Though no one likes to get up before sunrise, let alone 5:00 am, when the beds you’re sleeping in are more comfortable than those at home, there is a method to our madness and this simple form of torture we choose to inflict. Sunrise in the Serengeti is something that everyone in the world should have a chance to experience at least once in their lifetime – the vast plains and savannah transform from the quiet darkness and unknown of the night into a spectacular eruption of light that almost defies an adequate description of what unfolds before your eyes. And even though today’s sunrise was less dramatic than I have seen in the past due to the extent of cloud cover that was present, we had still begun our game drive in the cover of complete darkness with neigh even a sliver of light, and the landscape and everything it had to offer was now slowly coming into view with each additional degree of sunrise over the horizon. We could still see the soft orange hues reflecting off the clouds as the plains slowly awakened for another day wonderment in the Serengeti. What would be first for us to spot, no one knew.
The exit of the Sopa Valley from camp was a short drive in darkness with only our headlights to mark the way, and once we reached it, we turned north in the direction of Seronera, the site of the airport, visitor’s center, and the largest village of activity in the Serengeti. The roads remained very wet with lots of long stretches of mud and water that either had to be navigated head on or detoured around. Driving here, or anywhere for that matter, on dirt roads that are often mere trails, the rule is to follow the most recently made tracks as this will give you the greatest chance of success and not getting stuck. If someone else made it through (meaning you didn’t see their vehicle stuck in the mud in front of you), then there was an excellent chance they made it and so would you. This is also key for large pools of water or rivers you need to traverse – look to the other side, and if you see tire tracks exiting the pool then you’ll make it through as well. Sounds rather common sense, though not something you practice or are taught at home, that’s for certain.
One of the best things about having a guide (not to mention the fact that I’d get lost in the Serengeti given just how large it is), or at least someone who speaks Swahili in the vehicle, is that all the guides share information on the short-wave radio we have. One of the frequencies (Ranger Safaris) is always used to keep everyone alert to sightings and emergencies, and there is no competition among the guides to keep sightings to themselves as that serves no purpose. They are all friends and all look out for each other – if a safari vehicle is ever stopped at the roadside with a problem, you can be certain there will be several other vehicles also stopped to assist. Off in the far distance close to the river, I could see a number of vehicles stopped looking at something and, sure enough, Vitalis received word that there had been a leopard sighting. This would be a great start to our morning, if in fact it were true.
Leopards, or “chui” in Swahili, are solitary animals and, if you ever see two adults together, it is because it is mating season. You can often see a female leopard with her cubs or adolescent children, but you’ll never see a group of them congregating, otherwise. Their territories are very large, and the best place to spot leopards is in trees near water, typically a river, but also near lakes or marshes. I have seen many leopards on the ground moving between their resting places and they are quite striking to see as they walk through the tall grasses with their tail high almost resembling a flag that would seem otherwise counterintuitive if they somehow alerted their prey to their presence.
When on the ground during the day, though, they are rarely hunting for they do so at night and are completely stealth – sneaking up to within several feet of their prey, often wildebeest or their calves, or antelope, before they suddenly pounce on them without warning and no chase. They then drag their prey into the tree after having suffocated it (cats always suffocate their prey first as opposed to hyenas or African hunting dogs), and can lift animals more than three times their own body weight high up into their tree to protect it from scavengers such as lions or hyenas who might steal it from them, and also to cache it there to eat later. I have driven through areas where there are the many remnants of carcasses in several trees, some with remaining meat, and others just skin and bones, left by a leopard either to return or not.
The two things to most likely attract a large number of vehicles in the Serengeti are either a leopard or a rhino. The vehicles I had seen in the distance were at the base of a tree, so it was most likely the leopard that we were heading to see. Sure enough, it was a male leopard lying comfortably in the fork of a large acacia trunk – we knew it was a male not only by the shape of its head (larger and broader than a female), but also because it wasn’t straddling the branches as a female would due to the difference in their genitalia which would be extremely uncomfortable for a male to do. There were several cars already there, everyone with whatever cameras they had, some iPhones, some expensive cameras with very long lenses, all trained on the solitary leopard who was awake, but resting and clearly cognizant of all the commotion it was causing with nary a care. Leopards are particularly magnificent animals with an incredibly lovely coat, as muscular as a lion, but as sleek as a cheetah. The cheetah is small, but fast like a guided missile when it takes off after prey. The lion is powerful, often hunts in a group, but clumsy and brings its prey down with brute strength. The leopard is perfection and a combination of the two – fast, precise, strong, and equally deadly.
After our leopard viewing, it was time to have our breakfast, and there were a number of us who were hoping to find a Western bathroom to use rather than our usual “checking the tires” while on the trail in which case we would be leaning against the back bumper of the car with others on the lookout hoping there were no approaching vehicles. Thankfully, the visitor center was close by, and we made our way there to set up a lovely breakfast that had been packed in a hamper for us by the camp staff – hard boiled eggs, toast, pancakes, sausages, fresh fruit salad, hash browns, juice, and plenty of hot coffee. A mob of banded mongooses (also called a business, troop or pack, and either mongooses or mongeese – all are correct) were running off in the distance, though returned several times during our stay to check out the situation. Our leftovers were quickly accounted for after we finished as there a number of local workers in the kiosks around the picnic tables who were quite grateful for the food and helped Vitalis repack everything absence the scraps.
