Serengeti

There's a reason why the Serengeti is one of the most famous places in the world to spot wildlife, and I found out why first hand today.

This morning we left camp and split up into four Land Cruisers that we'll use for the next three days while we tour the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. To get to the Serengeti we drove up a narrow road that climbed high up the side of a mountain. The climate in the part of Tanzania that we happened to be in is typically very foggy, and that was the case today. We ascended slowly up into the clouds until everything in front of us became a white mist and water condensed on the windshield.

Part of the way up the mountain we passed a herd of about thirty or forty baboons near the side of the road. Our driver stopped the Land Cruiser and we all hurried out to get a closer look at the animals. I already saw hundreds of gelada baboons last week, of course, but watching a different species of baboon from such close range was still incredible. I followed several baboons as they crawled down the side of the road, trying to get closer for a few pictures. After getting reasonably close and snapping a few good shots of a smaller, female baboon, one of the males came rumbling out of the jungle on all fours and chased down the road after me. As I hurried away the baboon stopped chasing me, but it was still a pretty good thrill. Later the baboons climbed up some trees nearby and hung around up there for everyone to see.Most of the day was spent driving to our campsite in the middle of the Serengeti, but as we got closer we spotted more and more wildlife, and with each sighting closer to the park the animals became more exotic. First came giraffes. As we approached the entry gate to Serengeti National Park we passed by two giraffes, one on each side of the bumpy dirt road. To my left a large giraffe was munching on some kind of vegetation that he had pulled off a nearby tree, and to my right a smaller giraffe stared at us. After a few minutes of watching and taking pictures, the giraffe to my right galloped across the road to meet his friend on the other side. Once they met the two of them hurried together into the distance. I can't say I've ever seen a giraffe gallop before. It was such a surprise because I didn't realize that I didn't know how they move around until I actually saw one galloping. Considering the length of their necks and awkward shape of their bodies, the animals were actually very graceful.Later this afternoon, after driving a few hours into the park, we approached a water hole where two or three other vehicles had gathered around. Our driver turned off the dirt road to get a closer look and the six of us in the back wondered to ourselves what could be drawing so much attention. As the car drove around the side of another vehicle a female lion came into view with four cubs. Everyone was blown away. I've had a few good wildlife sightings on the different trips I've been on, but that was easily the most incredible thing I've ever seen. As the lioness laid by the side of the muddy hole lapping up the water, her cubs played and pawed at each other, occasionally toppling over their mother or letting out small, short growls. Drivers in the Serengeti notify each other by radio whenever there is an impressive sighting, and within minutes the crowd of four Land Cruisers had grown to fifteen or twenty. The lioness stood and slowly circled the waterhole, her cubs following close behind her. When she was satisfied with a new spot she bent down to lap up some more water. The cubs rolled on the ground and played with each other nearby her.As the sun lowered and the surrounding acacia trees cast long shadows on the Serengeti we approached two large elephants.I've never seen wild elephants at such close range and the experience was so amazing that it was almost hard to believe it was real. One of the elephants approached the road, stopping to wrap his trunk around a thick tree branch, attempting to break it off. When the branch refused to give the elephant reached up to his face with his trunk and itched his eye instead.I could write for hours about everything we saw today, but suffice it to say that besides what I already mentioned, we also spotted wild warthogs, a secretary bird, several ostriches, many herds of gazelles, hippos, a kori bustard bird, topi, and a very girthy water buffalo. Considering that most of the day was spent in transit we had some very lucky sightings. I can only imagine what we'll see tomorrow when we'll have an entire day to work with.