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| Rain is Coming on the Serengeti! |
I've been writing as we go along but since we've had very little Internet connection for nearly 2 weeks I'm going to try to catch up with blog reports - probably one a day for several days...
It rained heavily all night - much needed as this area has been in significant drought for several months. We luxuriated with a bit of a sleep-in and didn't leave the Kitela until 8:30. Nice... We filled the gas tanks and tires because we would be in the Serengeti for 4 days. Up the mountain and at 7500' we were rewarded with a view down into the Ngorngoro Crater. No time for a visit now, we'll stop on our return.
By noon we were at the Oldupai Gorge (spelled and pronounced "Olduvai" outside of Tanzania), the Cradle of Mankind where the Leakey's discovered the oldest human remains and footprints of the first humanoids to walk upright. We enjoyed the museum then were able to drive into the gorge to see the actual place the remains were excavated. Brother-in-law Dave, Rand and our trip leader David held a post graduate level discussion about early humanity that left the rest of us in the dust. We are continuously amazed by the depth of knowledge David has on a myriad of subjects - from early anthropology to African wildlife to world politics. Oh, yeah, Dave and Rand are impressive too.
From there we headed for the Serengeti. First we traveled through the Serengeti Conservation Area, a buffer area around the park where the Masai, their livestock and the wild animals live in harmony. We saw hundreds of Thompson Gazelle and zebra as well as a number of giraffes and elephants even before we entered the park boundaries which are unfenced. We didn't think it could get better than that, but again we were wrong. Within a few miles we encountered the Great Migration of the wildebeest and zebras. Historically the migration was predictable and would not have been here for another month or two, but climate change is impacting the Serengeti also. Fortunately, it brought the migration early this year and we are right in the middle of it!
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Dining Tent
You didn't really think we'd show us in the shower, did you? |
We arrived at our private tented camp later than expected because we stopped frequently to observe the animals. We're right in the middle of the park with our own walk-in sleeping tents, a dining tent and similar facilities for the kitchen and camp staff. Sounds rustic, but it's not. Our tent is outfitted with camp beds - complete with linens, blankets, pillows and en suite facilities (shower and flush toilets). The latter two keep us from having to leave the tent in the night when animals are nearby. More about that later...
Cats, Cats and more Cats 11/10/2012
We were up early this morning for a game drive. We had a hearty breakfast and were in the vehicles at 7:00 in search of wildlife. In addition to a plethora of other animals, we'd seen elephant, lion, and leopard (3 of the big 5) before lunch. By evening we'd added the Cape Buffalo. Only the rhino eluded us, which is not surprising as there are only 28 in a park the size of 6400 sq miles. We saw more than a dozen lions, several cheetahs, and three leopards this day! I wonder if our guides are packing in the viewing because we don't know how the weather will be the next few days. So far we've had rain only at night. If it rains much more or during the day we won't be able to go to some areas of the park due to mud and road closures.
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| You'll recognize Rand taking photos |
Our days are packed - up at dawn, quick face wash, breakfast and into the Land Rovers for a game drive. We scout for animals until 1:00 when we return for lunch and 2 hours of down time before a late afternoon game drive. We return to the camp at 6:30 and clean up for dinner. We're asleep by 9:00 - exhausted!
About the showers - Twenty liters of warm water are delivered to our tents and hoisted by pulley above the back of our tents. We take turns slipping into the private shower portion of the tent, turning the lever and wetting down with warm water and quickly turning the water off. We soap up, shampoo and turn the water back on until it runs out. When one of us is done the camp staff refills the bucket for the second shower. Twenty liters lasts a surprisingly long time and is very refreshing after a day on dusty roads with open windows and top.
Saturday evening our group met with our friends in the other group on the Serengeti for sundowners. We had a glorious reunion - comparing sightings and experiences.
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