2016-08-24: Masai Mara to Serengeti
We got in the car immediately, and started to drive to the border between Kenya and Tanzania. As we drove down the bumpy road, we saw a group of 11 giraffes. They seemed like they were saying good-bye.
As we drove, I looked at the two clay busts of a seemingly rich man and a women, they were decorated with real beads, and silver paint. I got them as a present from the receptionist when we left the Mara River Camp.
After arriving at the border from Kenya and Tanzania, we paid $300 in all to get our Visas. We switched cars, and said good-bye to our old guide, Anthony, and said hello to our new guide, Armani.
We entered Tanzania, and realized how different the cities were. This city was more lively. If you drove through the town, you would hear at least 3 radio stations blaring from shops. We could see markets and town locals.
As we drove, the soil, plants, animals, and weather changed. The soil looked less rich. There were lots of drought resistant plants. The animals changed from sheep and cattle to wildebeest and zebras. The climate became hotter, drier, and sunnier.
We stopped to have lunch on an empty piece of land. People gathered to watch us. Armani said that they were thinking that we wanted to buy the land. We finished our lunch, and had some leftover uneaten food. We walked up to the children that were watching us, and gave them the snacks. When we left, Armani said that for an African child, shaking hands with a white person, was a once in a lifetime experience. They may tell that story for the rest of their life.
We drove to our hotel, and I was surprised at how remote it was. It had electricity from 5 am to 8 am, and 5 to 11 pm, no wifi. Warm water is available in the morning, and from 6 pm till 5 am. The rooms here too, were tent rooms.
After settling in and taking a nap. We had a dinner at the hotel restaurant. When we were eating, we heard that not far from our tents, a lion had killed a zebra – and ate it. When we walked back, we were escorted by two night guards armed with bows and arrows. One leading the way, and one watching our backs. They stayed patrolling the grounds all night long. We knew we were now amongst the open wild.
2016-08-25: Serengeti
The creature crouched down, so low, that I barely see it through the tall grass. The impressive animal slowly, but steadily crawled toward its unsuspecting prey. As it approached the target, some slowly sensed danger, but others, quietly enjoyed the lush grass near the bank. All of a sudden it jumped out, and chased a gazelle away from the group. Then the lion was getting further away. But out of seemingly nowhere a companion jumped down, and both lions, with a new burst of zealous energy brought a gazelle down. They dragged it over the hill in seconds. The other gazelle seemed to be happy that now the lions were full. They all went back to tranquilly eating.
A while ago, we stopped in the middle of a buffalo herd. We found a male on the fringe of the herd by itself. We drove down the road to get closer. We sat there for a minute in a stand-off. It cautiously looked at us. Then it picked up speed, and before we knew it we were eye to eye with a charging bull. For a second, I felt as if I would awake in a hospital bed with a horn through my chest. Luckily, Armani, had quick reflexes and drove away. The buffalo must have had some experience with poachers and recognized the Jeep as a threat.
We also had seen a group of lions eating a buffalo! We looked at the carcass from the wrong side, and it made me think that hardly anything was eaten at all. I was surprised that just a small portion of the upper jaw could feed almost 7 lions. Concluding that they eat every three days. We drove around the carcass to the other side. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. One of the hind legs was fully eaten, the other half eaten. the half digested grass from the stomachs were strewn across the ground. The guts were hollowed out, leaving a literal pile of skin and bones. We were looking at the lions and I spotted a hyena! It was much less uglier than I thought, and looked much more healthier. It quietly passed the first group of lions under a tree without being noticed, and thinking it had successfully gotten past everyone, started toward the dead animal, but a nearby female noticed the hyena. She just needed to stand up to scare it away. In a minute, the hyena was out of sight.
Overall today we had seen 20 lions, and 4 Leopards. Leaving a total of 23 cats today. When we were on our way out, we were crossing a bridge, and saw a Leopard eating a Topi. The Topi was so heavy that the Leopard couldn’t bring it up the tree, and had to eat what it could, for tonight, hyenas will be able to fight the Leopard away.
Also, this night when we were walking back to our camp, I spotted a bat about the size of my fist, and had big ears, and when we were arriving at our tent, we saw a white and black toad, that was about the size of my palm. This was the true wilderness.
2016-08-26: Serengeti
The trio slowly approached the small and unaware group. Two lagged behind, letting one go by to execute the first part of the plan. The creature crawled toward the prey, but proved to be unsuccessful. For the gazelles sensed danger, and ran. Not discouraged, the lion changed the plan to another target that was nearby the river. The others learned the new plan too. According to our driver, lions can flick their ears to communicate with the other lions. No other animal can hear this noise. They slowly crawled over near the river. Then, one by one, each jumped on the struggling gazelle and finally brought it down. The final lion pounced with a growl. The three pregnant lions fought over each other for the small Gazelle, also known as a Cheetah Chip.
During this Safari, we also saw two Cheetah brothers. They looked beautiful with their spotted skin and tear marks used to collect moisture for water.
Finally, we also found a Leopard on a tree. It was lying down on the tree, and in my opinion seemed to be full, for its belly was rounded and was sagging off the branch.
We exited the Serengeti, knowing that we had only seen a half of the true magnificence of the Park.
We drove to an archaeological site, that had layers of the early known human activity. It was cool to see all sorts of fossils of weird looking animals. There was also a clay cast of the “first” footsteps by humans.
