Collage of Life

Collage of Life
What you can see...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Serenity in the Serengeti....

The trip into the Serengeti National Park is like going back in time.  Once in the main gate, the dirt roads begin and you are on a game drive.  We stopped at the gate in a picnic area to have some lunch and get ready for the afternoon drive.  This is a vast plain...there are some rock outcrops scattered around where they were blown from a volcanic action millions of years ago.  And like all cats, these are the places where the lions like to rest overlooking all the lower plain and feeling like "King of the Hill!" 
We began seeing gazelles, zebras, giraffes, and wildebeasts.  We were visiting there before the Great Migration began, but Yusef pointed out that the animals were beginning to gather together in more congregated groups to get ready for the migration.  We stopped to see a leopard sleeping in a tree.  He awoke and stretched, came down slowly, and walked away.  It was like we were not even there.  The Zebra nearby did get agitated from his movements, their heads bobbing up and down to alert all the others. 
We made it to our lodge by sunset and enjoyed an excellent dinner.  The staff there had to escort us to our rooms since wild animals do prowl around and it might be dangerous.  Good to have a flashlight right then!
We did see two Dik-Diks on the way to our room (they are tiny deer like animals. Almost look like miniatures). 
The next morning, we were awaken by African drums to gather at 6 am for a quick coffee and biscuit.  And off we went for an entire day in the Serengeti! We saw some spotted hyenas, impalas, baboons right away.
We had a bigger breakfast on the hood of the car about 10 am and really enjoyed the ambiance!
We did find some lions on a rocky pile looking down on us.  Later we found a mother lion with 3 very young cubs (2-3 months old).  When the cubs ran into the high grass to hide, she started looking for them right away.  The call she made was very different than you would expect....A chirping sound.  I took video so I got that sound on the clip.  We also found a cheetah in the distance sitting under a lone tree for shade.
The hippos we saw were in a pool of water and it seemed that they were playing "peek a boo" with us.
There must have been over 50 hippos within eyeshot.  This was the famous Mara River.  The hippos live there year-round as well as those very large crocodiles.  This is where the Great Migration Drama plays out every year.  The wildebeasts and zebra vs. crocodiles. 
Some of the other animals we saw that day include black-faced monkeys, rock hydrox, a swarm of vultures over a carcass....Boy was that a mad man's nightmare!  Talk about a frenzy! 
By day's end, we were glad to get back to the lodge for a little rest before dinner.  Then a local dance troupe of Masai performed for us.  There were 4 men and 2 women and they were very energetic.
Just a note of interest...there were a group of bats that lived in the main lodge ceiling every night.  While we ate dinner, they began coming in and hanging upside down over us.  I don't believe there is another place in the world where you can eat below bats!  Talk about an experience....

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