travelswithalice

Sunday morning, we’re up early for Auric flight 612 to Seronera.

“Don’t sink! Don’t sink! Traffic! Traffic!” 

The disembodied voice of the plane’s collision avoidance system has made me a little jumpy. It was a perfect landing though. 

We’re stopping in Manyara to pick up 4 pax for the 40-minute hop to the Serengeti.

Later, at the Seronera airstrip.

Vincent has prepared morning tea alongside the Lemala camp’s jeep.

We’re back on safari!

It’s our fifth, including an uneventful first in Sri Lanka. Uneventful because at the time, we didn’t know that getting up at 10 is not the done thing on safari; especially not in these parts where the animals seek shelter from the searing heat and snooze for most of the day. 

A Sri Lankan Safari

So we didn’t see much. Never mind; we were hooked.

We then went to South Africa. Mala Mala in the Kruger in 2005 was our first real taste of safari.

An African Safari

Am I safaried out?

It took us 13 years before we could go again. Intermittent plans were oftentimes sabotaged by various reports of political unrest, rampant diseases, mauling by lions, etc.

Last year, at Rattray’s, again in the Kruger, we got our safari mojo back.

The Vanishing Wild World of Africa

Next, we went to Meno a Kwena in Botswana. This was our first tent camp.

Meno a Kwena

Makgadikgadi

Each venue had its own brand of adventure, its own lessons learned. Sri Lanka got us hooked on the safari experience. Mala Mala introduced us to the Big Five: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo.  Rattray’s reinforced lessons in conservation and endangered species. Meno a Kwena got us on the migration trail and gave us a taste for tent camps.

And so, to the Serengeti, where we get up close and personal with the wildlife of Tanzania.

These lions don’t care much for our presence. Time for a selfie!

We cut right into the path of an elephant herd on the river.

Will they gently nudge us aside or swat us out of the way?

Things are getting hot and heavy at the hippo pool.

https://youtu.be/-IPAtRLiAio

A popular stop on the game drive is Black Rock. A leopard and her cub are often spotted there.

Much as we appreciate seeing these beautiful cats, we don’t like having to jostle with the ever present gaggle of vehicles to watch the leopards from afar.

On our last day in the Serengeti, we decide to skip the crowds and go on a real safari of our own. With our driver of course. 

Serengeti is the Maasai word for “endless plain”. We do get a dose of this endlessness as we plough through vast stretches of grass, mud, scrub, and savannah. We’re tracking down cheetah.

Then finally, cheetah!

It’s such a thrill to finally see the cheetahs, one of the last two on my big cat list. This leaves just one other: the tiger. I have to go back to India or Sri Lanka for that.

There’s the cougar and the jaguar too of course... I’ll settle for the cars.😊

We haven’t shaken off the crowds yet. The Cheetah Project jeep arrives and drives off the road, up close to where the cheetahs are. We’re not allowed to do that.

Soon other jeeps begin to converge on the roadside. We beat a hasty exit and go off hopefully to parts unknown.

Vincent hears there’d been two lion kills on a riverside in the south, past the Moru Kopjes.

We zigzag the area all around the suspected crime scene to no avail. The lions must be sleeping off a heavy meal. I’m getting dizzy, we’re going around in circles.

In the distance an elephant herd is heading in our direction. 

“Good!” Vincent says. “Theyll soon wake up the lions and drive them away.”

Although the lion is generally considered king of the jungle, even he respects the mighty elephant. Everyone in the jungle does. There is no known predator of the elephant, save one: humans.

And true enough, as the elephants get into the river, the lions are roused from their siesta. 

They scramble frantically up the river’s edge, a mother and three or four cubs, too quick to tell for sure.

In their haste, they abandon their kill.

This has been the most exciting drive ever! And we’re here on our own, no other jeeps in sight. Just us and wild Africa. Perfect.

Tired and exhilarated by the day’s outing, I opt out of the afternoon game drive. I’ll stay in camp and just chill.

The Maasai guard is a reassuring presence. 

Unexpected guests drop by. Giraffes come over to keep me company. They’re right in front of my tent!

Later, Stuart and Vincent come back to get me so we can watch the sunset on the hill. 

It’s meant to be a dramatic finish to our safari but Jumaa’s hilltop sundowner bar gets rained on. And the sunset is a no-show. 

Undeterred, we carry on. Stuart gamely dons a blanket...

...while I take shelter in the jeep.

Cheers!

Back in camp, it’s time to call it a day.

To Jumaa, Vincent, and Swaleh, we say Asante! And to Lelohe, a Masaai thank you: Ashe! 

Labels: Africa, Lemala, safari, Tanzania

posted by Alice Dimalanta Jones  # July 14, 2019