Travelogue from Tanzania: Hunting fever in Serengeti

In May 2023, our travel specialist Bianca visited beautiful Tanzania again, where she was lucky enough to see a pride of lions hunting in Serengeti National Park. Read about the experience in her travel journal below. 

Today, we are out bright and early in the Serengeti with our guide Issa. We have already seen a mother lion and her cubs in the morning when we suddenly spot a large group of lions (3 adult lionesses and 4 cubs) in the still quite tall steppe grass.

At first, the group slowly creeps towards our jeep, grazing it just a few centimetres and crossing the small road to the other side. Our guide Issa spots 2 wildebeest with a calf from afar and instinctively turns the car around to follow the lion group. He informs us that the lions have breathed the wildebeest and are “ready to hunt”.

We follow the group at a short distance and can now also easily see the wildebeest.

Now we position ourselves and hold our breath. It’s like in a documentary film: Hunter and prey are in close proximity and I feel like I want to side with the potential prey. The lions creep closer and closer and suddenly two of the hunters sprint towards the seemingly unsuspecting wildebeest!

But the wildebeest stand their ground and literally run for their lives.

For a few seconds, it seems as if we are all not breathing. We break the silence with a small cheer – the wildebeest and especially the little calf have made it.

Of course, I’m sad for the exhausted lionesses and their cubs, but this time the wildebeest were just luckier.

We drive on into the endless Serengeti with this great and exciting experience, a beating heart and many photos and recordings.

Hakuna Matata!

Bianca, TourCompass