I knew we’d be less than a few hours from the Serengeti during our time volunteering in Musoma, but I chose to ignore it. We’d already been to two game parks in Kenya. Trying to do everything surely leads to exhaustion. Our intent is not to rush around the world with a mighty checklist. Yet in the end, we went to the Serengeti :) the lure of seeing big wild animals is indeed strong!! Except for Will, who chose to stay behind with the teenagers.
It turned out we were able to tag along on a 2-day Serengeti trip already planned for another volunteer, a pharmacist from Ireland. He started his career in Wales and met his wife there too. Not just anywhere in Wales but the exact nook where I have roots. It was sweet to geek out on a shared love of place!!
On our first afternoon we didn’t waste anytime seeing elephants, antelopes, monkeys and the wild vast plains of this incredible land. Herons too.
Before sunset we went on a guided safari walk. We wandered around the bush near our camp. Our guide Daniel had followed a life path that started in a nearby village, to a coastal boarding school, to university and a business degree, to a great job in the capital until his heart called him back to the Serengeti. We all walked with sticks for a bit of stability, to beat back thorny plants and perhaps kill a hyena. No, but you never know. Sticks really are weapons to the locals. We saw plants, birds, birds nests and some wildebeest horns. It seemed perhaps unlikely we’d see any big animals. And then there were three giraffes. Awe. For a few minutes some of them froze. Literally to hide from us. ‘Maybe they won’t see me if I freeze’ can be a good strategy unless you’re a giraffe. Maybe that works for other animals?? But the bush is really not that bushy and we just gazed at their beauty. I see you.
The next morning we woke before the crack of dawn, loaded up and hit the road. We were staying just outside the official park. It had rained overnight and there was some wild Land Cruiser driving to get back to the main dirt roads!! We were told the animals might be lower key since they move less when the grass is wet. Drove through the gates of the Serengeti and five minutes later we saw four lions. Mission accomplished. Until Justin told me he really wanted to see a cheetah too (spoiler alert: we did not accomplish that mission). Big cats are something else. Grace and power. Wow.
The sunrise was stunning. Watching all kinds of animals on the vast plains was stunning. We even saw another cat. Sharing it with our Irish pharmacist friend was a delight. Eventually the sun gave way to cloudy skies which is honestly a super cool way to see game.
We stopped at hippo pool in a river and the hippos did not disappoint. What a funny species that mostly lurks low in water and occasionally has a good teeth gnashing in pairs. Apparently 500 people are killed by hippo each year in Africa. Salt in the wound is hippos are herbivores. They only kill if they feel threatened, so they don’t even eat you. They are just getting you out of the way I suppose the best way they know how.
We had a lovely encounter with another couple of groups of giraffes. Justin noticed the most unbelievably subtle act of the giraffe swallow. If they were chewing, and you paid close attention, every minute or so a little wave would go down the entire neck and often back up. I assume they do that re-chewing thing. Once you saw it, it was mesmerizing.
After lunch at a posh Serengeti hotel restaurant we returned to our non-posh ways and promptly drove into some kind of elephant confrontation. For the first time I saw pissed off Elephants up (too) close. Holy smokes. I couldn’t understand why the driver turned off the jeep. But he did. Buddy, I need the getaway car fired up and ready to go!!! The big Elephants circled up around the young ones. Ears flared, feet stomped, trunks whipped and they yelled like pissed off Elephants ;) Maybe a fight within the group? Maybe protecting the young ones from a threat? Stomping the ground to kill snakes? Black Mambas and even Cobras (both very common) can kill small elephants. We will never know but it was the kind of anger that makes you pissed at everyone, including us. Eventually we high tailed it out of there.
We drove home in the late afternoon sun. And now we have stories to tell about the time we went to the Serengeti on a whim.
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