Kenya and Tanzania - Day 6

Serengeti Facts: the name Serengeti in Swahili means endless plain. The Serengeti is 11,583 square miles. The Serengeti plains are home to more than 2 million wildebeests, 300,000 gazelles, 200,000 zebras, and 100,000 buffaloes. Nowhere else in the world can you see such huge herds of giant herbivores traveling together across the plains.

We were up and out on our game drive by 7:30 am. We had our driver Chrispin that was our driver in Arusha for the city tour. It doesn’t take long to see wild life in the Serengeti. We saw our first new animal in the parking lot.

This is a hyrax also know as a rock rabbit. Hyraxes have a unique feature: the iris of their eye slightly protrudes over the pupil. This acts as a built-in sun visor.

Early in our review of activities in the Serengeti we learned about Tse Tse flies. We were warned that they are carnivorous and relentless. No amount of deep woods Deet or citronella will deter them. If you wear black or dark blue clothes you will become an instant Tse Tse fly magnet. We have been fortunate so far and not seen any Tse Tse flies.

I noticed these blue and black cloths hanging on trees about 1/2 mile apart and around our hotel. I asked Taryn about them. She said they are designed to attract Tse Tse flies and contain a chemical to neuter them. Perhaps it works.

We are enjoying our stay at the Four Seasons Safari Club. A bit of luxury on the endless plain. Each room has a view of the Serengeti with wild game only a few feet below our balcony. In the late afternoon we have a dazzle of zebras frolicking with the buffalo. We were warned to always lock our patio doors or else the baboons would push them open and rob us blind. When walking to our room after dark we are accompanied by a guard to keep us safe from wild beasts. We know they are out there because we have seen them on our game drives and can hear them roar.

Our spacious room has a canopy bed and a giant walk in closet.

When we are not on a safari we are swimming in the infinity pool that overlooks the Serengeti.

This is a portion of the walk way from the lobby to our room. It is quite a dark walk at night. The guard is a welcome companion.

Our game drive took us to similar areas that we saw the day before. There were dazzles of zebras, herds of spring bucks and gazelles and many buffalo. We did see a new animal that is quite unique.

This is a dik dik. It is the smallest antelope in the world at 12 -16” in height.

We found a pride of lions on the rocks. They had a surprise for us.

Overnight the lions killed a zebra and wildebeest. They disembowel their prey by removing the entails through the anus.

Another view of the dressed carcass. The lions will protect and feed on the carcass for two days and then abandon it to the scavengers.

The male lion is never far away from his pride.

Not all the animals we see are mammals. Here is the Agama rock lizard.

I went on a bird watching tour today. That is when I saw the lizard. Tomorrow we have two game drives with the first one starting at 7:00 am and the second one at 4:30 pm. There are still more animals to see on the Serengeti.