It is really hard to put into words my experiences with the animals of the African savanna. I have always appreciated zoos. I am in year 24 as a volunteer (albeit probably operating from the longest distance) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have always had pets. There is no question that animals play an important role in my life. Having said that, I can also state that nothing prepared me for the sensation of suddenly coming face to face with giraffes sauntering across the road in front of me. Nothing. I was speechless.
No, that's wrong. When I actually spotted my very first animal, an elephant, who was happily chomping tree branches by the side of the road on which we were traveling from the airport to our first camp, I was anything but speechless. I jumped up and down on my seat, squealed, "Elephant!" while simultaneously pointing and frantically jabbing my cousin in the seat beside me. As one, the others in the group turned on me and said, in a most disapproving tone, "SSSSHHHHH". * They had spent the previous 5 days at Kruger National Park in South Africa (a pre-trip that my cousin Pattie and I had not taken) and knew the proper safari etiquette. I was CLEARLY a novice and needed to LEARN THE RULES! So, all of you reading this, learn from me. You never know when you might need them.
Rule #1 - Stay quiet around the animals. Duh, the reason is obvious. Sudden noise will make them flee. Or turn on you. Neither is desirable.
Rule #2 - Do not stick any body part outside of the open-sided Land Rover. We were in parks where animals are protected. They are not injured or harmed by these Land Rovers. The animals know this and, as long as you stay inside the shape of the Land Rover (from their perspective), they won't bother you. But if you are foolish enough to stick a hand out, suddenly stand up or put a leg over the edge - all bets are off. You may be attacked.
Okay, I found this one harder to believe. Really? They could smell us but would not attack if we stayed inside the open vehicle in which we were bouncing over the savanna? I mean, look at this photo - we are clearly visible to any animal nearby. Nice morsels. Easy access. Dinner.
Let's look at it from another perspective - here we are looking out from the Land Rover at the elephants - the lines at the top of the photo are the roof struts of the van. We were VERY close - and the animals left us alone.
So, yes, the rule appears valid. The only three times we were ever in danger was when we did not follow this rule. But more about these particular incidents in another entry. Let me just say they put the word ADVENTURE in our Overseas Adventure Tour.
Rule #3 - If you have to go to the bathroom, wait for guides to check behind the bush that you intend to use. One never knows what might be back there.
Rule #4 - If walking across the savanna, walk in single file. Walking as a group is potentially intimidating to animals.
Rule #5 - If you are in a hippo area, remember anything you THINK might be a big stone may be a sleeping hippo. Avoid.
Rule #6 - Don't trust baboons or monkeys - they'll be inside your tent in a nanosecond if there is anything of interest. They will destroy your belongings while searching for whatever enticed them in.
Rule #7 - And speaking of baboons, don't step in baboon dung - you can't get the smell out of your shoes. You'll have to throw them away.
Rule # 8 - Don't be on foot after sunset. Once the sun goes down the hunter may become the hunted. The cats are out and looking for dinner.
Rule #9 - If danger approaches, circle your guide and make sure one of you runs slower than he does. Ah, a little guide humor thrown in.
Okay, once we understood the rules, we were ready to venture onto the savanna. And it was exquisite. The animals are most active in the early morning and near sunset so that is when our two animal drives were scheduled each day. In the morning we bounced along, wrapped in layers under warm blankets; in the late afternoon we had shed most of the layers but had some ready to put back on as the sun began to set.
The Land Rovers held 10 passengers and 1 driver/guide. We were a group of 15 - 8 in one Land Rover, 7 in the other. To get in you had to climb up the side of the vehicle to reach the higher seats in the back. You threw one leg up on a ridge over the wheels then worked your way up the side, putting your feet onto little platforms while swinging from the roof struts. You then swung yourself into your seat of choice. I was enchanted - it was just like the monkey bars I loved in Kindergarten.
Once we were all in place, off we went, careening down roads that twisted and turned in the savanna and scrub forest.
It was most interesting when we hit deep sand.
The driver threw the car into 4-wheel drive so that we could swim through the sand. It reminded me of driving over the first snowfall on Connecticut roads BEFORE Gary and I had put on our snow tires.
What was so interesting was that, if you stopped and looked, animals were actually everywhere, even big ones. Giraffes are huge but their mottling matches the scrub forest. Someone would quietly (see rule #1 above) whisper "Giraffe at 4 o'clock" and sure enough, there was a giraffe, tall as could be, munching away on trees in which he blended. Although, of course with anything like this, once you saw it, how could you NOT see it?
Same with elephants. I know, impossible, you say but it was true. It was winter, the trees were bare and many had been damaged by elephants passing by. But, from a distance, a gray elephant could blend in with the sparse trees.
