Green, vibrant, and full of voices: In Ndutu I experienced my first days in Tanzania - among lions in trees, playful cheetahs, and endless herds.
Arrival in Tanzania - a Sense of Homecoming
At the end of January 2024, I landed at Kilimanjaro Airport. It was only my second journey to Africa, yet it felt as if I were returning. The scent of the air, the warmth, the rawness - all of it was so familiar that tears came to my eyes. I immediately felt that Africa had kept a place for me.
The Green Season - A Different Africa
Even before the journey, I knew this time would be different from my first encounter with Africa. Back then, it had been the dry season - barren plains, dust, a landscape that often felt empty. Now, in the green season, everything was lush, vibrant, and full of life. It rained only rarely; sometimes a thunderstorm flickered in the distance, yet the days carried a gentle warmth. This season revealed an Africa that was rich and radiant - an image that touched me more deeply than any impression before.
The green season - Tanzania revealed lush landscapes, alive with voices of the wild
Lions in the Trees - A Rare Behavior
On our first drives through Ndutu, we encountered lions not only resting in the grass but also stretched out on the branches of trees - a sight found almost exclusively in Tanzania and southern Kenya.
Scientists have long debated why lions show this unusual behavior. One explanation is that climbing trees gives them relief from biting insects, especially in areas where tsetse flies and other pests are common. Another theory suggests that lions climb to catch the breeze high above the ground and cool down during the heat of the day. It may also be a learned behavior, passed on within certain lion populations. What is certain is that it remains a rare and fascinating trait that continues to intrigue biologists
(Africa-Safaris.com, Panthera.org).
For me, it was one of the most striking impressions: lion cubs playing in the grass while some of the adults dozed high on the branches - almost weightless above the savanna.
Scientists have long debated why lions show this unusual behavior. One explanation is that climbing trees gives them relief from biting insects, especially in areas where tsetse flies and other pests are common. Another theory suggests that lions climb to catch the breeze high above the ground and cool down during the heat of the day. It may also be a learned behavior, passed on within certain lion populations. What is certain is that it remains a rare and fascinating trait that continues to intrigue biologists
(Africa-Safaris.com, Panthera.org).
For me, it was one of the most striking impressions: lion cubs playing in the grass while some of the adults dozed high on the branches - almost weightless above the savanna.
Lions high in the trees - a rare behavior seen almost exclusively in Tanzania.
First Encounters with Cheetahs
For the very first time in my life, I saw cheetahs. At first, we discovered only a cub, carefully hidden in the tall grass. A little later, it became clear: the mother was out hunting. She had made a kill, while the young one, restless and eager, wanted to rush in immediately.
For me, it was a deeply moving image - the mother’s care, the composure with which she held her cub back, and the patience it required before she allowed it to approach the prey.
For me, it was a deeply moving image - the mother’s care, the composure with which she held her cub back, and the patience it required before she allowed it to approach the prey.
First encounter with cheetahs - a moving moment of care and hunting instinct.
The Vastness
Ndutu revealed a landscape that seemed almost painted: endless herds of zebras and wildebeest stretching to the horizon, uncountable, like a living tapestry of black, white, and brown across the vibrant green.
In the mornings, giraffes stood in the mist, nibbling at trees as if they still carried the night within them. Elephants moved across the green plains, also wrapped in the morning fog - images that looked like works of art.
In the mornings, giraffes stood in the mist, nibbling at trees as if they still carried the night within them. Elephants moved across the green plains, also wrapped in the morning fog - images that looked like works of art.
Leopards in the Trees - Just Like in the Books
In Zimbabwe in 2022, I had seen a leopard only for a few seconds before it disappeared. Here in Tanzania, I was fortunate to witness several encounters.
One in particular stayed with me: a mother with her adolescent cub, both resting high in a tree, their prey lying beside them - exactly as I had read about in books, only this time before my very own eyes.
One in particular stayed with me: a mother with her adolescent cub, both resting high in a tree, their prey lying beside them - exactly as I had read about in books, only this time before my very own eyes.
Leopards in the trees - rare encounters high above the savanna.
What Remains
Those first days in Ndutu were an immersion into a green, living world. Full of animals, full of stories, full of moments that showed why this region is so unique - and why Africa, for me, is more than just a destination.
It is a place that teaches me to see life in its fullness.
It is a place that teaches me to see life in its fullness.
What remains - impressions of closeness, wilderness, and unforgettable moments.
Discover more ...
Wild Encounters Wild Horizons Ngorongoro - Wildlife in Africa’s Garden of Eden
Wild Encounters The Iberian Lynx - Days of Waiting and a Young Lynx Playing with Its Prey
Wild Encounters Polar Bear Mother and Her Little One
Wild Encounters Brown Bears in the Finnish Taiga
