NGORONGORO CRATER NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA, Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Young male lions, Ngorongoro Crater National Park, Tanzania.

My friend Karen Minkowski has visited Africa many times and has contributed often to The Intrepid Tourist, sharing her beautiful photographs and insights about animals. She recently went to northern Tanzania, visiting four national parks: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. This is the third of her four reports of that trip. 

As we descended into Ngorongoro Crater, four or five young muddy male lions were emerging from a cloud of dust whipped up by Land Cruisers on the Crater floor below us. We assumed they were part of a “coalition”, a group of related and sometimes unrelated males who have been forced out of their natal pride(s) or have chosen to leave. They will probably form their own prides, giving them a greater chance at reproductive success.

They chased each other and tussled, full of energy in the cool morning. I love how their tails are flying.

Some of the males had short manes, others had not yet begun to grow them.

After the lions moved on, we spotted two Serval cats, well-camouflaged in the tall, dry grass. Here’s one of the pair. Among the wild cats, Servals have the highest rate of hunting success, feeding on rodents and other small mammals.

Serval.

This Golden Jackal, now called the Golden Wolf, first got our attention with its high-pitched howl.

Golden wolf (golden jackal).

Very recent DNA studies show a closer relationship to grey wolves and coyotes than to the Golden Jackal of Europe and Asia.

Golden wolf (golden jackal).

The Secretary Bird, a relative of eagles, hawks and other raptors, eats just about anything on the ground it can catch but prefers snakes, including venomous ones. The bird stomps its prey to death with its strong legs and feet.

Secretary bird.

On a relatively cool morning, it’s not rare to see hippos grazing until the sun sends them back to the safety of the water.

Hippos.

 Grant’s Gazelle lowering itself to a sitting posture.

Grant's gazelle.

A herd of buffalo at rest. These are females; the males were off to one side. You can see the difference in horn structure between females and males (below). The males have a thick, boney base on top of their head where the horns have fused. This “boss” protects the head when they fight other males for dominance.

Female buffalo.

These old male buffalos may be a threesome or a part of a larger bachelor group. They’ve separated from the mixed herd of adult females, their young, and the stronger, dominant males, who may have kicked them out. Though these three are well past their prime, I saw, years ago, a small group of these old guys fend off a lioness. Their massive horns are intimidating and can inflict serious injury or death.

Male buffalo.

The Northern Anteater Chat. 

Rosy-throated Longclaw, probably a female, well-camouflaged in the dry grasses.

Hippo aggression? In the first photo below, a wet (dark) hippo walks toward the resting hippo on the left. In the next picture the hippo has stood up and looks threateningly at the one on the right. About fifteen seconds later (third photo), the aggressor moves closer to the wet hippo, its face thrust out; the wet one seems to be cowering a bit, but a fight did not ensue.

I may be interpreting this hippo interaction completely incorrectly!

Lesser flamingos in Lake Magadi, on the Crater floor.

African Wild Cat on the outer slopes of the Crater.

Note: Karen's final post about her Africa trip--Tarangiri National Park--will appear next week.

 

THE SERENGETI, A MAGICAL PLACE TO SEE WILFLIFE, Guest Post by Karen Minkowski

Female leopard with her cub, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

My friend Karen Minkowski has visited Africa many times and has contributed often to The Intrepid Tourist, sharing her beautiful photographs and insights about animals. She recently went to northern Tanzania, visiting four national parks: Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. This is the second of her four reports of that trip. 

The Serengeti is magical, a magnet, one of the best places on earth. It seems at times, as the Maasai thought when they named it Siringet, that it really does go on forever and ever – infinity on earth. Here is some of what we saw.

Cheetahs.

These cheetahs may be brothers; we wondered if there were hiding from lions, as they remained reclining, partially obscured by grass, for a long time.

Later that afternoon, a clump of nine or ten Land Cruisers ahead alerted us to something interesting. A group of stopped vehicles is a common way of finding predators, especially, when driving through a wildlife area.

Two leopard cubs wrestled and snuggled and finally looked in the direction of their mother, who was not in our line of sight. When the cubs disappeared amidst the rocks and vegetation, our guide moved the vehicle to where we could see her perched high upon a rock. 

Leopard cubs.

Leopard cubs.

Female leopard.

It’s not common to see a leopard with her cubs, so we were lucky when they briefly joined their mother. We watched as one cub or the other, sometimes both, spent a few seconds in her presence, as though just checking in with her.

