Africa Trip 2024 - Day 4, Another River Crossing

[This is post #7 of 21 posts about our 2024 trip to Africa. To go to the first post in the series CLICK HERE.   At the end of the last post there is also a Directory with links of all 21 posts.]

It is now September 13, Day 4 of our safari itinerary.  We were up dark and early.

Power Outage.  When we checked into the room the night before we discovered there were multiple electrical outlets and were told there would be power all night in the room.  That was reassuring given the many items that needed to be charged overnight.  Based on our research ahead of time, electrical power overnight in the rooms is not a given at all camps.  None of the camps are on the grid.  They generally depend on solar for electricity, although some also have a generator.  

Unfortunately, during one of the times I woke up overnight, I not only heard a lot of animal noises outside but I also noticed our power was off.  It was not a huge problem, since we already had our headlamps ready to go.  We had been using them routinely for moving around outside in the dark. 

Rambunctious buffalo.  Happily, the power did come back on before we needed to leave for breakfast.  It was only later we discovered the power outage was due to a herd of buffalo.  Apparently they had gotten rowdy some time in the night and had somehow broken an electrical cable.  Just life in the Serengeti I guess.

Sunrise over the Serengeti.  Our goal was to get started as early as possible since many of the animals tend to be more active overnight or near sunrise and sunset.  Serengeti National Park rules do not allow travel in the park before sunrise or after sunset, although the guides seem to know they can fudge that a little.  Sunrise was about 6:30 am.  We did not quite make it out by our original goal of 6, but we had finished breakfast, had our camera gear in the vehicle, and were on the road as the sun was breaking over the horizon.

Wildebeest and their friends everywhere.  We had barely left camp when we immediately encountered lots of wildebeest heading towards the river.  Another river crossing seemed promising given so many animals going in that direction.

Wildebeest heading towards the river at sunrise

Mixed in among the wildebeest were quite a few zebra.  Fazal explained that wildebeest and zebra often are together.  We were particularly excited to see this little foal with his mother.  Ahhh, so cute.

We were not aware that this was necessarily a baby time of year, but we saw lots and lots of little ones of all types.

Breakfast time for this little one

This little guy may have been small, but he hustled right along and stayed up with the big ones.

We were enjoying seeing all of these animals as we made the short drive to the river.  To our surprise we also discovered a giraffe mixed in as well.

A long wait.  There were huge numbers of wildebeest on both sides of the river.  On multiple occasions it looked like one group or another was gathering at the edge to make a break for it.

Looks like they are preparing to cross, but just another false alarm.

In every case it turned out to be a false alarm.  None of them would take the first step to cross the river so we sat and waited.  They seemed content to munch on the grass wherever they were.

The long wait gave us plenty of time to check out other activity.  There were numerous interesting birds, all of which were new to us. 

Temminck's Courser

Bare-faced Go-away-bird.  Yes, that really is what it is called

Lilac-breasted roller, the national bird of Kenya.

We saw some hippos on the other side of the river.

Much further up river we could just barely see a mother hippo and her little one crawl up onto the bank.

 

 

By this time it was almost noon and we were hardly the only ones hoping to see the wildebeest make a river crossing. 

 

Back to camp.  Most of the wildebeest had retreated to shady spots under the trees.

 

We decided to retreat too and go back to camp for a leisurely lunch.  We then spent some downtime in the room including preparation for moving to another camp in the morning

Back to the room to prepare for moving to a new camp in the morning.  The apparatus on the roof is the solar water heater.  The amount of hot water was limited, but it was very very hot.

Late afternoon along the Mara River.  After our midday break it was back to the river hopefully to see a river crossing.  It was a beautiful late afternoon.  Most of the wildebeest and zebra in the distance seemed content with the grass they had.  Even the fish eagle in the tree seemed happy to just chill out.

Quiet time along the Mara River.  Note the fish eagle sitting in the tree checking out the river for possible prey.

