safari day three
an even earlier morning this morn. past the ever-grazing zebras on our way to the bathroom by headlamp. we high-kneed it all the way there, attempting to rush to make our 6am departure time. i welcomed our morning tea and coffee, it was so cold we could see our breath. we were in the car and first out of the camp, well before the sun began to rise. winding road to the steep decent into the crater, we passed a dead honey badger, fallen victim to the crazy safari car drivers :( it was a scary drive down into the crater, the road is steep and narrow and the edge is uncomfortably close. plus, the canadians shared a wonderful story of coming upon a safari truck that had tipped over on their way into the crater. wonderful!!
we made it (safe and sound) to the edge of the alkaline lake just as the sun was beginning to rise over the far rim - a huge red orb reflecting perfectly off of the water. we came upon zebras crossing the street, and got a picturesque photo of them glowing in the morning sun that had just risen. everything was tinged golden and U2 was appropriately playing ‘it’s a beautiful day’ from amy’s iphone, with us singing along and mohammed laughing and shaking his head. as we started to drive away I noticed something smoking aside the road. as a safari car had driven off shortly before we stopped for our photos, I thought maybe a cigarette had been thrown out into the grass (terrible, I know! but everyone here smokes). we’re all looking at the smoke now, and everyone’s very concerned. ‘mohammed! something is burning! there’s smoke! maybe a cigarette?’ ‘where?’ he says as he throws the car into reverse to get a view of the smoke… as we’re baking up I’m thinking, it’s morning and there was dew on our tent, dew on the car, there must be dew in the grass, too wet to smoke that much, it won’t catch fire when it’s so damp… the wheels are still turning and suddenly it hits me… zebras had just walked by – ‘it’s poop! a pile of steaming poop!’ ha, everyone’s like ‘ohhhhh!’ and we all laugh at our concern for the steaming poop pile. misidentification has definitely been a part of the trip, like the time when I thought I had discovered the largest termite hill in the history of the world, and then mohammed broke the news that it was a rock. maybe I should have brought my glasses along….
we traveled along the edge of the crater, through misty jungle with gnarled old trees uprooted by elephants, saw an old grandpa elephant feeding, his tusks were incredibly long, apparently they can get as long as 11 ft!! photos then moved on, what we were really on the hunt for was a rhino! we saw a mama lion with her very young cubs, one all too picturesquely crawling over her as she lay soaking up the morning sun and keeping an attentive watch on her surrounds. at this point avy, of course, has to pee. she asks mohammed if she can just get out real quick, he naturally refuses, saying it's not safe...
not to much later we came upon another lion (hence the not safe part - avy's still holding it and complaining a lot), his ears are barely visible above the tall grass where he lay. i used the binoculars to get a better look. imagine this, im leaning out the top of the safari car, elbows resting on the edge, binoculars held up to my face. i've got the lion's head centered in my circular field of vision. im very focused, taking in every detail of his face, his massive snout, the thick texture of his fur, his fuzzy ears, those intense eyes... i hear a strange noise, a sort of call, but not like anything i've heard before and certainly nothing i was associate with a lion noise. it is coming from mohammed, had over his mouth, he is making an obnoxious noise i'm having trouble describing in words, but almost instantly, in one unified movement, another 5 lion heads pop up of the grass all around the lion i had been focused on. it took my breath away, it was so unexpected and suddenly, 6 lions were staring intently at our safari car. yeah mohammed, tricks of the trade!!
a day in ngorogoro - hippos trudge along near swamp-like stretches of grass and water. flamingos hang out in the milky water of the lake. zebras scratch each other and roll in the dirt. we enjoy a peanut butter and jelly chapati sandwich for snack time - it's like american staple meets african staple. combined we have created one of the all time greatest snack foods ever invented. mmm chapati pb&j :) we see crown cranes with those crazy yellow feather puffs on their heads, more horny bastards (aka corey bustards), a few hyaenas a little close for comfort. they're such disgruntled looking creatures, and knowing that they kill people each year in africa isn't exactly comforting. we came to the mini wildebeest migration. these animals could quite possibly be my new favorite animal. they have such a ho-hum reputation, but in reality they are quite beautiful and full of entertaining personality. i was enthralled watching them make their way across the street between tourist-filled safari jeeps. they would approached the crossing cautiously, then at the last moment break into a frenzied gallop and zigzag their way past their fellow wildebeest, which would send the others into alarm and they'd take off running too. i loved it. they have these beautiful dark stripes over their shoulders, and their legs and so long and spindly, they are very front heavy animals with thick necks and barrels chests. the young ones were naturally my favorite, trying to keep up with their exaggeratedly gangly legs, their lack of coordination was comical. we saw yellow bellied storks, an african snake eagle, and so much more.
this was a rare sight, toward the end of our day we came upon a herd of zebras. i spotted one in the distance with what looked like (and turned out to be) a serious flesh wound on his flank. mohammed drove us up to take a closer look and sure enough, the zebra had a thick, foot square area (or more) of skin and flesh ripped down his side and dangling there. it was a sight to see. mohammed was shocked. survival of the fittest takes on a serious meaning here and you really never see injured animals. this was remarkable and when i pointed at the zebra to a passing jeep, the guy looked at me like a was crazy telling him to look at a zebra when we were in a herd of dozens of zebras. i had to make eye contact with him and emphasize, no really, look at that zebra, before he turned, did a double take, then glanced at me to thank me earnestly before he began photographing like crazy with his mega zoom lens. it was pretty awesome.
i noticed a rock during our drive that looked like it had been dug out around the bottom, all the grass was gone, and judging from our location in the crater i thought it might be a landmark for the cernter. i asked mohammed about it and he said, although we were in the center at that point, the rock was simply something the animals use to scratch themselves on. the animals like to itch their sides on the bigger rocks placed sporadically throughout the grasslands and they walk in so many circles around it that it quite literally digs a trench. i found this exceedingly entertaining and started noticing every one of these rocks along our journey. finally i asked mohammed to stop so that i could take a photo, and in the most sarcastic voice ever he said "sure, we're only looking for a rhino, but take your time photographing that rock." he was a crack up, we lucked out with our guide.
safari ends with avy sitting in the front seat singing no rhino, no cry and buffalo soldier in a voice so out of tune it made me look like a professional singer (that's sayin' somethin'). we headed back to the campsite on the beautiful, sunny afternoon - we had apparently really lucked out with a blue-sky day in the crater. the ascent was pretty much as scary as the decent. steep, winding, absurdly narrow red dirt road that mohammed plowed up like it was nothin. i had a white-knuckle grip on my seat. we made it back to camp and prosper distributed our box lunches. i sat down to eat mine outside but mohammed quickly advised me we should eat inside. i objected but he insisted and so i headed inside with the rest of the group. avy was not so compliant, she disregarded his warning and headed outside. a few minutes later we hear this ruckus outside, birds cawing, and other strange noises and not long after avy comes stumbling into the covered area where we were eating looking quite disheveled. she explained that the big hawk had attacked her and taken her bread and bread sandwich (she is apparently vegan) and she had the bloody, talon-scratched finger to prove it!! i couldn't believe it. mohammed wasn't kidding. avy said she hears 'i told you so' a lot in her life... why does that not surprise me.
so safari was pretty much the most epic thing ever... I want always to be driven around looking for cool exotic animals and not have to shower :)
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