8/2 - Serengeti Game Viewing

We headed out at 8, a leisurely time compared to the usual, and looked for interesting things to see. Before we even got to the park, we saw more Topi Antelopes. Once there, we found a sighting of a cheetah or two, but they were so far away and low in the grass that the photos are unimpressive at best.

Topi

We spotted other game here and there, but the next big thing came when we saw a long line of elephants on parade and we positioned ourselves at the watering hole they were going.  Not  only did they drink, they also indulged in a couple varieties of mud baths and the little guys were like any little kid in the water -- having a wonderful time ducking under and playing. The crocodile we had seen yesterday was still there and it was a miracle he wasn't trampled by the elephants.

Hartebeest

Giraffe

Vultures dining on something unknown

"Controlled burn" with no controllers

Crocodile

Yellow-beaked stork

Grey-backed shrike

Topi

Baboon

DISTANT cheetah sighting -- more impressive to those who
have not seen one close up.

Egyptian Geese

Heading to water in an orderly line

The first ones arrive

They move deeper into the pool.

Some start indulging in personal mud baths

Elephants approache the croc from 2 sides

More mud baths on the deeper side of the pool -- the little
ones go completely  under water

The little ones looked a lot like normal kids playing in a pool.

White - crowned shrikeh

Revisiting the site from yesterday with the dead hippo, sleeping lions and frustrated hyena revealed a very different scenario. The amount of hippo above the water was minimal. Four  hyenas were dining and a fifth was  hovering while the vultures were watching with great interest. 

Patient vulture waiting while several hyenas dine.

Hyena and vulture

More vultures in a tree

Roppell's Griffen Vulture

We spotted found a couple lion prides sleeping before and after lunch. At lunch, we discovered another variety of buffalo weaver, prettier than the black and white ones we had gotten iffy photos of earlier.

Lion pride in the shade

It is really flat  here.

Pretty buffalo weaver

Giraffe and yellow acacia tree

Red-billed ox pecker on a giraffe's s shoulder. They help mant
animals by dining on parasites that bother the animals.

Another pride resting

Some are kind of awake

Dik Dik. After not seeing one we could photograph since the
beginning of the trip, suddenly they are more common and
less skittish.

We revisited the hippo lunch bar and found that the vultures had thrown out the hyenas who were now marching around, thinking about making another attack. We also visited a designated hippo pool -- the water is so low that when they stand up, only their legs are covered, so they lie on their sides and splash water on themselves to keep cool. The pool also featured a couple of black ibis and a white-crowned kingfisher with wonderful blue wings.

Hyenas (above and below) ceding dining rights to the vultures.

Marabou stork among the vultures and hyenas, snatching up
bits of something left behind

Hippos calmly resting within feet of the dining site

Above and below: vultures having lunch on what is left of
the deceased hippo

Marabou stork

Hadada Ibis at Hippo Pool -- looks black at first glance but
there is iridescence to the wings

Hippos packed in shallow water. They can't submerge, so they
toss water up on their bodies by flicking their tails. Another
month or two before it starts to rain again.

Grey-headed Kingfisher

It was really dusty again and smoky due  to the so-called "controlled burns" that seemed unsupervised. Since one is near our hill-top camp, we were glad to learn the camp created a fire break all around the hill. We have had zebra just outside our tent, based on the scat there, and Jim has heard them and hyenas overnight.