Having completed our trek up and down Kilimanjaro, and feeling too weary to engage the million tour companies for a good deal, we succumbed and requested our Kili agent to organize a 5-day safari. With only one night in a bed again, in which for some reason I could not get much sleep, we set off for another 4 nights in our all too familiar tent.
Freddie (our driver) and ??? (our cook, lets call him Abdul- forgetting names is what I get for procrastinating on this entry) picked us up in our safari Land Rover and drove us from Moshi to Arusha and then on to Lake Manyara, a 127 sq mile national park. Ironically, our cook was Muslim, and it was Ramadan, but he had no choice but to feed us. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Once inside Lake Manyara, we saw clans of baboons (30+ members each) with several large, competitive males screeching with each other over personal space / property violations. While watching these brief skirmishes spill out into the street, we also caught glimpses of several week-old baboons hanging underneath their mothers.
The birdlife in Lake Manyara was stunning. We were amazed at brilliant bursts of aquamarine as small, unfamiliar birds flew by and spread their wings. Looking onto the lake miles in the distance, a long thin line of pink bordered the full horizon- flamingos. We drove by the Hippo Pool and back through the woods, where we saw sitting giraffes, lots of impala, the occasional zebra, velvet monkeys, blue monkeys, and a strange bird or two. The highlight was seeing a family of elephants cross in front of the Land Rover- clearly I had no idea how much I would soon see in the 5 days...
We camped that night in a campground near a neighborhood, well away from any wildlife. The following day, we drove several hours to the Serengeti where we would camp for 3 days / 2 nights!! The Serengeti was enormous. I never imagined I'd see so many animals all in one place. Countless water buffalo, elephants, giraffe, zebra. Seemingly an infinite number of antelope (gazelle, bucks, impala, etc.) Pools packed with hippos, over 40 lions (including cubs!), warthogs, jackals, hyenas, cheetahs (we saw 5) and a few leopards. Crocodiles stalked watering holes. All the animals (especially lions) are clearly used to seeing and dismissing the Land Rovers- we would drive up very close to resting animals and they barely reacted.
At one point, we spotted the gold mine- a leopard resting in the branches of an acacia tree. The leopard had killed a Thomson's gazelle and wedged it in the branches to eat casually over the following days. Jackals and hyenas paitently waited for at least a few days for any remains to fall, but the leopard just took its time. On our final day, we noticed a second leopard in the tree with her own catch.
We argued with our lazy driver to take us around for most of daylight hours, as well as to see any activity before dawn and up to sunset when the animals are the most active. The sunsets and sunrises were spectacular, just as The Lion King and Animal Planet have taught us to expect. Complete with rays of sunlight showering down, striking up thoughts of God's presence and providence.
The side of the serengeti that you don't see on tv is the camp grounds. We camped for two nights in a clearing with hole-in-the-floor toilets (yay!), cold "bird" baths, and caged dining / cooking areas. The cages were concrete slabs with a baseboard, wood columns supporting a thatch roof, locking doors, and metal bars gridded to protect us from wildlife while eating. One afternoon while chatting with another American in the cage, we watched a baboon walk into the camp, unzip her tent, and enter! Later, she told me several of the campers had to lock themselves in the cage as baboons tried to break in and take their lunch.
At night, all of the campers would awaken to hear unfamiliar animal noises you don't learn in school. We'd hear sniffing and rustling around the tents- probably hyenas or warthogs. I hesitated to leave our tent in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom for fear of meeting a lion. Fortunately, we made sure to pitch tent in the middle of the camp- with several other tents bordering us, I convinced myself there was less probability the hungry animal would be at my tent. Regardless, nights are not safe in the Serengeti, especially at the camp grounds!
No successful lion attacks observed, just some pitiful hunting attempts. We did see a group of lions eating a warthog, though!
As we left the Serengeti, we drove to Ngorongoro Crater, another popular national park in Tanzania covering 102 sq miles. The crater is said to have formed from when an ancient giant volcano collapsed in on itself. Upon arrival, we camped on the crater rim. The site was much cooler and crowded, but the cages and shower facilites were more impressive. Men with rifles guarded the camp perimeter at night. I thought this may be overdoing it, but we walked out of the cage to find an enormous elephant drinking from our water reservoir, next to our trucks and tents. What a rush!
The following morning, we descended into the crater, where we saw several flamingos, tons of wildebeasts and zebras, about 20 more lions, one rhino, and water buffalo. The density of the herds here astounded me.
Before leaving, we watched four lions battling a herd of water buffalo. The lions strategically went after a resting buffalo, but the rest of the herd was not afraid to charge the hunters. A back-and-forth ensued, but the lions didn't make their kill.
Overall, the experience was amazing and can only be poorly described here. I was lucky to experience it and recommend the trip to anyone who can take it. There are TONS more pictures on the album link to the right, so enjoy!
2 comments:
Thanks for taking the time to share this, Phil. Your photos and writing gave me chills. What an experience.
Wow...amazing pictures. Wildlife at it's best. Makes me homesick.
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