DAY 2
drive to serengeti Np
post by scott
Today we were off on a long drive to the famous Serengeti National Park, but it was a fun game drive because we were passing through the Ngorongoro conservation area. This region which includes the famous crater is still inhabited by the local Masai people who graze their cattle in the open plains, but there is also an agreement to protect local wildlife – which was great news for us because there was plenty to see! First we climbed up the western edge of the rift valley and into dense rainforest where we saw mischievous looking baboons prowling the road. After about an hour the landscape changed dramatically to endless dry grassy plains dotted with the occasional Acacia tree where Masai boys were in charge of big herds of cattle. The area is an interesting experiment in trying to combine traditional indigenous use of land with large scale wildlife tourism. It sounds far from ideal though as we read reports of tourist lodges evicting locals from their land and beating children who dared to stray over their newly erected boundaries.
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olduvai gorge
We stopped for lunch in what appeared to be the most desolate, dry, dusty place on earth, but which is actually referred to as the ‘cradle of humanity’. It was in this gordforsaken dustbowl that Louis * and Mary Leaky came early in the twentieth century in search of fossils from our oldest hominid ancestors. After a lot of scratching around in the dirt and plenty of “Eureka! ….hang on.. no just a rock” moments (presumably), in 1959 they found what they were after - a skull and bones from what was at that time our earliest known ancestor – Zinjanthropus bosei. The specimen's age of 1.75 million years radically altered the accepted ideas about the time scale of human evolution. Other more recent hominids with increasing social and developmental complexities such as homo habilis (1.9 million yrs), homo erectus (1.2 million yrs) and homo sapiens (17,000 yrs) were later found in the gorge. Their team also uncovered a strip of hardened volcanic ash with the footprints of an even older ancestor (the rock dated to 3.6 million years) which was the earliest known bipedal hominid. After making a cast and replica of the footprints (which can be seen in the small museum there) the site was reburied to protect it from modern humans who have a tendency to wreck things despite now having a much larger brain. It was amazing to witness even the replica as you can see where a child has been trailing an adult (presumably a parent) and stepping only inside their deep footprints – just like a little girl on the beach would do with her dad. Apparently there are plans to uncover the original footprints again, but as yet there is nothing set in stone. Or ash (..that ones for you Mal & Nel). Over the years the work done in Olduvai Gorge has convinced most paleoanthropologists that humans originally evolved in Africa (according to Wikipaedia) and subsequently inspired the Chemical Brothers 2001 smash hit “It began in Afrika”.
* Interestingly it was Louis Leaky who later used his money and influence to send both Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey to Africa in order to research our great ape cousins – chimpanzees and gorillas respectively. He hoped that by better understanding the other great apes we would then have greater insight into the evolution of early hominids and humans.
* Interestingly it was Louis Leaky who later used his money and influence to send both Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey to Africa in order to research our great ape cousins – chimpanzees and gorillas respectively. He hoped that by better understanding the other great apes we would then have greater insight into the evolution of early hominids and humans.
Allana eats an egg
Today Allana ate a hard boiled egg without any salt or pepper – and enjoyed it! Gross..
SERENGETI
Before we had even reached the gate (an open archway erected over the road in the middle of a vast flat grassland) we had already seen ostriches, giraffes, zebra and the incredibly large Kory Bustard – one of the heaviest birds to be able to achieve enough upthrust to overcome gravity, that is, to fly. Looking at it mincing around on the ground you would never think it was possible and I still think it might be an elaborate hoax because we never saw one in the air. After passing the invisible park border you could immediately notice the increased animal density. Zebra, gazelle and wildebeest were much more prolific, and we couldn’t believe how many animals could be supported by this huge flat expanse of grass. There was nothing else for miles, just long grass, medium grass and occasionally some short freshly eaten grass. After about 45 minutes of driving along the flat we came to the first geographical variation – a few small mounds covered in the long variety of grass. Driving up to them we saw our first ever Lions!!!! (Apart from at the zoo near Kuranda). Two young males and a cub were having a snooze on one mound while on the next hill a female was keeping watch out over the plains. We could see a fat little warthog walking innocently towards us from about 100m away so we stopped the car and waited for the action to unfold! Pumba was seemed completely oblivious to the lion as he trotted down towards a puddle of water but we could see Mrs Lion tense up, back arched and staring intently at the approaching meal. As he was approaching striking distance though the wind must have changed or he must have caught a glimpse of her because he suddenly became aware of the lurking danger and scampered off out of the death zone. We couldn’t help but feel disappointed not to see him brutally dismembered but it was still a great scene to watch play out.
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On the way into our centrally located lodge we also saw giraffe, elephants, spotted guinea fowl and even a hippopotamus who had emerged from a day in the pond for his evening graze. The landscape became more varied as we delved further into the Serengeti with many more trees, hills and big rocky outcrops that look like they would make a good place to hold up a future Lion King.
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As the sun was going down we were also lucky enough to see (with the help of binoculars) a leopard draped contently over a tree branch with a recently killed gazelle stored safely away up in the adjacent trees branches! Leopards do this to prevent hyenas (who can’t climb) and other scavengers from stealing their hard won prizes. Her two cubs were also visible between the long grass running up and down a fallen tree trunk nearby. When mum climbed elegantly down her tree you would briefly see the white tip of her tail above the grass and then she would disappear in a flash with nothing giving away her position.
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Tonight we stayed in one of the “mega” lodges which was built in among some huge boulders and had a huge capacity, although was not yet even close to full. Due to it’s size it didn’t have a great deal of character but it was still pretty great to see elephants outside the window when we got into the room!