A Break from the Crossings
Previous Chapter: 'You Shall Not Pass' here.
We awoke the next day, our third day in the Wild, at the usual hour of stupid o'clock. The previous day had left us both elated and exhausted, thinking that nothing could surpass that which we had experienced.
It had been that amazing.
We felt that we needed time to relax and regain our sanity, to come down from our high back to earth again. Well, the kind of earth infested with killing predators anyway...
It was time to do a proper safari drive. This usually consists of driving around aimlessly, seeing very little, and occasionally, to break the tedium, being viciously attacked by most parts of darling Mother Nature.
The previous night, we lacked a decent sunset. This morning we had our compensation...
The sun started to pull itself up by its bootstraps at 6:20am.
We were heading away from the Mara, searching out different wildlife. Trees for instance...
At 6:50 the sun finally put in an appearance. Perfect lighting for the animals that weren't there.
Half an hour later we had still found little sign of life. Instead, little signs of death.
Things were soon to change for the better. For the first time this safari we saw close at hand some giraffes.
This mother and daughter allowed us some backlit photos...
Giraffes are common in Tanzania because they are not allowed to be hunted.
Call me stupid, but who would have thought that not killing wildlife helps them increase their numbers?
A half hour later, we saw the poachers favourite, a memory of elephants...
including young with no obvious tusks
adolescents with small tusks
and this big boy, with decent sized tusks and an enormous big boy...
They were busy stuffing entire trees into their gobs...
...with their incredibly versatile trunks.
Watching them gorging these tasty looking trees reminded us of our empty stomachs.
As all the trees were taken, we opted for more conventional fare. And I may have mentioned coffee...
We ate breakfast from the bonnet of the jeep because of the possible presence of unseen large killing machines in the long grass. Funnily enough we were just remarking that, as yet, we had seen no lions.
That deficit was not to last long...
Our next stop was a local water feature. Refreshing, cooling, with a dash of the mildly dangerous.
This was our first meeting with the king of predators, a small group of two horny females and one very horny male. They were part of a larger pride but these three had gone off on a bonking break.
Who could resist the charm of this majestic being?
We were soon to find out.
Ok. This looks promising.
Ah. This looks less promising...
These two lionesses were not, as yet, in the mood for bonking. They're probably waiting for all the tourists to try to sleep at night.
We were north of the Mara, at the Tanzania/Kenya border. To the north we could see more smoke.
Wherever we went we saw great swathes of burnt stubble. The theory that this produces better grazing seemed arguable to this Topi.
Although it did provide perfect camouflage for these buffalo. Careful where you tread.
Despite looking for alternatives to wildebeest, there is no way to avoid them. 2.6 million wildebeest are difficult to avoid. We saw many herds, including this one doing the Conga.
We thought that we'd head back over the Mara to the south side to go and check for rhinos. There was a small possibility of seeing a crossing, and we did. But not of wildebeest.
A small herd of elephants were heading across, showing us their bottoms.
The Mara does not present a problem to elephants when the water is so low. Although they do need to be careful where they stick their noses, as they are occasionally bitten off to spite their faces.
Some of the younger ones enjoy a good splash around. It's probably worth avoiding that area if you are a crocodile.
The depth of the Mara is well demonstrated here. No wonder we didn't see the baby crossing...
If your trunk gets wet, you can always hang it out to dry.
Away from a Mara again, at a different waterhole, this time without death traps.
Instead of lining up at the edge of the pool for a quick slurp, wildebeest generally just ploughed on in.
Typical of most British pubs...
The slightest noise would set off a panic
Sending the birds a flutter.
and sometimes a handsome beast like this.
It was time for more frugal offerings. Life is hard in the Wild.
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So far the day had been less challenging, more relaxing and less emotional.
That was soon to change...
Next Chapter The Circle of Life
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