Lions, and Leopards, and Cheetahs, oh my!- Final Days of Safari

Up until we arrived at the Serengeti the day we left Ndutu, we had seen all of the animals I was hoping to see, with the exception of one rather “large” category: the big cats.

Sure enough, within several minutes of arriving at the Serengeti, we saw a caravan of land rovers circled around a small patch of grass. As we approached the cars, we saw a pride of about 8 or 9 lions feasting on the carcass of a wilderbeast. It was quite a sight. It took a couple minutes to get over the initial shock of seeing a dead animal being devoured right before my eyes. My stomach lurched and then settled as I watched the cubs pull pieces of meat off the body with their forceful jaws. The mothers of the cubs lounged off to the side, using their tails to swat the flies interrupting their restful siesta. One lay just several feet from a land rover and would occasionally get up just to fall back down again. Her stomach would wobble as she wandered from one spot to the next and she licked her mouth continuously, a sign of a satisfying meal.

Not too long after we left the pride to finish their lunch, we came across a group of three cheetahs. To us, it seemed like they were hunting for something but they seemed to be having some logistical problems within the group. One cheetah was quite a bit slower than the other two and kept falling down every couple of meters. None of us could tell if this was a hunting strategy of sorts or the poor cat was just exhausted. We watched them for a while and they never did manage to catch anything.

Driving through the Serengeti, we saw the last of the native big cats. A leopard was perched in a tree and we could just make out the spots with the binoculars. Like the other cats, he seemed pretty intent on spending the day relaxing. I suppose when you have no natural predators, you are afforded that luxury.

Other quick but cool things I learned while in the Serengeti:

• Pride Rock (from Lion King) is actually a real place and I saw a mother lion with a cub (Simba!) lounging at the top. I did see baboons but did not see them hoisting the lion cub into the air.
• Lions, not just leopards, like to lounge in trees. They are much lazier than people give them credit for.
• Wilderbeast are not very intelligent.

After finishing up the safari, we made our way to the Kempinski, a beautiful hotel that seemed extremely out of place in the middle of the Serengeti. It was nice to have a room with walls and an actual shower for a change, but I missed the cozy, outdoorsy feeling of the lodges. I caught up on a little TV before I realized that I was simply wasting time and headed to the gym instead. It was there that I overheard that president Kikwete was staying at our hotel. I made it my mission to locate him but at the end of the night, I came up empty handed. It’s probably better because I have absolutely no idea what I would have said to him. “Jambo” (hello) is pretty much the extent of my Swahili expertise and although I know he speaks English, it would have been much better to embarrass myself in Swahili rather than my native language. That way I’d have something to blame it on.

Dinner that night was such a treat. Literally. The dessert table was probably the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I had to repeat the mantra, ‘Emma you are not full,’ several times to myself so I would not feel quite as guilty as I devoured the chocolate mousse cake, key lime pie, fruit truffle, and other savory snacks that were contained on that glorious table. I was really roughing it, let me tell you. I felt like one of the lions as they bit into that first bloody piece of meat, except instead of blood it was warm chocolate fudge oozing out of a brownie.

But I digress as usual…

The following day, we traveled to our final destination, the Ngorongoro Crater. Out of all of the parks, I would have to say that the crater had the most astounding views. Everything, from the tips of the mountains to the interior of the crater itself was lush, green, and gorgeous. Palm trees sprouted from the very steepest cliffs. Vines wove together to create a canopy overhead as we precariously drove up the side of the crater. It was amazing to see how many ecosystems could be concentrated in one area. One minute we would be driving across a fertile plain, and then like a film reel changing, we would enter a rainforest.

As we traveled through the plains, we saw another group of lions (being their lazy selves of course) and the final member of the big five: the rhinoceros. And not just one rhino, eight of them! Abdul told us that was the most he’d ever seen and was way more than I ever thought I would come across. From a distance, they resembled large buffalo, but staring at them through the binoculars, I could make out the characteristic double horn. Like the elephants, the adult rhinos would hide their babies to conceal them from lions, and I didn’t even realize the babies were there until I really took a good look at them.

The final day in the crater (and of our safari), we traveled to a local masaai boma. We were greeted by a young masaai man who took us into one of the traditional huts to explain the traditions and culture of the masaai people. I’ll admit, it was a little difficult to concentrate on what he was saying for the first several minutes. He spoke English extremely well, but I was extremely claustrophobic in the hut. There was little ventilation inside and a small cooking fire filled up the small space with smoke. After several minutes of breathing through my shirt, I got a little more adjusted to the smell and darkness of the hut. The man (I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m blanking on his name) was in his late twenties and was one of the few in his village to graduate secondary school and complete his education in a government school. He told us about traditional marriages (polygamy is still practiced), healthcare (mostly traditional healing but serious conditions warrant a trip to the hospital), and even technology (he told us he used his cell phone religiously). After my parents bombarded him with a million questions which he happily entertained, we ventured out of the house, which was actually becoming quite cozy, and into the main square. The women gathered on one side, decorated in bright beaded necklaces, earrings, and anklets, and the men stood in their shukkas on the other side. They performed a traditional greeting dance for us which consisted of a lot of gutteral sounds and animated jumping. Ben and my dad jumped with the men and my mom and I were given necklaces and pulled into the celebration. We held the women’s hands as we all sprung up into the air in unison. It was such a unique experience and I felt honored that they had allowed us, even for just a few minutes, to become a part of their culture.

Check out the boma by clicking on the video below