TANZANIA - DAY 5 - SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

Serengeti National Park is  approximately 14, 763 sq kms. and was established in 1957 as Tanzania’s first national park.  Consequently, the Masai tribe that lived there had to move to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.  It was amazing to see some of these animals so close up and I hope the pictures will speak for themselves.  I really wish I could have uploaded the videos I took but these will have to wait.

This is a picture of a Topi Antelope.

Olive Baboons grooming each other.

Elephants at mealtime (one of the many mealtimes).

This is a Pygmy Falcon.

An elephant scratching his butt on a tree trunk.

  

Dwarf Mongoose on a termite hill - smallest of the mongoose family.

This lion was resting when a bunch of vehicles showed up on both sides of the road.  He got up and started strutting his stuff to the point of turning so that we could get the profile of his other side.  I've posted all the pictures I took because he was so majestic and it is the closest thing to a video.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is a Euphorbia Candelabra tree.  The Euphorbia is a type of tree similar to the cactus family.

These are Hyrax.  They appear to be very tame and were just lying around on the pavement where we stopped for lunch.

We spotted this Hooded Vulture just hanging out then across from it to the right, this lion was resting.   Our guide looked at the lion through his binoculars and saw blood around his mouth so he knew there was a kill somewhere nearby.  Suddenly, the lion got up and started approaching us.  When we looked up, the vulture had disappeared.  We pulled up a little bit and saw the kill (a Wildebeest) and the vulture.  The lion was headed to protect his meal from the vulture.

 






A Giraffe feeding.

 

    

These are Marabou Stork which are found primarily in central and south of Africa.

Who would have thought that you could find palm trees in Serengeti National Park?

This is a Flattop Acacia tree and they are plentiful in Tanzania.  They serve as food for the elephants which strip the bark of the tree.

This is a Banded Mongoose which feeds on snakes.

Zebras, McDonald Gazelles and an Olive Baboon all having a drink.

My next update will provide pictures from Day 6 - still in Serengeti National Park.