 | |
| Serengeti: 2 female lions on a kopje |
Manyara to Oldupai Gorge & Serengeti National Park
Outbound to Iringa, June 1, 2024,
By: George M
[Heart & Soul Lodge, Manyara area] After breakfast the staff sang farewell to us. Then when they learned today was David Barnes’ birthday they sang Happy Birthday to him. It is also his 39th wedding Anniversary with Teresa.
On the way up the hill we passed two overturned trucks , one in our direction which was new and one in the other where the load was being transferred to another vehicle. Both vehicles overturned on curves. We drove to the entrance to Ngorongoro [the road to Serengeti takes us through Ngorongoro - we'll be back!]
 |
| A group of government secretaries on a tour; Noel’s (our guide) sister- in-law |
As we climbed up the rim we were in fog until we reached 7700 feet when we broke out. We passed a Maasai village with lots of cattle then a group of giraffes
 |
| He was right next to the road |
 |
| This eagle posed for us |
Lots of zebras, wildebeest, Thomson gazelle and Grant gazelles.
We drove around a lake with lots of flamingoes. Then we headed to the Leakey museum above the Olduvai Gorge and had a briefing about the Leakeys and their pioneering work on the origin of Homo Sapiens. [Note: The museum guide explained to us that the correct name for the area is "Oldupai", which in Maasai language means "the place of the wild sisal", which is common in this area, The German doctor who originally named the area in the early 1900's had misunderstood the Maasai pronunciation and wrote down "Olduvai" instead, so that is how it still is listed on maps.]
 |
| Olduvai Gorge [Oldupai Gorge], 48 Km long |
After traversing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we entered Serengeti National Park and saw our first lions sunning on a big rock in the distance:
 |
| 2 female lions on a kopje |
We then found ourselves in the middle of the Great Migration ( wildebeest and zebras). Apparently the zebras lead until the river with crocodiles but, being smarter than the wildebeest, they let the wildebeest ford the river first. I estimate hundreds to thousands of animals migrating north to follow the water
 |
| The Great Migration ( animals as far as you can see) |
We also saw several Marabou storks perched in trees and saw some small elephants but did not have time to stop and photo them.
 |
| Marabou storks |
We arrived at our tented facility just at sunset.
 |
| Our luxury tent |
We had a nice dinner and hit the sack by 9:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment