We didn't spend more than a couple of hours passing through, but enjoyed the drive. The road climbed up to the top of a beautiful overlook of the conservation area.
Off to the left is the Ngorongoro Crater, which we will descend into in a few days. During the first half hour of driving, we passed through large open fields with hills in the distance and many Maasai keeping watch over their livestock.
The Maasai tribe are not allowed to live, hunt, or herd cattle in the national parks, but they are allowed in the conservation area. They live in small groups, with houses inside a protective wall to keep unwanted animals out and the livestock from wandering off (in the evenings).
Just past the hills we saw a herd of wildebeest. The wildebeest were migrating south from Kenya.
One of the things that is fascinating about the wildebeest is the way they run. It's almost like a moose, but even more ungraceful (if you can imagine that). They will stand near the edge of the road and watch you come, and then at the very last second they panic and run with an awkward sideways gait away from you.
Wildebeests are also known as "gnus" and although it is classified as a large antelope, to me it looks like a strange mix between a horse, moose, and buffalo.
In this picture, you would think at first glance these two wildebeest are fighting, but the one on the left was not moving and the one on the right was running away from our Land Rover and almost ran into the one on the left.
Wildebeest, antelope, and zebra hang out in the same open fields. Zebra seem to be a little more intelligent than the wildebeest though. They move out of the way much sooner and keep an eye on things, looking out for predators.
One interesting tidbit about the zebra is that, like a polar bear, underneath the hair, their skin is black.
This one let us know plainly enough that he had no interest in us. LOL
These are two young gazelles. They have ringed horns similar to the impala, but unlike them, they tend to have white bellies and their horns are not as curved. The two main types of gazelle's we saw were the Grant's Gazelle and the Thomson's Gazelle. The ones below are the Thomson's Gazelles, because they sport a black band across their mid section.
These are two young gazelles play fighting with each other. Even though they have horns, they are not really good protection against the predators in the area, such as the cheetah, lion, and hyena. They need to rely on their speed and leaping ability to avoid being caught. I was hoping we'd see a kill between a cheetah and antelope, but that was not to be on this trip.
After driving through this park, we arrived at the gates of Serengeti - my favorite park on this 9 day safari. Serengeti comes from the Maasai word "serengit", which translates to "endless plains" - very appropriate, as this park is one vast grassland as far as the eye can see with a few trees and rocks sprinkled around.
The first part of the drive was similar to before, with hundreds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles grazing together. (I love this picture, because the "running" wildebeest on the right looks like he's either dancing or ready to fall.) It comes as no surprise that they are known as "clowns of the Savannah".
Here are more gazelles, but I think these are the Grant's Gazelles because they don't have the black "waistband". Not only do these guys have a lot of speed, but they also have a great sense of smell and sight compared to other animals, which gives them an advantage and makes it difficult for a predator to sneak up on them.
About 10 minutes after entering the park gates, we made it to their equivalent of the "Visitor's Center". While waiting for Ezzie to register us and obtain our permits, we hiked up a short trail, which had great views of the park.
Right before arriving at the Visitor Center, we had passed an area where a lion pride resides (according to our excited tour guide), so I wasn't exactly comfortable even on that short hike without having any type of weapon to use in the event we ran into one. Lukasz was busy taking pictures of the view and lizards, and didn't seem concerned. :-)
When we got down, Ezzie had the permit ready and was chatting with Joseph when he heard Lukasz say "jambo" to a local guide, which is a polite way to say "Hi, how are you?" and is one of the Swahili words we learned back on Kilimanjaro. We use that saying more often than "asanti" (which means "thank you"). Ezzie told Lukasz to be careful when saying "jambo", because it sounds very much like "jamba" (which means "fart"). As soon as I heard that I knew we were in trouble. LOL As can be expected, he had to try it out, saying "jamba sana" to anyone who would listen - including people working at the Visitor's Center. It means "fart a lot", so yes, I was a little bit embarrassed...
After that brief distraction, we got back in the jeep and head toward camp, which was on the other side of the park. It was almost dinner time, and per park rules we weren't supposed to drive through the park after 7 pm.
