Tanzania VIII.

12-28-14 SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA: We started the day’s game drive at the river watching another stream of wildebeests crossing, then a herd of ten giraffes working the hillside. Males reach up to the treetops while females eat at shoulder height. Then there was a pride of five sleeping lions. After a few gazelles, a lizard and new birds, we found a solitary bull elephant and followed him as he ate grass and shrubs. Then there was a herd of twenty seven elephants with babies, young males and adults. The immature males were like troublesome teens fighting with each other. Before lunch we watched another momma cheetah and three cubs trying to sneak up on some gazelles without success.

Lunch was Tanzanian pizza and salad, and then we were back out after siesta and saw a new, for us, animal—a bat eared fox, the consensus was very cute. We found a solitary, young male lion who had been kicked out of the pride as a threat to the dominant male. He was limping from a hip injury that he probably got while being chased away.

When we got back to the camp, there were ‘tails in the wilderness—about a hundred yards from the tents. A giraffe stopped by, but only had an acaciatini. Then dinner with more ‘tails around the campfire. There were s’mores at the campfire after dinner and a nice sunset.


There are a lot of vultures in East Africa, and they're all enjoying full employment. This is a Lappet-faced vulture, I believe.

African pygmy falcon. Anyone with a better ID on any of the birds, jump in. I can tell a leopard from a cheetah, but there are thousands of birds.

Steppe eagle, one of many eagles.

Helmeted guinea fowl. This one I'm sure of.

Banded Mongoose.

Bat-eared fox.

Marabou stork and a bunch of vulture working on a project...

With an audience waiting to volunteer.

The lounge tent at Serengeti Under Canvas.