We left EARLY and made the very bumpy drive toward the park.
We stopped for lunch at Oldupai Gorge, also known as the Cradle of Humanity (or
Olduvai Gorge, because of a mistranslation). It was here that Mary and Lewis
Leaky discovered a couple different pre-human fossils and important stuff like
that. It was actually really interesting, and cool to know that there’s still
research going on there.
So then we drove some more. It’s a really long drive. And
bumpy. And I was in the back seat of the truck, so every time we hit something
particularly hard, I thought I was going to fly out the window.
Anyway, we finally got to the park and it’s BIG. Serengeti
is derived from a Maasai word meaning “endless plains” and that is not a lie.
There seems to be NOTHING in every direction, except grass. So we enter the
park gates, and within just a couple minutes we see a lioness and some (mostly
grown) cubs lying under a bush. Talk about a welcome committee. We also quickly
saw some secretary birds, which are kind of funny looking and I was really
hoping to see one while I was here (we saw quite a few in the end).
We actually saw a lot of lions and lots of really awesome
birds, as well as elephants, hyrax, dik-dik, hartebeest, giraffe, hippos, and A
LEOPARD. Briefly. Before some tourists scared it off. But we did still see the
kill in the tree, so that was cool.
We eventually made it to our campsite, where we were
promptly insulted by French tourists in reference to our tent constructing
abilities. Later, these same tourists tried to tell us we were uneducated
because we don’t say “Jambo” to them every time we see them, like the Africans
do. So. Yeah they were nice. Eh hem. Anyway, the campsite was really nice but
my sleeping pad was absolutely horrible. I may have been sleeping on the dirt.
Fortunately, it was only for four nights and I actually wasn’t sleeping on the
dirt so I guess I can’t really complain (too much).
Day 2 (6/8/12)
We started the next day with a game drive and some data
collection. We saw giraffe, an owl, hippos, gazelle and impala, many birds, a
crocodile (only it’s eyes and nose, unfortunately), buffalo, elephants
(including a younger one with an injured trunk; the trunk was about half as
long as it should be), and A LEOPARD FOR REAL. So that’s 4/5 of the Big Five
for the trip (we never saw a rhino). We also saw lions and lions in trees.
We had a lecture about wild dogs at a research center in the
afternoon, which was really interesting but everyone was also really tired and
the room was really warm. (For next year, we suggested moving the lecture to
the morning.) Another thing to note is the food. Our kitchen staff came to the
Serengeti with us, and there was a small, shared kitchen at the campsite.
Somehow, the food was exactly the same as at Moyo Hill. It was remarkable.
Anyway, in the early evening something weird happened. It
rained. Keep in mind that it’s the dry season here. It wasn’t a heavy rain, but
it was definitely more than a drizzle and it was odd. Fortunately the tents
were waterproof.
Day 3 (7/8/12)
More or less the same deal as the previous day, game drives
and data collection (by the way, we were collecting data on species
association, tourists, and carnivores). One of the first things my car and only
one other SFS car (and one tourist car) saw was a cheetah and her THREE CUBS.
AHHH. SO CUTE/RARE/WONDERFUL. But so we’re watching, and Mom Cheetah starts
getting up and looking pretty intently at some gazelle hanging out on the other
side of the road (this is before the tourists show up). She starts walking
really slowly toward them, and we all know what is about to happen, but then
the tourists drive up and frighten the gazelle. Mom runs after them (SO FAST)
and we lose sight of her, and she eventually comes back empty handed. Which is
sad, but her cubs were already pretty old and looked really healthy, so I think
she’ll manage. It was so amazing.
That day we also saw hyena, topi (a big antelope), giraffes
(with babies!), and other birds. Our afternoon game drive was pretty slow,
actually. Also in the afternoon, we went to the visitor center (pretty nice)
and looked around there, and then had a lecture about the history and
management of the park, after which the lecturer (he might have been a director
of something) asked us for some of our ideas about how to improve management,
which was neat. Most of our comments concerned the education of the tourists
(for instance, knowing to not loudly drive up when a cheetah is about to start
a hunt).
It rained again that evening.