On the way, we spotted a lioness sleeping in the grass and pulled over for a few minutes.
After another 15 minutes or so, we saw another lion hanging out on a rock. Ezzie told us the rocks were great places to spot lion.
As neat as that was to see, when we pulled in to our campsite shortly thereafter, Lukasz and I couldn't believe our eyes! There were giraffes and elephants right in our camp area to greet us!!
Since the car was still having some issues, Ezzie took the Land Rover to a local mechanic to see what could be done. The last thing we wanted was to shut off the engine to take pictures by a lion and have to get out and push it in order to start it again. It was hard enough to do without scary 4-legged animals around. No thank you!
We helped set up our blue tent, and while Lukasz was inside unpacking and getting his sleeping bag out, I was outside watching a large male baboon come out to see what was in the nearby garbage.
The guides would come out trying to shoo him away, but he'd come right back undeterred...
After showing Lukasz what he almost ran into when he left the tent, I also let him know that we needed to be cautious and not leave our tent at night - even to use the bathroom - because lions, hyenas, and elephants frequent the camp and can come right next to the tents. (I had read a number of stories before coming on the trip about the camps and talked to Chip, who I consider an expert on such things.) Our guide agreed, and said if you had to go to the bathroom, to make sure and check for animals before leaving the tent, and to pee right next to the tent. Lukasz pees in a rubber bladder inside the tent at night, so this was mainly for me. But even after the guide talked to us, Lukasz wanted to argue at my concerns, saying it was a tourist campsite and was very safe. He said that animals didn't go in the tents or attack people while leaving their tent to pee, because otherwise there wouldn't be as many people going on these types of safaris. Either way, I decided to take my hiking poles (which I nicknamed "baboon sticks") with me in the tent and anywhere I walked...just in case.
These stacked skulls in front of the dining area are from Cape buffalo. The irony of this is that unbeknownst to us, we would actually have a kill at the edge of our camp, and a fresh Cape buffalo skull to add to this collection. But I'll leave that story for later...
Joseph was cooking dinner, so Lukasz and I met the other 2 small groups who would be camping with us that night. There were actually two guys from the US, and they told us about the cheetah they saw. I was bummed that we missed it, because we may not see another one. Oh well... When the food was ready, we went inside the dining area, which had chicken wire and metal bars on the sides above the stone section, and doors with locks to keep the animals out.
As usual, Joseph did not disappoint!! The food looked and smelled so good that I was happy to be feeling a little bit better and could eat much more than the previous 2 days. I admit to being afraid when I went to sleep, but other than hearing a few hyenas and what I assume were baboons by the garbage, it was a peaceful night and we were both able to get some sleep.
The next morning, we had breakfast and set off in the Land Rover in search of more animals. Ezzie assured us that the vehicle would start up without a hitch, but they were flying in a spare battery that he'd pick up at the airport inside the park just to be safe.
I had no idea what we'd see, but particularly wanted to see the Cape buffalo, more lions, a cheetah, and a leopard. Our guide warned us that we may not see them all, but he'd do the best he could to help spot them.
Shortly after leaving camp, we were greeted with the stench of the dead hippo laying sideways in a small pool of water near our campsite. Disgusting!! But luckily the smell went away after a minute of driving, and a few minutes later, we forgot about the hippo and saw a small herd of topi - yet another type of antelope that look like the hartebeest.
All of the topi - male and female - have ringed horns like many of the other antelope, and are medium in size (smaller than the wildebeest) with a narrow face like the hartebeest.
Their distinguishing features are the black patches on their thighs, legs, and face.
Just past the topi, we saw more giraffes.
I don't know why this giraffe is bending over to sniff the other one's rear end. I'm not really sure I want to know...
It was just after sunrise and this was a neat picture with the giraffe shadowed by the sun.
And what would a morning be like without an ostrich sticking its butt in the air while eating breakfast?
This is a female. Like many species, the female ostriches are brown, while the males are bold (black and white in this case). Ostriches may have tiny heads, but they have larger eyes than any other land mammal - 2 inches in diameter!!!
After watching the ostrich eat, we crossed a plain and saw hartebeest, cape buffalo, and zebras a good ways off in the distance. (I needed to use the binoculars to really see them well, which is why the picture is fuzzy.)
