Safari Day 9

Everyone just loves the Thomson Classic Camp. Most, if not all, of us liked this the best. The camp is located on some land in the middle of the Serengeti that Thomson leases from a local Maasai village. They chop down the grass, and put up the tents for about four months. The views are incredible, and we are surrounded by wildlife. Literally. Michelle opened the tent flap early one morning, shined the flashlight outside, and saw all kinds of red eyes. Turns out there were warthogs grazing a couple of dozen yards from our tent. Sandi was in the next tent, and she looked out one night and we were surrounded by grazing zebra. All night long, if you happened to wake up, you could hear the animals walking and eating and speaking. It was just wonderful. When we go back we plan on a Thomson Custom Safari, staying most nights at the Thomson Classic Camp. Click here to open a web album of this wonderful, relaxing, and restful location.

We relax, play frisbee, watch some animals, work in our journals, play cards, and enjoy a Tusker (or two). Dinner is served at 7 pm, and, as usual, is superb. After dinner we convene at the fire pit for a few minutes of socializing, then we wander off to bed. Tomorrow we arise early, very early, and we want to get a good nights rest.

We fall asleep amid with a comfortable breeze, night sounds, and a wonderful peaceful feeling.

Since this intersection is busy and on a main road, there is a MAJOR traffic jam and we have to leave. We drive around for a while more, heading toward our new digs. We see more zebra, wildebeest, cape buffalo, and tons of gazelle running and cavorting and enjoying a carefree life (much like we are at the moment). Eventually we arrive at our home for the next two nights, the Thomson Classic Camp. This is a camp with individual tents for sleeping, and a common tent for meals. The sleeping "tents" are incredible. They have queen size beds, lighting, and are as comfortable as any lodge. There is a shower, a chemical toilet, and a vanity with two sinks!! This is reaaaaallllllyyyy roughing it!!!

During our travels through the park, heading in the general direction of our next resting place, we come across a most remarkable sight. On top of one of the few road signs in the park sits a cheetah. It is such a perfect picture, we swear that he is part of the sign. He is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. He sits there, with at least 20 vehicles stopped to watch, and just takes it all in. Eventually he jumps down, and another cheetah takes his place. There are a lot more photos of this in the animals section. Abu, our guide says that in all his years of being a guide, he has never seen this before. We feel truly blessed that we have seen so much on this most wonderful of journeys.

Here is a little guy that is quite fascinating. This animal is the hyrax. As early as 1798, hyraxes were grouped with elephants based on similarities in their skulls and feet, although they now have their own order, Hyracoidea. As well as having common gene sequences, hyraxes and elephants share eye-lens proteins and amino acid sequences in their blood hemoglobin. And they are only the size of a large rodent!!

There is a nice walk path around a large rock outcropping at the park, and some of us enjoy the little bit of exercise after riding for a couple of hours on those washboard roads. During the walk we run across a brilliantly colored lizard, who was kind enough to pose while we took his photo!

Once through the gate it is about a half hour drive to the park registration station, where we find a picnic area. We are provided box lunches, and Dave and Tom and I find the local snack bar and snag a couple of beers. I get a Kilimanjaro, Dave has a Heineken, and Tom has some unknown brand brewed by the Miller Brewing Company. They sure tasted good after ingesting all that road dust!!

Over the course of the last week we have seen many, many traditional Maasai villages. They are always circular, with an outer wall created by setting poles in the ground. The walls serve to keep their cattle in, and unwanted creatures (wildlife and man) out. Inside the compound are the thatch-roofed huts where the families live and play.

The drive is long, the road is rough and dusty,and after a couple of hours we reach the fist sign of the Serengeti National Park. This is what we think of when we think of Africa. This is the name we know from the movies and books, and embodies almost everything we visualize when we think about Africa. The Serengeti has an exotic ring, almost mystical, it is what we know deep down inside we have come for. To us, having arrived at the Serengeti, we have arrived at "our" Africa...

Here we are at the park entrance. You can barely see the sign about Michelle's head. Are we happy or what?!?

Our first stop is the Oldupai Gorge, where the Leakey's toiled and researched for so many years, and where some of the oldest human remains were found. There we find a museum, a gift shop, and we are given a nice talk by one of the guides about the history of the site and the work of the Leakey's. After an hour or so at Oldupai, we head out again towards the Serengeti.