Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna


Supply
Wildebeests drink water in several turns in a muddy pond during their long journey.
keeping an eye on the herd
Serengeti National Park visitor observes a herd of wildebeests in motion.
hippo pond
Hippopotamus stands out from a pool full of other conflicting elements of its species.
Predator on the attack
Lioness approaches a herd of running wildebeests, waiting for the best moment to launch her attack.
in the wake of the rain
Thousands of wildebeest race across the golden and dusty savannah of the Serengeti.
marabout tree
Marabou about to land on a tree colonized by other specimens of these scavengers.
wildebeest crossing
Wildebeests cross a road from PN Serengeti, right in front of a safari jeep.
neither horse nor ox
The eccentric face of a wildebeest, also called a horse-ox for its mixture of elements between ox and horses.
Masai style
The Serengeti Serena Lodge cabins, with Masai-influenced architecture, are spread across one of the Serengeti's rare steep slopes.
Savannah secretariat
A secretary hunts reptiles among the tall grass of the Serengeti savannah.
Power ranger
Serengeti National Park Ranger Samson Njoghomi holds an old Ak-46 machine gun on top of a hill.
pine cone savanna
Elephants and wildebeest coincide in the same area of ​​the savannah. Some of the elephants will chase away the wildebeests in their path.
little lions
Two lion cubs watch their mother go away in search of prey.
bones of various animals
Serengeti National Park Visitors Center Guide explains the origin of each lined bone.
spiderman lizard
An agama-mwanzae lizard with its lush coloration sunbathes on a rock.
winged parasites
Weavers patrol the skin of a buffalo looking for parasitic insects.
in the golden savanna
Wildebeests graze in the savanna with the sun setting over the Serengeti.
In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.

Finally, we leave the famous Mara River.

We departed from the Kenyan National Reserve of Masai Mara towards its extension in northern Tanzania.

We cross overcrowded and chaotic villages around the Isebania-Sirari border. Already with the respective stamps in the passports, we changed jeep and guide.

Moses Lota introduces himself. Takes over navigation.

We conquered the highlands of the Tarime region, far greener and more agricultural than anything we had seen in recent days.

Six hours after the early departure, we felt at ease with the new guide and were back in the savannah.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, secretary

A secretary hunts reptiles among the tall grass of the Serengeti savannah.

"Sarah Mary and Mark of Jesus?" asks us also the conductor with his purposely silly way of incredulity that would come to amuse us time and time again.

"Well, counting Moses here, this is going to look like a biblical expedition."

Journey to the heart of the Serengeti National Park

We cross the Fort Ikoma portal of the Serengeti National Park, register with the authorities, and proceed to its core. The trip was soon shaken by the appearance of one of God's most demonic creatures on the scene.

"There, it's about to start!" announces the guide after a sharp slap in the face.

With the roof of the jeep open, it only took a few seconds for us all to share an inglorious resistance against the countless attacks of tsetse flies.

Moses reassures us. “This story is no longer what it was. They had to be bitten thousands of times and be unlucky the size of Tanzania to catch sleeping sickness. In fact, on the contrary, with them around, no one sleeps in this jeep.”

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, keeping an eye on the herd

Serengeti National Park visitor observes a herd of wildebeests in motion.

It's mid-afternoon. We just have to check in where we were going to stay close to nightfall.

Accordingly, we completed the route in full game drive mode, as the English-speaking colonists from Africa called the habit of driving through the savannah and observing the fauna.

We found the first clans of lions with offspring and dozens of elephants.

Until the sun goes down, there is still a huge flock of indolent but irascible hippos that almost completely fill a small section of the Grumeti River.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Hippo-waterhole

Hippopotamus stands out from a pool full of other conflicting elements of its species.

We check into Serena Lodge at night and after the allowed time.

Guide more than beaten to the job, Moses is willing to favor our work and enters through the gate prepared for the eventual disgrace. "Do not worry. I tell them we had to help someone with a hole!"

Serena Lodge Serengeti Unfenced Shelter

As soon as we got out of the jeep, one of the employees of the lodge he listens to us talking and approaches us in hesitant and somewhat clumsy Portuguese. “Hello, I'm Marcerino. I also speak portuguese.

My parents are Mozambicans. They live on the edge. I came here at a very young age."

In the days we spent in that elegant Tanzanian hotel, Marcerino – the nameplate on his shirt confirmed the name – would pay us a special dedication.

The Serena Lodge where he worked was made of buildings shaped like large Masai huts, distributed along one of the rare steep slopes of the savannah, among acacia trees and thorny bushes.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Serena Lodge

Serengeti Serena Lodge cabins, with Masai-influenced architecture and spread across one of the rare steep slopes of the Serengeti.

In the image of some others from wild africa, the lodge is not fenced. We want to leave the room for dinner but we can only do it with an escort.

The bodyguard who knocks on the door with his lantern at the ready wastes no time in enlightening us on the advantage of his presence. "So what animals have you seen here today?" we ask. "It has been calm." responds. “But a little of everything can appear. We've been visited by buffaloes, lions, leopards and even elephants.

