Trailing the migration South- With lemala camps

I recently embarked on a trip to trail the migration down south. Although the trip (organized by Vintage Africa) took me to L. Manyara, Ngorongoro, and Ewanjan in Serengeti, our highlight came when we stayed at Lemala Camp Ndutu. Vintage Africa’s Sister company, Grumeti Expeditions, runs  Lemala camps, a collection of luxurious camps in Tanzania close to finest game viewing locations, and are all about positioning you at the right location and time so that you can capture the best wildlife action in Tanzania.

Ndutu area was the location of the wildebeests at the time of my visit. Although i had missed the mass birth of the calves by a couple of weeks, it was amazing to see hundreds of calves accompanying their mothers on the plains, always on the move.

The area where most herds were was a place locally know as Makao (Swahili for residence). It is indeed a wildebeests residence. I must admit i have never seen so many wildebeests as i saw around this place. This became the highlight of my trip.although i took lots of pictures, I have now come to agree with a friend who came on safari with me, and in the end said “No picture can really tell what i have seen”, it is only in my mind!

The wildebeest however, are still in South Serengeti which is unusual. Normally they would be in Seronera area, central Serengeti by this time. I believe this is due to the amount of rain we have had since the beginning of the year. There is a lot of grass on the plains as well as fresh water that has collected in pools across the plains. This may make them stay a bit longer than usual. Their migration out of here every year is due to the hard water(soda), but now with more fresh water they may stay longer.

 A wildebeest crosses a small stream in Ndutu area

 Wildebeests with calves in Ndutu area

 Elephants at Ngorongoro Crater. we saw these while staying at Lemala Ngorongoro

 Wildebeests on the plains in Makao

 A lioness in tree in Serengeti

 A subadult lion emulates mum and goes up a tree too

 Lepoard cubs on tree at Lugga ya 16: Seronera valley