We loaded into 8 person 4 x4 trucks and left our site at Snake Park outside Arusha, headed inland to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area and Serengeti National Park.
Our first stop was the Ngorongoro Crater View point, which sits at an elevation of 2400m, with the floor of the crater 600m below. The crater is 19.5km across (about the size of Crete) and formed as a result of a volcanic eruption 2.5millions years ago. It is now the home to an array of wildlife and allows for close-up game viewing. From the viewpoint, the elephants looked like ants.
The crater viewpoint. You can see the lake in the middle, which due to its high sulphur content, has a mystical-looking mist coming off it and the animals appear to be walking on water.
Our 4x4's, stretching our legs before we enter Serengeti
We continued on, crossing the Great Rift Valley escarpment where the landscape then opened up the the vast plains of the Serengeti. It was absolutely breathtaking. The area has a large population of Masai, with children scattered along the vast, dusty plains watching their cattle.
My first afternoon in Serengeti, on the open-topped 4x4. The dust, the wind, the open plains, and of course the animals, made me feel like I was truly in the heart of Africa.By 9am, the temperature had risen to nearly 30degrees (and that's in the winter-in the summer it gets to over 45degrees!) and the dust was unavoidable. Both myself and Tae, a Korean on my overland tour who just finished his mandatory military service, had neck/mouth covers to keep us cool and to keep the dust out. (Thanks Pico!)
When I said there was dust, I really meant DUST. There is a reason everyone wears khaki while on safari, and its not just to emulate the safari wardrobe seen on tv, but to disguise the layers of dust and dirt that accumulate on your skin an clothing while pummeling through dust cloud after dust cloud.
Fellow overlanders flying by us in their 4x4
We stopped for lunch in the conservation area where I got my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro. I've heard it's an incredible challenge from everyone who has climbed it- and I absolutely can't wait!
As we drove the plains of Serengeti, I was gob-smacked by the vastness of the land. It made me feel like such a small person. On that late afternoon drive, we saw hippo, buffalo, giraffe (my favourite!!), zebra, thomson's gazelles, lion (my first- but it was very far away), cheetah (also very far away), mating ostriches (which was HILLARIOUS!!!), jackal, hyena, and more. I knew from that first afternoon, even before I saw any wildlife, that I would one day return. The experience is indescribable, and it is something that every traveler must see!
More hippos
Coyote crossing the road at dusk
We made it to our bush camp by nightfall, where we spent the night with no separation between us and the animals. No fence, no guards, no tree line.... nothing. Our night in the bush camp came with rules- after dark you were to only go to the bathroom with a buddy, and once everyone was asleep, you weren't to go to the bathroom at all. This was the one night in our trip where we were not allowed to drink alcohol, for safety reasons. In the words of our tour leader, Jackie, "It's in case you find yourself having to pee in the middle of the night (which we were not to do), you meet a buffalo on your way to the loo, and decide to pat him on the behind and say hellllloooo buffalloooooo." In a drunken stupor, one might think this to be a great way to greet a buffalo (similar to say, pulling a skunk's tail in Canada). But upon sober inspection of the 800kg, aggressive beast with horns that is called Mbogo (buffalo in Swahili), the consequences are much more dire than being the victim of a skunk spray. That night a hyena wandered through our site, and lions were heard mating not far off.
Not five minutes into our drive this morning, our path was blocked by a graceful giraffe (called twiga in Swahili), making delicate but deliberate strides towards his breakfast at the next Acacia tree, which was perfectly silhouetted against the rising sun.
Goodmorning giraffe!
The sunrise on our second day in Serengeti
We had a spectacular morning, seeing 8 lionesses (one with 2 cubs, another with 3 cubs), two cheetah (one alone, one with four cubs), mating gazelles, love birds, zebra, leopards, elephants and more!
Zebra!
We were so luck to see the cats so close up- it was exhilarating having cheetah and lions no more than 4 feet from us. Traveling through the park in itself was a blast on the 4x4's. When Toyota named their 4x4 vehicle the "Land Cruiser," they really weren't lying. In fact, they could have been so bold as to call it the "Land Dominator." We absolutely ripped around the park through every type of terrain. Serengeti not only differs from Kruger's bushy landscape, but in navigation and rules as well. There are few signs in the park and game viewing really requires a guide. When I asked our guide, Laurence, how he navigates the trails of the park, he replied, pointing to his head, "It's all up here." Rather impresive considering the only real signposts are 'that big tree' or 'the stream, next to the big rock.'
Unlike Kruger, you are allowed out of the car so long as it is 'safe.' This just means pee breaks were taken in open areas, away from tall grasses where lions may be lurking unbeknown to an unsuspecting pee-er. As for speed limits in the park, well.... let's just say that when you hear over the radio of someone spotting a lion kill, or the rare leopard spotting, you get there as fast as you can.
Cheetah mom with her cubs (4 of them!). Cheetah are rarely seen with more than two cubs, so having seen this mom with 4 healthy cubs says wonders about her ability to protect her young.
Cheetah
Elephant. This guy posed for us for nearly 15minutes, flapping its ears and munching away.
A lioness with her cubs, a mere 2 ft from us! It's no wonder the lion is called the king of the jungle- they exude and incredible sense of power with piercing eyes that will stun you.
We spent our second night camping on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, where the temperature dropped to 4 degrees. We bundled up and enjoyed a Serengeti beer after a fantastic day of game viewing. That night we were visited by lions and bush pigs, which made their presence known throughout most of the night as they wandered amongst the tents.
Enjoying our Serengeti beer at the rim of the crater
Checking out the footprints of our previous night's visitors
The next day we descended into the crater, and saw oodles of wildebeast and zebra. We were lucky enough to see a pride of lions at about 200m- with 2 males and 5 females. I saw a grey-crowned crane, a black rhino with its baby (very far away), warthogs, flamingos, buffalo and more hippos. We were curious as to some of the differences between the black and white rhino- the black have their babies trail behind them, while the white have their babies in front of them. Laurence was quick to point out that it's just like black and white people with their babies!
Wildebeast
That afternoon we made our way east again to Olduvai Gorge. It was first discovered by a German archaeologist who was searching for dinosaur fossils, and when he asked the local Masai what the site was called, they said "Oldupai." He either mis-heard them or misspelled the name in his publications, and the site has since been known as Olduvai Gorge. The museum was very interesting, telling of Louis and Mary Lackey's careers and important discovery for which the site is famous- the trail of ancient human footprints.
An elderly Masai at Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai Gorge
Apparently Stephen Harper has visited the site just last year, so the guide was happy to hear there were some Canadians in the group. He spoke about how we all originated in Africa, and how the humans migrated north when the African temperatures rose above 50degrees (before plate-tectonic shifting). Our skin changed colour with the new climate, and that was the beginning of white man. He said that we foreigners travel to Africa, and love the continent, because it is our true homeland, and it's in our blood. He went so far as to say that we should all stay and become black again. I've added it on my list of things to do.
After Olduvai Gorge we returned to Snake Park in Arusha where the overland group celebrated our last night together. On July 10th we made the trip to Nairobi where we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
I'm still in Nairobi and will travel to Mombassa tonight, on the overnight bus. Three of us have a self-catering cottage on the beach booked for a 5 day retreat- and I'll even get some kitesurfing in! After Mombassa I return to Nairobi to begin my Kilimanjaro trek.
