Into The Wild

Tomorrow morning I will be awakened from my sleep by a tiny beeping alarm sounding-off inside my wrist watch.  The time will be 6 am, the weather clear, and the temperature crisp and cool.  Wrapped in my shuka I’ll inevitably shuffle myself into my shoes, grab my duffle bag, and sling my back-pack across my back. 

   Tomorrow morning I’ll find myself heading towards what I have considered to be the upsurge of my research here in Tanzania.  Like a carefully orchestrated concerto, I am finding myself caught up in the whirlwind of a great crescendo that has been masterfully building over these past 6 weeks.  Instruments are ringing out from the arena, with the various hums and vibrations – sounds – colliding together harmoniously, blending to create a masterpiece that flows humbly down into the theatre where I feel I am the only audience attendee.  It sometimes feels as if I’m drowning in the noise that is Tanzania.

   Tomorrow morning I will find myself heading off for a brief 5 day excursion into the Serengeti National Park.  Camping and conducting research, it will undoubtedly be the shining feature of my stay in Tanzania this year.  My mornings will begin with a sunrise that sounds like a slow, soft drumming cadence.  Donning my hiking boots will rouse a light trill of flutes, inexorably followed shortly after by the warble of the rest of the wood-wind instruments.  As the day continues, and I set my feet to the mud, my strides will be accompanied by the inclusion of violins, cellos, and other sounding laments pouring from various stringed instruments.  Horns will sound across the plains, preceding our rovers, and following along in our dusty trail.  Soon daylight will begin to dwindle, as will the declarative roar of my spiritual ensemble.  The stars will show their faces against the dark blanket of the night sky, their twinkling a soft strain of chimes to lull me to sleep… and then, as the sun rises again the next morning, so too will the day, stirring to wake the music of Serengeti once more.

The Big Bowl They’ve Named the 8th Natural Wonder

The Ngorongoro Crater, as it’s known, is a naturally formed crater from a collapsed volcano some *cough* years ago.  The land is fertile and lush, filled with greens and blues and blooming flowers… and wildlife.

Ngorongoro Crater from crest

   We departed for Ngorongoro Crater at 7:30am.  We were told that before descending into the crater, we would spend a small time conversing with the management team about the crater’s environment, economical impact, and…

   Well, you’re bored, aren’t you, reading about this.  To tell the truth, so were we.  We were sitting literally on the crest of the crater, in an office (air-conditioned, the first I’ve seen since arriving in TZ), impatiently waiting to venture into the bowl and see the animals.  We were being forced to waylay our safari for a lecture on infrastructure.  After what seemed like a long half-hour we were released to our vehicles once more.  Our driver, and wildlife ecology professor John Kioko, laughed at our uncontained excitement.  Kioko drives like he’s running from the law every time he drives, and riding in his car is a guaranteed thrill, especially careening down a narrow mountain path into the crater.

   The view of the crater was breathtaking from the top, but the view on the ground inside the crater is heart-stopping. 

   It should be noted, here and now, that on every drive through a national park, we are required to record the number of mammal species within 50 meters of our vehicle, and how many of each species’ individuals there are.  Why is this important? Because within the first 2 minutes of reaching the base of the crater we spotted zebra, buffalo, eland, cheetahs, hyenas, wildebeest, and elephants.  My hand-to-God, these creatures were all meandering about the entry into the crater and around a small lake, as if presenting themselves on their best behavior for the tourists. 

Within the day we estimated a count (just our vehicle of 7 students and one teacher) of over 1000 zebra, 1000 buffalo, 2000 wildebeest, and 40 elephant.  These are the big number animals, and were liberally littered about the plains.  What I want to discuss are the rare, not-so-easy to spot animals.

   Take, for instance, the cheetah.  We saw three.  Two were hunting, and one was lounging beneath the shade with some guinea fowl (no, surprisingly the bird wasn’t dead.  I guess the big cat was already full).  We also saw a cerval cat slinking through the tall grasses.  A treat for the day were three black rhinos, extremely hard to find in the park, and we were gifted with two parents and a baby.  Of course, they were visible only by binocular vision, but the awe was still there.

