Just a River

 

The Mara is a river, pretty much like any other river. It looks quite inviting if paddling is your thing. However, I wouldn't advise it. There be dragons.

For most animals in the Serengeti, the Mara is there for drinking or living in. Like most rivers in tropical Africa, it harbours some animals that turn paddling into an extreme sport.

 

Hippos look, if anything, a little silly. Don't let that fool you. They are killers, known to be the most dangerous animal in Africa. They may be vegetarian, but that won't stop them removing a couple of your limbs. 

They hang around in the water most of the day to avoid sunburn. This makes their choice of country a little silly. They wander around on land at night, and can go surprisingly far and surprisingly fast, but the water is their true home. 

Most interestingly for me is their ancestry. Whereas our closest family is the Chimpanzee, with common ancestors roaming the forests of Africa but 5 million years ago, the ancestors of the hippo were wandering around the rivers of Africa about 50 million years ago, some evolving into hippos of course, while others headed off to sea to evolve into whales. Yes it is true, the closest living relatives of hippos are whales. It is truly a crazy world we live in. 

Living alongside these erstwhile whales are the real dragons. 

 

This guy is enormous. He and his ilk have not change much over the years. Unlike the hippos and whales, they evolved into their niche when dinosaurs were wiped out nearly 90 million years ago. Why change when you've got your way of life all sorted out? In fact, the only living relatives of the dinosaurs are crocodiles and, you guessed it, birds...

Crocodiles may not have changed much, but the rivers they live in have. The splitting of Africa to form the Rift Valley has changed not only the course of its rivers, but also the climate itself. The Serengeti is in the tropics. The sun is always overhead. It has no summer or winter. But it does have seasons. Sometimes wet, sometimes dry, the seasons control the supply of grass, the basic food of the wildebeest. 

And here comes evolution again. The wildebeest cover the plains of Africa in their millions. That takes a lot of food. Those hanging about for the dry season are going to find eating a problem. To survive as a species, they must find grazing land. They must follow the rains. Here is the invisible power of evolution. Those that wander around generally in the direction of clouds, well, they survive. Those that don't, well, they die. Over the millennia, this has evolved into a survival trait. They have an innate ability to head in the general direction of clouds. Unfortunately, although this means survival for the species as a whole, individually it can be a little harrowing. To head in the general direction of clouds means having to cross the occasional river. 

 

 Which can lead to total chaos

 

and worse.

The hooves of wildebeest are not entirely well adapted to slippery rocks. Slipping over in a river is one thing, getting eaten is another.

To fully understand the wildebeest, I'm going to look at one specific gnu called 'Eric'. His name has been changed to protect the innocent. He'll make an appearance (and a disappearance) in the next blog...

Alongside the hordes of wildebeest, you'll often see a lot of zebra going along just for the fun of it.

 

Hmmm. Not easy to spot. They don't always do so well either...

 

Nature red in tooth and claw. This guy survived one encounter, but has weakened him for the next, and probably his last, encounter.

I'll link to all the photos in the next blog, entitled 'A Day in the Life of Eric the Gnu'. Hold on to your bladders...