Our Travels: Tuesday, June 30: Last Game Game Drives

Well, this is it. This was the last full day of game drives in the Serengeti and for our trip. The funny thing is, this was the slowest day for game sightings, although there was still plenty to see. Our day was divided into two parts – a morning drive and then lunch at the lodge before going out on a short afternoon drive. There is a herd of elephants that seem to hang out near the lodge and sometimes even go right through the grounds. We see them almost every morning and today was no exception. Today they were very close to the road and we. Watched awhile while pulled branches off a tree to eat. Jeff actually got some great video of them tearing off a huge branch. We also checked in on the resident Impala herd. It’s kind of funny. The guy and all of his girls are one side of the road and the bachelor herd is on the other side of the road looking on with envy…

The highlight of the morning was driving through a massive herd of zebra along an area of rolling hills. There were so many you couldn’t help but laugh. Intermixed with the herd there were also lots of Wildebeest and even a few buffalo. We have decided that Zebra and Wildebeest are the kamikazes of the animal kingdom. They wait until you are just in front of them before they decide that it’s time to run across the road. We have also decided that these two creatures are the noisiest ones too! They are constantly called out and snorting and kicking and making a general ruckus. We could have watched them all morning, especially the younger Zebra, they are brown and white and the youngest are really fuzzy, very cute indeed.

After that it was a while before we saw anything else, but as we have come to learn, sometimes you go for a long time with nothing, then see something really cool. In this case, we learned of a leopard that was hanging out in a tree. Unlike the other day, we were either more remote or many of the trucks were farther away and couldn’t get there quickly, because there were only a handful of trucks. This looked like a younger leopard and it was looking around a lot and sure enough, after a bit, it got up and climbed down to look for another perch! I was lucky and got some nice photos, even though he was a little farther away. As we were slowly leaving the area we were able to catch a glimpse of him again as he had climbed another tree.

As we got closer to the lodge we closed the windows and the top of the car because we were approaching Tse Tse Fly territory. Forget mosquitoes, these guy are the true menace of the Serengeti. Bigger than a housefly, they like to chase moving things and that includes safari trucks. It wouldn’t be so bad if they just buzzed around you, but the actually bite. I was lucky and didn’t get bit, but apparently it’s quite painful! So we made it back through fly country and along a very bumpy road and had lunch at the lodge.

We were not so lucky in the afternoon game drive. Richard and Joseph took us to an area that commonly has a lot of animals because you can drive along the river and many animals come down to drink. However, due to some rains a few weeks ago, the area is still very lush, so much so that the grasses were probably as tall as I am. You couldn’t see a thing! They were also worried that if we attempted to get to the river, our truck could get stuck, so we had to abort that path. It was a bit of a bummer because that was our last real chance to see some cool stuff, but in the end, we did get to see some really awesome scenery. By the end of the month, that area will be completely dry.

As a consolation we drove through a large herd of Wildebeest and their various hangers-on. These were the animals that should have been in the area we went to first, but they hadn’t moved on because the other areas hadn’t dried up yet! As we were leaving we were lucky one last time. I don’t know how he spotted it, but Richard saw what looked like a tail hanging out of a tree and once again we were able to see a leopard through our binoculars. This one was quite far away so I couldn’t even get a photo. So we were three times lucky spotting this rare animal – probably as he was selecting dinner from the herd of animals unawares nearby.

The best part of the day and maybe the whole trip was awaiting us back at the lodge. Since this was our last night, a farewell party was arranged for us. We walked out onto a patio that overlooked the Serengeti while a troops of musicians and dancers treated us to traditional African music. We were poured champagne and relaxed and soaked in the view of the expanse below us. You could make out the herds of Wildebeest and Zebra that almost looked like ants from our vantage point. So we drank and had appetizers with Richard, our guide and Joseph, our driver all while the sun was setting over the Serengeti – the traditional “sundowner”. We were also presented with gifts! Josh received a model of our safari truck that looks just like the one we drove. The roof even pops up! We also reserved traditional cloths that people wear as wraps. Men, wear it like a skirt and women use it multiple ways. They showed me how to wrap one as a skirt and another as a head scarf (which I wore to dinner!). It is hard to put into words the beauty of it all; the light hitting the plain, the music, our own private little pocket of luxury. It will not soon be forgotten. I guess you can say that Tanzania has stolen a little piece of my heart – I am finding it very hard to leave here.