Serengeti - Ndutu to Lobo
We woke to the cry of a hyena. It is a sound hard to forget and is the blend between a baby's scream and a pinched moan. I don't know if it had an interest in the flock of Love Bird's mounting in the nearby tree top or if the phonation was just a hyena's way of being the Serengeti's morning rooster.
The Love Birds come to the hotel each morning for an avian drinking competition at the man made watering pool.
Kristen and I packed our bags to the background soundtrack of fluttering wings. With that many birds the combined flapping and chirping was sure to wake anyone or anything that was sleeping in the area.
Outside, the shadows were still long and the light dominantly yellow...
... but it was very clear that the energy of the day was growing and the creatures were actively transitioning from the cold of night to the newfound warmth of morning sunshine.
These Single Striped Mice cautiously munched while keeping a close eye on me some thirty meters away.
That there would even be a need for this sign is a little mind boggling, but the cell phone coverage on the Serengeti is actually quite good.
The Helmeted Guineafowl was one of my target creatures of the day. To the black & white or limited color vision of other animals the Guineafowl may blend into the maze of grasses, but to broader sprectrum human eyes the pattern depth of contrast is captivating.
This African Hawk Eagle may have been interested in the timid Single Stripped Mice seen earlier.
We took advantage of the cool morning temperatures and lack of road dust to peer out of the safari top of the minivan, in search of morning game.
Instead, we saw the oddly named Secretary Bird demonstrating a strong instinct to run rather than fly when frightened.
The Golden Jackal was fun to watch in "hunting mode". This one would catch small rodents by pouncing...
... then would snap his neck back and seemingly catch/swallow them in a motion.
The official entrance sign for the Serengeti was a reminder of where the parks source their funds. I'm not really complaining at the original prices of $50 USD per person for wazungu, as compared to the roughly $1USD for locals, but the prices have tripled in the last five months for foreigners from the originally posted toll.
With our guide Jesse taking care of the park fee payment and registration process, Kristen and I were free to entertain ourselves by tracking the exotic animal life of the tourist center... haaa.
(Actual photo, nicely done.)
This female Agama Lizard got our attention with her spined features and upright tail.
But, her colorful, and much larger, psychadelic suitor stole the show.
As interesting as the reptiles may have been, (further down the road ) when a hunting Cheetah appeared to our left she literally stopped the show.
At first, all we saw was her. Then, a pair of cubs appeared out of the grasses with her.
Now with three in tow, Momma Cheetah looked back to collect all her students.
Finally, she wandered off with all four cubs aligned and herded gazelle into a large clump of frightened hoofs, stripes, and antlers. Surprisingly, as the cheetah maneuvered the gazelle actually shifted physically closer to her. Either she was too distracted by the picture snapping tourists or this counter intuitive evasion tactic worked, because despite the anticipatory cries of her young cubs the Momma Cheetah simply walked away.
We have learned to hunt safari vehicles as well as African creatures. Generally, where a clump of cars are stopped there is something meaningful to witness. In this case five lioness were enjoying a snooze under the shade of an acacia tree.
Hundreds of Water Buffalo grazed just meters away. The heat of the day must have been a deterent...
... because even with a tasty calf well within reach, the lioness clan could hardly be bothered to consider the hunt.
This one didn't even make the effort to turn the other way for a peek at a potentially tender prize.
In a nearby pool, the hippos yawned away the mid-day sun.
An Egyptian Goose took things one step further and snoozed.
While a crockadile slowly cruised the pond for drowsy nappers within reach.
Instead of taking nature's lead with a siesta of our own, we headed 200km to the north in search of our next lodge.
Heading north and east towards the Kenyan border, the geography changes from flat grass lands to include stone outcroppings and patches of trees.
The Baboons tend to congregate in the bushes and smaller trees, gathering nuts from the branches. Walking along the road is an easy "piggy back" trip for the babies.
While hanging on to mom takes some grip strength in the trees.
About an hour north of the baboon colony we rounded a corner and hit the brakes hard. Usually elephants are pretty docile and get out of your way. This guy had a completely different disposition.
The reason for the strong stance was a female elephant and her calf were grazing just to our right.
So while I took pictures of Kristen taking pictures...
... the mood changed and the calf was coddled off to one side.
As the third elephant moved strongly toward the van, Jessie engaged reverse and pulled slowly backwards.
All's well that ends well, so seeing an opening Jessie moved the van past the protective pacaderm and we were on our way to Lobo Lodge.
On the horizon sat our future resting point, but the location was not immediately visible.
"Zooming in" at 42x revealed a grainy building resting in a crevice between to large rock formations.
Slowing for the climb up to the Lobo Lodge granted us a view of one of the sweetest faced creatures we have seen.
The Klipspringer is larger than a Dik Dik but smaller than a Thompson's Gazelle and definitely a whole lot fluffier.
The immediate roadway changed within a hundred meters of the front gate, from deeply rutted dirt into a smooth stone path. In the rainy season this steep glazed incline must be fun.
The Lodge itself reminded me of something pulled from the pages of "Swiss Family Robinson"...
... with heavy wooden elevated walkways throughout.
Our room branched off the main body of the hotel to one side, away from the parking lot.
Comfortable, in comparison to camping, may be a good description of these drastically overpriced Serengeti accommodations but still they are on par with a Holiday Inn (minus the partying teenagers).
The big difference between the Lobo Lodge and your local Holiday Inn was the view from the pool deck.
In the late afternoon the chase lounge chairs were beckoning, but I had the pool in mind to quench the heat of the day.
Beautiful as it may seem and equally tempting, especially since I missed the pool in Tarangiri, this pool was just another tease. Jessie and Kristen talked me out of acquiring various water born parasites by taking a cool plunge into the unchlorinated pool. The bugs I could see were not as discouraging as invisible ones now implanted in my imagination.
My disappointment was echoed in the taunting call of the aptly named Go-Away Bird that sounded more like the screech of a wounded monkey than a bird.
The calm infant Rock Hyrax was a fitting terrestrial counterpoint to the obnoxious Go-Away Bird.
Kristen and I opted out of the evening game drive to experience the transition of late afternoon into the warm glow of evening.
The wild part of an African sunset is that the sky fills with rich orange and red colors when the sun is about twenty degrees off the horizon.
Then when the sun makes its final decent the color leaches right out until just before vanishing over the horizon...
... and then the color spectrum opens up once again.
The sky was still reasonable bright in the opposite direction, aided by a nearly full moon.
After a full day exploring the Serengeti and enjoying the sunset there was only one thing left to do and that was sit and enjoy our Coke Lights while waiting for dinner to be called at 7:30pm.
