| Riding High
One of the cool things about this truck was the roof seat. 5 people could fit fairly comfortably in the seats and get some wonderful views of the animals.
Wildebeests and the Serengeti
We started our trip through Tanzania in what is probably the most known National Park in the world--- the Serengeti. And the one thing that the Serengeti is known for is the migration of the wildebeests. The wildebeests migrate from the Masaii Mara in Kenya through the Serengeti in search of food and water. Unfortunately for us we missed them in masses but did get a chance to see a few small herds of them.
Masai Giraffe
This was one of the first good views of the Masai Giraffe.
Topi's
We saw a lot of Topi's but never got a really good picture of them. They are very distinctive with the dark mark on the hind leg.
Not many people???
Many people canceled their trips to Africa with all the troubles in Kenya. It was pretty quiet the entire trip and compared to what it usually is. But when a lion was spotted they all hear about it and come over. These guys were looking at lions who had just recently killed a zebra.
Lions
And here was one of the lions and her cubs after the kill.
Ostriches
There are many ostriches living the Serengeti. The male is black and the female is brown.
Lions and More Lions
There were many lions in the Serengeti. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.
They Like the Shade
As you can see they like the shade.... just happens to be the shade of our truck.
Showing some teeth
.
Isn't She Pretty
.
2 of the Big Five
They call the elephant, the lion, leopard, buffalo and the rhino the "Big Five". Here is a picture of 2 of them. They were not bothered by each other. The lion sat there while the elephant walked by.
Impala
The group of impala were just hanging out.
Giraffe and Elephants
hanging out.
Cats in a Tree
If you look closely you can see 4 lions sitting in this tree.
Head first
They all came down the tree head first.
Lions lying in the sun
.
Ngorongoro Crater
When we left the Serengeti we went straight to the Ngorongoro Crater which is adjacent to the Serengeti. This is the first view of the crater which was formed when a volcano exploded and then collapsed on itself. Now the crater is home to its own ecosystem which supports a wide range of animals.
Campsite
That night we camped on the rim of the crater. When we arrived at the camp site this is what we found...
Cheetahs
The next morning we got up at sunrise and went down to the bottom of the crater. The first animals we saw were these 2 cheetahs posing for us.
Flamingos
The crater is also know for hosting a large number of flamingos.
Hippos
Another hippo out of the water.
More Lions
in the crater. This guy is smelling the flowers.
Red Bananas
I had never seen these before. They are grown around the Tanzania/Kenya borders. They are red on the outside and have a sort of pink color in the inside. And they tasted pretty good too.
Lake Nakuru
Lake Nakuru in Kenya is known for its flamingos but unfortunately for us they seem to have migrated somewhere else and we didn't see any here. But we did see Rhinos.. lots of rhinos.
with a baby
.
This sign says it all
.
Hippos and Birds
Two hippos having a snack.
Another sign
This one was near our camp site on Lake Naivaisha
Maasai Village
As part of our trip we spent the night in a Maasai village. We arrived in the early afternoon and set up camp then were greeted by a couple of guys from the village. They took us into the village where we were greeted by a traditional dance by the women of the village.
Lucy
This girl's name is Lucy. She has 3 children. She took part in the dance. Doesn't she have a great smile?
Bring the animals home
The Maasai are a semi nomadic people that live on meat and milk and blood from the animals. Their greatest asset is their animals including cows, goats, and sheep. Their wealth is measured in how many cows they have. This guy is tending his sheep and goat, bringing them home for the night. During the day he takes them out to graze. He is wearing one of the traditional Maasai blankets.
Maasai House
This is a traditional Maasai house. It is made with sticks and held together with cow dung (of which they have plenty). The women make the houses once they get married. The Maasai still practice polygamy. So each women builds a house for her family and the husband rotates between houses.
Cows coming home
These cows were brought home and loaded into the pen where the women proceed to milk them. They stay in this enclosure for the night before being taken out again in the morning. By the way, this enclosure is where the women danced for us and where the men will dance for us in the morning. You can imagine how good this smells...
Men Dancing
The men danced for us in the morning.
Lion Warrior
This guy has killed a lion as you can see by his headdress.
This guy could play for Carolina basketball
The Maasai are known for their jumping ability. As you can see from this picture they can jump pretty high.
The elder
This is the grandfather of the tribe.
and some more fun pictures
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More pics
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and more
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and more
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more
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and one last one
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