Tanzania: Oldupai Gorge and Serengeti

Leaving Ngorongoro we get a few more views into the crater. It’s really amazing. I can’t imagine that the Maasai walk up and down to graze their cattle. I also can’t imagine the female elephants walking up and down. I’m beginning to see an Africa pattern here: the Maasai women carry the water and build the huts; the lionesses kill the prey; the female elephants lead the herd. Women in Africa seem to work extremely hard, regardless of the species!. On the rim, we see impala, grants gazelles, secretary birds and zebras. The road is extremely bumpy, and we pass broken down trucks frequently – luckily they have managed to pull to the side enough to not obstruct traffic. I wonder what they will do to fix their trucks.

We stop at Oldupai gorge. We all thought that it was Olduvai, but the guide corrects us. It is named after the oldupai plant, a member of the sisal family. We see the different strata in the gorge. The varying colors of the alternating red and gray help pick out the layers. In the first layer the ‘nutcracker man’ was found, with a massive jaw to grind hard seeds. The formal name was something like australopificus boise, but I have no idea how to spell it. That is dated at 1.8 million years ago. It’s hard for me to take these dates seriously – are they sure it wasn’t 1.9 or 1.7 million? They talk us through each layer, and also give us a great piece of trivia. ‘Lucy’ (found elsewhere, I believe), was actually named after the Beatles song ‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds’. The little museum is quite interesting.

The other members of my group are very self-congratulatory about their sophistication compared to the stupid and ignorant Christians who believe in the Bible story of creation. It doesn't seem the time to tell them that they have a spy in their ranks, but later on I actually get a chance to talk to one of the women who is struggling with the different beliefs in her family. I tell her that being a person of faith and being intelligent are not incompatible, and discuss Genesis with her.

Now on to the Serengeti. It truly is an endless plain. The dust is unbelievable. Every time a vehicle passes us we have to close the windows. But this is our hottest day so far, so we really need the air. So we get really good at sliding the windows open and shut again and again. In the wake of another vehicle, the dust is so thick it is actually like a white-out, with severely obscured visibility. In broad daylight, the wise drivers put their headlights on, to make it easier for the other vehicles to see them. My buff kerchief is working great! All my travel companions start asking me about it.

‘H’ had promised us great bathrooms at the entrance to the Serengeti, and I wonder what planet he is coming from; they are Turkish style ‘squatters’ with broken flushers, and are stopped up with an accumulation of toilet paper and bodily waste. After trying in vain to flush by pulling the cord, I notice a water handle on the wall. I hopefully turn it only to find out that it was a SHOWER! Not what I was hoping for. I walk out sprinkled with water, and realize that I now look as if I’ve somehow got driblets of pee all over. This trip is good at getting rid of any false pride.

We are all sick of those Serena boxed lunches – a dry sandwich of mystery meat (ugh), a piece of roast chicken (usually pretty good, but sometimes covered with congealed fat), a slice of pound cake (ok), an orange drink (ok) , a bottle of water (ok), a container of yogurt (suspiciously foaming and bulging), and a little piece of fruit. We are getting really expert at separating what we don’t want so it can be given away (rather than nibbling at everything and then throwing it out). The picnic area features large, colorful lizards. Not my normal eating companions, but they don’t actually approach us, and don’t bother anyone.

Finally we get going again, and have a game drive on the way to the lodge. The highlight was watching a crocodile trying to eat an impala. It was sort of a tease to watch it, since most of the action happened underwater. Occasionally the croc would rear up with a portion of the impala in its jaws, but it wasn’t managing to tear it apart so it could eat it.

I was still anxious to see a leopard so I looked carefully in every shady spot (since it was now the heat of the day). I had one false alarm which was actually a reebuck hiding in some grass under a bush, and another animal which was in deep shadow a distance from the road – too far and dark to tell what it was. Then I saw a head sticking out from behind the trunk of a tree – I had high hopes, but it was actually a hyena. What a letdown! I think it was my third hyena spotting. The crew in my vehicle was split over whether I should get spotting credit, or a demerit. ;)

All of a sudden we see a big male lion, close to the road. He is lined up so his body is exactly aligned with the shade cast by the trunk of the tree. He lies with his head up, but his eyes closed, breathing heavily. Then he flops over like a baby who has decided to sleep. We see his ribs go in and out when he breathes. Then he sits up again and this time he looks around, but his eyes are so heavy that they keep closing. It makes us tired to even look at him! Something about those drooping eyelids is contagious. Meanwhile, a giraffe grazes on the other side of the road. She hasn’t seen him yet. The lion is so tired he can barely be bothered to look. When the giraffe finally notices him, we see her ears flare out immediately. It looks like a cartoon depiction of surprise. She wheels around to walk off briskly – not panicked, but clearly wary.

We finally reach the hotel – Serengeti Serena. We are so glad for those damp washcloths at the entrance. I can’t believe how dirty I am. We are all tired and achy and hot and dusty and cranky. The hotel is an appealing design, with individual huts.