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Posts Tagged ‘african safari’

Tree House Accommodations Fulfill a Dream

Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , on July 27, 2011| 4 Comments »

 “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” J. Lubbock

Kim and I on the deck of our tree-house suite drinking cognac and watching the sun go down. -- Photo taken with a timer by Kim Perrin

African Safari

I’ve always dreamed of living in a tree house, and have drooled over the Swiss Family Robinson’s home up among the branches many times. . Tonight a tiny taste of that dream would come true.

After a grand afternoon of game watching in Tarangire National Park, including our scary face off with a concerned mama elephant, followed by a long ride over one of the roughest roads you can imagine, we arrived at the Tarangire Treetops Lodge about 30 kilometers away. .

One of the tree-house suites for guests at the Tarangire Treetops Lodge.

A guide escorted us to our accommodations, which we accessed by a ladder up through a trap door. He said he would be back later to escort us down to dinner.

We immediately saw that our tree house home for the night was a lot bigger and grander than the ones dads build for their children in the backyard.

Our large room was airy with a long deck on one side that overlooked a wildlife viewing area. The room came complete with a shower, fluffy white robes and a set up of cognac and glasses on a small table before two deck chairs. .

Tarangire sunset -- Photo by Kim Perrin

We took advantage of all three, in that order, the latter as we watched yet another of Africa’s colorful sunsets before being escorted back to the main lodge for dinner.

This would be our last night with Bilal, and he reluctantly joined us for one pre-dinner Coke before hurrying off. We had tried to get him to have dinner with us several times, but it seems there were rules about guides and clients associating except during our wildlife drives together.

Meanwhile, so entranced had we been with our accommodations, and perhaps the cognac, that we had dressed for dinner, forgetting that we had planned to go on a night wildlife drive.

So we raced back to change into something more appropriate for the adventure, arriving back at the lodge just as dinner was being served on an outdoor patio. As it turned out we weren’t the only ones who had forgotten the night ride was supposed to begin immediately after dinner.

I wondered if the other forgetful couple had also taken advantage of the cognac hospitality. The wait for them to change, however, was pleasantly filled by conversation with our fellow tourists who would all squeeze into an open Land Rover with us for the night’s drive.

One of the guys was an avid birder like myself. What a relief it was, for both of us, to finally have someone who appreciated the finer points of whether a bird’s supercilium was white or brown and whether it had two or three wing bars.

But finally everyone was gathered, and dressed in warm Maasai robes provided by the lodge to ward of the night chill, and we were off for our first African night safari.

Tune in tomorrow for the “rest of the story,’ as columnist Paul Harvey was always so fond of saying.

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Baobab: A Tree Worthy of Its Legends

Posted in African Safari, Nature, tagged , , , , , , on July 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

Baobab: A Tree Worthy of Its Legends

With a top that looks like roots and a trunk that can serve as a house, the baobab trees in Tarangire National Park were worthy of our admiration. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

“The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Wisdom of the Sands.”

African Safari:

So often when you travel, you look around and see places and things that remind you of home. In Japan it was the same species of pigeons that commonly hang around public buildings in America. In Ecuador it was a river walk that took me to San Antonio.

But that never seemed to be the case in East Africa. From the chaotic streets of Nairobi to the tall termite mounds in the Serengeti, the landscape always seemed to hold strange, new and wonderful sights – and never anything that spoke of my native country.

It was a different world entirely, or so it seemed.

Among the more exotic African sights for Kim and I were the abundant baobab trees in Tarangire National Park.

Some call these the upside down trees because they look, especially during their long leafless period, like their roots are sticking up in the air. One African myth is that God was so displeased with the taste of its fruit that he turned the tree upside down.

Another legend has it that the baobab complained that it wanted to be taller, like the palm tree, and wanted flowers like the Flame tree, and then that it wanted tastier fruit like the fig tree. The constant whining soon upset the gods, and so they replanted it upside down to shut it up.

I don’t blame them. I don’t much like to listen to whiners myself.

