12 February: Splendid Serengeti

Our wake-up knock came at 6 a.m. so we could eat breakfast before our 7:30 game drive. We watched a spectacular lavender- and rose-hued sunrise from our balcony, then enjoyed the “usual” breakfast buffet at our two tables on the terrace – a fresh breeze rolling in off the plains adding just the right touch – before setting off on our game drive. It took a good forty-five minutes to descend out of the hills and onto the plains (this may be a disadvantage of staying at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge). We were searching for leopards in every suitable-looking tree (Rodgers having pointed out the sort of low, horizontal branches where they like to hang out). It is amazing how easily your eyes can trick you, particularly when you really want to see a leopard; we saw those deceptive A.L.T.’s in just about every sprawling acacia tree! We passed one particular tree where our guides had heard a leopard was sighted within the last hour or two. Rodgers spotted tell-tale tire tracks leading up to and away from the tree and he suspected that someone had driven illegally off-road to get closer to the leopard and scared it off, therefore ruining the experience for the rest of us. We were pretty frustrated.

Other wildlife sightings this morning included four Topis, four black-backed jackals trotting down the road in front of us and, a little later, three more lounging by the side of the road, a Coke’s Hartebeest (a large grassland antelope), and Bohor Reedbuck (another large, reddish antelope). Additional bird sightings included a family of Helmeted Guinea Fowl with eight or nine chicks, Rüppell’s Long-Tailed Starling, African Hoopoe (an awesome bird but unfortunately it moved to fast to get a photo), Cardinal Woodpecker, Bare-Faced Go-away Bird, Montague’s Harrier, Rosy-cheeked Cordon Bleu, Fisher’s Lovebird, and Gray-headed Spurfowl.

The road conditions were none too good – at times looking more like a river than a road – and we were grateful for our trusty Land Cruisers. We gave up temporarily on the leopard search and made our way to a large muddy pool where we saw our largest group of hippos to date – I estimated between 20 and 30 individuals. A youngster yawned widely, showing us its chompers. Another rolled over in the water, looking quite comical with its stubby, mud-covered legs flailing in the air.

A little while later we got a glimpse of three cheetahs – probably brothers – loping away from us in the grass. It was amazing how easily they blended in with their surroundings. Next we got our closest view yet of some Topis – they crossed the road directly in front of us – and then spotted a large herd of Cape Buffalo several hundred yards from the road. We also got a good look at a Vervet monkey (also known as the blue-balled monkey – for good reason) perched in a tree. We stopped at a nature center for a short hike and learned a bit about the flora and fauna of the plains. Here we saw a number of hyraxes foraging on acacia leaves, a Grey-capped Social Weaver, and a Speke’s Weaver working very intently on his teardrop-shaped nest of woven grass. Next we visited another hippo pool, where an acacia tree arching over the pond was loaded with dozens of weaver nests. On or way back to the lodge we came across a small group of giraffe feeding on acacias right next to the road. We also stopped so Bernard could move a turtle safely off the road. Near the river I noticed a lot of acacia trees with distinctive yellow bark and almost simultaneously Rodger pointed and said, “Those are yellow-barked acacias.”

We didn’t get back to the lodge until nearly 2:30 (I think Renny kept us out longer than usual hoping that we would finally spot a leopard) so we only had a couple of hours before our evening game drive left at 4:30. We ate lunch on the terrace – we skipped the soup because it was so hot, then had a nice cucumber, carrot and cabbage salad; I had fish curry with rice and DH had beef stir-fry with potatoes. We had some laundry done while we were out (it was the cheapest here of all the lodges we stayed at) and it was already finished and neatly folded when we returned to our room. I spent some time wandering the grounds after lunch – there is a lovely pool, although we didn’t have time to take advantage of it (yet again) – and trying to sneak up on the brilliantly-colored lizards that were crawling around all over the place.

Several members of our group were thinking of bailing out on the afternoon game drive but Renny and the rest of us convinced them to come along; this would, after all, be our last outing with Renny and he wanted to give us a fitting send-off. I had a feeling they had something special planned. Renny invited me to take the front seat next to Rodgers while he sat in the back, so I had a great view of the road ahead. I knew something was up when, not twenty minutes into our drive, Rodgers started exchanging meaningful gestures and conversing in Swahili with the guides in several passing trucks. I stared down the road and glimpsed a splash of gold in the trees above the road. My mouth said, “Oh my God!” before my brain had time to react. At first I thought, “Leopard!” but I didn’t see any spots. Then I had this sinking feeling that my eyes were playing tricks on me again. As we came closer, I realized that there were lions in the tree! Tree-climbing lions, right above the road! There were four in all – a lioness and one cub in a tree off to the left side of the road, perhaps thirty feet away, and a second lioness and another cub lounging on a branch hanging directly over the road. We had our windows closed and the top down because we were still in the tse-tse fly area, so I had to lean over in Rodgers’ lap in a very contorted position and take pictures out his window. As I snapped away, Rodgers laughed and said I was just like a Japanese tourist. At one point Rodgers grabbed my camera and took some pictures himself, including a great shot of the cub yawning. The lighting conditions were really tough, with the lions in the shade set against the bright sky, so I took a ton of pictures.

The lioness hanging over the road just lay there quietly, looking down at us with those mesmerizing golden eyes. She looked directly into my lens several times and I got the most brilliant portraits of her. At one point the cub looked like it was going to jump down out of the tree, but it thought better of it and went back to lie next to the female. Rodgers pointed at the cub, which still had its spots, and said they were special “spotted lions,” so hopefully that would make up for not seeing a leopard. He said that seeing tree-climbing lions, especially so close to the road, is extremely rare. Honestly, I felt like I could live with not seeing a leopard after that amazing experience! Finally Renny told us we had to move on.

At the rickety wooden bridge (with the hand-painted sign saying “2-ton weight limit”) there was a giraffe standing in the road in front of us. It didn’t budge for several minutes, just sat there swishing its tail at us, so Rodgers drove slowly up behind it and we watched it turn tail and lope off into the grass, hindquarters heaving. There’s nothing quite like the ungainly gallop of a giraffe! We spotted a Pygmy Falcon (the smallest African bird of prey) en route to a small saltwater lake, where we saw a Grey Heron, a Hottentot Teal (Africa’s smallest duck, with a distinctive blue bill), a Three-banded Plover, a flock of pink-tinged Yellow-billed Storks with bright red faces and yellow beaks, and a Blacksmith’s Plover sitting on its nest in the sand, right out in the open.

We parked the trucks by the lake, where Renny, Rodgers, and Bernard laid out a white-clothed table and served us sundowners. I managed to prop my camera up on the hood of one of the trucks and got a great group shot of all of us making one final toast to Tanzania. The sun was dropping rapidly towards the horizon, so we had to literally race back to the lodge. On the way back we stopped briefly to watch a herd of impala with lots of babies, then we found all four lions where we had left them, now grouped together in the tree off to the side of the road. The two cubs were sacked out side-by-side with their long tails hanging down in parallel. We couldn’t stop for long because we were supposed to be back at the lodge by 7 p.m. We said goodbye to the lions and thanked them for putting the crowing touch on our visit to Tanzania!

We had another nice meal (at this point I started getting behind on my notetaking so I don’t have all the details). The service at Serengeti Sopa was rather slow and sometimes unreliable, but the food was quite good. Then it was off to bed, as we had to leave at 7 a.m. sharp, to give us plenty of time to navigate the treacherous roads to the airstrip, where we would catch our plane back to Kenya.

11 February: Ngorongoro to Serengeti

We left Ngorongoro at 8 a.m. sharp, retracing our steps along the crater rim and then taking what passes for a highway in Tanzania in the direction of Lake Victoria. (As we passed the ritzy Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Rodgers regaled us with stories of all the famous people who have stayed there: “Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, and…Rodgers!”) En route we passed many Maasai villages and an incredible lush volcanic “depression” that stays green year-round, even in the dry season. We passed one village where a group of Maasai in their customary bright red garb were dancing for a small group of tourists. A little further on we stopped to drive off-road to observe a large group of giraffes – 15-20 of them – all munching contentedly on shrubby acacia. There must have been some choice shoots of grass too, because we watched one giraffe splay its legs way out so it could get its head close enough to the ground to graze. It looked like an incredibly awkward position for the poor fellow! Renny was in the other truck and as they turned around to return to the road, he stuck his head out the window, pointing and waving at us and shouting, “Helloooo homo sapiens!” as if we were a rare wildlife sighting. It was really funny at the time, trust me.

Our first stop of the day was Olduvai Gorge (the name is most likely a misspelling of Oldupai, the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant that grows in the gorge), known as the “Cradle of Mankind” – a steep-walled, 30-mile-long ravine of striated orange rock where, in the 1950s, the archaeologists Louis and Mary Leaky first discovered extensive hominid remains and stone tools dating back more than 2.5 million years. The excavation work continues today by members of the Leaky family. Seventeen years after beginning their work at Olduvai, Mary Leaky discovered an amazing series of fossilized footprints from a human ancestor who walked along the riverbank some 3 million years ago. A casting of the footprints is on display in the small museum, along with a detailed explanation of how the original footprints were covered up in order to protect them from erosion. Since then, archaeologists working at Olduvai Gorge have uncovered skeletal remains of many ancient hominids, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Australopithecus Boisei, along with other artifacts such as hunting weapons, tools, and fossilized remains of the fauna that once frequented the gorge.

We listened to a short lecture in a covered outdoor “classroom” and had some time to peruse the small exhibit rooms. For practical reasons I will mention that the restroom facilities at Olduvai were the worst so far on our trip; the only positive thing I can say about them is that the view from the men’s open-air cement “trough” was stunning!

On our way back to the main road, we encountered two little Maasai boys who flagged us down and asked for water. We handed them a couple of ice-cold bottles from our well-stocked cooler. They seemed pretty pleased, although we all wondered what they would do with the plastic bottles after they drank the water.

A short while later we passed through the largest herd of wildebeest that we would see on the entire safari. Granted, this was probably nowhere near the size of the herds that one sees during the height of the migration, but it was impressive nonetheless…hundreds of wildebeest dotting the green plain, stretching all the way back to the hills of Ngorongoro. Not too long after the great herd, in a fitting completion to the “circle of life” we had witnessed over the past few days, we came across a group of vultures pecking viciously at a dead wildebeest not ten feet from the road. (I suspect the carnage was the result of a wildebeest-car collision rather than natural causes.) We watched for a few minutes as the huge vultures (truly the nastiest-looking representatives of bird-kind that I know of) and various storks fought over the remains, but the stench was so overpowering that I think I was the one who said “sawa sawa” first, just so we could get away from the smell!

We crossed a number of dry, rocky riverbeds as we continued along a relatively smooth dirt road cutting across the shrubby plains. We came around a bend and spotted a forlorn zebra foal standing splay-legged in the middle of the road. It couldn’t have been more than a few days old, and had obviously gotten lost, been abandoned, or else its mother died. We drove right past the little guy, who just stared blankly at us as he wobbled on spindly legs. It seemed like he may have already been attacked by some predator or another, perhaps a hyena. Rodgers told us it was unlikely that he would last the night. It was a terribly sad sight, but of course there was nothing we could do to help him.

We crossed the border between Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park at midday. The boundary is marked by a clump of acacia trees and a wooden sign suspended across the road that reads Karibu hifadhi ya Serengeti (“Welcome to the Serengeti”). We walked out into the middle of the road; all we could see in either direction was endless green plain stretching to the horizon, with the most amazing expanse of blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds arching over our heads.

On our way into the park we spotted two separate lion prides, both lounging in the grass a few hundred feet from the road. A small herd of zebra stood on the alert with ears perked, not far from one of the prides. Next we drove through an immense herd of zebra, who posed artfully for our photographs. We stopped at the main park entrance for box lunches (good but way too much food – Renny piled all of our leftovers in a box and said he would give it to the guys who wash the trucks) and took a short hike up to a flat rock outcropping that Renny said was the inspiration for Pride Rock in “The Lion King.” From there we had a magnificent view out across the grasslands (Serengeti is Maasai for “endless plains”). Once again we marveled at how green and lush it looked – definitely not my image of the parched, golden African plains from a childhood of National Geographic programs. This was by far the hottest day so far. I was so hot when we came back down from the rock that I poured half a bottle of water over my head, prompting Rodgers to ask me very earnestly if I was okay. I am sure they are trained to recognize the first signs of heatstroke; I knew I was not in any danger, I just get overheated (and likewise chilled) very easily! (Note: The bathroom facilities here were, amazingly, even worse than at Olduvai. I will refrain from describing just how disgusting it was, but suffice it to say that at this point MIL and I would have given just about anything for a friendly bush, but there simply wasn’t enough privacy. What made it even worse was that there was a sparkling new restroom building right nextdoor to the old outhouses, but the doors were locked! We don’t think the plumbing was hooked up yet.)

