Serengeti

I am so far behind in what has been happening here in Tanzania. But instead of trying to make a blog post for every day in Serengeti National Park, I will just cover the highlights. (Which is still a lot because Serengeti was amazing)

We left for Serengeti early on the 5th and we got to visit Ngorongoro Crater again because going through was the fastest way.

Ngorongoro Crater

When we arrived at our campsite, we all helped unload the White Rhino (the lorry) and set up our tents. I was sharing a tent with Allison, Mallory, and Natalie and was really excited. At least one of my tent-mates was normal...

Not these two....

 Our group was the last to get our tent set up. And somehow we still ended up next to a fallen thorn tree and directly facing the side of another tent. But our tent definitely had the most fun every night. We read chapters form books we were reading out loud, told scary stories, were suffocated by Allison spraying bug spray directly in our faces, and stayed up for over an hour one night listening to a lion snoring right outside our tent!

Sunrise at camp

While we spent a lot of time relaxing and having fun, we also did a lot of work. Every morning we woke up early to do some data collection. We recorded the behavior budgets of zebra, impala and wildebeest, recorded every species of bird we could identify, and watched how long tourists spent watching each species of animal. 

Mara and Shannon birding

 And we also got to see some amazing animals. My personal favorite was a leopard we found taking a nap on a picnic table. When I was thinking about seeing big cats in Serengeti I mostly thought about lions and cheetahs. I didn't give much thought to leopards. But I can definitely say that seeing this cat was one of the highlights of the trip. It looked so cute and peaceful napping there on the table. It acted just like a domestic cat.

Sleepy kitty

 But once in a while, it would really wake up and turn extremely intense. It no longer looked like a cuddly kitten, but a fierce predator. I just have a lot of respect for these beautiful animals.

Then to make the end of that day even better, we got to see two wildebeest galloping through the savanna at sunset. These wildebeest are some of the first scouts of the great migration to reach Serengeti. 

On our last day in SNP, we finally got to see what we had been hoping for all week. A lion hunt. There were 11 lions and one cape buffalo. The buffalo was extremely large and healthy but very outnumbered. 

However, there was only one or two lionesses that were actually brave enough to attack the buffalo. The others were just keeping it cornered so it couldn't run away. 

It is obvious who was doing all the work...

Eventually, the two lionesses that were doing everything got worn out and gave up. Against all odds, the buffalo was able to make an escape. It got away with no fatal wounds....just a bloody back end and tail.

Everyone cheered as the buffalo ran off

Momma lion was not very happy with the rest of the pride

It was really inspiring that the buffalo did not give up even though its chances were so slim. And the lions were able to catch another, smaller buffalo so they did not go hungry.

Kwaheri Serengeti!

It was sad leaving the park after our week was through, but I think everyone was excited to get to sleep in our own beds and take a warm shower. 

We got our Directed research topics yesterday and are already into the full swing of research. I am very excited to start this next step of the program. 

Gotta have my zeeb picture