We have to be careful. At this time, guests are in the mood to eat, not be eaten.”

During the night, we heard a lion's shuffling roar from an opposite hill. The top of that elevation seduced us because we suspected it must provide incredible 360° views.

With the sun coming up behind it, we pursued the privilege of going there.

We ask at reception if there are any special trails. “There is and part already back here. But you're not thinking about going there like that, is it?”

In fact, we hadn't considered the little expedition in all its aspects.

Ranger and AK-46 Protected Ascension to a Panoramic Hill

Anyway, after some time, the lodge staff went from refusing us the tour to providing it with military security. Marcerino picks us up as we leave the reception: “friends, we can go now. This way."

Along the way, a park ranger joins us, dressed in a green military uniform and holding an old AK-46 against his trunk.

“Just yesterday there was a clan of lions installed on that hillside. Don't be scared, but the machine gun really has to go with us.”

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Power Ranger

Serengeti National Park Ranger Samson Njoghomi holds an old Ak-46 machine gun on top of a hill.

Samson, the shaved-haired squeaker who walks ahead of the group looks like a man of few conversations. Like the hill, its tense face also challenges us. “We ended up starting a conversation.

In the middle of the hill's ascent, we approached the desire we had – like so many curious travelers – to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the grandiose roof of Africa.

Samson's eyes seem to instantly glow. “I went up there a while ago in a selection test for park rangers in Tanzania. We were over fifty and only eight reached the summit. I was one of them. Now I have this job.”

We reached the top. We admire the surrounding scenery.

To all sides except the opposite slope taken by Serena Lodge, the savannah stretched out into infinity colored by some low, verdant or parched vegetation depending on the water in the subsoil.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, buffalo

Weavers patrol the skin of a buffalo looking for parasitic insects.

The Serengeti Savannah without End

As we catch our breath, the four of us turn to binoculars or our telephoto lenses and scrutinize that imposing Africa in detail.

We detect herds of buffaloes and elephants, wildebeests, zebras and giraffes, any of the animal sets, tiny in the endless prairie scenery. A little later, with the sun still low on the horizon, we return to the lodge.

We left in a jeep in his wake.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Wildebeest crossing

Wildebeests cross a road from PN Serengeti, right in front of a safari jeep.

Moses Lote takes us dozens of kilometers along unpaved roads, at a low speed, as is supposed to be inside the park.

We started by going mostly through herds of gazelles and impalas. It doesn't take long for us to enter a wet area – sometimes even soaked. At a glance, the Serengeti's fauna and flora proves to be far more diverse.

There are ponds, some more muddy than others, which attract specimens to which the heat begins to cause thirst.

A flock of marabouts hovers gently from the top of the branches of a dry tree to the water's edge, which comes to contend with hippos, rowdy baboons, and various wary herbivores.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Marabou Tree

Marabou about to land on a tree colonized by other specimens of these scavengers.

As we approach this pool, we notice that a herd of elephants is crossing the savanna towards us.

Some younger pachyderms have fun investing in a caravan of wildebeests that we don't understand and that the presence of several jeeps intimidated them from crossing the road.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest and elephants

Elephants and wildebeest coincide in the same area of ​​the savannah. Some of the elephants will chase away the wildebeests in their path.

The Long Wildebeest Caravans That Make Life Easier for Predators

Moses stops ours and turns around: “They're really lucky! Do you know why we all stopped here? There is a clan of lions crouched in the grass waiting for the wildebeests.

Some of the jeep drivers increase the space available for the crossing.

Ox-horses are not begged. They rush, at a gallop, over the cats' trap.

Hundreds of them pass by the only lioness we can detect, a few meters away, without her attacking.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Lioness

Lioness approaches a herd of running wildebeests, waiting for the best moment to launch her attack.

Instead, minutes after the entire caravan had moved to the other side of the road, we noticed that two more distant ones were already dragging an adult wildebeest and a newly caught baby wildebeest into the shade of a tree.

“See? That's why predators prefer them. They're easy.” shoots Moses. “God created them in a hurry. In addition to forgetting the brain, he made them with spare parts from a number of other animals.

No wonder they always rank so highly on the list of Big Ugly here from Africa.”

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest

The eccentric face of a wildebeest, also called a horse-ox for its mixture of elements between ox and horses.

With the dry season settling in those parts, hunts like the one we had just followed would become rarer in the months to come.

Wildebeests greedily drank water from the remaining ponds and streams.

We saw them traverse the savanna in more and more endless caravans.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest

Thousands of wildebeest race across the golden and dusty savannah of the Serengeti.

Back and forth, waiting for herd leaders to give the signal to leave or already in full migration to the distant but contiguous lands of Masai Mara.

On this route, they are forced to cross the crocodile-infested streams of the Mara and grumetti.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river

Wildebeests drink water in several turns in a muddy pond during their long journey.

The heavy clouds brought by the cyclic monsoon from east Africa had already moved there.

By that time, they irrigated meadows far greener and more succulent than those of that vast Serengeti.

Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, Golden Savannah

Wildebeests graze in the savanna with the sun setting over the Serengeti.

Zanzibar, Tanzania

The African Spice Islands

Vasco da Gama opened the Indian Ocean to the Portuguese empire. In the XNUMXth century, the Zanzibar archipelago became the largest producer of cloves and the available spices diversified, as did the people who disputed them.
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Heart of Mozambique's Wildlife Shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Miranda, Brazil

Maria dos Jacarés: the Pantanal shelters such Creatures

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.
Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania

Hemingway's Favorite Africa

Situated on the western edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smallest but charming and richest in Europe. wild life of Tanzania. In 1933, between hunting and literary discussions, Ernest Hemingway dedicated a month of his troubled life to him. He narrated those adventurous safari days in “The Green Hills of Africa".
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Jabula Beach, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
safari
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Aventura

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Australia Day, Perth, Australian Flag
Ceremonies and Festivities
Perth, Australia

Australia Day: In Honor of the Foundation, Mourning for Invasion

26/1 is a controversial date in Australia. While British settlers celebrate it with barbecues and lots of beer, Aborigines celebrate the fact that they haven't been completely wiped out.
Camel Racing, Desert Festival, Sam Sam Dunes, Rajasthan, India
Cities
Jaisalmer, India

There's a Feast in the Thar Desert

As soon as the short winter breaks, Jaisalmer indulges in parades, camel races, and turban and mustache competitions. Its walls, alleys and surrounding dunes take on more color than ever. During the three days of the event, natives and outsiders watch, dazzled, as the vast and inhospitable Thar finally shines through.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Lunch time
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Culture
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Princess Yasawa Cruise, Maldives
Traveling
Maldives

Cruise the Maldives, among Islands and Atolls

Brought from Fiji to sail in the Maldives, Princess Yasawa has adapted well to new seas. As a rule, a day or two of itinerary is enough for the genuineness and delight of life on board to surface.
Ethnic
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Naghol: Bungee Jumping without Modern Touches

At Pentecost, in their late teens, young people launch themselves from a tower with only lianas tied to their ankles. Bungee cords and harnesses are inappropriate fussiness from initiation to adulthood.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

Cape Town, South Africa, Nelson Mandela
History
Cape Town, South Africa

In the End: the Cape

The crossing of Cabo das Tormentas, led by Bartolomeu Dias, transformed this almost southern tip of Africa into an unavoidable scale. And, over time, in Cape Town, one of the meeting points of civilizations and monumental cities on the face of the Earth.
Ocaso, Santo Antão, Cape Verde
Islands
Santo Antão, Cape Verde

Up and Down the Estrada da Corda

Santo Antão is the westernmost of the Cape Verde Islands. There lies an Atlantic and rugged threshold of Africa, a majestic insular domain that we begin by unraveling from one end to the other of its dazzling Estrada da Corda.
ala juumajarvi lake, oulanka national park, finland
Winter White
Kuusamo ao PN Oulanka, Finland

Under the Arctic's Icy Spell

We are at 66º North and at the gates of Lapland. In these parts, the white landscape belongs to everyone and to no one like the snow-covered trees, the atrocious cold and the endless night.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Chã das Caldeiras to Mosteiros, Fogo Island, Cape Verde
Nature
Chã das Caldeiras a Mosteiros, Fogo Island, Cape Verde

Chã das Caldeiras to Mosteiros: descent through the Ends of Fogo

With the Cape Verde summit conquered, we sleep and recover in Chã das Caldeiras, in communion with some of the lives at the mercy of the volcano. The next morning, we started the return to the capital São Filipe, 11 km down the road to Mosteiros.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Etosha National Park Namibia, rain
Natural Parks
PN Etosha, Namíbia

The Lush Life of White Namibia

A vast salt flat rips through the north of Namibia. The Etosha National Park that surrounds it proves to be an arid but providential habitat for countless African wild species.
Puerto Rico, San Juan, walled city, panoramic
UNESCO World Heritage
San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Highly Walled Puerto Rico of San Juan Bautista

San Juan is the second oldest colonial city in the Americas, after the Dominican neighbor of Santo Domingo. A pioneering emporium and stop over on the route that took gold and silver from the New World to Spain, it was attacked again and again. Its incredible fortifications still protect one of the most lively and prodigious capitals in the Caribbean.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Punta Cahuita aerial view
Beaches
Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
orthodox procession
Religion
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
Pachinko Salon, Video Addiction, Japan
Society
Tokyo, Japan

Pachinko: The Video Addiction That Depresses Japan

It started as a toy, but the Japanese appetite for profit quickly turned pachinko into a national obsession. Today, there are 30 million Japanese surrendered to these alienating gaming machines.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Daily life
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Fishing, Cano Negro, Costa Rica
Wildlife
Caño Negro, Costa Rica

A Life of Angling among the Wildlife

One of the most important wetlands in Costa Rica and the world, Caño Negro dazzles for its exuberant ecosystem. Not only. Remote, isolated by rivers, swamps and poor roads, its inhabitants have found in fishing a means on board to strengthen the bonds of their community.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.