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| An elephant bull, Tarangire National Park |
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| Zebra, Tarangire National Park |
June in Tanzania is like autumn in the northern hemisphere: a
transitional month. The last of the rains finish in mid-May, moisture begins to
evaporate out of the soil, and the grass begins to turn gold. Baobab trees drop
their leaves and seasonal water holes begin to dry up. Reluctantly, wildlife
begins to return to dry season habitats. Lion prides that fragmented during the
rains re-unite and return to favorite ambush positions where other wildlife
will begin to regularly pass on their way to drink water. As the foliage dries
up and falls, leopards can no longer lie concealed on branches. There is still
plenty of forage for browsers and grazers so the atmosphere does not convey the
harsh struggle that the animals will have in a few months. Early fires lit by
park rangers and pastoralists to encourage a nutritious flush of fresh grass
begin to fill the sky with smoke bringing out red sunsets, yet the dry season
winds have not filled the sky with enough dust to block views.
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| Elephants in Silale Swamp, Tarangire National Park |
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| A deck at Little Oliver's Camp, Tarangire National Park |
Serengeti, with its large area and near intactness as an
ecosystem, follows different patterns. Rains induced by Lake Victoria fall on its
northern parts, including the Maasai Mara, and as the smaller streams of water
in central and southern Serengeti dry and soda concentrations increase, the
migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra head north. The wildebeest often pause
in the western corridor until water in the Grumeti River also becomes scarcer.
The minor changes in daylight hours, insignificant and unnoticeable to most
people, combined with the effects of a moon phase induce hormonal changes in
female wildebeest. The resulting synchronized estrus, also known as coming into
heat, drives the males into a frenzy of amusing territorial activity as they
attempt to stake out territories and herd small groups of females who continue on
their migration.
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| Watching migration, Serengeti National Park |
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| An approaching storm allowed us within 30m of this black rhino, Serengeti National Park. |
These trends have made their way onto maps, into guidebooks,
and onto documentaries describing and simplifying “The Great Migration”. As a
result, it is often a surprise when weather patterns don’t follow the standard
predictions and the migrating herds don’t arrive where they usually do, show up
early, or take an “abnormal” route. We were fortunate on our early June
itinerary to catch up with the migration, yet our stop in the western corridor,
empty of wildebeest, gave us the opportunity to witness some other spectacular
wildlife. The herd of 50 giraffe, some resting, some standing, was a definite
highlight for me, and it was impressive to discover an ostrich nest with 27
eggs, and then later an egg abandoned on the plain.
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| It is very difficult to photograph 50 giraffe, Serengeti National Park |
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| Serengeti lions |
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| An abandoned ostrich egg, Serengeti National Park. |
On this particular itinerary, following the beautiful
wildlife viewing in Tarangire and Serengeti, we ended at a camp called
Shu’mata, set atop a hill with views of Kilimanjaro. With just one night, it
was our opportunity to take a night-game drive, sight some Gerenuk, an unusual
and arid-land specialist, as well as visit a Maasai home and glimpse their
livelihood and culture.
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| A very comfortable lounge, Shu'mata Camp |
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| Spear throwing demonstration, Shu'mata Camp |
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