8./1 -- Drive to Serengeti Camp

We left camp and got a tuk-tuk ride part of the way to the Crater -- we had to drive along the west rim to get to the road to the Serengeti. We saw a big herd of giraffes startled into running by the local Masai and several villages and herds that live within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. 

Inside the tuk-tuk

First the herd darts to the right

and then the turned around and headed left, closer to us.

Masai village

Masai Warriors

Ostrich couple along the road to the Serengeti

Camels given to the Masai

Serengeti means endless plain and it sure looks like a lot of nothing. The entry station was at Knobby Hill and we climbed the hill after lunch. Not only were the views from the top spectacular, there was also a wildly colorful lizard called a red-headed agama and couple normal looking ones -- the fancy  ones were the boys.  We encountered a new antelope specifies as we drove through too -- a Topi -- and saw a few more hartebeast.

We passed the road to the Oldupai Gorge, but did not have
time to visit

Now we are in the park.

Red-headed agama male

Agama male and female

The road we drove to this point

A lot of nothing. The eastern part has a top layer of hardpan
which does not support trees. The rocky hills and western part
are more tree friendly.

Where we are heading

Topi left (darker) and hartebeast (right)

We saw three sets of lions, including a location with a dead hippo (not a  lion catch) nearby and a hesitant hyena trying to figure out how to sneak to the hippo without alerting the lions. As we neared the end of our day, Jim thought all we needed to make the day complete was a leopard, but I preferred to see another cheetah, and was delighted when we found four: a mom who was well-hidden and three cubs.

Kopje, the name for this type of outcropping -- they are some
of the oldest rocks on the planet.

First lion sighting

Pair of giraffes

Hyrax at a rest stop

Banded Mongoose at the same stop.

Second group of lions, next to a small hippo pond.

Hyena on the other side of the pond, considering the dead hippo
across from him and the nearby lions.

The hippo brothers are in the water and the dead one is just
to the right, along another bank closer to us.

Deceased hippo -- it is unclear what caused his demise.

Elephants at a different watering hole

Crocodile on the other side of the watering hole.

Third group of lions

First cheetah cub we saw.

Mom is the spotted patch above, to the left of the tree.

Now you can see two faces.

This is a different two -- the one on the right here is actually
the middle one.

Two faces with an extra set of ears to the left.

The big migrations you read about occur in spring and fall with the rains. Lions don't migrate because they are so territorial, so they are left to compete for the species which migrate less: Cape Buffalo, Zebra, and Thompson's Gazelles, which we saw lots of. It appears that the hippos also don't migrate but suffer from lack of living space as their ponds dry up.

Our tented camp is about 20 minutes outside the park on top of a hill that provides a great view.

Our fancy tent with outside shower. Electricity is solar, so
our total charging time available is about 8  hours a day.