 

Fish eagle

Finally they cross.  There had been many false starts today, but just a little down river it looked like the herd might finally be preparing to cross. Notably several zebra were in the lead checking things out.  According to Fazal, wildebeest are incredibly stupid.  They don't think, they just follow.  However their buddies the zebra will often check things out to see if a crossing seems appropriate.  Most zebra are not foolhardy enough to lead the crossing, but somehow they communicate to the wildebeest whether to go or not.  

Zebra checking out whether to cross while the wildebeest line up behind.

I don't know whether all of this was really going on or not, but it made a good story and it certainly looked like what was happening.  The zebra seemed to check things out then made a hasty retreat while the wildebeest started to cross.

The first wildebeest take a few tentative steps into the water

The crossing begins in earnest, with lots more lining up

The animals seem to begin to panic and move much faster as an increasing number of animals stampede from the rear

Note in the video below the panicked wildebeest in the distance running at full speed once they realized a crossing was in progress.

Almost as quickly as it started it was over.  Again some zebra went down to the river.  When they turned around the wildebeest did the same.

For whatever reason, these zebra came out and turned the rest of the wildebeest back.  The wildebeest did not protest, they just turned around and walked back away from the water.

Although further from the action than the crossing the day before, it was fantastic to see the whole process develop and get a good view of them actually crossing the river.

Hippos.  By this time it was beginning to get late.  However that meant it was time for the hippos hiding in the water to start waking up.  They tend to stay submerged during the heat of the day, but come out at night to graze on land. 

It had been another great day in the Serengeti.  Tomorrow we will explore further up river, then head south to a different region of the Serengeti and hence a different set of critters.

Africa Trip 2024 - Day 3 (con't), Mara River Crossing and More

[This is post #6 of 21 posts about our 2024 trip to Africa. To go to the first post in the series CLICK HERE.   At the end of the last post there is also a Directory with links of all 21 posts.]
 

It was late morning on Thursday, September 12.  It had already been an exciting several days since we left DFW Sunday evening. Yet as listed on our itinerary from Africa Dream Safaris, it was still only Day 3 of our twelve day trip.  As described in the previous post, we were now in far north Serengeti National Park and actually just now beginning our safari with our guide, Fazal.

Overview of Serengeti National Park and surrounding regions.  (https://www.africadreamsafaris.com/maps/tanzania)

The Great Migration.  The main reason for coming here at this time of year was to see the Great Migration and hopefully to see a Mara River crossing.  Often referred to as "The Greatest Show on Earth", the Great Migration is a movement of a approximately 1.7 million wildebeest (or for the computer geeks - also known as gnus), nearly 300,000 zebra, and hundreds of thousands of other plains animals including 0.5 million different types of antelope.  It is the largest mammal migration on earth.  The motivating force for the movement is the never ending search for food (i.e. grass) and water. 

"There isn’t really a beginning nor an end to the Great Migration, it is a circular, never-ending pilgrimage that starts again and again. Animals will follow the circular clockwise route year after year, back and forth from the Serengeti National Park, in northern Tanzania, to the Masai Mara National Reserve, in southern Kenya.  The exact timing of the Great Migration cannot be predicted, as it depends on each year's rainy season and other variable factors." (http://www.faysafaris.com/wilderbeest-migration.htm)

 "For close to 6 months of the year the migration is set on the short grass plains of the southern Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Whilst they are in this region, during January and February, the wildebeest give birth to more than 400,000 calves in just 3 weeks. This incredibly short breeding season is a defensive mechanism to minimize the loss of young to predators.

As the season’s change and the southern Serengeti dries out, the wildebeest and zebra begin to head north/north-west towards the longer grasses of the Western Corridor and Grumeti Game Reserve. June and July marks the time that most of the mating takes place.

Depending on the rains, from late July the first few wildebeest start migrating into the far north of the Serengeti and into Kenya’s renowned Masai Mara Game Reserve. However, depending on where the rains are, they may stay longer in Tanzania before moving north into to Masai Mara; or move back and forth between two different regions."  (https://www.africanwildlifesafaris.com/the-best-wildlife-viewing-in-the-world/)

Once the short rains begin, usually in October, the herds head southward to begin the process all over again.

