Day #4 – Southern Serengeti, Tanzania

Along the Lake Ndutu shores there was a herd of Wildebeests at sunrise. It had rained north of the lake, in the plains between the Naabi gate and the NCA border. These Wildebeests felt the urge to go there but the lake was in the way. An experienced female walked in, testing the water. The others followed her, albeit without the rush that you see when they cross the rivers such as the Mara or Talek. The female touched the water with her lips, walked in, but her instincts told her that it was not a good idea to go ahead, especially with all the calves in the group. So she turned and walked back to the shore, copied by the others. They could simply walk a few hundred meters to the west and avoid the lake, so I hope they managed to find their way north. We decided to stay in the woodlands today. We finally saw good herds of Elephants, though it was sad to see some of them with the tips of the trunks cut off, probably by wire snares. There was a Wildebeest calf dead on a tree, but the Leopard was nowhere to be seen. We had breakfast on a hill, watching the immensity of the plains all around us, filled with grazing Wildebeests. In the afternoon a Cheetah with four cubs, a different one from the one we saw hunting the first couple of days, kept us busy waiting for a hunt which eventually did not happen. This image is from yesterday, a failed attempt at catching a Thomson’s Gazelle ram.