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As I write this we are a little ahead on our journey. We are currently in the middle of the Indian ocean on a tiny little wooden boat, those who know me best will probably wonder how on earth I find myself in such a personally petrifying situation, but you'll have to wait for that part. If we don't make it and somehow my iPhone does then tell our family and friends we love them all, if we do make it then I'll keep this in for posterities sake, plus it shows how stupid and irrational I am!
Saturday 11th September
We woke up early again to a sweat filled tent, it had been such a sticky and humid night that despite the fear of spiders and insects I had slept on top of my sleeping bag. TJ being petrified of any sort of bug was safely zipped up to the neck, tissue still poking out of her ears. We unzipped the tent to a blindingly hot morning and immediately washed the night away with our last shower for three days. I was proud of TJ her first nights camping and she had survived, she was proud of herself too, although we knew it was the calm before the storm. A fenced off lovely garden plot with bar, tv and proper toilets and showers compared to an open site with pit toilets, no showers with all the animals free to roam amongst us as we sleep.. We had breakfast while Rama broke the tent down and we were soon off on the road again heading towards the Serengeti.
The route was easy going at first as the roads were tarmaced , it wasn't long before we started to climb further uphill until we eventually reached the entrance to the Ngorongoro conservation area. Here we had to stop for Tom to register us in, we would be passing around the craters edge, descending down not today but on the return journey and the last part of our safari. As we passed through the gate the road became a dirt track and were again receiving the infamous 'free African massage'. Ascending the crater wall the clouds closed in and we were soon in a misty fog that hugged the now rainforest like vegetation. The higher we got the thicker the fog and the bigger and more mysterious the trees became, feeling more like a scene out of Jurassic Park than a safari on the plains of the Serengeti. Eventually the fog broke but we were unable to see into the crater, the low cloud hiding what we would later discover. We started to come back down and before us we could see the flat golden plains created by the now extinct volcano that we had just descended. The journey was again long and bumpy, we split the journey up with a detour to the Olduvai Gorge, the birthplace of man. Named after the plants that the Masai use to build there fences with, this was the area where the oldest signs of man have been found. It is believed that this was where we evolved to walking on two legs and where we started to migrate around the globe. The gorge wasn't that impressive but we heard an interesting talk and left contemplating the evolution if man.
After another couple of hours driving on bumpy roads we reached our camp. Situated at the heart of the Serengeti in a place called Seronera, the camp was simply a clearing for tents to be pitched, with a building for the pit toilets and huts for cooking and eating in. No fences or guards were in the camp and, as Tom informed us, meant that Hyenas were frequent visitors and even the occasional Lion! This didn't help our resolve as we chose a suitable area to camp, as Tom and Rama emptied the car TJ and I set about constructing our tent, which we did a remarkably good job at. As darkness was falling we cleverly got ready for bed, knowing that nightly bathroom stops would be awkward and frightening... It's amazing what the imagination does when fuelled with the possibilities of stalking Lions! Confirmation also came with the condition of the toilets, absolutely vile is an understatement for the state and smell of the pit loos, the inability of people to aim was extraordinary to say the least, you can imagine what we had to hover over! Darkness fell and with it came another dinner under kerosine light, with no electricity to speak of it meant conserving the batteries in all the equipment you come to rely on. As the nightly noises of the Serengeti began the temeperature dropped rapidly. Despite this we had a pleasant dinner in the company of Tom and retired early in preparation of a whole days safari, somewhat worried at what events the night would bring.
Sunday 12th September
We woke after a fitful sleep, dreams as well as imagination had gone a little wild, this was not helped by the fact that Hyenas had indeed visited during the night. TJ was up half the night, at points shaking me to receive a reassuring word that everything was ok, as usual I was dead to the world. It had been incredibly cold too, we were much higher that we were in Manyara but the temperature difference was colossal, even I was tightly wrapped up in my sleeping bag, TJ wore several layers.
It hadn't been a great night and the start wasn't the best as we ventured out for our first game drive in the Serengeti, we drove for an hour or so and didn't really spot anything special. One thing we did notice was the complete lack of Wildebeest, due to the migration they were north where we had seen them in the Masai Mara. It was still very odd to see vast plains devoid of the mass of cattle that would normal be present, instead odd herds of Zebra, Gazelle and Redbeest could be seen grazing. The landscape differed to the rolling hills of the Masai Mara, here the plains were flat and vast, broken up with the occasional 'Kojpe', or small outcrop of ancient granite, where lions and cheetahs were known to accommodate.
