On Safari in Tanzania – Part 3 – First Day of Big Game Hunting

Several Thomson's Gazelles

 

October 21 was the day we first arrived at our camp, received our “potty training” and rested for an hour or so after lunch.  Wisely, our tour guides were giving us a deliberately slow start to help us cope with the jet lag of a halfway around the world trip and the 6000 foot elevation where we were now settling.  By mid afternoon we were out for a one mile walk around our campsite located well out in the bush country away from most signs of civilization.

Our guides pointed out many interesting tidbits along the way, such as militant ants that live in self-made tiny mud homes on the branches of thorn bushes. We were cautioned to keep our distance when taking photos or we could be attacked as the individual ant homes can almost instantly band together for coordinated attack against any external threats.  By the way, you can click on any picture to enlarge it then click your “back” arrow or key to return to the post.

2010_1026Africa1gbrawLKS0066We saw antler remains of an Impala, live wildebeest and Thomson’s Gazelles near the camp.

When we returned from the walk we boarded our Land Rovers and went farther into the bush to see what we might find.

 

 

Wildebeest

Wildebeest

The first sighting was a wildebeest all by himself.  We will see many more in the days ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomson's Gazelle

Thomson’s Gazelle

Next we spotted a Thomson’s Gazelle all by himself.  Not long after, we spotted a group of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena

Not long after that we saw a spotted hyena, a mean scavenger, by all accounts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Giraffe

Our First Giraffe

The best treat of the afternoon, however, was a sighting of three giraffes.  One got pretty close to us but the other two were behind scrub bushes and farther away .  This was the best photo we got and we were awestruck with our afternoon and this conclusion to it.

 

Our tour guide, Harrison, laughed playfully at us snapping pictures every second, it seemed.  He said “All your pictures today will be “deletes” after you see what we will find tomorrow”.  And he was right!

Next time I’ll have a video of elephants – lots of them and much more so stay tuned!

 

 

 

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