Sunday, February 17, 2013

Tanzania - Serengeti (days 7-10)

We’re finally in the famed Serengeti (but to be honest, all of the parks/areas we have visited thus far have been nothing short of amazing)!   Serengeti means “endless plains” and is the largest park in Tanzania.  We were back on the bumpy main road and a muffler fell off a big cargo truck in front of us!  We took a short walk up to a vista point while Chris handled the paperwork to get us into the park.



This terrain was much different from the Ndutu area we just came from even though they’re right next to each other.  The Southern Serengeti is comprised of yellow/green grassy plains – like the mid-West or something, but with wild animals running around!  Have I mentioned how dry it is?  I had to start using eye drops and dust gets *everywhere*.  Thankfully, we had good showers everywhere we stayed.   


Ok, back to the Serengeti.  We first stopped by a watering hole and found 5 lions lounging in the cool mud.   


On Day 7, we also saw new animals – the gray thighed topi and colorful agama lizard.  


Then we came across some elephants on the road.  Yay, we hadn’t seen elephants in a few days!  However, these guys aren’t as used to cars as the ones in the Tarangire so I don’t think they were too happy to see us.  On 2 separate occasions, male bulls raised their ears, trunks and started backing up, which is a defensive sign meaning they might be getting ready to charge if they feel threatened.  Umm, Chris, please hurry and drive away.  Meanwhile I turned away and started crossing myself (like that would help)…. if you have a 6 ton elephant against a 2 ton car, who do you think will win?  Right. 



We started to move out of the plains and came up on the woodlands.  The yellow-barked acacia trees in the area are gorgeous.  The density of animals wasn’t as great over here as in Ndutu, but it was so pretty.  We ended up having a picnic lunch under a shady tree (we stayed mostly in the car and Chris checked for leopards in the tree before letting anyone get out.  I think he was a bit nervous.  Meanwhile, Matt starts wandering across the street like we’re in some regular park or something.  Hey, get back here!)   



After lunch, we saw dozens and dozens of hippos.  Man, those are some stinky animals, gross!  They like to hang out in shallow pools filled with their own poop.  Yes, I guess that would keep predators away!  However, there was one brave crocodile in the pool with them.  
  

The afternoon’s animals included wart hogs, imapala, monkeys and we finally saw the elusive leopard, thus fulfilling the last slot of our sightings of the “big 5 game” (African elephant, black rhino, African cape buffalo, lion, leopard).  It may have been our only leopard sighting, but it was a good one.  We pulled up to another vehicle and were just looking in the grass, so I asked the guy in the other vehicle – “where is it”?  He misheard me and answered, in a very loud whisper with his hands cupped around his mouth “eetz a leop-hard” in a very thick French accent.  Oh goodness, we were all cracking up, even our guide.  The way he said it, with cupped hands etc. was hysterical.  Yes, we know it’s a leopard, but *where* is it?  The tall grass was hiding the leopard.  We heard she had made a kill in a tree a bit further up the road so we pulled up there and waited.  Low-and-behold, here comes a leopard with her 2 teeny tiny babies, surrounded by about 20 jeeps following them.  At one point, one of the kittens took refuge in the shade under a jeep!   



Traffic jam in the Serengeti.


She finally made it back to the tree to retrieve the hare she had killed, but then she dropped it!  She jumped down so quickly and that was the last we saw of her.  I’m sure they were feasting on Peter Rabbit.  Yes, those “cat-like reflexes” are not a myth.  One kitten remained in the tree and a silly guinea fowl who didn’t notice almost landed until the kitty batted at it.  Feathers flew and the guinea fowl hit the ground.  They’re a pretty big bird but it was able to fly away unscathed.  It all happened very quickly so we don’t have any photos.  Then, due to the huge traffic jam (see above), some idiot driver tried to circumvent the line of jeeps and got stuck in the mud.  After getting yelled at by other drivers, we tried to push his jeep with our jeep, but it didn’t work.  Well, we gave it out best shot.  Good luck buddy, but we need to get going.



We then headed to our private camp (set up by the safari company for our foursome), where we stayed for our last 3 nights.  It was actually fairly close to where we had stayed previously but was officially on the “Serengeti” side.  The staff of 4 greeted us with cold towels and juice, but this was definitely the most “basic” place we stayed (but “basic” is all relative on this trip).  The tents were big and there was a proper bed and separate washroom with a sink, typical safari bucket shower and a flush-toilet (it was a plastic toilet though), so definitely more “rustic” than our prior accommodations.   



After getting the day’s layer of dust off, we enjoyed beer and popcorn around the campfire, followed by a candlelit dinner.  It was a windy night and I thought we were going to blow away!  There was a hyena making its characteristic laughing noises near our tents, and a herd of zebra ran by.  Here, no one walked us to or from our tents in the dark!  They were probably 50-feet from the dining tent, but we had gotten used to the additional pampering we had received thus far.  There was also no tea/coffee wake up service at our tent, which we had grown accustomed to and loved (we had to walk the 50 feet to our dining tent for the coffee).  Yes, we had been so spoiled!



 
 


On Tuesday we headed to the Gol Kopjes (giant granite rocks) in the South Central area to find cats.  We passed wildebeest, zebra, ostriches, gazelles in the plains – they were everywhere, as far as the eye could see.   



We found a trio of lions with a wildebeest kill (1 male, 1 female and 1 cub).  Every so often, the female would perk her ears up and look in our direction.  Apparently, the key is to NOT make eye contact with them, otherwise they feel threatened.  There was a group of hyenas in the distance, but they wouldn’t dare try to take any food until after the lions left.   




