We got into the Summits Africa truck and headed off for a long weekend. We had been invited to go stay at Singita Grumeti, known as some of the most luxurious accommodations on the Northern Circuit. Our first stop was Kirurumu Tented Lodge, a beautiful lodge with canvas covered rooms with an unforgettable view over the Great Rift Valley. Our plan was to go mountain biking into the Ngorongoro Highlands from the lodge. Our trip would take us up a couple of steep hills, but into a vastness of rolling hills and the cliff edges of the Rift Valley. This afternoon was a bit surreal, as earlier on the road in a very unsuspecting area, a herd of six elephant bulls passed us in formation. The bulls were quite large and moving from the Highlands into Manyara ranch. We had been extremely surprised to this sight and it was a great sign for our safari to come.
Sundowners at Kirurumu were festive as we had run into the owners and friends. As usual the food was excellent and bedtime was sooner rather than later.The next morning we were up at 530am taking showers and grabbing some coffee and some breakfast boxes. Our drive was going to be long, as most people get a charter flight into the area we were going to. We soon arrived at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate and did our necessary formalities to drove through. After the gates, the bush is fair game and immediately we saw families of baboons grooming each other.
Driving through the Mbulu highlands is always impressive, especially when you round the corner where the Ngorongoro Crater appears. The 600m deep caldera is enormous and today there were no clouds and the view was pristine. The local Massai and their cattle herds went about their normal day of grazing amongst the green hills and acacias. Soon we came upon the official sign that denotes the separation of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti. Its always exciting to cross into the Serengeti, when you live in Arusha, the local game parks are frequently visited, but the Serengeti is special - one of the biggest game parks in the world - the place where the land runs on forever...
Serengeti National Park is most famous for its annual migration of over one million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras. The migration has seasonal patterns, but these vary depending on the rains and sometimes the herds will come into different areas earlier or later. The pattern essentially begins with the herds traveling south from the northern hills to the southern plains during the short rains in October and November; then heading west and north after the long rains in April, May, and June. The Serengeti is Tanzania's oldest park and is the flagship of tourism for the country. The park is famous for its grassland plains and savannas, however, it also has riverine forests and woodlands. The Serengeti's northern border is continuous with Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. Here, at the Mara River is where remarkable scenes of wildebeest river crossings happen and crocodiles jump out of the water to feed on the crossing game.
The north east border is Loliondo Game Controlled Area and the western border are the Grumeti Game Reserves (our final destination). The Serengeti holds healthy populations of all kinds of African animals, especially the Big Five termed for the most prized hunting trophies: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Once prominent with thousands of rhinos within the Ngorongoro and Serengeti ecosystems, poaching dramatically reduced the numbers to almost extinction. Huge efforts were made in conservation and the numbers increased. However, black rhinos in the area are closely monitored and given huge protection. Grumeti Game Reserves has flown in a male and female, which mated, and they plan to introduce thirty over the next couple of years into the area. The introduction of new bloodlines will help reduce inbreeding between existing rhino populations.
The plains contain plenty of cheetah, giraffe, and gazelles. The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest known, in fact early man fossils were found at Olduvai Gorge.Our crossing meant it was breakfast time and we stopped to enjoy our boxes. Eventually we drove by the plains of the Seronera and the official gate. Seronera is the main area with an airstrip, research headquarters, lodges, and park official accommodations. It is here that I saw a public bus with an elephant and a picture of US President-Elect Barack Obama doing a thumbs up.
Our drive took us passed Seronera and off to the west. This area is quiet, not too many vehicles traveling along this side. We passed the Musabu plains and began to see some herds of buffalo and giraffe. We drove to the Grumeti airstrip and noticed we had gone too far and made a turn back down a game driving road. In the distance we approached a slight downhill onto the plains again and right under a shaded acacia were two lioness and two cubs. The sight was picture perfect, a true African scene of predators and plains game. This was a nice opportunity to take some great photos and footage of the playful lion family. We felt blessed to have such a quiet and natural moment with the lions with no one else in sight for miles.
