Driving through Ndutu and the Serengeti back to Karatu
Elephant herd
We had a fantastic night sleep and are ready for another long and last day of safari in the Serengeti National Park. We will start to make our way back to Arusha in the afternoon.
In the morning, we stay around Ndutu area, and we only see birds, giraffes, impala and zebras.
To say a proper goodbye to these woodlands, we see a large herd of elephant by lake Ndutu. They had been absent for the last days.
Then we continue towards Ngorongoro national park by doing a slow game drive around the plains and some slightly forested area.
I must say that today is a Giraffe day, we have seen so many and always in large groups of 10 or more.
The new animal we see today is a very small antelope called a stein antelope. It's barely bigger than the dik dik and a solitary animal.
In the wide plains we see again our extremely large herds of wildebeests. Zebras and gazelle are omnipresent. We see more elands, they are really shy and they give the safari cars a very wide berth. But in these plains and with the binoculars, we can have a good observation.
Carnivore wise, we spot two hyenas. One running away and another one sunbathing.
The plains have short grass on this side of the park and have a lot of small clusters of white and yellow flowers everywhere. It is quite pretty when you stop hunting wildlife and pay attention to the scenery.
As we near the foot of the hills, it's where the mixed areas with the Masaï settlement lies. Herds of cattle and donkeys graze not far from zebras and wildebeests. A lonely red figure signaling where the pastor is. The are mostly young boys or teenagers.
The sky turns grey and we get rain as we drive back the same road we came in, which circle the rim of the Ngorongoro crater. We get to enjoy one last time the view point before going down the other side.
The last hour of driving is back on tar road to the same hotel we stayed at 3 nights ago. This time, we are not the only guests. Another group of French speaking men are traveling, we crossed them a few times in the park the past few days.
