No Fence in the Opposite Zoo

  Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Sunday, June 22, 2008

June 22 -24, 2008

After leaving the Maasai village, we journeyed on to Serengeti National Park. Although the mountains remained along perimeter, the savanna flattened as we entered the park. Serengeti is Maasai for endless prairie and in many places throughout the park this is a very accurate description. The first animals encountered in the park included impalas, gazelles, buffalo, and hartebeest. The impalas with their white ears and white and black lined bottoms were probably the most common site in Serengeti as well as the other types of antelopes. Awkward ostriches stood on the side of the road, as our Landcruiser maneuvered over the bumpy, dusty roads The dry season is upon the Serengeti and each time another vehicle passed ours the 4x4 filled with dust. I had not showered since leaving the hotel the previous morning and felt extremely dirty as I became caked with dirt. In addition, the sun baked down from the cloudless sky and I felt hot for the first time since arriving in Africa.

We circled past "pride rock" lifts looking for lions and other large cats. Although we never saw lions on the large rock lifts, we did find a female lion about 30 feet from the road and one of the many hippo pools. The lion reawakened the senses and I forgot how grimy I felt as I watched the lion eager to see some action. We sat and observed her for several minutes before she collapsed back into the grass continuing her nap. I relaxed back into the Landcruiser as we continued along.

We wound our way into the center of the park and arrived at our campground. I was absolutely startled to find that no fence encircled the camp. At Lake Manyara, we stayed in a fenced campground in town. However, this campground was in the middle of the national park. Sadi had joked the day before that we would be spending the night in the "Opposite Zoo", so I assumed we would be locked in while the animals roamed free. However, our campground was simply surrounded by brush and small trees. I had seen elephants take down bigger trees the day before. I have to admit I was bit unnerved, and the warning sign did little to reasure me.

Warning Sign in Campground

We set up our tents in the only remaining open spots on the edge of the campground next to the dining areas. Of course, the dining areas were essentially cages. I understood locking up the food, but then logic would prevail that we would be "locked up" too. Sadi explained that the animals stay away from the campground due to the fire and campers' voices. However, the fire only existed in the "kitchen cage" where all the safari cooks prepare the safari meals. And at some point everyone would go to sleep. Sadi further stated that hyenas would likely venture into the camp at night scavenging from food, but would not harm us. Honestly, I was not so reassured.

Feeling uncomfortable with the sleeping arrangements and uncomfortable in my dirty body. I went in search of a shower. No such luck...for a girl who isn't crazy about camping, I was batting 0 for 2. I knew we were staying 2 nights in the Serengeti so dirty I would stay. I washed my face and hands and headed off to dinner. As I ate the yummy spaghetti, exhaustion sank in. As soon as the table was cleared, I excused myself and headed to bed. My safari mates wished me the best of luck in avoiding being eaten by a lion as I looked cautiously around the campsite. I gazed up at the star filled sky. Although I anticipated the sky would look different, I was so sleepy that it all felt like a dream. Carson called one last time that he would cover my tent in meat while I slept, as I crawled in to the tent. Although I was beat, I envisioning a night jumping at every sound. I decided if I was going to be eaten by a lion, I would rather be asleep when it happened. I popped in some earplugs and had my best camping sleep ever.

I awoke utterly refreshed and eager for another day of safari. After breakfast, we headed out and quickly met a family of baboons. We watched baboons groom each other realizing they were cleaner than us. The babies

Baboon and baby

played with one another and hugged their mamas in quite human-like ways. Of all the animals encountered, the baby baboons were the only ones that seemed in interested in us. They examined us just as curiously as we studied them. We drove on spotting the ever-present antelope, but it became quite a while before seeing anything exciting.

Most safari drivers use radios to update all others on the location of the more difficult-to-find animals. Our radio was broken which may have limited the amount of animals we saw; however, it was so relaxing to just ride around the savanna and feel the wind. We were also free to stand up at any time and ride with half our bodies outside the vehicle. It was so peaceful and utterly relaxing that I am glad it was not combined with the static and chatter of a radio. Besides the Serengeti is so large that if one of the big animals was far away we would probably not make it in time. When we were near anything interesting that others had spotted, we could always tell by the crowd of 4x4s surrounding it. And as luck would have it, we rounded a corner and realized something very big was near.

We all stuck our necks out as the Landcruiser approached the crowd of vehicles. Ten feet from the road, under a tree lay a pride of five lions. I sucked in my breath. I was awestruck by the lions. The male lion and three of the females lay sleeping while one sat up. Here we were standing out the top of the vehicle with half of our bodies exposed 10 feet from the pride. At one point, the female lion stood and the male lion sat up. I truly understand why the lion is considered king of the jungle. They are such majestic creatures, demanding respect. They were also so aloof to us, I suppose figuring we are the lesser beasts. We stared mesmerized until all the lions were asleep.

Sleeping Simba

We spent two days driving around the Serengeti, and it is vast. A better word does not exist. Although savanna makes up most of the topography, it does vary as small oases line the creeks and forested areas break up the monotony of the plains. Zebras, antelopes, giraffes, and elephants are coming sights as we drove looking for big cats. On the second afternoon, we stopped at a hippo pool (natural pool) and were informed we could get out of the car. We carefully approached the edge of the water. Although it was wonderful to stretch our legs car and to view the hippos up close, the water was disgusting. Joe accurately described it as the bog of external stench. The

Mama with Baby Hippo

hippos did not seem to mind as they wrestled around in the muck. And I have to say, even covered in filth, the babies were still cute.

I realized our last full day in the Serengeti was fading away as the sun slipped closer to the horizon. The golden rays cast a glow on a large herd of zebras as they crossed the road before us. Sadi stopped the vehicle and we all sat, utterly content as we watched a beautiful sunset. I did not think it could get any better.

Tuesday morning we awoke at 5:30 am for a quick cup of coffee before heading to see the sunrise. It had been a long time since I had seen the sun rise and set in the same 12 hour period, and I believe it is something we should all make an effort to do more often. Two hot-air-balloons hovered in the sky and zebras grazed behind us, as the sun appeared. It was a truly spectacular sunrise, and I now believe nothing is more serene than watching the sunrise over the Serengeti.

Sunrise on the Serengeti