A bit closer to us was a Secretary Bird. These were named this way because they look like secretaries wearing white shirts and black pants/skirts. An interesting fact about them is that they walk up to 20 miles a day, and are the only bird of prey that walks more than it flies.
There were lots of mounds spread out on the plains, and animals liked to stand on them and model. That was just fine with us as it provided us with some great photos!! Here's a hartebeest checking us out.
Hartebeests have longer and more narrow faces than the topi, and they are the fastest runners of the antelope, despite their large size. (They even have aerodynamic horns!!)
We also saw more of the Grant's Gazelle in this area as well.
And looking up in a nearby tree watching us take pictures of the antelope was a Tawny Eagle.
Like all eagles, they have a huge wingspan, but differ from others by the thick feathers on their legs and dark marks on the wings.
We found another large outcropping of rock in the middle of the plains, which seemed an odd place for it (if it arrived there naturally), but we went to check it out. I should point out that I was really happy we had the Land Rover (and Ezzie driving) in this park, because we went through some very large mud puddles and deep muddy tire tracks that any other car would have gotten stuck in! We ended up not having ANY issues with the car dying or getting stuck, but there were some close calls, and Ezzie had to get creative in some places to figure out how to get across the small "lakes". Every time I saw a deep puddle all I could think about was drowning Lukasz' car the week before our trip...
But getting back to the rocks... Sure enough, there were a few lions cooling themselves on the rocks under the trees.
Here, you see the young lion in front on the rock and the male adult lion behind him.
All of a sudden Ezzie called out and we turned around to see what he was looking at. In the tall grass on the other side of the dirt road from the rocks was a lioness coming back from eating (or killing something). It was amazing to watch her move stealthily through the grass.
Above the bones left behind were a few hooded vultures.
When we turned to look back at the lioness, it was odd to see her squatting down for a "number 2". I should mention that any time Lukasz or I had to stop the car and get out to pee (which was often enough over the 9 days we were with our guide), Ezzie would say we were going out to "check the tire pressure". I guess this lioness also wanted to check the tire pressure before crossing in front of our Land Rover to head back to the rocks. :-)
As she made her way toward the rocks, we drove a short ways ahead to meet her by the road. I couldn't believe how close she was!
This was an "I have to close my eyes because there are flies all over them" look - not an "I'm getting hungry again" look!
(This is a close up of her eyes, so you can see all the flies.)
As she approached the vehicle, I rolled up my window while Lukasz leaned out the top to get more photos. I thought the lioness might get annoyed or feel threatened when we moved closer and followed her, and worried that she would try to take a swipe at one of us or jump up onto the vehicle.
Neither Lukasz nor Ezzie were anything but excited, wanting to get as close as they could. I know how beautiful she was and how graceful and strong her movements, but all I could think was... Do they not realize this is a wild animal that could kill us if she wanted without a second thought? I guess worrying about that didn't do any good, but I still felt better once she passed our vehicle and went into the rocks.
We spent about 10 minutes with her, and didn't leave until she was back up on the rocks with the rest of her family.
The flies were on all the lions, but they didn't seem to be bothered by them too much. That amount of flies on my face would drive me crazy!
The lions look so sweet when they are relaxed. It almost makes you want to go up and pet them.
You may have heard of the "big five" when it comes to animals in Africa. The big 5 are the Cape buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino. According to the brochures, we would not see the rhino in Serengeti, but hoped to see the rest of the big 5 in this park. So far, we were off to a good start!!!
As we wound our way around the park, we passed through a large open area filled with wildebeest, antelope, and zebra.
I don't know what Lukasz said to them, but they suddenly turned around to showed him their rear side...
There's always at least one baby in the pack! This was a skinny little thing! Very young!
And then we noticed something that was a light brown color in the grass. We initially thought this was a dead animal until we got a closer look and saw it was a sleeping male lion!
You can see how close the zebra were to the lion. Either they didn't know it was there or they just didn't feel threatened. Regardless, they went about their business grazing while the lion slept...