We kept driving a bit further and crossed into the Grumeti Game Reserves and reached Sabora Tented Camp: http://www.singita.com/index.php/game-reserves/lodges-and-camps-in-tanzania/
singita-sabora-tented-camp/. Sabora is made up of six luxury air-conditioned ensuite tents with a common reading area between tents, outdoor showers, umbrella covered lounge chairs, a pool, spa and a common bar and sitting area. The view is a panoramic picture of the Sabora plains with a waterhole in front. The clay tennis court was voted second in the world for most unique. We enjoyed an incredible fresh Prawn Salad from the chef poolside and watched as the rainclouds began to make their presence over the horizon. We finished up and were off to Faru Faru Lodge, our accommodation for the evening.Faru Faru Lodge: http://www.singita.com/index.php/game-reserves/lodges-and-camps-in-tanzania/
singita-faru-faru-lodge/. On the way we encountered two very lazy lions sleeping and a pack of jackals near their den. Unlike Sabora, which has visible tents, Faru Faru is tucked into the side of a hill like a ruin with naturally built roofs. Faru Faru is set on the Grumeti River and built in a rustic style with canvas and pure luxury. The rooms have a panoramic window which automatically opens and closes over private waterholes, air-conditioning, and outdoor rock showers. The intimate main area has an infinity pool and places to sit around a camp fire. We were totally breath-taken by this place. After a quick shower and some beers around the camp fire, we sat down and enjoyed a nice bottle of Chardonnay and Seared Tuna. Another early night and a long day of driving met the comfortable bed easily.
We awoke at 530am the following morning and took some hot outdoor showers and drank some coffee. We were off on a morning game drive and heading towards Sasakwa Lodge, the third Singita Grumeti property. Since the area is a private game reserve, the only people driving around are guests staying at the lodges, which are not many. It was the Northern Circuit without the crowds. As we drove along the Grumeti River, we saw Colobus Monkeys. Mostly these animals are only seen in Arusha National Park near Mt Meru. This species was different, a relative that comes from Western Africa with a different tail. The Game Reserve used to be a hunting concession and now Singita buys all the trophy licenses every year. Game has once again settled in the area and new unseen species are emerging including different insects and birds. We approached a big herd of elephants crossing and amongst the pack was the smallest elephant I have ever seen, not more than a month old still hairy. We could hear the sound of a lion in the distance calling out. As soon as the herd passed, we drove to see where the lion was calling from. We saw two male lions in a strike position and thought that they were going to hunt. Soon we saw a female lioness sitting below them and no game in sight. The camera began rolling and we were a bit confused if they were going to attack her or not? We kept steady and soon the two male lions went after the female and growled and chased her off for about one kilometer. We drove and followed them a bit, losing the female somewhere as she had run off.
The two males began to scent and urinate on the plants. The males were marking their territory all the way to the spot where they had attacked the female by leaving scent deposits. These were two male lions coming into a new territory and showing dominance. The lions new that the female was not in estrus, thus, chased her away. Lions have an olfactory organ on the roof of their mouths called the Jacobson's organ. The grimacing gesture called flehmen, opens the cats lips allowing air to pass over the Jacobson's organ. By smelling the lioness' urine they can tell if she is in estrus or not, extremely developed sense of smell. We were lucky to witness such animal behavior intimately and record it. We continued to game drive towards Sasakwa Lodge for breakfast, which we could see perched on Sasakwa hill.
