There is just nothing that comes close to sleeping in a tent (no matter how glamorous it might be) in the Serengeti – last night there were males lions roaring looking for mates, hyenas calling, rain, thunder, and lightning to remind us all just where we were, and not to wander outside for any reason. The sounds of the night were wonderful, but waking up very early, as we were doing for our pre-dawn game drive, gave us the chance to enjoy coffee in our tents looking out over the Serengeti savannah in what early morning light was present. We all gathered at the main tent, the sleep still in our eyes, and readied ourselves for another adventure. We would be bringing both our breakfast and lunch with us today and would find suitable places to enjoy them.
The benefit of the pre-dawn game drive is, of course, experiencing sunrise on the trail in the middle of the Serengeti. The sunrise scene from the Lion King was pretty much spot on when it comes to what it feels like, though it really couldn’t convey the feeling of having the warm rays of the sun suddenly appear and warm everything with its radiant energy. This morning’s sunrise did not disappoint in any way, and there were plenty of “ohs” and “ahs” coming from vehicle as the sky slowly became orange, followed by the bright orb of the sun eventually peaking into a spectacular show of nature.
We drove around the Seronera area for most of the morning, looking for cheetah and leopards, and by breakfast time, we were close to the visitor’s center where there were tables for us. Breakfast was enjoyable with sausage, hard-boiled eggs, toast, doughnuts, pancakes, and fruit, as well as lots of coffee and tea. Yombe managed to find a nice refrigerator magnet for his collection at home at one of the little shops that surrounded the temporary picnic area as they are still doing lots of construction here.
As we left the visitor’s center area and began to make our way south for our continued game drive, we were nearing the airport when we came upon a head-on accident between safari vehicles which had just occurred and thankfully did not involve any tourists. One of the drivers was pretty shaken up and still in his vehicle as we arrived, so I got out as Vitalis was pulling our vehicle to the side of the road and helped to pry open his door and free him. He had injured his right wrist and suffered a large skin tear that required some antibiotic cream and bandaging. I have always carried a first aid kit with me in the car, though had not had to use it in the past, but it certainly came in handy this time as I was able to provide a very basic bandage and used Meredith’s triple antibiotic cream rather than what was in the kit. It reminded me, though, that I need to replace the kit since it’s probably 5+ years old and some of the contents may have expired.
We carried on with our game drive and were fortunate to see lots of animals along the way, though the leopard seemed to elude us. We found a lone male cheetah that seemed to be hunting, but there were no game in sight, and a mother with two young cubs sitting on an anthill as they typically do as they can survey the horizon from there. By one of the kopjes where there is a large spring, we ran across two male lions laying in the road, clearly sleeping with full bellies after having feasted on a kill. There was a female and several juveniles up on the rocks as well. As we looped around the spring, though, we happened on the bulk of the pride which was huge – around a tree were seventeen female lions and cubs all sleeping in the shade while another male, more senior to the other two we had spotted earlier, was also sleeping under a tree a short distance away. Far off in the distance, were some small herds of gazelle that seemed to have been spooked, and it didn’t take long to spot a group of hunting lions not far from them. Lions have to sneak up on their prey as they can only run at top speed for short distances, and it was unlikely that these lions were going to do so. After a bit, the five females that had been out hunting made their way back to the bulk of the pride with the alpha female, who had a tracking collar on, leading the way. All in all, this pride consisted of more than 25 individuals that we could see ourselves.
Through the Central Serengeti, there were massive herds of wildebeest and zebra that made up the body of the great migration and were quite happy with the condition of the grasses here. We eventually made our way a lunch spot that sits above one of the luxury camps and is a place I’ve come before with Vitalis to look over the savannah. The camp brings guests up here for sundowners (drinks) as it has a great vantage point for the sunset. After lunch, we made our way back towards the giant herds of the migration, and at one point, stopped at a watering hole that was filled with animals where were quite skitzy and would constantly come down to drink, then shoot back up the hill for some reason that wasn’t always entirely clear to us. I imagine being an animal of prey in the Serengeti wouldn’t be the most relaxing thing in the world, constantly worrying whether it might be your last moment on earth.
In the late afternoon, the sky clouded up a bit more than it had been, and as we drove in the direction of our camp, lightning flashed above the far distant hills warning of the rain that was liking coming in our direction. Close to our camp, we came across a huge tower of giraffes (yes, a group of giraffes is referred to as a “tower” or “journey”) with great many calves and juveniles among the group. The lighting was just amazing as it was the “golden hour,” that time just after sunrise and just before sunset when the ambient lighting is perfect for photography. It surely showed.
We made it back to camp a bit later than anticipated and after sunset, but there was still time for us to shower before dinner which was such a luxury. The dinner tonight was fully African and incredibly delicious as the chef at Dancing Duma is just amazing when you think of the kitchen being out in the middle of nowhere. It looked like it would likely rain overnight so the roads would be muddy in the morning, though simply saying muddy would not be a fair description of what we encountered the following morning.
