On the plains of Africa...part 2

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Day 5 - Serengeti

The first animals we came upon were several groups of hyenas, including cubs. The cubs are almost cute…almost. We then saw our cheetah and her two cubs again. This time they were hungry. Mom hid the cubs in the long grass and set out to catch a Thompson. There was a large group of Thompsons moving in front of her. They would look at her and stop and sometimes one would run away but then they’d look down and just start eating again. Inconceivably dumb these animals seem to be. Unfortunately the Thompsons all moved past before mom found one she liked.

We then came across our favorite pair of mating lions. As our guide Godwin kept telling the other drivers who pulled up “you’re not old enough to see this” so read with caution. The crazy thing about lions is that they mate every 15 minutes for 7 days straight. So, that’s 4 times an hour, 24 hours a day (96 times a day), for seven days for a total of 672 times. If not, she might not get fully pregnant…the obstetrician in the crowd couldn’t explain that. Now, for those of you who don’t know how you could make time for this, let me explain the process. Male lion yawns, female lion yawns. They both stand up and walk a few feet, female lies down, male climbs on, a few seconds of …well…humping I suppose, maybe a love bite on her ear and a little growl from him. Then he climbs off, she rolls on her back, he walks away a few feet and lies down. Total time from yawn to asleep again 1 minute 41 seconds. Not as impressive as you might expect from one of the most powerful animals on earth. King of the jungle my ass! Not to get things too out of sequence but there is a continuation of the lion mating story that I may as well include here. The next day we came upon the same mating pair…but…there was another female near by. We all thought that was an awkward situation but apparently we know nothing. The second female stood up, walked past the male and lay down. He walked over, mounted her and they mated. The first female didn’t even open her eyes. In the lion world apparently this sort of thing is okay. But guys, before you start hi-fiving and saying “atta boy” and wishing you were a lion, there is bad news. This guy doesn’t get to eat for a week and is literally exhausted when the week (or more if the second female started later) is finished. Almost certainly another male, or pair of “coalition brothers” (brothers that travel together) will challenge him at the end of this week and will take over his pride. Short term gain for long term pain.

We then passed by lions sleeping on a rock. Not so unusual you would think. There was a few brazen Thompsons running sprints in front of the rock that seemed to be goading the lions. We turned away for a minute and then one lioness got up to respond. She ran down the rock and chased one of the Thompson’s into the bushes. We then hear this almighty yell that translates as “oh F**k my life is over” as the lioness bit the leg. Amazingly though the Thompson managed to escape when the lioness let go to try to grab his neck. They then chased each other a little bit and the Thompson got away - appearing to be running on 3 legs with a large gash on his leg. The lioness gave up and then stared at us. I’m not sure if she was saying “you didn’t see that” or “that was your fault” and then sauntered back to her sleeping spot. It was pretty exciting, but none of us was ready for the photos…animals!!

The rest of the day was pretty tame in comparison…but we were really happy with the morning.

Day 6: Serengeti

Today we headed out of the Serengeti (twice because Shiona forgot her mobile phone). On the second attempt at leaving we almost ran over a Cobra on the road. He was in that classic pose of head erect ready to bite you. We then drove out the Serengeti. One the way we went to the Leaky museum which chronicles the findings of the skulls from prehistoric humans. It was fascinating to see that man began in Africa up close. We wondered if the right wing evangelical American trucks just miss this museum out! We then drove back round Ngorongoro Crator and ended up at Lake Manyara. We didn’t look at this today, but went to visit a Massai village. It was interesting to see how they live and we saw the school that Massai Wanderings had built for the community. Tonight we slept in a hotel version of a Massai village with a fantastic view over a hippo pool.

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Photos

Hyena cubs
After lion king these guys get a bad name.

Lion sex, part 1
Getting some lion style with a hickey for good measure.

Lion threesome
Poor guy...2 women, every 15 minutes for a week. Look at him...skinny already!

Wiggle your legs
post coital bliss.

I'm going to catch you!
Oh no you are not!!

Cheeta
Stalking her prey, but we got in between her and her 2 cubs so she aborted.

Strutting her stuff
Just wandering around...

Crater view
On the way back through the crater the clouds lifter and the view was great.

So you think you can dance?
Massai village dancing.

Comments

[Jenn]

Awesomes pics!
The pictures you guys are posting are AMAZING!! Kudos to the photographer(s)!! Love the commentary! Keep it coming! (Like the male lion...I guess... Is that inappropriate?!)