Heaven is a Place on Earth (Part 2)

The day had finally come where I stopped caring about how many days I had been wearing my t-shirt. It was already dirty so why waste a clean shirt, if it would only get dirty, too? When I poked my head out of my tent it was still extremely cold. Huddled in our warm clothing we all had breakfast and waited for the sun to rise and gradually warm everyone up. It’s fascinating how much the sun impacts the temperatures.

Off we went on yet another day of adventure. The Ngorogoro Conservation zone borders the Serengeti National Park. We passed the Olduvai Gorge, also known as the origin of humanity, where the first human fossils have been found. Other than that the landscape was pretty dire. The road from the actual crater to the gate of the Serengeti was long, dusty and in terrible conditions. We passed multiple vehicles that had blown a tire and every time a car passed us going the other direction a massive cloud of dust and dirt engulfed us.

My nostrils were so dusty, all I had to do was sneeze for a sand storm to erupt and this road stretched for what seemed like an eternity. But finally we reached the gate that said “Serengeti” in bold letters. I laughed to myself as there were multiple tourists dressed up in white dresses and heels, white linen shirts or otherwise stylish outfits that would surely look absolutely disgusting after the day on safari. Oh well… Again, we popped the roof open and entered the park. We had entered the park at the south side (Seronera) and the landscape here is pretty much what you would picture a savannah would look like. Long, golden grass marked the path we were driving on, here and there you could see the odd acacia tree and maybe some rocky formations. The rocks apparently still originate from the Precumbrian era. I looked to see whether I could find the Lion King’s pride rock, but I couldn’t make out quite a matching rock. The sun here was scorching hot and the climate had pretty much changed from that on the Ngorogoro Crater ridge. All of a sudden our guide stopped the van, to talk to another guide in a van that was passing. “There is a cheetah underneath that tree there”, he explained. We slowly drove on and sure enough, blending in perfectly with the tall golden grass lay a cheetah, obviously hiding from the sun. Our guide explained that cheetahs are generally very friendly and curious cats. One had even jumped up on the bonnet of his car once to explore it a little closer. I began to really like cheetahs, especially after I learned that leopards in comparison are not very lovable. They are more aggressive and dangerous than lions, they will attack other big cats and even their own, making them basically cannibals… we continued our journey, passing zebras, giraffes, elephants, impalas and Thompson gazelle, warthogs and many birds. We drove on towards the North of the Serengeti, also known as the Lobo region. The landscape changed dramatically. What had been dry grassy plains were now lush green fields stretching far towards the horizon. In the distance one could see the odd hill and more and more trees marked the landscape. I could not believe how far I could see. My optomologist would have been so happy for the fact, that I was actually using my eyes for looking into the distance rather than staring at a computer screen all day. I felt reminded of that scene in the Lion King. “Everything the light touches” somehow rang so true looking out for miles and miles on end. The Serengeti seemed endless. Despite the natural beauty I got a little frustrated because so far we had not seen one lion. Were they all hiding from us? We were approaching our headquarter for the night when the car came to an abrupt halt. We had to reverse a fair bit and there they were: a beautiful group of female lions napping under a tree. They were so close we nearly missed them! As we waited and watched one of the lionesses got up lazily. She walked over to one of her sisters, nudged her head and gave her a slobbering lick across her head. “Yuck”, seemed to be the answer as the recipient growled miserably and gnarled her teeth. After this brief interaction the lions slumped back into the grass dozing off into a deep slumber. I was elated! Not only had we finally seen some lions on day 3 of our safari but they had been just so close. A little closer and I could have given those kittens a belly rub. My Swiss companions were staying at a lodge tonight, while me and the rest of the crew would be camping just around the corner from the lodge. The lodge was very posh though. When we dropped off the Swiss at the lodge the concierge provided us with a wet flannel to wipe our faces. I don’t know why hotels would use a white flannel but it turned completely brown and filthy after I wiped my face. “Bush make-up”, the concierge laughed. The lodge was built right on top of a rock and came with an amazing terrace. I stayed for a bit, while the crew set up our camp close by, to watch the sun set. The view was absolutely breathtaking, you could see for miles and miles and miles. The sun burned in dramatic pinky-orange hues and the shadows of the trees and bushes became longer and longer. It was glorious to watch when all of a sudden the big bright ball dipped all the way behind the horizon. The Swiss and I agreed that this had been another successful day on safari. Later, I was picked up to go to the campsite which was located merely 5 minutes from the lodge. It was already dark so I couldn’t see much. I had dinner with the guide and the cook. Afterwards the guide said, “Can you hear them?” “Hear what?”, I asked. “The lions”. He imitated their call. I didn’t hear them, but apparently he did. He also explained to me, that if you see green eyes in the shine of your headlamp all is good. If you see yellow it means cats, likely lions. If there are lions around or the buffalo, don’t go to the outhouse. Okay… I was exhausted after the day, so I prepared to go to bed early. On my way from brushing my teeth in the outhouse to my tent I looked up and there above me stretched a beautiful black velvety canopy dotted with stars, stretching all the way to the horizon. There were stars everywhere, big ones, small ones, sparkling ones. And right there above my tent I could sea the milky way, bright and clear. The Serengeti knows to impress, no matter whether it was day or night.

I slept very well and I heard no animals at all. But knowing me, I would probably not hear a lion even if they sat right in front of my tent…

The next morning started with a morning game drive. It was still relatively cold and dark when I crawled out of bed. I just grabbed my camera and off we went, first to pick up the Swiss from the lodge and then to see some animals. While we were driving the sun crept up from behind the horizon and the morning light was glorious. The greens were somehow so much greener, the air was still crisp and it smelled beautifully of fresh grass. Who needs a cup of tea or coffee in the morning when you can have this, I wondered. We saw big herds of zebras and gnu, apparently these were part of the Great Migration where the herds of animals migrate to Kenya. We crossed a river and up a hill we could see two male lions just waking up from their slumber under a tree. We approached a little closer and could see, these were still relatively young animals. “They are brothers” the guide told us “Otherwise they wouldn’t live together”. We watched as one of the two lions got up yawning, stretching his back and proudly wandering off, presumably to go fetch himself some breakfast. We ended our morning drive to go back into camp. Now, that it was light I could actually make out our surroundings. The camp was located on a slight hill overlooking miles and miles of the Serengeti. It was beautiful. I could also make out several baboons that ran around camp. Our stomach engineer prepared breakfast, which I ate in the enclosed eating area. Once I had finished I carried my plate and some other things back into the kitchen. It was only when I returned to the eating area that I saw my mistake. I hadn’t locked the door behind me. In front of me sat a grown male baboon on the dining table, holding the tub of margarine triumphantly in his hands and showing me his impressive teeth. I started whacking the plastic tray I was holding trying to shoo him away. The guides and cooks came running to help me immediately when they heard the clamour. They brought brooms, sticks and stones. The poor monkey jumped up on the roof beams and dropped the margarine immediately, his way of waving the white flag. You could see he thought his time had come and he was jumping from roof beam to roof beam making the whole roof shudder desperately trying to find the exit. In the end he managed to escape, viscously hissing. He obviously hadn’t expected this outcome. Apart from the margarine and a mug that had fallen to the ground nobody was hurt and it was another unexpected wildlife encounter you wouldn’t get, if you would live in a luxury resort. While the crew packed up camp I sat and looked out on the Serengeti. I had first row seats to the best show. To my right was a heard of zebras, in the distance I could see some giraffes, gnu, and some monkeys were jumping about in the tree next to camp. There was so much to see! We set off on another day of adventure. Again, we saw many animals. We even came to a rather larger river and on the side a crocodile was lazily laying in the sun, not moving an inch. It could have been dead, for all I know. A little further up the river we came across a massive group of hippos. There were at least 20 hippos huddled together. Little birds flew on their backs to keep the flies away and these big fat animals wiggled happily with their tiny ears and snorted every now and then. It was very funny to watch. We also tried to catch a glimpse of the leopard. One of the guides from another car had told our guide where they had seen a leopard earlier that day. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived that leopard had gone. We drove around the area for a bit but the leopard was nowhere to be seen. Well, that too is part of the safari. Wildlife is not predictable. As we were making our way to our camp for the night in the Seronera region the sun set behind us. It was so beautiful, as tonight there were some clouds making the whole scenery even more dramatic. It looked as though the Serengeti was burning. When we arrived, the camp was set up ever so quickly. It was our last night having dinner together because tomorrow I would already be travelling back to Arusha, while the two Swiss people would continue the safari for another couple of days. It was a shame, because we got on so well together. After dinner we took the chairs and sat outside just watching the stars. Again, you could see the Milky Way clear as day. We just sat and stared at the stars and I could swear the star constellation here is different to what you can see in Europe, there are by far many more stars! All of a sudden, I saw a massive glow across the sky. That wasn’t just a shooting star, it was a meteor! I am not sure about the rules on meteors, but I am pretty sure it works the same as shooting stars so I closed my eyes tight and made a wish. I am not going to say what I wished for but I am sure you can guess what it was. It was just so peaceful, no noise, no light pollution, just pure nature. As we were getting ready for bed you could see and hear animals around. For the first time I was getting a little worried because the outhouse was quite far away from our tents. So we all agreed that we wouldn’t go all the way to the outhouse at night but stay close to the tents. A good decision as I learned the next morning. I had woken up in the night from loud banging. The first time I thought maybe it was a clap of thunder but then there was another banging. I didn’t think more of it and just rolled over in my sleep (I know, I must have lost any survival stinks). In the morning, our guide told us that our camp was ransacked by a pack of hyenas in the night. They obviously got into the big trash cans and even dragged them about 500 metres out of camp. So that explained the banging noise. Well, guess some people have raccoons going through their rubbish, here in the Serengeti you are dealing with hyenas.