He did look up once, but lost interest quickly enough and went back to sleep. Too much energy to chase one down. Let the woman do the hunting so I can get back to sleep...
We passed by a long stretch of plains that Ezzie called "cheetah territory". Both times we went by, we saw nothing. Then, on our way to another part of the park while driving around the back side of that plain, Ezzie spotted something that looked like a rock off in the distance and said "cheetah"! I looked. Then I squinted and looked again. It looked just like a rock to me. Then I took the binoculars and looked again. The rock moved! Ezzie was right, it was a cheetah!
I said this probably 20 times on our safari, but Ezzie continued to amaze me. How he managed to spot it so far away...while driving...AND identify it just boggles my mind. (And that's why he's the guide and I'm the lowly tourist.)
We were very excited to see the cheetah, and even more so to realize the next animal we would spot is a leopard. Although I had been looking in the trees for lion and leopard, I would not have seen this if Ezzie hadn't pointed it out. Even when he pointed to the tree, it took awhile to see the animal (and probably would have missed it altogether if it's tail hadn't been hanging lazily down from the tree branch). He said that when you look in the trees, you don't look for the animal itself, but for the "5th leg" (and this time he was referring to the tail instead of another part of the male anatomy).
Lukasz was able to get a better picture with his camera so you can see the spots quite well.
Leopards may not look as fierce as lions or be as large, but they can hunt from the protection of the trees without being seen and kill large animals. They can even take animals up to 3 times their weight that they've killed into the trees with them, so other predators don't steal their food.
We stayed to watch the leopard for a short while, and then took off through another section of the "endless plains". There were a few pumbas scattered around entertaining themselves.
I couldn't help but sing "Hakuna Matata" lyrics from my new favorite movie... The Lion King: "If I was a young warthooooooog! He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal. He could clear the Savannah after every meal..." I'm going to have to rent this movie when I get home...
It felt like we packed an entire day into the morning, so at about 1 pm it was time to head back to camp and have lunch and a short break before taking off to explore the other side of the park. On the way back to camp, we saw a few more unexpected birds. This amazing day just keeps getting better and better!!
This is a Bateleur Eagle showing off his pretty colors for us.
Bateleurs mate for life. They lay one egg at a time, and sit on it for 1 1/2 months until it hatches.
They are also diurnal (a new word to add to my vocabulary, which just means that they are active and hunt during the day as opposed to "nocturnal" which is being active at night).
Also on the way back to camp, we spotted some large Marabou stork.
As soon as we passed by the smelly dead hippo - which not even the most desperate scavengers considered edible food - we knew lunch was right around the corner. This made us both happy since the snacks we brought (and had been munching on while sitting in the vehicle) were starting to run low.
Once we arrived at camp, Lukasz made his way to the kitchen area to share his new Swahili saying with all the cooks and guides who were around. It became a running joke over the next day and most of them thought it was funny. (Of course, he would also say it to people he didn't know who didn't think it was quite so humorous...) Either way, we had a great morning and everyone was in a good mood at camp.
Joseph made an awesome lunch, even though my stomach didn't agree. Just like a couple of days ago when my stomach and intestines rebelled against the packed lunch I eaten then, about 20 minutes after eating this lunch, I could feel my stomach rumbling and knew I'd need that Imodium again... Grrrrrr. (Why didn't Lukasz ever get sick? We ate the same thing!)
As I left our tent to head to the bathroom, I saw this elephant by our guide's tent.
He was also eating his lunch.
About 3:30 pm we left camp again and went toward the lake where there would be live hippos - the opposite direction we had been traveling in. Oddly enough, we ended up spending about 20 minutes just outside of camp being entertained by the wildlife on the dirt road.
First, we saw a White Stork blocking our path.
And a family of ducks were wading through the tall grass.
Then while taking pictures of the stork and ducks, we saw little brown balls moving across the road. Interesting!
Upon closer inspection, we noticed there were large beetles riding on top or pushing these balls. Ezzie was quite knowledgeable about them! The balls are made by the beetles out of elephant dung. Once the balls are made, they roll them away from the dung and into the ground, where it is used as their food.
