Serengeti Archive
Serengeti Playground
What do the President of Botswana and I have in common? We have both sustained cheetah injuries this year! His to his face. Mine to my car. The Botswana government confirmed today that President Ian Khama had been scratched by a cheetah and had received several stitches in his face. Not a wild cheetah, but [...]
On Safari: Among the Great Herds
Posted by jimheck in Great Migration, OnSafari, Serengeti on April 12, 2013
It was Bingo in Barafu today as we drove into the locus of the great migration, probably seeing a couple hundred thousand animals before the day was over. This is always the easiest time of the year to find the largest single migratory group of wildebeest. It’s never the most dramatic time (which is the [...]
On Safari: Into the Wilds
Posted by jimheck in Great Migration, OnSafari, Serengeti on April 11, 2013
This is one of my favorite days on safari, as we spend most of our time off-roading in the far southeastern corner of the Serengeti positioning ourselves to find the great herds in the next few days. We left the crater just after breakfast, and there was heavy mist on the rim as we drove [...]
Cheetah on Car!
Cheetah jumping on cars went YouTube viral this holiday season, and traditional criticisms from wildlife managers was starkly absent. Is this OK? The newest video had nearly a quarter million hits this morning but it is hardly the only one. I stopped counting at 20 separate YouTubes of cheetah on cars, and there are countless [...]
Weather Sandy or the Serengeti
The capacity for denial in America’s current lemming-like culture makes Africa seem like the real Super Power and we Midwesterners hoakies from Padokie. Super Storm Sandy = Global Warming. When will Americans learn? Four times weekly starting about 5 a.m. CDT I access the internet to write this blog. This morning, half my links are [...]
Hot Migration Topic
Posted by jimheck in Great Migration, Mara, Planning Travel, Politics, Serengeti on July 24, 2012
Is it really such a burning issue: why are the wildebeest so late? I’ve often experienced them crossing from Tanzania to Kenya even later, sometimes not until August. Normally, though, the herds cross the two river border that separates Tanzania from Kenya by mid- to late June, so we’re a month behind. This year it’s [...]
Way South of Scott Pelley
Posted by jimheck in Arts and Culture, Environment, Great Migration, Mara, Serengeti on January 24, 2012
Sixty Minutes rebroadcast of “Into the Wild” Sunday night caused many of us experts serious angst. Basically three wonderfully short thumbnails of things wild in East Africa were riveted with inaccuracy. I’m sure that when a professor of dentistry speeds past a billboard for toothpaste he winces. Nothing wrong really with telling people they need [...]
Maybe a Wolf, but no Railway
Posted by jimheck in Economy, Environment, Serengeti on January 5, 2012
There is no evidence that a Chinese railway will be built through the Serengeti, despite the alarms sounded by Serengeti Watch (SW) retweeted and reblogged by conservationists. SW’s end-of-year alarm is not just premature, it’s dangerous. It makes it difficult to sustain a lasting fight against those in the Tanzanian government interested in subsuming conservation [...]
Top Ten 2011 Africa Stories
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, African Awakening, Arts and Culture, Big Game, Botswana, Congo, Culture, Economy, Egypt, Environment, Nairobi, Perceptions of Africa, Poaching, Politics, Poverty, Refugees, Safety, Serengeti, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, Tourism Trends, Twevolution, Uganda, War, Weather, Wildlife Management, Zimbabwe on December 31, 2011
Twevolution, the Arab Spring [by Twitter] is universally considered the most important story of the year, much less just in Africa. But I believe the Kenyan invasion of Somalia will have as lasting an effect on Africa, so I’ve considered them both Number One. 1A: KENYA INVADES SOMALIA On October 18 Kenya invaded Somalia, where [...]
Storms Move The Serengeti
Posted by jimheck in Ecology, Great Migration, Serengeti, Weather on December 2, 2011
Climate change is slowly, steadily changing the ecology of the world’s most spectacular big game wilderness, the Serengeti. For a visitor, it’s nothing short of fantastic. For animals it’s terrifying. For the planet it’s just too complicated yet to say. The roughly 7000 sq. miles of the Serengeti/Mara/Ngorongoro wilderness is the greatest wildlife area on [...]
Climate Changes Road
When something goes wrong, those with greater resources cope better. So it’s no surprise that Africans are the furious ones and the developed world’s citizens are the most complacent about climate change. Too bad rich tourists heading on safari: you’re about to experience it square on. I think practically everyone in the world will agree [...]
The Rains Have Come
The dry season is definitely over in all of East Africa, the rains have been heavier than usual almost everywhere, the plains are spectacularly green and even here half a world away I can hear the veld sighing relief. From Nairobi to Dar, the Serengeti to the Mara, Samburu to Tsavo, rain is falling and [...]
Ho-Hum Just a Routine Day on Safari!
Posted by jimheck in Big Game, OnSafari, Perceptions of Africa, Serengeti on September 19, 2011
Bumpy road, alkaline dust, wind in your face. And a honey badger, some impala, hartebeest, elephant, a serval in a tree killed by a leopard and a family of 11 lion taking down a bull buffalo. Anyone who only reads first paragraphs might be misled. It was hardly an ordinary start. We lucked out big [...]
Tourists Stranded, Tanzania Tainted
Posted by jimheck in Corruption, Economy, Serengeti on August 11, 2011
Hundreds of travelers headed to Tanzania remain in limbo this morning as a result of a high profile controversy involving one of Europe’s most prestigious hotel chains, a controversy ensnared in the Serengeti Highway debacle. Late last month ASB Tanzania Investments, the owners of The Kilimanjaro Hotel in Dar and Bilila Lodge in the Serengeti, [...]
SERENGETI WATCH OUT OF SYNC
Posted by jimheck in Great Migration, Politics, Serengeti on June 27, 2011
Contrary to Serengeti Watch’s weekend retraction that the Serengeti Highway had been scrapped, it has been scrapped. SW now needs to be as clear as it’s demanding the Tanzanian government be. Friday I joined the world, including SW in announcing the Serengeti highway had been scrapped. It has been, but a retraction by SW with [...]