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Tanzania 2014 Serengeti Mara Day 1B

Tanzania is in eastern Africa, just below Uganda and Kenya, and on the Indian Ocean. At the end of our eleven day/ten-night Zambia safari, we flew from Livingston to Johannesburg for an overnight stay. The next day we flew to Arusha, Tanzania via Nairobi. Arriving at Arusha Coffee Lodge at around 8 pm, we spent two nights (one full day) relaxing there before our next adventure. On the morning of 28 August 2014, our guide and driver, Nelson, picked us up at ACL in his 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser for the trip to Ngorongoro Crater. After three nights and two full days in the Crater while staying at Lemala Ngorongoro Camp, we flew by Coastal bush plane out of Manyara Airstrip to Kogatende Airstrip for four nights at Sayari Mara Camp in the remote NW corner of the Serengeti near the Mara River and the Kenyan border. Albert Alfred Lucas was our guide and driver. All arrangements for our requested Tanzanian safari from our arrival at ACL through our return to Arusha and departure from ACL on 5 September 2014 were made by Africa Travel Resource.

All photos are Copyright 2014 Larry Lenon All Rights Reserved and show a faint watermark. THE WATERMARK WILL NOT APPEAR ON PRINTS, MERCHANDISE OR DOWNLOADS ORDERED THRU SMUGMUG. Questions ? Critique ? Add a comment (lower left) or e-mail me!
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10:37 am and waiting in the sparse shade for word of another crossing before returning to camp for lunch.
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10:37 am and waiting in the sparse shade for word of another crossing before returning to camp for lunch.

  • 10:37 am and waiting in the sparse shade for word of another crossing before returning to camp for lunch.
  • Gray Heron stalking snakes in the grass.
  • Lilac-breasted Roller on the lookout for bugs.
  • Elephants on the move towards shade as the heat of the day draws near.
  • A male Bateleur.
  • We arrived at 10:56 am at this difficult crossing after it was well underway. Fewer wildebeest were taking part as compared to the one earlier in the day.
  • Forging across at a wide spot in the river, the water is shallow and moving relatively slowly. So the animals can go almost straight across from south to north.
  • The usual traffic jam at what turned out to be a place where there was plenty of space on the bank but no exit to higher ground. See the next photo.
  • Wildebeest piling up at an open spot on the far left that has no exit to higher ground while a trickle of animals escape from the bank thru a narrow opening that is hard to get to.
  • Here's some of what makes this a difficult crossing - numerous piles of rock out in the river that animals have to traverse or detour around right in the normal route from one side to the other.
  • Just to keep things interesting, a herd of elephants go in reverse. My guess is that they regularly wade from one side of the river to the other to cool off and to find better grazing.
  • The high-water mark makes for two-toned elephants. The matriarch, having led them to a drink and cooling off in the river, now leads them to lunch in the trees.
  • The wildebeest that have not yet crossed the river gather and mill about, grazing at a slow gait.
  • Marabou Stork.
  • Three Marabou hunting for critters along a creek.
  • Five adult and one immature Marabou Storks wait for the vulture to finish. If there were a few more storks, they could chase the vulture away.
  • Marabou in flight.
  • Along the Mara River, two young male giraffes prepare to spar.
  • They "fight" by trying to nail their opponent with the bony horns on top of their head.
  • A glancing blow which the opponent partly dodged.
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