The animals of Ndutu

I've already blogged lots about my experiences in Ndutu, but it's often very focused around the cheetahs and lions there. This posts highlights a few of the other delightful animals seen around the area.

Jackals are one of the few animals that still look cute with the entrails of a carcass in their mouths. 
This one had just manage to snatch a mouthful under the gaze of several Tawny eagles, 
which explains his smile.

A leopard tortoise which had wandered onto the road didn't look too impressed when I lay down in front of him.

I love watching giraffe eat, because they have such long tongues!

Another Jackal also looking pleased about his scavenged lunch. 

A pair of giraffe walking across the marshes of Ndutu.

On our way from Ndutu to the Ngorongoro crater we saw the beautiful sight of a new born zebra foal,
 trying to walk just minutes after birth.

Cheetah cubs in training

From a young age cheetah cubs learn to hunt by shadowing their mother. This means that often young cheetah cubs will chase other animals around the plains, just to gain experience, whether they would be considered prey or not. In one morning in Ndutu we witnessed a 7 month old pair of cheetah cubs chase zebra, wildebeest, warthogs, a jackal and several species of birds. Finally their mother caught them a Thompson's gazelle fawn to allow them to fine tune their tripping techniques. Even once they had succeeded in tripping the fawn the cheetahs looked confused as to what to do next. Mum came to the rescue, biting the fawns neck, so that they could enjoy lunch.

An over-exited cheetah cub chasing part of the migration.

The same cheetah cub bravely chasing a Jackal.

The cheetah cub looking a little less brave as the Jackal turned around and barked at him.

One of the cubs successfully tripping the fawn. 

The cheetah mum and gazelle mum watched on as the cheetah cubs chase the fawn.

The lions and the buffalo

One morning in Ndutu we came across the large pride of lions who appeared to be having a staring match with a Cape buffalo. The Cape buffalo was significantly outnumbered but he knew that he couldn't turn his back otherwise he might find a hungry lion on it. The lions were attempting to spread out to surround the buffalo, however the buffalo charged at any lion that strayed too far away from the group. Eventually the lion pride wandered off towards the marsh area in search for a less experienced buffalo.

The staring match between the lion pride and the Cape buffalo.

A lion running from the charging buffalo.

A female lion being chased by the buffalo.

One last look from the large Cape buffalo, which indicated to the lions that their meal was elsewhere. 

Elephants and Zebra

Apart from wildebeest the most common large mammals that you see on safari seem to be zebra and elephants, which is great because both are really unique looking. These elephants are the first photographs of animals of my trip taken as we entered the Serengeti late in the evening. We caught up with the migration on our way out of the Serengeti heading towards Ndutu. The Zebra were dashing around a sandy basin where a watering hole had dried up, chasing after wildebeest and visa versa. We watched them run in circles, dashing across the remaining water and kicking up dust trails behind them.

An elephant gazing across the Serengeti plains.

An elephant having an evening snack as the setting sun catches their shoulder and tusk.

Zebra and wildebeest dashing across the sandy basin together.

Zebra slowly cross over a stream. 

A mess of strips and ears that could only be the migration

The Serengeti lions

Our second morning in the Serengeti was one certainly one to remember. As the sun was rising we spotted a group of lions walking purposely across the plains, led by the older females. One the lions saw their target, a group of 5 or so wildebeest, they began to split up, forming a ring around the wildebeest while the cubs waited patiently by a bush. The most experienced female was walking along the road using our truck and the long grass as cover. Soon we could just see the tuft of the 5 lionesses' ears as they surrounded the wildebeest. All of a sudden a younger lioness sprinted towards the prey, but her inexperience showed, as it was too early and the other lionesses stayed put. The wildebeest scattered only to regroup minutes, completely forgetting about the hungry lion. After a few more minutes of stillness all of the lionesses sprinted towards the group of wildebeest scattering them properly, choosing the most confused looking one to tag team, until his neck was in their jaws. As soon as the wildebeest hit the floor the young lion cubs came running out eager for the taste of fresh meat.

A lion cub trying to sleep in a pile of his brothers and sisters.

The old lioness, stalking behind our truck, trying to us it as cover. 

The ears of a stalking lioness by the group of clueless wildebeest.

This pair of lions look like an old married couple who are very much still in love!

Ndutu - Nirvana?

