Sayonara Serengeti

Unsurprisingly, after waking and stepping outside, we are met with destruction. It is fair to say the elephants have left their mark. Trees uprooted, grass trampled, bark stripped, water supplies emptied and lots and lots of elephant droppings to be avoided stepping in. However, the destruction reveals something rather beautiful, the staff here they aren’t mad, sure they have to go to the well and refill the water, sure they have to literally shovel shit, but to them this is the elephant’s home. The animals here are treated with a respect and reverence that I wish more of our society had towards animals. They understand that out here humans are the visitors, we are at the whim of the animals and they have every right to trample, eat and poo where they please. After a rather careful walk to breakfast, as we are loading our bags into the truck, we are serenaded with a goodbye song from the staff – it is in a language I don’t understand but the message is clear, goodbye and thanks for coming, and I have to say it is rather nice. I suppose that is the beauty of music – it transcends language, a beautiful song is a beautiful song no matter the origin.

After a quick restroom break I start to walk to the waters edge to try and get some nice pictures of the flamingos. However, I am quickly called back by Jabshir, he has just been informed by the other guides here that lions have been seen hunting in the area in the last few minutes and animals distracted at the water’s edge are a favourite, as we know from the zebra we saw killed the other day.

Devastation

Our driver Jabshir, never misses a thing

The Spider-Man lizard

As we continue our journey we pass a family of banded mongoose rummaging into termite mounds looking for a nice snack. Jabshir gives us some cool facts about the termites, the average termite is about an inch long but the queen is six and can live for roughly 100 years. The termites survive off eating fungi but they don’t just go out and find it they also farm it. They set out of their mounds collecting grass and bringing it back, where they then eat and then regurgitate it back up to then grow the fungi for food. A little disgusting but pretty cool if you ask me. To really highlight the intelligence of the creatures out here we then see a lilac crested roller using a rock to hunt and kill a massive grasshopper. To see farming and the use of tools by two species in the space of ten minutes is pretty impressive!

Banded mongoose searching for termites

A hyena bites the tail off it's dead relative

Zebra and Wildebeest congregate for the mass migration

A lilac crested roller shows no mercy

As we head up to the gate to leave the Serengeti and have our packed lunch, a dust storm rolls in over the Serengeti and I spot a cool looking red and blue lizard in the car park. I later discover it’s a Mwanza flat-headed rock agama, commonly known as the Spider-Man lizard.

Once we are on the road we are greeted by our first true glimpse at the migration masses. The zebras and wildebeest are truly starting to amass in their thousands now, gathering before they start their journey across the plains. Everywhere we look we are surrounded. As we head to a watering hole we see an array of birds including the bee eater, auger buzzard, fisher’s lover, mush harrier, Egyptian geese, rauff and finally flamingos in the watering hole itself.

Out of nowhere two lionesses appear

Finally we get to our next accommodation a beautiful lodge with a 600 acre working farm on it. We are given a quick tour of the grounds from their coffee plants and processing centre were they pick, peel and roast to supply all their lodges all across the country. Then the crops, – there are rows and rows of fresh chilli’s, avocado, lettuce, bananas including red ones, cabbage, pumpkin, leek and so much more. It is safe to say this is a beautiful place and I am getting excited for dinner which does not disappoint, a smorgasbord of choice with multiple starters, mains and desserts, in other words my kind of meal. My parents and I see the night in with a cocktail and a few games of Monopoly Go. Not a bad end to another great day on this safari. We retire to our rooms full of hope for tomorrow as we will be heading to the Ngorongoro crater, the place we have been told has the highest chance to see the last of the big five, the elusive rhino. A massive yet surprisingly hard to find animal, fiercely protected and high on the list of all safari goers, so here’s hoping tomorrow is an exciting one!

The rest of the trip to the next lodge is fairly uneventful apart from spotting a hyena – at first nothing too amazing, but then we realise it is dragging another hyena’s body. Jabshir says it was probably unfortunately hit by a vehicle on the road, but he’s never seen another hyena drag a body like that, they are scavengers but cannibalism isn’t something he’s witnessed in his 20 odd years of working here. Then something even stranger happens the hyena bites off the tail of its fallen family member and runs off with it like it just wanted something to remember its family member by, an act that leaves even Jabshir a little gob smacked.

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