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Published: November 19th 2009
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Lioness & the rainbow
One of our favourite shots To go to the Serengeti we had to split up into 4 jeeps and leave the truck behind in Arusha. It was a long enough drive to the Serengeti so we stopped off at the Ngorongoro crater for our lunch and a few photos. Lunch was difficult as there were some black kites in the area that wanted our food just as much as we did. On the way we also had an unexpected break when one of the 4 wheel drives broke down. We found some Masai men to build us a new part for the vehicles suspension out of a tree trunk after our guides drew a picture of what was needed in the sand. Seriously, a spare part for the truck and a second spare should we need it, all made with a machete and a tree trunk. Amazingly it lasted over the next few days and we did not even need the second spare. The Masai men also showed us their BBQ feast and told us that a wife costs 7 - 10 cows, overpriced says Garry.
When we finally got to the Serengeti we went straight on a game drive. Serengeti we found out, means
Ngorongoro Crater
not formed by a meteorite as Garry spent the morning thinking, but a 4km high volcano endless plains in the Masai language. The drive was rather short but we saw loads of animals most interestingly an injured lioness who walked right past our jeeps. We also saw quite a few different animals around a watering hole at about dusk including some very cute baby elephants. At this point it was time to head to the camp site where we put up our tents in the dark and it started to rain lightly, not quite 5 star but all part of the experience. During dinner we heard a story about the camp site we were staying at. The toilets are a bit of a walk away from the tents and we were warned that if we needed to go in the middle of the night to keep a watch out for eyes reflecting back off your torch light. Apparently someone had previously been stuck in a toilet cubicle all night when they went to go to the toilet and whilst in there, realised that a lion had walked in. Needless to say we all had rather nervous sleeps listening out for lion roars.
Next morning we got up for another early morning game drive. This time
Masai Men Repair team
These guys helped us out with the breakdown, tree trunk and machete. we saw 2 baby cubs playing in the distance. They gave us all a shock when they woke up the male lion which we hadn't seen as he was hidden in the grass sleeping. A leopard having a snooze in a tree was spotted and Garry noticed a cat which looked like a small leopard cross cheetah but turned out to be a serval cat. We saw our first kill which we are told is quite rare to see - however it's not what you may think. It was a blood thirsty blue herron smashing and swallowing a rather large mole rat in one go. And after a particularly good spot by one of the drivers we got to watch a cheetah stalk and chase a gazelle, unsucessfully, but still exciting.
After the game drive we went back to the camp for lunch and packed up our tents, and then we were off on the drive to the Ngorongoro crater. On the way we stopped at the Olduvai Gorge which is the birthplace of mankind. One of the oldest fossil finds of early man was found here - it is believed the find is 1.75 million years old. The
drive took a bit longer than expected when the jeep we were in took a turn for the worst. As we were driving along we started to smell something funny, and then saw some smoke coming from the bonnet. When the guide got out of the jeep to inspect what was going on and told us to get out of the jeep quick we knew something was wrong - apparently our jeeps engine was on fire. Not to worry though, a bit of sand on the engine soon sorted that out! And we were off again, only to break down twice more on the way to the camp site. Driving around we noticed very few people, however as seems to happen in the Serengeti during stops, Masai people seem to come out of nowhere for a chat and a nosey. One even tried to sell Garry his spear. We managed to make it to the campsite before night fall and set up our tents.
We woke up to see some zebras in the campsite. Surprisingly enough, we were up early again for another game drive, this time in the crater. We finally saw a black rhino, making up the
Lioness close up
up for a stroll between our jeeps fifth of the Big 5. It was pretty far in the distance and could only be seen through binoculours so unfortunately our camera wasn't cut out for it. We were very lucky to see one as there are apparently only 22 in the crater. We also saw lines and lines and lines of wildebeest, all following one another. There were hyenas and a huge hippo pool with some babies swimming around. Also thousands of animals around a watering hole, it's the Africa you imagine. We saw 3 lions sleeping in a tree. Although it looked quite uncomfortable they seemed to be doing ok. As we were leaving the crater, we saw a black maned lion, again apparently a rare thing to see. He was with a lioness and they were sitting watching the lines of wildebeest walking by, possibly looking at the dinner menu for the night! At this point our jeep started making some funny noises again and we began to get quite concerned seen as we were still in snacking distance of the lions, but the driver got out and patched it up again and we were good to go. The afternoon was spent driving back to Arusha.
An extra notice to our faithful readers, we had a hard time choosing photos for this one so we've snuck a few extra photos in so make sure you click on page two at the bottom to see them all.
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Graham
non-member comment
Hi
Great shot with the rainbow, you guys are getting the hang of this :)