We watched 3 lions on the move, but they were just heading toward some rocks to get shade and water (although 2 of them ended up lying in the sun).  All the zebras and wildebeest were well aware of their presence though.  They all stood still watching what/where the lions were going and would scatter when they felt the lions were too close.  
  




We found 5 more lions sleeping in some other rocks.  They really are lazy creatures when not stalking prey!  Then we came across hyenas tearing apart a little baby gazelle.  The mama was fighting off her cub, they don’t like to share!  And they are not polite eaters like the cheetah.  One cub grabbed a leg and ran away with it, leaving the mama and the other cub to fight for the rest (the male hyena had given up and was just watching from a distance).  There was a lot of the squealing “laughing” noise and bones cracking.   



There were also 2 little jackals in the distance weighing their options – would there be any food left for them to sneak in and grab?  Nope.  So, they went across the road and chased after a newborn gazelle.  I mean, this gazelle was literally just born and was a tiny fluff ball.  The mama was chasing one jackal (they’re *fast*) and we decided to chase the other away with our car because the baby deserved a fighting chance at life.  The baby gazelle plopped itself down in the grass, so it was hidden (not sure if this was its defense, or if it was just too tired to keep running with its mama).  Well, we chased away the other jackal and were hitting 50 KPH off-road in the plains!  It was crazy.  However, I think the car then also scared the mama and no one knew where the baby was.  We re-grouped and then chased the jackal off again when it found where the baby was.  I think it worked and finally the mama found the baby.  Oddly enough, the gazelles don’t help each other.  While the mama was chasing one of the jackals, there were a bunch of gazelles just standing around eating grass, with the attitude “ain’t my problem”.  Perhaps we interfered with the circle of life, and I’m not entirely certain off-roading is permitted here, but it was pretty thrilling and a highlight of our trip!  




When we returned to our camp a herd of wildebeest ran by, about 25 yards from our tents.  Well, they seem harmless enough.  It was a productive day so we decided to skip the afternoon game drive and just relaxed for the rest of the day (this was our shortest day in the car – only 6.5 hours).  There was some loud buzzing noise in the late afternoon and we feared it was a huge swarm of bees (we’re still not sure what it was, but thankfully we never heard it again).  And the big bug I thought was some killer African bee was really a dung beetle – those suckers are huge!   

Tonight we noticed some velvet monkeys in the trees next to our campfire.  At least these monkeys aren’t used to hand-outs like the ones in the Tarangire, so they didn’t bother us.  After that, a lost jeep drove into our camp; apparently, it was trying to find its own camp!

It’s now Wednesday and our last full day of safari.  We got an early start, departing at 6:15 AM!   The sunrise was gorgeous, although I must admit, the sunsets and sunrises looked quite similar with vibrant orange and pink swirls.  




We saw a lion across the valley from our camp, but it got up and trotted off into the brush. We drove around but couldn’t find it again. 



Back in the plains we saw a hot air balloon, which was quite serene.  I’m sure they had an even better view of the millions of animals than we did!  We drove for about an hour, and the density of the wildebeest and zebras was astounding.  Our pictures don’t do it justice at all.  There was no end in sight, they were all over the place.  There were also a bunch of big storks dotting the grass and a pair pelicans, who we think were lost.


 





  

 


We drove around Lake Masek and saw a bunch of bones.  Apparently, the lake has too much fluoride for the animals and it dehydrates and then kills them.   


Even though the calving season had just started, we didn’t actually see any wildebeest births.  However, we did see a brand spanking newborn that was still wobbly, but that’s as close as we got.  Back at camp there was a big stork in our tree and a few dik-diks running around.



Our afternoon game drive north of Lake Masek was more scenic than animal-intensive (although there were zebras and wildebeest everywhere).  There was a humorous group of wildebeest running around in circles though, which made us all laugh.  And we came across a freshly dead zebra who likely drank the fluoride-concentrated water from the lake (not to be too detailed, but the blood had not yet congealed, so his death was pretty recent).  This area was very marshy, green and lush.  Beautiful.   We spotted a big bird which we thought was an eagle, but it was actually a bateleur (our guide double checked his book).








It’s the official last day of our safari and we headed to the Seronera Airstrip in the South Central Serengeti for our flight to Arusha, which then continued on to Zanzibar.  We were the first to arrive for our flight and were several hours early.  Since they’re all tiny propeller planes, we were advised they often take off early if all the passengers are there.  The waiting area consisted of a nice wooden shack and the airstrip was literally a dirt field with a lone orange windsock blowing!   



This was the epitome of the po-dunky airport you see in the movies!  I was very apprehensive for this flight, to say the least!  And it didn’t help matters when an Emergency Doctor’s plane arrived to take away a sick tourist.  Sigh.  At least our trip would be an hour tops.   


We had 2 pilots, 7 passengers, 14 total seats (including the pilot seats) and flew first to Lake Maynara to pick up more passengers (guess it wasn’t a “direct” flight, ha ha).  When I wasn’t squeezing Matt or Shaun from fear, the views from the plane were amazing.  It was also pretty cool to see all the flight controls, which showed that we flew at roughly 11,000 feet.   


Shaun and Kate smiling, but actually terrified.

Meanwhile, Molly's having a blast.



The airstrip at Lake Maynara took off from a mountain, so we were instantly several thousand feet in the air – it was pretty surreal.  In Arusha we disembarked and devoured our packed lunch before getting back on the plane for Zanzibar. We had only 1 pilot this time (we tried not to think about what would happen if he got sick or something!)  We had a full flight, so a tourist got to sit in the cockpit’s co-pilot seat (should’ve acted quicker Molly!)  From Arusha to Zanzibar was approximately 1.5 hours and we flew mostly over rural countryside.  When we hit the ocean though, the views of the turquoise water below were marvelous.  I could even see dolphins!  It was definitely much hotter and muggier here.



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