Back on the road again, we added several bird sightings to our life list – European Roller, Hildebrandt's Starling, Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver, and Fiscal Shrike (some of these may actually be repeat sightings - my notes are in several places). Then we learned just how good Rodgers’ eagle eyes are – he spotted a Serval cat prowling through the grass several hundred feet off the road. I have no idea how he was able to see it while he was driving, particularly when the rest of us had our eyes peeled on the surrounding landscape for any sign of movement! (Rodgers had already warned us about the commonly-sighted A.L.T., or “animal-like thing” and P.O.P., or “pile of poop.”) We turned off and rushed out to watch the Serval – a gorgeous, slender, spotted cat with large tufted ears, a black nose, and golden eyes. The Serval has the longest legs (relative to body size) of any cat, allowing it to see over the tall grasses of its savanna habitat. It uses its large ears to listen for its prey, which mostly consists of small rodents. While hunting, the Serval may pause for up to fifteen minutes at a time with its eyes closed (I learned that on Wikipedia). The Serval is a very efficient hunter, catching its prey on nearly half of its attempts, compared to around one in ten for most cat species (also Wikipedia). Our Serval took absolutely no notice of us as it sat in the jeep track in front of us for a few moments, walked slowly towards and past our truck, then disappeared without a sound into the tall grass. The other truck caught up with us a few moments later but the cat was gone; all we could do was point into the waving grasses where we had last seen it.

As we continued across the plains, we saw many of the rounded granite outcroppings called “kopjes”, which seemed like perfect lookouts for lions à la Pride Rock, but we didn’t see any. Not long after our Serval sighting, we came across a lone jackal curled up by the side of the road. He/she looked very hot, panting heavily, and I felt sort of sorry for it, sitting there all alone in the heat of the day.

A range of low hills grew steadily larger on our horizon. Somewhere nestled in those hills lay our destination: the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. The road grew steadily worse as we approached – a rutted, muddy mess, with the occasional eroded ravine cutting its way threateningly across our path. The last 45 minutes were the worst (and we learned that we would have to traverse this same road several more times on our game drives tomorrow!). As we headed into the hills, we had to close all of the windows and put the top down on the Land Cruiser in order to keep the tse-tse flies out. Rodgers told us about the symptoms of sleeping sickness as he slapped absentmindedly at a few tse-tse flies buzzing around his arms. I was absolutely miserable from the heat and just hoped it would be over soon.

Once we were out of the tse-tse fly zone we were able to roll down our windows again – ah, the breeze! – and stopped briefly to watch a large herd of impala with a number of tiny babies grazing alongside the road. We also got our first view of Topis, or rather the rear-ends of a couple of Topis, heading off into the bush. They are a large species of antelope with distinctive slate blue-colored legs, for which they have earned the nickname “blue jeans.”

We finally arrived at the lodge around 5:30 and retreated gratefully to our rooms. The lodge itself looks a bit aged from the exterior, but the rooms are gorgeous and obviously recently renovated. We had two good-sized black iron beds (which looked quite atmospheric with their floaty white mosquito nets and funky built-in lamps), warm-stained cement floors, a cobalt blue-tiled walk-in shower, and the most breathtakingly beautiful view out over the Serengeti that I could have ever hoped for.

After a refreshingly cold shower (I didn’t have the patience to wait until the hot water came on at 6 pm!) and a change of clothes, we watched a rain squall move over the plains in the distance, then the sun came out and cast a brilliant golden glow across the grasslands. We regrouped for cocktails (on Micato) around a roaring bonfire, watching the lightning show on the horizon, until we were driven inside by a sudden thunderstorm. We retreated to a cozy room deep inside the lodge, where we got to choose another complimentary bottle of wine from the wine list. Dinner in the warm-toned dining room was quite pleasant. I had fried fish cakes, skipped the tomato soup, then chose the vegetable-filled “pancakes” and a banana-custard creation for dessert. DH had chicken terrine, a beef stir-fry with mashed potatoes, and the same banana dessert. After dinner the lodge staff performed several songs and dances for our enjoyment. We fell into bed at a reasonable time for once, looking forward to our day out on the plains.

10 February: Ngorongoro

We were awakened by a “wake-up knock” at 6:15 this morning and saw an impressive White-necked Raven on our way to the main lodge for breakfast – the usual buffet of sausage, bacon, cold cuts, fresh fruit, rolls and breads, and eggs made-to-order. It was quite cool out and I wore my fleece-lined windbreaker for the first time.

We departed on our game drive at 8 am. It took us about half an hour to descend into the crater on a reasonably well-maintained red-dirt road. Umbrella acacias arched over the road, forming a dense green canopy above our heads. The acacias slowly gave way to stunted shrubs and finally lush grasses as we approached the crater floor. En route we spotted a Hildebrand’s Francolin, an Auger Buzzard, a Nubian Vulture, and the first of many Abdim’s Storks. We passed a small herd of grazing zebra as the vast expanse of the crater came into view before us, the sun shimmering across the lake in the distance. A few sparse clouds hung beneath the rim of the crater and the slopes on the far side (eleven miles away, as I recall) melded into hazy shades of green. Two spotted hyenas trotted into view, and then a good-sized herd of wildebeest appeared on the slope ahead of us. Within minutes we spotted our first lion – a lone lioness striding away from us, heading up a steep hill several hundred yards away. She disappeared behind a rock; a small herd of Cape Buffalo browsing on the crest of the hill seemed oblivious to her presence.

We continued onwards, approaching a much larger herd of wildebeest, many of which had newborn babies at their sides. We found ourselves in the midst of a veritable wildebeest nursery. The females all seemed to be giving birth on the right side of the road, nudging their young onto their feet within minutes and chasing them around for a bit to get them used to their wobbly legs. Then, once the babies were able to keep up, they headed across the road to the wildebeest kindergarten on the other side. Waiting in the wings (for the afterbirths and perhaps any newborns that didn’t make it) were two Rüppell’s Griffon Vultures and two African White-backed Vultures.

We enjoyed watching the wildebeest for several minutes, but then Rodgers reported that there was “something to see” and we abruptly turned around and went tearing back to the hill where we’d seen the lioness. Now there were two more lionesses, about twenty yards from the road. One of them sauntered towards us, and I had the unforgettable experience of staring directly into two golden lion eyes for the very first time in my life. This moment will be etched in my memory as long as I live – it is impossible for me to describe the brutal power, uncanny intelligence, and total wildness in that mesmerizing yellow gaze. She walked past our truck, sat down in the middle of the road for a few minutes, yawned, then got up and walked underneath my window. She was so close that I couldn’t focus on her with my zoom lens so I just put my camera down and stared. I was half-kneeling in my seat, my face practically out the window, and when the lioness paused to stare up at me again from less than four feet away, I pulled away in a totally spontaneous reflex – as if some ancient instinctive mechanism buried in my psyche was telling me that one should not stare directly into the eyes of a fierce predator! As we watched, the two lions lost interest in our trucks and headed slowly but purposefully up the hill in the same direction as the first lioness, and we all decided that they must be setting up for a hunt. They disappeared from view and we moved on, returning to spend some more time among the wildebeest.