   Hyenas, while I’m told are closer in species to cats, act quite like dogs.  They trot, and lay in the sun, and lounge in small puddles of water.  Often we drove only a few feet from hyenas as they lay in the puddles in the roads, trying to find some respite from the brilliant sun.  The weather on this day was a perfect mix of sun, clouds, and a bit of a breeze to keep cool.

   While I was enthused by the abundance of wildlife I’d only seen on television (and, let’s face it, the Lion King), my eyes were frantically scanning the tall grasses for my own favorite mammal.  We were told initially that we weren’t likely to see these majestic creatures.  There must have been some deity poking around our area that heard my pleas, because on this day I was awarded not one, but 7 of my favorite mammal: Panthera leo, or simply known as the lion.  

   Aslan, simba, lav, leeuw, leone, or leijona, the lion is distinguishable around the world as a large, fierce, and proud animal.  In stories they’ve been named royalty in the wilds of Africa, and in history are often used as symbolism for families of the nobility (so, too, are the color purple, the mace, the flail & crook, and many others, but for now I’m gushing on my favorite large cat).  We saw a group of females, a lone male sleeping soundly in the sunshine, and a family of two cubs, female, and male.  The cubs were curious and often tried to make their way closer to our vehicle.  It was quite a feat for me to resist reaching out my hand to grab one of the little fluff-balls, but I figured that while this was illegal, I was also at the mercy of the parent lions.  So I withheld from my kidnapping endeavors, and instead settled on taking photos. 

   My smiles from the awesome sights of the day still hasn’t left my face.  Lion cubs, and other animals of Africa, can certainly inspire a lot of smiling.

Dizzy in Manyara National Park (Literally and Figuratively)

Today was our first day driving to a national park, where we would conduct basic research and field exercises for identifying various wildlife.  5 hours driving across Lake Manyara National Park, world-renowned for its vast baboon population, driving with our heads popped out of the top of our Land Cruisers. Hours of yelling “simama” to our driver to stop when we saw an animal, followed inevitably by a “twende, tafadhali,” which means “let’s go, please!” 

   So I’m guessing you weren’t expecting me to begin with a word of advice.  No, I’m not giving advice on proper camera etiquette, or how best to protect your binoculars from the dusts of dry, red-dirt roads.  No, my piece of advice is fairly simple, and common, and something I wish I would’ve followed today:

Always follow the directions on your prescription medication packages.  Why? Because if, say, you were to take your malaria pill without food in your stomach, then your day at the park might be somewhat challenged by the nausea and dizziness you’d be experiencing.

When I say it was a dizzying experience in the park today, I meant it both figuratively and literally.   Our eyes and ears were attuned to nature, seeking out all natural wildlife that we could lay our greedy sights on.  Baboons so accustomed to vehicles would sit idly by the roads as we drove by, grooming or screaming, or watching the young play.  Giraffe peaked their heads out from the trees as if wishing to greet us.  Hippos, wildebeest, zebras, blue monkeys, vervets and grivets, impala, warthogs, dik dik, and elephants were only an arm’s length away from our vehicles at times.  We were so close to the elephants, or tembo, that we could hear the sounds of their ears flapping. 

   Did you know that dik dik mate for life? Just like penguins, it’s always the cute animals that take life-mates. 

I can honestly say that I’m living the Lion King dream.  My favorite movie, hands down, and I’m actually here where it was all based in.  The forests are lush and green, while the savannahs are brightly lit and baked by the sun.  Lebo M and his Zulu warrior singing-crew were staging a concert in the back of my mind all day.

   Them, as well as a pounding headache accompanied by dizzy spells.  I believe the hippos might have been laughing at my pale-white face. 

   Being sick could not surpass my awe for being so close to these African animals.  We had fun, and as long as the wind was on my face I was okay to go.  It was hot, and slightly breezy, with animals all around, and I couldn’t have been happier.

   Our second day excursion is tomorrow, where we’ll spend all of our time recording baboon behavior.  These baboons aren’t terribly concerned about being watched, which I guess is a good thing.  I will, however, need to recharge my camera battery tonight. 

    And my day would end with a nice cold shower, to rinse the dirt and grime from my body.  You’d be surprised how wonderful a cold shower feels after being out in the sun all day.