Sunrise on the Serengeti is an event that is unlike any other, and the reason that we typically arise very early in the morning to depart well before breakfast and in the dark. Vitalis had given orders that we were all to meet at the main tent early enough for a 6:00 am departure which was about half an hour prior to sunrise. Thankfully, there was coffee and cookies available for everyone as I think there would have been a mutiny had the others been forced to depart without their caffeine. We were in the vehicle and driving off shortly after our set time and heading to a location where sunrise wouldn’t be blocked by any of the mountains that surrounded our camp. Both breakfast and lunch had been prepared for us by the camp kitchen and were safely stowed in Turtle for us to enjoy at a later time.
I had almost forgotten to mention “Swahili Time” to everyone reading this who isn’t already aware of this distinction. When living only miles from the equator, the length of a day changes negligibly throughout the year and sunrise and sunset occur at essentially the same time as well. There is obviously no need for a spring or fall time change which means that Tanzania is either seven or eight hours ahead of our East Coast time depending on the time of year. Swahili Time uses our 6:00 am as essentially midnight, meaning that 1:00 here is really the same as our 7:00 am and so on through 6:00 pm when the numbers reset. They don’t really use am or pm here, but everything is listed in both Swahili Time and Western time when it’s posted on businesses, and since very little happens at night, there is very little confusion, though adding asubuhi (morning), mchana (afternoon), jioni (evening), or usiku (night) can be added after any time to clarify what part of the day you are referring to. Therefore, FAME’s outpatient hours are 8:30 am through 4:30 pm, or 2:30 through 10:30 in Swahili Time.
Shortly after sunrise, we came upon two safari vehicles watching what turned out to be a leopard sitting on the ground under a tree and well-hidden except for its head that protruded slightly above the surrounding grasses. It was clearly looking for prey, and there were a group of zebras nearby who were prime candidates. There was also a mother cheetah and her cub strolling fairly close by the leopard which was a bit surprising. All of the big cats are mortal enemies and, if given the chance, a leopard would certainly kill a cheetah given the fact they were competing for the very same food sources. None of us wanted to see that and, thankfully, the two cheetah strolled on by the leopard without incident. None of us though had a similar sense of attachment to the group of zebras that were nonchalantly meandering in close proximity to the leopard and completely oblivious of its presence. In fact, and I’m pretty certain of those though some of the others might not be willing to admit it, we were all secretly hoping that the leopard would suddenly leap from its hiding place and pounce on one of the zebras. Despite our practically willing the leopard to take action, though, it was apparently not the appropriate time, and the circle of life would have to find another occasion to take place.
It was still quite early, and we had already seen a leopard and two cheetahs, so the day was shaping up quite well for spotting some of the more difficult animals to see here. Our drive took us around to the west of Seronera, the location of the airport and visitor’s center, and we eventually made our way to the little conclave of kiosks and picnic tables adjacent to the visit center where we would eat our breakfast. After breakfast, Vitalis would take Turtle to one of the many workshops in the area to see if he could get the driver’s door unstuck, though in the end, it was a leaky fuel injector that needed repair and the door would have to wait for another time to fix and Vitalis would have to continue climbing over the stick shift to reach the driver’s seat. Breakfast was a fine spread that included toast, hard boiled eggs, fruit, pancakes, mandazi, sausages, coffee, chai, and all the condiments one could imagine.
After breakfast, we made our way north and in very short time, ran across a leopard sleeping in a tree atop one of the many Kopjes in the area. Unfortunately, given that it was high season, there were dozens of other vehicles looking at the same leopard and it was like a game of Tetris with everyone jostling to get the perfect view of the sleeping feline. Leopards are very shy animals that are solitary other than a mother and her cubs, sleeping most of the day in a secluded tree somewhere, and coming out typically at dusk to beginning their primarily nocturnal hunting. I’ve been to the Serengeti when we’ve spotted no leopards at all, and on other trips have found half a dozen as it’s pretty much hit or miss for these oft elusive cats. Leopard cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years during which time they will learn all the necessary life skills for survival.
Shortly after spotting the leopard, we happened upon a very large group of lions that included many young ones, all sleeping after having recently devoured a fresh zebra kill. This pride of lions was in very stark contrast to the ones we had seen yesterday who were incredibly thin and malnourished and it was clear that these individuals had been tremendously successful in their hunting. From here, we continued north in the direction of Ikoma, eventually arriving to the Toboro Plains, a vast expanse of rolling hills only interrupted by underground streams easily identified by the lines of trees that grow above them. It was a gorgeous region that I had never been to before, and we drove far enough north that we were only a couple of hours from the Mara River or the Kenyan border but unfortunately didn’t have enough time to drive all the way there. The Mara River is where the migration crossings are the most impressive with huge herds of wildebeest and zebra crossing north into the Maasai Mara where they are often met by groups of enormous Nile crocodiles determined to prevent them from crossing and rather to make dinner. I was lucky enough to see a crossing once, but it’s never a sure thing when visiting the Northern Serengeti.
We eventually had to turn around and head south towards Seronera where we found another huge pride of lions – at least 16 of them – with a recent wildebeest kill who were all eating. They were behind some trees and not totally visible, but you could easily see them eating and the poor wildebeest’s legs stretched up into the air, no longer moving under their own power, but rather from the tugging of the hungry lions. This was another extremely healthy pride who were obviously very successful and clearly sustaining their young.
We eventually made our way back to Seronera and to the fuel station as we always do at this point in our trip as there are no fuel stations for the entire drive home and there is no AAA here in Tanzania to bail you out should you end up empty. We had been driving essentially non-stop both yesterday and today, as well as all the way from Karatu, and it required less than $50 in diesel to completely fill the tank with about 35 liters of fuel. The Land Rovers are amazingly fuel efficient which is what they are known for. We arrived back in camp just in time for sunset and another lovely dinner. Tomorrow we would be having breakfast in camp and then leaving with lunchboxes for another full day of game drives on our way back home to Karatu.