We drove slowly through the wildebeest nursery and then struck out again across the plain. From a distance, we saw two Elands (the largest antelope species in Africa), and then we had the wonderful experience of watching a wildebeest giving birth. She was far enough away that we had to use binoculars, but we could see a great deal. The whole process took a matter of minutes – first two hooves appeared, while the female continued grazing nonchalantly, then she lay down and got up several times in rapid succession, as a few more inches of gangly legs came into view. Finally she went down for good and we couldn’t see what was happening for a few minutes. Then she stood up again, nuzzling at a small dark brown lump at her feet. It took several agonizing tries, but the little one finally scrambled to its feet and took its first few tottering steps on impossibly long, skinny legs. We all breathed a communal sigh of relief – wildebeest will abandon their newborns if they are not up and walking after ten minutes!

A few minutes later we approached two more lionesses from a second pride. This time they were lying in the grass just a few feet from the road, and as the safari trucks gathered, they both got up and laid down in the shade of the trucks. By this point I had gotten over the initial shock of seeing lions at such close range and I just stood and snapped away with my camera as these two gorgeous animals lay panting in the shade, seemingly oblivious to the curious crowd of onlookers gathered around them. As we watched, first one female and then the other came over and stretched out full-length alongside our truck. We could see the flies buzzing around their heads and the bloody wounds of battle on their golden coats. I could have counted the whiskers on their chins if I wanted to. Someone had reported seeing cubs here only a few minutes before we arrived, but the pride had apparently hustled them into hiding in a cluster of trees along the river when all the vehicles started approaching.

After getting our fill of the lionesses, we headed for our picnic spot, as it was now approaching noon. We spotted a Rosy-breasted Longclaw, a Martial Eagle (Africa’s largest eagle) and three waterbuck along the way. We drove through the herd of wildebeest again, which was now intermixed with a number of zebras and gazelles, and stopped to watch two old male Cape Buffalos wallowing in a mud puddle. They have the most forlorn expressions – it is hard to believe they are so dangerous. We also saw a couple of ostriches, a beautiful Crowned Crane stretching its wings, and an Abdim’s Stork sunning itself. We forded a small stream and arrived at the picnic spot next to a marsh-rimmed lake teeming with hippos. We stopped to use the restroom (a “five-star facility”) and thought we were going to eat lunch, but Rodgers reported that he had received some “interesting information” so we all piled back into the trucks and headed back the way we had come.

The drivers and guides all speak Swahili to each other so we never know what we are going to see next. This time it was a cheetah – our first of the safari! She was several hundred yards away, stalking a few lone gazelles, but we couldn’t find a good vantage point for viewing or pictures and Rodgers told us it would probably be quite a while before anything happened, so we continued on to “something else.” En route we saw two warthogs trotting along with tails held high.

The “something else” turned out to be the third of Ngorongoro’s resident lion prides (as I recall there are five prides in the crater). This time it was the pride with two male lions (a fairly unusual social arrangement). One of the males was lying in the shade of a truck when we arrived and the other was lounging regally on a low rise, a few feet away from a beautiful lioness who was taking a snooze on a warm rock. After a few minutes the female lifted her head and yawned. Rodgers told us, “That means she’s ready,” but we thought he was only kidding! Sure enough, the male yawned, the female got up and approached the male, and they mated right there in front of us, about thirty feet away. There was some grunting and yowling and then it was over. Rodgers informed us that the lions will mate every fifteen minutes or so over the course of several days. The male walked away and the female rolled over onto her back, then returned to her snoozing spot. The male lay down and yawned again, showing us a marvelous view of his impressive fangs.

On the way back to the picnic site we saw the cheetah again – apparently her hunt had been unsuccessful, as she was now stopping to take a drink at a small pond. It was after 2:00 when we finally stopped for lunch. Renny and the drivers set up a white-clothed table and laid out a feast of roast chicken, steak, samosas, vegetable quiche, salads, bread, cookies, and chocolate bars. Renny advised that we eat in the truck because a White-shouldered Kite was hovering over our heads, waiting for an opportune moment to snatch a bite – and maybe a finger or two. We were also joined by several cannibalistic Helmeted Guinea Fowl who fought over a chicken breast that Renny tossed to them. A Speke’s Weaverbird and several Superb Starlings fluttered nearby, hoping for a handout. As we ate we admired the view over the lake, which is bordered by a large marshy area known to be an elephant graveyard. We could hear occasional grunts, snorts, honks, and splashes coming from the hippos in the lake, but they stayed mostly submerged.

Renny told us that normally we would have driven out to the large lake on the far side of the crater at this point, but the road was nearly impassable from the recent rains, so unfortunately we missed seeing the flamingos. By this time it was close to 3:00 and threatening to rain, so we decided to call it an early day. We did drive out far enough to spot a black rhino way off in the marsh, so at least we can say we’ve seen a wild black rhino. There are now 26 rhinos in Ngorongoro, all under twenty-four hour surveillance by park rangers. Back in the 1990s a rhino left the crater and walked over 200 kilometers to the Serengeti, where he found some lady friends and mated. No one is sure quite what drove him to do this! He was closely guarded by rangers all along his journey and is still living happily in the Serengeti. Renny told us that rhino poachers can now be shot on sight or face seven years in prison and a $2,500 fine if they are caught with rhino trophies.

On our way back we spotted a golden jackal (our second of the day). We thought we were going to get to see some zebras mating, but the male couldn’t quite get his act together – I guess he was a bit shyer than the lion. We returned to the lodge around 4:00 and showered, then enjoyed drinks on the balcony again as we watched the sun set over the crater. It was a little hazy this evening but we still were treated to a spectacular tangerine sunset.

The lodge manager had greeted us last night and asked us if we had any special meal requests; R suggested pizza and tonight they delivered! It was topped with cheddar cheese, tomato, and onion, and was quite tasty. The rest of the meal was excellent – starting with curried potato and spinach soup and followed by an incredible buffet of African meat stews, fish, and various salads, with “banana pie” (basically bananas smothered in chocolate sauce) and rice pudding for dessert.

