We wrapped up our safari in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater almost a week ago, and just now have access to WiFi with which to post our videos. Sorry for the delay! Some quick notes on our safari, and safaris in general:
- We got incredibly lucky. On Day 1 in the Serengeti, we saw dozens of giraffes, elephants, wildebeest, warthogs, zebras, and antelope, which was a great precursor to Day 2...
- BIG CAT DAY. We started out watching a group of four cheetahs breakfasting on an antelope before being mesmerized for several hours by a pride of around twenty lions napping, rolling around, and climbing trees. In the afternoon, we were amazingly lucky and happened to pull up just as a leopard was descending from a tree to hunt. If you're ever been on safari, you know that leopards are very, very shy, and if you see one, it's usually just for a second; Wikipedia notes their 'notorious ability for stealth.' This leopard, however, sprang lightly out of her tree, walked towards the road where we were parked, sauntered across the road, and finally disappeared into the tall grasses in the distance to hunt. However, she did leave her two cubs in the tree, and we could just make out their tiny housecat-sized bodies through the leaves. We waited there for at about an hour, knowing that the mother would return eventually. However, before she did, a troop of baboons began passing between the tree and our car (cue menacing music). Two or three loped by without paying the tree much notice, but then one stopped and began looking up at the branches. Several more also stopped, peering upwards. Slowly but surely, the group of around twenty baboons began converging at the base of the tree, all either craning their necks skyward, or looking around for signs of full-grown leopards. (Important to know for this story: baboons eat meat, and baboons and leopards are not BFFs.) M, our guide, Sham, and I held our breath, and kept turning our heads to scan the opposite horizon for Mama Leopard's figure, waiting for her to come flying treewards to save her cubs. She didn't appear. One baboon climbed the tree and disappeared into the leaves. The cubs had long since retreated to the tree's uppermost branches, out of sight. After the first baboon broke the seal, another fifteen followed. Moments later, we saw one section of branches shake violently, leaves and twigs showering to the ground, accompanied by loud screeching and hissing. Still no sign of Mama. We were playing the National Geographic narration for the scene in our heads, something having to do with the Serengeti's tragic life cycles and hunter/hunted paradigm, read in a soothing British accent. The baboons stayed in the tree for half an hour, with the first ten minutes or so marked by several violent outbursts like the first. After that, things quieted down. While we hadn't seen the cubs' bodies fall to the ground, we could only assume they were dead. Eventually, the baboons made their way down to the ground, and continued on. The mother still hadn't returned when we had to return to our campsite (there's a curfew in the Serengeti to help rangers identify poachers) but our hearts were heavy, since leopard cubs look like this. Over dinner that night, we were approached by another couple who had naughtily broken curfew, but they reported that while the mother never returned to whoop a healthy amount of rosy baboon butt, both cubs were spotted lower in the branches after we left. Hurray!
- We spent our Day 3 in the Ngorongoro Crater. On the way, we saw a million zebras - seriously - and once in the crater, we got to see more of the same animals, plus a few hyenas and four of the only 21 remaining rhinos in Tanzania. (See? We got really, really lucky.)
- While M went on safari in Kenya when he was 14, this was my first real experience in the bush. While I knew that 'going on safari' meant 'seeing a lot of animals,' I didn't realize it also means 'sitting in a car all day while getting fed by your cook as though you were climbing Kili.' It's basically a totally sedentary experience, besides the part where you stand to look through the pop-top roof of your Land Cruiser. We are in serious need of some exercise, so it's ideal that we're being hosted by our friends Carrie and Sim in the only neighborhood in Dar es Salaam where running is feasible. Thanks, Carrie and Sim!
And here's a video of a lion cub who climbed into a tree and was scared to come down. Much like our 'Gorilla Eating for a Minute' video, you won't regret you watched it.
That's all for now. Next stop: Zanzibar, yes oh yes.
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