North to the Mara River
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Our camp is very near the Grumeti River, where a group of hippos live in a pool. We haven’t seen the hippos yet, but they make loud grunts from time to time. We are not allowed outside of our tent at night, as the hippos walk up to six miles each night looking for grass to eat. Running into one in the dark would be unpleasant if not fatal. Perhaps the same for a leopard. Or a lion or a snake.
We were up before sunrise and then out in the car. We set out from our tent camp for a long day’s drive, going north to the Mara River. We hoped to see wildebeests crossing the river, with its crocodiles, on their way to greener grass and Kenya. The wildebeests do not have it easy, as in the river are crocodiles and nearby are lions, leopards and cheetahs.
As we traveled north, there were more zebras and wildebeests foraging. Thomson’s Gazelles are also out in great numbers.
Giraffes are fun to watch, because they move by using both legs on the same side at the same time. They also like to stop and watch us. Giraffes eat leaves and branches of trees, and their lips must be made of iron, because every tree in the savanna has large thorns.
Here are four giraffes, one of which is a baby. The trees are whistling thorn acacias.
Here are more zebras and a wildebeest. The two animals eat different types of grass, and get along well.
Two things are becoming clear. The first is that it is not difficult to get close to animals, including lions, leopards and hippos. The second thing is that they are not always easy to photograph well—sometimes the sun is on the wrong side, and other times, the plants obstruct a clear view.
This is a Steinbock.
We came across a group of hippos on a beach. Just left of center is a baby.
After a bit, the hippos all stood up at once and ran into the river. I thought the baby would be hurt, but a larger hippo, perhaps its mother, kept moving it along, out in front of the others.
Once they were all in the river, things calmed down. You can see how some like to place their head on the back of another hippo.
Here is a better posed photograph of a giraffe.
When the wildebeests need to cross a creek or river, they line up, and the line could be several hundred in length. We saw several of these lines today.
The number of wildebeests was impressive. The photograph below is typical of the size of the herds we saw.
Not every creature we saw is a fearsome beast or difficult to photograph. Here are two male ostriches by the roadside. And a pretty bird.
We were out on our travels until an hour before sunset. We were looking forward to returning to our tent hotel, Migration Camp, for our second night’s stay.
The hotel’s guests stay in tents, but they have electric lights and running water in them; the hot water comes from a solar heater. The restaurant’s food was very good— we appreciated the vegetarian selections.
Next—we leave Migration Camp for the drier Western Serengeti, more fearsome beasts and another “tent.”
