Thursday 23 May 2013

Safari



May 19
The party bus drove all day long and did not stop until sunset. We stopped for a while to view Ngorongoro crater from the top. The scenery was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After driving around the crater, we made our way to the Serengeti. Being a witness to the true nature of the Serengeti had to be something that most people will never endure in their lifetimes. The animals are so unique and different from anything I have ever seen in Canada. We arrived at the lodge around 7:00 pm in the middle of the dessert. The drive was definitely worth it, because it was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. There were no fences around the compound and each of the rooms were designed like modern day straw huts. The best part of the rooms were the robes that were in the shower. I think we all felt like kings and queens that night. After dinner, we listened to some performers who started doing hardcore acrobatics. When the act was over, William got ahold of a sweet 12-string guitar and played some music. Later on, the guitar owner came to play us an incredible Kiswahili song. He had a great voice and I found it interesting to hear a different type of music. I saw some sort of scorpion-crab type insect scurrying around the patio, so I decided to pursue it. It was a transparent, red colour and was very quick. One of the hotel employees saw me on this pursuit and squashed the thing with his feet. I asked the man some questions about what it was out of curiosity and he told me it was a spider. Apparently they were very poisonous and cause any affected area to swell up. Umm no thank you.

May 20

In the morning I was awoken by the sounds of song birds amidst the Serengeti lodge. We had to call the security guards to escort us to the main hotel where we actually had bacon with breakfast! Being one of our earlier mornings, we left in the jeeps by about 7:00 a.m. The top of the jeeps were already down and the chilling wind called for a light jacket. The first animals we sighted for the day were some grand gazelles. That was just the beginning to a day with almost too many animals. Our group ran into a herd of giraffes, a quarrel of hippos, a plethora of elephants, a pinch of zebras, and about 14 billion wildebeests. We even saw a hyena for a second on our way out of the desert. The lions are seen every once in a while, but they just chill out on top of trees or in the grass. They appear to be comfortable with humans staring at them. After lunch, the remainder of our day was spent driving through the Serengeti finding animals in the sweltering heat. I learned that hippopotamus's smell like sewage and they enjoy sleeping in the water together as groups to cool down in the African heat. I also observed many zebras that have integrated with the wildebeests. We were fortunate enough to witness the great migration of the two animals! 

May 21
For our last safari day, we drove into the crater for a few hours to find some more animals. Most of the animals were the same, but we finally saw a male lion. I can see where the name "King of the Jungle" comes from. The lion was just grazing in the grass next to his most recent kill. It appeared to be a water buffalo with hundreds of flies all over its exposed rib cage. The smell was vulgar and rank. Mid-way through the day, we pulled up next to a jeep and had a lovely conversation with one of the ladies in it. It turned out that she was an Olympic athlete sponsored by Oakley. Her name was Georgia Simmerling from Vancouver, BC, so it was awesome to meet a famous Canadian skier! By lunch time, the trio climbed their highest tree yet over a pond of hungry hungry hippos. I just wish that the next tree we climb is not infested with rabid spiders. To end another beautiful day, our jeep randomly fell upon a sleeping female lion just 5 feet from the road. She was definitely a peaceful animal. I was glad to end the day with such a majestic sight of a mis-understood creature. By mis-understood I mean that they sleep way more than I expected.

Written by - Peter Johnson





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