Back Like I Never Left

At the Kenya-Tanzania Border

I truly learned the meaning of “roll with the punches” this trip, I learned a few lessons and hopefully by sharing my experiences you won’t make the same mistakes.

To Preface: I have made a promise to myself that I will visit Africa at least once a year. Following on the heels of my first safari and conversations I had with my guide, Moodie, I knew I wanted to visit Tanzania during wildebeest calving season. This occurs between January-March while the migration is down south following the rains. It’s a time where the herd is ultra-vulnerable to predators as they are lying in wait for the pregnant wildebeest to give birth. Unlike other animals, breeding is synced with the rest of the herd of wildebeest, which in turn leads to mass birthings. When planning any trip like this where you are attempting to follow a migratory herd, it is really important to remember that there is no guarantee the animals will actually be in the location you decide to stay. I have seen first hand that these wildebeest do indeed follow the rain, one night they can be in your area and the next morning they could have moved on to an area you are no longer permitted for. I recommend doing what I did, and spreading out your days through the whole park.

The plan for this trip was to once again stay with Nasikia Camps and spend three nights in the northern Serengeti, four nights in the central Serengeti, and four nights in Ndutu, which is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Now this is where I learned lesson number one; it’s really hard to find good flights out of South Florida to get you to Kilimanjaro International Airport in a reasonable amount of time. I booked the same flight as I had for the prior trip, which flew out of Atlanta, connected in Chicago O’Hare, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I ended up being delayed in Chicago which caused me to miss my connector in Ethiopia, and there was one flight a day; I ended up missing the whole first day of my safari and thankfully Maasai Wanderings/Nasikia were super easy to work with to reschedule my flight up to the Serengeti once I arrived. I will now be adding a full buffer day for any future trips, which is honestly a good idea regardless to help adjust to the time change.

I was adamant that Moodie would once again be my guide, it felt like being reunited with an old friend, seeing him again. In February, the northern part of the Serengeti is very lush and you could potentially not see any other jeeps, and also have an entire camp to yourself, like I did. I enjoy being by myself and having less people around, so being in the north at this time was great for me. The viewing definitely took a bit more effort than when the migration is in town because there is so much less game for predators and also with the landscape being more green it makes it much harder to spot wildlife.

We are now moving on to lesson number two; being that I had never gotten sick or anything on my previous trips I elected to once again not bring any meds with me, which ended up being a big mistake. I can’t pinpoint what exactly made me sick but I think it was a combination of sun poisoning and potentially something I ate. My first full day I started to feel horrible and it proceeded to get worse into the night, I was up most of the night with a bad stomach bug and was mentally preparing myself to be sitting at camp for multiple days. Thankfully, my accommodation, Kaskaz Mara Camp had Azithromycin and I was on the road to recovery. I will not make that mistake again, it is so easy to go to a travel doctor and have them prescribe precautionary medicine, and it will give you so much peace of mind.

Back in my happy place!

I have been incredibly lucky with all of my sightings, and even though I was going through some stomach issues, we still made the most of it. The morning I was headed to the central part of the Serengeti, I was once again lucky enough to see a rhino at the entrance to KasKaz camp; as if the safari gods were looking down on me and giving me a little win after a really difficult night. Moodie had set off earlier so he could make it to Seronera Airstrip before my flight arrived from Kogatende.

The central Serengeti is always going to be busy and have great viewing. I spent four nights at Nasikia’s Naona Moru Camp, it is a wonderful camp with top notch service; it is a bit far from some of the more active spots but it is in an incredible location when the migration is moving through.

Viewing was amazing in this part of the park, the photos below highlight a few of my favorite moments. Our first evening we encountered a large pride feeding on a zebra kill, the lighting and moment was absolutely perfect and it is so beautiful to see nature at work. Knowing that these females are providing enough for their growing cubs and seeing all the full bellies brings about all sorts of emotions. While it can be sad to see the carcass’ of their victims, you have to remember it is all part of the circle of life. Lions are territorial so we were able to check back in with this pride each day as Moodie was very familiar with them and their movements throughout their space.

The photo of the leopard was taken right after we left the pride, as the sun was creeping towards the horizon and we were due back at camp. That sighting was the epitome of golden hour, this leopard posed only briefly before darting down the tree and off into the tall grass, presumably to get ready for an evening hunt. Leopards are stunning creatures and I feel incredibly lucky every sighting I get; between their ability to blend in with their surrounding and just some individuals being more skittish to vehicles, you really have to be patient and keep a sharp eye out.

We set off early the next morning headed back towards the location of the pride from the previous night, hoping to see what was left of the kill. During the drive we stumbled upon this beautiful male rhino, who was only with us for a moment before darting off into the thick bush. This really is one of my favorite photos as it was the first rhino I was able to capture up close with my own equipment.

Rhinos are another animal whose sightings I never take for granted. The critically endangered black rhino, so majestic and powerful, I’m so thankful for all of the conservation efforts being made to protect this species and save the remaining population.

Finally we have the beautiful elephants, my personal favorite animal. It’s always extra special when there are small babies! An elephant’s gestation period is twenty two months, a very long time compared to that of a lion, who carries for about four months; you are always bound to see cubs of some age, but the tiniest baby elephants are not as common. So cute and clumsy. This herd had one very small baby and a few older ones. I find them to have a calming presence, one I could sit with all day.

I could go on and on about all of my sightings in the central Serengeti, but I’m going to leave it with these few special moments. It is time to move on to the main reason for the time and place of this trip. Last time I saw the migration they were fighting for their lives as they made the daunting swim across the Mara River. This time we find them in the south, following the rains and giving birth to the newest generation of wildebeest.

Moodie and I with the migration off in the distance by Ndutu!

Moodie and I made the very muddy drive down from Naona Moru Camp to the Ndutu region, where the southernmost part of Serengeti National Park meets the northernmost part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This is where your planning can either end up perfect with the location of the wildebeest or you can miss them as they continue their journey. We encountered the herd in the open plains about an hour from Ndutu, the perfect time to stop for lunch. This is the moment where I started praying for it to rain in Ndutu, the herd was already heading north and the one thing that would bring them back south to where we would be spending the next few days, was rain. As we made our way towards camp, the sky opened up and it began to rain, now I would just need that to happen every night for the next three nights.

My final accommodation for this trip was Naskia’s Mobile Migration Camp, what a phenomenal location. Because this camp is completely mobile, you will not have all of the luxuries that you might at the more permanent camps. The two major differences are that you are not able to charge your devices in your tent, you have to either charge them while in your jeep for the day or in the main tent they have outlets; the other is that you will have a bucket shower, before you take a shower you have to inform the staff so they can prepare your hot water. Aside from those two things, the service was top notch across the board and I expected nothing less from Nasikia.

We have officially entered into high season in Ndutu, two guarantees, lots of action and lots of other jeeps. If you know me, you know I only like one of those things. To add to the chaos, every time it rains the plains get soggy and jeeps become very susceptible to getting stuck in the mud, which can easily ruin your day. Luckily, Moodie is amazing and a master operator, but because of this and much to my dismay we had to spend a few hours one day unsticking other people from the mud. Having the best guide out there can be a blessing and a curse ;). Post mud we were back on our way!

I am again going to highlight a few of my favorite moments, as there is way too much to go into detail about, and a picture is worth a thousand words.

I found myself captivated by the big bull elephant missing a portion of his trunk, cause unknown. The ability of these animals to overcome potentially life threatening challenges is incredible. This male clearly thriving and has adapted to his physical disadvantage. This male was with two other younger males, we saw the trio a few times throughout my days in Ndutu. I love this photo of him, as it showcases the immense power elephants have, and just how captivating they can be.

I have plenty of photos of other male lions, but some just speak louder to me. This younger male has two other brothers he shares the territory with, who we saw frequently as their marsh territory intersected with the location of camp. His face tells a million stories, you see his beautiful blonde mane but also the scars, the pink on his nose tells you he’s young and he will hopefully be a king among the pride for years to come. Being that our camp was so close to the marsh, we were able to start and finish most of our days with members of this pride. Sure they were napping majority of the time but seeing lions never gets old.

This leopard we were lucky enough to see twice, and as you can see this is the more grim side of the animal kingdom. Unfortunately for this wildebeest, it was one of the unlucky ones. The migration in town means and abundance of prey for predators and less competition for resources. This leopard was very skittish, we caught him in the morning heading off into the bush and then again in the evening, back in the same tree perched at the top almost completely camouflaged.

At the top of my safari bucket list was to witness a successful big cat hunt. I can easily say watching this cheetah successfully hunt was easily one of my favorite moments from this safari. Anytime your patience is rewarded is extra special. Upon arrival to the area where the cheetah was, there was already a bunch of jeeps watching and waiting, hold out hope to see the hunt go down. While we were waiting we had unknowingly pulled up next to the same guide who took me on my walking safari the previous trip, it was nice to see another familiar face and share a laugh about the time we almost got charged by a big bull elephant. Shortly after the conversation concluded, the hunt was on. This cheetah sat waiting for the perfect moment to strike, this time it was one of the yearling wildebeest who had wound up in range. The swiftness of a cheetah is a sight to see, although this time the hunt ended unsuccessfully. It was about lunch time and the jeeps slowly started to move off since the action presumably had finished. This is where the patience comes in, we knew the cheetah would make another attempt at some point, so it turned into a waiting game. When that moment came, there was only two other jeeps, selfishly I always hope I’m the only one around for viewing but two jeeps is better than ten all vying for the perfect spot. This time the attack was precisely calculated and successful! The power of these animals is incredible and after seeing something on tv so many times it is so surreal to see in person.

The final photo shows a section of the herd crossing a shallow lake. I didn’t realize that wildebeest crossed any other bodies of water besides the Mara, but they always seem to find themselves in a precarious situation. What you don’t see in this photo is the graveyard of bones strewn along the beach from all the wildebeest that have drowned crossing the lake. While it it shallow, the bottom is like quicksand, making it easy for animals to get stuck and meet their demise. It’s even harder for the newborn wildebeest crossing as it is easy to be separated from their mothers, get trampled, and just lack the overall strength to make to journey across. Imagine being expected to swim across a lake a few hours after coming out of the womb. Wildlife survival instinct is truly incredible.

I enjoy being out in the bush so much because of how raw and real it is. There’s the constant struggle between predators and prey, it can be highly emotional watching nature unfold. You find yourself unsure of who to root for, I don’t want to see anything lose its life, but that’s nature.

There is plenty from this trip that I left out in this post, it is hard to put everything into words, but I also like to keep other special moments for myself. I hope that anyone who has a desire to go on safari is able to achieve that, as it is truly a life altering experience.

My next trip is Botswana in December, 2023. A place that I have been dreaming of for the longest time, so stay tuned for new posts and more stories from my travels!