An elephant approaches a huge old baobab tree during its brief time of leaves. -- Wikipedia photo

An elephant approaches a huge old baobab tree during its brief time of leaves. -- Wikipedia photo

In actuality, the baobab tree, which can grow to over 80 feet tall and live for thousands of years, grows and looks like it does to fit its often arid environment. It sheds its leaves quickly after they sprout to conserve water, and its huge trunk is its own water storage reservoir to help it survive the dry times.

These trees, at least to me, had a strange beauty about them, especially as we saw many different kinds of wildlife gathered beneath them for the shade they provided. And later I learned that both wildlife and humans sometimes make their homes in the tree’s hollow trunks.

What an amazing tree.

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Face Off With a Tarangire Mama Elephant

Posted in African Safari, Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It was peaceful watching this mom and young charges splashing in the water until ... -- Photo by Pat Bean

 ” We live in a world full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. ” – Irving Wallace

"Hey guy's! There's a hammerkop over there with the zebra." -- Photo by Pat Bean

African Safari: Holding Our Breaths

Our afternoon game drive with Bilal took place in Tarangire National Park, which is known for its elephants. The park , except during its rainy season, is mostly hot and dry. We missed the rainy season, and our August visit during Africa’s winter was made before the heat and dryness claimed the land.

The elephants, as almost all of the park’s wildlife did, made their way daily to the park’s only water source, the Tarangire River for which the park is named. Bilal knew exactly where to go and where to park for spectacular views of wildlife visiting the river.

One of the places was in the shade of a tree right next to a bank. On the far side of the river, we watched zebra and waterbuck peacefully drinking together. While we were watching a couple of giraffe joined them. It was fun to watch how they splayed their legs apart so as to be able to get low enough to drink.

Kim got this photo of a really big elephant that didn't scare us a bit. Perhaps because it was shot with her zoom lens. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

As I watched in awe, my eye was drawn to a bird at the feet of the zebras. It was a hammerkop, a strange looking bird with an elongated head. It was yet another lifer, which I excitedly pointed out to Kim and Bilal, both of whom failed to see birds when larger, more exotic, wildlife was in view.

On our side of the river were three elephants, a mom and two young ones. They were splashing in the water near were Bilal had parked the Land Rover. They looked like they were having so much fun that even I forgot to look at birds for awhile.

As we watched, the three began to climb out of the river beside our vehicle. As the young ones made their way up the bank, the mom got in front of our vehicle and engaged us in a stare off. She was close enough that she could have easily touched the hood of the vehicle with her trunk.

We could hear her snuffling as she glared intently into each of our eyes.

We can't say we weren't warned. -- Photo by kim Perrin

Kim and I, who were both standing up in the vehicle, stopped breathing we were so still. Bilal had his hand on the keys in the ignition but he didn’t move a muscle either. While this wasn’t the largest elephant we had seen, we all knew how fierce the protective mom could turn in an instant if she thought we were a danger to the young ones she had in tow.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only about two or three minutes she turned and led her charges off. All three of us took a big breath.

Bilal said he had been afraid if he started the vehicle to get us away, it would have caused her to charge.

Kim and I had wanted to have an adventure when we came to Africa, and this day certainly provided one. But we were both irked that neither of us had taken a photo of the face off. I would remember that later during another close-up wildlife encounter

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Chaotic drive, happy discussion, bananas and mating baboons

Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2011| 4 Comments »

 “It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed.” – Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard 

Baboons were a frequent sight on the outskirts of towns. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

African Safari: Ngorongoro to Tarangire

 Our morning drive with Bilal took us on a paved road for a change. It seemed, what with no apparent traffic rules, more dangerous than driving among the lions and other wild beasts. Our destination was Tarangire National Park.

 On the way we passed an overloaded bus – I never saw one that wasn’t – with a rhino painted on its rear and the message: “More money, more problems.” It started another one of those enlightening conversations with Bilal. I mentioned that while so many of the Africans we had seen had so very little, they seemed happy.

 “Why do you say that,” he asked.

 “Because they seem so cheerful and always have big smiles on their faces,” I replied.

 “Just because they smile a lot doesn’t mean happiness,” he said. His words gave me a lot to think about, and has changed the way I look at people.