We probably spent more time watching the dung beetles than any other animal (I'm not sure what that says about us), but they were truly fascinating! At one point, one of the beetles came up against the side of the road and we didn't think he'd be able to push it over. However, it took less than 30 seconds for him to back it up and use momentum to get it over the hill. They are not only persistent, but stronger than they look!!
Just a few feet away from us was a Leopard Tortoise watching us watch the dung beetles.
We finally had to move on once we realized there was a growing line of safari vehicles patiently waiting for us to continue along the road.
Compared to the wide open plains and rocks that filled the other side of the park, this side of the park had a lot of trees and more water. We let the other safari vehicles pass since we were progressing rather slowly and then took a different route than the other jeeps. It didn't take long before we saw a herd of Cape buffalo.
Unlike the cows and bulls that we have in the US, both the male and the female Cape buffalo have horns. The female's horns are closer together than the male's are.
As with many of the other animals, as soon as this one saw us, he turned around to show us his rear end. LOL (Hmmm... Should we be taking this personally?) :-)
Buffalo are the only species of cattle that are wild, and like the buffalo in the US, Cape buffalo are huge! Although they look as harmless as a cow and graze on grass most of the day, they are deadly! Buffalo are very smart animals with good memories. They can remember hunters that have killed members of their herd and will ambush them. They even kill more hunters than lions do!
Females in particular form stronger bonds with other members of the herd, so when one is threatened or attacked, they all fight together to defend it. This makes them particularly dangerous, even for the dreaded king of the lion - their biggest threat (other than humans).
It was very exciting to see another of the "big 5"!
When we pulled around a corner to watch them, we saw several more, including this one walking side by side with a baboon! (Look at how large the baboon is compared to the impala!)
Then more monkeys came out to see what was going on.
Mothers brought out their babies...
And before we knew it, baboons were coming out from behind just about every tree.
We stayed for a few minutes and then continued on. No more than 2 minutes into our drive, we saw another herd of impala. They were all female except for one male who was clearly in charge of the herd.
The male kept them in line and from wandering off.
This is a short video of them crossing the dirt road to graze on the other side. (And Lukasz, I believe the word you're thinking of in the video is "graceful". These are very graceful creatures.) For those of you with a good eye, see if you can spot the warthog!
This side of the Serengeti was full of antelope. We went through another wooded area and saw tiny gazelles relaxing in the shade.
The trees that the lions and leopards climbed, as well as the trees the giraffes ate from are the acacia trees. However, there were also some interesting looking trees that fit with the Dr. Seuss plants we saw in the moorlands of Mount Kilimanjaro.
These are called Euphorbia trees.
It was about this time that I had to use the bathroom. I wasn't feeling good and luckily it wasn't an emergency. My guide suggested I wait about 15 minutes until we pass through this area and get to the picnic area. Why not just get out and pee behind a tree? Because you never know what's hiding in the tall grass...
At first I saw absolutely nothing. Then all of a sudden, up popped the heads of two beautiful cheetah, just hanging out a few feet from our Land Rover.
Many of you already know that cheetah are the fastest land animals in the world, and within 3 seconds, can achieve speeds over 70 mph. Too bad we didn't get to see the cheetah while they were hunting, because that would have been truly amazing!!
Check out the cheetah's long tail. When they run super fast, they use their tail to keep their balance and help them turn.
This cheetah looks like he is crying black tears. It's okay little guy, your brother didn't leave you! He's just hiding in the grass!
Actually, those black "tear-like" markings serve a purpose. Kind of like how football players put black under their eyes, those marks reflect the glare of the sun while they hunt during the day, protecting their eyes. They also help the cheetah aim when chasing their prey and keep from getting distracted.
This one looks hungry. Or did you just finish eating your morning kill? He probably ate a little gazelle, similar to the ones I mention seeing a few photos above this. That's one of their favorite meals, along with other types of small antelope. They chase their prey, bite it in the throat, and then cut off their air supply so they can't breath.
The cheetah is Africa's most endangered cat. We're lucky that we not only got to see one sunning on a rock earlier today, but also got to see these two brothers playing right by our vehicle!!
It looked like they were playing peek-a-boo in the tall grass for awhile.
