Seronera - Naabi Hill

Almost immediately after leaving the lodge this morning, in the darkness before daybreak, we spot a male lion and his two females near a river. We stay with them until the sun comes up.

And what a sunrise it is!

The lions are joined by a black backed jackal, so I guess they have a kill around here somewhere.

We stick around to find out.

Meanwhile the sun is still painting the sky red on its quest to conquer the darkness of night.

Barely visible through the long grass, our lion is moving his breakfast to a better place.

There is not a lot of meat left on what was once a zebra; it hardly seems worth the effort of moving it.

Oops. The thin sinew holding it all together has snapped and the ribs are left behind, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the vultures waiting in the wings.

The vultures are thwarted again in their quest for food.

A Marabou Stork also tries to muscle in on the action.

As well as a Tawny Eagle.

A couple of other females, from another pride, are cautiously, and surreptitiously (they think) making their way towards the kill too, pretending that they are not the least bit interested in the food.

The newcomers, however, have been spotted and are closely watched by our two original lionesses.

As these latecomers have not helped out with the kill, they are not welcome at the dining table either, and are chased off with some gusto.

Meanwhile the jackal sees an opportunity to get a morsel or two of meat and makes his move while the lionesses are busy chasing rivals.

Time for us to move along too. The sun is now well above the horizon, painting everything in its wake a golden hue, contrasting beautifully with the long, dark shadows.

A very noisy Rufous Tailed Weaver makes sure we are all awake and fully alert.

Because they spend most of their day submerged in water, seeing a hippo on land always causes some excitement.

As we leave the pond area, we see the first other vehicle of today. This is what I love about travelling in the Green Season: the lack of other tourists.

Sitting in the middle of the road, the hyena gets up when we arrive, but she is in no hurry to let us pass as she has a good scratch and a shake before sauntering into the long grass.

Of course, the downside of travelling in the green season is the fact that the grass is so long, making it harder to see – and photograph – the animals.

The zebra are accompanied by wildebeest. Lots of them. This is part of the Great Annual Migration.

As we are heading for the exit gate along the bumpy tracks of the Serengeti, David tries out the stabiliser on his new Osmo camera (similar to a GoPro but without the hefty price tag).

Mounted on the end of a monopod and operated remotely by a mobile phone, he holds the camera out through the window and up above the roof, to get shots that would otherwise be difficult with a traditional camera.

Bearing in mind that the gravel road has a perfect washboard effect, I think this small video clip is unbelievably smooth. Well done Osmo and David - you both performed brilliantly!
 
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At Simba Kopje, we encounter a small memory (collective noun) of elephants.

This girl is trying to get rid of the flies by swatting herself with a tree branch.

While another couple of them partake in a bonding session.

Clinging to the near-vertical side of the precipitous kopje rock face, the baboons scramble and play. It all looks rather precarious to me.

Once again our path is blocked by a cackle of hyenas.

In the distance we spot a couple of lions.

The 'couple of lions' turn out to be five – three male, two females. All youngsters. I guess this must be some sort of a youth club then.

Look at all those pesky flies!

Young sir is certainly not too impressed by them.

Despite the nuisance of the flies, they can still enjoy a tender moment.

“Please flies, go away!”

We bid our lovely lions goodbye and head for the park gate.

Serengeti (as well as the other parks in Tanzania) works on a strict 24 hour basis for the permits, so if you entered the park at 10:21 and buy a three day ticket, you have to be out of the park by 10:21 three days later. If you overstay your welcome, you get charged a penalty, usually the cost of another full day.

So here we are, Malisa has checked us out and we have breakfast with the birds, including a Superb Starling who sits on the back of the bench, hoping to get some crumbs from our picnic.

While a Marabou Stork walks right on by without a care in the world.

They are seriously big birds!

Today is the 17th May, which to Norwegians is a very special day indeed. The day commemorates the signing of the constitution on that date in 1814. In Norway, the occasion is celebrated in a big way, and to many this is at least as big as (if not bigger than) Christmas. It's the day everyone wears their national costume, eats too much ice cream, and wave the Norwegian flag around. (You can read more about it here)

Naturally we packed a few flags, and create our own little celebration this morning, although I have to admit it is mostly in order to take a photo so that we can send it to my dad today to wish him “Happy 17th May”.

And with that we leave Serengeti and head for pastures new. Thank you Calabash Adventures for putting together this awesome trip for us. Follow my blog for the next entry, with more animal pictures and stories.