From there, we drove south and east, hoping to reach the Gol Kopjes, though it was readily apparent that there had been far too much rain in that region for us to continue and we eventually backtracked over firmer ground to avoid getting stuck with no one around. Though we have a winch on Turtle (albeit, useless without the controller), there is little use out here in the Serengeti where there are no trees on which to anchor. The only hope of rescue are other vehicles, and given the season (low), there have been very few vehicles in sight during the entire day. The best advice here is to avoid getting stuck. We covered lots of ground during the day, spotting all the usual suspects here – wildebeest, zebra, Thompson gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, Cooke’s hartebeest, eland, topi, hyenas, lions, giraffe, elephants, jackal, hippos, and every species of bird imaginable as Vitalis knows them all. We stopped for lunch at the Miracle Balloon launch site which is only in use at dawn when the balloons take off and had our delicious box lunches from camp – a chicken wrap in chapati, muffin, vegetables, an apple and a juice box. And oh yes, a piece of chocolate.
We ate our lunch rather late, so headed back to Seronera to the fuel station to fill the vehicle. We had actually used very little diesel in the two full days of driving as we were never driving fast, though to safely make it back to Karatu tomorrow, we would fill the tank back up. I have no doubt that if there weren’t any fuel there, as has happened in the past, we could have easily made it all the way back with fuel to spare. Earlier, Vitalis had told me that one side of our rear stabilizer bar had broken so that it was connected. Though this was not a crucial issue and wouldn’t prevent us from getting home, it was annoying as it allowed for excessive body roll on the rough roads and was more uncomfortable for us passengers. We have had to arrange numerous impromptu repairs of our vehicle here in the Serengeti as well as elsewhere over the years, and I was no stranger to the various workshops that existed in Seronera – the balloon companies all have numerous vehicles that require work, so they have a large compound there where I have spent many an afternoon awaiting completion of these projects. Once, our drive shaft (or propellor shaft as it is known here and in Britain) was getting ready to fall off the vehicle on the crater rim road – thankfully, we had someone with us who knew the mechanics working at the Sopa Lodge who were able to remove it (who knew that you could remove the drive shaft on a 4-wheel-drive and only run with front wheel drive – good to know in a pinch) and get us back on the road after two hours work for which they only charged us $16 – and on a Sunday too boot!
We pulled into the only fuel station in Seronera to refill our vehicle, and, with the hope of finding someone there to repair our stabilizer bar, discovered that one of the two mechanics who have always worked on Turtle in the past in Arusha for several years in between my trips, was actually there at the station working for another safari company repairing their vehicles. What an incredible stroke of luck for he knew our vehicle inside and out and I knew him to be a very dependable mechanic who had driven the vehicle to Karatu on several occasions after it had gone back to Arusha for repairs. Vitalis explained what needed to be fixed and he went to work right away, getting under Turtle with his wrenches after first finding the correct spare parts necessary in a big five-gallon container filled to the brim with nuts and bolts, rubber bushings, and clamps that were in various states of disarray, but with the right knowledge, would work perfect for the project at hand. After probably twenty minutes, he had the job completed, and Turtle was now back in perfect operating order. How much did our impromptu repair in the middle of the Serengeti, performed by a super fundi (expert) who just happened to know our vehicle cost? He asked me for 15,000 TShillings, or $6 USD – I handed him 20,000 and told him to keep the change.
By now, it was time to head back to camp as the sun was getting lower – we had filled our tank with diesel for the drive home and had even somehow repaired our stabilizer bar. The roads were once again full of water and mud, but we seemed to navigate everything successfully…until we didn’t. We tried to cross an expanse of mud that was unfortunately a bit too long for us to make and as we were almost all the way across, we lost traction and the wheels began to throw mud in all directions. After a few quick shifts from reverse to forward, then low gear, it was readily apparent that we were hopelessly mired in muck and in the middle of that vast expanse of plains known as the Serengeti. Vitalis got out of the vehicle to assess the situation, but things didn’t look very good for the home team. It appeared as though it was the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and two strikes and we were several runs down when all of the sudden, two other safari vehicles appeared some distance behind us, but were heading for the same stretch of muck that had just swallowed Turtle. Vitalis ran to higher ground, waving his arms and shouting to direct them around the obstacle we had found, and, after doing so successfully so they were able to get in front of us, he spoke with them briefly to see if they could pull us out.
Thankfully, I had asked Vitalis to purchase the aforementioned tow rope (recall, I had actually asked for a recovery strap that would have some stretch and extra oomph to get us out, but so be it), which, combined with the tow rope that they had, was long enough to reach Turtle with them at a safe distance. With all of us still in the vehicle (getting out would have made a muddy mess of each of us), we were safely pulled to freedom on the first try, and incredibly grateful to have been rescued. Other than the fact that it was a Land Cruiser that pulled us out, a definite blow to Turtle’s self-esteem, as well as mine, and something that should never happen to any respectable Land Rover, it was another successful game drive and another story for the residents to tell their children and grandchildren. We rolled into camp no worse for the wear other than a few frayed nerves and an incredibly muddy vehicle and settled in for another lovely dinner at Dancing Duma once we had all showered and cleaned up. That night, we sat around the firepit, or “bush TV” as it is known here, while Vitalis’s boots dried aside the flames. Tomorrow would be another exciting day in the Serengeti.
