So let me tell you a little bit about going on safari! The days started rather early with a wake up call around 5.30am. I very wisely linked this to an early morning coffee delivery! Did I mention that the Tanzanians do exceptional coffee? I then leapt through a shower, which was outside the zipped gauze in a brush fence enclosed area under the stars. Incredible, invigorating, and utterly delightful.
Then an armed guard arrived to walk us up to the main tent for a morning coffee. Dressing for safari was basic and just requires you to follow a few basic rules. Wear khaki or suitably muted colours so as not to scare the animals. Grey, cream, khaki or white. The Tse Tse flies are drawn to darker colours such as black or navy. The mornings were brisk so my favourite attire consisted of a white linen long sleeved shirt, khaki cargo pants, a brown leather belt and brown leather sandals. I also made sure I took insect repellent, a sweater, a cap, sunscreen, sunglasses, and my camera and lenses. The only difference in outfit on the afternoon game drive is I chose long cargo shorts as it was quite hot when we started out.
Following coffee, Kim loaded us into the safari truck with our gear. If you haven’t seen one, these are a great big open land cruiser with comfortable seats and in this case a canvas canopy to block out the sun as so much of the country in Tanzania is open Savannah plains.
Then we were off! Can I just share with you the invigorating sensation of driving out of the tented camp with the sun peeking over the horizon and washing all of the bush in shades of pink and orange. Cold wind in your face, and the smells of the bush as it comes to life.
Kim grew up and spent his whole life in Tanzania. Watching him on the early drive was kind of amazing! His eyes were everywhere. Usually he would lean out the door and stare at the road looking for animal tracks. Who was around and who had passed through during the night. Tracking is such an art and you can tell so much from looking at the subtle markings on the road. It never ceased to amaze me. Then he would pause the truck usually in a higher spot with views out over the vast African plains. He would stare into binoculars and track the landscape muttering various names in Swahili. I didn’t take long to get involved in this exciting animal hunting adventure and quickly developed a game of who could spot the animals first. Obviously certain types of animals scored more points as they were much harder to find.
I recall one morning watching Kim study the bush with intensity . I glanced back over my left shoulder and said to Kim, very nonchalantly ‘there’s something big and brown over there’. He laughed and looked at me and said ‘they’re the fully grown male lions we’ve been tracking for days’!! And there they were!! Just lying on the grass , alert but sleepy.
We drove over, maybe until the truck was about 5 metres away from the lions. If you haven’t ever seen a lion in the wild allow me to tell you it’s a catch your breath in your chest moment. They’re truly awesome creatures.
They were lying on the damp grass. So enormous with huge heads and massive paws. And cuts and wounds all over their faces and bodies, likely due to a night spent hunting zebra or buffalo.
We stopped the truck and sat terribly close to the huge creatures. They weren’t particularly bothered by our presence. Perhaps a little, but they were terribly alert . I watched them through the camera lens and focused right in on their faces. The first lion stared right back straight into my eyes. It is quite hard to breathe at this moment. The lions were all fully grown males with huge manes. They tend to stay together in a group known as a coalition. They sleep a lot during the day, seeking cool spots under trees in the grass. At night they hunt in a group. They kill every day depending on the size of the pride.Usually they kill zebra or buffalo or one of the antelope family. Kim said it is not unusual for them to kill several animals in a night to feed the pride.
We watched them eating a kill several days later. It’s somewhat akin to watching several pet dogs biff and scratch over dinner. Except the snarling and growling rattles deep inside your chest and is a noise I will never forget.