Sunrise in the Serengeti is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. It is simply spectacular, and though the original Lion King movie does it some justice, seeing it in person is something completely different. The very best I’ve ever seen are those times when preparing for a sunrise balloon ride here – you’re picked up between 4:30 and 5:00 am and taken to the launch site where you’re served coffee while the balloon is being prepared for flight. It’s difficult not to have a few butterflies in your stomach, even for your second time, given the excitement of the moment, watching as the fabric laying on the ground slowly begins to take shape with the immense flashes of the burners filling it with hot air. The real show, though, is the sky as it slowly begins to lighten and then turn a bright orange prior to the sun even reaching the horizon. It is a deeply spiritual moment, knowing that this sunrise is exactly as it was seen by earliest ancestors who inhabited this region millions of years ago.
For the balloon ride, of course, we launch before the sun pierces the horizon to enable us to see this miracle from some distance off the ground and it is truly wonderful. The other way to fully appreciate this moment, though, is from a safari vehicle, leaving before the sun is up. The sky literally looks like it’s on fire in a more intense way than sunset does. The mornings here in the Serengeti can be quite cold before the sun is up, but as soon as the rays of sunshine strike, you can feel the warmth immediately and it’s not long before you begin to peel off your layers of clothing.
This morning, everyone had elected to have coffee at 6 am and to depart the camp at 6:30 to watch as much of sunrise as possible. We had asked to have both our breakfast and lunch on the road, so the kitchen had packed box lunches for both and Joram and Beatus, our guides, had packed them in the vehicles ready to depart on time. We were completely loaded into the vehicles, Joe, Sandy, Jill, and me in the Land Cruiser with Beatus, and the others in Turtle, our Land Rover, with Joram. As we started the vehicles, though, there was an immediate high-pitched sound coming from the engine compartment of Turtle, with water leaking from underneath.
After a few minutes of checking everything out, it was clear that there was a leak from one of the water hoses that could easily be repaired by cutting out the section with the leak and then reattaching it. Everyone exited the vehicles and went to the main tent to eat our breakfast while they worked on repairing the hose which took perhaps thirty minutes. Unfortunately, after filling it back up with water, there was still an air leak in the system and the mechanic (fundi in Swahili) who was at the camp was worried that there was a leak in the head gasket, allowing for air to enter the system, a situation that would not allow us to drive the vehicle for the day.
Given that we could fit everyone, other than Jill and myself, into the Land Cruiser with Beatus, it was decided that they would all go out for the day and that Jill, and I would remain back at camp to relax for the day while the fundi and Joram worked on Turtle. It was a reasonable solution, even though the Land Cruiser was packed to capacity, as those who hadn’t yet been on safari would get to do so, including Leah and Marissa, who’d been only once before. We waved goodbye to our fellow travelers and settled in to spending the day at camp. A new head gasket was being flown into the Serengeti on a commercial flight and would arrive midday for them to begin working on the vehicle. Meanwhile, the camp staff could not have been more accommodating to Jill and me. They made sure we had plenty of water and cold drinks throughout the day as well made a hot lunch for us even though they had already prepared box lunches for us.
The gasket had arrived midday, but it was difficult for me to tell exactly what was being done with the vehicle as it had been moved to another area of the camp where the staff vehicles are parked. The other group arrived back a little before 5 pm, having had a wonderful day game viewing, and everyone showered while we all prepared for a lovely dinner. There was another group arriving at camp that evening, and dinner turned out to be a wonderful buffet with grilled meat and all the extras.
I can’t recall exactly when, but I was told sometime in the late afternoon/evening that they had tried replacing the gasket to no avail as there was still an air leak, and what had been thought to be a simple problem actually turned out to be much more serious as the cylinder head itself had been warped from overheating. It was felt that the vehicle must have been running without water for some time prior, causing the overheating and damage to the head, which was clear would now need to be replaced. A cylinder head was found in Arusha and would be flown into us in the morning, though it would take a number of hours to replace it, meaning that we would need another vehicle to get us home, and Turtle would follow later in the day once it was repaired. In the end, it would take two days for the vehicle to make it back to us in Karatu, but it did return.
An apropos footnote to my story regarding the paved highway across the Serengeti from yesterday has to do with an article that popped up on my web browser from The East African and is dated 3/17/24. Tanzania is submitting a new proposal for a paved highway to UNESCO as we speak. Stay tuned. You can review the article here:
