Serengeti

A bonus post since I have free wifi at The Red Chilli campsite in Kampala, Uganda.

There was no doubt I was going to see the Serengeti when I signed on for this trip last year. However, after spending almost 2 months on the truck, and seeing every animal under the sun, the Serengeti didn't promise any sightings of new animals. What it lacked in newness though, it more than made up for it in the quality and quantity of animal activity.

Up until this recent 3 day safari, all of the other game experiences have been 1 day game drives through national parks. Some done from our truck, and others done on a tour group 4x4. This safari was a series of game drives that took place over the course of 3 days. It took us through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti.

Day 1 took us to Lake Manyara, which is this gorgeous lake inhabited by thousands of flamingos. Within the confines of the park are also found the standard game of elephants, zebra, hippos, antelope, giraffes, and various monkeys and birds. We were lucky enough to find a pack of elephants that numbered over 70. You may have heard of the famous wildebeest migration in the serengeti, but this was undoubtedly a migration of elephants. And it wasn't like we were viewing this from any great distance. Imagine yourself stopping at a crosswalk to allow for pedestrians to cross, but instead of pedestrians, you are watching elephants through your windshield. At one point, I uttered in a voice as if I was speaking AS the elephant, "Get out the road mutha f------." Apparently the big bull elephant, with his ivory tusks, thought I was talking TO him because he stopped right in front of our 4x4, turned and looked at us, swung his trunk and hit the hood of our 4x4 before finally walking away. That elephant could have crushed our car, but I guess since we were really really quiet and looked like kind hearted people, he let us live. Mind you, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. There have been many times on this trip where I have been that close to elephants, and other game like zebras, giraffe, wildebeest, and even lions, but never had I feared for my life like I did at that particular moment. Pretty memorable.

The nice thing about this 3 day experience is that we had people cook for us and put up our tents, so that when we arrived at our campsite following a day of game viewing, we didn't have to wait 2 hours for cook group to prepare our nightly meal, and take the time ourselves to set up our tents. We arrived to everything setup with drinks and snacks, and dinner within 20 minutes. Luxury living compared to our daily grind.

Day 2 was a 6am drive to the Ngorogoro Crater. Technically, it is a caldera because it contains living creatures instead of a crater like you find on the moon, but whatever it is, it is one of the most unique places on earth to view game because of the high concentration of animals that can be found within those crater walls. Our day went like this: The morning was cool and misty. As we ascended up to the top of the crater rim, a gorgeous lioness appeared on the road in front of us. We slowed to a crawl and followed her for a few hundred feet before she disappeared into the forest. Excited that our first half hour contained such an amazing sighting, we all were excited at the prospects of the rest of the day. As we reached the crater rim, the fog cleared, and below us appeared this amazing open landscape of savannah, lakes, and game as far as the eye could see. We descended into the crater and got into a staring contest with a herd of water buffalo as they frolicked in the water. Leaving them in our rearview mirror, moments later our driver stopped and spotted 2 beautiful male lions lurking in the grass, waiting patiently for the herd of zebra in the valley below to make their way to the water which they were carefully guarding. That is typical behavior for lions. They are fast powerful creatures but with very poor endurance. So they lie in wait near water sources, waiting for thirsty prey to make their way for a drink.  Up ahead, a group of tour trucks were gathered alongside 6 sleeping lions trying to cool down in the tall grasses. They were so close to the road, you almost felt you could just reach out and pet them.  Continuing along, our driver spotted a black rhino way off in the distance, that eluded my view even with binoculars. Before long though, we came upon a hippo pool where 3 more lions were sleeping with hippos, water buffalo, elephant and hyena all within eyesight. In the span of 2 hours, we had seen 4 of the Big 5 (lion, rhino, buffalo, elephant, leopard). The lake inside the crater walls also was home to thousands of flamingos, zebra, wildebeest, gnu, antelope, etc. A half day game drive jam packed with fantastic wildlife and all before lunch. A midday drive in the searing heat and dusty air brought us to The Serengeti in time for an evening game drive. (Given that animals seek shelter in midday heat, the early morning and late day are the best times to view game). About 6 weeks ago, when in Etosha National Park, I had spotted a leopard drinking at a watering hole around 3am. So I had already been fortunate see all of the big 5 in the wild. Most of my other friends had seen all but the leopard. Well, we were all on a mission to find a leopard and our driver knew of some places inside the Serengeti where we might find them in the trees. We weren't disappointed. In fact, we were all blown away by what played out before us.  As we were driving along, we spotted a leopard in the tree that had just recently killed an antelope and carried it into the tree to enjoy his meal without fear of other animals stealing any of his dinner. When we initially came upon the leopard, he was sleeping off some the calories recently consumed. As we waited for 30-45min, he awoke, climbed down the tree and then jumped to the other side of the tree, where his kill was stashed, so that he could again rip into his kill for more sustinence. Even our driver was amazed at this sight. Truly a once in a lifetime experience to see this play out in the wild. A perfect sunset ended our day in style.

But wait, there's more. Day 3. Fatigued from the action of yesterday, there really wasn't anything that could have topped the events and game viewing of day 2. But it came awfully close. I have gone on just about every game drive offered, because even if all I see are animals doing things I have already seen them do, there is always a chance of seeing something incredibly unique. Day 3 offered up one of those unique encounters. We came upon a watering hole early in the morning and saw 7 lions lying in wait. Also within view was a hippo and a water buffalo. The water buffalo was clearly aware something was about to go down, so he kept a safe distance and eventually left the party. A couple of the lions sprinted towards the hippo and nipped at his tail, but were really biting off more than they could chew, so the hippo trudged away with nothing but a few scratches. So the lions waited. Eventually a pack of about 10 elephants came to the watering hole. All 7 lions surveyed the oncoming elephants and hid in the weeds. But the elephants were no dummies. They outflanked the lions and walked towards them, trumpeting that unmistakable elephant noise, and chasing the lions away. Human and baboon spectators were treated to an amazing display of beautiful and majestic creatures doing what they do on a daily basis to simply survive.  Our game viewing ended as we exited the park, but not before seeing thousands of zebra and wildebeest on their migration. Imagine a traffic jam from Baltimore to Washington DC of zebra and wildebeest just walking from one part of the Serengeti to another in search of water. 

This was a perfect trip with rare sightings even for our tour guide who has run this trip dozens of times. Pictures really can't do this type of experience justice, which is a good thing since upload times are about 1 picture an hour in most of these places. It is something that really needs to be seen first hand. A safari in the Serengeti is something that everyone reading this post can experience. It doesn't require any type of fitness. Just a beating heart and a set of eyes.

A July 4th encounter with mountain gorillas is the next big ticket item on this 4 month journey of mine. Let the fireworks begin.