Today is a day to explore the center of the migration in February, the Ndutu area. Starting from our lodge we plan to drive towards Ndutu Marsh first before returning for lunch and then exploring the Lake Masek area in the other direction from the lodge. But first we want to find a geocache near the airport which is surprisingly busy. We soon understand why when we see the airplane, it seems we arrived just when a plane is supposed to take lots of tourists back to Arusha.
So we let them be and continue towards an access to Lake Ndutu first which is quite close. But even so we encounter lots of wildlife and birds along the way forcing us to go slowly and stop multiple times.
And then we arrive at Lake Ndutu. Here supposedly we have to be careful not to enter back into Serengeti from Ngorongoro as that would mean we would have to pay another day in Serengeti. And it is not really clear where one ends and the other park begins especially near the lake. In fact the confusion seems entirely intentional to us but not a lot we can do. So we watch Lake Ndutu from a distance to avoid even getting close to a disputed area.
And then we have to find how to croos the dry riverbed to the other side. While dry now it still looks muddy and there are deep ruts in multiple area where cards have struggled through. In the end we choose one and “speed” through it and no issues, our Land Cruiser just powers through to the other side.
Safely on the other side we are now trying to find the best way forward. First we have to climb up a hill which has other safari cars parked on it so we stop to take a look and….nothing. Just some antelopes but no lions or anything bigger.
So we continue on towards the top passing through the migration and enjoying the many wildebeest right next to the road.
Getting higher we get some nice views of Ndutu Lake and the surrounding area and even see our first giraffe in this section.
Not that giraffes are uncommon here, soon we see them walking all over the savanna like some kind of huge prehistoric monsters roaming Middle Earth or the Jurassic plains.
Compared to the clean map we have there are way too many trails at each intersection. And we have no idea which one is a good one to take or will end in a mudbath or just simply peter out. So we simply try them all, ultimately we are here to enjoy the young wildebeests calfs and they are everywhere.
In the end the trail we choose enters a savanna forest with some trees that we hope are harboring birds. And there are birds but nothing special like canaries and sunbirds we have seen before.
There are also a few more colorful birds like the Diederik Cuckoo and the quite common here Gray-breasted Spurfowl.
As we reach the other side of the savanna we see a few more interesting birds like a Secretarybird, always fun to watch, and a Silverbird just resting above it all.
Here as we approach the marsh according to our GPS we encounter another group of cars stopped and watching something. We go that way also and finally get a glimpse of what they are looking at, a kill site with lots of vultures, interesting.
Another car seems lost inside the migration, it looks like it went offroad to get as close as possible. Again we are reminded that the ones breaking the rules are not the tourists but the paid drivers/guides even though in the end the fault will be assigned to the tourists as in many stories we heard.
We continue exploring a bit more finding vultures and Marabou Storks just about everywhere looking for and enjoying the many kills that litter the savanna seemingly.
And then we notice the time, we have to return to the lodge to eat lunch as today we have decided to not get a lunch box as we are quite tired of them. On the way back we keep an eye out for anything interesting but besides the sights of the migration nothing catches our eye. Soon we cross safely the muddy area again and are at our lodge for lunch followed by an afternoon drive to Masek Lake and surroundings.
