2.3° S · 34.8° E · OCTOBER

Tanzania

Serengeti means endless plains — and that's exactly what it feels like from the gate onward.

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Region: Serengeti National Park / Ngorongoro Crater
Dates: October 2023
Observed: Lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox, hippo, buffalo, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, klipspringer, blue monkey, tawny eagle, lilac-breasted roller, red-and-yellow barbet

The name means endless plains, and that's the first thing you notice past the gate — wilderness in every direction, with no edge in sight. The landscape keeps changing, and the wildlife with it: open grass plains give way to woodland, rivers, and craters, all packed into one park.

It was a trip full of surprises — feeding and hunting playing out just meters from the vehicle, more than once. The circle of life, close enough to feel it.

Photos

Twenty-five photographs, in the order of the trip.

Young eagle, close portrait, looking into the camera — Raptor · portrait

Wildebeest standing head-on, looking straight into the camera — Wildebeest

Blue monkey sitting on a branch among green leaves — Blue monkey

Buffalo resting together in the shade of a thorn bush — Buffalo · in the shade

Buffalo with oxpeckers on its back, the plain behind — Buffalo · with oxpeckers

Two hippos sparring in the water, heads pressed together — Hippos · sparring

Hippo yawning in the water, mouth wide open, others resting behind — Hippo · yawn

Leopard lying on a branch, looking into the camera — Leopard · in a tree

Leopard draped over a thick branch under the canopy — Leopard · resting

Tawny eagle perched in a green bush — Tawny eagle

Cheetah sitting alert in tall dry grass — Cheetah · alert

Two lion cubs resting together in the grass — Lion cubs

Two impala rams sparring with locked horns — Impala · sparring

Spotted hyena lying on the ground, looking into the camera — Hyena · resting

Klipspringer standing on a rock outcrop against the sky — Klipspringer

Lilac-breasted roller perched on a thin branch — Lilac-breasted roller

Wide view of the Ngorongoro Crater floor with a dust devil rising in front of the crater wall — Ngorongoro Crater · dust devil

Two hippos facing each other on land in heavy rain — Hippos · in the rain

Two bat-eared foxes lying in dry grass, ears up — Bat-eared foxes

Bat-eared fox peeking over the grass — Bat-eared fox · peeking

Jackal standing over a carcass in dry grass — Jackal

Cheetah mother resting in the shade with two cubs beside her — Cheetah · mother and cubs

Red-and-yellow barbet perched on a termite mound — Red-and-yellow barbet

Waterbuck framed between two tree trunks — Waterbuck

The Milky Way over a lit acacia tree at night — Milky Way · over the acacia