It took my breath away when we turned onto a new path, or the savanna suddenly opened up in front of us, and there they were.
And we got so close:
And not just zebras, but giraffes, elephant, lions leopards, and so on.
This is Anna's photo of the solitary lion. She is a wonderful photographer. She may have used her zoom for this particular photo but we got this close to lions on our outings. See rule #2 above - it DID work.
It was this experience that most stunned me. I could not believe how close we were to this mother and her cubs. By the way, let's look at two photographers (and 2 cameras) - the photo above is Anna's. Let's look at my photo of the same scene.
I was using my very limited zoom - we were very close to these animals - but look at the quality of Anna's photo compared to mine. Do you even know what animals are in my photo? There are many reasons why I love Anna - she is a wonderful person to begin with, she takes excellent photos AND she shares them willingly.
We sat in our Land Rovers for 30 minutes watching this group of lions. There were 3 lionesses and 9 cubs. What was so amazing is that the lionesses absolutely ignored us - when we drove up, as we stayed in place, when we revved up our engines to leave whereas whenever we made any noise at all, 9 pairs of cub ears poked up above the grass and 9 pairs of cub eyes stared in wonder. Made me realize the Rule #2 really DOES work. One wonders how soon the cubs will learn to ignore us.
On our late afternoon outings we often visited water holes - great place to see herds of animals gathered together.
There, now you can see my zoom capacity (or lack thereof). In the photo above this one - no zoom - in fact, note the hat of the person who sat by me in the bottom left corner. The photo immediately above - same shot but the greatest extent of my zoom. Not much.
And, of course, the grandmother in me was thrilled whenever we saw babies - and we saw them all - giraffes, zebras, elephants, antelopes, wart hogs, hippos, etc but none got my maternal juices flowing as much as baby elephants.
It is trite to call a lion regal but they ARE as they glide across the savanna. I held my breath - somewhat in fear because we were so very close - but also in awe. The same is true of leopards.
The animals were amazing.
I felt privileged to have a front row seat.
* I deserved to be SSSHHHHHHed and didn't mind it at all, given that it came from members of a simply wonderful group of travelers who I know well. We traveled together in late December 2010 - mid January 2011 in Jordan and Egypt (we left Egypt 10 days before their revolution broke out). Many of the group members have known each other for more than 40 years. My cousin Pattie and I are relative newcomers and consider ourselves lucky to be part of this group. What a simply wonderful time we had bouncing over the savanna. We travel together to Turkey next year. Can't wait.
My photo - no pink tinge this time - just an odd blue section on the right. GRRRR.
No, that's wrong. When I actually spotted my very first animal, an elephant, who was happily chomping tree branches by the side of the road on which we were traveling from the airport to our first camp, I was anything but speechless. I jumped up and down on my seat, squealed, "Elephant!" while simultaneously pointing and frantically jabbing my cousin in the seat beside me. As one, the others in the group turned on me and said, in a most disapproving tone, "SSSSHHHHH". * They had spent the previous 5 days at Kruger National Park in South Africa (a pre-trip that my cousin Pattie and I had not taken) and knew the proper safari etiquette. I was CLEARLY a novice and needed to LEARN THE RULES! So, all of you reading this, learn from me. You never know when you might need them.
Rule #1 - Stay quiet around the animals. Duh, the reason is obvious. Sudden noise will make them flee. Or turn on you. Neither is desirable.
Rule #2 - Do not stick any body part outside of the open-sided Land Rover. We were in parks where animals are protected. They are not injured or harmed by these Land Rovers. The animals know this and, as long as you stay inside the shape of the Land Rover (from their perspective), they won't bother you. But if you are foolish enough to stick a hand out, suddenly stand up or put a leg over the edge - all bets are off. You may be attacked.
Okay, I found this one harder to believe. Really? They could smell us but would not attack if we stayed inside the open vehicle in which we were bouncing over the savanna? I mean, look at this photo - we are clearly visible to any animal nearby. Nice morsels. Easy access. Dinner.
Let's look at it from another perspective - here we are looking out from the Land Rover at the elephants - the lines at the top of the photo are the roof struts of the van. We were VERY close - and the animals left us alone.
So, yes, the rule appears valid. The only three times we were ever in danger was when we did not follow this rule. But more about these particular incidents in another entry. Let me just say they put the word ADVENTURE in our Overseas Adventure Tour.
Rule #3 - If you have to go to the bathroom, wait for guides to check behind the bush that you intend to use. One never knows what might be back there.
Rule #4 - If walking across the savanna, walk in single file. Walking as a group is potentially intimidating to animals.
Rule #5 - If you are in a hippo area, remember anything you THINK might be a big stone may be a sleeping hippo. Avoid.
