We spent 2 nights camping in the Serengeti. Up until now we have stayed in campsites outside the reserves and National Parks.  This time, we camped on open ground in one of the public campsites. We had the place to ourselves. I wonder why.  The facilities were very basic – cold showers but at least there were flush toilets. Because the site is not fenced off we were not allowed to visit the facilities after bedtime unless you got agreement from your tent mate to accompany you. But more about that later.

We stopped at the entrance to the reserve and the crew rustled up lunch. The first woman to visit the toilets got attacked and stung by some class of a bee. She was very stoic while we waited to see if there was any adverse reaction.  Luckily not. There was a tourist shop selling coffee! Something I am missing badly is good fresh coffee.

The wash up is very carefully done and always with 4 seperate basins.

Inside of the bus. Note the lockers at the back where we squashed our bags.

Entrance to the campsite in the heart of the bush.

Home for the next 2 nights.

Night falls quickly here

The photo above was taken from just outside our tent. Seconds later a herd of zebra came galloping past. Everyone around was looking at them in awe.  I was looking behind them to what had them racing off in such a rush. I have been assured there are no lions in this sector. But you never know….

Due to toilet restrictions Margaret had fashioned a She-Pee out of a large plastic water bottle.  It looked like it would work, but if you fell over midway you’d make a terrible mess in the tent. That night we went to sleep to the sound of screaming hyena. There was also something munching nearby but needless to say we didn’t investigate.

Inevitably, I had to get up in the middle of night. Breaking the rules I didn’t wake Margaret but grabbed a torch, put on runners and ventured out only about 1 foot from the tent. In accordance with instructions I scanned the area with the torch but saw nothing. Our neighbour was not so lucky.  She also came out on her own, scanned with the torch and the light landed on 3 Buffalo sitting meters away. She got such a fright she fell over. On scrambling back into the tent she woke her friend saying she had sat in some prickily undergrowth and asked her to pick out the offending greenery. On being faced with a bare bum, her friend quickly discovered that in fact she had brought a load of biting ants back in with her. It was bedlam apparently but Margaret and I slept through it all.

Margaret and Doli getting breakfast ready.

Surprisingly effective cooker

Around the camp fire. Thank God no one sang Kumbaya My Lord…

The Serengeti is vast. And while the wildebeest migration was still going on they had already passed through the area we were in. Something to bear in mind if thinking of visiting. A lot of the animals we saw we had already seen in the Masai Mara so I concentrated on photographing birds and landscape. Both of which were amazing.

A Splendid Starling

Saddle Bill

Secretary bird – jumps up and down on snakes to kill them. You might need to click on this one to enlarge.

Can’t remember the name of this one.

Note the lodge on the side of the hill where the posh people stay.

A Sausage Tree. A type of Tanzanian hooch is made from the “sausages”.

The ultimate in dirty looks.

We saw many of these villages in the Serengeti

Next stop is the Ngorongoro Crater. I’ll post that later in the week.