Ndutu is at the end of a very long dry season. The dust seems to get everywhere, temperatures are hot and tempers are high. Relief from the heat is near, as rain clouds start to build and rumbles of distance thunder break the afternoon silence. It has rained on the surrounding plains and some days we can even smell the rain although it never quite makes it to us. The fire ball lilies are flowering everywhere adding a nice touch of red colour to the parched earth and another sure sign of the approaching rains. Waiting for rain is one of the most frustrating things about living in the bush. The pace of life slows down at this time; the animals also seem to slow down. Even the young bull elephants that usually can’t resist trumpeting at passing cars are just plodding by, waiting for the rain.
The game viewing has been amazing lately. The Lions from the Masek pride have ten tiny cubs. This makes the pride up to 23 and it made a grand sight to see them feeding from a buffalo kill recently. The cubs were adorable cavorting and gamboling around while the adults fed. We just wanted to scoop one up but like pulling a lions tail, we know it’s a bad idea. The adults don’t look so cute; they look thin and mean at this time of year.
We’ve had no end of interesting things happening in the lodge itself. A lioness was seen a few days ago from the main lodge area. She was walking by when she suddenly saw an impala ram feeding alone. We watched enthralled for the next half an hour as she went down low and edged closer and closer. Watching the lion and impala alternately you realize how much impalas and other prey animals are constantly on the look out for danger, they feed only for a few seconds before looking up. It was in the afternoon and naturally such an observant impala spotted the lioness and ran off with a snort. It’s such a treat to watch such behavior while out of a vehicle although we were in the comfort and safety of the bar. Then the lioness also disappeared which was a little alarming because she was quite close though we never saw her again.
Plenty of elephants have passed through the lodge this month. Guests enjoying tea one afternoon were treated to a group of around 250 zebra, five buffalo, a small group of kongoni and a herd impala grazing in front of the lodge and through this idyllic scene walked a line of 30 elephants. They ambled through the entire length of the lodge before fading away into the trees. 
The elephants (usually the bulls) have continued to raid the wells this month for water. Mr. DT the notorious bull elephant who seems to have moved into the lodge this week is the leader of the well raiders.
The nights are hot and still at the moment. The only sounds are of the odd hyena whooping in the night, the sudden crack of a tree being trimmed by an elephant or the chatter of flamingoes passing high overhead. Flamingoes migrate between the rift valley soda lakes at night, probably to avoid predation from birds of prey. They must be disappointed to find the Lakes Ndutu and Masek dry.
The most interesting sighting from guests that I’ve heard recently was of a leopard being treed by a striped hyena. When the leopard tried to climb down it was chased up the next tree by the stripy, this happened 3 times. Lions, tree leopards, and, I can imagine, spotted hyenas doing so but I’ve never heard of a striped hyena doing this. It’s very special just to catch a glimpse of a leopard but to see such interesting behavior between two such uncommon animals is very rare.
There have been lots of cheetah sightings lately. Males, females, mothers with cubs, males hijacking females and hunts have been seen. Some guests who were on their last day of safari came to Ndutu hoping to see cheetah, as it was the only thing they hadn’t seen. After a long tiring journey from the north of Serengeti, half the group remained behind from the evening game drive while the others went looking for cheetah. The guests who remained behind at the lodge watched on as a male cheetah casually strolled by the lodge in the evening light. Those that went looking for the cats didn’t see any. Isn’t that always the way of things.
Paul,
Ndutu Safari Lodge.
