Tanzania Day 6 - Game Drives

Our first full day at camp Serengeti was marked by a very early awakening at 5:30, breakfast at 6 and departure for our first game drive at 6:45.  The temps are much cooler in the morning and it was very windy so we started out in fleeces and jackets, which then came off later as it got very hot.   We had a fabulous first game ride.  First we saw hyenas, a whole clan of them, in a mud hole along the road. They were gnawing on kill and wallowing in the mud and playing with each other.  THen we drove on and saw a pod of hippos wallowing in a pond.  Those things are huge!  After that we drove on and our guide spotted a leopard in the brush.  ON the other side of the road was a herd of elephants.  We didn't know which way to looK!   We wound up following the leopard for the better part of an hour.  He seemed to be looking for kill although he let a number of gazelles go so we finally concluded he wasn't that hungry.  It was fabulous to watch him stalking around however.  He was a big guy.  THen we went back to the elephants and drove right up where they were.  A young male came right over to our truck and right as he got near us he lifted his trunk as if to say hello!  We stayed with the elephants for awhile and then drove on.  We heard from one of the other drivers that they had spotted cheetahs so we drove over to where they were and we saw a whole family, a mother and three cubs.  We watched that family for a very long time.  They were gorgeous and we were able to get lots of shots of them.  They walked along for awhile and then they settled under a tree for a rest.  We watched them for a long time. After we left there we found a lioness under a tree.  Then another family of cheetahs, mother and two cubs.  We then went to the big plain area and had a break surrounded by wildebeest and zebras, who are on migration right now. Hundreds and hundreds of them and they are fine with us stopping there to have a snack and watch them.  On our way back to the campsite, we saw the leopard we had seen earlier, sleeping in a tree.    We also saw hundreds of gazelles and impala, some jackals and a plethora of bird life.  It's truly amazing out there.  We came back for lunch and rest.  I did some yoga to stretch my muscles after sitting in that jeep for hours.  RIding around in that thing is exhausting because it is both noisy and exceedingly bumpy, and, later in the day, very hot and buggy.  I've used a lot of bug spray the past two days!  Our afternoon drive was much shorter.  We headed to a swamp area which was really pretty quiet at first.  We saw a lot of water fowl, a large lizard, herons etc.  Then we came upon another pod of hippos so spent a lot of time watching them.  ON the way back to our campsite we saw some giraffes, lots of Cape buffalo, many of whom we had seen as we started out the afternoon drive, jackals, gazelles,wildebeest and zebras...It just goes on and on.

At our camp, we get shower water only once a day, one  5 gallon bucket per person and we are allowed to shower only then.  Our tent toilets also have a limited water supply so we have learned to be circumspect with flushing so as not to run out of water too quickly. The food at the camp is pretty good and quite plentiful, although this seems to be a drinking crowd and our supply of beer is clearly not going to make it till our last day.  I'll be on water and soft drinks by then it is clear!  I'm not one for camping, but the game drives make it worth it.  The accommodations and inconveniences of camping life are somewhat annoying to me, but all in all I'm tolerating it because the chance to see this wild kingdom here is more than worth it.  The sunrise over the hills was gorgeous this morning also. The sun rises very quickly here.  I assume it is because we are so close to the equator.  One minute it is dark and the next daylight is upon us.  Tomorrow is another early morning, so I'm off to bed now.  5:30 comes way too soon!