Sorry its been so long since my last post. Last week we had exams for a few days and then went on expedition to Serengeti National Park. We spent 5 days and 4 nights in the park, camping out in tents. Since we’ve been back, I’ve had a lot of assignments due for all of my classes. This is the last week of class here and then we head of to Kenya (already?!?) so we have a bunch of stuff to finish up. Anyways, let me write about my time in Serengeti…
It was a pretty far drive to get to the park. After a couple hours we reached Uldupai Gorge, the “birthplace of humanity.” This is where Louis and Mary Leaky discovered the skulls of Homo erectus and Australopithecus. Then a few more hours and we were in Serengeti. Once we got in the park, we opened up the hatches of the land cruisers and stood up to look around. Serengeti comes from a Maasai word meaning endless plains, and it was clear to see why they called it that. The land just goes on and on in all directions, more vast and impressive than any park we had been to before. There were all kinds of animals, but they often seemed tiny surrounded by the immense landscape. As we drove through the park to get to our camp, a few lone rainclouds decided to let out some drops. It was little preview of the storm we would see the next day. When we arrived at camp, we all got out tents set up and helped to unload all the kitchen equipment and prepare the fire circle and everything that needed done. The campsite wasn’t anything too official; it was just a marked area in the middle of the Serengeti with a bathroom off to one side and a small building to cook in and keep food safe from animals. Anyways, the next morning we got up super early to go on our first game drive. Then we got a lecture from a park vet about wildlife diseases. Back at camp, rainclouds were rolling in as we ate lunch. A little while later it started raining pretty good and we put on our raincoats. Some people headed for the tents right away, but others including myself stayed outside for a bit. We stood in the rain until the wind was freezing cold and a small river began to run though camp. It didn’t take long for the rain to become a storm and we ran into a car for shelter. We waited it out there, playing cards for a while and enjoying the break. But more than anything, I enjoyed the rain. It was amazing to feel the hot sun one moment and the cold rain the next, to be drenched in the water that is truly the lifeblood of the Serengeti.
The next day we woke early again; we had a bird counting assignment. Each car was designated a certain habitat area and transect to drive along. We stopped every so often to identify and count any birds we saw around us. The data we collected is now being used for one of the assignments I have due this week, about the species richness and feeding guilds and stuff. Might not sound that exciting, but I actually liked the bird count a lot despite the fact that I’m not really a bird person. After that count, we started another on ungulates (gazelle, zebra, hartebeest, topi, etc.) with a similar assignment to go along with it. Over the next few days, we didn’t have any other assignments to complete. We did have two more lectures though, one on plant/herbivore interactions and one on tourism in the Serengeti. Other than that, our time was mostly spent game driving. I saw a cheetah and its three cubs drinking from a puddle, countless elephants seeming to amass from all directions around us, a mother hippo running around with her baby, crocodiles hiding in the muddy river, and finally… leopards! On two separate occasions I saw one relaxing on the branch of a tree and one time we were practically right underneath it. It looked down at us, all dignified yet lazy – a most gorgeous creature for sure.
On the last day of expedition, we got to visit Serena Safari Lodge. Quite simply it can be described in three words: heaven on earth. After 4 days of being crammed together in little tents, crammed together in little cars, driving through red dust all day, and sitting in campfire smoke all night, the openness and cleanliness of the lodge was extremely welcomed by everyone. We got to shower and swim in a beautiful pool, order food at the bar, and lay out on comfy couches and lounge chairs. It was like a little oasis in the middle of the Serengeti and I definitely lived it up, loving every second of it. On our drive back to camp, one girl realized she forgot her hat at the lodge. Our Student Affairs Manager decided to go back for it even though it was a long drive and there was a chance we wouldn’t get to camp until after dark. The girl wasn’t in our car but we were the closest to the lodge so we went back. It added at least an hour to our drive, but I’m really glad we did it. We got to watch some pretty intense storm clouds roll by in the distance and see the sunset over the plains which we couldn’t see from camp because of the trees. Seeing elephants silhouetted by the pink sky with lightening flashing in the clouds was a sight I will never forget. It was dark by the time we got back and it was really cool to have the chance to ride in the land cruiser at night, the eyes of zebras reflecting in our headlights as they leapt off the road in front of us. And that night was the best night I have had in Africa yet. After dinner, a few of us decided to stay up as long as we could to look and listen for animals. I lay by our campfire for hours, watching stars shoot across the sky and bats fly above me as lions called in the distance and hyenas walked through our camp. It was beautiful and exciting and I couldn’t have hoped for a more perfect way to end my Serengeti expedition.
Location: Karatu, Tanzania