Serengeti Day 4 Part 1 - 3 brothers, Visitor Centre
Leaving Turner Springs, the Three Brothers and Serengeti Visitors Centre
06.11.2018 - 06.11.2018
View
Tanzania for Lyn and Chris' 40th Anniversary 2018
on Grete Howard's travel map.
Despite being up and in the car by 05:40 this morning, we somehow don't seem to leave until 06:10. The good thing about this, of course, is that we actually get to see the Ole Serai Luxury camp in (almost) daylight.
This is the view at 05:40
It's getting lighter
Almost daylight
The lodge reception. It is sad to leave Ole Serai behind as we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, but it is time to move on to our next accommodation and more adventures. When we depart, all the staff come out to wave us goodbye.
The sun rises really quickly this close to the equator.
The Three Brothers
Malisa explains that these three male lions are brothers, and that each of them has a distinct purpose: one is a fighter (we can distinguish him by the scars), one the lover (no physical scars visible, but he maybe has some mental ones?) and the last one acts as the lookout.
Look at those scars!
This must be the lover, he is very handsome
Judging by their flat bellies, they are all hungry. Because of their large, heavy size, they are more likely to take the easy option, however, and steal another lion's kill as it uses much less energy than trying to make a kill themselves. They are not the least bit interested in the Thomson's Gazelle in nearby.
The lions have drawn quite a crowd.
The brothers settle down to enjoy the warmth of the early morning sun and we move on to “see what else nature has to offer us today”, one of Malisa's favourite sayings.
Long Crested Eagle
Spotting something on the ground, he takes off, dives down, tries to grab whatever it was he saw, but returns to his lofty perch empty-handed. Or should that be empty-taloned?
Coke's Hartebeest
The long pointy ears make it look like the hartebeest has four horns.
Serengeti Visitors Centre
This is always a good place to spot birds and small mammals, as many visitors have their picnic here leaving crumbs for the residents. We are stopping for breakfast today.
Red and Yellow Barbet
Hildebrand Starling
African Paradise Monarch
Speckled Fronted Weaver
Female Mwanza Flat Headed Rock Agama
Rock Hyrax
Tree Hyrax
After our picnic we go for a stroll along the interactive boardwalk around the kopje while Malisa goes off to get petrol for the car. Last time we came with Lyn and Chris (in 2016) it was closed for renovation, and last year (2017) when it was just the two of us I was unable to partake in the walk because I was suffering badly from pneumonia, so it was good to be able to see what they had done to it.
It's a fun walk, sympathetically created to blend in with nature, complete with lots of metal sculptures and explanation boards.
Dung Beetles
Those of you who have followed my blogs for a while, may remember that I have a soft spot for dung beetles.
Another good reason for stopping here is to use the very decent modern toilets.
A great big “THANKS” goes out to Calabash Adventures for organising yet another fantastic safari for us.
Posted by Grete Howard 01:12 Archived in Tanzania Tagged animals birds breakfast africa safari tanzania birding picnic petrol lions toilets serengeti monarch starling hyrax barbet bird_watching game_drive tented_camp dung_beetles calabash_adventures hartebeest kopje rock_hyrax tree_hyrax breakfast_picnic game_viewing ole_serai_luxury_camp ole_seari luxury_camp three_brothers long_crested_eagle serengeti_visitor_centre hildebrand_starling red_and_yellow_barbet african_paradise_monarch visitors_centre visitor_centre
Aha, the Tree Hyrax
And those three brothers are magnificent!
But in your photo of Lyn on the boardwalk I really thought for a moment that there was a big cat of some sort just up ahead of her!!
by ToonSarah