So yesterday we returned from our second expedition. Where to begin? I guess with our drive through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, all the hilly red mud roads and breathtaking drops into rain-forest valleys and grass-land crater. As we descended, the road became yellow and graveled. Let me tell you, twenty year old land cruisers do not handle rutty roads smoothly, and my teeth chattered with the endless bumps that rattled the vehicle with every inch. Tired and stiff, we arrived at Oldupai Gorge a few hours into our journey.

Let me clarify- Oldupai (rather than Olduvai) is no typo on my part. In fact- the site named for its vegetation comes from a Maasai word that was mistranslated by the mzungu “discoverer” or the area. Hence we get Olduvai.

Oldupai is hailed as the cradle of life, with good reason. 

So, needless to say the Antro major in me was nerding out at the displays of ancient extinct fauna, hominids skulls and the famous Laitoli footprints. I was could have stayed for hours when they call us to leave, and settled by buying a paper on hominids and a shirt that said “I visited the cradle of life.”

Moses, our driver and favored staff member from Moyo Hill Camp, brought us the rest of the way to Serengeti- the “promise land” he joked.  At first, driving to our campsite, we didn’t see much. Lots of grass, and everything we thought we saw turned out to be a termite mound.  Our campsite was a sparse dirt and sand area, with some bathrooms and showers and a pavilion for cooking. Much different from Nakuru, though we stayed in the same heavy green canvas tents. I adore cooking, and loved every moment of our time camping in the Park. Because who camps in the Great Plains of the Serengeti- really!? I loved everything from the cloudy sunrises in the woods of the camp, to the night time calls of hyenas, elephants and lions. The first night was we went to bed we all heard the terrifying and loud dying cape buffalo (probably by more lions).  Yet the only wildlife that really bothered me was the endless months and termites that dive-bombed into our food. I can’t stand bugs in food. Bugs as food, maybe, but these unintended intruders turn my stomach, and I ate huge portions ate lunch to avoid eating dinner at all costs. Everyone else seemed unphased.

Oh, the animals we saw. Lions, cheetahs, and leopards. We saw lions mating, which might have been the single coolest moment, just having finished a lecture given by a women doing long term lion research in the park.

Lion research in the Serengeti is fascinating! Using the unique spots above the lion’s whiskers the woman can identify any individual recorded in the park, and track one female from every pride (23 total) in the area using VHF collars. She is hoping to train Maasai living in the wildlife corridors between Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, so the lions are protected as they move between the two locations. There is a terrible lack of genetic diversity in the Crater because these lions are so isolated. More lions moving safely in and out (and there are plenty of Serengeti lions to go around, approximately 3,000 of them) means better breeding.

Also, research has been done using dummy lions like this one to see what role manes play in mate selection. Turn out lady lions like darker heavier manes, because they indicate high testosterone and fitness (because you have to be strong and a good hunter to sport a heavy mane that stands out like a sore thumb in all the golden grass of the plains). Like a male peacock, their adaption makes it harder to survive, and so the best of the best must be pretty hard workers. Males in turn like light manes, because they mean a weak component.  

True to form, however, I found the bones most interesting.

We spent our days doing exercises in bird identification, and elephants and giraffe behavior. But my favorite moments were the ones we didn’t plan for, like when our car got stuck in the mud one morning. And the sunset colors reflected in the mud in the evenings. 

On the way out, I honestly wasn’t ready to go. Bugs not included, I could live in this Park forever. Do you know of any job openings? As we left, the whole of the park came out to say goodbye. Including five cheetahs (which many in our group had never seen before) hyenas chewing on buffalo skulls, and oh yeah- the whole of the great migration! We made it out as a large patch of the herd moved in, and all of us were thrilled to have caught a bit of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World! Zebras and Wildebeest as far as the eye could see- literally!

(I got a cool video of this, hopefully we can upload it!)

Maybe our days are in the Serengeti are over for now, but it life there is just beginning again as the rainy season comes in. There sun sets on our time there, but keeps going for all the animals that call this amazing Eden home.

Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania