  I am not sure what they were thinking, but they often stopped to watch us.

A Zebra seemingly curious about us

Mara River further east.  As we made our way further east up the Mara River, the entire look of the river changed.  It was now much wider and shallower with lots of exposed rock.  It looked deserted.

Not deserted.  Looking more closely, with the help of Fazal, we quickly discovered that that the river was not deserted after all.  Once we knew to look for them, we started to see crocodiles everywhere.  

Some were on the rocks, although partially camouflaged.

Enjoying the sun on a warm rock

Some were partly submerged or at least wallowing in the mud.

These two chose the water and mud

While others cooled off by opening their mouths.

Asleep with his mouth open

Hippos.  Continuing further east we came to several pools of deeper water with lots and lots of hippopotamuses.  

Most were submerged in the water, which is normal daytime behavior. 

We saw several groups as we proceeded up the river.

Looking closely we could see the birds known as oxpeckers at work eating insects.

Somewhat surprisingly, given that it was nearing midday, not all of the hippos were in the water.

They certainly have a pig-like appearance,  but their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises, etc.), from which they diverged about 55 million years ago.  Maybe this fits with what we learned in Glacier Bay NP two years ago, that whales used to be land animals in the distant past.

We were even lucky enough to spot some calves.  Although they look small, I am not sure how little they really are.  Newborns average 110 pounds at birth, but the mother does not return them to the herd until they are several weeks old. These are obviously beyond that stage. Size is probably all relative.  Adult females average 2,900 pounds, while males are typically 3,300 pounds.

A couple of baby hippos

Best buds

Birds.  We saw numerous birds along he river.  I had already mentioned the oxpeckers on the hippos.

Yellow-billed Oxpeckers

  Many of the birds were quite beautiful.

Spur-winged Lapwing

Others were interesting, but kind of dorky looking.

Yellow-billed stork.  These are big guys.  According to Wiki they stand 36-41 inches tall.

 

A covey of Helmeted guineafowl

Drama on the river.  Some were even on the slightly ugly side, but this little bird ended up in the middle of a drama that played out in front of us.

Water thick-knee

The Water thick-knee makes its nest close to the water.  It isn't usually much of a nest, possibly only a scrape in the sand.  However it has an interesting relationship with the crocodiles.

"Unique among birds, thick-knee pairs frequently nest adjacent to and sometimes directly on top of Nile crocodile nests. The two species share a form of symbiotic mutualism with the more energetic and vocal thick-knee functioning as loud sentries for the nests as the more powerful crocodile provides protection. Should a nest raider approach, the thick-knee pair will spread their wings in a threat display and harass and peck at the intruders to drive it off. If the pair not be successful, the mother crocodile will be drawn in by their continued calls and arrive."  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_thick-knee]

No crocodile to the rescue this day.  It did not quite work out that way this day.  We spotted this monitor lizard working its way among the rocks.  We also heard the bird putting up quite a fuss.

Monitor lizard.  Note the tongue.

Unfortunately, as you can see in the video below, no crocodile came to the rescue today.  The lizard got his lunch.

 

Nearby land animals.  Interspersed among these sightings on the river were numerous land animals.

Juvenile wildebeest.  Of course we saw wildebeest, they are everywhere, but we were surprised to see the one below with straight horns.  It is apparently a juvenile.  The horns grow in straight and do not begin to curve until they are about 8 months old.

Juvenile wildebeest in the rear with straight horns, adult in the front.

Warthog.  In a mud puddle somewhat off the side of the road we saw our first warthog.  Since this guy was alone and seemed large, he was likely a male.  Warthogs are actually rather ferocious animals with their sharp tusks.  I knew they had tusks. but did not realize before that there are two sets.  According to Wiki, the lower pair, which is far shorter than the upper pair, becomes razor-sharp by rubbing against the upper pair every time the mouth is opened and closed.  All the more reason to stay clear of these guys.  Fortunately for us this fellow pretty much ignored us.

Yes, a Common Warthog.  He did not seem nearly as lovable as Pumbaa in The Lion King.

African buffalo.  We even saw some buffalo on the far bank of the river.  Buffalo are often considered the most dangerous of the Big Five because they are very aggressive.  Unlike lions or elephants, they don't  bluff charge.  If they are annoyed with you they come full steam ahead and don't stop.  More than 49% of buffalo attacks on humans result in the human dying, which is higher than leopard or lion attacks.  They are particularly feared by big game hunters since wounded animals have been reported to ambush and attack pursuers.  It is probably just as well they were on the other side of the river. 

Hippos in the river and African buffalo on the far bank

Film Crew following Leopards.  Fazal was constantly on the radio to other guides.  At one point he said we needed to make a slight detour.  One of his very good friends was nearby driving for a professional film crew.

Film crew with an enormous camera on the front

Of course we were very impressed by the enormous camera mounted on the front of the vehicle.

Apparently they were following leopards.  We assumed that meant they were filming at least part of the time at night since leopards are primarily nocturnal.  

I don't know who they were filming for.  There was some mention of National Geographic.  I later heard mention of Netflix.  I hope so.  I will definitely be on the lookout.

The river bends north and we go south.  We had already seen a lot in the relatively short distance along the stretch of the Mara River east of Kogatende airstrip.  Following the river would have taken us more to the northeast, but we needed to get started on our long drive south.

As the river bent more to the north we went south and started to look for a place to enjoy our box lunches. 

The river bends north as we go south

Before we could get settled into a shady place for lunch we encountered some new and interesting things, including a baby warthog!  All of that and more is the subject of the next post.