It is day 2 of our 4-day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, and Ngorogoro crater. So far, no casualties, although we are currently in an open air encampment, a stone's throw away from where we came across troupes of zebras, impalas and gazelles. One of our tents has the zipper to the door broken, which is a tad unsettling... if a creepy crawlie so desired, it could easily slip in in the middle of the night - eek! Oh well, Genni and I slept in there yesterday and it was fine.
Speaking of creepy crawlies - we were quite lucky today in catching sight of a BLACK MAMBA!! that slithered across the road in front of us as we were driving along in the safety of our safari truck. For any of you that have seen Kill Bill #2 (I think), it had a small role in that film. The black mamba is one of the most dangerous snakes on earth. It has a neurotoxin in its venom, and a bite will kill a human being in about 15 seconds! (so I've been told by the locals). About 5-10 minutes after sighting said snake, we arrived at our campsite, in a clearing in the middle of the Savvanah. No fences, fortresses, nothing to separate us from the African wildlife! However, our guide said it was the first time he has ever seen a black mamba in the Serengeti (and he's been in the business a long time), and the fourth time he has seen one in the wild; they are a rare sight. It was a relief to hear that because, statistically speaking, chances are we will not be seeing another one tonight in one of our tents!
We are now in the center of the Serengeti, and it's been a beautiful, albeit bumpy drive. We exerienced two roadblocks today - one caused by a herd of elephants about fifty strong, the other by a family of zebras. Yesterday was baboon day - we saw a ridiculous amount of monkeys and baboons, they were quite adorable, especially the babies catching a piggyback ride on their mamas. We also saw hippos, warthogs, flamingos, and giraffes. Today we saw elephants, wildebeasts, impalas, gazelles... and (arguably) the most majestic of them all... lions!!! It was really incredible to be a mere two metres away from them - they were beautiful! And we haven't even hit the migration yet... In August, animals migrate from Masai Mara in Kenya to the Serengeti in Tanzania. Judging by how much wildlife we saw today, I cannot fathom how it must look after August!
We all look super tanned right now, but a wet cloth will show that it's just the layer of dust that is coating us and every single thing we own. It as if we were rolling around in a sand box, the dust is everywhere! It doesn't take too long to figure out this is the dry season.
Today Aaron and I wandered into the grasslands surrounding our campsite, risking a buffalo attack to get a photo of the perfect African Serengeti sunset (and we got it!). Yesterday's would-be photographers were not so lucky. Well, they came away unscathed, but it was a close call. Not sure if they got their photo or not.
We're sitting in near-pitch-black darkness right now, watching a sky-full of twinkling Serengeti stars. I can't wait to see what the next two days have in store!
xoxo Kasia
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