Sunday, May 22, 2005
Honeymoon in Africa - Northern Circuit Safari, Day 3 of 8
Northern Circuit Safari, Day 3 of 8
Drive to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
22 May 2005
This morning we woke after a second night of little sleep. But we had a nice breakfast and some strong Tanzanian kehawa that perked us up for the day ahead. Today's destination was the Serengeti National Park, which was visible from our present location far off in the distance (to the west of the Ngorongoro Crater).
After checking out of the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, we loaded the Land Cruiser with our gear and drove along the rim of the crater westward, in the general direction of the Serengeti National Park. Along the way we passed another lodge and the NCA Police department.
Along the way we passed another lodge and the NCA Police department. Soon, we began a descent along the western edge of the rim into a valley named Melaga (pronounced may-lah-sha) which was stunningly beautiful and green. There were some small herds of zebras and there were several Masai villages (aka "bomas") along the way.
The huts are distinctive because they are thatch roofed stick structures alingned in a circle. One particular boma was setup for tourists, requiring an entrance fee but we decided it was "too touristy" for us, so we skipped it. (We heard later that it was not worth the $20 pp entrance fee). Along the roadside there were many Masai warriors, boys and women walking or standing along the roadway. Warriors wore the striking red or purple cloths and stood in groups talking (which I am told is their sole purpose as there a no wars to fight). The young boys were usually tending goats and cattle, and would run towards the vehicle looking for some change. The older teen boys, espcially the recently circumcized ones, would also be on the roadside. How did we know that you ask? Well, we were told by Johannes that the distinctive white face paint they adorned (which made them look like they were wearing a Trojan helmet or like their faces had a skull painted on) was the indicative feature. Another indicator is that they wore the cloths of the adult men, however the cloths were black, not purple or red. A little bit of background on this: when a Masai boy is circumcised, he moves from being a boy to, more a less, a man. This is something that the boys look forward to while they grow from boy to adolescent. My guess is that these boys are about 13 or so... and the rite of passage to manhood makes them for lack of a better term, celebreties, for a period of 1 year. During this year, they wear the white face paint and black cloths and thus can travel to any other bomas and will be highly honored, and automatically given food and shelter. They also wore a necklace of beads that was the size of a plate, and they ould dance for us as we drove by. The dance was pretty cool looking: a small jump which would make the necklaces bob up and down. Problem is it was sort of a touristy thing, and ultimately they were looking for some money.
As we continued our decent through Melage, the climate change was dramatic. It became warmer and slighly less green. In contrast the crater and the rim was much more green and lush. This however did not diminish the beauty of the valley it only was an indicator of what we would encounter as we got closer to the endless plains of the Serengeti.
We reached the border of the Serengeti sometime around 12-1pm local time. We stopped for the manatory tourist photo below the "Karibu Serengeti" sign. The park entrance was another 45 minute drive. We stopped for a few minutes to pay entrance fees, buy some maps, etc.. We noticed several agame lizards basking on the rocks. Lovely reptiles, the males have alternating longitudinal stripes of pink and blue, while the females blend into the background better with brown and gray colorings. We returned to the Land Cruiser and travelled the main park road towards our lodge for the night, the Seronera Wildlife Lodge. However, this took some time and we did a game drive of sorts en-route. It was an amazing introduction to the Serengeti, and basically set the tone for the next 4 days.
Along the way, we passed many volcanic formations called kopjes (prounounced cop-yes) which means "little heads" in Dutch. One of the kopjes along the way was called the Simba Kopjes and I can only imagine Simba would find these rocks an ideal spot to survey the plains for prey and for sunning and napping. And right on cue, we saw several "simbas" high on the rocks having a nap.
Assuring us we'd get much closer to more lions, Yohannes continued driving and along the way, we found more lions sleeping in an umbrella acacia tree. The moment was best described by Viktoria who declared that the "tree was literally dripping with lions".
We counted 4 lionesses and 6 cubs in the tree in various positions all seeking shade from the mid-day sun and more importantly escape from the nefarious and vicious tse-tse fly (since the flies do not fly above 3 meters).
We stayed at the "lion tree" for at least 30 minutes, enjoying the incredible sight. We stood above the truck's sunroofs, just observing them, taking photos and video, whispering back and forth about this cub doing this, and that lioness doing that... an incredible moment. But we would have many more.
On Y's suggestion we moved on and checked into the Seronera Wildlife Lodge.
The staff was very friendly and showed us to our rooms. 
Once inside our room, we were greeted at the back sliding doors by a resident vervet monkey. Since he was looking for a handout, we did not give him anything, but Viktoria did tease him breifly with an apple, waving it back and forth from behind the glass, the monkey watching every move in the hope that he could get his paws on it.
The lodge is immediately impressive.
Its built directly into one of the kopje formations. The centerpiece is the main boulder which was 50-60 feet high.