Then they focused on us. Hey brother, what are those shiny things that click and flash bright lights?
I don't know! Let's go over there and check it out.
You could almost hear them thinking: "I wonder if those people taste as good as antelope. Too bad we just ate..."
All that playing wore them out. One of the cheetahs came onto the warm dirt road to take a nap.
Hey! Are you checking out my spots? Yes, as a matter of fact I am! Did you know that the cheetah's skin has black spots and that the black fur grows out of the black spots in the skin?
The other brother was too tired to walk to the road and just laid down where he was in the grass.
This definitely made it to the top of the list for amazing things we saw today! And now? I really have to find a safe place to "check the tire pressure"... We said goodbye to the sleeping cheetahs and Ezzie headed away to find a safe place to pull off.
As we drove, we saw another Tawny Eagle.
Or maybe it's the same one we saw earlier spying on us.
It took about 20 minutes (and was probably completely out of the way from where we were going) to get to a safe place where there were zebra and antelope grazing and short grass, where I could get out and walk to the back of the Land Rover to do my business. Being sick on a safari isn't much fun, but at least it was not Africa's busy season, so there were no other vehicles around. I was honestly more concerned with the many 4 legged predators we had been seeing so often, and was practically hugging the car while looking around to make sure none were lurking nearby. And as quickly as possible I was happy to be back in the car, and could only hope I wouldn't have to go again until we were back in camp in a couple of hours. Fingers crossed!!
After that little detour, we headed back the direction we came and another super cool surprise was waiting for us!!! Again, very difficult to spot unless you are Ezzie with super vision, but he found a small movement in the grass and we stopped to watch a mother leopard and her cub playing, eating, and sleeping.
That looks like an antelope! What a tasty meal!!
I'd be licking my lips too. Don't worry, we're not interested in your food. As Lukasz says, we have Josephina's cooking to look forward to!!!
Time to clean up.
A few more tidbits of info for you on these magnificent spotted creatures. :-) Leopards are usually larger than cheetahs, though the ones we saw looked much larger than the leopards we saw. (That could be because the cheetah were so close to us.)
Also, whereas cheetahs have solid black spots, leopards have light brown inside the black. I actually think their fur pattern is superior to the cheetah, but both are beautiful!!
The baby cub who had been hiding in the grass finally popped his head up to say hi. :-) Similar to cheetah cubs, leopard cubs are born weak and can easily be captured and eaten by other predators if their mom isn't doing a good job of keeping them safe. It can actually take cubs a few years to be fast and strong enough to be able to protect themselves.
Mother and baby cuddling up with each other. Nap time!
As the sun was starting to go down, we made one more stop on the way back to camp to see the hippos. They look so peaceful and calm, don't they?
Hippos are big boys, weighing between 3000-4000 lbs. This one looks like he's smiling, with his head cuddled up on one of the other hippo's backs.
Their eyes and noses are high on their heads so they can be almost submerged and still see and breath. When you watch them go under and then come up, just like alligators, they only usually show part of their head.
Hippos don't yawn because they are tired, but is a way to show their teeth and tusks as a threat and warning. Although hippos are herbivores, they are also extremely deadly and their jaws are powerful enough to sink a boat (the main reason I didn't take a boat ride down the Nile)!
This may come as a surprise, but at over 3000 deaths/year, they are listed as one of the top 10 most deadly animals. Hippos are easily afraid and become very aggressive when they feel threatened. They will kill you without hesitation, especially if there is a baby nearby or if they are out of the water and you are blocking their path back into the water. So... Give them a wide berth!!
It also appears that they like touch and cuddling. Me too! LOL
The name "hippopotamus" means "river horse" and they spend about 15-16 hours/day in the water to stay cool.
At sunset when it cools down, many hippos leave the water and walk through the plains to graze on grass. It was just before sunset when we took this photo. :-)
When hippos are out of the water during the heat of the day, they secrete a red oily substance. People used to think it was blood. This actually acts as skin moisturizer and sunscreen to pamper their lovely skin and protect it from the sun.
Hippos can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes, but usually they don't stay under water that long.
