Day 5: Serengeti National Park

Wednesday, 25 September

What a night! Sleeping in the tent and surrounded by sounds of the Serengeti wildlife. At one point I had a zebra come right close to the tent. It must have been just 10 feet or so away. Then the there was a constant vocalising of the hienas who actually had a field day on the bin belonging to the other group that was in the same campsite. The pinnacle of the nigh-time experience was the lion roaring. A little to close for comfort really.

After breakfast we set off on the safari proper and saw loads. I know some get to see more than we did and some can see less but if you stick around long enough you are sure to see at least a few animals. Zebras, giraffes and antilopes are almost a given. We also saw several lions, elephants, hippopotami and even a leopard print resting in a tree. By the way that is the most common way to see them.

We encountered lionesses crossing the road in front of us, we saw a different group of lions stalk a water buffalo. They didn’t end up attacking it though. We saw a baby elephant walking with the rest of its family. 😍

After the morning game run we had lunch and later in the afternoon, at about 15:30 we set off for another. Loads more lions this time and extra elephants and giraffes to boot. We saw two big vultures near the lions as they were munching on their kill.

The two big mammals we didn’t manage to see so far was the rhino and cheetah. Perhaps tomorrow so not all hope is lost.

The camp

One of the things worth mentioning is the camp we stayed in while in Serengeti national park. There are probably many like this one round the park and basically consists of a shower/toilet block and a large hall used for cooking and dining. No electricity at all but at least there is water that comes from water tanks. We cook all the food there and clean up everything after. As I said in my post from yesterday that the camp is completely unprotected so any animals can freely wander in and can get right to our tents. In fact tonight a girl from our group had to ward off a hiena after walking out of the shower block. 😲😲

In fact as I write these lines in the dark tent, only illuminated by the glow of my trusty OnePlus mobile phone I can here the rhythmic sounds of raindrops hitting my tent and the slightly disconcerting cries of hienas not that far from me.