We’d seen five species of cats in just a few days: lion, serval, wild cat, cheetah and leopard. Our version of the Big Five! (Traditionally the Big Five are lion, leopard, elephant, black rhino and Cape buffalo. We did see all but the black rhino.)

A lovely giraffe in a woodland.

Zebras at the river.

Impalas.

Male impalas nuzzling. They eventually put their foreheads together and gently practiced fighting, skills they might one day need.

Practice fighting.

A couple of new birds for me: von der Decken’s Hornbill and the Coqui Francolin. (I was last in the Serengeti in 1971, so I may have seen these birds before and forgotten them.) Both are males.

Decken's Hornbill.

Coqui Francolin.

Kirk's Dik-Dik, a tiny antelope about 16 to 18 inches in height.

Hippos are common where there is water deep enough to cover their enormous bodies. Such sweet faces!

Hippos.

Lion drinking.

Lions Mating.

Wildebeeste migration.

We saw a little of the wildebeest migration heading north towards the Maasai-Mara in Kenya.  

Note: Next week will be Karen's report on her visit to Ngorogoro Crater National Park.

DINOSAURS AND MORE at the Calgary Zoo, Alberta, Canada

Dinosaur at the Calgary Zoo with the skyline of the city in the distance.

How many zoos have both real wild animals AND dinosaurs? Not very many. But at the Wilder Calgary Zoo and Prehistoric Park in Canada you can not only see giraffes and hippos and a host of other wild animals, but also models of life-size dinosaurs lurking among the trees and bushes, just as they might have been in real life millions of years ago.

Like the sauropods of dinosaur times, giraffes use their long necks to reach their food.

On an overcast/occasionally rainy day in May, I visited the Calgary Zoo, dodging the raindrops along with groups of school children on class visits to see the animals. The zoo straddles the Bow River, with the Canadian Wilds (closed on the day of my visit) and Dinosaur Park sections on the same side as the entrance and parking area, and, on the other side of the pedestrian bridge, Destination Africa, the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, and Exploration Asia. All exhibits have both inside and outside viewing areas, making the zoo accessible in winter and on rainy days.

A wild Canada goose takes a stroll in the rain through the Calgary Zoo.

After buying my ticket, my first stop was at the Penguin Plunge where I watched penguins cavorting in their outdoor pool, perfectly at home on the cool, wet day. I then proceeded to Destination Africa to see the giraffes, hippos, porcupines, zebras, giraffes, ostriches and other African wildlife. 

Close-up encounter with a hippo in Destination Africa.

A group of children were clustered around the viewing window of the hippo tank, delighted by a young hippo who was just inches away.

Gorilla feet--note the black toenails!

While the enclosures give the animals plenty of personal space, they also allow visitors the occasional closeup encounter (on the other side of the glass.) One of the gorillas had chosen to nap so close to the window that you could see the details of its toes and fingers.

Lily pond in the conservatory.

By the time I got to the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, the rain was pouring down, so it was the ideal time to go inside and visit the conservatory. 

Swallowtail butterfly and chrysalis.

I n the same building I then went to the butterfly enclosure, where I watched a beautiful butterfly just emerging from its chrysalis.

Cryodrakon (wingspan 33 feet)

When the rain let up, I went back outside and followed the path to the Asian animals (gibbons, tapirs, a Bactrian camel and more) and then across a suspension bridge to the Prehistoric Park, where I was greeted by a giant pterosaur, whose wingspan in real life would have been the size of a small airplane. 

This dinosaur, whose name means "royal horned face" lived in Alberta 68-67 million years ago.

Dozens of dinosaurs line the paths through this part of the zoo, all with helpful signs and painted in bright patterns and colors. 

Corythosaurus grew to be 30 feet long.

We don’t yet know what color most dinosaurs were, but it is likely that their colors varied just like they do on the skin of lizards or the feathers of birds today.

Close, but of reach!

At the end of my visit I had a sandwich and cocoa in the zoo café near the entrance. The cafe is part of an extensive gift shop.  I enjoyed seeing all the animals at the Calgary Zoo, but what is truly unique about the zoo are the dinosaurs. With a little imagination one feels transported in time to millions of years ago when dinosaurs were alive.  

Getting there:

The zoo was a short taxi ride from my downtown hotel, but I could have taken the train. (There is a stop right at the zoo entrance.) I asked for a zoo map at the ticket window but found out that the zoo no longer provides paper maps. You can download a zoo map to your phone, or, as I did, refer to the large map signs posted at strategic spots around the zoo.

African porcupines.