Blog #5 - the Serengeti!

Blog 5: North Serengeti Camp, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Ok – arrived at this very remote camp – which only has enough electricity to light the tents – but not enough to charge devices! Amazing place – my idea of the Serengeti was a desert! Serengeti means “endless plain” – and that’s true – the lovely blue sky, rolling hills, and green trees seem to go on forever!

Our time here has involved a series of game drives. Our initial intent in scheduling this particular camp was to experience “the migration” – the massive movement of thousands of wildebeests, including their rather mad run through the river Mara at risk of being eaten by crocodiles, lions, or other predators. As we moved into the camp and began to form our plans for seeing the migration, we found another example of global warming, as the migration was running about 2 weeks late.

On our first night out we were successful in tracking down a leopard! Leopards are unusually nocturnal and solitary, so finding one out in the open was amazing! Tracking them calls for close coordination between the guides, who communicate sightings by radio. Success means that there is a traffic jam for these rare sightings! Additionally, we are continuing to add to our elephant, zebra, and giraffe sightings – I think I have 5000 zebra pictures alone!

Showering at this camp is challenging! While each tent has a private shower, it’s run by bucket, and you must coordinate with the staff member outside to arrange for your shower. They fill up each bucket required (with hot water!), and when you are ready to bathe, you pull the chain! They fill the buckets (it generally takes two), and then you let them know when you are done!

During our stay, we have done some interesting things – such as visiting the next camp to visit their gift shop! Very successful shopping expedition. Our guide, Godlove, has been extremely flexible in working with us to schedule some time out of the Jeep and redesign our game drives! and

On our second day at camp, we decided to forego driving a great distance to find wildebeests, choosing to stay closer to camp but focus again on the big cats! Using Godlove’s excellent tracking skills (focusing on the behaviors of the other animals!), we were able to find a pride, including a young lion! I can’t explain how exciting it is to see these beautiful creatures in their environment. And this isn’t even my first time seeing them here in Africa – my travel companions were enthralled! And – after finding the lions, we discovered the tip of the wildebeest herd headed to the river – so exciting to see them as well! And, after a "breakfast in the bush", we topped off the day by finding a cheetah! So gorgeous! We experienced a bit of “law-breaking” to see the cheetah; the guides are not allowed to drive off-road, but ours (as well as others) helped us experience the cheetah, up close and personal! We dashed to view the cheetah with cameras ready and were successful in seeing her!

Our final night at the North Serengeti Camp involved the traditional sundowner – the guides set up a bar to watch the sun go down! After a final toast, it’s time to make our remaining move on this trip – we are off to Zanzibar!

And – in Africa, you never know when something wonderful will happen! After our fabulous days here, we were sadly on our way to the airstrip – and what did we find on the way – a herd of elephants! With babies! We sat for quite a bit, experiencing the elephant behavior to protect their young – including having the matriarch of the herd charge toward us, trumpeting through her trunk, and letting us know we weren’t welcome! An exciting end to our time in the Serengeti!