We fell into bed completely exhilarated and exhausted by our day in Ngorongoro. Tomorrow we head to the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge – sure to be another day of amazing sights and sounds!

9 February: Tarangire to Ngorongoro

We’ve started to become accustomed to 6 am wake-up calls – somehow it is easier to get up in the morning when you have a game drive to look forward to! We saw another Rock Hyrax perched on the roof en route to the main lodge, where we enjoyed the ample breakfast buffet. At 8 am we gathered in front of the lodge, where we met our new drivers, Rodgers and Bernard. We had our eyes peeled for leopards all morning, but despite scanning every tree in sight, we saw no predators. (R, J&H skipped this morning’s game drive and slept in, which was probably a smart move given that it was a slow morning in terms of wildlife, and the lodge had a very enticing pool!)

Birds, on the other hand, were plentiful. My sighting list continued to grow, including: Crested Francolin, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, Yellow-collared Lovebird (so cute!), Red-necked Spurfowl, Bare-faced Go-Away Bird, White-browed Coucal, Magpie Shrike, Pin-tailed Whydah (I spotted this one myself, fluttering alongside the truck, and identified it later), Namaqua Dove (the smallest dove in Africa), Tawny Eagle, Fiscal Shrike, White-bellied Go-Away Bird, and Southern Ground Hornbill (a large black bird with bright red markings on its face, which DH spotted sitting in the crook of a tree - despite its name!). We got a good look at an African Fish Eagle, which resembles a Bald Eagle, perched high in a sausage tree overlooking the muddy, boiling waters of the Tarangire River. We also disturbed a flock of Helmeted Guinea Fowl, which raced along in front of the truck before alighting in a dead tree, where they proceeded to shriek at us in protest.

This morning’s mammal sightings included a tiny black mongoose running across the road, a family of banded mongooses playing on a termite mound (DH spotted these too!), a few giraffes, a few elephants (which are much warier than the ones at Amboseli), three waterbuck, and a harem of perhaps 60 impala with one male trying to keep track of them all. Rodgers informed us that such males usually only last about three months because their job is so exhausting – then another younger, stronger male moves in. We stopped for a bathroom break at a nice picnic area with a view of an expansive swamp and took a great group photo in front of one of the trucks. We didn’t see much after 10 am and headed back to the lodge a little after 11.

After lunch (fried fish, potatoes, mixed salad), we left for Ngorongoro, bumping back along the road to the Tarangire park entrance. En route we came across a small group of elephants crossing the road. These elephants were much darker in color than the Amboseli elephants. They were not very happy with us as we stopped to watch, particularly a “teenager” who seemed very protective of the single baby in the group. He (or she) stood in the middle of the road in a very agitated stance until the little one got across, then stamped the ground for good measure. We stopped again to watch a large troupe of baboons that were playing in the trees on both sides of the road. One large male was visibly wounded, probably from fighting with his own kind.

Once we left Tarangire, we were relieved to get on the smooth, pothole-free “Japanese road” (which had the first painted lines we’d seen in a while) towards Ngorongoro. We stopped at a roadside curio shop to “support the local economy”; DH & I spent a lot more money than we should have on two Maasai spears (they break down into three pieces to fit in your luggage) and two carved ebony candlesticks. We could have used a lesson in bargaining – we might have paid half of what we did. (Note to others: ALWAYS bargain!) It was an interesting transaction because all we had were Euros and Kenyan shillings. We were a little surprised when the girl who was waiting for us came down a bit on the price but suggested that we slip her a little something on the side. We ended up giving her 1000 shillings - we figured she could use it more than us.

A little further along, we passed through a small town near the base of a range of velvety green hills. Rodgers stopped briefly and bought a huge bunch of bananas from two women selling fruit by the roadside. I’m not a big banana fan but I heard they were quite tasty – and they were the fattest bananas I’ve ever seen! Our next stop was the entrance gate for Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Renny gave us a brief overview of the crater and its relationship to the Serengeti. Then we made our way up a mountain road, winding our way through lush rainforest with magnificent views out over Lake Manyara. The road turned to dirt – a rich, red-orange clay – and was threatened by washouts in places. We caught our first glimpses into the crater as we bumped along the ridge to the lodge. We saw an elephant browsing by the side of the road and spotted our first umbrella acacias – gorgeous trees whose spreading branches have peculiar flat tops, making them look very much like umbrellas.

We arrived at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge around 6 pm, so the drive from Tarangire took a leisurely four hours in total. The lodge has spacious main buildings that take advantage of the magnificent panoramic view of the crater. Renny checked us in and then we all got to pick out a bottle of wine to be delivered to our room or served with our dinner. (We wondered whether this was Micato’s way of apologizing for yesterday’s long drive). Then we followed our bags to our rooms, located in a long row of round buildings resembling Maasai huts (yes, there is a trend in the architectural style here!). Our room was vast, with two double beds (the elevation is high enough here that mosquito nets are not needed), two comfortable rocking chairs set in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, and a nice tiled bathroom that looked recently renovated, but there was no place to hang anything – not a closet or hook in sight! We ended up laying our wet laundry on the rocking chairs in the sun, where it dried fairly quickly.

We enjoyed cocktails (courtesy of Micato again) and snacks on a private balcony in the main lodge building. There was no sunset, as the far side of the crater was engulfed in billowing storm clouds, but as night fell we watched lightning bounce between the clouds off in the distance. The cavernous dining room was packed compared to Amboseli and Tarangire. (I later determined that there are only three or four lodges along the rim of the crater, so the density of guests is naturally higher here.) Dinner was quite good – mozzarella, tomato, and onion tart followed by lentil soup with ginger; I had spinach and mushroom lasagna with blue cheese, DH had the “African fusion” dish of spiced chicken with mixed vegetables and rice, and dessert was something involving chocolate and pineapple. This was by far the best dinner of the trip so far. We had an escort back to our room afterwards – he carried a flashlight and a long stick, and I wondered just how well he could fend off an attack with these basic implements! We went to bed full of anticipation for tomorrow’s all-day game drive in the crater.

8 February: Amboseli to Tarangire

We had a 6 am wake-up call this morning to give us plenty of time to finish packing, put our bags outside our rooms by 7 am, and go to breakfast. I spent a few minutes browsing in the gift shop and bought a small book on common East African birds (by Dave Richards) that proved invaluable. We settled our bill (for drinks and the bush walk) at the front desk and then headed out to the waiting trucks, which were now packed to the ceiling with our big green duffels.

