sSorry for the delay, we returned from the safari late last night and the electricity/internet at our Home base has been somewhat spotty. We visited the Serengeti this past weekend (Thursday-Sunday) with 10 other volunteers and saw so many incredible things. Even more than our last Safari, it looked like a scene from the Lion King (rocks like “pride rock”, flat grassy land, and tons of animals roaming). We learned on our drive that the Serengeti got its name from the Maasai word for “vast plains” and that is a true explanation. It is the vastness of the plains that brings it beauty; feeling like the only people for miles surrounded by some of the most fascinating animals in the world is quite an amazing feeling.
We spent Thursday night at a campsite about 4 hours away from our Home base and were SO excited to have nice restrooms (with real toilets, not holes in the ground) and fancy tents with wooden beds. The next morning, we left early for the 3 ½ hour trip to the Serengeti. When we arrived, we were able to look at some of the animals that are currently going on the annual migration to Kenya (nobody knows why they do this, “it is natural” as our driver said). There were miles and miles of thousands of Zebras and Wildebeasts covering the land as far as you could see just roaming and playing in the grass. They Zebras make noises like barking dogs and the wildebeasts sounds like belching pigs and are all really loud when you drive through them. The coolest thing we saw was a group of 5 cheetahs (a mom and her 4 almost-full-grown cubs) all lounging in the sun close to the car; suddenly the cheetahs ran at full speed toward a gisele and tried to attack it! They failed, but it was so amazing to watch! It is really rare to see even one cheetah in the Serengeti, and even more to see 4 full grown cubs because the mother is left with the responsibility of hunting and nursing her cubs so many times the cubs are eaten by hyenas before they are full grown. We also saw leopards hanging from trees and the most beautiful skies and sunsets that I have ever seen. The sunsets look like orange, pink beams from heaven peaking through the clouds with the biggest sun I have ever seen sinking into the miles of plains. UNBELEIVABLE!
On Friday and Saturday evening we came back to our campsite around sunset (people are not allowed to be out driving in the Serengeti at night) dusty, tired, and ready to for dinner. Our safari meals all were all very different, but for some reason tasted exactly the same, like spicy tomato sauce. While lounging at the campsite we enjoyed watching the monkeys run around, the giraffes eat the acacia trees, the mongoose rummage through the trash, and listening to the hyenas as we fell asleep. By the way, hyenas do not make any sort of laughing noise, they make noise that sounds like a combination of a witch cackle and a dog howling. At night we always heard them around our tents and it was totally freaky!
Overall, it was an amazing, unforgettable weekend. Even the drive to/from the Serengeti was pretty as we saw Maasai children dressed in their traditional red clothing hearding cows and sheep in front of Kilimanjaro, women carrying pots on their heads with babies on their backs, and sunflower farms. Today, we attempted to explain the animals that we saw in the Serengeti to the children at our school and attempted to learn their Swahili names, but were somewhat unsuccessful in acting out/drawing the animals and learning their Swahili names. J Oh well! After two busy weekends, we are planning on staying around the Home base this weekend, exploring Moshi, and going on a coffee plantation hike.