It’s that time of year again when the Ndutu area starts to feel like it’s come to the end of a very busy day. The wildebeest are on their way back north, the camps have moved out, and the humming and buzzing of tourists and tour cars has started to quieten down. We have come to the end of our high season, and with that we’d like to thank everyone who came to see us again this year!
The weather has been anything but predictable these last couple of months. A little out of the ordinary for this time of year: Lake Ndutu was completely dry by the end of May! It’s the first time in all her years of being here that Aadje has seen the lake dry so soon after the end of the ‘wet season’.
Then, just as you have come to terms with the fact that it looks like we might be heading for a drought, two days ago out of the blue, drops started falling from the sky – a whole 0.5 mm of rain fell on us and although it wasn’t much, it also wasn’t expected, so there is no telling what the next couple of months will bring us. As we are approaching full moon – the dry white crusty soda layer that cakes the lake floor does look stunning in the moonlight from the campfire! With there being so little water around – the birdbath is heaving with activity every morning. A couple of mornings ago at breakfast a female impala came walking towards the water with a male following closely behind her. They were incredibly cautious being so close to us – but both managed to get a good drink.
The marsh lionesses, who did so well last year, raising 9 of their cubs to adulthood, have now introduced us to three new sets of cubs – 8 in total, the smallest being about 2-3 months old.
We had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with them a couple of weeks ago – it doesn’t take long before you’re able to pick up on the different personalities. There was the cheeky cub that was insistent on biting into one of the female’s tail – which was not appreciated, and it didn’t take long before the little one had got the hint to leave her alone. There was the brave cub who tried to eat from the wildebeest they had caught. It didn’t seem too phased by the fact that this huge male lion who was defending ‘his’ kill by sleeping with his head in the rotting carcass cavity, was snarling in an attempt to get the little one to leave. And then there was the submissive one who was desperate to join its cousins/siblings in playful banter but as soon as they turned on him all he could do was run in the opposite direction.
The 9 adolescents from the marsh pride’s previous litter were found as far as Twin Hills not long ago. Ingela, who used to be the lion researcher for the Serengeti lion projection, is currently setting up a project together with the Maasai to try and encourage them to conserve their lions. She often goes out with the Maasai trekking for lions in areas where there are human settlements to get an idea as to where populations of lions can currently be found. One night she was camping in the Twin Hills area – she was in the tent and her Maasai colleague was in the car. In the middle of the night she felt something pawing at her tent – in her sleepy state she banged the tent back and said “TOKA” meaning “GO AWAY” but the pawing continued – and she soon realised she was dealing with lions. She had a lot of luck on her side that night – firstly she left the keys in the car – secondly she was working with a Maasai who was a light sleeper, and lastly he knew how to drive! – he started the engine and shoo-ed them off. They followed them that night and by taking ID pictures in the morning realised that the curious gang were the well known marsh adolescents!
Lots of cheetah sightings seen over the last couple of months. ‘AH140’ the female who had two male cubs of her own and adopted two other male cubs has left the gang to fend for themselves. It’s interesting to learn that the four boys who are not all related have stayed together to form a coalition. There has been a naming ceremony within the cheetah project – this is going to be the expensive car lineage. AH140, who didn’t have a name because she was only occasionally spotted by Paul when he was still around, towards the back end of Masek, is now known as Lotus, and her four boys have been named Roll, Royce, Bentley & Morgan. (Can’t think why one is not called Land Rover?)
Then one more cheetah sighting that deserves a mention. Krick – a young male who became independent in the summer of 2008 and hadn’t been seen since – appeared in the twin hills area this wet season after not being sighted for 3 years! A small reminder for anyone who still has cheetah pictures that they would like to have identified – feel free to send your best side view picture to the cheetah project: cheetah@habari.co.tz . They will try and ID who you have seen and let you know a bit about them!
We have had a large turnout of genets over the past couple of months. On chicken nights there are up to 8 of them waiting patiently on the beams. 
Recently 3 baby genets have been keeping us all on our toes. Being curious by nature, they tried to follow mum everywhere she went and were often found in tricky situations. Either they were left at the foot of a wall that was too tall for them to climb up – or they were left on top of the beams that were too slippery for them to climb down. One evening it was noted by all in the dining room that one of the baby genets was parading around on the top beam. It got uncomfortably quiet when everyone realised that the little one was trying to get down but wasn’t quite sure how. You could almost hear everyone holding their breath until it slipped and fell off! Shock horror in the dining room! A couple of guests were so concerned they shot up to make sure he/she was ok. With a shake of the head and flicker of the tail, the little one scuttled away as if it was nothing and we could all get back to our meals.
Over the last couple of days two giraffe have been regular visitors browsing the Balanites tree very close to our house. One night there was the most confusing sound outside – was it rain? As it has been so incredibly dry I found myself thinking that maybe I was loosing it. I went outside to investigate and found that it was the giraffe standing about 2 meters from the house having an almighty wee. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was the same pair of giraffe that stepped on one of the water pipes a couple of nights ago. Despite all attempts from Sylvester the night watchman to try and inform us of what had happened we slept through the whole episode, oblivious to it all. Once again I was confused when I turned the taps on the next morning to find there was no water running through the tap but this incredible sputtering noise of air rushing through the pipes. Thankfully the giraffes stepped on the pipes leading to the manager’s houses and so none of the guests were affected!
The Karatu Secondary School has been on their annual visit. Every year the 40 top students of the graduation class get invited for a two-day stay at the lodge. This year they arrived in a very psychedelic looking bus! I’m always amazed as to how well behaved these young gentlemen are. At dinner time, they line up without a sound at the bar for their soda which they take to the dining room. And during dinner it’s so quiet – you can hear a pin drop. Whilst the students were in for dinner I was sitting by the fire with some clients who commented that such a large group must be good business for us this time of year. I explained that they were all students and that it was a complimentary stay on behalf of the lodge. They were most impressed, and mentioned that had it been their kids school class, we would have to lock away the liqueur, and would probably find ourselves short of a couple of students in the morning! Apart from their game drive with Hamisi as their guide, it was the first year that they decided to opt for a walk around the lake with a ranger. My guess is that with 40 kids parading around the lake shore they didn’t see too much – but then that’s probably not a bad thing! The head master especially was incredibly impressed and hopes to do it again next year.
Lastly, I know Aadje & Colin, and Paul before them, would often comment on the constellations seen from the camp fire. I’m afraid I’m completely at a loss when it comes to the heavens above but I’ll do my best and share with you what I have heard from around the fire. I can safely tell you that Venus is up! I often see it very early in the mornings when I get up to do the tea run. I know Scorpio is in the sky because Colin points it out every night. And lastly the Southern Cross hangs over the lodge at around 8 pm every night – although I have noticed it is starting to move towards the right and am not confident I would be able to find if I didn’t know where I was looking!
To end on a light note – a brief mention of Babu, Tanzania’s Holy man who has become our new neighbour. For those of you who have not yet heard of the ‘Babu’ phenomenon; People are coming from all over East Africa – from as far as the Congo (!) to join the queues of up to 50km to get healed by this priest from Loliondo. For 500 shillings, Babu presents the patients with a cup of specially brewed tea which he claims will cure them of everything from AIDS, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. There is a catch of course – one must believe, and if you jump the line it won’t work! It has been a regular topic of conversation, and with so many people making their way to see him, we have even had a couple of cars in our car park, packed to the brim with people asking “Which is the way to Babu?”.
Laura
