The Serengeti with the Freedluns

During our ten-day vacation to Mwanza we consulted Scott and July on tourist activities and Scott mentioned Serengeti.

It hadn’t occurred to me that, though Arusha is the starting point for most of the Serengeti safaris, Mwanza is far closer (to the opposite end of the massive nature reserve.) Since the Freedluns have their own 4x4 and since we figured we could easily do a safari in a single day we decided that we couldn’t miss this opportunity. Serengeti safaris from Arusha are costly because they last at least three days on account of the long round trip to reach the park. Finally we’ve been to all five parks in the north of Tanzania and taken in another of its ‘must-see’ attractions.

So after doing a little asking around and buying a little map, off we headed on the 90-minute drive to Serengeti. Our enquiries revealed that we were fortunate on another count: that the famous animal migration would be passing through that western end of the park during July.

We’ve all seen these animals in captivity, but it’s really a different, more intense experience to see the real wild animals in their own habitats, doing what they do.

Here are a few of the photos we took.

Wildebeest – walking lumps of silverside, the reason for the great Serengeti migration.

Teeth still bloody from a recent kill.

This image gives the impression of the migration – we’re surrounded by wildebeest on all sides.

Vultures pick the bones of an unfortunate wildebeest clean, after the lion’s share has been taken.

I’ve never had such a clear view of a hippo before. Just look at the scratchmarks on his hide.

Nile crocs like this one grow up to six metres (18 feet) in length. This was some way off that, but impressive all the same.