The Wait for Game Drives Finally Ends! (Updated with pics) « Scott On Safari

The Wait for Game Drives Finally Ends! (Updated with pics)

February 21, 2008 by scottcarr

2008-02-13

Summary

- Mto Wam Bu Walking tour

- Attack of the killer baboons

- Game at Ngorongoro Conservation Area & Serengeti National Park

- Toilet terror

- Campsite critters

- Game drive

- Thunderstorms

On Tuesday morning we had to be ready for breakfast at 7am, and left shortly after breakfast. The cold shower would be the last we would have for a few days as there are no showers at the safari campsites. We had the choice of 2 optional activities, cycling or walking. We chose to do the walking tour of the Mto Wam Bu area. On the tour we watched a local doing wood carvings, walked through the corn and rice fields tried some banana beer, visited a kindergarten and watched a local painting canvases. The kindergarten was by far the highlight; all the children were overjoyed to have us visit and we had about 6 of them hanging from our arm as we walked in. They loved having their photo taken so they could see themselves on the digital LCD of the camera, but they were too eager to view their picture that they wouldn’t stand back and wait for their photo to be taken; they didn’t realize that you can’t take a photo of them from 10cm away. Afterwards there was plenty of fingerprints to wipe off the lens and camera. In the rice fields, our guide spoke to a lady who was working in her rice fields. She could only speak Swahili, so the guide acted as our interpreter. She was over 80 years old! In very good shape I must say, I’d have guessed her as being under 60 for sure. She was more than happy for people to photograph her, unlike most of the people you come across who expect to be paid if you want to take their photograph (children being the exception). She said her opinion on each of us and she must have been a psychic as well; after saying that she loves me as I have beautiful eyes, she said that Skye was cruel When she asked how old I was she said I should be married now as I’m too old to be unmarried. So I told her that there was no rush and declined her proposal to marry me. A young girl and a woman were standing alongside us while all of this was happening and someone asked the young girl, who was 14, if the woman was her mother. She didn’t really answer and kinda looked down at the ground and shook her head. She followed us for a while and asked us to take her photo and gave us her address to post the photo to when we got back home. The guide elaborated later and told us that she was an orphan whose parents had died of AIDS. He didn’t make it clear whether they were infected before or after her birth, but if it was before then I guess she would also have had AIDS. It was a thought that went through our heads in the kindergarten; just how many of the kids there had AIDS. It is quite sad really, that the children are born with AIDS and will have such a short lifespan.

After getting back to the campsite, we hit the road toward Serengeti National Park. We stopped at the gate of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area for lunch. As we were prepping the food a baboon came out of nowhere and ran up the tree above us. We (all the tourists) were watching and taking pictures of the little baboon, not realizing what was about to happen; we were wondering why the guide was shouting at it and fetching the food from the table… it’s only one baboon. Within seconds, baboons started coming from everywhere. We all hurried to get the food back inside the truck, closing all the windows and doors on the truck so the baboons couldn’t get in. They were on the roof of the truck trying to open the windows. Earlier out tour leader had mentioned when at safari campsites make sure you padlock your tent or the baboons would get in there and try on your clothes… we didn’t realize at the time that he wasn’t joking. They are quite aggressive and will take whatever they get their hands on; whether it be food, cameras, clothes or drink bottles. So we had to eat lunch inside the truck; it was so hot in there with 14 bodies (11 + driver, chef and tour leader) and all windows closed. We now hate the baboons!

After lunch we headed into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where no ‘pitstops’ (toilet stops) are allowed. We went around the Ngorongoro Crater rim and the view was magnificent. We saw a lot of Masai people as we drove, who live in the area in mud huts, surviving purely on the elements (i.e. no shopping, no hospitals, no electricity). A couple of hours into the drive we started seeing game (wildlife); wildebeests and zebras as far as the eye can see; it was amazing to see. It poured with rain for about 10 minutes, then stopped in an instant. The drive got bumpier and dustier as we went, very very bumpy. Along the route to the camp site we passed hippos, a cheetah, elephants, buffalos, giraffes, as well as the wildebeests and zebras (and cattle and donkeys but they don’t count). It was nearly dark when we reached the campsite and we could see lightning off in the distance, so we hastily set up our tents.

