2017/09 Part 3 Ngorongoro - Tue pm Buffalo hunt |
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On our way we spotted a lioness harassing a small group of buffalo. They were trying to get down to a stream to drink and she was 
just confronting them and stopping them from getting there.
It looked like no more than schoolyard bullying, as there was little chance that a solitary 
lioness could bring down a buffalo
.
But then a magnificent male lion came into view and this changed the 
odds considerably.
It seemed to give the lioness some courage as she made an attack on one of the buffalo, getting her claws into its rump and getting kicked in the gut in response.
She made a couple more attempts, always attacking from the rear to stay away from those
dangerous horns.. The male looked interested and he sat down to watch, but made no move to help her.
To add to the drama, another male lion arrived, passing right in front of 
us and settling down to watch the other pair. Ayoub’s guess was that the lioness was in heat and her companion male lion was more interested in sex than eating. They moved along the stream bed leaving the buffalo to drink in peace, albeit with a sore rump. 
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Ngorongoro lions & buffalo (10.19) |
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The new male looked to be younger and smaller, and he made no attempt to challenge, instead settling down to where he could watch. Eventually the pair moved out of our sight and we left our voyeur lion in peace.
These vultures had also been watching the action, occasionally spreading their wings and appearing to cheer the lioness along. They were, after all, more interested in violence and gore than a love story.
We moved on to have lunch by the hippo pool and sure enough it was almost full of hippos, about forty of them, mostly submerged. It looked like you could cross the hippo pool by 
jumping from back to back, an opportunity for YouTube glory, posthumously of course.
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Ngorongoro hippo pool (1.29) |
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Most of the hippos were inert but some were moving about, including this mother and calf.
The luxuriant rushes around the pool were alive with birds: herons, egrets, pelicans, storks, and cranes. There was this gathering of 
blacksmith plovers, and another of egrets. The yellow billed stork was showing off its bill and its sense of humour, while this squacco heron was displaying its beautiful neck patterns.
The pelicans were cruising and occasionally fishing and
the crane was showing off its crown.
Of course, the source of all this luxuriant growth was the digestive systems of those forty hippos, so this was a rather smelly spot and we moved away for our packed lunches.
We were looking out further across the plain and saw this eland in the distance, a big antelope and very shy and it came no closer than the one we’d seen in Amboseli.
Beyond we could see open water and a line of flamingos, recognizable by their faint pink colour. In front was this bundle of sticks that Ayoub identified as a crested porcupine, looking to be larger and having more disordered quills than its North American cousin.
Ayoub heard a message on the radio that a rhino had been sighted. Most of the safari guides share what they are seeing on their radios, so there’s a constant chit-chat in the background, incomprehensible to us as we don’t speak Swahili. Ayoub zoomed back towards the picnic area as the rhino had been seen amongst the wooded area there. We gazed into the bush but saw nothing. Then came a report that it had been seen on the other side of the bush so we zoomed there, and then zoomed back again.
All this zooming to and fro was wearing out the passengers! The Landcruiser’s roof is higher than the van’s, just a little too high for shooting pictures so we had been standing on the seats, which have loose cushions. This was perfect when we were still, but perilous when in motion. Sandie was able to quickly sit down when a zoom started, but with my back problems it was easier for me to stay up and cling on to the roof brackets. However, I need both hands to use my long lens so when I was taking pictures in mid-zoom my ribs were taking a beating. No criticism of Ayoub; it was my choice.
There are about thirty rhinos in the park but they are seldom seen; they have the knack of staying just inside the forest. We’d given up on this rhino and Ayoub was about to leave the picnic area when he spotted a lion just below us in the bush.
Our pictures show just a tiny piece of lion body, but there were actually three lionesses in there.
Just across the marsh a few dozen people had got out of their vehicles and 
they were looking at that dead buffalo. Ayoub barked a warning into the radio and there was a flurry of guides herding their clients to safety. The lionesses came out of the bush 
and calmly strolled off in the other direction, looking like three sisters on an outing.
I seem to have accidentally taken a picture of a bushbuck, rarely seen as they are very shy. I think I was aiming at what I thought was a rhino movement and the bushbuck came into view. Not a great picture, but this was the only one we saw here. 
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Ngorongoro three lionesses (15.56) |
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We began to make our way towards the exit road, and spotted a cheetah at a kill. The cheetah’s stomach was enormous! Cheetahs are not big enough to defend their kills and can’t haul them up a tree like a leopard does, so I guess they eat as much as they can when they can. This one was looking in all directions as if it realized it was vulnerable.
By the time we had driven around the hill, the cheetah had struggled to its feet and had left the kill.
We saw two jackals hurrying in the kill’s direction, eager to help with the clean-up
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Our last animals of the day were these vervet monkeys, similar to those at the lodge in Amboseli.
The road out of the crater is steep and narrow but nicely paved with plenty of traction. We were climbing in the shade but the crater floor was bathed in sunshine and we were trying to get a last view of Ngorongoro. We made it back to our room at dusk and I walked out from our balcony to an overlook just as darkness fell and the crater disappeared.