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During the first half of the trip (walking safari), we slept in different locations in a two-person tent most nights, usually pitched near a waterhole. Our tent sites were visited by lions, giraffes, buffalos, warthogs, and many other mammals and birds. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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In the second segment of the safari, we stayed in “Classic African Safari” tents. Note the three layers of protection from the elements. The middle layer also offers shade on the “porch,” which was very welcome since we were very near the equator. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Our first walk. Always in single file with no deviating from this order: the tracker in front with a rifle, Matt next, then I, and the park ranger with an AK-47 last. If anything serious happened (like an elephant charging), we were to go and stand (not run) with the park ranger while the tracker took care of the situation (whatever that would be??!!). Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Scenery along the walk. We were mainly in grasslands growing on volcanic soil, brown and dry at the end of the dry season. However, there were occasional wooded areas, as well as bedrock outcrops called “kopjes.” Many of our following images were taken during the second half of the safari. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A large male lion. We saw 30-40 lions during the entire 10 days. At times, we heard them roaring at night within 50 yards from our tent. That was rather unnerving… Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Close-up of male lion. I wish I had hair like that! Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Mother lion carrying a new cub. She was also calling to her other two cubs, which were hiding in the nearby bush. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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One of our first sightings of six cheetahs that we saw. Lions will kill on sight any cheetah that they see, since both cat species are competitors for the same prey. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Cheetah with a Grant’s gazelle that it just killed. The cheetah will quickly eat 20-30 pounds of meat from one hindquarter, and then leave the scene before lions or hyenas smell the kill. Note the gazelles in the background. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Female leopard with cub (a second cub not visible in photo) with a Thompson gazelle that she just killed and took up a tree to keep it safe from lions and hyenas. We only saw these three leopards during the entire trip. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A cape buffalo. One of the more dangerous big-game animals, according to hunters, since the buffalo has excellent vision, hearing, and sense of smell. Their populations are skyrocketing, and some herds contain several hundred individuals. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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One of the best scavengers on the Serengeti, a spotted hyena. This one was sitting by a den, a large hole in the ground. Very good looking animal!! Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Another excellent scavenger, the vulture. They are extremely important in “cleaning” the environment. There was a definite “pecking order” among the various species of vultures that we saw, regarding who ate first and how much! Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A marabou stork waiting his turn at a dead carcass. The stork cannot open the carcass, so it has to wait for the vultures to do so. Although we saw many storks fishing, we often saw them scavenging old dead carcasses. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Two Masai giraffes. In this area, they eat mainly acacia tree leaves, which they delicately pull off the thorny acacias with their hard, tough, 8- to 20-inch tongues. Also, the males have large hard bumps on their forehead that they use when fighting other male giraffes. We saw hundred of giraffes. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A giraffe interrupted from eating acacia leaves. The Masai giraffe is the tallest of the giraffe subspecies in Africa, reaching 19 feet at maturity. A large male giraffe can weigh up to 3,000 pounds. The dominant male in each herd will have the darkest spots, for some unknown reason. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A family of elephants at a waterhole near our tent. There are three large females, two older calves that are probably two years old, and two babies born in the current year. The babies spent most of the time playing and splashing water while we were watching them. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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A large bull elephant beside a water hole. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Two bull elephants in a marshy area. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Two elephants near rocky outcrops (kopjes) in the northern Serengeti. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Hippo dozing in the grass. Hippos can be extremely dangerous, especially to people in boats or to someone who gets between a grazing hippo and his water refuge. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Wildebeest herd getting ready to migrate. There are two wildebeest/zebra migrations per year in the Serengeti as the animals seek out new grass. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Migrating wildebeests and zebras crossing a river. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Waterbuck in the shade of a baobab tree. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Male impala antelope in the shade of a tree. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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The common eland is one of largest antelopes in Tanzania. They were quite wary, usually running away when they spotted us. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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Sunset at the end of one of our afternoon walks. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
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The group that took care of us at the Classic Safari Tent camp site. Photo courtesy of Donald D. Davis.
