A face that tells stories

We were on the way to Kleins gate in the north eastern Serengeti yesterday. A great drive with beautiful landscapes. Just as we turned onto the road that leads along the Nyamalumbwa hills, we found two enormous male lions laying on either side of the road.

Resting in the tall greens within meters of our car, these two lions weren’t impressed even for a little bit.

As we took time to enjoy the encounter we had a real good look at these magnificent cats.

And wow - can faces speak!

These lions had been out there for a while. Full of scratches, cuts and small wounds – these are the type of lions that rule their part of the Serengeti.

No matter how many times you have run into them, they command a sense of humbleness!

Pimbi Tales

Can we tell you a little more about these incredible interesting Rock Hyraxes? Active and social, these fascinating creatures really can make your day!

Known as ‘Pimbi’ in Kiswahili, our office and surrounding rocks are ‘home’ to an interesting Hyrax family. Being so close to them now, it almost seems as we have become part of their daily dynamics too.

As our day starts, usually we find the dominant Hyrax male chasing other peripheral males around the office veranda - jumping, running and screaming. 

Normal routine in Pimbi life it seems, other family members appear on different rocks and branches around us and join us as spectators of the scene. Usually after a few successful chases the male is happy and a calm falls back over the group, resting to further notice.

By the afternoon it’s feeding time! Hyrax forage communal although a number of family members are used as sentries, keeping others safe by looking out for potential danger. 

To the family’s advantage, the new grasses around the office are ideally close to shelter and are ever green and lush. Hyrax feeding times are kept really short as possible to keep exposure to predators to a minimum.

After a long day it’s time for some more resting. As family members digest their meals, they tend to come and rest at the office veranda. 

Stretching, resting and sun bathing in relative safety, young ones are running under office building!

Really – there is something to these little ones. Lamai Serengeti seems a good place to catch Pimbi Fever!

Season Greetings

From everyone of us at Lamai Serengeti to all of our beloved guests, friends, family and other loved ones a very...

Thanks to everyone out there that made 2011 such a special year for this truly beautiful place! 

We hope we see you at Lamai Serengeti in 2012!!

Team Lamai Serengeti

A nice surprise

Some rocks harbour great little things. Yet unnoticeable from a distance - up close a fantastic scene. As with this kopje, the next down from Lamai towards the Mara river, a mother lion left her cubs in the safety the rocky boulders provide.

As Elza Blankenburgs drove back to Lamai Serengeti after a fun filled game drive together with her family, they stumbled across these four amazing lion cubs.

Carefull to keep their shelter, curiosity made them just raise enough to perfectly see them. And what a great site that is !

Pictures courtesy of Elza Blankenburgs

Hey!

Hey  - where are you going?

As we were just about to take a leisurely game drive in the afternoon somebody came to check out why we would be leaving Lamai Serengeti for a game drive?

Taken from the car just before we started this cool giraffe actually had a point, why leave beautiful Lamai if the animals are already all around you!

Songs from the rocks

If Lamai Serengeti would be famous for sharing its koppie with one particular animal, it would be the Rock Hyrax. This super interesting and little furry mammal (+/-4 kg) is seen so much around camp, you really can’t miss it. And as our relationship with the Rock Hyrax around camp grew, both them and us seem to benefit from our company.

How?

Well, the presence of us keeps other predators away – at least that is during the day when we are around. Seeking that safety, they seem to understand that it is actually quite practical to have a small number of Homo Sapien around the rocks.

So interestingly, mutual interest and respect seems to have grown. This great and funny little guinea pig meets rabbit look-a-like is really so cool to observe. And if you can’t find them – they’ll tell you where they are.

The Rock Hyrax really are VERY vocal. The noise they make is known as songs (read: screams!). Not beautiful in the way that it’s a pleasure to the ears, it certainly is very identifying for the Hyrax. High thrilling screeching sounds are not mistaken for any other animal. Better even, seeing them sing is completely funny!

Sociable as they are, they live in groups of up to 80 individuals, spread out over a number of smaller flocks. The amount of songs they have on their repertoire is impressive. Living here at Lamai Serengeti, we learned to listen to a slice of the variety they sing. As we researched on meanings of different songs, it seems that certain songs even contain biological information such as age, status, size and hormonal state of the singer! Isn’t that just totally incredible!?

Oophw!  –  that is a lot on the rock hyrax’s hey? But they really deserve it!

Come and listen too!

Our first harvest

On the way down to our mess, just right next to the path is this beautiful shrub called sour plum. As you might have come across in a previous blog, the sour plum and the fruit it bears is known to the Maasai as ‘Lama’ or ‘Lamai’. That can’t be a coincidence right?

And it isn’t!

During the six months that we’re open now the sourplum has grown bigger and greener. But for the first time now, it carries fruits too. Bright green at first, they slowly turn yellow and orange. And although a bit sour, they’re pretty good too...

Grey but yet so colorful!

The grey crowned crane is an absolute stunning bird to observe. A non migratory species and therefore present throughout the year, it seems to love this part of the Serengeti. And that makes us lucky enough to actually spot this bird quite regularly. Beautiful in its appearance, the real thing is to observe its breeding habits. Then the crested cranes display vivid dancing, bowing and jumping - all added with a booming sounds that it produces by inflating it red gular sac.

Patient as we are, we haven't been that lucky yet! But we'll keep you posted as we continue to observe!

Night beauty

I am sure that after seeing this picture you will agree that the emperor moth is a beautiful creature. As we found it sitting on our desk this morning, we gently moved it over to our stack of printing paper and took a picture.

It’s amazing how a relatively small creature can look so good! The level of detail is really rewarding to have a look at. The wings, the antennas, the hairs and colours are so cool. It’s said that the wing eyes are suppose to resemble the eyes of an owl. How interesting! We hope the beauty sticks around for a while.

Let’s see if it jumps papers when we push the print button J 

The spotted ones

We have to admit that writing our blog over the past weeks has been really easy. A little unexpected though, considering that a million wildebeests have moved south. Now animals such as elephants (in large herds!) and cats like leopard, lion and cheetah are looking for attention.

So when Tim and Clarissa returned from their morning game drive last week, talking about these amazing cheetahs close to camp, we didn't expect the evidence to be so outright gorgeous. Resting on an old termite mount three beautiful cats posed in front of our rooms.

We may hope that green season really is that good over here!

 Pictures courtesy of Tim and Clarissa Lodge