Well we learned just how good Grayson was today, predicting two African carnage scenarios exactly as they were to unfold before our eyes.... we had an amusing and fantastic day today.
Bright and early, the eight of us joined the boys for breakfast. The plan was to bring boxed lunches and do an all day game drive in the crater today.
The drive along the crater rim to the one way entry road down into the crater took about forty minutes...which shows you the scale of the volcano. The crater itself is something like 300 square miles....so, big. Near the last checkpoint, we passed a number of Masai settlements on the left, on a dry, moon-like landscape. Through the gate, we were immediately on a sharply twisting, steep, switchbacked road that snaked down into the caldera.
Being at the base of the crater was a bit surreal...it kind of felt like we were extras in Jurassic park. The first thing that really amused the kids and adults alike was the large flock of fat, blue, dough ball guinea fowls running away from our jeep... enjoy the freedom while it lasts guys - they looked like walking rotisserie chickens.
The little wart hogs were also everywhere today, as were the pretty gazelles. We drove down a flat clay road straight into the heart of a wide open, wheat coloured plain. It wasn't long until we spotted some jackels (fox-dogs, really), and then the detestable hyenas. Man, they are ugly, and though the little field guides we had described them as "unfairly labelled and detested", I pretty much stand by that label. They look like little mangy bears with sharp noses and dirty matted hair.
We eventually made our way to a road that tracked next to a river that had a bit of vegetation and cover. Tom's keen eye in the kid truck ahead of us spotted a lioness lazing just out of site by the river bed. Occasionally we would see her tail, then she'd peak her head up for a look around. We drove a little further and I spotted a wart hog taking a bath. He got out when we drove by and headed to the other side of the river and back towards the lion...hmmm... Grayson reversed back to the lion and we watched and waited as a little drama unfolded, but at the end of the day the lioness really didn't look into it.
Soon after, we came upon a pair of ostriches that we soon learned were attempting to go through a mating ritual. The female would bend over and flap her wings. The male? He just kept eating, not paying much attention. Apparently ostriches are very shy, so every time another jeep would pass by, she would stop "shakin' that ass". We stayed for quite a while, but nothing happened.
Right before lunch, we pulled up next to an older, handsome zebra. It was literally six inches away from Alex and Beth's window - Alex even asked if he could pet it (lol) and Grayson said he would get bitten. That would have been good drama for the blog though...hmm....
It had been about four hours of game driving, so we stopped at a picnic area for lunch near a large pond surrounded by reeds - quite a nice setting. We noticed a flotilla of about thirty hippos, just floating away in the middle of the bond. Occasionally another hippo would cruise on in from another section of the pond. They seemed to be quite social, but man do they produce a lot of gas and shit. Every fifteen seconds, you would see an explosion of poo-water that would land on one of the other members of the flotilla. Over and over, it was like a well choreographed horn section of a hippo orchestra.
The boys recommended we eat our boxed lunches in the car, as there were a number of Black Kites around (like large hawks) and they were known to prey on anything brown in the lunches. They speak? We listen!
Another group of British looking tourists came out to the rocky outcropping surrounding a tree overlooking the pond with their boxed lunches. Grayson said "look there, they will get attacked, most definitely". Sure enough, one Kite began circling and dive bombing at the family. Soon the skinny patriarch of the family began doing what I can only describe as "the old white guy whip" in an attempt to show the Kites he meant business. It didn't stop them.
The funny thing was the commentary in the car. It was as if we were watching lions going in for the kill... we were really cheering for the Kites to get some action. Hey, you don't listen, shit happens. Grayson talked to their guide later and sure enough, he had warned them.
The boys had received reports of some action ahead so we took off. On the way, we saw a male gazelle chase/court a female by basically running after it in long ovoid patterns. When he tired, another male tagged in, then a third...it seems a little unfair, but eventually everyone was tired and they stopped.
You can always tell the signs of something interesting. Up ahead, we saw seven or eight other jeeps parked st the end of a turnaround area. A large lioness was eating a wildebeest around 300 meters away. By the time we got there, it's face was covered in blood and it looked like she had had her fill. A hyena waited patiently to the side, and there were about twenty or thirty vultures waiting even more patiently on a rise a little ways away.
