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