Oldupai Archeological Site
Sunrise in the Serengeti
Daughter and Mother Glancing into Each Others Eyes
A Hyena with a Zebra Leg
Lovebird
Mama and Cub
Let me fill you in on the past couple weeks. We had exams for our classes on Oct. 6th and 7th. They arrived quickly and they took a good amount of effort to prepare for, but they were successfully overcome by all of us and I feel good about what I turned in. Enough about exams and studying, that’s boring to write about, let me tell you about our expedition to the Serengeti that happened right after exams were over.
Oct. 9th, we were up and running at 5:15am. We packed up the “white rhino” (a huge truck that carried all of our stuff, food, stove, tents, etc.), ate breakfast, packed lunch, and headed to the cruisers for the approximately 6 hour drive to the Serengeti! Note to viewers, make sure you do not suffer from car sickness when traveling from Rhotia to the Serengeti because it is the bumpiest, most jerking rollercoaster ride of your life. Somehow, most of the people in my car, impressively managed to sleep through the jolts of the excursion. We did make one stop on our way to the Serengeti; we stopped at Oldupai Gorge Archeological Site. A site that represents the origin of man. After a lecture on the gorge, which was given by a man, who was very kind by the way, but spoke as slow as a sloth, we hopped back into the cruisers and continued the drive. We finally arrived at our campsite. Mind you, our campsite that was located in the middle of Serengeti National Park!
We set up our tents in a circular format, hoping to somehow avoid being attacked by giant hyenas or hungry lions. After camp was prepared, we headed out for a quick game drive. Oh how I love game drives. We came across a mother and daughter lion pair, sipping water from a ditch on the side of the road. They were simply gorgeous. Isn’t it beautiful to know that even mother and daughter lions maintain a long-lasting relationship? We gazed at them in awe for twenty minutes or so. Female lions are so graceful looking, yet so fierce at the same time. Hmm.. It might be nice to have that affect on people eh? I think if I had to choose an animal I would want to be, it would be the lion, or maybe the elephant. Female elephants are so maternal. We saw quite a few herds that contained a grandma, a mother, and a daughter; three generations growing old together! I wish I could pull you through the screen and into my land cruiser; the pictures simply do not fully grasp the feeling I was having, they only pause one moment out of the hundreds that I experienced. So, in hopes of passing on any feelings, take a deep glance at one of the photos, close your eyes and feel the picture. Think about what you see, try to imagine the setting of the animal, experience the moment as best you can. Don’t just look at the photos and say to yourself, “Hm, that’s a great picture.” I want you to be able to say, “Hm, I can see the tall grass waving in the wind behind these lions, I can see how they move their bodies as they walk and look side to side at their surroundings, I can see the beauty of the relationship they have between them.” Imagine the story behind the picture, whether it’s accurate or not is not important; I just want you to feel something and not just look at it. Enough of my blabbering….
The first night in the Serengeti, I was laying in my sleeping bag, back flat on the ground, eyes peeled open as if tape was holding my eyelids to my forehead. My heart was beating as it beats during a sprint, bum bum bum bum bum bum bum, I was scared. My tent mates laughed when I told them I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep. My watch glowed at almost every hour; midnight, 1am , 2am, and then it happened. I heard the loudest footsteps and the heaviest breathing I have ever heard right next to my head. I was smart enough to pick the edge for my sleep spot, that certainly didn’t make me feel any safer. I quickly rolled onto the girl (Alyson) sleeping next to me. I tapped her shoulder and told her to listen carefully. She herd the steps and the heavy breaths too. Soon, our entire tent was awake, sitting up, waiting to hear something scary. The noise never returned. Everyone went back to sleep, besides me of course. I think I finally closed my eyes around 4am; too bad wake up was at 5:15am.
The first thing I did as the beautiful sun rose across our camp, was look by the side of our tent. There, in a blatantly clear view, were hyena footprints. Perhaps this is an exaggeration, but the prints were only two feet away from my head! It turns out, according to our askaris (guards) who were up all night, about five hyenas had walked through our campsite. In fact, one of them attempted to drag our covered trashcan out with him and an askari had to play a game of tug-of-war with the hyena to get it back.
That day I realized I was overreacting and that it was more important to sleep than to lay awake wondering if I was going to be eaten by a famished leopard. The next three nights I slept much better, but was still awaken at least once during the night. We had zebras followed by hungry lions, and hyenas walk through our camp during our stay; too bad we didn’t have a camera rolling to document the nocturnal hunters. The rest of our expedition consisted of some small lectures, one field exercise on bird species and one on fire (burned vs. unburned habitats) influencing associations of ungulate species, as well as a few more game drives. It was one incredible experience that will never cease to amaze me every time I think about it. In conclusion, I would have to say my favorite part of the trip was the hippo pool. Hippos are just fascinating animals. Yes, I believe they are one of the most laziest animals on the planet, but they also possess many interesting traits. Did you know a male hippo can weigh up to 3200kg and still gallop at 30kph (convert to lbs and mph is neccessary)?? And did you know a hippo’s jaws are wide and powerful enough to bite a 9 ft long crocodile in two? I also think hippos possess one of the best African mammal smiles I have ever seen (check out the picture…it’s so happy!) We got back to camp and I finally showered for the first time in 15 days (sorry mama), yay water conservation!
One thing out of the many things I will bring back home with me is this phrase, “there is always time,” (a phrase that a lot of our staff say). Zero Tanzanians wear watches and they most certainly don’t live by deadlines or due dates. I am an American, and I honor due dates and turning things in on time and I respect the goals I set for myself and the time I want to accomplish them in. Therefore, I will not come home thinking that there is always time to do everything and that time is not an issue; however, I will come home believing in the importance of time. Importance, meaning the time I have here on Earth, and not to be too cliché, but how each second is spent and that I want to soak up all the time I have with the ones I love. Tanzanians interpret “there is always time” like “eh, we’ll get this done sometime, there is no rush, hakuna matata.” I am taking it as there is always time to tell someone you love them, or there is always time to do something you want to do, or there is always time to be where you want to be. Never underestimate time and think that there is not enough of it; you simply need to use it wisely. So, in hopes of passing on a message that has been passed on to me, I hope you will look at your “list of things to do” and if that happens to revolve around things that need to be done e.g. go to the grocery store, mail this bill, clean the house (which it most likely does), add something to the top that revolves around someone you love or something you want to do for yourself. Rather that is, sit outside and read a book, go for a bike ride with my son, call my mother just to say, “ I love you,” write an email to my best friend, etc. Take the time to do that one thing and don’t think “I don’t have time.” Mind you, I know the people reading these words are very good at managing time and finding time for themselves and their loved ones, I am simply a reminder of that good quality you possess. So, today or tomorrow or the next day, (BUT no later), do something for yourself that makes you happy, and do something for another to show them you love them.
I hope all is well wherever you may be,
Katie
Great blog. Having been there and seeing these animals made it easy for me to close my eyes and feel their power and grace. Amazing time for you. I'm taking your advice and forgetting about having to do something all the time. Right now I'm doing nothing at all.
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