Kilimanjaro was shrouded in a thick fog as we said farewell to Amboseli (with the top down, as our mission today was traveling, not game driving). We had time to stop and look at a couple of hyenas taking a snooze after a long night of scavenging. We drove through the Ghost Camp (a.k.a. Baboon Town) and saw a female carrying her baby and several baboons playing on the soccer goalposts again. We spotted a huge Kori Bustard, a flock of African Jacanas, and lots of cattle egrets. Near the edge of the park we saw three giraffes browsing on acacia – our closest view of wild giraffes thus far.

We passed through the park gate, where brightly-dressed Maasai women called out, “Hi!” repeatedly and tried to thrust beaded necklaces and bracelets through our open windows. We proceeded through a series of ramshackle towns on our way to the Tanzanian border, stopping at a large curio shop to use the bathroom and fill out our Kenyan immigration forms. At the border we stopped to go through passport control on the Kenyan side (I was really tempted to take a picture of the sign that said, “Do not take photographs around here”), then drove about a hundred yards across the border and went through passport control again on the Tanzanian side. The souvenir vendors were pretty obnoxious, but they are forbidden from coming within a certain distance of the immigration buildings. We had to wait in line for quite some time inside the crowded, sweltering building. Then we said farewell to Tonnie (who we will see again in Kenya in five days’ time), met another Micato staffer who would be taking us to meet our Tanzanian safari director in Arusha, and boarded a comfortable air-conditioned bus with seating for fifteen. (We were originally scheduled to fly from Amboseli to Tarangire, but a bridge was out on the road from the airstrip into Tarangire, so we had to drive instead.)

Once in Tanzania we started seeing many more Maasai (I will never get over the sight of Maasai herders talking on their cell phones; Leonard, our bush walk guide, also had one!). We left the rutted dirt roads behind for a while, taking a paved road (with only the occasional bus-swallowing pothole) past rugged mountains, including 15,000-foot Mt. Neru. We passed many Maasai villages en route to Arusha, Tanzania’s fourth-largest city. We stopped at the Arusha Hotel for a lovely buffet lunch, with a fabulous salad bar, delicious curries, tandoori chicken, chickpea stew, and rice pudding and cream puffs for dessert. Here we met Renny (short for Renatus), our Tanzanian safari director, who lives with his family near Arusha. He was not able to meet us at the border because he had just finished a safari in another part of the country.

As we drove out of Arusha, we passed numerous coffee plantations; they grow a local variety of coffee called Robusta. Renny told us a bit about Tanzania’s history and economy. The area that is now Tanzania was colonized by Arabs involved in the slave trade in the 16^th century (which is why there are so many Arabic words in Swahili); at the end of the 18^th century the Germans arrived and abolished the slave trade. The country originally consisted of Tanganika and Zanzibar, which combined to form Tanzania. After World War II, the area came under British control, and Tanzania won its independence in 1961. The country has an area of 400,000 square miles and a population of about 37 million. The capital city is Dodona, but Dar es Salaam on the coast is the biggest city and the largest commercial center. Renny comes from northern Tanzania, from the Sukuma tribe near Lake Victoria – the largest tribe in Tanzania.

We passed through a beautiful lush landscape en route to Tarangire. Renny pointed out a long, straight, paved road disappearing into the hazy hills and explained that it had been build by the Japanese to provide a smooth tourism route between Tarangire and Ngorongoro. He jokingly called it “the best road in Tanzania” (and probably all of Africa!). Renny explained that we were now in the eastern Rift Valley, which extends 5,000 miles from Turkey to Mozambique, formed by the separation of two massive tectonic plates. As we approached the park we saw our first Baobab trees – magnificent specimens with impossibly thick, ropey trunks. One had a long hole worn through it by elephants, which scrape off the water-retaining bark during the dry months. We bounced along on gravel roads, passing more Maasai homes, and stopped at the park gate to use the restrooms, apply bug repellent, and board a pair of shiny green Micato Land Cruisers.

Game viewing would prove to be difficult in Tarangire because the recent heavy rains had resulted in an explosion of thick, chest-high grass. Renny warned us that we wouldn’t be seeing many of the short-grass grazers like zebra, wildebeest, and gazelles and it would be harder to spot predators and snakes. Our first new sighting was a young male Dik-dik, one of the smallest of the gazelle species, looking decidely cartoonish as it stood wide-eyed and watchful in the middle of the road. We also saw our first impalas - several bachelor males hanging out with a warthog.

Tarangire National Park is known for its birds – and we saw a lot of them! Lilac-breasted Rollers and Helmeted Guinea Fowl were common on our drive in. (The latter competes with the Red-necked Spurfowl as the dumbest bird in Africa – they seem to prefer scampering along desperately in front of the truck instead of taking flight; right when you think you will have to run them over, they finally dart into the grass along the side of the road.) We saw the flooded bridge that we were supposed to have taken on the way from the airstrip and got a kick out of the sign blocking the road that said, “Out of Order.” We saw our first African Sausage Tree, which has fruit that look exactly like, well, giant white sausages. Apparently they are mildly alcoholic and the animals that eat them can get a little tipsy on their juice.

We watched several elephants browsing in the marshy grasses along the Tarangire River, which was swollen almost to the tops of its banks. The tall palm trees and unusually lush vegetation made for a very prehistoric-looking scene. We stopped to watch a Dik-dik pair by the side of the road – I believe they mate for life, or at least until one makes a tasty snack for a lion or leopard. Renny pointed out a giant Baobab tree with a large hole carved out of its trunk; poachers used to hoard their elephant tusks in such spots.

My bird list grew rapidly as we continued into the park: Ring-necked dove, Speckled Mousebird, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Magpie Shrike, Gray Hornbill, Woodland Kingfisher, Ashy Starling. The road was almost impassable in spots, which made jotting down bird names quite a difficult task!

Tarangire National Park covers 1,000 square miles and is home to a laundry list of Africa's most dangerous snakes - Black Adders, Green Mambas, Tree Pythons, Cobras, Black Mambas (which will "kill you in seven steps" and are the most dangerous because they move so fast), and the dreaded Boomslang, whose venom is the most deadly, but is fortunately quite shy.

We crossed several dry riverbeds, driving through deep sand, and finally had our sighting of the day – two pairs of black-backed jackals, which trotted right up to our trucks. They were gorgeous animals, their coats gleaming in the late afternoon sun. They looked at us curiously for several minutes before continuing on down the riverbed. We saw a tree laden with weaver-bird nests, a large harem of impala watched over by a regal-looking male, and two more warthogs (the official comedians of the African plains).

