Klein's Camp luxury
Trip Start
Jul 03, 2010
1
12
21
Trip End
Jul 23, 2010
Where I stayed
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
We had arranged an early game drive with Tally and our tracker Mathanga. Hussein brought us some coffee and biscuits as we were to have breakfast in the bush!
We came across some more lions, a different group from the ones we had seen the night before. It was a great photo opportunity as we were so close to them. The appeared so relaxed just heads peering up out of the grass, beautifully camouflaged. They all seemed young except for an older female that was obviously the mother to some of these lions.
There was a wide variety of game here lots of zebras, elephants and giraffes. One of the elephants we saw was stretching up for high branches up on two legs. I had never seen that before.
Tally was very knowledgeable and I realised that in some ways it was a disadvantage not having a guide as you could miss so much when you are trying to view things yourself. Mathanga had incredible eyesight seeing things that we couldn't.
I mentioned to Tally about the large amount of burning we had seen on the road to Bologonja. We had heard from Mike that they burnt the bush to encourage new growth as it was thought to be a good thing for the Serengeti but because it cost less and was easier most of the burning was near the road. Tally explained that there had been far too much burning and this had been bad for the grazing animals. Luckily Klein's didn't burn the land and the up side was that many of the animals ended up on Klein's Camp because there was still good grassland.
Tally stopped at the remains of a zebra kill, there was hardly anything left just a few bones and some skin to identify what it once was. He thought it was a kill from the night before and I was amazed how little was left.
We had an amazing breakfast cooked in the bush of sausages, bacon, cereal, coffee and juices. Sitting while a herd of zebra wondered by.
There were lots to see - a beautiful Defassa Waterbuck posed for a picture. A pair of Ground Hornbills with their conspicuous red face boomed loudly and we noticed one had a small mouse in its beak. I had never seen so many giraffe, especially down at the Grumeti River that flowed through the concession. We also saw Tree Hyraxes, cousins to the Rock Hyraxes we had seen at Seronera. There were Bushbuck, Hartebeest with those unmistakable horns, Kopi with blue jean legs, Eland, Impala, Thomson's Gazelle and Waterbuck. A huge herd of many hundred Buffalo had also moved into Klein's, a magnificent sight. In a dead tree a beautiful Brown Snake Eagle peered at us with those piercing orange eyes. A Brown Hooded Kingfisher was another great spot.
Down in the valley we could appreciate the setting of Klein's camp as you looked up at where it nestled in the hillside above us. What a marvelous position!
Lunch was superb by far the best food we had eaten in Tanzania. It really was 5 star.
We went for an evening game drive before dinner hoping to spot the Leopard mother and her two cubs that had been seen recently. Unfortunately leopards would remain elusive for the whole holiday and we were unlucky. At night the bush filled with a whole host of different animals, Cape Hare's, Spring Hares (affectionately known as the Tanzaroo as they move like small kangaroos) and Bat Eared Foxes - we must have seen half a dozen of these elusive creatures.
Then we were back for yet another delightful meal.
Comments
Hi Jo, we are leaving for a very similar trip soon and have enjoyed reading your journals. What camera do you have? Your photos are superb.
Best wishes,
Hazel
Hi Hazel,
Thanks for your kind comments. I bought a canon eos550d just before the holiday and I have been really pleased with it. For close ups I bought a sigma 125-400 telephoto which is excellent and a lot cheaper than the canon equivalent. Hope you enjoy the holiday as much as we did.
Jo