Grayson felt there wouldn't be much action, so after about fifteen minutes, we left. However, after driving four hundred meters down the road, Grayson spotted four more hyenas generally trotting toward the lioness. Grayson said that if those hyenas joined up with the other one, there could be some good action...and there was....
He turned around and we perched back in our former spot. Sure enough, the four hyenas, spotting vultures now swirling around the site of the kill, hurried to join their compadre. Suddenly there were now five hyenas circling the lioness as she pretended to casually eat. She must have been nervous. The hyenas got bolder and bolder and eventually made a brave snatch at the carcass. There was scuffling but the lioness backed off.
Grayson shouted "more are joining!". Looking in the far away distance to each side, we could see at least a dozen more hyenas making a beeline for the area. Back to the carcass, the lioness was now scuffling with the hyenas, trying to reassert her dominance. But, when the other hyenas arrived on the scene, it was over. The lioness backed off about thirty meters and the twenty hyenas gorged themselves. All you could see were writhing, hairy bodies in one giant scrum. Vultures were also trying to peck their way into the fray, and the group of vultures that had been watching from a nearby hill were now on the ground near the scrum. In the air and ground, there were maybe eighty vultures.
Grayson shouted excitedly "a male lion is coming!" We looked way to the right where one of the groups of hyenas had come and we saw him....the king of the savannah - Simba himself. With a giant mane and powerful body, the king of the lions was arriving on the scene at a run. When he got to within two hundred meters, the other animals noticed him and bolted like a gunshot had gone off. It was incredible. The amount of power he exuded was unbelievable. Not only did every hyena and vulture scram, they completely vacated the premises. They knew that there was no chance they would get even a scrap of the dead wildebeest now that the king was on the scene. Even the lioness stayed a comfortable distance away. Grayson narrated the entire time, teaching us that the male lion would get his fill of food before letting the lioness and any others in the pride join in. When they were full, they would stay with the carcass until they were hungry again, even if it was the next day. Nobody messed with the lions, especially not the king.
What luck to see such a scene play out right in front of us. I almost didn't mention the four-way panorama we had as that scenario played out... to our left we had about sixty hippos.... some of which Jeffrey nicknamed. They were in various states of rest, but a few were actually mating as we watched (most of the others were letting fly explosive bouts of, what I have called shitgas (trademark, patent pending) - the shitgas would fly all over the backs of the flotilla of hippos...it reeked...badly). Behind us, large herds of wildebeest were forming then reforming in a ragged sprint as some hyenas were trying to find the weakest link. To our right, maybe the best scene played out: our four kids watching the action in fascination - the whole reason for coming to Africa was before us in a giant 360 degree panaroama.
We left, and Grayson soon got a report that the elusive black rhino had been spotted. After twenty minutes of driving, we found four jeeps lined up on a rise. Two rhinos or tiny blocks of black dirt sat grazing far in the distance. Even with the best binoculars on board, we couldn't even make out the horns, oh well.
We looped back to go through a more forested area on our way out of the crater. We stopped as a huge troop of baboons filtered by (including one poor fellow who'd had his nose ripped off recently).
As we climbed up the steep one way exit road, I looked at the car clock...4:30! I couldn't believe we'd been on the game ride for nine hours - now I know why people want to keep coming back to Africa. More delights every day.
When we got back, we made a beeline for the deck patio for the best eight person debrief. Everyone was pumped. We recounted the day, with every story getting better and better. We watched video of the tourists getting attacked by the Kites, which was quite funny - our running commentary sounded as cold yet funny as the Seinfeld finale "the Good Samaritan".
Abby and Jeffrey put on a little demonstration (from watching a YouTube video Tom had showed them) of the male and female ostrich mating dances. We them moved to discussions of our favourite movies and TV shows that got quite heated. It was so chill and so fun. I've convinced the Versly parents that we must watch Team America in Capetown (the four kids, Alex and I were singing and quoting the movie quite a bit).
After the kids went to bed, Tom and Grayson and the adults talked for another hour. They regaled us with some great animal stories as well as some human stories. Tom actually had worked with an Overland company (it's basically a large truck that takes backpackers all over Africa on do it yourself camping trips...it's a very low budget way to see Africa and we'd briefly contemplated it in 1997) and he had some pretty funny stupid human stories.
What a day. I know I've written that a lot, but I don't care. What a day :-).
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