On the road again this Sunday morning. For some folks, it’s just another day of hard work, but we did see a big church – still under construction, but full of people.
We drove through some seriously dense fog as we entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and climbed to the rim of Ngorongoro Caldera. We saw a good many Maasai boma and herds of cattle, but mostly we concentrated on not getting bounced out of the vehicle – this was a seriously bumpy road!
Near midday, we reached our initial destination, Oldupai Gorge, known as the Cradle of Mankind. It is a truly magical place, where the Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the hominoid remains of a 1.8 million-year-old skeleton - one of the key links of the human evolutionary chain. In a small canyon just north of the Ngorongoro Crater, the Leakeys and their team of archaeologists, unearthed the ruins of at least three distinct hominoid species and also came upon a complete series of hominoid footprints estimated to be over 3.7 million years old. Fossil studies have shown that the area is one of the oldest sites of hominoid habitation in the world.
We had a picnic lunch, a lecture from a local guide, and time to visit the small museum. Then it was time to hit the road again – still a long (and bumpy) ride to Serengeti National Park, which we reached in mid-afternoon. It was easy to tell when we entered the park – suddenly all the Maasai people, huts and cattle disappeared.
The Serengeti hosts the largest animal migration in the world and has been named one of the natural wonders of the world. The Masai name Serengit means 'endless plain' and the name fits, at least in this area, the southern end of the park. Overall, the park covers 15,000 square miles of pristine wilderness encompassing plains, riverine bush, woodlands and acacia grassland. It is widely regarded as the best wildlife reserve in Africa due to its density of predators and prey.
The park is well known for its healthy stock of resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five", which we hope to see:
* Lion - the Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa due in part to the abundance of prey. Currently there are more than 3000 lions living here.
* Leopard - these reclusive predators are found throughout the park, with the current population at around 1000.
* African Elephant - the herds are recovering from population lows in the 1980s caused by poaching.
* Black Rhinoceros - mainly found around the kopjes in the center of the park, very few (24) animals remain due to rampant poaching.
* African Cape Buffalo - still abundant and present in large numbers, though there have been some reductions due to disease.
Animals: Thomson’s gazelle, ostrich, Maasai giraffe, topi, African Cape buffalo, lion, elephant, Coke’s hartebeest, olive baboon, and warthog.
Birds: Pied crow, gray heron, Egyptian geese, yellow and red barbet, red-billed oxpecker and blacksmith lapwing (plover).
Morning Highlights:
Topi – Large antelope, with striking yellow legs.
Elephants – somebody’s been playing in a mud puddle …
Lions at rest - these guys did not look underfed. Judging from the nearby buffalo carcass, they had just enjoyed a big meal. There were 23 lions here.
At last we reached our tented camp, on the slopes of Mount Rongai. We were met in fine style, first by camp staff bearing cold drinks and wet towels for wiping off the thick layer of dust and second by the camp mascot – a huge old marabou stork who hung around hoping for a handout.
And here’s the camp – our home for the next four nights. The tents are up the hill from the dining tent and campfire ring. All have in-suite shower and toilets. The showers are run from a five-gallon bucket above the tent, and we were warned to be quick or be stuck in there covered with soap. On the veranda, we had chairs, a table, and wash basins that were filled each morning with warm water.
And the beds were comfortable! It was delightful to be able to hear the sounds of the night … up to a point. We heard a lion roar, some hyenas making a racket, and a male impala having ‘words’ with one of his colleagues. Those noises were off in the distance, but sometime during the night we heard hoof prints, munching on grass and a big slurp from our wash basin. By the time we stumbled to the door to have a look, our visitor was gone – the camp staff said it was a Cape buffalo. Great - a 2000-pound ill-tempered beast on our doorstep. We sure didn’t leave water in the basin after that episode, but s/he still came back in the evenings to munch on the grass around the tent.
No comments:
Post a Comment