Newborn wildebeest taking his first steps.
Isn’t he a handsome fellow?
Babies staying very close to Mom.
Two hyenas resting in the road with very full tummies.
Zebras and Wildebeests hangin’ together.
Wildebeests are truly ugly animals — they resemble some sort of prehistoric bull. Although we were not in Tanzania during the official migration, Masha pointed out to us that Wildebeests are always migrating — constantly moving from area to area.
The sight of thousands (no exaggeration) of wildebeests walking across the plain is indescribable. The highlight of our wildebeest experience was, of course, the newborn we saw on the side of the road. In addition, we observed that the Mothers are excellent parents, keeping the babies close at their sides. They even form what we termed “nurseries”, wherein the babies were gathered together inside the circle of Mothers, with a couple Moms on the edge of the circle keeping watch. Even when on the move the babies were kept close enough that they sometimes ran into Mom. We also saw a baby that was clearly afraid to cross the road with it’s Mom, due to the large strange metal animals parked along the road (i.e., vehicles). Mom tried to convince baby to cross, baying at it, to no avail. Finally, she patiently walked back across the road, almost gesturing “Come this way, it’s okay”. The baby responded by running with all its might through a couple of vehicles, arriving safely on the other side with Mom. It was an amazing thing to watch. Zebras are often found with the wildebeests. They graze in the same areas together, with the zebras eating the high grass and the wildebeests eating the low grass. Gazelles, hartebeests, and impala also grazed with the group; the purpose being strength in numbers.
They all get along very well.
Another common sight is hyenas around the wildebeests. They feed on the afterbirth, as well as on the newborns. We came upon a small group of hyenas lying in the road — they were fat probably from having recently eaten a large amount of afterbirth. Wildebeests have all their b
abies within a 3 week period, making migration and protection of the young easier. We were very lucky to be in Tanzania during the birthing season.
On Saturday we were on an all-day game drive, so we had box lunches to eat. Masha stopped in the middle of the Serengeti (which means endless plain) so that we could eat our lunch among the thousands of Wildebeests and Zebras. We don’t remember what it tasted like, but it was the best box lunch we ever ate!
Safari So Good 