We set off on another morning game drive. Did I mention that after all our car problems now our shock absorber on the front left had broke? Oh well… I will not get tired of the morning glow in the Serengeti! Just as we were getting back to camp we saw a small herd of elephants, including two little ones. The smaller of the two was still tiny, only a few months old, our guide explained. His sibling was slightly older. While the grown-ups were enjoying their breakfast, the little elephant was obviously bored. He kept nudging his sibling with his trunk, nibbling his ear and bashing his head playfully in his side. His sibling just tumbled into the tall grass. The little elephant got very excited and started to climb over him, his short limbs not truly allowing for the steep ascend. Instead he just slung his front legs over the side of his sibling and lolloped on top of him. After that got too boring he decided the grass was much more exciting. He tried to pull some long straws of grass out of the dry earth with his trunk, trying to wrap his trunk around the thin grass tightly. He was trying so hard and didn’t manage. He even tried to help using his front leg but nearly fell over in the process. Oh it was delightful to watch this playful and still dopey little elephant. After we returned to camp and had breakfast we went off on the last tour before heading back towards Arusha. We weren’t long on the drive when we spotted several cars. That’s always a sign that there is something to see. Sure enough, close to the path was a whole family of lions spread under a tree. There were two lionesses and at least six lion cubs of various ages. It was so sweet how they were all cuddling each other. One curious cub looked straight into my camera, turning his head, so he must have seen me upside down. He had such a sweet little face, he was truly adorable. The other lions were just snoring sleepily, the onset of the heat was obviously also a burden for these majestic animals. I bet the lions’s mane is not helping much in this heat. Soon, it was time to leave the park. Again, we set off on that horrible dusty road that connects the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro Conservation area. We had just closed the roof when our guide slowed down. Sure enough, in the middle of nowhere there was one single tree. And under that tree sat a cheetah mum with her cubs. “Wow, a rare sighting”, our guide said. Apparently, cheetahs are very shy about their offspring, so you rarely see them. I was thrilled to bits. These cheetah cubs were ever so fluffy and practiced their balancing skills on the rock before cuddling up with their mum again. What a brilliant sighting at the end. It absolutely made up for the fact that we didn’t get to see the leopard. After all, the Big 5 is just a matter of interpretation. After all, we had seen other impressive animals, that are equally big and strong (e.g., the hippopotamus) and that could also fit into the Big 5. So it was decided among us, that we had completed the Big 5 after all - only we had our own Big 5. when we arrived at the lodge where the Swiss would be staying for the night, it was time to say goodbye. I would continue the journey back to Arusha while they would start on another day of safari tomorrow. We all hugged each other and said our goodbyes and promised to see each other again. Maybe even sooner than expected, as the two were also heading to Zanzibar, around the same time I was planning to go. So, you never know.

On the drive back to Arusha I was still trying to wrap my head around all the incredible things I had seen. Nature is such a beautiful thing and it was great to see so much of it still existed in this corner of the world. While it may be a privilege to go on a safari like this and not everyone can afford to do it, I felt deeply humbled in this moment. I had seen so much beauty, incredible animals big and small and breathtaking landscapes. Every day I go to work and I live in this little bubble of mine. Yet, I am just such a small element in this world and there is just so much beauty out there. Sometimes, it is great to remind oneself of that. At the same time it is so frustrating to know that we humans are so reckless with planet Earth. Especially in face of Jane Goodall’s death in the past week, her famous quote rings very true: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make”. Jane Goodall had been very active in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro area, a new conservation center is currently being built in her name in Arusha. I can say with certainty that I made such precious memories these past days, which I will never forget and that I am very grateful for.