Serengeti Safari

We departed Ngorongoro en route to Serengeti National Park, the largest national park in Africa at 14,476 square kilometers. Serengeti means “endless plain” and it certainly looks that way.  We saw our first giraffes before we even made it to the gate! We arrived at the gate and had to wait patiently as our guides paid for and registered our visit. They have pretty strict rules here about who goes in and out in order to protect the animals.  We played around on the kopje (pronounced kop-pee) which is basically a big pile of rocks that lions and other animals climb up on to get a better view of the area. This particular kopje are the oldest rocks in Africa (and maybe the world) as they are about 2 billion years old. Wow!

On day 1, we had two different game drives.  The first one on our way to the tented camp, we saw elephants, a pride of lions, a cheetah (far off), and a leopard cat napping in a tree. Wow! We also some cool looking lizards, a huge vulture hovering over its’ huge nest, and tons more of those Thompson gazelles. On the afternoon game drive, we saw topi antelopes, impalas, fish eagles, grey banded mongoose, and a finale of a pride of lions (complete with three little cubs) and a lion dinner show. Wow! The cubs were the cutest things ever and I got some great pictures and video of them playing around. Just as we were about to leave (after watching them for a good 30 minutes), the lions decided to go after a Thompson gazelle who naively went right by the waiting lions. Natural selection at its finest. One of them took it down, and then two others help rip it apart. Apparently, it’s pretty rare to see a kill right in front of you, so we are a lucky bunch!

Day 2 took us to another well-known kopje where we saw what looked like cave paintings. Our guide informed us that some of the early German and Portugese explorers drew these to show the Maasai how to make the different colors and use them for dyes for clothing, body paint (important to the Maasai), and other uses. We also got to explore another kopje that the Maasai carved out a musical instrument of sorts out of several large rocks. It’s supposed to sound like a xylophone or something similar, but I can assure you, we did not make any music that didn’t sound like us banging two rocks together. After lunch, we visited the Serengeti National Park visitor center. It was really well done (similar to American national parks), and had many informative displays. We met a large group of school children from the local area (just outside the park) and we had some fun photo ops. We also saw these little critters called hyrax that looked like big fat marmots. You can tell they enjoy living at the visitor center, as they clean up after the tourists that drop their snack food on the ground. So chubby! Fun fact about the hyrax is that they are the closest living creature to an elephant. You cannot tell that by  just looking at them, but their bone structure and genetics have proved it!

Day 3 was hungry hungry hippo day! We all got up extra early to see the sunrise and get to the  hippo pool before the hippos decided  they were tired of the tourists. There were so many crammed at one end of this body of water. The water looked a bit low which means the hippos are basically hanging out in their own sewage. You can imagine the smell. Luckily, the hippos were pretty entertaining to distract us from the smell. We saw a baby hippo trying to keep up with its mama and two male hippos fighting over who had the biggest mouth (that or they were doing some weird mating ritual). Speaking of hippos, I learned that hippos can live up to 59 years old and can weigh up to 3000 kg. That is mainly because they eat around 65 kg of grass every night. I guess they do get out of the stink water on occasion.

We also had some excitement on the afternoon of day 3. It was our last game drive, and we really wanted to see a cheetah up close (the one from day 1 was really far away). Ask and ye shall receive. It wasn't 15 minutes into the game drive, hen we saw a cheetah, and then another one!  They were hanging out underneath the tree, on the termite mounds, just watching their favorite food (the Thompson gazelles). We weren't lucky enough to see them take one down, but it was pretty cool watching them from afar. A few minutes later, we saw another cheetah lounging near the road. All in all, a pretty successful afternoon!

Before I finish this post, I need to tell you about the tented “camp” we stayed at. Think Girl Scout platform

tents, but nicer, and bathrooms and showers in each tent. I got my own tent with the most comfortable bed I have slept in all trip, and didn't even have to leave the tent to use the facilities. That is for practical reasons, as it is just not safe to be outside your tent after dark. If the hyenas that I heard laughing/howling RIGHT outside my tent don’t make you want to stay safe and sound inside, I think there may be something wrong with you. More than a little creepy! I would definitely consider this glamping as the staff bring hot water to your tent first thing in the morning so you can wash your face AND they heat up water in the afternoon for you to take your daily shower. If this is camping, I’m not sure what I have been doing all these years sleeping on the hard ground underneath a tarp!

I hope to one day revisit the Serengeti, one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I am sensing a trend on this trip about the amazing experiences – once in a lifetime!