Enjoying the Serengeti

Once again, the late afternoon brought heavy rain and we were back at the camp early but there was little we could do except charge the camera batteries from a ‘charging station’ in the loung tent area: a multi-plug tower taking about eight devices. We could have used it all on our own, but didn’t!

The accommodation at a Angata Serengeti was good: including hot water bottles! And the food was also good. Packed lunches consisted of a ‘hot’ meal which tasted equally good not-so- hot and was the envy of many as it was served on a table covered with the signature red tablecloth and goblets from which to drink wine or juice as we wished. This was one of the rare destinations where our guide ate with us- under normal circumstances he had a break from us in the evening but here he ate with us – not that he ate much!

The en-suite bathrooms in these tents are amazing: beautiful ceramics, lovely interior decorations, true to the country – and flushing toilets. Only once have we come across genuine ‘bucket showers’ – and that was the night of the heaviest rains.

Our second full day in the Serengeti was easier, though there was a point at which I thought our driver’s head might roll. We had spotted a couple of lions going through a mating ritual on our way into the park in the morning and then joined other cars looking for cheetahs- a mother and two cubs – who were set on finding food. The jungle telegraph works well, with drivers keeping each other informed of good sightings. Today was a day for the cats.

We sat for a while and then, suddenly and without warning, we were being taken at breakneck speed to another destination. Here the roads are rough and there’s no requirement to follow certain paths so we were bumped and bashed ( to the extent that my camera fell off the seat!) across very uneven ground for the next ten minutes. Eventually, we pulled up by a hole in the ground: it looked a bit like the crater of a volcano on a much smaller scale. Another car was there so it was impossible for us to see if there was anything inside. We sat…and we sat…The car ahead of us moved away and we moved in. All we could see was ermine-type fur. No face.

Gradually, the message got through that we were inclined to move: we really wanted to see the cheetahs.

Back we went – same speed, same bumps, but camera in hand this time! The cheetahs were stalking a gazelle. They caught it and, while it was still alive, the mother held the neck tight in her jaws while the cubs knaw away at the legs, pulling them from the rest of the body. What a feast they had!

Then we were told the honey badger was out so we should go and see it. We did. It was. Nothing like as spectacular, but clearly something the driver wanted to see, though he told us he’d seen it hundreds of times before.

He was quite amazed that the dung beetle was of greater interest to us!

After lunch we found more animals feasting on kills – a hyena and some vultures had picked up a dead zebra and were gorging on its flesh for a long time.

But rain threatened so we were headed back to Angata Serengeti by about 4pm – early again! As the car pulled up in the hopping rain, I spotted a low-level rainbow in the trees – so delicate and calm – such an antithesis to what we had seen with the animals.