So...it's been awhile since we told you how the rest of our safari turned out. Did we get lost in the Serengeti? How many of the Big Five did we see? Did we almost get attacked by the locals again? How many lions did we see? What did we sing while sitting around the campfire? Did we even survive the eight days?
For those short on time, here's the answers to those questions: Yes, for about half a day. Four of the five. Only some rock throwing by the local Maasai village boys. 57 total in 8 days. The song "Barbie Girl". And, yes, we survived.
Here are a few of the highlights from our last four days on safari along with our favorite pictures. Good luck to anyone who wants to look through our Picasa albums with all 562 pictures we took during the eight days.
Day 5
- Woke up in the morning not sure what the noise we heard from camp the night before was. Was it Cody snoring or was it lions growling? (We had been treated to lovely serenades coming from Cody's tent for a few nights now.) When Cody came out of his tent in the morning and asked if we heard the lions we knew it wasn't his snoring. It's a good thing there were fences around our camp....oh wait, there weren't any fences.
- Number of lions seen today: 14. Number of times we became jaded to seeing lions: none. The 14 we saw included a pride of six lionesses hunting some gazelle and a huge male lion that walked within 10 feet of our vehicle.
- Spent our evening sitting around the campfire. Once all of the other tourists from Italy and elsewhere went to bed early, the guides and cooks from the other camps broke out the Tusker Beer. We stayed up late drinking Tusker and singing "Barbie Girl" around the fire. (Fido started the singing, but Ashley and Rachel knew almost all the words. For everyone's sake, Cody and Dustin stuck to drinking.)
Day 6
- Saw four of the "Big Five" in just a few minutes today....a leopard, lots of lions, elephants, and a huge herd of cape buffalo.
- Got lost taking the "back way" out of the Serengeti. Ended up in the middle of nowhere in a Maasai village where, judging by the reaction we got, they had probably never seen white people before. As we were driving towards the village some of the kids threw rocks at the vehicle. Once we got to the village the kids ran and hid behind their parents.
- After the most bumpy, dusty 8 hr ride any of us had ever been on we finally arrived to our campsite for the night. In the 8 hrs of driving we saw a total of three other vehicles. After the ride we all had a new found appreciation for the Land Rover we were in...it could handle anything.
Day 7
- Took a break from the vehicle and animal watching to stretch our legs. We hired two young Maasai boys to bring us to a beautiful series of waterfalls in a small slot canyon. They were tucked back in a small river valley with no one else around for miles. Had a great time cooling off in the pools and playing under all the cascades.
- On the way back from the waterfalls we stopped for a tour of a Maasai village. These people were far and away the least Westernized people we've met on our travels. We're talking houses made from sticks and poop, crazy piercings and huge rings in their ears, diets consisting almost entirely of goat (meat, blood, insides...they eat it all), and obviously no electricity or Western conveniences. It was one of the only places we've been on our travels where we didn't see the locals wearing any Western clothes. The only exception was the one guy we saw walk out in the full traditional clothing and beads, except...What is that on his feet? A pair of old Nikes? We have no idea where he got them.
Day 8
- Finished up our last day with the neatest thing we saw while on safari - a pride of nine lions hunting a cape buffalo. As we pulled up, they had him surrounded and he was frantically fighting off their advances. Eventually he made it into a cluster of trees where we couldn't see him. We anxiously watched as the lions patiently waited for him to emerge. Finally he came running, full speed, out of the trees and straight at our vehicle. The lions gave chase for awhile, but eventually let him go as he passed within 15 feet of the front of our car. We blame his escape on the fact that Rachel was cheering for him to get away.
On to the pictures. For those who can't spare the four hours or so needed to go through all 562 pictures we took over the eight days, here are some of our favorites.
Our pre- and post-safari departure dinner spot: Khan's - Auto Parts store by day, delicious Indian BBQ by night:
Exploring the slot canyon waterfalls near Lake Natron:
Maasai boy chasing his donkeys home:
Elephants in Tarangire Nat'l Park:
Zebra in our camp on the Ngorongoro Crater rim:
Wildebeest crossing the road in Tarangire Nat'l Park:
The crew in our trusty Land Rover:
Serengeti sunset:
Maasai Village with an active volcano in the background:
Hanging out with the Maasai:
The King of Ngorongoro Crater:
Mmmm....zebra:
The shot of the trip, lions chasing a cape buffalo right past our vehicle:
The big guy that walked within 10 feet of our vehicle:
The big guy that walked within 10 feet of our vehicle:
Somehow the zebra must have known that the lion had just ate and was taking a nap:
Giraffe up close and personal in Tarangire Nat'l Park:
Elephant crossing in Tarangire Nat'l Park:
Cheetah in the Serengeti:
3 comments:
What was the 5th animal of the big 5 (hippo, rhino?)
Eric
Was the fence (entangled wood) around the Maasi to protect from lions?
The 5th animal, the one we didn't see, was the rhino.
Yeah, the fences are to keep the lions out. Apparently if the lions are really hungry they just jump over the fence and grab a goat though. So I guess they're just for keeping the lazy lions or the lions that have already eaten out.
nice re-cap. love the pictures! probably don't even convey how close you were to the animals, but i'm using my imagination. and my imagination is scared. those waterfalls looked amazing, too. did you feel like you were in the lion king?
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