Day 4 (8/8/12)
This day we didn’t take any data collection and just did
game drives. I was in a really great car with Molly and the SAM from Kenya (who
was with us during her vacation time, which is awesome) and it turned out to be
one of the funniest days of the trip. We saw an eagle that we couldn’t identify
(weird), giraffes, a tourist picnic site (it’ll be funnier with pictures),
gazelle, lions, giraffes, and elephants in the mud.
One hilarious moment that may not be funny if you weren’t
there involved one of the East African students, Danson (a Maasai from Kenya).
He’s extremely tall, and his favorite animal is a giraffe, so we just call him
a giraffe (it’s also funny because one of the subspecies of giraffe is Masai,
pronounced the same as Maasai). Anyway, we drove up to some giraffes early on
and said “Danson, look, it’s your family!” and he goes “Oooh hi! That is my
little brother…………. Kenneth!” We. Lost. It. And he kept doing that with all the
giraffes we saw, all day long. Some had African names, but then some were named
Kenneth (and Tom and David). So unbelievably funny.
For lunch we went to one of the really, REALLY fancy tourist
lodges and enjoyed their wonderful buffet (some people also enjoyed the pool if
they had a bathing suit). As we were leaving the lodge, it started to rain
again. BUT!
So we’re driving down the road, and it’s really coming down,
and suddenly Molly thinks she sees something in the tree and stops. Here’s what
she said: “It might be a lion… I think… No wait… IT HAS SPOTS!!” There was a
leopard just a few meters from the road. When we stopped, it got out of the
tree and started walking but didn’t get any farther away. No, it actually got
closer and crossed the road right in front of our car. All the SFS people saw
it, and it was amazing.
After that, it stopped raining and our car broke off from
everyone else because we were the only group who hadn’t been to the hippo pool.
We headed there (saw an African fish eagle on the way) and OH GOODNESS hippos
are smelly. So, so smelly. But there were a ton of them, and it was still really
great to see.
It was getting late, so we started to drive back to camp.
Unfortunately, both people in the front seat (Molly and our mechanic) thought
the other person knew the way, and we ended up at one of the gates. Our camp is
pretty close to the center of the park. So. We were really lost. But it was
hilarious. We drove high speed back to camp, and it started to rain again. It
got dark really fast, and was both a little scary but also really exciting. We
made it back to camp around 8:00 (the sun sets around 6:00, for reference) and
got some dinner. Also that night I was MOD (Mwanafunzi [student] Of the Day)
but since it was raining, I taught everyone about kiwi birds really quickly.
Now, here’s the part where I remind you that I’m safe and
everyone else at camp is safe and that nature can be kind of unpredictable at
time and that there’s a reason we call them wild animals.
Earlier in the same day, after my group broke off to go to
the hippo pool, a group of most our other cars were together watching
elephants. One of the baby elephants was injured and- long story short to
protect the privacy of those involved- the matriarch elephant got protective
and attacked one of our cars and ripped one of the windows out. EVERYONE IS
FINE, but I saw video later from inside and outside of the car and I know it
was a pretty terrifying experience for everyone there. Aside from everyone
being okay, the other redeeming thing… I guess that’s not the best word, but I
thought it was really interesting watching the elephants’ behavior during the
situation. They are so intelligent, and so strong as a family unit, and just
such powerful animals… It was… scary but fascinating.
Later I found out a few more pieces of the story, and the
baby elephant died from its injuries that night. :(
Day 5 (9/8/12)
We packed up camp this morning and started our drive home.
And if we saw anything, I can’t remember it, because we saw pretty much
nothing. I didn’t take any pictures this day. I’m not sure if it was because of
the rain or what, but it was good to catch up on sleep and get home. Oh, we
also stopped back at the Ngorongoro Gate and their new education room was open,
and it’s really nice. It’s been the most comparable to an education center in
the US that I’ve seen here so far, so I hope updates are happening all over.
So that’s it! Actually, I still have four days to update
about. But at 8:00AM tomorrow we head out for home! Let’s just say today was
extremely emotion but also really awesome. Updates will be posted as soon as
possible!
Thanks for reading!
Kwaheri = Goodbye
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