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The Central Serengeti is one of the most productive wildlife photography areas anywhere in Africa. The landscape is predominantly vast open plains with scattered acacia thickets, some small slow moving rivers and the most amazing rock formations, called Kopjes (pronounces copies).
Our hope for the safari was to photograph predators in these wide open spaces, and on top of these rocks. We were extremely spoilt on this safari, viewing 87 lions, 2 leopards and 5 cheetah in just 4 nights!
Our first afternoon in Central Serengeti was a long one. We had driven from Karatu that morning, via the Ngorongoro Crater. When we arrived in the park, the first sighting we had was of this beautiful Tawny Eagle with a very full crop.
Other common species we saw on the drive in were plenty of Thompsons Gazelles and a herd of around 200 zebra that were coming to a waterhole to drink.
As we approached the waterhole there was a small pride of 4 lions who were fast asleep. As the zebra herd approached, they lions realised they had a chance for an easy dinner and got into position. We did not have to wait very long before chaos erupted around us and the lions made a kill.
Early the next day we headed out to explore what this amazing place had to offer. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise before finding a huge hyena den. The pups were all out and about, watching a hot air balloon float overhead filled with guests.
After searching all the Kopjes for lions without success, we headed out to the open plains where we had an awesome sighting of a cheetah and her cub. they were originally staring at a herd of gazelle, but with no cover and a large distance between them they soon lost interest and began to play.
After eating breakfast out on the plains we headed back to camp to have a rest and do some editing. On our way however, we bumped into two different prides of lions hiding up in the shade.
In the afternoon we headed out once again in the direction of the Kopjes and where we had left the cheetah. A large herd of zebra had arrived and were running across the road, giving us great opportunities to pan. We also came across the same pride of lions from earlier, still lying in the shade. unfortunately the cheetah mother and cub had moved off.
The next day we once again checked the Kopjes in the morning with no success. We did however find two old looking cheetah males who were surrounded by hyena. The population of hyena in these parts of the world actually have a direct influence on the cheetah numbers, as the cheetah are often unable to hide their kills from these opportunists.
In the afternoon we decided to head in a completely different direction and check out the lower regions where the rivers are. Our first sighting was of a very cheeky young baboon and its family, before we rounded a corner and found a lion cub in a tree, waiting patiently for its mother to return.
After photographing the cub for a while, we decided to go searching for the pride in the direction the cub kept staring. Soon after we found two large males on the other side of the River and decided we would try and cross to view them. As we got to the crossing point however, we found that the males were on their way to the rest of the pride, who had just taken down three zebra in the reeds of the river.
In the next morning drive we went back to where all the lions had made the three kills. The cubs had joined up with the pride, but the visibility was very bad. We got lucky at one point with a lioness climbing a tree before we moved off towards a huge herd of zebra and wildebeest that had arrived into the plains over night.
Here we spend the rest of the morning photographing the huge numbers of animals, awestruck on the sheer size and numbers within the herd.
On the afternoon drive we once again headed towards the Kopjes. Before we got there we found a huge bull elephant picking leaves from the very limit of his reach, and a small breeding herd where the babies were suckling.
Arriving at one of the more scenic Kopjes we were pleasantly surprised to find a lioness on top of one of the rocks. The scenery was absolutely stunning and all we had to do was wait for her to wake up before capturing some very pleasing images.
Sadly our time in the Central Serengeti had come to an end. As we drove onto our next destination, Ndutu, we once again came across a young cheetah who was on the hunt. We were only with her for a few minutes when she singled out a young gazelle and took it down right in front of us.... a fitting end to a magical 4 days.
If you would like to join us in the Central Serengeti, we are returning there in February 2024. Trip details can be found in the button below.