Sasakwa Lodge: http://www.singita.com/index.php/game-reserves/lodges-and-camps-in-tanzania/
singita-sasakwa-lodge/. Immediately the views from Sasakwa were amazing. The property is a luxurious manor with individual villas, each with an infinity pool with stunning views of the Serengeti plains. There are tennis courts, air-conditioned rooms, fireplaces, bar area with pool table, a gym, spa, and an Equestrian centre that houses sixteen horses. Our breakfast was excellent and the views were relaxing. We met with the horses and walked the grounds for a bit. It was then another game drive towards Faru Faru Lodge and then lunch. Our lunch was absolutely lovely, a chilled Cream of Zucchini soup, and an assortment of skewers and tapas.
It was finally time to leave Grumeti and venture back into Seronera to meet our associate and his Japanese Film crew. As we got closer to Seronera, the sun was going down and trees were flooded with Marabou Storks, the black outline and pink backdrop was nice. On the road we saw a Bateleur Eagle eating a freshly killed Hare. All of a sudden we saw two hippo run out of the river and go on dry ground. They are surprisingly fast runners and one began to graze. We parked and watched the hippo for a while, as it is rare to see them outside of their safe water zone since usually hippos graze at night. We eventually landed at Wildlife Lodge and stayed there the night.
The next day we were up at 530am and went off with picnic boxes. The morning was quiet, not many cars around and we began to traverse the riverine forests. We saw a pride of lion in the distance and some birds circling a bit further. As we stopped and looked, we saw seven hyenas scavenging over a dead zebra that most likely had been eaten by the pride of lion we had just seen. Vultures joined the hyenas in scavenging the kill. In the distance we saw more birds flying and hovering, again we saw the very last remnants of a kill. We decided to go look on some rock kopjes and from the corner of our eyes was a leopard lying in a tree. As soon as we stopped, the leopard jumped off of the tree and hid. Leopards are extremely shy and seeing them perched in a tree is rare. I have yet to get photographic opportunities like this...
Eventually it was time to start making our way out. We passed the Seronera gate and came across the wildebeest migration. Game appeared on the plains as far as the eye could see. The migration was a bit early in the south as the rains had come early this year. To our right in the distance we could see something bright on a mound. It was a cheetah sunbathing pretty close to the road. We pulled up and took the time to take some great photos. Soon another cheetah came from a bush and joined the other cheetah on the mound. This must have been two male brothers. All of a sudden they stood up quickly and we looked to our left and saw a Steenbok. Before we knew it, the cheetahs crossed the road and did another check. I felt the adrenaline of some hunting taking place. I got out of the car and stood on the hood (you shouldn't do this) and began to film. Quicker than you can imagine a chase ensued and through the lens I tried to keep up with the running animals. Nature took its course and a short hunting chase occurred. The Steenbok went down and we were confused if the cheetahs had got it. They began to surround their prey and rustling began in a bush and soon they went in and we heard the antelope yelps of its last breath. Then the white legs came up and we knew, the Steenbok was dead. I had finally seen a kill in the bush! And got it on film! We were so happy and as usual with the bush, it all happened so quick. We decided to drive a bit closer and down a bit. Here, we had a much better view of the cheetahs with their kill. I began rolling again and proceeded to record the cheetahs eating the Steenbok with bloody faces, occasionally having the cheetahs lifting the body. We were lucky to see this happen, a real blessing. Our trip was certainly complete and we proceeded towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. On the way we saw another cheetah walking along the plains. We thought it might hunt and said to ourselves - really? However, after watching it for a while, the 
cheetah sat down and we knew it would not move for a while. Of course all of this action left us wanting more and that is exactly what should occur. Our last stop was a site inspection at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge: http://ngorongorocrater.com/. This lodge sits on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and has luxurious accommodation. This place is considered a top honeymoon spot with stunning views from the bed and bath. The lodge is architecturally inspired from the Masaai mud-and-stick homesteads or bomas, all of them with a fire place and chimney. We found some zebra grazing calmly on the grounds out in front of the restaurant. Finally, we were off and out of the NCA and on to Arusha. Not a bad couple of days in the bush....A short video of the cheetahs making a kill can be seen at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmH-dFuIPfo
or here:
