What animals and birds live in the jungle. Where is the jungle? Amazon and other forests. When to go. Seasonality, climate, temperature

Despite the barbaric destruction of all living things, especially the cutting down of perennial plantations, evergreen forests still occupy about a third of the total land area of ​​our long-suffering planet. And the equatorial impenetrable jungle dominates this list, separate territories which still pose a huge mystery to science.

Mighty, dense Amazon

The largest forest area of ​​our blue, but in this case green planet, covering almost the entire basin of the unpredictable Amazon. According to environmentalists, up to 1/3 of the planet's fauna lives here , and more than 40 thousand only described plant species. In addition, it is the Amazon forests that produce utmost of the oxygen for the entire planet!

The Amazon Jungle, despite the keen interest of the world scientific community, is still extremely poorly researched . Walk through centuries-old thickets without special skills and no less special tools(for example, machete) – IMPOSSIBLE.

In addition, in the forests and numerous tributaries of the Amazon there are very dangerous specimens of nature, one touch of which can lead to a tragic and sometimes fatal outcome. Electric stingrays, toothy piranhas, frogs whose skin secretes a deadly poison, six-meter anacondas, jaguars - these are just some of the impressive list of dangerous animals that lie in wait for a gaping tourist or a sluggish biologist.

In the floodplains of small rivers, as many thousands of years ago, in the very heart of the jungle, people still live wild tribes who have never seen a white man. Actually, even the white man had never seen them.

However, they definitely won’t experience much joy from your appearance.

Africa, and only

Tropical forests on the black continent occupy a huge area - five and a half thousand square kilometers! Unlike the northern and extreme southern parts of Africa, it is in tropical zone prevail optimal conditions for a large army of plants and animals. The vegetation here is so dense that rare rays of sun can delight the inhabitants of the lower tiers.

Despite the fantastic density of biomass, perennial trees and vines strive to reach the top in order to receive their dose of the far from gentle African sun. Feature African jungle - almost daily heavy rains and the presence of vapors in stagnant air. It is so difficult to breathe here that an unprepared visitor to this inhospitable world may lose consciousness out of habit.

The undergrowth and middle tier are always lively. This is an area inhabited by numerous primates, who usually do not even pay attention to travelers. In addition to wild noisy monkeys, here you can calmly watch African elephants, giraffes, and also see a hunting leopard. But The real problem of the jungle is giant ants , which from time to time migrate in continuous columns in search of better food sources.

Woe to the animal or person who meets these insects on the path. The jaws of goosebumps are so strong and agile that they already within 20-30 minutes of contact with aggressors, a person will be left with a gnawed skeleton.

Rainforests of Mama Asia

Southeast Asia is almost completely covered with impenetrable wet thickets. These forests, like their African and Amazonian counterparts, are a complex ecosystem that includes tens of thousands of species of animals, plants and fungi. Their main localization area is the Ganges basin, the foothills of the Himalayas, and the plains of Indonesia.

A distinctive feature of the Asian jungle – unique fauna, represented by representatives of species found nowhere else on the planet. Of particular interest are the numerous flying animals - monkeys, lizards, frogs and even snakes. Moving in low-level flight, using the membranes between the toes in wild multi-tiered thickets, is much easier than crawling, climbing and jumping.

Plants in the humid jungle bloom according to a schedule known to them, because there is no change of seasons here and the wet summer is not replaced by a fairly dry autumn. Therefore, each species, family and class has adapted to cope with reproduction in just a week or two. During this time, the pistils have time to release a sufficient amount of pollen that can fertilize the stamens. It is noteworthy that most tropical plants manage to bloom several times a year.

Indian jungles have been thinned out, and in some regions almost completely cut down over the course of centuries. economic activity Portuguese and English colonialists. But on the territory of Indonesia there are still impassable virgin forests, in which Papuan tribes live.

It’s not worth catching their eye, since feasting on a white-faced fish has been an incomparable pleasure for them since the days of the legendary James Cook.

About whose lives countless films have been made for Discovery and the BBC, you will immerse yourself in the richest natural world of our planet, which has no equal in its parameters:

1. The Amazon River Basin is the largest tropical rain forest in the world, covering an area of ​​over 6 million km2.
2. Humans settled in the Amazon Jungle at least 11,200 years ago. The Amazon Rainforest itself has existed for over 55 million years.
3. The Amazon rainforest accounts for more than half of the total area of ​​remaining rainforest on the entire planet.
4. 20% of the Earth's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest, which is why it is often called the "lungs of the planet."
5. The Amazon is the deepest river in the world. It carries up to ⅕ of the flow of all the world's rivers into the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon River and its tributaries collect water from the territories of 9 countries: Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana.
6. The Amazon's biological diversity is the highest on Earth: over 150 thousand plant species, 75 thousand tree species, 1,300 bird species, 3,000 fish species, 430 mammals, 370 reptiles and more than 2.5 million different insects.
7. The Amazon Jungle is home to a number of deadly inhabitants of the Earth: jaguars, electric eels, piranhas, poisonous snakes and spiders, etc.
8. About 80% of the food we eat comes from tropical forests - rice, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, coffee, chocolate, corn, pineapples and many others.
9. About 400-500 indigenous Indian tribes today live in the Amazon rainforest. It is believed that about 75 of these tribes have never had contact with the outside world.
10. The city of Iquitos (Peru) is the largest city in the world without land communication with other cities. It is located deep in the jungle and has over 400,000 inhabitants.

Wild nature. Flora and fauna of the Amazon jungle

The Amazon forests are rich in diversity of trees and plants, many species of jungle flora and fauna are endemic - found only here throughout the world. At the same time, 10% of all currently known plant and animal species on the planet are found in the Amazon jungle.

Jaguars, pumas, monkeys, sloths, caimans, anacondas, copybaras, turtles, river dolphins, parrots, toucans, hummingbirds and many, many other jungle inhabitants are part of world heritage humanity. In terms of the number of animal and plant species, the Amazon jungle far exceeds the tropical forests of Africa and Asia.

The jungle is a real treasure trove useful plants- the fruits of some are used as food, parts of others serve as the basis for modern medicines.

Ferns, orchids, mosses, cacti, epiphytes - every plant has adapted to draw everything useful from the humid air of the jungle. Frequent rains and high humidity led to the fact that some of the jungle inhabitants moved to the trees. In such conditions, frogs lay their eggs high in the trees.

The Amazon River is one of the 7 natural wonders of the planet

In 2011, Amazon was recognized as one of the seven natural wonders planets.

This is the deepest river in the world. The Amazon and its tributaries form a system of inland waterways with a total length of over 25 thousand kilometers. At the point where it flows into the ocean, the depth of the river reaches 100 meters.

During the dry season, the Amazon reaches a width of 11 kilometers, covering 110 thousand sq. km with water, and during the rainy season it increases three times, during this period the river’s waters rise to 20 meters, covering an area of ​​350 thousand sq. km and spilling over 40 km and more.

The Amazon and its tributaries are home to about 3,000 species of fish, but the most famous inhabitants of these rivers remain piranhas - predatory fish, which can even attack large predators crossing the river.

Wild tribes of the Amazon

Of the more than 10 million Indians who lived in harmony with the jungle, only about 200,000 remain today.

According to various sources, today 400-500 tribes live in the Amazon rainforest. Of these, about 75 tribes have no contact with the outside world.

These people serve as a living reminder of the fragility of ancient cultures. The Indians have repeatedly stood in the way of commercial exploitation of the Amazon. In the past, oil production has led to aggressive and disastrous contact with isolated Indians - in the early 1980s, Shell research led to contact with the isolated Nahua tribe, which subsequently killed about 50% of the tribe within a few years. Wild tribes are powerless before modern society- Indians have no immune defense against epidemics of modern diseases.

Almost all isolated Indians are nomads - they move through the forest in small groups depending on the season. During the rainy season, when the water level is high, the tribes who do not use canoes live far from the river, deep in the forest. During the dry season, when water levels are low, they live on the banks of rivers.

During the dry season, river turtles lay eggs on river banks, burying them in the sand. Eggs are an important source of protein for Indians, so this also serves as a reason for moving to the banks of rivers, along with fishing.

In addition to turtle eggs, uncontacted Indians eat a variety of meat and fish dishes, bananas, nuts, berries, roots and grubs.

Holidays in the jungle of Peru. Amazon National Parks

Much of the Amazon River basin still remains unexplored and dangerous for humans; access to the wild rainforest is possible only in protected areas permitted by the government, and only accompanied by accredited guides.

In Peru there are 3 interesting protected areas for visiting the Amazon Jungle:

• Nature reserves in the Iquitos area
• Manu National Park
• Nature reserves in the Puerto Maldonado area

1. Iquitos

This The largest city on Earth, which has no land connections with other cities. You can only get to Iquitos by water or air.

The city began to grow in the 19th century due to the beginning of the “rubber fever”. Here they began producing rubber from natural raw materials - wood growing in the Amazonian jungle. The tycoons who owned rubber factories built luxurious mansions that still give the city its unique style.

From Iquitos you can make a lot of interesting forays into the jungle, immerse yourself in the world of the jungle, and get to know the local tribes and their culture.

How to get there: There are 8-9 flights daily from Lima to Iquitos. You can view tickets on the websites of local airlines: LAN Perú, Peruvian Airlines and Star Perú. The flight takes 1 hour 45 minutes.

2. Manu National Park. Misty Andean forests

Manu National Park is one of the largest nature reserves in the world: it covers almost 2,000,000 hectares and is located at an altitude of 300 to 4,000 meters above sea level. Due to this location and vast area, the park contains several different ecosystems, providing a great diversity of plant, insect and animal species. Manu - a reserve with the most big amount biological species in the world!

Most of the park is closed to visitors; only scientists are allowed there, but even they have a hard time getting a pass. Visitors can enter the Manu Conservation Area, but only in groups organized by accredited agencies. A limited number of visitors are allowed into the park each day. In this part of the park you can observe a huge variety of landscapes, flora and fauna; the bends of the rivers form lagoons with a magnificent variety of flora and fauna.

How to get there: Groups, accompanied by accredited guides, travel to the Manu Nature Reserve from Cusco. You can get to Cusco from Lima by plane (1 hour) or by bus (24 hours).

3. Puerto Maldonado

This small city 55 kilometers from the border with Bolivia is very similar to Iquitos, but it is much easier to get to. There are several national parks in the vicinity of Puerto Maldonado where you can see caimans, monkeys, capybaras and other animals, reptiles, insects and birds.

How to get there: There are direct flights to Puerto Maldonado from Cusco (the flight takes only 1 hour) and from Lima (1 hour 40 minutes).

Amazon Jungle Tours

The Amazon Jungle Tour is an amazing adventure in which you can feel the primal forces of nature and hear the call of the wild Earth.

Houses on stilts, mosquito nets over the beds, night walks with flashlights, boat trips on a raging river, bungee rides and much more will become unforgettable moments of your bright adventure.

Even at night, you will feel with all your senses that you are at the mercy of the wild jungle.

What is included in the tours:

• Transfer
• Accommodation in houses
• Professional English speaking guide
• Meals: all breakfasts, lunches and dinners
• Drinks and water to refill your own bottles
• Excursions, active recreation programs

Not included in tours:

• Travel insurance
• Single occupancy (on request)

Comfort and safety in the jungle. Important information

Do not forget that the jungle is not an artificial park adapted for people. The Amazon forests hide many dangers that are invisible to our eyes - sharp thorns may be hiding under the soft moss on the trees, and cute ants on your way may turn out to be poisonous.

With the best jungle guides you can be sure of your safety, but you must be vigilant and strictly adhere to the rules that will be announced to you upon arrival.

If you are planning a trip to the rainforest (Manu National Park), we recommend getting vaccinated against yellow fever. We also recommend taking the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites: use repellent and wear clothing with long sleeve and trousers.

When to go. Seasonality, climate, temperature

You can go to the Amazon Jungle in any season, each of them has its own advantages: during the rainy season you can see flowering plants that attract birds and primates descending to the water itself; in the dry season, when the water level drops, you can see migrating schools of fish and birds , attracted by easy prey, caimans hunting fish.

The average temperature in the jungle throughout the year is +30º

Rainy season: mid-December - mid-May.

Dry season: mid-May - mid-December.

Most high level water in the river is in May, the lowest is in September.

What to take with you? Clothing, shoes, protective equipment

• Clothing: We recommend bringing light, quick-drying, preferably cotton clothing, including several short-sleeved T-shirts, a long-sleeve sweater/jacket, several pairs of socks, a raincoat, and a swimsuit.
• Sun protection hat
• Comfortable waterproof shoes
• Flashlight and spare batteries
• Camera and spare battery
• Binoculars
• Repellent (we recommend OFF factor 35)
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Water bottle

In the jungle you will be given rubber boots.

FAQ

Is it possible to get into the jungle territory on your own?

Some tourists dare to go into the jungle unaccompanied, but this does not always end well. You can find a guide who will agree to work individually and live with tourists for several days in a wild forest away from organized accommodation (hotels and lodges).

What is the maximum group size?

Usually there are no more than 8 people in a group. In case the group is large - 10-16 people, it is accompanied by one or two additional guides.

Are there any age restrictions for staying in the jungle?

There are no age restrictions. The lodges welcome guests of all ages.

What if you didn’t have time to get vaccinated?

The vaccination can be done in Lima, but you will need to wait 10 days for the vaccine to take effect before heading into the jungle.

Photographer and zoologist Axel Gomil has been exploring India for the past 25 years. There is both a tropical coast and snowy mountains The Himalayas, and the Thar Desert, and tropical forests in the northeast of the country. Such different landscapes provide incredible biodiversity.
For example, of the 37 species of wild cats, 14 live in India, more than in any other country. For comparison, there are only ten cats living on the entire African continent.

Jungle. The image of an impenetrable, overgrown and hostile place where light barely penetrates often appears in your head. In fact, jungles are the world's hottest biodiversity hotspots.


The jungles of India are the habitat of the rarest and exotic species animals, and none symbolizes Indian wildlife better than the tiger.
The tiger is considered the king of the jungle and the most powerful predator in the Indian subcontinent. Today there are about 50 reserves with a total area of ​​more than 70,000 square kilometers where tigers live. Such large conservation projects for tigers and their habitats have also benefited other jungle species.
Tigers love to relax in the shade during a hot day. Like all cats, they are always wary of environment. And judging by her face, she recently had breakfast. The rest of the jungle inhabitants can relax for now - the next hunt will begin at night...


In the jungle, even squirrels are the size of a house cat. This is Indian giant squirrel, she lives in the upper layer of the forest and rarely leaves the trees. Squirrels jump from tree to tree, covering about 6 meters. When in danger, these squirrels do not run away, but seem to “hang” and cling to tree trunks. The main enemies are birds of prey and leopards.


Water is life, especially in such a hot climate. It's no surprise that wetlands are a magnet for wild animals, who come here to drink or find some cool weather.
There is a very wide variety of residents here. The local masters, sitting at the top of the food chain, are crocodiles. In India, the marsh crocodile is the most common species.
These are sika deer. Birds are calm, they know that herbivores do not pose a threat.


Gray pelicans. These birds live mainly in shallow lakes.


Northwestern India is dominated by the Thar Desert. It is a very dry area with sand dunes. The distribution of precipitation is uneven: most of it occurs from July to September. Precipitation falls towards the west. In the driest areas there may be no precipitation for up to 2 years.
The appearance of this sloth bear is so unique that it has received the nickname “sloth bear.” The sloth bear is very different in appearance and lifestyle from real bears and is distinguished among separate genus. The sloth bear, like the anteater, during evolution has adapted to feeding on colonial insects (ants and termites)


A female leopard stands at the entrance to a cave in a remote area of ​​Rajasthan, which she uses as a safe haven for her family.


Cranes are defenseless against predators. The most they can do is fly away quickly.


Kicks well.


And we are moving to the mountains. Some of the most impressive and diverse animal habitats in India are found in the north. This is the realm of the magnificent and ghostly snow leopard, others need to be on their guard.


Big cats have a hard time. People are taking over everything and taking over their original habitats. Food is becoming tight. Leopards are forced to visit villages and find easy prey - goats, poultry and even dogs.


Ranthambore National Park is located in the state of Rajasthan and is considered the best tiger reserve.


Life is tough for tigers these days. Over the past century, their number in the wild has seriously decreased from about 100,000 to 3,900, half of them live in India...

The word itself is derived from “jangal”, meaning impenetrable thickets. The English who lived in India borrowed the word from Hindi, turning it into jungle. Initially, it was applied only to the bamboo swampy thickets of Hindustan and the Ganges River delta. Later, this concept included all subtropical and tropical forests of the world. Where are the jungles located, in what areas?

Location

The largest jungles are located in the Amazon River basin, as well as in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Central America. There are forests in Africa, located from Cameroon to the Congo, in many areas of Southeast Asia (from Myanmar to Indonesia), in Queensland (Australia) and beyond.

Where do the jungles grow and what is attractive about them? These forests are considered the real exotic of the planet. They provide up to 2/3 of all oxygen, and the diversity of flora and fauna is so great that sometimes you don’t know who is in front of you - a rodent or a snake.

Characteristics of the jungle

Finding out where the jungle is is easy. To do this, you just need to look at the map, because there are several forests for this type distinctive features:

1. Vegetation has a growing season that lasts throughout the year. They do not hibernate, do not stop their growth, and do not shed their leaves.
2. In the jungle there are many epiphalles, epiphytes, shrubs, various trees, and vines. Moreover, evergreen trees and shrubs predominate.
3. Forests grow in humid climates.

Amazon Jungle

On what continent and where is the Amazon jungle located? They are located on the mainland of South America.

The Amazon River spreads over 1.4 million acres of land, and impenetrable wilds grow around it. The predominant part of the river's area is located in Brazil, and it also flows through eight other countries of the mainland. About a ninth of all animal species and a fifth of all bird species are found in the Amazon jungle. There are about 75,000 trees for every square kilometer, and this number does not include shrubs. The Amazon is considered one of the most dangerous places on the planet, despite this, tourist trips are often organized along the river.

Canada, McMillan Jungle

The McMillan Forests are living proof that the jungle doesn't have to be far away. In Canada, near cities and other settlements, there is the wild McMillan jungle with 800-year-old cedars and spruce trees. These forests are home to grizzly bears, a huge number of birds, and pumas.

Australia, Lamington

If you suddenly want to see where macaws, kangaroos and dingoes are found in the jungle, then your best bet is to go to Lamington. This jungle became a national park in Australia. They stretch along the Pacific coast and feature massive cliffs and volcanoes, with dense vegetation with traces of wild animals. There are many passes in the form of rope and plank bridges. Day excursions are offered to these forests from Brisbane.

Belize, Cock's Crest Nature Reserve

In Belize there are amazing jungle, which are the center of habitat for very rare fauna. Rare representatives of the fauna are found in the reserve: ocelots, rare species monkeys, tapirs, red-eyed frogs. The main attraction of the forests are jaguars. In fact, “Cockscomb” is a huge park, the largest in the world, which was dedicated specifically for jaguars. Most often, excursions are carried out on rafts.

The biggest jungle

The most famous plant of the Amazon is the Victoria water lily. Her huge leaves reach a diameter of three meters and can withstand weight up to 50 kilograms. This unique plant It blooms at night, and in the morning the flowers go under water.

Among the inhabitants of the tributaries of the Amazon and in the river itself there are many different inhabitants, including guppies, angelfish, and swordtails known to aquarium holders. Piranhas live here and even attack major representatives fauna crossing the river. In the Amazon and its tributaries you can see river dolphins, turtles, tapirs, caimans, and anacondas live on the shores of jungle lakes.

The jungle itself is home to more than 40,000 species of animals, among them the jaguar. The predator is an excellent swimmer and can pursue prey even in water.

killer river

Where is the Boiling River in the Amazon jungle? This deadly river is located in Peru. Its coordinates are 8.812811, 74.726007. Until recently, it was considered a legend; only strong shamans could find the river and visit it. The locals have long known about the river, calling it Shanai-timpishka, which means “heated by the Sun.”

The water temperature in the river reaches 86 degrees, and in some parts - 100 degrees. There is a house on the river bank where a shaman lives.

The boiling river is not the only thing unusual phenomenon in the Amazon. There is a lot of amazing and mysterious things here.

SAVANNAH AND JUNGLE OF AFRICA

Many people obviously remember the movie called “The Serengeti Must Not Die.” It was a film about the fauna of Africa, and it was directed by the world famous scientist, naturalist writer from Germany Bernhard Grzimek. It appeared on the screens of many countries around the world and was greeted with delight everywhere. The film was captivating from the first minutes. The man seemed to be immersed in the atmosphere of the wild, pristine nature of Africa.

How we dreamed of visiting this continent back then. With what interest they listened to those zoologists who were lucky enough to see the amazing fauna of the savannahs and jungles. Later we still managed to travel to Africa.

AT LAKE MANYARA

The motley and colorful town of Arusha in Northern Tanzania attracts visitors with a bright, exotic bazaar, sun-drenched streets, a picturesque “river” of pedestrians and an abundance of fancy ebony items, masks, drums in the windows of small shops.

But for us, Arusha is the “capital” of the famous national parks of Tanzania. It is from here that the path to the world-famous parks of the African continent begins - Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti.

Leaving the friendly New Arusha Hotel after breakfast, we board a minibus and the highway leads us southwest. We pass small villages, agricultural lands, pastures with herds of livestock. Like statues, slender Masai shepherds stand at the side of the road, leaning on their spears, and follow our car with their eyes.

A hundred kilometers later, a giant natural “wall” appears on the horizon - the ledge of the Great African Rift, or Rift Valley.

Several million years ago, a fissure, bordered by active volcanoes, ran across the vast expanse of the African continent. Most of them have long gone out, but even now, not far from here, the Len-gai volcano is still awake, which local residents called "Mountain of God".

The rift fault in East Africa has two branches - western and eastern. We are approaching its eastern branch. Here it is formed by the inclined subsidence of the earth's crust, so only one wall has arisen, which grows before our eyes as the road winding between the hills brings us closer to a volcanic cliff overgrown with dense green forest.

Almost under the very wall we enter the small picturesque village of Mto-va-Mbu (in Swahili - “mosquito stream”). A short walk through the village bazaar, filled with local products and utensils made from reeds, cattails, bark and tree fruits, and then you’re on your way. Where the road begins to wind its way upward onto a ledge, we turn left and soon find ourselves in front of the entrance to national park Manyara is on the threshold of a dense, tall forest.

Manyara National Park (Lake Manyara) was established in 1960. It is small in area - 8550 hectares. Located on the western shore of Lake Manyara, which lies in a depression at the foot of the rift cliff. The park territory stretches as a narrow ribbon between the shore of the lake and the cliff.

After visiting the small museum at the entrance to the park, we hurry under the canopy of a dense forest, very reminiscent of a real tropical rain forest.

The mixed and variegated tree stand is formed by sycamore, tamarind, sausage tree, palm trees. Dense undergrowth and grass make the forest difficult to navigate. Unlike the rain forest, there are probably very few epiphytes on the tree trunks and branches.

To what does such a thing owe its appearance? wet forest in this relatively dry climate of the savannah zone? Undoubtedly, the fact that many streams and rivers run down from the volcanic lava slope, abundantly nourishing the soil with moisture during all year round. Soil conditions appear to be very similar to those found in tropical rain forests. But since the air in the dry season is poor in moisture, epiphytes do not manage to colonize the trunks and branches of trees.

The first large animals that we notice immediately after entering the park are a family of baboons. They are clearly waiting for visitors, hoping for occasional handouts from the car window. But this is strictly prohibited; any attempt to feed an animal in a national park is punishable by a fairly large fine. Animals in a national park must remain wild, otherwise there will be a zoo with semi-domesticated animals. And yet, with regard to baboons, this rule is apparently sometimes violated, and now they patiently wait until the next “violator” appears among those passing by. True, baboons turned out to be the only animals that showed interest in us and tried to “get in touch.” By the way, such communication, according to the guide accompanying us, is unsafe. Seeing a person leaning out of the window with a gift in his hands, baboons often grab onto their “benefactor” and can cause serious wounds.

Order and organization reign in a herd of baboons. The male, the leader of the herd, is huge, fanged, with a lush mane - the rightful owner and quickly puts in his place any member of the herd who has shown disobedience. Baboons spend most of their time on the ground, wandering around the territory occupied by the herd, collecting food in the form of small invertebrates - insects and their larvae, spiders, mollusks. They also destroy bird nests, eating chicks, eggs, and feasting on fruits, leaves and roots. various plants. They climb trees during rest and sleep at night, as well as for hanging fruits.

Looking at these monkeys, you can easily be convinced that in order to transform a monkey into a human being, it is not at all enough for it to descend to earth.

In depth tropical forest, among the dense thickets, the dark backs of elephants are visible. They pull up tree branches with their trunks and tear off foliage, pinching and dragging the branch between the trunk and fangs. Near the road, in a small clearing, helmeted guineafowl - large chicken birds with bright spotted blue plumage - graze. On their head they have a horny outgrowth in the form of an ancient Roman helmet.

High in the branches, black-faced monkeys fussily hide, having noticed the approaching car. These graceful long-tailed monkeys, unlike baboons, spend almost all their time in the trees.

The road crosses another river and approaches a cliff. From here you can see that the steep slope, almost inaccessible to humans, is covered with huge boulders and overgrown with dense thorny bushes. And only here and there, like lonely giants, huge, stocky baobab trees rise.

But what is it? On such a seemingly inaccessible slope we notice... a herd of elephants! They slowly climb up, making their way through the thickets and avoiding huge boulders. It turns out that elephants can be skilled climbers.

Soon we move away from the cliff again and emerge into an open area where streams flowing from the slope form a vast swamp overgrown with reeds and cattails.

Already from afar, on the outskirts of the swamp, we notice a black mass of corpulent bodies: here several hundred buffaloes are resting in the wet mud. Phlegmatic animals are busy chewing cud. Little white herons scurry about on their backs and right in front of their noses, pecking at flies and other insects.

As we approach, several buffalo rise to their feet, and a flock of herons takes to the air. But most of the herd continues to lie quietly, apparently, the animals understand that no one here will dare to disturb them.

The area is becoming drier again. A sparse forest of phoenix palms and yellowbark acacia opens before us. Most of the palm trees look like green, lush bushes - the main trunk has not yet raised the crown above the surface of the earth. Yellowbark acacias rise above them, stretching their branches high and providing sparse shade. This acacia is also called the “yellow fever tree”: in the last century it was thought to be a source of malaria. On one of the trees, at the very top, you can see a bulky nest of a white-backed vulture.

Groups of zebras graze in open areas. Flocks of graceful impala antelopes hang out in the bushes. There are a couple of giraffes near the road long necks, taking out acacia foliage.

A lone elephant grazes here - all this literally fits into one frame in the camera lens. This abundance and diversity of animals is due to the richness of vegetation and a constant source of water. It is not for nothing that in the first half of this century the coast of Lake Manyara attracted big game hunters.

You have to approach an elephant with caution - this is, perhaps, one of the few animals in Africa in whose presence you don’t feel safe, even in a car. A buffalo and a rhinoceros, attacking a car, can only slightly crush the body, and an elephant... If this giant gets angry, he can turn the car over and get to the passengers. The driver stops not far from the elephant, resting in the shade of an acacia tree, and prudently does not turn off the engine. As soon as the beast's sleepy little eyes lit up with irritation and he took a few steps in our direction, the driver quickly turned on the speed and we left the giant alone.

On the river bank, the guide drew our attention to the half-eaten corpse of a zebra. “There must be a leopard somewhere nearby,” he said. And sure enough, in the fork of an acacia tree, about four meters above the ground, we saw a magnificent spotted cat resting after a hearty breakfast. Noticing our approach, the leopard casually turned its head in our direction and turned away again.

Interrupting our delight at everything we saw, the guide promises to find the most unusual attraction of Lake Manyara Park - “lions hanging from the trees.”

After a few kilometers of travel, we find ourselves in a sparse tree and shrub savannah with graceful silhouettes of umbrella acacias along the entire horizon. This is where you need to look for “tree” lions. Soon we manage to notice a tree, on the branches of which yellow spots are visible from afar.

Having approached closer, and then very close under the tree, we are surprised to look at a whole family of lions, resting in the lower part of the crown on thick horizontal branches, lifelessly hanging their paws on both sides of the branch, the animals are dozing, exhausted by the midday heat.

The closest one to us is a large lioness. Its thick, food-filled belly hangs over one side, and its head hangs over the other.

Hearing the noise of the engine, she lazily opens one eye, points her round ears in our direction, but then falls into a doze again.

A little higher up were the young lions, whose spotted pattern on their thighs had not yet faded. They are two or three years old. And on the thinnest branch perched a young lion cub, covered in spots - from the ears to the tips of the paws. He can't sleep, and he studies us with the gaze of his straw-yellow eyes.

What makes these rulers of the savannah climb trees? Perhaps, in the crowns of acacia trees, lions escape the heat of the day, since the ground layer of air warms up more, and among the branches there is at least a little breeze. In the bush during the day, tsetse flies and other bloodsuckers are more annoying.

Probably, the abundance of elephants and buffaloes in this area forces lions to sleep in trees so as not to fall under the hooves of a disturbed herd of buffaloes or under the pillar-like legs of giants. Or do lions just climb trees because they like it?

During one day's route we had to meet families of lions more than once. Their abundance in this park is easily explained by the diversity and availability of food. There are plenty of buffalos, zebras, wildebeests and other prey here. It is estimated that the lion population density in Lake Manyara National Park is quite high, with three lions for every two square miles.

Having gone to the shore of the lake, we observed a wide variety of birds on the mud flats and shallow water surface: Nile geese, hammer-headed herons, pelicans, and various waders. In the park alone, 380 species of birds have been registered - only half as many as our entire domestic avifauna.

The way back lies through the same gate through which we entered the park. There is no through path. Further south the cliff comes close to the lake. This is a great convenience for organizing park security.

Having climbed the winding serpentine road to top part cliff, we take a bird's eye view of lush forest thickets, green patches of swamps and a mosaic of shrub savannah. From here you can no longer see the animals. And only the imagination completes the wonderful pictures of untouched nature - down there, under the cliff, on the shores of Lake Manyara.

IN THE NGORONGORO CRATER

To the west of the Great African Rift lies a volcanic plateau rising to a height of more than 2000 meters, with individual peaks up to 3000 meters above sea level.

Having risen to the plateau, we head north-west, gradually rising higher and higher, through small villages, fields and pastures. The morning rays of the sun warm the red-brown soil that has cooled overnight. Ahead on the horizon is a continuous veil of clouds covering a steep wooded slope. We know: there, behind the clouds, we will meet with a natural miracle - the Ngorongoro crater.

The giant crater and its surroundings constitute a special reserve, allocated in 1959 from national park Serengeti. The peculiarity of the regime of this territory as a reserve is that several Maasai villages have been preserved here. These nomadic pastoralists are allowed by treaty to live in a protected area that has always belonged to them. The Maasai do not hunt and thus do not cause direct damage to the local fauna.

The total area of ​​the Ngorongoro protected area is more than 828 thousand hectares and covers, in addition to the crater itself, vast expanses of a volcanic plateau with grassy savannas in the east and large extinct volcanoes Olmoti, Oldeani, Empakai in the west.

The eastern slopes of Ngorongoro are covered with dense and humid tropical forest. Even now, at the height of the dry season, high humidity remains here, as air masses brought from the east, cooling overnight at this altitude, envelop the steep slope in a shroud of white fog. In the morning hours, the boundary of the clouds surprisingly precisely coincides with the lower boundary of the humid mountain forest.

Having barely plunged into the damp whiteness of the fog, we find ourselves at the entrance to the reserve. Shivering from the morning cold, security guards greet us. They check our right to visit Ngorongoro, pull the barrier aside and wave welcomingly after us.

Let's look back: how original is the architecture of the entry cordon! On both sides of the road there are, as it were, two halves of a log house sawn in half, connected by a barrier.

Soon the road rushes upward, twisting into the fog with an intricate serpentine. The driver has to reduce speed to a minimum: each turn becomes visible only just before the hood of the car.

While the climb up the wooded slope continues, the morning sun and the breeze quickly disperse the night fog. It gathers into separate clouds that creep along the slope, clinging to the tops of trees, hiding in hollows, but then they break away from the ground and go up.

A forest still saturated with night moisture becomes visible - multi-tiered, with dense undergrowth, low large-leaved crotons, flat-topped thirty-meter albizia, slender mast-shaped cassipureas, which raise thick caps of leaves on straight silver trunks above the greenery of the bushes. The branches of trees high above the ground are hung with picturesque tufts of epiphytic mosses and bunches of orchids.

Closer to the crater ridge, the mountain forest is increasingly interspersed with lush grassy lawns. On one of them, a dozen zebras and several domestic cows graze peacefully together. A huge elephant slowly wandering appears right above us along the edge of the forest. In the vast clearing below, about 40 buffaloes are scattered along the slope, and several waterbucks are staying close to them.

Finally, the serpentine leads us to the crater ridge. Getting out of the car, we freeze in amazement at the panorama that opens. The gigantic bowl of the crater, slightly shrouded at the edges in morning haze, lies at our feet! A slope overgrown with dense bushes breaks off steeply, deep below there is a flat bottom of a greenish-gray color with several dark green spots of forest islands and a whitish surface of the lake. And the crater wall arcs into the distance along the horizon, and the opposite edge is barely visible in the grayish haze.

It is difficult to imagine that this entire bowl, about 20 kilometers in diameter and 600 meters deep, was once the crater of a fire-breathing volcano. However, this was the case five to seven million years ago, when the conical Ngorongoro volcano collapsed, forming a round caldera filled with flaming lava. Gradually cooling, it formed the flat bottom of Ngorongoro. And the low hills on the horizontal plain remained witnesses to the last convulsions of the dying volcano.

Now, at the bottom of the giant crater, grassy savannas and acacia forests stretch, and streams run down the slopes, forming a shallow muddy lake. We are 2400 meters above sea level, and the bottom below us lies at an altitude of approximately 1800 meters. On the crater ridge, a few steps from the road, is a modest monument. This is a pyramid made of granite stones, with the inscription: “Michael Grzimek. 12.4.1934-10.1.1959. He gave everything he had, even his life, to save Africa’s wild animals.”

We stand in thought for a long time, remembering the tireless fighter for the protection of the nature of Africa, who so loved this amazing continent.

To descend into the crater, we have to drive along the ridge for more than 25 kilometers, exchange a comfortable minibus for an awkward but powerful Land Rover with two driven axles, and only then move down a steep, rocky serpentine road.

The dry slope, strewn with large boulders, is overgrown with thorny bushes and picturesque candelabra spurges, which look like giant Mexican cacti. The dark green branches of euphorbia, armed with powerful spines, bend upward in an arched manner, and their ends are decorated with pink inflorescences.

As the Land Rover emerges over a rocky slope onto an open grassy plain, we find ourselves among grazing wildebeest, zebras, and Thompson's gazelles. Some wildebeest, 20–50 heads long, wander in a chain across the steppe, accompanied by zebras, while others stand still, carefully looking at us. Some animals rest by lying on the grass. A hyena slowly wanders through a herd of wildebeest, but then she stops to take a dust bath. Among tall grass The bustard is hiding, stretching out its neck and watching our approach. A pair of piebald lapwings scurry restlessly between the antelopes' legs. Apparently, their masonry is nearby, and it needs to be protected from hooves.

In the distance to the right are squat Maasai huts surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes. Several young warriors in dark red tunics, armed with long spears, are driving a herd out to pasture. There are Maasai settlements inside the crater. And although the Maasai do not hunt wild animals, their livestock creates some competition for herbivorous ungulates in the use of pastures. The increase in the number of livestock among the Maasai causes new problems in maintaining the natural balance.

Having approached the shore of the lake, we unexpectedly discover here, in the shallow water, thousands of flocks of bright pink flamingos. Mixed flocks are formed by two species of flamingos - large and small. They differ in the intensity of their color: the small flamingo is noticeably brighter. Separate groups of birds constantly fly from place to place, and in flight the pink color is effectively set off by the blackness of the flight feathers.

Several black-backed jackals wander sadly along the shallows in search of food. We were just about to sympathize with these pitiful creatures, subsisting on the leftovers of someone else's dinner, when we suddenly witnessed their active hunting.

Here is one of them, at a small jog, gradually, in an arc, approaching a flock of flamingos, looking at them with emphasized indifference. the opposite side from the pack. And suddenly, already several tens of meters away, the jackal turned sharply and rushed headlong through the shallow water directly at the feeding birds. The frightened flamingos clumsily took off, but the jackal jumped high, grabbed one of the flying birds in the air and fell to the ground with it.

His fellow tribesmen rushed to the successful hunter and after a few minutes tore the bird into pieces. The hyena, who arrived in time, also managed to grab a tasty morsel from the jackal’s feast.

Driving around the shore of the lake, we found ourselves in a swampy depression formed at the confluence of the Munge River. Among the thickets of marsh vegetation, small lakes sparkle, where ducks swim and crowned cranes gracefully stride. Here, in the reeds, a couple of sacred ibises wander, and on the neighboring reach there are three dozen Nile geese and several coots. An old lion with a luxurious black mane is resting on the river bank. As we get closer, we notice that the black mane is dotted with light brown dots - these are hordes of tsetse flies that annoy the mighty beast.

After the swampy lowland we again leave for the open dry savannah, and we are even more amazed by the abundance of ungulates. A huge herd of wildebeest in the distance moves in a huge ribbon, and the wind lifts a plume of dust from under its hooves high into the sky. How many of them are there, in this giant “Noah’s Ark”? According to multiple estimates from the aircraft, about 14 thousand wildebeest, approximately 5,000 zebra and 3,000 Thompson antelope live on the crater floor, an area of ​​about 264 square kilometers. The total number of large ungulates in the crater is about 22 thousand.

In the open savannah, plump dark gray rhinoceroses are visible from afar. A couple of rhinoceroses calmly graze, not paying any attention to the approaching car. But a single male quickly becomes irritated and, running away, rushes towards us with a stomp. However, before reaching a few meters, he brakes heavily, and, funnyly lifting his small tail up, runs back embarrassedly. A little further in the grass, a female rhinoceros lies on her side and feeds milk to her baby, which has only a small, blunt bump instead of a horn. In total, about 100 rhinoceroses live permanently in the crater, according to records. Not all of them live on the open plain; many prefer to graze in the bushes of the lower slopes.

We are again approaching the shore of the lake, but from the other side. In the swampy mouth of the river, hippos lie like huge smoothly wrapped boulders - about two dozen hippos. Occasionally, one or the other raises its head, opening its pink mouth with powerful fangs.

If you watch hippos only during the day, when they are resting in the water, you will not think that these clumsy giants, swollen with fat, go out to graze in meadows and forests at night. About 40 hippos live in the crater, and this population is isolated from the nearest others by tens of kilometers of mountainous and arid terrain.

In a small cliff of the lake terrace there is a dark hole in the hole, and near it sits a happy family of hyenas in the sun: a father, a mother and five already grown puppies. When danger appears, the round-eared, thick puppies hide in a hole, and the parents run away to the side, warily watching us. Strange as it may seem, hyenas are the most active and influential predators in the Ngorongoro Crater. They hunt wildebeest and zebras in groups of up to 30 individuals, driving the prey with persistent pursuit. Such hunts are organized at night, and during the day visitors see them only resting, lying in the shade or climbing up to their necks in water.

If in the Ngorongoro Crater we see lions feasting on a killed zebra or wildebeest, and hyenas wandering around waiting their turn, then this should not be explained according to the “classical” scheme. In fact, the hyenas obtained food for themselves in a persistent night hunt, and then the lions unceremoniously drove the hyenas away from their prey. They will have to wait until the lions have their fill.

The territory of the crater is clearly divided between several packs, or clans, of hyenas. Each clan has several holes in its hunting territory for resting, sleeping and raising puppies. According to records carried out in the crater by Dr. Hans Kruuk, about 370 hyenas live here. It is these animals that collect the largest “tribute” among the ungulates of Ngorongoro - after all, the number of other predators is much lower: there are about 50 lions in the crater, about 20 hyena dogs, less than 10 individuals of each species of cheetahs and leopards. As for the three species of jackals, which are generally more numerous here than hyenas, unlike the latter, they are actually scavengers and rarely attack live prey. We were lucky to see an unusual scene of jackals hunting flamingos.

Completing the circular route along the bottom of the crater, we approach the Lerai forest. The main tree stand is formed by yellowbark acacia, and under the umbrella-shaped crowns of trees there are lush, damp and swampy meadows fed by streams that run down the eastern slope of the crater.

Many forest and moisture-loving animals find refuge in this forest area. An elephant stands knee-deep in swamp vegetation at the edge of the forest, having managed to descend here along the steep slope of the crater. Three little egrets rest on its back. A troop of baboons gathers food in a forest clearing, and black-faced monkeys play among the branches. Several swamp goats stand like statues in an emerald green meadow.

The continuous chirping of brilliant starlings flows from the treetops. Their bright metallic blue plumage sparkles in the midday sun.

Kites circle over the clearing, long-tailed widowbirds fly through the bushes. At the edge of the swamp, jabiru storks stalk their prey, and crowned cranes roam among the herd of wildebeest.

Right after the Lerai forest, the serpentines leading out of the crater begin. Each of the two serpentines “works” only in one direction: one for descent, the other for ascent. When you drive a heavy Land Rover along a narrow, rocky, winding road along the edge of the cliff, the need for one-way traffic becomes clear: oncoming cars cannot pass each other here.

The reserve administration does not consider it necessary to improve and expand the roads leading to the crater. Now they serve as a valve holding back the influx of visitors. The number of daily excursions to the crater is already close to the maximum allowable. Let the projects of “tourism businessmen” to build an airfield and a multi-storey hotel at the bottom of the crater remain in the past. What would remain of the diversity of living nature that we observe and admire? It is necessary to maintain the natural balance of all components of this biocenosis so that the giant “Noah’s Ark” can safely sail into the future.

From the middle of the climb we look back, down into the spacious bowl of the crater, swaying in the hot midday haze. Now we can easily recognize herds of wildebeest in the black dots, and flocks of flamingos in the pink petals scattered throughout the lake.

We leave the unique crater, and life in it continues to flow in its complex ways, life, ever changing and unchanging in its constancy.

ALONG THE SERENGETI PLAINS

Early in the morning we leave the ridge of the Ngorongoro crater, taking a last look at its gigantic bowl, still shrouded in light fog. Through the gaps in the clouds one can see the flat bottom of the crater with islands of forest and a shallow lake bordered by a white stripe of salty mudflats. From here you can’t see lines of wildebeest and zebras, colorful flocks of flamingos on the lake, majestic lions and sullen rhinoceroses. However, all these amazing encounters in the crater are still so fresh in our memory!

Ahead of us is an acquaintance with the unique fauna of the Serengeti National Park - a true pearl in the necklace of national parks in Africa. There, more than a million large ungulates graze on the endless plains. Thousands of predators find food among their herds. Such gigantic concentrations of wild animals cannot be seen anywhere else in Africa or in the whole world.

The country road slopes down from the volcanic highlands, crosses several dry drainage beds framed by sparse acacia trees, and leads us through dry, short-grass savannah. Not far away remains the famous Olduvai Gorge, where Dr. L. Leakey discovered the remains of the ancient man, Zind-Jatrop.

After a few tens of kilometers we find ourselves at the entrance to the park. Near the road, small groups of graceful Thompson's gazelles and their larger relatives, Grant's gazelles, are increasingly seen. A single ostrich runs away from the road.

But now we arrive at the house, where the park security checks the documents for the right to visit it and supplies us with maps and guides.

In the protected area, an increase in the number of antelopes is immediately noticeable: grazing in groups of five to ten individuals, they are visible everywhere, and at times there are also large herds - up to a hundred animals in each. But we know that during the dry season, the main concentrations of ungulates migrated to the northern areas of the park with more lush vegetation, and the main thing is still ahead of us.

A flat plain with a ruler-straight horizon is unexpectedly diversified by bizarre granite outcrops. Rounded blocks, framed by green patches of bushes, rise several tens of meters, like the heads of giant sleeping knights.

On one of the trees, clinging to the remains, skillfully woven nests of weaver birds are visible. A red-blue agama runs into a crevice from the bare surface of sun-warmed granite, and on the top of another granite block a rock hyrax, a distant relative of elephants, whose appearance and mannerisms are more reminiscent of an enlarged pika or a small marmot, has taken a guard position.

At the foot of the monolith we notice a couple of graceful dik-diks - small bush antelopes. In some places, the yellow vegetation of the low-grass savannah gives way to black spots of old fires, where green sprouts are already making their way through the dusty ash, waiting for new rains so that, spreading out an emerald carpet, they will feed the hundred thousand herds when they return here in a couple of months.

By noon we enter the small picturesque village of Seroneru. It is the administrative center of the Serengeti National Park, located at an altitude of 1525 meters above sea level. Here, among the acacia trees at the foot of the granite outcrops, there are the national park administration, a small museum, the Seronera Lodge hotel, a Safari Camp and residential houses for park employees. Nearby are the buildings of the Serengeti Research Institute and the Michael Grzimek Laboratory. During a short stop for lunch, we manage to see several grazing buffalo, a lone giraffe, small groups of Thompson's gazelles, antelope, kongoni and topi in the immediate vicinity of the houses. Starlings are chirping in the crowns of acacia trees - already red-bellied, with a blue-green metallic tint to their heads and backs. Tree hyraxes deftly run along the tree branches, and a red-headed woodpecker busily pecks at the bark of a tree trunk.

From Seronera we head north, to the border with Kenya, where the final destination of our route today is the Lobo Hotel. Initially, the road runs along a river valley, where a dense gallery forest borders the river bed like a dense wall. Yellowbark acacias are interspersed with phoenix palms and bushes. On one of the acacias we suddenly see a leopard lying calmly among the branches. Noticing that we have stopped right under the tree, the spotted cat gets up, stretches and deftly runs down the vertical trunk straight to the car. Everyone involuntarily rolls up the windows, but the leopard hurriedly passes by the car and a moment later disappears into the dense thickets of the riverside.

Having crossed the shallow branches of the river, we find ourselves in a tall grass tree and shrub savanna with sparse groves of umbrella acacias. In one of the groves, a family of lions is resting in the shade - such a group is usually called a “pride”. All the predators are exhausted by the midday heat and sleep, lounging in the most picturesque positions.

In the center of the group is a huge black-maned male, five lionesses and a dozen lion cubs of different ages are dozing around. Some lion cubs suckle their mothers, others play lazily with each other or with their mother's tail. And in the distance, about two hundred meters away, another adult male is resting, which, apparently, is not allowed closer by the black-maned owner of the pride.

Here and there, brownish-red mounds are scattered across the savannah - the above-ground structures of termites. Some of them reach two meters or more in height and have the shape of bizarre towers - their inhabitants can be found in such termite mounds. Others are dilapidated, in the form of oval mounds, no longer inhabited. They are gradually leveled to the ground.

On one of the dilapidated termite mounds he sits, like Egyptian Sphinx, graceful cheetah. His pose is tense, and his stern and slightly sad eyes are focused on a group of gazelles grazing nearby. Here he descends from the observation post and trotts at a light, springy trot in the direction of the herd.

Noticing the approach of the enemy, the gazelles jump and run away, and the cheetah increases speed, trying to chase the nearest animal. However, the gazelle easily escapes from the cheetah, keeping at a safe distance. After a hundred meters, the chase tires the cheetah; in the sun, it quickly runs out of steam and returns to a soft and tireless trot.

We approach the cheetah, but he doesn’t seem to notice the car moving after him. A short stop for shooting - and then suddenly a predator runs up to a standing car, a slight jump - and he’s on the hood of the car! A meter behind the glass - just stretch out your hand - is an elegant, lean cat with a dry, almost dog-like head. Our gazes meet. And if in our eyes there is surprise and admiration, then his eyes express only calmness, bordering on indifference. He is full of self-esteem. Black stripes running from the eyes to the corners of the mouth give the animal’s face a slightly sad expression. But now the royal “courtesy visit” is over, and the cheetah again heads to his favorite termite mound.

Further north the path lies through hilly terrain. In some places the thickets of acacias and shrubs become dense, but are immediately replaced by open glades. The grass stand is high, and only close up can you see a single bustard or a brood of guinea fowl. But there are so many large ungulates that it is simply impossible to count them while walking. Herds of wildebeest of at least several hundred heads are becoming increasingly common. Well-fed striped zebras graze with them or at a distance in groups numbering dozens of individuals. In open areas there are herds of Thompson's gazelles, and among the bushes there are groups of graceful lyre-horned gazelles of impala.

In addition to these, in the full sense of the word, “background” species, small groups of topi and kongoni are periodically found. Silhouettes of giraffes emerge among the umbrella acacias. And in dense thickets Cairo buffaloes graze peacefully.

Here it is, pristine Africa with a fantastic abundance of ungulates! Wherever you can see, everywhere among the hills overgrown with sparse groves there are herds, herds: black wildebeest, striped zebras, brown marshes, dark golden gazelles with black stripes. It seems incredible that many animals could live together and in such abundance.

Every now and then several wildebeest, with their bearded heads bowed and their tails raised, run across the road in front of the car. And impalas gallop along the road. Easily, as if playfully, they soar into the air and seem to freeze for a moment at the very top point of the jump. With a ringing gallop, throwing up his thick striped croup, a zebra gallops in front of the radiator.

It may seem that the life of ungulates here is serene. But that's not true. Many dangers await them. Among the thickets we notice a lone lioness carefully creeping up on the grazing antelopes. A couple of black-backed jackals are trotting somewhere in an open area. In the distance, two cheetahs are busy hunting gazelles. And how many predators we don’t see! They rest somewhere in the shade and wait for nightfall to go out hunting.

The abundance of scavenger birds confirms that in the savannah you can find plenty of leftovers from someone's meal. Vultures and vultures soar in the sky or sit on the tops of acacia trees. And here is a group of feasting birds near the remains of a zebra eaten by a lion.

Having driven about 100 kilometers literally through countless herds of ungulates, we are approaching the Lobo Hotel on the northern edge of the national park. Low mountains appear on the horizon to the right, and the valley of the Mara River and its tributaries stretches ahead and to the left. In the thickets near the river we notice four huge dark silhouettes - these are grazing elephants, the largest attraction in the northern part of the park.

We approach a group of gray granite rocks. The road dives into a narrow crevice between two huge boulders. Suddenly, inside a natural courtyard framed by rocks, the three-story building of the Lobo Hotel appears in front of us. Skillful architects perfectly integrated a light structure with open verandas and galleries into the bizarre contours of the rocks. The hotel is practically invisible from the road - it is all hidden by blocks of granite. And even a swimming pool was built directly in one of the blocks using its natural depressions. One side of the building fills the gap between the rocks and looks out onto the untouched savannah, although there is no exit.

Herds of animals can only be admired from the balconies. The first floor is not inhabited, there are only service premises. You can only leave the hotel into the courtyard between the rocks, and from there you can drive your car through a narrow crevice.

We soon realize that such strictness is not dictated by whim: during the day, buffalo and antelope grazed near the hotel, and with the onset of night, the chomping and measured clatter of hooves could be heard right under the windows.