Speaking of holding his breath... It was interesting to see this guy flip over on his back. When our dogs do this it means they want a belly rub. Who wants to go in and tickle his belly?
Hippos are very social and live in groups called schools (like this one). Seeing them makes me think of the hippo song. "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do..."
The sun was setting and it was time to return to camp for the night.
We held our breaths as we passed the extremely smelly deteriorating hippo (which still had not been touched by any animals and probably wouldn't at this point), and at the entrance to our camp were a few jackals to welcome us back "home". :-)
Jackals look almost like foxes. In fact, they are so tiny that eagles sometimes kill them for food!
Pretty cute! Don't you think?
Wow! What a day! We saw so much more than I had expected or hoped for, and despite being sick, it was truly an amazing day out with Ezzie and Lukasz. Little did I know what was in store for us at camp tonight...
Just as the sun came down we arrived at camp and were in great spirits through dinner. We helped to clean up, used the bathroom, and headed to bed. It was about 8 pm and Lukasz wanted to take a shower, but he commented that the lion rumblings we've been listening to sounded very near. He actually sounded scared to go take a shower by himself, so I stayed outside the tent and waited for him to return, which (when pitch dark out and lions were heard roaring nearby) was not a comfortable thing. When he returned, he asked if he could have one of my hiking poles near his sleeping bag. He had spoken with one of the guides who told him there was a kill at the edge of our camp (about 30-40 feet from our tent). I didn't know this until the next day.
When we were settled in our tent, the lion roars were getting louder (or maybe there were just more lions around), and you could hear the guides making calls to friends about "simba" at camp. I was scared because despite requesting armed guides, not one person in our camp was armed, I had diarrhea (not to mention it was "that time of month"), and we were staying in a thin nylon tent. Lukasz just said "there's nothing we can do", put his earplugs in, and was snoring within 5 minutes.
The lions were not only roaring by camp, but were fighting with each other off and on throughout the night. Sometimes the lions were so close, they would knock into the garbage cans, which were about 8 feet from our tent, and you could occasionally see their shadows through the nylon. I thought for sure they would fall into the tent or get mad and rip it apart. I kept poking at Lukasz to stop his snoring so the lions didn't think there was an animal growling at them from in our tent. I have never been so afraid and stayed awake praying we would make it through the night. I learned the next day that there were 30-40 lions at our camp and the different prides were all fighting with each other for the Cape buffalo meat. I didn't dare stick my head out of the tent, so I don't have any actual video or pictures, but to give you an idea of what I heard between 9 pm and 2 am, check out this 1 minute video I found on YouTube. It's the closest I could find.
With that in mind, I had to use the bathroom by 10 pm. For anyone who's been sick, you know how hard it can be to hold it, but I really didn't have a choice. So for the next 4 hours I was shaking and in terrible pain trying to hold everything inside as I waited for the lions to go away.
Finally at 2 am the lion activity had calmed down. I could hear hyenas and other animals outside the tent and figured there still were some lions out there, but I was miserable a had to do something or there would be an accident in the tent. I woke up Lukasz. Knowing a small bottle wouldn't work, he dumped out a black plastic garbage bag and that became my toilet for one of the most embarrassing moments I can remember. I was just so happy to relieve myself, that I didn't care about anything else. (I will never be able to make fun of Lukasz for farting in the tent again after this night...)
I tied the bag, trying not to think about what was in it, slowly opened the tent, and set it outside. Moments later, the bag was snatched by hyenas and ripped apart. Then, as if it had been a gourmet meal, they were all around the tent, touching the nylon, making whooping noises, and acting like they were trying to figure out how to get inside the tent for more. A couple of hiking poles wouldn't do much to stop a pack of hyenas if they chose to invade the tent, so I once again lay there praying for safety in the tent and for them to go away. I'm guessing the Cape buffalo became a more tasty option for them once the lions were done, so the tent remained in one piece.
Meanwhile, since Lukasz was up, he decided it was a good time to pee into his rubber bladder. While using very little light (in case light attracted the animals), Lukasz missed the opening in the bladder on his first attempt, making a little bit of a mess. When he finished I heard "can I have some of that toilet paper...like a lot of it..." Given what had just happened with me, it was almost comical. Even though we used 2 separate sleeping bags, the rubber mats we slept on had been pushed together, so we didn't realize until morning that his "miss" had gotten all over the outside of my bag as well as his.