Finally, after nearly ten hours on the road, we arrived at Tarangire Sopa Lodge. The cavernous main building resembles an elephant’s head and the rooms are built to look like large Maasai huts. Our room was not nearly as nice as at Amboseli Serena lodge. For one thing we had two double beds instead of a single king, and the bathroom was aged and a bit on the grimy side. We did have a nice balcony overlooking the pool and surrounding woodlands – I figured a leopard was probably out there somewhere, watching us. We saw a funny small rodent-like animal crouching on the roof and later determined that it was a Rock Hyrax, which is the closest living relative of elephants. We had seen something jumping around in the trees at night at Amboseli (not a monkey) and Renny figured that it was probably a Tree Hyrax or a Bushbaby. The hyrax are quite cute – they look like a cross between a squirrel and a koala bear.

We had forty-five minutes to clean up before our safari briefing at 7:15. It had been a long, hot drive so I was very happy to take a refreshing shower. We met the group for drinks (courtesy of Micato) in a private room in the main building and after downing two large vodka tonics I felt much better. Renny gave an overview of the Tanzania portion of our trip, and then we went to dinner in the large dining room. The meal was rather ordinary – cream of vegetable soup, a rather sparse salad buffet, and a mediocre selection of meat entrées, but there was a nice sherry trifle and coconut cake for dessert. When we returned to our room we were surprised to be escorted by a hotel employee (although we found out in the morning that not everyone got an escort!). We are just spending one night in Tarangire, so we will pack up again in the morning, go on a game drive, and then press onwards to Ngorongoro.

7 February: Amboseli

I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep; I guess I was just too excited about continuing our safari! Our wake-up call came at 5:45 (right as I was drifting off again) and we rolled out of bed and dressed quickly for our pre-breakfast game run. It was still dark and cool and we were glad we had our fleeces and windbreakers, especially with the brisk breeze coming into the open trucks. A few minutes after leaving the lodge we stopped to watch the sunrise. Kilimanjaro was clear but hazy; the mountain appeared as a periwinkle mass against a pale peach sky. Slowly the huge orange orb of the sun levitated over the distant horizon, shining brighter and warmer as it rose. As the first rays hit Kilimanjaro, the snows on the western face of the mountain gleamed gold. We spotted an elephant train in the distance and drove towards it, stopping to capture some amazing images of the elephants silhouetted against the sunrise. (Of course I had to stop mid-stream to change the memory card on my camera!)

We came upon another group of elephants and watched them for a while as the sun rose higher. The morning light glinted off their tusks and transformed their wrinkled hides from dark gray to golden brown. The elephants moved slowly and silently, gazing at us with mild curiosity as they reached out with their amazingly dexterous trunks to twist off great bunches of tender grass.

We saw our first of many Superb starlings (why can’t starlings in America be iridescent turquoise and orange?) and a Lilac-breasted Roller (a beautiful purple, blue, and green bird so named for the way it “rolls” in flight), along with another jackal and a warthog on our way to a lake surrounded by marshes, where waterfowl were plentiful and active. I was quickly establishing a reputation in our group as the bird freak. I’m not sure why I like birds so much – I suppose it’s in my blood because my grandfather was an ornithologist. I also like the challenge of trying to get good photographs of creatures that tend to fly away as soon as you get focused on them. We saw a Sacred Ibis, an unmistakable bird with a black head and black curved bill, white body, and black-tipped wings, and then a Black-winged Stilt with bright red legs. Out in the shallow water we saw a small flock of Greater and Lesser Flamingos feeding. Then I got a great shot of a Little Egret in breeding plumage, and we saw our first of several dark brown Hamerkops, a very distinctive stork-like bird named for its hammer-shaped head.

Next we drove through an area known as Ghost Camp, an old lodge that was flooded so frequently by the rising lake that it was abandoned. It has been taken over by a population of baboons, who seem to enjoy the playground left by the silly humans. They were climbing on the goalposts in the soccer field and lounging around on top of fences and buildings everywhere we looked. We saw more Hamerkops and then headed out into the grasslands again, where we encountered another large elephant family. This group included several adults with only one or even no tusks, and we saw several youngsters with no tusks that were old enough to be developing them. This is a genetic anomaly that does not impair the females but can be disastrous for males because they cannot fight or defend themselves against other males. There were several tiny babies in this group. I loved watching them nurse and interact with their older family members. On our way back we saw several gazelles, a Gray-headed Kingfisher, and a gorgeous rainbow-colored lizard.

We headed back to the lodge around 9:00 for breakfast – an ample buffet with eggs made to order. Then DH and I signed up at the reception desk for the 10:30 nature walk ($15 per person). As we were walking back to our room, we were intercepted by one of the Maasai men roaming the grounds. He invited us to the afternoon dance performance and lecture, then asked if we wanted his picture. I said O.K., and DH took the photo. Not surprisingly, the Maasai man then asked for a little money. (The irony is not lost on us that the Maasai do not like having their photo taken because they think it will steal their soul, but apparently you can buy their soul!) I gave him 100 shillings (a little less than $1.50), and he asked for more, but that was the only small bill I had.

We met our Maasai guide, Leonard, at 10:30 and were joined on the walk by three Germans, two Canadians, and a French man. We left the lodge grounds via a narrow footpath, walking right past a sign that said, “Animals only beyond this point.” Leonard asked our names and where we were from, then immediately determined that I would be his future wife. It was obviously his regular shtick but it was quite funny nonetheless. He wanted me to answer all of his questions about elephants (length of gestation period, how long they live, etc.), apparently to determine if I was savvy in the ways of the bush. Later in our walk, Leonard asked DH if he would trade me for 10 cows. DH put his arm around me and said, “She’s a very good wife.”

We learned a bit about some plants growing in the area, and that elephants will eat acacia bark during the dry season. We passed a spring and saw a bunch of weaverbirds building their round, hanging nests. There were two Maasai women washing clothes at the spring and Leonard asked us if we knew why one of the women was wearing all black. He told us that it meant that she was just circumcised and is now ready to be married. The black is a warning that she cannot be with any men during this time. Leonard then explained that the Maasai have come to an agreement with the government to phase out female circumcision over the next three years.

We passed a small pond ringed with hippo footprints and their characteristic “sprayed” excrement, which is how they mark their territory. Along the way we saw Pied Crows, a Black-headed Heron, an Abdim’s Stork, a Sacred Ibis, a brilliant orange and black Red Bishop, more Superb starlings, and another Lilac-breasted Roller. In the distance, a lone Maasai man walked across the plain with that characteristic long stride.

