Our Game Drive today is going to take us through the Northern section of the Serengeti Park. We don’t really know what this means in terms of what we will see or how it will be different, but Paul assures us that it is.

He is right. The landscape in this area is all long grasses and brush with very few trees scattered throughout. It was going to be very difficult to spot anything here because everything will be so camouflaged. Because of this, if pressed, we would have to say that this was probably the least exciting drive so far. But still so far from boring! It just meant we had to work harder to spot most animals.

In between sightings, we were able to get in quite a few 5-minute catnaps – they were very much needed because of our 3:30 wakeup call! Paul heard on the radio that there was a leopard in a tree with her cub so we went over there to see and sure enough, there she was. The cub was playing in the grass so we didn’t see it, but the mom, she was in the tree hunting. We stayed and watched her for about 10 minutes hoping we’d be able to catch her in the act of a kill. What we learned instead was that we are not nearly as patient as she is. We got bored and drove on.

In between our catnaps, we managed to see Vervet monkeys, giraffes, elephants, Little Bee Eaters, lions, Grant’s gazelles, Egyptian Geese, some very shy warthogs, Coucal birds, elephants, dik-diks and many other birds. I realize that this is a lot of animals and we are so lucky and grateful to have been able to witness them in the wild. But in 5 hours, this is all we saw. Crazy that we say all of this and more in little over an hour on other game drives.

Four things did stand out for us on this drive:

1. We went to the ‘Hippo Ponds’. OMG. This was incredible. Dozens and dozens of hippos laying on top of each other, spraying themselves with incredibly poopy water. Honestly, the water was more like sewage waste than anything else. It was disgusting. Every once in awhile, one would get enough energy to roll over in the water. That was hilarious. We were hoping to be able to see them out of the sludge and walking around on dry land, but Paul figured that was pretty unlikely. Hippos don’t have very thick skin and they can’t sweat so if they are in the sun too long and away from a water source, their skin will burn and flake off. So, they will go for nice long walks, but only at night and they never stray far from their water source.

2. In one of these hippo ponds, we saw a dead hippo. Boy, did it look fake. It was just bobbing in the water, all four legs sticking straight up into the air, its belly skin flaking off from being in the sun and drying out for too long. At least it didn’t stink – it must have been a fresh death. Well, at least we don’t think it stank, the water we were near was quite aromatic already. We don’t (at least I don’t) often think about natural deaths in the wild, but I guess it happens quite a lot. Huh. I wondered what was going to happen with it now: will it decompose? Will scavengers eat it? Will it just sink to the bottom? Paul had an answer for us again. He pointed to two crocodiles sitting on the edge of the ‘water’. He said that once they are sure the hippo is really dead, they’ll likely make a few meals out of him. Circle of life at its finest.

3. As I was staring off into the brush, the very long grass, I happened to notice a lioness walking through a relatively open area. Whoa! I noticed something!! She was just minding her own business, only about 40 feet from us. As soon as I noticed her, she walked through some grass and was gone, but then she came through another short patch and we all got to see some of her. Then she was gone. We knew exactly where she was but there was no way we were going to see her again. The brush swallowed her up, camouflaging her from all the prying eyes. Wow.

4. We saw another vehicle off road (tsk tsk) but this time, it was only a couple of meters off the main path. There was a lion on the other side of a tree, lying in the grass. From our side of the path you could barely see it. Seeing this and witnessing that lioness disappear just reiterates the truth to what the guides tell you, “You can drive through the park for hours and not see anything, but you walk through the grass and you’ll be dead in 15 minutes. You wouldn’t even see what killed you.

Even our least adventurous game drive was incredible! But, we are really tired. We had a big lunch, a long drive on a bumpy road and it is time to get back to the room before we fall asleep for good in the back of the car. We are very happy to arrive at the hotel in broad daylight. We are able to enjoy the outdoor lounge…until the biggest rain shower came through. Impressive!!

After an amazing dinner, we retired to the lounge (the only spot with wifi) to relax and have some downtime. We met a couple of Italian researchers who were here to continue with their long-term study on the Secretary Bird. I didn’t even know these existed a few days ago and now we know way more about them, their habitat, their reproductive rates, the dangers surrounding their survival and all kinds of other tidbits. It was such a privilege to talk with two scientists who are so passionate about what they are doing in their part of the world.