Approximate location of the herds at different times of the year. http://www.faysafaris.com/wilderbeest-migration.htm

River Crossings.  The animals are trailed throughout their journey by many different predators. However, by far the most perilous parts of the migration are the river crossings.  To cross the several rivers, but especially the larger Mara River, the herds must face steep banks, swift currents, slippery often submerged rocks, and thousands of  hungry crocodiles.  

Despite large numbers of wildebeest gathering at the river's edge, there is no guarantee they will get up the courage to cross.  However, once the first animal decides to make a run for it, then there is a stampede of animals.  It might be a few hundred or a few thousand, but there is a mad scramble to get to the other side.  However many end up crossing, it is an exciting spectacle to witness.

We begin our safari.  We had landed at Kogatende Airstrip and set off for the Mara River, which flows from Kenya into Tanzania on its way to Lake Victoria.   Below is the stylized map showing just the section normally referred to as North Serengeti.  The Mara River runs east to west near the top of the map just below the region labelled Lamai Triangle.  

We had originally been scheduled to visit the Lamai Triangle.  Unfortunately the flooding rains in Kenya in April and May, 2024 which killed hundreds of people, washed out the bridge  at the Kogattende Airstrip over the Mara River. Since there was no longer a way to cross the Mara River, all of our adventures would be on the south side.

Stylized map if North Serengeti.  Dashed diagonal line near the top is the border between Tanzania to the south and Kenya to the north.  No border crossings are permitted in this area.  (https://www.africadreamsafaris.com/maps/north-serengeti)

The gps tracks for all of our wanderings are shown on the map below.  Although we immediately started to see lots of animals once we left the airstrip, info from other guides on Fazal's radio indicated the wildebeest were congregating for a possible river crossing.  Off we went.

GPS tracks of our wanderings in far north Serengeti NP superimposed on an actual map.  The Mara River is the light blue line. GPS tracks:  Red - small plane flight, Sept. 12 ending at Kogatende Airstrip on the east side (note the white road crossing the river immediately north of the airstrip is the washed out bridge); Green - remainder of Sept. 12; Yellow - Sept. 13;  Blue - beginning of the track for Sept. 14. 

Unfortunately, given the late start since we had just arrived, we were soon in a traffic jam of safari vehicles trying to find a spot on the river to see the possible crossing.

Trying to get into position to see the animals in the river

Vehicles or not, there were wildebeest everywhere trying to get to the river.  It made me think of stampedes on cattle drives in old western movies.  The dust was incredible.

Wildebeest everywhere and an unbelievable amount of dust

We never did get the greatest view of them crossing the river due to the massive clouds of dust and the inability to maneuver around some of the other vehicles.  However, it may have actually been more exciting to be in the middle of the stampede.  In any case it was incredible to realize we had seen a wildebeest crossing only an hour or so after landing in the Serengeti. 

Video of the sights and sounds of our first wildebeest crossing.  Here is a short video of what we did see and hear.  As with all of these videos, YouTube defaults to a lower resolution to accelerate the downloading. To get around that I recommend: 1. Pause the video. 2. Hit settings (gear in lower right hand corner) and set the resolution to the highest possible value.  3. Hit go and enjoy.  The lower resolution may not matter on a very small screen, but you can see so much more if you view it on a computer monitor and watch it full screen.

Off they go

Despite the mad scramble to get to the river by so many wildebeest, as we started to leave there were huge numbers just milling around.  For whatever reason they had decided not to chance a river crossing this time. I don't know why.  I hate to read too much into the decision making of a wildebeest, since they seemed to be among the dumbest animals in Africa. 

These are among the ones that chickened out and decided not to try for the other side of the river.

 

We quickly moved on but it was hard for me to get my mind around the numbers of wildebeest that were everywhere.  They all seemed to be moving in the direction of the river.

Road block ahead

Our first of many antelope sightings.  We also began to see a few of the many many species of antelope that live in the Serengeti.  According to one guidebook I had on my Kindle (Tanzania Wildlife and Safari Guide by Diane and Peter Swan), there are fifty species of antelope in Africa and Asia.  I don't know how many are in East Africa, but the pocket guide we were carrying showed over 20.  To the uninitiated, meaning us, many of them looked the same.  However with Fazal's help we began to recognize some of the differences.  Whatever they were, they all tended to be very beautiful animals.