After a few fantastic days in the Serengeti I was a little sad to leave, especially after the amusing antics of Poser Leopard. However my group had promised me that the next stop on our trip; this amazing place called Ndutu, was simply nirvana. I was happily imagining a place where the sun was always shining, the migration was passing through and leopard cubs were playing with cheetah cubs. My group had neglected to mention that we would be catching the start of the rainy season and the chance of thunderstorms was reasonably high.

Sheets of rain moving across the plains in Ndutu.

 A tawny eagle taking off in the sunshine against the dark backdrop of storm clouds

The storm clouds being photographed by my Dad who was enjoying the challenge of the ever changing
weather.

A surprise leopard sighting as leopards usually keep to themselves in Ndutu.
This one was chased up a tree by a large female lion, but still looked great against
the storm clouds.

Judging by the look on this little guy's face I'm not sure he enjoyed the rain much!

I would still have to agree that my week in Ndutu was an amazing experience and the 4 or 5 rain storms that we had only added to the experience. My previous blog post Cheetahs in the rain features more examples of the photographs to be had if one braves the weather.

The Big Five

The big five are traditionally the five most dangerous animals in Africa to hunt. It is also a sign of a good safari trip if you are lucky enough to see them all. As much as I enjoy capturing wild animals in situations which make them look particularly dangerous, it can be just as fun photographing them at their most passive and vulnerable moments.

A large male lion asleep a-top some rocks in the Serengeti under the watchful eye of a lizard.
The lizard was carefully capturing the flies that were landing on the lion's noise, hiding behind the rock
 whenever the lion opened his eyes.

A few week old baby elephant following the herd across a track in the Serengeti.

A 5 month old leopard cub looking for his mother through the grass in
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. 

A Cape buffalo taking a mud-bath in the Ngorongoro Crater.

A family of black rhinoceros in front of the flamingos on the lake in the Ngorongoro crater, Tanzania.
Unfortunately due to the high value placed upon the rhino's horn there is still a level of
 rhinoceros poaching, and the Black rhinoceros in particular is critically endangered.  

Our close Cheetah encounter.

One morning in Ndutu at the crack of dawn we came across a Cheetah family with 3 young cubs. It looked as though Mum had just caught a young Thompson's Gazelle for breakfast. Despite the fresh meat in front of them one of the Cheetah cubs got distracted by a lone wildebeest calf. Soon all three cubs were darting through the safari trucks before chasing the young wildebeest across the plains. Unfortunately the cubs were not yet old enough to understand how to trip prey, so were hopelessly chasing the wildebeest in circles until Mum came to the rescue, sprinting across the plains and tripping the wildebeest in one swipe of the paw.

It wasn't until after their second breakfast that the Cheetah cubs noticed us and came to say 'hi!'

The 3 cheetah cubs tucking into their second breakfast

 

The cheetahs playing tug of war over the wildbeest calf

Cheetah cub portrait

Cheetah cub checking out her reflection on the side of our truck
(probably my favourite iPhone photo)

World lion day

Apparently the 10th of August is world lion day so in anticipation I'll share some more of my lion images. All of these lions have been photographed in Ndutu, Tanzania.

Peekaboo! A young lion cub peering around a tree

A tree climbing lion. For some reason the lion thought they could climb
 trees as well as the leopards.. 
and then looked very confused when they couldn't.

A portrait of a young lion cub.

Bedtime! The three young lions taking a mid-morning nap.

The lions and the spare wheel cover

One morning, while in Ndutu in Tanzania, we came across a large pride of lions, about 20 in total including cubs. They mischievously stalked around our truck, peering around the exhausts and through the muddy back windows. A male started tugging at the spare wheel cover, deciding it would make a good plaything. We followed the lions and our spare wheel cover from the plains towards the marsh area, where we had a wonderful view of them breeching the top of a hill. Eventually the lions stopped on the bank of the big marsh, half resting on the short grass the other half playing hide and seek with the spare wheel cover. Eventually one of the older female lions snatched away the spare wheel cover and hide it in the long reeds of the marsh, causing the restless lions to find trees to climb.

 

The pride at first light

Lionesses, with a golden hale from the morning sun

A cheeky female lion peering around our exhaust

The male chewing at our spare tire cover (shot through our back window!)

The Male lion proudly walking away with his prize

A young lion cub gazing over the marsh

Mum and lion cub playing with the spare wheel cover

'Help I'm not sure I'm supposed to climb trees!'

Sorry for the long blog post, but it was a great morning, and I wanted to include enough photographs so that they could tell the story.