The restaurant and bar were literally built into the
kopje and the structure was mostly "open air" and unique. We decided to relax for a short time at the lodge, and then go on a short evening game drive later.
On the drive we returned to the "lion tree" but only one lioness was present with a single cub. We suspected that the rest were nearby in the grass and/or preparing for the night's hunting activities.
We then drove to a another kopje formation called the Masai Kopjes and immediately saw a single majestic male sitting atop the kopje. He was calmly sitting about 30 feet above the surrounding plains, with a casual eye on a herd of wildebeest about 1/4 mile distant. However, Yohannes noticed 2 other trucks about 100 yards away and he decided to go see what they were looking at. It was a smart call because it turned out to be a male and a female in the grass, mating in the grass about 10 feet from the dirt road we were on. Once they were finished, they flopped onto thier sides, exhausted. We caught the tail end of it, from about 50-60 feet away so the view was not great. However, Yohannes said "no worries" they'll be back at it in 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, we drove back over to the solo male on the kopje and took a series of photos of him. The light was amazing and he finally sat up and posed for me.
After a few minutes we returned to the mating pair. 
The nice thing was that the other 2 vehicles left, so it was just our truck and the 2 mating lions. We sat and quietly watched them for about 5 minutes when almost on command the male got up and started flirting a bit. 
The female also flirted, mostly by rolling around on her back, feet in the air. The male would sniff and lick her neck and then finally in position they mated. To say this was a gentle event was the opposite. It was pretty brutal, however it was an amazing sight. They were basically facing us and were within 15 feet of the truck. We stood above the sunroofs looking down at them. The male would lick and bite and near the end, the famale let out a roar the was so close and loud that the sound waves literally hit me in the chest and sent chills throughout my body. I was stunned and in awe of the sight, with a touch of fear thrown into the mix of emotions.
We stayed with them for about another 5 minutes and the whole time, they took very little notice of us whatsoever. We would have stayed longer but it was getting late (around 6pm) and all vehicles have to be back in the lodge by 7pm, so we left the lions to themselves. On the return to the lodge we did one last visit to the lion tree, but no one was home... all out for the night's hunt.
We returned to the lodge at 7pm, met and chatted with some New Yorkers, and had a few Serengeti beers at the bar. Around 8pm, we had a very nice dinner and then went to bed about 10pm.
The rooms were very nice and comfortable. I awoke startled at 2am to a rattling sound at our sliding glass door but it was only the wind.
the weather today was partly sunny and warm, about 75 degrees F. Night time temps were mild at 55-60F, with a gentle breeze.
Entry by Jeff Mergler, Seronera Wildlife Lodge 22 May 2005
Back to Index: http://mergs.blogspot.com/2005/06/honeymoon-in-africa-preface-and-index.html
After checking out of the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, we loaded the Land Cruiser with our gear and drove along the rim of the crater westward, in the general direction of the Serengeti National Park. Along the way we passed another lodge and the NCA Police department.
Along the way we passed another lodge and the NCA Police department. Soon, we began a descent along the western edge of the rim into a valley named Melaga (pronounced may-lah-sha) which was stunningly beautiful and green. There were some small herds of zebras and there were several Masai villages (aka "bomas") along the way.
The huts are distinctive because they are thatch roofed stick structures alingned in a circle. One particular boma was setup for tourists, requiring an entrance fee but we decided it was "too touristy" for us, so we skipped it. (We heard later that it was not worth the $20 pp entrance fee). Along the roadside there were many Masai warriors, boys and women walking or standing along the roadway. Warriors wore the striking red or purple cloths and stood in groups talking (which I am told is their sole purpose as there a no wars to fight). The young boys were usually tending goats and cattle, and would run towards the vehicle looking for some change. The older teen boys, espcially the recently circumcized ones, would also be on the roadside. How did we know that you ask? Well, we were told by Johannes that the distinctive white face paint they adorned (which made them look like they were wearing a Trojan helmet or like their faces had a skull painted on) was the indicative feature. Another indicator is that they wore the cloths of the adult men, however the cloths were black, not purple or red. A little bit of background on this: when a Masai boy is circumcised, he moves from being a boy to, more a less, a man. This is something that the boys look forward to while they grow from boy to adolescent. My guess is that these boys are about 13 or so... and the rite of passage to manhood makes them for lack of a better term, celebreties, for a period of 1 year. During this year, they wear the white face paint and black cloths and thus can travel to any other bomas and will be highly honored, and automatically given food and shelter. They also wore a necklace of beads that was the size of a plate, and they ould dance for us as we drove by. The dance was pretty cool looking: a small jump which would make the necklaces bob up and down. Problem is it was sort of a touristy thing, and ultimately they were looking for some money.
