Trip report Ndutu – Tanzania
“Our cheetahs moved at a serious pace and, a short hour later, they spotted a group of gazelles.”
Tanzania Ndutu (Ngorongoro Conservation Area)
Saturday Amsterdam – Arusha
On Saturday, my father and I left from Amsterdam to Tanzania in East Africa. This was my eighth trip to this unique continent; for my father, it was his second. The first time, he accompanied me to South Africa, but this time we went to a boundless, unfenced area, namely, the region south of the Serengeti. We flew with KLM and stayed overnight upon arrival in Arusha at the Kibo Palace.
Sunday Arusha – Ndutu
As some years ago, I chose Roy Safaris again as the tour operator. We had a jeep to ourselves, and after a ride through numerous villages, we arrived at the gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Along the way, we stopped at the famous viewpoint overlooking the world-renowned crater. We were heading to the Ndutu region, where, between mid-January and mid-March, the migration of millions of wildebeests and zebras takes place annually. Ndutu has one big advantage: you can leave the road, which is strictly forbidden in the Serengeti National Park itself. We would stay for 5 nights in the Serengeti Savannah Camp, a mobile tent camp set up near Lake Masek. On the way to our accommodation, we encountered a large group of vultures. Part were absorbing warmth from the – otherwise rare – sun with open wings, and the other part were feasting on the remains of what once was a zebra. We also got the first signals that the migration was indeed in this vicinity: we saw hundreds of wildebeests and heard them producing that typical nasal sound en masse. Just before our camp, 5 cheetahs were lying in the grass. A mother cheetah and her 4 nearly grown cubs. A quintet that we would encounter more often during our stay. A bit further away were 4 lionesses and a male lion. Little did we know, we would see 60 other lions in the coming week…
Monday Ndutu Region
At 6:00 am, we were already on the way with a troop of hyenas. Along the way, there were several carcasses of wildebeests that undoubtedly provided a delicious breakfast for the vultures. We passed Lake Masek which was almost entirely taken over by hundreds of flamingos. A bit further, we met a lion couple that was diligently working on their offspring. This romantic scene usually lasts an average of 4 days, and they mate every half hour. In short: exhausting but apparently very efficient and superb to take pictures of. Half an hour later, we again met a loving couple, this time two hyenas, who unashamedly performed their mating ritual right before our eyes. Even further, a lonely cheetah walked through the Savannah as it began to rain softly. We had taken some moisture into account, as the rains promote grass growth, which of course is the reason why all the wildebeests and zebras come down here from the Masai Mara. Moreover, Ndutu has a very nutritious soil which gives extra strength to our herbivores. Something that the wildebeests certainly needed in a period when normally many wildebeest calves are born. We often saw calves walking around that had just been born. Walking is perhaps overstating; it was more like waddling and stumbling. The road we were driving on was chosen by a herd of elephants as a spa for a mega mud bath. It yielded beautiful images but also meant that we had to take a detour to continue our journey.
Tuesday Ndutu Region
After half an hour of driving, we saw three lions lying and a bit further, two lionesses. Not far from there, a large group of wildebeests was grazing. Not much action was undertaken. We also met Owen Newman, the BBC documentary maker who was filming for the beautiful series “Nature’s Great Events”. One chapter of this DVD specifically talks about the migration and about the life of the felines in this region. When leaving our camp, after enjoying a delicious lunch, we were welcomed in the narrow riverbed by hundreds of wildebeests and zebras who were parading past one after the other like a real procession. A bit further, we got off the road and got hopelessly lost. As if that wasn’t enough, we also got a flat tire at the back. Lifting a heavy jeep on the muddy ground turned out to be no sinecure. We lost a lot of time but were still treated to a beautiful sighting of our 5 cheetahs with the remains of a wildebeest calf just before dark. We missed the kill itself; hopefully, it was on the program for the coming days.
Wednesday Ndutu Region
Today, we decided to leave very early for the Gol Kopjes, near the Naabi Hill Gate where you can enter the Serengeti itself. This is a unique landscape full of stacked rocks. One wonders how this could ever have formed. In the wet season, it is normally teeming with cheetahs and lions here. However, the only cheetah we saw was dead in the middle of the road. We suspected it had perhaps died during a fight with lions. They were indeed scattered here and there. There was absolutely no sign of prey animals; that’s why we returned to the Ndutu area itself quite quickly after midday. Along the way, we had a beautiful view of the Lengai volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Judging by the smoke development, the volcano was running at full power, but there was apparently no real danger of an eruption. On the way to our camp, we met a group of 22 elephants who were fighting (or was it playing?) and putting on a beautiful display. A bit further, we witnessed the birth of a wildebeest calf. Fortunately for the calf, there were no lions around.
Thursday Ndutu Region
Since we had seen so many felines, we decided to look for our cheetahs and follow them for a while in the hope that they would go hunting. By noon, we had found them, lazing under a tree at the back of our camp. The next 5 hours would really, except for a yawn, see nothing happen. It was getting dark slowly, so we realized that the kill would
not take place for today. After a beautiful sunset at Lake Ndutu, we decided to return to our camp. Maybe we were lucky tomorrow, the last day.
Friday Last Day Ndutu
To our great relief, our cheetahs were still under the same tree the next morning. A lot had happened overnight; two wildebeests were killed less than 50 meters away from our cheetahs by lions. However, the lions had left a decent piece of meat, so our cheetahs had enjoyed a decent breakfast. A group of hyenas had a fight with the vultures over the rest. Around 11 am, our cheetahs finally moved. Not that there was much walking. From one tree, they walked to another to find shelter there for the burning sun. But after a few hours, it became clear that something was going to happen. Cheetahs are very patient hunters, and this time they were lucky. One hour later, they saw a group of gazelles in the distance. The mother cheetah made it clear to the others that she would prefer to handle the task alone. This was probably the last chance she had to teach her nearly grown cubs how to catch a gazelle. She crept closer and closer, making use of every piece of shelter she could find. Her camouflage worked perfectly. Eventually, a young Thomson gazelle was chosen, which couldn’t escape from the cheetah at full speed. She kept it down very skillfully, but the baby gazelle still fought bravely. After a battle that lasted more than a quarter of an hour, the cheetah cubs had to take over the task from the mother. They had to learn to apply the fatal neck bite themselves. There wasn’t a lot of meat on it, but they had undoubtedly gained a lot of experience. After a few months, they had to be able to catch a gazelle themselves. It was an exciting and beautiful conclusion to our safari in Ndutu!
Stijn Cavens
