Wilddogs hunt at Lemala Tarangire:
There have been regular sightings of wilddogs around Lemala Tarangire however none as dramatic as last Monday's hunt inside the camp. Between 6.00pm and 7.00pm, guards spotted impalas suddenly burst out from under an acacia tree where they grazing on the pods. Then they saw 3 wilddogs in pursuit. The dogs managed to bring down one of the impalas a short distance from the camp and were joined by four other dogs. The impala was devoured within a very short time as Lemala guests watched in awe. The dogs stayed within the camp vicinity that night and were seen again the following morning.

One would imagine the dogs are rare but on Monday morning I came across them again near the camp. I was watching a male Namaqua dove displaying to his wife and out of the corner of my eye saw two dogs walking towards me. They were only 10 meters away but disappeared quite quickly. Sadly I did not have guests today on the walk.

And we are not over with the hunts. Last night at around 6.30pm, the dogs attacked and killed a male impala inside the camp. See my image taken on the iphone. It happened so quickly I had little time for the camera and I was shaking with excitement. I was sitting at the mess tent when I saw a male heartbeest running with an impala following him. I was curious to find out what was going on and suddenly I saw three wilddogs showing intent to hunt. The dogs managed to separate a male from the harem and attacked him from behind and killed him by one of the guest tents. They were the same seven dogs who hunted inside the camp last week. I decided to leave them in peace as they carried on feeding.

This season we have now had leopard, lion and wilddog hunts inside the Lemala Tarangire camp. What a fantastic season!

Meanwhile, elephants, buffalo, zebra and lions continue to hang around the camp. Lemala guests have enjoyed good leopard sightings and last week a python was found coiled round a branch of an acacia tree with a full belly. Birding around Silale swamp has been excellent. Egyptian and knob-billed geese, red bellied teal, yellow billed duck, white face whistling duck, Hottentots Teal, African Jacana, open billed storks, egrets and herons, including Goliath Herons are seen on a regular basis. Great white and pink backed pelicans are periodic visitors in wet weather while Fish Eagles live and breed around the edge of the swam.

Report by Micheal Massonda
 

Lemala Mara - surrounded by wildebeest and crossings still continuing
The camp is currently surrounded completely by wildebeest, zebra, topi, warthogs, impala, tommies, warthogs and elephants. Add all that wildlife to the hippos and crocs a few hundred meters away and we have the ultimate wildlife paradise! Migration crossings continue to be the highlight. Guests are often seeing 2 to 3 crossings in a day amidst the well fed crocs and the enormous basking hippos. In fact this week guests witnessed 6 huge crossings with multiple crocodile kills. There are a large number of vultures and marabou storks feeding on the remains. Lots of Lions are being seen daily with regular sighting of the Wogakuria pride near the kopjes. There have been lion in the gullies close to the camp as well as Lamai wedge. Last week 2 black rhinos were spotted by our resident guide in the Bolgonja area

This week a leopard was seen in camp by guests. It was spotted again at night by the staff. Leopards have also been spotted in Bologonja and Wogakuria areas while cheetahs are more frequent on the Lamai side. The game viewing around Lemala Mara continues to delight the guests.

The weather is mild, cool in the morning and warming up during the afternoon with beautiful light at sunset. It has rained at night on several days which is sufficient to keep the wildebeest in the area. It has been yet another excellent year for the migration in Northern Serengeti and Lemala Mara's excellent location has been a boon for the guests.
 

Lemala Ewanjan - Lions galore
Lemala Ewanjan never disappoints with game viewing as well as the stunning sunsets and sunrises. Last week a prolonged scuffle broke out close to camp between hyenas and lions as hyenas tried to take over a lion kill. It went on through the night. In the morning, only jackals and vultures were to be seen.

Also seen near the Seronera River was a pride of 24 lions which had brought down a buffalo. They were disturbed by a breeding herd of elephants who kept them from the kill for a while. It was great fun watching the clash of the titans of the jungle. A leopard killed an impala near the Mawe Meupe picnic site and guests enjoyed the feeding while having their lunch at the site