Safari in Tanzania, January 2019, day 4

In the morning, we piled into the Truck and descended the steep road into the crater. When we got to the crater floor, we were astounded by the view. There were two large male lions sitting casually next to a bunch of gazelles. My God! Has peace broken out? Have the lions turned vegetarian? Shefiq cleared things us - male lions rarely did the hunting, preferring to leave that kind of thing to the ladies. And furthermore, an adult gazelle can usually outrun a lion without too much difficulty. Nevertheless, several of the gazelles were keeping an wary eye on the nearest lion.

We saw so many animals in the crater, including a rather distant view of a rhino. But one of the most touching sights concerned the wildebeests. It turns out that the lady wildebeests all calf pretty much at the same time, during a few weeks in January and February, just before they head north. You'd think that this would be an all-you-can-eat for the predators, since the young are slow and defenseless. But there are so many wildebeests that the predators can't make much of a dent in their numbers without getting a tummy-ache.

Anyway, we had the priviledge of seeing a calf being born. The most amazing thing was that the calf was able to walk at the ripe old age of five minutes. Pictures below.

Male lion surveys Thomson's gazelles Male lion strolls away A pair of jackals Hyenas

A zebra crossing Hyena Hyena with bone bird

Kori bustard, the largest bird that can fly Wildebeest Cape buffalo Waterbuck

Waterbuck A convocation of storks

Here are the pictures of the birth of a wildebeest.

Legs sticking out of her rear end The moment of birth I name you Cuthbert Cuthbert, it is time to learn to walk

You're getting it Whoops! Excellent! Now, Cuthbert, best foot forward.
We need to get to the Serengeti by nightfall

And the rest of our pics:

Thomson's gazelle Bird Hippo Birds strolling on hippos

Flying birds Clown crane Duck Lionesses looking for dinner

Just lyin' around A noble profile The two of us, snapped by Shefiq at a rest stop Eagles

Shefiq and Louise chatting Egrets Rhino

And then we started back up the road to the crater rim, leaving this magical place behind. Back to Arusha, farewell (and tips) to Shefiq, and on to our hotel for a quick snooze before a wake-up call at 3 a.m. so we could drive back to the airport for a 6:30 flight. Farewell Arusha! Farewell safari! It is on to Zanzibar for us, to spend a few days reminiscing about the trip before taking the long journey home.

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Male lion surveys Thomson's gazelles	Male lion strolls away	A pair of jackals	Hyenas

A zebra crossing	Hyena	Hyena with bone	bird

Kori bustard, the largest bird that can fly	Wildebeest	Cape buffalo	Waterbuck

Waterbuck	A convocation of storks


Legs sticking out of her rear end	The moment of birth	I name you Cuthbert	Cuthbert, it is time to learn to walk

You're getting it	Whoops!	Excellent!	Now, Cuthbert, best foot forward. We need to get to the Serengeti by nightfall


Thomson's gazelle	Bird	Hippo	Birds strolling on hippos

Flying birds	Clown crane	Duck	Lionesses looking for dinner

Just lyin' around	A noble profile	The two of us, snapped by Shefiq at a rest stop	Eagles

Shefiq and Louise chatting	Egrets		Rhino