We ate dinner and then sat around chatting and solving each others’ riddles. It is worth mentioning that the campsite is in the Serengeti National Park. There are no fences, no showers, only toilets which are ‘squatties’ (the same kind we saw in Dubai). It takes a few goes to get the hang of using these toilets! We were told that once everyone goes to bed, animals would come into the campsite. We were also told that if we wanted to use the toilet facilities through the night, it would be wise to take a torch which may scare off animals. When asked what chance you’d have if you went to the toilet through the night, the tour leader replied ‘50/50’ and stated that he personally would never go to the toilet through the night. At that point I had decided that an empty bottle would remain in my tent for the night! Before going to bed I paid a visit to the toilets. The ladies toilet is surrounded by open clearing for at least 20 metres, whereas the gents toilet is through a short narrow curved path through thick grass and bushes. As I walked through to the gents toilets I heard the guy standing nearby call out ‘geez, you’re braver than me’. The trip to the toilet was fine, it was coming out that was freaky. When you open the toilet door it opens to the right, with the tap and sink to your left and the pathway to your right. So until you close the door you can’t see if there’s something waiting for you in the pathway, then you have to turn your back to the pathway to wash your hands. Then walking back along the pathway, since the head torch only lights the area directly in front of you, you have to walk slowly so you have time to turn your head (as the path curves) so you can see where you’re going. It’s quite hard to explain, but a pretty freaky experience.

When we all went to bed, I stayed awake for a couple of hours until about midnight, just listening to the sounds of the animals outside. The roars of the lions got closer throughout the night. I could hear animals coming through the campsite, brushing past our tent. The ground was a bit damp and dewy, so I could hear footsteps pass just outside our tent ‘door’, possibly a hyena or something. I also heard the squeal of what sounded like a warthog and the sound of hooves going through the campsite; so perhaps a wildebeest, antelope or zebra.

The following morning (Wednesday) we had a quick piece of toast at 6am before boarding the truck for a game drive. We’d had the option to do a hot air balloon flight over the Serengeti this morning, which would have been a great experience, but the hefty cost of US$450 is just too much, none of us did it… the weather wouldn’t have been great for it anyway. I look forward to game drives in a 4WD Jeep rather than this monster of a truck, which we will be doing in the Ngorongoro Crater. Most of the time when the ruck came to a stop near game, the air brakes would expel gas, making a loud hissing sound that would scare off the animals. The weather was still overcast, so the lighting for photographs was terrible (flat dim lighting). We saw lionesses, buffalo, elephants, hippos, giraffes, thomson’s gazelles, bohor reedbucks, defassa waterbucks, a serval cat, jackals, warthogs, vultures, yellow billed stalks, maribu stalks, topis, impalas, coke’s hartebeests and a variety of other antelope and birdlife whose name I can’t remember (or don’t know). Sure enough on the way back to camp the skies clearer and the sun came out. We had lunch then had 3 hours (until 3pm) to ourselves at the campsite. Most of the other tourists from our group sunbathed. I’m not one for sunbathing, so I spent the time writing this. The gents toilets overflowed this morning, so trips to the toilet are the greatest experience at the moment, the stench is disgusting. Unbelievably, by 2:30pm the clear skies were gone and the whole sky was clouds and we could hear the thunder rolling in towards our campsite. More bad lighting for safari photos that afternoon, nevermind. We did a quick game drive on the way to the tourist information centre. We spent about an hour there reading about the Serengeti and seeking out the little tree hyraxes and dwarf mongoose. I have to admit game drives aren’t quite what I had expected, I thought there’d be much more game. That night after dinner, all the guys stayed by the campfire, waiting until everyone else had gone to bed. As soon as the lights on the truck had gone out, the sounds started. We could hear hyenas yipping and all these croaking and buzzing noises. After a few minutes we decided it best to get in the tents before the real predators arrived. There was no sign (sound) of the lions until late in the morning (around 4 or 5ish) when we heard their roar, but a buffalo had been making a lot of noise through the night and sounded very close in the campsite. It sounded agitated, so our theory is that perhaps the lions were stalking it and it knew that.

A guy on the bus, Craig, was bitten by a fly… I forget the name of the fly, but it can carry the ‘sleeping illness’, which basically sends you to sleep within 10 minutes of being bitten, so no doubt he was freaking out for the next 10 minutes. I’m not sure what happens next, but I assume the guide meant that you go into a coma or something. Around the campsites there are black and blue cloths hanging around the place which are there to repel these flies (I assume they’re soaked in some sort of repellant). So the rest of the trip we had our eyes peeled for these flies and killed any we saw.

Lion Pride at Sunset

Mother’s Meeting

For the photographers out there, this shot was taken pushing every boundary; I was at full length of 400mm (effectively 640mm with 1.6x sensor crop), light was so low I was at ISO1600, wide open at f/5.6 giving me a shutter speed of 1/20s, handheld with IS. I dunno how the shot retained any sharpness with that focal length & shutter speed combo, I must’ve been having a very steady moment. Needless to say ISO1600 makes it too noisy for large prints, but still a nice one for the photo album.

Snarling Lioness

This shot is barely worth printing, but still worthy of posting given the lioness’ snarl and still quite viewable on screen at this resolution (1/16s at 400mm just couldn’t get the sharpness).