As we continued our decent through Melage, the climate change was dramatic. It became warmer and slighly less green. In contrast the crater and the rim was much more green and lush. This however did not diminish the beauty of the valley it only was an indicator of what we would encounter as we got closer to the endless plains of the Serengeti.We reached the border of the Serengeti sometime around 12-1pm local time. We stopped for the manatory tourist photo below the "Karibu Serengeti" sign. The park entrance was another 45 minute drive. We stopped for a few minutes to pay entrance fees, buy some maps, etc.. We noticed several agame lizards basking on the rocks. Lovely reptiles, the males have alternating longitudinal stripes of pink and blue, while the females blend into the background better with brown and gray colorings. We returned to the Land Cruiser and travelled the main park road towards our lodge for the night, the Seronera Wildlife Lodge. However, this took some time and we did a game drive of sorts en-route. It was an amazing introduction to the Serengeti, and basically set the tone for the next 4 days.
Along the way, we passed many volcanic formations called kopjes (prounounced cop-yes) which means "little heads" in Dutch. One of the kopjes along the way was called the Simba Kopjes and I can only imagine Simba would find these rocks an ideal spot to survey the plains for prey and for sunning and napping. And right on cue, we saw several "simbas" high on the rocks having a nap.
Assuring us we'd get much closer to more lions, Yohannes continued driving and along the way, we found more lions sleeping in an umbrella acacia tree. The moment was best described by Viktoria who declared that the "tree was literally dripping with lions".
We counted 4 lionesses and 6 cubs in the tree in various positions all seeking shade from the mid-day sun and more importantly escape from the nefarious and vicious tse-tse fly (since the flies do not fly above 3 meters).
We stayed at the "lion tree" for at least 30 minutes, enjoying the incredible sight. We stood above the truck's sunroofs, just observing them, taking photos and video, whispering back and forth about this cub doing this, and that lioness doing that... an incredible moment. But we would have many more.On Y's suggestion we moved on and checked into the Seronera Wildlife Lodge.
The staff was very friendly and showed us to our rooms. 
Once inside our room, we were greeted at the back sliding doors by a resident vervet monkey. Since he was looking for a handout, we did not give him anything, but Viktoria did tease him breifly with an apple, waving it back and forth from behind the glass, the monkey watching every move in the hope that he could get his paws on it.The lodge is immediately impressive.
Its built directly into one of the kopje formations. The centerpiece is the main boulder which was 50-60 feet high.The restaurant and bar were literally built into the
kopje and the structure was mostly "open air" and unique. We decided to relax for a short time at the lodge, and then go on a short evening game drive later.On the drive we returned to the "lion tree" but only one lioness was present with a single cub. We suspected that the rest were nearby in the grass and/or preparing for the night's hunting activities.
We then drove to a another kopje formation called the Masai Kopjes and immediately saw a single majestic male sitting atop the kopje. He was calmly sitting about 30 feet above the surrounding plains, with a casual eye on a herd of wildebeest about 1/4 mile distant. However, Yohannes noticed 2 other trucks about 100 yards away and he decided to go see what they were looking at. It was a smart call because it turned out to be a male and a female in the grass, mating in the grass about 10 feet from the dirt road we were on. Once they were finished, they flopped onto thier sides, exhausted. We caught the tail end of it, from about 50-60 feet away so the view was not great. However, Yohannes said "no worries" they'll be back at it in 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, we drove back over to the solo male on the kopje and took a series of photos of him. The light was amazing and he finally sat up and posed for me.
After a few minutes we returned to the mating pair. 
The nice thing was that the other 2 vehicles left, so it was just our truck and the 2 mating lions. We sat and quietly watched them for about 5 minutes when almost on command the male got up and started flirting a bit. 
The female also flirted, mostly by rolling around on her back, feet in the air. The male would sniff and lick her neck and then finally in position they mated. To say this was a gentle event was the opposite. It was pretty brutal, however it was an amazing sight. They were basically facing us and were within 15 feet of the truck. We stood above the sunroofs looking down at them. The male would lick and bite and near the end, the famale let out a roar the was so close and loud that the sound waves literally hit me in the chest and sent chills throughout my body. I was stunned and in awe of the sight, with a touch of fear thrown into the mix of emotions.
We stayed with them for about another 5 minutes and the whole time, they took very little notice of us whatsoever. We would have stayed longer but it was getting late (around 6pm) and all vehicles have to be back in the lodge by 7pm, so we left the lions to themselves. On the return to the lodge we did one last visit to the lion tree, but no one was home... all out for the night's hunt.
We returned to the lodge at 7pm, met and chatted with some New Yorkers, and had a few Serengeti beers at the bar. Around 8pm, we had a very nice dinner and then went to bed about 10pm.The rooms were very nice and comfortable. I awoke startled at 2am to a rattling sound at our sliding glass door but it was only the wind.
the weather today was partly sunny and warm, about 75 degrees F. Night time temps were mild at 55-60F, with a gentle breeze.
Entry by Jeff Mergler, Seronera Wildlife Lodge 22 May 2005
Back to Index: http://mergs.blogspot.com/2005/06/honeymoon-in-africa-preface-and-index.html