By 3:30 am, I was sick again and had to go to the bathroom (the Imodium was not very effective). We were out of bags, Lukasz was sound asleep, and the hyenas and other animals were still all over the camp, so... I forced myself to hold everything in until about 6:00 am when others started to rise. I was too afraid to walk all the way over to the bathroom by myself because the kill site was between the bathroom and our tent, just a little ways back. As soon as I saw a small group head toward the bathrooms, I rushed over there praying I wouldn't have an accident until I got to the stall. Then as we all left the bathroom, the guides weren't comfortable with how close the hyenas were to us and yelled for us to get back in our tents.
But for now, we had another day in the car to look forward to and I was praying my bowels learned a lesson last night and would toughen up. :-) The first thing we did after packing up our things and cleaning up the sleeping bag and rubber mats was check out the Cape buffalo kill.
Cape buffalo are not small animals, and the only thing left of it at 6:30 am was the skull and a few vertebrae. This isn't surprising given how many lions were feasting on it. Also, I read that a group of hyenas can go through an entire zebra in 1/2 hour - bones and all. That explains why you don't see any dead carcasses in the plains.
As much as I don't like hyenas right now, I suppose I should throw in a few facts about them... Hyenas laugh. It's one of the two sounds they make (the other is their more common whooping sound, and the one we heard all night). Unlike us, when hyenas laugh it's not because something is funny. It's part of how they communicate, and how they laugh can tell a lot about them.
Hyenas are dog-like, rather large, and are smarter than chimps (if you can believe that). They are carrions and also carnivores, and most of their food actually comes from hunting rather than scavenging. Individually, they can kill lion and leopard cubs (which are their enemies' babies), but as a pack, they can attack and kill lions and other large animals.
They obviously aren't picky when it comes to food - especially if they ate what was in that black bag. Ezzie told us that none of the other animals like eating hyena because the meat tastes disgusting. After seeing what they consumed last night, that doesn't surprise me!!
Hyenas aren't the only ones who scavenge after a kill. There were jackals and plenty of hooded vultures trying to feast off of part of that kill.
I'm sure you need a lot to drink after eating all that crap! (Literally!! LOL)
I have never been so happy to see a sunrise.
We stayed in Serengeti for the morning through lunch time to explore the rest of the park. Although I wasn't thrilled about seeing more lions, it wasn't as scary being in the car again and watching from the windows.
Most of what we saw was within the first hour of driving. Very suspicious that most of the lions we saw were still very close to our camp... Here were about 5-6 members of a pride, parents playing with cubs, etc. It was very neat!!
Then, about a quarter mile up the road, Ezzie spotted another pride walking (probably on their way home after eating the buffalo by our camp).
There is a small research center in the park, and we went in there by the rocks to see if there were any lion. We were in luck! It appears today was the day for lion!!
Then, while leaving the research area and driving toward the end of the park where we would end up leaving, we saw a hot air balloon.
There were also a couple of interesting birds that we hadn't seen previously. This is the Grey Crowned Crane.
And this is a Kori Bustard.
This was also the day for hyena as we saw a few stray ones throughout the park. Because I'm not happy with them, I will share this. The female spotted hyenas have pseudo penises that are as long (or longer) than the human male's is. The females also have 3 times the amount of testosterone than the males, so they rule the packs and are stronger and more aggressive. (In other words, don't piss off a female hyena!!)
We passed by a field full of Cape buffalo grazing.
On a rock outcrop I was anticipating a lion, but instead there was a large leopard taking a nap!!
Another tortoise was hanging out at the side of the road.
And we spotted a lion up in a tree just hanging out...
As we left the park, we passed by a tree sporting a Lilac Breasted Roller on its branches - very bright and colorful birds!!
It is time to say goodbye to Serengeti. Goodbye to the scariest night of camping ever. And goodbye to some of the most fascinating animals I may ever see in the wild. Now on to the next part of our journey...