Rule #6 - Don't trust baboons or monkeys - they'll be inside your tent in a nanosecond if there is anything of interest. They will destroy your belongings while searching for whatever enticed them in.
Rule #7 - And speaking of baboons, don't step in baboon dung - you can't get the smell out of your shoes. You'll have to throw them away.
Rule # 8 - Don't be on foot after sunset. Once the sun goes down the hunter may become the hunted. The cats are out and looking for dinner.
Rule #9 - If danger approaches, circle your guide and make sure one of you runs slower than he does. Ah, a little guide humor thrown in.
Okay, once we understood the rules, we were ready to venture onto the savanna. And it was exquisite. The animals are most active in the early morning and near sunset so that is when our two animal drives were scheduled each day. In the morning we bounced along, wrapped in layers under warm blankets; in the late afternoon we had shed most of the layers but had some ready to put back on as the sun began to set.
The Land Rovers held 10 passengers and 1 driver/guide. We were a group of 15 - 8 in one Land Rover, 7 in the other. To get in you had to climb up the side of the vehicle to reach the higher seats in the back. You threw one leg up on a ridge over the wheels then worked your way up the side, putting your feet onto little platforms while swinging from the roof struts. You then swung yourself into your seat of choice. I was enchanted - it was just like the monkey bars I loved in Kindergarten.
Once we were all in place, off we went, careening down roads that twisted and turned in the savanna and scrub forest.
It was most interesting when we hit deep sand.
The driver threw the car into 4-wheel drive so that we could swim through the sand. It reminded me of driving over the first snowfall on Connecticut roads BEFORE Gary and I had put on our snow tires.
What was so interesting was that, if you stopped and looked, animals were actually everywhere, even big ones. Giraffes are huge but their mottling matches the scrub forest. Someone would quietly (see rule #1 above) whisper "Giraffe at 4 o'clock" and sure enough, there was a giraffe, tall as could be, munching away on trees in which he blended. Although, of course with anything like this, once you saw it, how could you NOT see it?
Same with elephants. I know, impossible, you say but it was true. It was winter, the trees were bare and many had been damaged by elephants passing by. But, from a distance, a gray elephant could blend in with the sparse trees.
And we got so close:
And not just zebras, but giraffes, elephant, lions leopards, and so on.
This is Anna's photo of the solitary lion. She is a wonderful photographer. She may have used her zoom for this particular photo but we got this close to lions on our outings. See rule #2 above - it DID work.
It was this experience that most stunned me. I could not believe how close we were to this mother and her cubs. By the way, let's look at two photographers (and 2 cameras) - the photo above is Anna's. Let's look at my photo of the same scene.
I was using my very limited zoom - we were very close to these animals - but look at the quality of Anna's photo compared to mine. Do you even know what animals are in my photo? There are many reasons why I love Anna - she is a wonderful person to begin with, she takes excellent photos AND she shares them willingly.
We sat in our Land Rovers for 30 minutes watching this group of lions. There were 3 lionesses and 9 cubs. What was so amazing is that the lionesses absolutely ignored us - when we drove up, as we stayed in place, when we revved up our engines to leave whereas whenever we made any noise at all, 9 pairs of cub ears poked up above the grass and 9 pairs of cub eyes stared in wonder. Made me realize the Rule #2 really DOES work. One wonders how soon the cubs will learn to ignore us.
On our late afternoon outings we often visited water holes - great place to see herds of animals gathered together.
Too many to count.
There, now you can see my zoom capacity (or lack thereof). In the photo above this one - no zoom - in fact, note the hat of the person who sat by me in the bottom left corner. The photo immediately above - same shot but the greatest extent of my zoom. Not much.
I simply sat in wonder as I watched parades of elephants. They are majestic.
And, of course, the grandmother in me was thrilled whenever we saw babies - and we saw them all - giraffes, zebras, elephants, antelopes, wart hogs, hippos, etc but none got my maternal juices flowing as much as baby elephants.
It is trite to call a lion regal but they ARE as they glide across the savanna. I held my breath - somewhat in fear because we were so very close - but also in awe. The same is true of leopards.
Another one of Anna's photos
The animals were amazing.
I felt privileged to have a front row seat.
* I deserved to be SSSHHHHHHed and didn't mind it at all, given that it came from members of a simply wonderful group of travelers who I know well. We traveled together in late December 2010 - mid January 2011 in Jordan and Egypt (we left Egypt 10 days before their revolution broke out). Many of the group members have known each other for more than 40 years. My cousin Pattie and I are relative newcomers and consider ourselves lucky to be part of this group. What a simply wonderful time we had bouncing over the savanna. We travel together to Turkey next year. Can't wait.
Well, dear heart, although you excel in most things, I have to admit that Anna has you beat as a photographer. :) What a thrill to have seen so many animals in their natural state!
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