The Serengeti - Insanity Rules

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The next leg of my adventure started when I met my fellow Overlanding travelers in Nairobi on Sept 26. This started the largest part of my trip. I will be Overlanding with 24 other people driving through Eastern and Southern Africa in a large truck for the next 42 days. Not all will be going to Cape Town. Some will be getting off along the way and others will be joining us.

If you can imagine a troop carrier that has been converted to a bus, that is what the truck that I will be traveling in for the next 42 days looks like. Besides touring in a big truck through the wilds of Africa, I will be sleeping for the most part in a tent. Now, I haven't slept in a tent in about 25+ years. Sleeping in one for 42 nights is giving me a little worry😊 to say the least. However, that is all part of the adventure, right??

Leaving Nairobi on the 27th we headed to Arusha, Tanzania. This was the same drive Edgar and I did 2 weeks ago. However, as slow as the first drive in a shuttle bus was, driving in big truck took twice as long, especially when the radiator started acting up. However, being the first day of the trek, we all were in good spirits and took the long day in stride.

The next few days we spent visiting the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. We left our Troop Carrier behind and headed out in 4x4 safari vehicles. The excursion started slow but ended with a bang in many ways.

We first visited the Ngorongoro Crater. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world's largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera spanning 23 kms and 610m deep. It creates a natural wildlife enclosure area. Our day started by seeing buffalo, hippos, lions, hyenas and the back side of a black rhino. The landscape was beautiful, and although I got to see many hyenas (something I didn't get a lot to see in Masai Mara) I was feeling a little disappointed with the amount of wildlife compared to Masai Mara. However, I was well on my way to spotting the Big 5 once again.

After leaving the Crater we headed 2 hrs east to Serengeti National Park. It was a very long, very very dusty ride. Serengeti is a Masai word that means ''Endless Plains'', and it is endless. The plains stretch for as long as the eye can see. The wildlife on the drive in was scarce and I was again feeling disappointed. However, the day ended on a positive note when we spotted a leopard lying in an Acacia tree right above the road. That was an extremely lucky spotting. The leopard (which is part of the Big 5 Game) was literally right above our heads. A leopard lying in an acacia tree with a Serengeti sunset was truly a beautiful picture.

Our camp for the night was in the middle of the Serengeti park under the stars in our tents. Our guide went over the things we needed to know about sleeping out in the wild the night before. Especially the part about the fact that we will be sleeping in the wild with no protection other than our tent; that there will be lions and hyenas roaming about; and that if we are to get out of our tent during the night make sure we shine our light 360 degrees around the tent looking for eyes before we get out.

Although I slept like a rock and didn't hear anything during the night, I was told the next morning that a hyena visited our camp and carried off a bucket. We were out game driving early and the wildlife were out in full force. After leaving a large group of elephants we were heading out of the Serengeti when we spotted a lion. My first thought was "not another lion". We pulled up behind another truck and all popped our heads out of the roof. Someone said that it was in the middle of a hunt, because a warthog was just on the other side of the road. The Lion looked right at me sticking my head out of the roof and and walked directly toward our vehicle. I actually felt a little nervous and poked my head back in the truck. What happended next was one of the highlights of the trip to date. The lion used our truck as cover while it stocked its prey - unsuspecting impala drinking at the waterhole on the other side of the road. It waited lurking behind our truck until it pounced and killed one of the impala. Fortunately I have it all on film - what a catch!!

Our day and Serengetti excursion ended with another story. One of the passengers who was traveling with his daughter started behaving a little abnormal (being kind with my words) the last two days and it became evident that he was behaving very psychotic. We found out that he just started taking Lariam, an antimalarial drug that may cause psychotic side effects. Well I and the rest of us, especially our guide Mat, can attest to these side effects. After having forceably taking him to the local hospital, he ended up spending a week in an African psych ward! Incidentally, this is the same drug that I am on, however, so far no psychotic behavior being exhibited yet😊

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Photos

Seeing my ride for the first time
The tried and trusted truck that would carry us over 9,000kms across Africa - the beloved A15 LFB.

Getting Stuck. An inauspicious start to our 42 day overland journey.
We got stuck after going the wrong way out of Nairobi. This was just after our guide, Mat, telling us that our driver, Nic, was the best in the company. It turned out that Nic was the best. Driving us safely over 9,000kms through 8 countries. A truly dedicated, exceptionally talented, guy. Thanks Nic.