Reedbuck

Impala

Surprise!!  Everywhere we turned we seemed to see a new (to us) animal.  However the biggest surprise was pulling into a group of trees to find quite the spread laid out for us for lunch.

What a surprise!  A bush lunch on a Maasai shuka no less.  No box lunches today!

Back to the river.  After a relaxing lunch, we headed back towards the river.  As Fazal explained, we wanted to see as many of the various river related animals such as hippos and crocodiles as possible.  Once we got further south in a few days, there would be an entirely different set of animals and no more opportunities to see the river animals.

We did catch sight of a hippo.

Hippo in the river

We even saw a large monitor lizard in the road on the way.  I am not sure how big he was, but at least 5-6 feet from his snout to the end of his tail.  I refer to him as "large", but I guess he may be a "smallish" one.  iNaturalist indicates they can be up to 8 feet long. 

Nile Monitor Lizard

However, the main attraction this afternoon was seeing the many different scavengers cleaning up after the earlier wildebeest crossing further up river.

Storks and a few vultures, feeding on wildebeest carcasses with a crocodile snoozing in the foreground

 

A white-backed vulture claiming his dinner

Meanwhile a flock of vultures watched from the bank.

Some of what must have been 100's of vultures in the area

Although the scenes above were fairly tranquil, things got more interesting with a crocodile on the near side of the river.

Two Nile Crocodiles and a barely visible wildebeest carcass

Even from high on the bank in the safari vehicle, we could see these guys were huge.  Females are typically 4 meters long, while males are 3.5 - 5 meters.  Large males can be up to 1,000 kg.  That is 2,200 pounds, making them the largest predators in Africa!  They are opportunistic feeders on anything that comes their way, including humans.  They are incredible swimmers but can even run as fast as 17 km/hr (that is 10.5 mph) for short distances on land.

Even from a distance, it was obvious they had an impressive set of teeth, up to 66 according to the guidebook. 

Lots of teeth

Despite an incredibly strong bite and their many teeth, they cannot chew.  To reduce their prey  to swallow-size portions, they must roll their prey in the water or flail it about in the air.  That is exactly what he proceeded to do.

One more bit of Nile Crocodile trivia:  They have two aortas.  

"The additional aorta saturates the blood in carbon dioxide - a vital ingredient for the production of stomach acid, which is necessary for the digestion of the massive prey they hunt."  (Tanzania Wildlife and Safari Guide, Diane and Peter Swan, page 153.)

I have not yet figured that out.  It will require more Googling on my part.

Birds.  One of the surprises of the trip was the large number of really beautiful birds we saw seemingly everywhere.  We were not necessarily looking for them, but they would often appear as we were quietly watching the larger animals.

 

Little Bee-eater

 

Sacred Ibis

 

Woodland Kingfisher

Elephants.  Heading towards camp we encountered a group of five elephants including this mother and her little one.

Mara River Camp.  It was getting quite dark by the time we pulled into our home for the next two nights, Karibu Mara River Camp. 

Below is a video of the drive into the property actually taken the following afternoon, September 13.  It shows the general landscape of the area and is at least an introduction to the incredibly rough roads we encountered everywhere.

Entrance to Mara River Camp, one of three Karibu managed properties we stayed at on this trip.

Our room was quite large and very nice, but I forgot to take pictures.  Fortunately Africa Dream Safaris has some good pics.  

After dropping off our things, we hurried back to the main building for dinner.  As with all of the camps, there is no fence so animals are free to come and go.  We always needed an escort to our room after dark to ensure we did not have problems.  Like at all of the camps, these escorts tended to be local native tribesmen who also patrolled the camp all night.  I was not sure what I was hearing, but several times during the night I woke to animal sounds outside.  It was never scary, just surreal to realize we were really in the Serengeti.

What a fantastic start to our safari, yet we had barely scratched the surface of what we would eventually see.  Next up -- another river crossing!

Wildebeest at sunset on our first night on safari in the Serengeti