Day 28 - Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

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Awoke to the sound of the Serengeti awakening. Breakfast was quick and then we headed out at 7am for a morning game drive. It was cold to start off with and I was glad that I had my Maasi blanket! About 45mins went by scouring kopje's befofore the other group spotted a "leopard". With my binoculars everyone in our truck decided that it was a tree trunk! Then there was a call on the radio, "Simba, simba, simba" and we drove to the kopje mentioned. Two cubs were in a fissure in a rock at the top; one near the entrance and only the other's legs visible. They had spotted coats as young lions do. The visible cub raised his head and regarded us before slumping down again - too much energy! Driving around the kopje we found the head and front paws of the inside one - the fissure ran right through the rock. It looked like a smaller cub. Another larger cub was sunbathing nearby. It seemed to be a creche while the mothers went hunting.

We then went across to another kopje where we saw 5 lions at the top. One was quite low down but only bits of the others could be seen. They were sleeping soundly, occassionally stretching a paw or flicking an ear. What a life! They are so powerful though, all the muscles under their golden fur and the passive paws concealing razor sharp claws. They are built for hunting and killing and exude strength, even when relaxing.

We also spotted some more lilac breatsed rollers, buffalo weavers and a snake eagle in a tree. The birds were fantastic - I wish our guide would have talked to us - most of the information we had came from Richard. I was dissapointed. We also spotted some hyenas stalking past and another Topi.

Suddenly Damien said, "There's a cheetah" - it wasn't but it was a cat. The guide said it was a gennet (one of the only times he deigned to open his mouth) but I was sure it was a servaal and consultation with the guidebook later proved me right. It was beautiful with a gorgous black spotted golden coat. It has especially large ears and a gorgeous face. It's quite rare to see one, so I was very pleased.

At about 10am we headed for the Kopje Musuem. It's an open air (mostly) musuem on a kopje, explaining the wildebeast migration. It was very interesting and described the wildebeast life-cycle and place in the eco-system. There was also a section about the conservation of the Serengeti. Most of the others wathed a vieo in the film room and I saw bits after I had done the wildebeast trail. We saw a baby wildebeast taking it's first steps, all knock-kneed and bambi-legged, at one point falling straight on it's poor nose! Soon it got the hang of it and was trotting happily after mum.

I was fascinated by the rock hyraxes which were sunbathing everywhere. Tey let me take some lovely photos and one let me sroke it, but it's fur is quite coarse. Some dwarf mongoose were also sunbathing making little squeaky nosy. We watched a rock hyrax crunch a dead leaf - yummy!

Afterwards we went back to the camp and de-pitched our tents and loaded the vehicle again, stuffed in like sardines once more. Lunch was nice cooked chicken leg and vegetables. The afternoon was spent on another game drive on the way to the Olduvai Gorge Musuem. We spotted a snake eater bird, which was grey and much like a heron. We found the hippos lazing away in the pool, yawning occasionally and farting. Some warthogs and babies were rootling around although quite far away and Kori Bustards were feeding on their stilts. We also had a few ostrich run along side us.

We saw the grey crowned crane which is the national bird of Uganda. It is so beautiful, about 1m tall with grey, white and chestnut markings. It has a red neck patch and a golden crown of feathers like a halo. It is striking and so gorgeous. I could look at them for hours.

The piece de la resistance was a leopard! It was in some long grass and we could see its tail and then it's head as it stalked along. It headed to the other side fo the grass and we drove around and were rewarded with the sight of it coming right out of the grass and stalking under the cars about 5m away. A small gazelle had passed quite close to it and bolted and the leopard was trying to stalk it from under the cars. Oh it was beautiful! A gloriously golden back and white underparts with dark spots arranged in rosettes. The face was gorgeous with amber eyes and white whiskers. It looked so soft and agile and supple. Unlike a lion which has brute strength, the leopard seems crafty and agile and stealthy. It moves far more like a domestic cat too, unlike the lion that fairly thumps along. It was breathtaking and we were so lucky to have seen one. It was a privalage to see something so rare and exquisite.

After our drive we had a loo break where what seemed like gerbils were skittering around. They looking different to mice and were'nt rats and looked like a thin hamster with a tail, although they seemed rather chunky for gerbils. We then drove to the Olduvai Gorge - the cradle of humanity, where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of early hominids. Mary Leaky also discovered the set of 3.6million year old hominid (human-like) footprints in the ash from a volcanic eruption. We were given a brief lecture on the findings and shown the geological layers in the chasm. The museum was fascinating and included replicas of the skills and prehistoric fossils of weird and wonderful beats. As illustration of a hippo with eye stalks tickled me as they were shown as gleefully running in some water with beautiful smiles on their faces. The looked so sweet!

The cast of the footprints was amazing. I didn't realise it had other animal prints in it - a horse and foal and a guineafowl. One large human walked next to a smaller one and another large one followed, stepping in the first one's footprints. They are some of the earliest upright hominids. Louis and Mary Leakey's work greatly extended the knowlegde of early humand and the tools they used. They started working in the gorge in the 1930's and in 1954 they found their first skull - such dedication in such a remote place! I was glued to the exhibits, unlike most poeple who sat outside. I find it fascinating, where we came from and can't understand how poeple cannot want to find out about it. Mandy asked how they knew the footprints were that old, but it was in the text - whats the point of going to these places if you just look at pictures??

Anyway after I had finished an unstuck myself from the exhibits, we headed for the crater rim and our second campsite. The view on the way back up was spectacular and we stopped to take some photos. A large raincloud followed us all the way but fortunately didn't hit the camp.

We were just puttin gup our tents when someone said that there was an elephant by the toilets. And there was! A big bull with enormous tusks. We observed him from about 5m away and saw how he grasped tougher fodder in his mouth and slid it over the right tusk to break it - ingenous! It's so amazing to see these animals so close. Apart from this was quite a windy elephant and his buttocks wobbled when he farted! He wandered around the camp, eating ere and there before melting away into the bush again.

We had stew for tea - it was good, and soup to start again. The food (apart from the packed lunch) has been good (unlike the guiding). We had a fire after dinner but it was very cold - we wee 2000m above sea level and Iwent to bed early. Again I tried to write my diary with little success, as I was tire and my eyes kept closing. Slept so well - didn't hear the rain or the bush pig that chewed Donna and Jen's tent! We had been warned that the pigs would sniff out food and had developed a taste for toothpaste, so I put all mine in the truck. I think they did too, but the tent must have looked tasty!

Sally
xx

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