Africa Safari – Day 23 – The Serengeti, Tanzania

Relaxed start today a late 7.30 breakfast, leave at 8.30. Our masai warrior is waiting to escort us up to the reception/ dining tent.

Let’s backtrack a little. Last night was one the guests birthday, we heard the staff singing a at 9pm, Cowboy was actually there swaggling a cool ale. At 2.30am I wake to “doof doof ” electronic music, it goes on until about 5am. I think it must be one of the guests javing a late night party however I find out in the morning it came from a nearby village on the night air, not one if the guests.

Then, about the same time, a clatter sound like bag wheels on cobbles, but it’s not, it’s either wilderbeast or zebra running past our tent. We can see the tracks as we walk next morning.

Breakfast is pleasant, the staff are gracious and we are ready to go on time, if the Troopy starts? There is still a battery issue.

A push start is needed, a heap of us push and it kicks first go. First, we have a game drive back towards Kogatende.

First thing we spot is a herd of elephants, standing like it’s a work ” toolbox meeting”, possibly discussing whether they’ll trample the old Cowboy or the other old codger.

Dennis has a surprise, he says, next thing he says ” look right, a baby Giraffe is about to be born”. And in 18 years of guiding he’s never seen one born. However, it wasn’t the surprise. The Giraffe baby is born, we see it drop to the ground. First its got to move and start breathing, which it does, then the next 45 minutes its trying to stand, which it does, then its got to work out where the milk is, which it does. It needs to do this ASAP to avoid predators, if possible. Another experience I won’t forget in a hurry, we were first to spot it and the only ones to see it all the way tthrough.

Now he says, lets find the surprise. Its not far from the giraffe. Its a Leopard, resting in a tree, very elusive animal, we’re about 2 metres from it, as it cooly looks down on us with those cool yellow eyes. Very hard to spot. That’s the last of the Big 5 for us to see.

The area is a granite area, hilly, birds everywhere, very few safari vehicles here.

Lunch today is on a hill, so the vehicle is pointed downhill for a jump start, if we need it, and we do. Delicious food, wine, coffee. The Navigator throws some of Tim’s ashes into the wind to spread across the Serengeti, he loved animals and there is no shortage of them here, I think he’d appreciate that.

We checkout of Seregeti National Park – at Tabora B Gate about 3.20pm, heading our next stop at Tamu Tamu Serengeti Camp.

The roads are so bloody rough, the corrugations are constant, deep and shake the vehicle so much. Dennis says the Landcruisers are by far the best, Landrovers are a bit delicate.

There is a prison, inmates in orange gear stand out.

Then theres a village, drinks are procured by Denis, there are women in colourful dresses walking down the road, small children playing, pool tables in dusty open air shelters. This is sort of the Africa I imagined.

We haven’t even got to the National Park entrance and a pride of lions, about 12 or 13, have killed a wilderbeast and are either sleeping or munching on the carcase. A few sour looks and growls as six of them chow down at the same time, theres only so much space in a wilderbeast rib cage so they do need to work that out.