Quintessential Serengeti

Sixth in a series

The road to the Central Serengeti is a long dusty trek in the dry season. Many people bypass this part of the trip and opt to fly in to camp but I would not recommend this the first time you go on safari. You are missing the essence of the Serengeti by taking this shortcut in my opinion. I’m not sure I would have appreciated the vastness, the desolation, the ruggedness, the magnificence of this creation. Golden grass plains extend out as far as the eye can see. I feel like I’m in the middle of a golden sea. At 5700 square miles, it’s no wonder I feel like I’m lost in this ocean.

Almost as soon as we passed through the entrance to Serengeti National Park we found a grassy marsh area where we saw a large pride of lions laying in wait. I would imagine that this is the coolest place in the Serengeti right now. Water is sparse but they manage to find what’s left of the creeks. This is the only place I have seen anything green in hours.

It’s amazing to see the lions here. They are much closer than what we saw in Tarangire. They are lean. They are waiting. They are watchful. This is no time to get a sip of water if you are a nearby impala.

We finally move on after watching the pride for quite awhile. Martin is listening to the radio and quickly darts our vehicle off to a single nearby tree. We are amazed to drive up and see a fat leopard soundly sleeping on a branch above, her belly hanging over the branch. Several branches above are the remains of the impala.

We drive further into the Serengeti towards our camp. Off in the distance we see a herd of elephants marching across the plains. I have a flashback to the Disney movie Jungle Book with the patriarch Colonel Hathi marching his herd across the landscape. It is truly surreal to be here in this incredible place.

After an extremely long, dusty, and exhilarating day, we arrived to Kiota Camp, our tent camp for the next two nights. We were greeted with warm wet washcloths and cold Kilimanjaro beer. I promise you there is no better way to end the day on the quintessential Serengeti.