We started today early with Dad watching the sunrise from our tent at Kiota Camp. We grabbed breakfast to-go and headed out with Martin to explore the Serengeti to see what wonders we could find.
As we are driving away from camp we immediately start seeing animals; a lone hyena walking in the grass, a hartebeest (good looking cousin of the wildebeest) standing on a hill assessing the dangers of the plains and a lone hippopotamus walking in the field. You know it’s early when you see the hippos on the ground and not in the water. They come out at night and graze. During the day they are lazing in the mud pools to stay cool. Hippos are one of the reasons it’s very dangerous to go out at night in the Serengeti.
We see Fischer’s lovebirds scouring for food on the ground. Apparently, it is pretty rare to see this many of them at once and up close.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned that Tanzania is a bird watcher’s paradise. Martin points out all the birds throughout the day but I can barely keep up! They are all exotic and incredible to see though…Lilac Breasted Rollers, Secretary birds, and my favorite Green Bee Eaters.
We are driving along and see a lone female lion off in the trees. We don’t have a great view of her so we move on a little bit down the road. There we see the most majestic male lion. He definitely knows she is close by as he puts his nose in the air and sniffs. It almost looks like he is smelling the flowers. He walks fearlessly towards our safari truck and passes right in front of us. Then he went to an Acacia tree (with very large spines) and gave himself a good back scratch before lying down.
He seems pretty confident that his lady will come around. I could sit and watch this big guy all day but we move on and our timing couldn’t have been better.
We drive along the dusty roads in the central Serengeti. The terrain is a little less prairie like here with more trees and little streams emptying into small pools of water. We see a giraffe crossing the road and it is just surreal to watch him gracefully glide to the other side.
Moving on down the road we found another large pride of lions. There were probably 16-20 lions of all ages resting in the trees. I have to laugh because they really are so similar to our cats at home…a little bit of action and a whole lot of sleeping!
We continue down the road for just a couple of minutes and find a large herd of zebras crossing back and forth across the road. To our left is water, to our right, grassy plains. One lone zebra is making a lot of noise. He is braying and very nervous. The other zebras seem unsure of what to do. They cross back and forth but they really want to get a drink of water. However, the town cryer is making them skittish. We have seen a fair amount of zebras at this point and this group’s behavior seems out of the ordinary. I look back behind us with my telephoto lens to see what the anxious zebra is braying about and I see her….a lone lioness stalking in the grass. My heart races! I set up my camera to point where the zebras are entering the water and put the mode ready for action.
Suddenly there is a rush of zebras leaving the water and the lioness charges. A young zebra zags at the right time and narrowly misses certain death. The lioness is left breathless and hungry.
This reminds me that my dad has always talked about how nature doesn’t seem fair…and this is where we get into our spiritual debates. “Why” he asks, “does the lion have to kill the impala in front of its young so the lion’s young can eat?” Life is definitely hard on the Serengeti. I think we both appreciate this more now. It’s pretty easy for the zebra and the impala to eat but the big cats work hard for their meals. They fail more than they win. Later after our trip was done we would both be watching Big Cat Tales on Animal Planet to hear their Maasai guide Jackson Looseyia talk about the plight of the big cats. He said it beautifully…”the impala gives its life for their life”. Say what you will, it doesn’t get much more Christ like than that.
We drove what felt like forever on this second day on the Serengeti. We left the trees and headed back out on the golden plains. I was convinced that Martin was driving us to the end of the earth to drop us off….probably because dad was asking so many questions!
It was hot and dusty and I was getting a little cranky. We stopped for a quick lunch under the only tree we had seen in miles. We were really in the middle of nowhere in this vast golden grass. Every so often we would see a lone ostrich and it would remind me of the lone zombie walking in the field in the trailer to The Walking Dead. My goodness, where were we going?! Suddenly, Martin stopped and there were two cheetahs. They were so close I could hear them breathing. Tears welled up in my eyes at these magnificent creatures sitting in the grass. Our incredible guide had done it again! It was as if they had a pre-arranged date with us.
On the road back to Kiota Camp we saw a few safari vehicles off to a road on the right. We took a quick detour down there and saw about 10 lions taking a break on the road. I could’ve reached out my window and touched one they were so close.
After a long drive back, I was so excited to get back to Kiota Camp, take a shower, drink a beer and compare notes with our new friends. The couple from California had been able to see a zebra being born. What a miracle!
I have to say Dad and I were both physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted after this long safari day. It is really overwhelming to see the majesty of this place and these animals when every turn reveals more and more beauty.
I believe it was John Muir that said, “In every walk in with nature, one receives far more than they seek.” Today was full of abundance….a day I won’t soon forget.