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Song of the day; Take me to the River by Talking Heads.
Last night had been surprisingly peaceful at the camp- the mammals were all fairly quiet and even the insects went silent, all together, at about 11 pm. Perfect for enabling old gits to have their beauty sleep. After breakfast of fruit, cereal and eggs anyway you like, we headed off with Cornelius at about 8 o'clock.
Just riding over the Serengeti with nothing 'special' to see was awesome! So vast, you could see for 10's of miles in any direction without having sight of another vehicle/anyone, for hours on end - just thousands of grazing animals, seemingly relaxed but always alert. A new animal we spotted was the mongoose - very like meerkats as they bounced along, standing erect occasionally to check out the surrounding countryside. Countryside that was constantly changing from lush pasture with long grass through to heavily wooded areas beside creeks - the favoured haunts of families elephants and giraffes. Cornelius would explain how to identify the sex of an elephant or the age of a giraffe or lion. He'd been a teacher originally but had been leading safari's for 23 years and was extremely knowledgeable and interesting - we felt very privileged to have him lead us.
We found shade under a tree and Cornelius convinced us that this was a safe place for our picnic lunch - out came the table, tablecloth, plates and utensils and finally a tasty lunch of pasties, potato salad and 3 bean salad. Unfortunately before we could enjoy desert the wildebeest decided, (rather inconsiderably I thought given the excellent quality of the meal to that point), to make another crossing - all 50/60 thousand of them! They covered the area around the river in a dense black moving mass. We quickly packed and made our way to a vantage point - this was crossing point 2. Cornelius explained, there are 7 in total along the Mara, yesterday having been at crossing point 3. Thousands crossed, bellowing loudly, thundering past the Land Cruiser, whilst dozens perished - including the one that swam into the mouth of a croc waiting expectantly just downriver from us.
Some crossed only to find their offspring/ parents hadn't yet made it and returned back to seek them out! One got it's legs stuck on rocks mid way across and despite kicking and screaming, couldn't manage to release itself, rather tearing it's legs - very tempting for the watching vultures who wouldn't have a long wait for a tasty fresh meal.
Maybe a fifth of those waiting crossed before the numbers braving it petered out and they headed off to eat - crossing would have to wait another day.
We returned to camp for head-on collisions, showers and an excellent supper including carrot and ginger soup that Baboo insisted adding a spoon of sherry to - yummy! Although 70+ miles from the nearest village / store we were constantly amazed at the variety and quality of our meals. The roads, by the way were tracks - we didn't touch tarmac for the 5 days in the Serengeti. Another interesting fact (get on with it - Ed) only rangers, tour guides and tourists are allowed in the 1000's of square miles of the Serengeti National Park.
Old gits retire to bed tired but happy!
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