Frankie received a call (oh yes, cell phones work all over the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, but in Stony Brook, Long Island you’ll be shit out of luck) from one of his buddy drivers that there are some Cheetahs. So we went on a Cheetah hunt, turning and backtracking to try and find the right road. At one point a rock, kicked up by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction, hit the window next to Nicole, it startled her but all was OK. About 15 seconds later we hit a bump and pop! The window shattered. Small glass pieces are everywhere. All this for some cheetas? Unable to open the door and get out in the middle of Serengeti, Frankie struggled to the back seats to wipe the glass away. Fortunately, the glass shattered and fell straight down, so no one was scratched. We did eventually find the cheetahs, a mother with two of her babies, relaxing under the shade of a acacia tree about 80 yards away.
Before our lunch break which was back at the campsite we got to see two lionesses hunt a hogwart…damn you Harry Potter!....a warthog. Though very slow, the warthog got away, as the lionesses seemed to have pounced too early, maybe they were showing off for the 8 vehicles lining up to see the kill.
There was also a leopard lounging in a tree, but it was too far away to get a good look at, even with binoculars. We were moving right along, checking off the animals in the Big Five: cheetah, lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino.
We camped on the edge of Ngorongoro crater. It is cold up there, and so is the shower water. The thing that was amazing was the zebras hanging around the campsite and the elephants which came around sunset to drink the water from the bathroom tanks. That was pretty unreal, and quite frightening as elephants can cause a lot of harm.
TIA: This is Africa
Drink it all up, Mr. Elephant
The Argentineans
We dined next to a group of three Argentineans—Father, brother-in-law, and one of their sons, fresh out of law school. They were in the midst of a 40-day trip taking them all over Sub-Sahara Africa looking at all sorts of animals and cities.
They were a lively group who spoke very little English so I (Nicole) got to use my Spanish speaking skills and translate the animated conversations happening. It’s amazing what kind of topics we were able to cover in our respective second languages----politics, sports and Argentina’s history and the corruption (they were telling us about the thousands of people who went “missing” in the 80’s after speaking out against a corrupt government). They know all about Giuliani and his “zero tolerance” policy –as it was adopted by Argentina’s president but has, according to our friends, caused all sorts of problems and illegitimate arrests. We exchanged email addresses---everyone wants to come to NYC---and retired to our tents to get some sleep.
Did you know that there are no fences or wire around the campsite? We didn’t. For some reason, elephants, zebras, and forest hogs know not to trample on our tents. I’m not sure why, but at night when they are snorting and traipsing around the campsite they just stayed clear from stepping on our faces beneath the tent. At one point, I had a dream that I was pushing an elephant leg off my body because he was trying to step on the tent we were sleeping in. At another point that night I dreamt that our good friends Ian and Amanda were coming to Africa for 4 years, starting right after our planned departure in January. Good ol’ Larium dreams.
I was awake half the night fearing that we would be trampled by an elephant or eaten by a lion. I could see the headlines now…..