We were already going to bed when we suddenly heard a thunderous roar of a lion, which rattled the glass. A mighty beast stood in the darkness somewhere nearby. The drowsiness disappeared as if by hand. I was relieved that our windows were not on the first floor. In the patches of half-light, which pushed the darkness several tens of meters away from the hotel, we tried to distinguish the royal guest and his sacrificial animals in the dark moving silhouettes.

The area of ​​the Serengeti National Park is 1295 thousand hectares. This is the largest national park in Tanzania and one of the largest in Africa. Its territory extends from the Kenyan border in the north to Lake Eyasi in the south and from Olduvai Gorge in the east to Lake Victoria in the west.

Since time immemorial, Africans have known about this vast, game-rich mountain plateau with its mild, relatively cool climate. People of the Ndorobo tribe hunted here, the Ikoma tribe practiced primitive agriculture, and in recent centuries the Maasai came here even more often with their herds. But all these tribes have not yet violated great harmony nature.

Only in late XIX centuries, these places were discovered by Europeans. In 1892, the German traveler Oscar Baumann passed through the Serengeti plateau with his detachment. His path lay past Lake Manyara, through the Ngorongoro crater - “the eighth wonder of the world” and further to the shores of Lake Victoria. It seemed that nothing could hit him after he first saw and crossed the giant crater. However, the abundance of game in the Serengeti made a lasting impression on the researcher.

Less than two decades have passed since big game hunters flocked here, organized in hunting expeditions - safaris. Lions were especially persecuted, which in those days were considered dangerous pests. At the beginning of the century, safaris consisted of groups on foot with porters and pack animals. The era of car safaris in these places was opened by the American L. Simpson, who reached Seronera in 1920 in a Ford car. Looking at how tired the drivers and passengers are who come to Seronera now along quite a decent country road in modern comfortable cars, one can imagine the complexity of that first auto safari.

By the thirties, it became clear that further uncontrolled extermination would quickly lead to the disappearance of large animals. Therefore, in 1937, a game reserve was established in the Serengeti, and in 1951, the Serengeti plains were declared a national park.

Over the next two decades, the boundaries of the park changed several times. Thus, at first, the northern regions near the border with Kenya were not part of the park, but the park included the Ngorongoro crater and the surrounding areas of low-grass savanna. However, in 1959, the eastern park part, along with the crater, was “cut off” from the national park, and in return the northern areas were annexed, which united the Serengeti with the Mara Reserve in Kenya.

Professor Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael played an outstanding role in the study of the Serengeti. They studied the migration routes of ungulates using aerial surveys and animal tagging. Researchers have shown that the park's boundaries are not sufficient to fully protect herds of nomadic animals. Herds of ungulates spend a significant part of their time outside the modern boundaries of the park, moving to the low-grass savannahs of the eastern part during the rainy season, and wandering to the northwest of the protected areas during the dry season. Our readers are well aware of the history of the explorations of father and son Grzimekov in the national park from their fascinating book “The Serengeti Must Not Die.”

Unfortunately, at the very end of their joint work, son Michael died in a plane crash during another research flight over the Serengeti plains. He was buried on the very ridge of the Ngorongoro crater. A significant amount of money was collected for the construction of a monument to the young researcher, but his father chose to invest these funds in the creation of the Michael Grzimek Memorial Research Laboratory, on the basis of which a large scientific institution has now grown - the Serengeti International Research Institute, where dozens of scientists from various countries of the world. This is truly the best monument to the heroic scientist. Wonderful book and the magnificent full-length color film of the same name, created by the father and son Grzimeks, went around the whole world and attracted everyone's attention to the fate of the world famous park Serengeti. In the last decade, the number of large animals here has been repeatedly taken into account and it has been found that their number has been increasing for several years, which creates new problems for the protection of landscapes and natural balance.

As for the boundaries of the park, its territory was slightly increased in the northwestern part. The right bank of the Grumet River was added to the park, which expanded the “western corridor”, and forest thickets in the Mara River valley on the border with Kenya, as a result of which the herds coming to the Mara Valley during the dry season were protected. How many large animals now live in the vast territory of the park, an area of ​​about 13 thousand square kilometers? At last count, about half a million Thompson and Grant's gazelles, 350 thousand wildebeest, 180 zebras, 43 buffalo, 40 topi, 20 kongoni, 15 eland, 7 giraffes, more than 2 elephants, 2 hyenas, 1 thousand lions, 500 hippos and the same number of leopards, 200 rhinoceroses and hyena dogs - a total of more than one and a half million large animals! The bulk of animals - primarily wildebeest and zebras - make annual migrations throughout the territory of the national park and beyond. At the height of the dry season, in July - August, we discovered giant concentrations of ungulates in the northern and northwestern parts of the park. Here, even during the dry season, they find permanent watering holes in the valleys of the Mara and Grumeti rivers, which flow into Lake Victoria. When the rainy season begins in November and the first short showers irrigate the parched savannah in the north of the park, herds of wildebeest and zebras begin to migrate to the south and southeast.

Every day the rain front moves further south, and with it endless lines of herds move south. In December, when the low-grass savannas between Seronera and the Olduvai Gorge are covered with fresh greenery, thousands of herds of wildebeest and zebras come there.

Calving occurs on these green pastures, so that newborns are provided, in addition to mother's milk, with fresh young grass.

Before leaving the inhospitable dry plains of the eastern Serengeti in late May and early June, wildebeest herds undergo mating season. At this time, the males become aggressive towards each other, each of them captures and protects a section of the savannah, trying to keep as many females as possible on it - their temporary harem, which disintegrates with the beginning of migration.

A fantastic spectacle awaits visitors to the park during the period of mass migration. Right up to the horizon, endless ribbons of black wildebeest are visible, wandering one after another with their bearded heads drooping. Here and there you can see motley splashes - these are the accompanying groups of zebras. Something powerful and inevitable seems to be in this universal movement. And after the herds of ungulates, their inevitable companions migrate - lions, cheetahs, hyenas and hyena dogs. Like strict shepherds, they select sick, wounded and decrepit animals from the herd. And woe to the one who is lagging behind and weakened - predators immediately rush towards him. Thus, on the path of the great migration, cruel but creative natural selection reigns.

And when the herds disappear beyond the horizon, deep furrows remain on the surface of the savannah - paths made by the hooves of thousands and thousands of animals. For many months, until the next rainy season, these “wrinkles of the earth” will remain, clearly visible from the window of a low-flying airplane.

ROTTING SMOKE

Early on a December morning we fly from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, to the small town of Victoria Falls. It is located in the north-west of the country, closer to the border with Zambia.

December in Southern Hemisphere- first month of summer. Dry, not very hot, about 30 degrees. In the capital of Zimbabwe, located approximately at the height of Kislovodsk, the air in December is the same as in the North Caucasus or Crimea in August: dry, smelling of dust.

The town of Victoria Falls is the main tourist center of the country. He stretched out on the shore famous river The Zambezi is one of the largest on the African continent. Every year it is visited by thousands of tourists from many countries of the world. There is a national park here. But the main attraction of these places is Victoria Falls. In tourist brochures it is called the eighth wonder of the world.

The flight attendant warns us that we are approaching Victoria Falls. You should not miss the happy opportunity to look at the waterfall from the air. Here is a town immersed in greenery, a wide ribbon of the Zambezi. Yes, and a waterfall.

From above it is clearly visible that the river falls into a narrow opening that has appeared on its way. A giant snow-white cloud of water vapor hangs over the canyon.