April 2008 : Grumeti Reserves

The rains continue here in East Africa, although April had far less rain than March. Despite not being soaking wet this month the long grass continues to lengthen, the muddy soil gets muddier and water is to found in abundance throughout the concession. The game viewing continues to be wonderful though and, now that we are allowed to access the Serengeti National park south of our boundary (where the viewing can be quite spectacular) we are truly a 12 months of the year safari destination.

Updates from March include a much quieter Ol Doinyo Lengai. The active volcanoe near the Ngorongoro crater that has been spewing fourth huge clouds of dust has simmered down, back to normal again. Is it perhaps the calm before the storm?

Aerial Warfare

Back home, the Tawny eagles, seen last month feeding on the remains of a snake presumed to have been scavenged from Secretary birds, did not have it so easy in April. Despite the best efforts of 3 Tawny eagles, a pair of Secretary birds managed to defend their kill, a large puff adder. The acrobatics were quite spectacular as the bigger, less agile Secretaries, saw off numerous aerial raids by the Tawnys. They were eventually left in peace to enjoy their hard earned meal.

Lions in the long Grass

The warthogs will be hoping and praying the dry season arrives soon. The rains and in particular the long grass this time of year is a nightmare for them! The behavior of our resident prides of lions always changes considerably during this time. For the last 4 years we have seen how the typical nocturnal lion hunts have given way to daytime forays - targeting specifically warthogs. On no fewer than 4 occasions this month did we witness the short legged warthogs being killed by lions in the middle of the day! On one particular morning a family of 4 warthogs was halved in an instant - 2 lionesses accounting for 2 sub adult pigs within seconds. The feast had not even begun though as the 3 male lions, tailing the lionesses, rushed over and claimed the spoils for themselves. As usual they fought aggressively for a share.

A troop of Baboons, uncharacteristically letting their guard down, were targeted by the same 2 lionesses a few days later…………..another daytime success as a youngster was caught. This time the males were elsewhere and the cubs enjoyed the feast. Thanks to Saitoti for the pictures below.

The lions this month also delighted as 2 new cubs were spotted for the first time. These 2 join their mother and the original lioness (with 3 cubs) to make up a pride of 7. With the males in tow this pride is 10 strong – a very promising sign as we normally do not encounter good size prides too often.

The fishing Crocodiles

Of excitement this month is the news that we have gained permission to enter the Serengeti National Park via the Nyasirori Ranger Post south of Sabora. We are now able to access not only the abundant herds of plains game on the higher ground just south of our boundary – a must during the heavy rains, but it also allows us trips down to the famous crocodiles of the lower Grumeti River. These enormous reptiles, some of them acknowledged as the biggest crocs in Africa, are famous for their feeding frenzy when the migration cross through their watery domain. The large crocs usually only eat once a year but we were fortunate one afternoon to watch in amazement as no fewer that 30 big crocs hunted the catfish or barbel below the bridge. These huge beasts were efficient in catching and swallowing the fish…………..most of the time. The highlight that afternoon was watching 2 crocs fighting over their meal and eventually having to share it.

The most perfect Birds

To conclude this month we finish with arguably one the most beautiful and attractive birds in Africa - the Grey Crowned Cranes. They were abundant and a flock of no fewer than 46 of them were spotted down at Nyasirori.

A little later in the month we were fascinated by the behavior of a pair of them. They were seen to be alarm calling at lions – very unusual behavior from these majestic and stately birds. They swooped low above the lions heads, giving their unique drawn out, 2 syllable, trumpeting call - only the cubs bothering to take of notice of this picturesque fly by!

They then sat on top of a nearby tree, transfixed by the big cats below. This allowed a surprisingly close approach in the vehicle - up close these birds as perfect as one can get our here ……….incredible beauty from top to toe!

Lee Fuller
Singita Grumeti Reserves