June 29, 2008 (Sunday)

Day 7

Game drives and glowing eyes

We’ve been in Africa for a week but everything still seems surreal. Today was less eventful, which is a testament to the extraordinary amount of excitement we have seen so far on this trip. This morning, we awoke at the Tarangire National Park community camp and departed for an early morning game drive. We saw many animals and although most were species we had already encountered, it was great to observe them in abundance and proximity. We had a second encounter with a mature lioness that was relaxing under a shade tree just a few meters from our vehicles.  The lioness wore a tracking collar that Tarangire park rangers use to monitor pride movement and range. We stopped at an abandoned poacher’s hideaway located in the hollowed interior of a baobab tree. Inside, we found a series of wooden pegs running up the wall of the tree that had been used for climbing and hanging meat. We returned to camp for lunch and a short rest period and used the free time to interview one another for our documentary and to discuss highlights of the trip and our impressions of Africa.

After the break, we went on a second game drive just as the setting sun began to cast a golden glow over the savannah. This time, we came upon vast herds of zebra and wildebeest, which often live together to take full advantage of the grazing land. We also found a pair of monitor lizards (about a meter long each) resting on rocks in the Tarangire River. Nearby, we discovered a brilliant Lilac-breasted Roller and a large family of Banded mongooses.  We watched a bull elephant chase a smaller elephant out of the river from which they had been drinking and also saw Bush hyraxes resting on rocks and trees.  Hyrax identification can get slightly confusing since there are two other species of hyrax native to the area – the Rock hyrax and Tree hyrax. By the end of the day, we had become so spoiled that we no longer stopped to look at elephants and zebras alongside the road. We returned just in time for another delicious dinner.  Later, around the camp fire we exchanged Maasai and Western fables and discussed tomorrow’s journey to the Nou Forest.  We still are amazed by the brightness of the stars in the sky and the reflections of watchful eyes of nearby nocturnal animals. As everyone settles in for the night, we are hopeful that our collective fatigue is not an indication of African sleeping sickness from the plentiful Tsetse Flies in this area.         Back