THE GREAT SERENGETI MIGRATION STORY - 1

Pictures and information shared with TTB sources:

Serengeti, the stage of one of the greatest natural productions in the world. It is here were over 1.3 million animals come together to take part in the Great Migration!. 

It looks spectacular, both in daylight and night!


The Great migration takes place once every year. The main actors and actresses of this huge production are the wildebeest.

These are in fact antelopes and are able to sense thunderstorms from up to 48km away!

 Wildebeest calves stand and move about in about 7 minutes after they are born. And in about 2 days, these little ones are able to keep up with their mothers once the Great Migration starts!

 

ZANZIBAR - SPICE ISLAND

ZANZIBAR

The word ZANZIBAR is of Persian or Arabic origin.

The Persians derive the name from Zangh Bar, meaning "the Negro Coast."

PHOTOS BY Gilbert Jean Van Lee.

 

MAASAI OF TANZANIA - PART 1. HISTORY

MAASAI OF AFRICA: NOT MASAI

The Maasai's territory was one of the last parts of East Africa that Europeans ventured into. In the 19th century even the ruthless slave traders' caravans circumvented the Masai territory for fear of encountering these fierce warriors.

Despite their claim over the area though, the Masai are actually relative newcomers to their present lands, with historians estimating their arrival in the area as taking place in the 17th or 18th century, when they forcefully kicked out tribes already there.

At the close of the 19th century though, the Europeans not only moved into the Masai lands, but also brought new diseases into the region. The Maasai were hard hit by rinderpest and smallpox epidemics.
 Severe drought and bloody land disputes further weakened the warrior tribe. Ironically, much of the Masai territory was now reclaimed by the tribes they had displaced a century earlier. This colonial era also appropriated some 50 percent of Masai land for game reserves and settler farms.

Despite the massive loss of land, the area occupied by Maasai today is still among the most extensive of any Tanzanian tribe's. Their territory flows from the Masai steppes of northeast Tanzania to massive parts of the Ngorongoro Highlands and Serengeti Plains.

Today the Masai co-exist peacefully with their local and foreign neighbours. Although their tolerance for other cultures has increased in recent decades they hold onto their traditional lifestyle and display little, if any, interest in changing it.

TO BE CONTINUED.........................................................................................................................

'CHEEATAH' - SPOTTED ONE

 Did you know: The name 'CHEEATAH' comes from an Indian word meaning "SPOTTED ONE."

How cute it this little guy...

Kilimanjaro Mountain - MEANING

KILIMANJARO MOUNTAIN

 

Kilimanjaro's meaning or origin is unknown. Though it is thought to be a combination of the Swahili word 'Kilima', meaning mountain and the KiChagga word 'Njaro', loosely translated as whiteness, giving the name White Mountain.

Kori Bustard

Kori Bustard, a large and strictly terrestrial birds. They are primarily carnivores, dining especially on large insects such as grasshoppers and locusts. 

 They are found in savanna grasslands and scrub, Serengeti is a great place to find these huge birds.