As our hunt continued we were buoyed by a large collection of safari vehicles, all milling around each other. As we neared we soon saw the reason for the commotion, there walking alongside our truck was a Lioness with her two week old cubs, four in number, they were playing as they were walking, scrabbling and pouncing over and on each other. It was a special moment for us both made even more by the sight of what they were heading for, in the distance we could see a huge pride of Lions, young and old. The reason for the huge number of vehicles, we waited patiently for our turn to witness them close up and we weren't disappointed, twenty Lions in all, by far our biggest pride and we were treated to see the cubs feeding from their mother, playing, and interacting with the other family members. It was an astounding sight and wonderful to witness such love and devotion, at points the mother growled and chastised some of the adolescents for being to rough with her cubs, just as you would see in humans. As we left we both felt very privileged to have seen such wonder and we both unaware that this was the first of many rare sightings.
As we left the family we must have ventured half a kilometre from them and again there was a a group of stationary vans. As we pulled up alongside them, Tom's binoculars (that he was more than happy to lend us) revealed another Lioness hiding in the tall grass. Tom's theory was she could have been from a different pride unwilling to start a fight with the one nearby, hence the reason she was keeping low and repeatedly checking in the direction we had just come from. As we stayed and watched though it became apparent that we were a little out with our guess, amazingly through the binoculars I spotted something moving slightly in the foreground. As the lioness kept checking and creeping closer we saw that infact she was stalking something, we were witnessing a hunt! Before we could talk about it at length the Lioness pounced, up from the yellow grass sprang an Impala. Quick as a flash the antelope was off perused for a moment by the Lioness, it was obvious from the get go who was the quicker as the Impala reached a safe distance, eyes wide in fear. Then it stopped and turned to eyeball the failed Lioness as if to stand in triumph at it's escape, the Lioness unhappily returned to her pride, the same one that we mistakingly thought she was trying to avoid!
The morning was drawing to a close and we were heading back to our tent; just when we thought it couldn't get any better Tom got wind of something and headed in the opposite direction to our camp. As we approached another huge number of parked up tour van, binoculars all pointed in the same direction, Tom shoulder Leopard but we were both too late to see it descend a distant tree. We waited patiently exchanging the binoculars for any hint of a sign of the elusive creature, but neither of us could see anything, news among the onlookers was that the leopard was crouched low behind a collection of bushes. We carried on waiting hoping for a glimpse and Tom reassured us that our patience would be rewarded, indeed it was after about an hour a slow but striking Leopard crept back towards it's tree. From the our distance it was hard to gauge it's size but as it reached the tree and started to climb we could see the massive cat clearly, slightly smaller than a lion it seemed more compact and powerful with similar colourings to the cheetah, it was an awesome sight. It rested momentarily on a branch as I snapped away with the camera only it's silhouette could be seen. It soon disappeared up into the canopy of the tree and we returned to camp much later and much happier than we ever could have thought.
After a late lunch we were back out amongst the never ending plains. We started with another rare sighting of Leopard, this time only moments from out camp. Unfortunately it was too far away, even to see it clearly with the binoculars, we could just make out it lying in a branch tail swaying underneath, how Tom spotted it in the first place was remarkable. The afternoon didn't bring any where near as much excitement as the morning had but as usual we were kept enthralled by Tom's vast knowledge and expertise on not only all the animals and birds but vegetation too. We headed out to a huge Hippo pool where hundreds of hippos were bathing in the afternoon sun. All appearing to yawn when in fact they were displays of warnings and aggression. We headed back to base after a long day just in time to catch the same pride of Lions waking from their afternoon naps.
It had been a wonderful day and we were greeted by a much warmer evening and the promise of a better nights sleep. At dinner we chatted at length with Tom discussing, among many, which animals were likely to visit us during the night. As if on cue a chorus noise could be heard in the depth of the darkness around us, we ventured back to our tent both of us anxious over what the night would bring.
Mark & Tejal x
- comments
Dad Thought you were a good Catholic - whats all this about evolution?? Sounds like you are having an amazing time of it and Tom sounds like a real character - good to know you are in experienced hands. Tell TJ she should be safe at night as the Lions always eats the men first and keep the women for desert!!!
Anjana What a wonderful experiences u both had!!!! Love u both Anjanamummy