Tanzania 2013

Tanzania March 2013 - Day 2

After an exciting first day, we left Ndudu Safari Lodge to see what we could find as a birthday treat for me!

First treat was the sunrise - spectacular.

As you can see it was a bit misty to start with but the sun soon burnt that off and it was a lovely day.

We thought we'd focus on Cheetah for the day. One of the main reasons we'd decided to come at this time of year was because the predators are about (the Wildebeest calves bring them in!).

However, some other animals first before we move on to the big cats.

wildebeest

The birds on their backs are Wattle Starlings

wildebeest

Wildebeest Calf

wildebeest

The Wildebeest Calves have to be able to run as fast as their mothers within hours of being born (or fear being caught and eaten). They look so fragile but they are very playful and are often seen jumping about!

wildebeest

This water is salt water. The Wildebeest came down to it (above left), walked along a bit then turned round and walked back (above right).

Wherever there are Wildebeest there are also Zebra and there were plenty around.

braown snake eagle

Brown Snake Eagle

sec bird

Secretary Birds

lark

Roufus Nape Lark

starling

Superb Starling

cuckoo

Dierdrek Cuckoo

dung beetle

Dung Beetle - I know he's not a bird but he's got to go somewhere.

euro roller

European Roller

vulture

Griffin Vulture

sec birds

Secretary Birds

view

The scenery was beautiful. There were two male Cheetahs under this tree so we decided to have breakfast with them (we stayed in the truck).

The cloud formation was incredible - I don't think I've ever taken so many pictures of sky before!

dikdik

Dikdik

grants

Grants Gazelle

Grants

Grant Gazelle

giraffe

An essential East African view should always include Acacia trees and Giraffe!

giraffe

We'd never seen a Giraffe suckling before so this was a first

giraffe

One of Jonathon's!

giraffe

This baby had lovely furry horns

Now to the big cats for today. We were lucky enough to see a variety of Lion and 10 Cheetahs at different times - 2 brothers (the "breakfast" Cheetah, a Mum with two cubs and a Mum with 4 cubs.

They are big pussy cats really!

For all he was a huge Cheetah, the one on the right really didn't like walking in the mud

cheetah

This was a Thompson's Gazelle - it became a snack!

While we were watching the Mum with two Cubs, we heard a crunch. Thankfully there were quite a few other trucks around because this one was well and truly stuck in an Aardvark hole.

In the end, one truck pulled, another pushed and two (including Kevin's) blocked the view from the Cheetahs. This wasn't to stop them coming to see what was happening, it was to save them from being frightened and running away.