Sunday, March 31, 2013

Animal Sightings

On our trip we didn't go with a list of must see animals, we were just looking forward to seeing the animals in the wild. Ended up we saw everything. In the first National Park, Tarangire we saw the most varied types of animals, and in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we saw the largest herds of Wildebeests and zebras. On our last game drive in the Northern Serengeti we saw a few antelope, but more varied terrain.

Big Five
These were the five most dangerous animals to hunt. More photos of the Big Five animals at the end of the post.

Lion in Tarangire NP
Elephant in Tarangire NP
Buffalo in Ngorongoro Crater
Leopard in the Serengeti
Rhino in the Ngorongoro Crater

Stars of the Migration

Wildebeest in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Zebra in Tarangire NP

Antelope
Many of these antelope don't join in the migration fun looking for greener pastures and water. The Dik-Dik don't even drink water getting enough moisture from the food they eat. Most of the areas we visited looked green to me, but the problem was that there was not enough water in rivers and pools for all the animals in some of the drier locations. Some of these antelope were harder to see than others, even so, after awhile you don't ask the driver to stop because the animals you spotted are just another Antelope.

Dik-dik have very sharp hooves and can put up quite a fight, Tarangire NP


Klipspringer, Serengeti. They are rock climbers
Reedbuck, Tarangire NP
Waterbuck it has a toilet seat marking on its ass, Tarangire NP
Defassa Waterbuck just has a boring white mark on its butt, Serengeti NP
Impala
Grant's Gazelle
Thomson's Gazelle of the Programme Planning Police
Hartebeest
Topi, Serengeti
Eland, one of the larger members of the antelope family, Ngorongoro Crater
Cleanup crew
Spotted Hyena, very sinister looking when their teeth show. They always look very ratty and unkempt.
Golden Jackal
Black backed Jackal
Vultures lunching on a Wildebeest
Dung Beetle, the male provides a dung ball to prospective mates, if she likes it, he rolls a larger ball, she hops on, they did a hole and she lays eggs in the dung.

Eventually all that is left


The Rest
We always stopped for Giraffe, they are very social and interact a lot with each other. Watching them eat is also amazing, they strip the leaves off the thorny Acacia trees deftly with their long tongues and thick skinned lips. Elephants were also always entertaining, very social as well.
Giraffe, amazingly graceful when running, Lake Manyara NP
Serval cat, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Cheetah, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Warthog
Bat Eared Fox, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Ostrich, male
Ostrich, female
Hippo in the Serengeti
Crocodile at the hippo pool in the Serengeti
Olive Baboon, Tarangire NP
Blue Monkey, Lake Manyara NP
Leopard Tortoise

Culled Photos from the big herd




Lake Manyara NP

Lake Ndutu in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area








Tarangire NP
Lake Manyara NP

Serengeti NP














This hippo pool smelled a bit


Hungry Hungry Hippo






Thin lions in Tarangire NP

Full sleepy happy lion



These lion see a wildebeest a distance away and decide it is too far

Young Male with a snack


From the tree this lion sees zebra which are close enough
There is a lion closer to the zebra and she caught one of them. We didn't see it, but we were OK with that.





2 Groups of Hyena arguing in the Crater, wildebeest in the background.

This hyena almost looks cute








Toilet Seat Butt
Impala, The marking on their butt is jokingly referred to as McDonalds for Lion

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