Safari

Sunday, July 20^th

I was pretty much so incredibly stoked to go on the Safari since I first was accepted into the summer program. I was raised on stuff like this – as seemed to be the Lucas Family saying, “we don’t go to theme parks, we go to National parks.” While we did make visits to both Disneyland and Disneyworld, it did seem to be the case that the Lucas Five are at their best when out experiencing Mother Nature, more inclined to enjoy our time at Yellowstone and Fort Fisher than something more superficial. And that appreciation of nature and the environment is something that I have carried with me ever since, particularly here to Africa.

We were picked up by Maasai Wanderings (who also does Safaris), hopped into large 4runners, and made our way up to northern Tanzania – home to the Serengeti, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, the latter two areas which we would be exploring over the next two days.

I can’t explain what it’s like to take that first glimpse of the crater – we had made our way up the winding mountain slopes and we pulled over for that first photo-op. It’s incredible. The crater lays vast, wide below you, just teeming with life. It was epic.

The crater

We soon made our descent down into the crater to begin our great adventure. We pulled over and popped the top of the car, which lifts about 3 feet in the air so that you can stand up and watch from inside. The crater was swarming with zebras and wildebeests, everywhere you looked. As we went in further, we saw warthogs, hyenas, impalas, antelope and flamingos scattered like hot pink dots all across the lake. But we all had our eyes peeled for the cats – lions, cheetahs, and the ever-elusive leopards are the cats that occupy the crater. They’re definitely the hardest to see, which makes them the hottest commodity. It wasn’t until after lunchtime in the later part of the afternoon that we finally saw the lions. There, laying out in the sun, was a male and at least five females, all having their afternoon catnap. We were sooo close! Sleeping, they weren’t so intimidating – they look just like my house cats napping after a meal. It was actually really cute. We also saw hippos, later on, filling an entire pond. It turns out that hippos kill more people on Safari than any other kind of animal. In fact, one of the guys in our car, my friend Dan from Uganda, was on a Safari once and saw a bloodied victim of a hippo attack – he said the man died 3 days later. As long as you’re smart and just stay in the car, you’re fine. So I never felt endangered. Well… not on Friday.

Lions napping

On Saturday, however, we were taken into Lake Manyara National Park. While not as grandly majestic as Ngorongoro, it was just as full of life – less grasslands, more forest. While there were many of the same animals there as in the crater, such as hippos, antelope and zebras, there were also many more. We saw so many elephants, giraffes, mongooses and diga-digis (I don’t know how to spell that… they were like miniature deer – like the size of small dogs!) The giraffes were just the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. I don’t know what it is about them, but I was so excited every time I saw one. It’s funny because you’re always so excited the first time, but as the day goes on, it’s like, “zebras smebras” as our car liked to say :) But giraffes were the one animal that got me so excited every time.

A huge herd of wildebeests - we watched as they crossed the road

The only time I felt remotely frightened was our close encounter with the elephants. Our guide, Nelson, had told us earlier in the day that elephants are one of the most dangerous creatures on Safari – he has seen four cars attacked and demolished by elephants – there are no survivors because they crush the vehicles. I mean, it’s not hard to understand – they’re HUGE animals. So while most of the day, we viewed them relatively close, late in the afternoon we came across a family that was right next to the road, including a mother being very protective of her very small baby (always a bad sign). We stopped to observe them and they just kept coming closer… and closer… and closer… until they were right next to our car. Nelson told us to be silent. We were hardly breathing. My friend Kim moved her arm slightly away from the window as the elephant trunk had almost brushed it at that point. From her slight movement, the mother started to back-up in a way that looked like she was about the charge. We were all paralyzed, scared of what was going to happen next, with two of my peers in the car going “let’s go Nelson, please, let’s go.” And as we thought we were going to die from holding our breaths in the fear, Nelson started the car and we left.

Luckily, the mother wasn’t intending to charge – she was just backing up cautiously. But we didn’t know at the time – and when that large of an animal is directly in front of you, only three feet away – you know you better watch out. But it’s one of those experiences I’ll never forget, it’s just something you can’t replace… the adrenaline, the thrill of it – just incredible.

The Elephants - look at the baby!

The Safari was a great adventure – I think everyone should do it at least once in their lifetime. Africa is so full of life, with so many exotic creatures and breath-taking views. I have never been anywhere as beautiful or as intriguing, and I doubt I ever will be again. And to think, this is just a small corner of a vast continent. I wish I could see it all. Perhaps I will try, someday.