We came upon three Maasai donkeys, as well as some cattle and goats, although I saw no sign of the little boys who probably should have been watching them. We passed a small village, which I presume is the home of most of the Maasai men we’ve seen around the lodge. It was a circle of grass-roofed huts surrounded by a thick fence of branches. Several small children peeked out of the gate at us, but we kept our distance. We walked across a barren grassland, dotted here and there with the occasional acacia tree. At the end of the walk we were brought cold drinks and watched a long train of giraffes way off in the distance, almost at the base of Kilimanjaro. They looked positively dinosaur-like as they moved along with their slow, undulating gait. We got a ride back to the lodge and gave our thanks to Leonard before heading to the dining room for a light lunch with MIL and FIL (a repeat of yesterday’s buffet).

The weather so far has been perfect – the sun was hot on our walk but there has been a light breeze and the temperature is probably in the mid-70s in the shade. After lunch we talked to Tonnie for a bit about some of the conflicts that the Maasai face in the modern age. Maasai children are now required by the government to attend school; families who do not comply are fined a cow, the Maasai’s most valued possession. Educated children tend to leave home in search of jobs, and Maasai girls who attend school are more likely to oppose traditional facets of their culture, such as arranged marriages. Thus ironically, education endangers the traditional Maasai culture more than anything else. The Maasai have traditionally been semi-nomadic, moving in search of the best grazing lands for their livestock, but this is no longer possible for many of them. They have also had to be convinced not to kill lions, which occasionally kill their livestock. Killing a lion is seen as a tremendous act of bravery for young Maasai warriors.

After lunch our Maasai friend came by again and asked us to attend the dance performance, but Tonnie had told us that we would be going to a Maasai village later in the trip and shouldn’t feel obligated to attend the performance here, so we politely declined. We spent an hour or so just sitting on the patio enjoying the peaceful afternoon. On our way back to our room we watched two vervet monkeys tussling on the ground, pulling each other over in somersaults and back flips.

We left at 4:00 for our afternoon game drive. En route, Tonnie (who alternates between our two vehicles in the mornings and afternoons) told us how the Maasai acquired their famous red plaid blankets. The Scotsman Joseph Thompson was one of the first European explorers in East Africa in the 1880s. On his expedition into Maasai country (so the story goes), a chieftain was very impressed by Thompson’s red plaid kilt and allowed him to enter the Maasai lands. (The Maasai believe that red frightens predators, so you almost always see them wearing some article of red clothing.) Recognizing this penchant for bright red fabrics, Thompson returned on his next expedition loaded with red plaids for all of the Maasai chieftains that he met, thus ensuring safe passage across their lands. They've been wearing the plaids ever since.

Tonnie also told us a little more about Amboseli. It was originally established in 1964, encompassing an area of 1,000 square miles. Unfortunately this included many Maasai lands, and the Maasai began killing off the rhinos and lions in protest. In 1969 the government began negotiating with the Maasai and in 1974 the park was reduced to its present size of 151 square miles. Unfortunately there are no rhinos left in Amboseli, and all of the lions were killed, but lions were reintroduced in the mid-1990s and there are now four or five in the park.

This afternoon we saw our first waterbuck from a distance, four wildebeest (the most we have seen at one time so far!), a hippo, and more elephants browsing in a swamp, including an adorable youngster, probably only a few months old, that looked just like Dumbo. We also witnessed a large bull elephant urinating, which, I have to admit, is something to see. I had somehow missed seeing the “fifth leg” on a bull elephant yesterday evening, so J wanted to make sure I saw it this time. We continued to tell jokes about the infamous fifth leg (which can weigh upwards of 50 lbs) throughout the trip. Later on we saw several African Jacanas (also known as “Jesus birds” because they can literally run across water), two Yellow-necked Spurfowls, and a Collared Pratincole. We spotted three giraffes, their heads and necks visible above the acacia trees, but they were quite far off. We passed through an anti-elephant enclosure where they are studying the effects of elephant browsing (or lack thereof) on the acacia. Not surprisingly, within the enclosure, the acacia are much more dense than outside.

We drove across a savanna area heading straight toward Kilimanjaro, which was looking just gorgeous rising above a circle of clouds. We spotted two more warthogs and then a Secretary Bird – very distinctive with its gray and black plumage and bright orange eye area. It is supposed to resemble a secretary, wearing a black skirt and red lipstick, and its long tail feathers were once prized as writing quills. The road took us through a sizeable herd of zebra, intermixed with a couple of wildebeest and another pair of Crowned Cranes. It was an amazing sight – the brilliant black-and-white zebras against the lush green grass, with Kilimanjaro looming in the distance. Here we also saw red-billed oxpeckers doing insect duty on the backs of zebras.

We stopped to climb Observation Hill (a.k.a. Baby Kilimanjaro), which involved a nice brisk walk up 150 steps to a lookout pavilion with an incredible 360-degree panorama of the park. Directly in front of us was a large lake and swamp, which was teeming with hippos. Two elephants had climbed onto a rocky promontory below us, apparently to get a better view as well. We took a bunch of pictures and then walked back down the hill to enjoy our first sundowners in the bush. Several elephants were browsing nearby and some people from other vehicles were getting rather close – too close, Tonnie told us. Joel, Tonnie, and the other driver (whose name I didn’t seem to write down) set up a little table and served us beer and wine while we took turns taking each other’s pictures in front of the elephants, at a safe distance.

As we drove away, we watched a magnificent sunset behind Observation Hill. I stood at the back of the truck, holding on tight as we bounced over the potholes, buffeted by the wind, and admired the view. As darkness fell, we saw a hyena and then two lionesses (most likely the same ones as last night). They were lying in the grass again; one of them yawned and got up, walked a short ways, and lay back down. It was after 7 pm, so after watching them for a few minutes we had to hightail it back to the lodge. We tidied up and went to dinner – salad, minestrone soup, vegetable quiche, and beef filet.

After dinner most of our group watched an excellent video about the Amboseli elephants, documenting the work of a woman who has been studying them for more than 30 years (she lives for part of the year in a tent inside the park). The film followed a particular family led by a female matriarch named Echo. She had a calf named Ely, who was so big that his front legs had not developed properly. When he was born he could not walk, and literally shuffled around on his knees. His family stayed with him for several days until finally he was able to get his feet under him. A young (11-year-old) female in the group gave birth during a terrible drought and her baby was sadly stillborn. Another baby was suffering during the drought, and its mother tried to lift the baby with her trunk in a vain attempt to get it into the shade. Tragically it died soon after. Every year, the researcher returns to Amboseli and seeks out Echo and her family to see how they are doing. Tonnie told us that Echo is still around (the film was made in 1991) and doing well. Perhaps we saw her out there in the savanna, leading her family to the next watering hole...