After eating lunch at Lerai Picnic Site we continue through Lerai Forest for some time as we make our way to Lake Magadi. Here we have a chance to see different animals and birds and we do see troops of baboons on the road. Luckily they are not aggresive as the ones at the gate so we pass them very carefully while enjoying a pair of Klass Cuckoos hiding in the foliage and singing to each other.
Here we see one more stork, for a trifecta of species, in fact it is a pair of Saddle-billed Storks. And the storks are watched over, for some reason, by a White-backed Vulture high up in a tree.
And then we start exiting the forest and soon are back in the savanna with lots of antelopes and even one lost warthog in the middle of it all.
This is where we notice we are getting closer to the Magadi Lake our last major goal for the day. And we can even see the flamingoes gathered on the shore, we really hope we will be able to see them closer when we are going to reach the shore of the lake.
But until then we have to pass near some imposing Buffalos that seem to be ready to start the next fight club, buffalos versus cars. The Elands are also quite impressive, we have really forgotten how huge they can get.
Then we pass near the Seneto Picnic area which is unexpectedly quite full. Unexpectedly because it is near the main descent road and we assume that by this time in the afternoon most cars already proceeded past the initial picnic area. And then we turn towards the lake, it is time to visit it for the first time.
We drive as close as we can to the lake and then the guide informs us that the spur road we used was actually the main road a few years ago. Then the lake submerged a whole section so now it ends at the lake with a nice views of the flamingoes and other assorted birds.
Here we get our first great look at both the Lesser and Greater Flamingoes and can compare them side by side. Now we can see that they are quite different but somehow we cannot remember this outside of direct comparisons.
We then return to the new main road and skirt the expanded lake while keeping an eye out for anything interesting. Like the wildebeests calves that look so different from the mature wildebeests that sometimes we assume at first glance that they are a different animal.
This section also has multiple gray crowned crane pairs that we enjoy seeing. And they are not as skittish as the first ones we have seen. And we get one more lifer, a beautiful Kittlitz Plover skulking near our car, we almost missed it while enjoying the cranes.
The road here passes through the savanna and again we are almost the only car exploring this section. Most people are taking the direct route between the descent and ascent road and are not exploring this section. Which is a pity for them but a boon for us with fields full of African Sacred Ibises that we really looked for in Taiwan and weren’t able to find.
Blue-billed Teal and Pied Avocet are also quite common here and in Ngorongoro with some nice views next to the road.
The road passes at a distance from the lake now, likely to avoid being submerged again. On the fields there are lots of birds with Egyptian Geese being another common bird.
And then we turn again towards the lake, it seems that the new road is now leading us to the intersection with the old abandoned road. As we get closer to the lake we start to see more water birds including pelicans, something that somehow we didn’t expect in the middle of the savanna.
When reaching the old road we turn on it towards the lake and drive right to the end where it enters the water. This is another great spot for flamingoes and shorebirds, there are lots of them.
It is quite a scenic and smelly place and we enjoy and endure it for some time looking at the flamingoes all around us.
And of course we also do our best to see the differences in the species of shorebirds. A valiant but losing effort if we wouldn’t have a guide with us pointing at the specialties around us.
Now it is time to leave the lake and close the loop around it and then at some point go back up to the lodge. But before we do that our guide suddenly shouts “Rhino!!” again and this time we see the rhino clearly and it obviously is a beautiful black rhino. So we saw 2 of the about 30 rhinos in the crater, quite a good proportion given that the guide was not that optimistic at the start of the day.
With most major bird and mammals species already seen we now focus on photos with some great opportunities for both eland and cranes coming up almost immediately.
We then pass through a herd of wildbeests, it is quite impressive to see them grazing instead of running away when passing by.
The zebras are even less impressed by us. A male decides to do the dirty right as we pass and the moms are bringing their fowls right next to the road with no concern about our car.
And then we get our best photo of an Eland, in our opinion, as he looks at us stupefied. Quite fun and we enjoy watching it until it decides it had enough and moves a bit farther away.
As we close the loop and reach our descent/ascent road we see a tree full of beautiful Dusky Turtle-Doves while an Ostrich family is looking at us distrustfully from the distance.
And then it is time for the climb back to the lodge. We put the cameras away mostly and just focus on the road when suddenly we notice something in the bushes. And that is how we see our first serval, sitting in the tall grass and assuming we cannot see him. But we can and take lots of photos before moving on. Right on top, where we met the elephant the previous day we now encounter a herd of cattle. A different road block but still a road block that we have to wait to pass before turning into the lodge after a beautiful and eventful day in the Ngorongoro Crater.
