We had a surprise since our last blog which resulted in a
splendid trip to the Serengeti (the world famous game park which features the
wild animals of Africa in migration or thereabouts). Peggy and some ladies had
planned a trip there right around Peggy’s birthday. Safari companies here
demand a considerable part of the total charges in advance and if you have a
change in plans the money is not refunded. I had decided to stay at home and
have some fun fixing things and puttering in the gardens. We had seen so many
wild animals on minor safari trips to closer parks that I decided, despite a
very welcome invitation, to stay home. Then the unexpected happened. One of the
ladies had an interruption in her health status and the trip had to be called
off. Peggy’s suggestion to salvage the trip was that I take her place. I am
saying this to observe what a mistake it would have been not to go!
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| Giraffe with cape buffalo |
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| Topi |
The trip over is arduous and includes a drive to the side of
one of Africa’s most dangerous volcanoes, Mt Meru, and then joining the long
train of safari vehicles going back and forth to the Serengeti. This is a name
coming from the Maasai language meaning “endless expanse”. There is a paved
road as far as Ngorongoro Crater which is regularly visited by most of the
million plus people who come every year to see this natural wonder (Kilimanjaro
only attracts about 50,000 per year). The mountain exploded and left a caldera,
a giant crater, more than 20 miles in diameter and the rim in still continuous
and over 1000 feet high. Within this indescribable sight are thousands of wild
animals, hippo pools and a central flamingo covered lake. There are very
expensive hotels on the rim of the crater and sometimes the fog is so thick you
can barely see the vehicle ahead. The road is muddied in the dry season and
cold, winding about 1/3 of the way around the rim through the lush forest. In
the distance is an active volcano which erupts boiling hot mud and other
extinct volcanoes. Then the descent starts past a Maasai village which is as
close as most tourists will get to the Maasai. Of course there is an entrance
fee for wandering around the village and sometimes they will put on a show of
their native dancing. Along this road to the Serengeti there is a large variety
of Maasai women and their children selling beaded jewelry, honey from one the
tamer species of African honeybees and cloth. At some stops there is a small
collection of boys who have just been circumcised and have characteristic complicated
chalk white marks on their fore heads. They are very proud of their
accomplishment and hope a tourist will stop in the swirling dust to take their
photograph. Then it would be about the fourth hour into the long drive and the
mountains disappear into the expanse of seemingly endless plains. Here is where
the animals graze during the wetter months but they were gone to northern
Tanzania across the Mara River and on to Kenya where the grass holds out for
about one month before they must return. The dirt road is well maintained even
though most of it is fairly rough washboard. At higher speeds one wonders if
one of the wheels may come off and sure enough every now and then a vehicle has
been jacked up with the wheel missing. Off to the right is the access road to
Oldupai Gorge where the Leakey’s found those famous prehistoric human bone
remnants and then little Kopjes (pronounced “copies”) start to appear like
boils of rounded rocks jutting about the plains. These are lava extrusions
through the surface of the plains which host a whole other ecosystem among
which are rock hyrax. One of the larger Kopjes is the entrance port to the
Serengeti. At any one time of the day there are hundreds of safari vehicles
there carrying mostly European travelers whose drivers are slowly negotiating
their way through the complicated fee process. The kids are wondering,” are we
there yet?” No, maybe another two hours but it will all be worth the wait and
drive.
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| Cape Buffalo |
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| Balloon over the Serengeti |
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| Wildebeest waiting to cross river |
It is near dusk when
the central part of the park is reached called the Seronera. This is wild
Africa dotted with unobtrusive tent camps which offer various grades of luxury.
There is a central hotel built by an Israeli investor having about 200 rooms
and nestled against a large kopje. It caught on fire two years ago and hasn’t
been completely repaired yet. Wild
animals wander through the camps at night and you are directed when going for
meals after dark to signal for an escort to the dinning tent just in case there
is a surprise. Peggy woke up in the night and said, “what is that?” It wasn’t
like any wild animal sound I had heard and it was getting closer, in fact it
was just on the other side of the tent canvas and sounded like Darth Vader. We
asked the next morning what it was and our driver said it was a cape buffalo
sniffing around the camp. On the first day we drove another four hours to the
Mara River which divides Tanzania from Kenya. Along the way there were many
memorable sights: a hot air balloon taking visitors for a $500 excursion over
the Serengeti at dawn (TOO exotic for us to try! But a lovely sight to behold),
lions hunting for something to eat; countless elephants grazing on tender tree
parts; gazelle of many different kinds worried and skittish that a big cat may
jump from behind a bush and eat them; and hundreds of hippos lounging in the
water and mud. The Cape buffalo were seen mostly in great herds supremely
confident that they were untouchable by predators except for an occasional
disabled one. Then came the crowning sight. Our guide learned that the
wildebeest were starting the biannual crossing of the Mara River, a process
involving hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and fewer zebras (the park
service estimates that there are about 2 million wildebeest involved in the
migrations). There is a least one crossing per day because the wildebeest know
that some of them will have to be sacrificed for the common good to the hungry
crocodiles. They pace and tarry up and down the bank of the river in the
realization that most of them will make it but some won’t. Then one bravely
jumps into the water and immediately thereafter thousands leap into the water
to cross as quickly as possible. The longer in the water the higher the risk
that a crocodile will grab one of them. We had a front row seat in the position
our guide had selected as we watched the vast herd pile up on the river bank.
There were about fifty safari vehicle maneuvering constantly for the best view
because of indecision about who and where the first would be to jump. In the end
there was just enough room between vehicles for the wildebeest clamoring up the
Tanzanian side of the river to pass on to the rolling plain. Probably 1 in a
thousand people who come to the park witness this rare event frequently shown
on the travel channels.
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| Crossing |
Over the next few days we witnessed hunting leopards and
cheetahs, lions guarding their fresh prey until they had eaten what they wanted
(later the hyenas even try to crunch up the bones which usually have been
picked fairly clean by waiting birds of prey). Every day more and more
migrating zebras and wildebeest showed up around our camp. When we finally got
home, thankfully without any serious vehicle problems, we considered that we
had probably completed the most eventful, fantastic trip of our lives! There
were a couple of things that could have been done better but we will save that
for those of you who decide to come to visit us and want to go to the
Serengeti. We both were happy to settle in to the regular work which the Lord
has given us but having a fresh appreciation of the wonder of God’s creation. I
have not even mentioned all the wonderful birds which Peggy carefully noted as
sighted with the date of sighting. The guide was very helpful in deciding just
what bird we had seen. We always look forward to having visitors and there are
many different variation of the African safari just suited to individual taste
and pocketbook. There is a game park very near the house which we regularly
visit for those of you who just want a little taste of wild Africa
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| Sunrise over the Serengeti |
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Hamerkop
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| Spotted hyena |
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| Crocodile dragging wildebeest by the horns....dead.... |
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| Hippoes |
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| Cheetah |
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| Cheetah |
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| Forked-tail Drongo |
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| Leopard |
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| Tawny Eagle |
