Lions, Leopards, and Zebras 11/2/1993 Dominate Today's Game Drives

We Have Now Seen Four Of Big Five
By Bob Van Leer

(SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA, EAST AFRICA - Nov. 2, 1993) - We arrived this afternoon at the Seronera Wildlife Lodge in the middle of the Serengeti National Park after a grueling 205 kilometer drive from Lake Manyara Park We came on the main road through the park, actually the only one. The quality of the road is that of a poorly-maintained logging road. Our drivers zip along the roads as if they were freeways even though the roads are washboarded most of the way. There are places where there is a dust layer of six inches or more on top of the road. This must be a lot of fun when it rains. Right now it is the end of the dry season and everything is parched. Everything in our van is covered with a layer of red dust. We climbed to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, which we will visit tomorrow, went through a forest on top of the mountain and passed the Olduvai Gorge, the site of the oldest human finds. We will also visit Olduvai later. The Serengeti is a broad, flat plain interrupted with small hills of rock called kopje, or little head. We can't see the end of the plain. The park continues north into Kenya.

This is the fartherest we will get on this trip. After today we will be visiting other sites but they will be closer to transportation home. Our van had one flat tire which our driver, Hatibu, changed with the speed of an Indianapolis Speedway pit crew. The drivers must get a lot of practice at this, given the condition of the roads. Hatibu even carried his own rock to block the van from rolling. We saw huge numbers of wildlife on the drive to the lodge, the most notable being zebras. These were in the region closest to the lodge and there were literally thousands of them. A treat to see was, under the shade of a tree alongside the road, a female lion and three cubs taking a siesta. Under another tree we saw four cheetah keeping out of the noonday sun. We also saw more giraffes, scattered ostriches, a pair of jackals, and a lone hyena.

  There were hundreds of antelope of several varieties, Grant's gazelle, Thomson's gazelle and topi. We saw a few wildebeest but the great migratory herds will not come here until the fall "short rains" green up the plain. Checking in at the lodge we were greeted with an announcement there is no water in the hotel. The main underground supply pipe had a leak and was moistening the ground. An elephant dug up and broke the pipe to get a drink. In the evening enough water came on to bathe in, which we needed badly. There is bottled water for drinking but none to operate the plumbing. Beer here is cheaper than drinking water. A sign in the hotel lobby reads, "Don't walk beyond the lodge premises. It is dangerous. You may encounter wild animals". After lunch we made a game drive around the Serengeti. Again we saw zebras by the hundreds and various antelope, more hyenas and wart hogs. A few giraffe were browsing the tops of the trees. Most of the animals are little bothered by our presence. Some we make uneasy and they eventually leave.

   The highlight of the afternoon was finding leopards in two separate trees. One was situated where we could get a good view. This big cat was draped over a tree limb like a rag doll. Our driver was particularly pleased to find the leopards (which he pronounced "low-pard") These are shy animals that come out mostly at night and spend the days sleeping in the branches of trees which makes them very difficult to spot. Our driver, Hatibu, pointed out we have now seen four of the "big five". These are: elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhinoceros. We have now seen all but a rhino and Hatibu says he will find us one in Ngorongoro Crater. I think this is a hint we should take this into account when we tip him at the end of the safari. When we returned to our room after the game drive there was a monkey in front of our room door. At night we could hear many strange, unidentified animal sounds.

  Tomorrow we will start with a morning game drive and then back over the same road we came in to stay at the Ngorongoro Crater lodge, stopping at Olduvai Gorge on the way.