I think of bananas as coming from South America, but Tanzania, Kim and I learned, has its share, too. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

 A bit later, in one of the small towns we passed through, Bilal stopped and bought some bananas from a roadside business run by women. “I like to support the women,” he said, “because they are often mistreated by men.”

 The bananas were good, and Bilal’s words had yet again endeared him to Kim and I.

 Then our attention was drawn to a couple of baboons making it in the middle of the road. We all laughed.

As I’ve aged, I’ve begun to think of laughter as a great indicator of happiness, especially the ability to laugh at oneself. But even today, four years after my conversation with Bilal, his words about smiles and happiness not meaning the same thing still lingers with me.

A yellow-collared lovebird photographed in Tanzania. -- Wikipedia photo

We stopped for lunch at a small tented lodge, where I had time to do a bit of birdwatching. The morning turned up four new life birds, including a yellow-collared lovebird that kept us company while we ate in a rustic dining room open to the outdoors.

 Bilal then picked us up for an afternoon game drive in Tarangire National Park, where we would have our most frightening encounter with wildlife of our entire safari. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about it next.

Bird Log of New Lifers: White-naped raven, pygmy falcon, white-bellied canary, blue=spotted wood dove, yellow=collared lovebird, Aug. 27, 2007, drive from the Ngorongoro Crater to Tarangire National Park.

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Armed Hike to View the Olmoti Crater

Posted in African Safari, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.” – Susan Polis Schutz

Our hike up the escarpment started in tall grass. Adrian, with his rifle, poses for a picture with me before we begin. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

African Safari: A Pleasant Afternoon Walk

This afternoon’s wildlife drive included a hike, a rare opportunity for us to to truly to get close to Africa’s landscape. Bilal was not happy about it. He had to stay with the Land Rover, and he kept telling us we didn’t have to go if we didn’t want to go.

Kim and I suspected he was nervous about trusting his two ladies to another guide, this time one armed with a rifle. I also suspected – since the hike was uphill to the top of the Ngorongoro escarpment for a view of the smaller next door Olmoti Crater – that he didn’t believe this old “mama” could make it.

Kim in front of one of the big trees we passed on the way up. -- Photo by Pat Bean

While I was admittedly slow on the steeper sections, we made it to the top in 50 minutes, 10 minutes short of the hour allotted to get up there. As a veteran hiker, I subscribe to the philosophy of just putting one foot in front of the other until you reach your destination, and as always it worked. .

The hike took us through tall grass, which had me thinking about snakes, and then into a forest of giant trees. The trees were awesome. As was the view from the top. And my body enjoyed the exercise after several days of bouncing around in our metal beast.

Our guide, Adrian, who seemed quite pleased to have two women to guard, asked if we wanted to hike down into the crater. Both Kim and I were tempted but decided against it. Kim was worried that Bilal would be worried, but I was more worried about the climb back up.

The view from the top was spectacular. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

It only took us 30 minutes going back down, where Bilal had our chariot waiting for us – and a welcoming smile.

Then it was more sight-seeing of birds, monkeys, buffalo, zebras and other wildlife – but still no rhinos – on our drive back to the lodge for another delicious dinner and a night of restful sleep in our soft, mosquito-netted beds.

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Wildlife Everywhere – Except Rhinos

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2011| 2 Comments »

 “A journey is best measured in friends than in miles.” Tim Cahill

Morning pickup at the large Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge was somewhat of a traffic jam. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

African Safari

Our morning started early, supposedly with a packed breakfast. We thought Bilal would provide it, and he thought we were supposed to pick it up at the lodge before we left, which is the most likely.

Anyway, it was a day without breakfast, although thanks to another guide whom we met up with during a wildlife watching stop we did get coffee. He had brought some along for his two safari clients and was kind enough to share.

Zebras enjoying a patch of green grass in the crater. -- Photo by Pat Bean

His passengers were a delightful Irish couple, Des and Karen. Des had bought an African spear souvenir, and joked that he wanted to be able to protect his own woman and not have to depend on the guide.

The remark jogged my memory about Bilal’s comment about women guides, and so I asked his fellow guide what he thought about the idea.

Mom and young wildebeest. We would see a lot more in Kenya where most of the wildebeest had already migrated for the season. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“Oh they would be too scared,” he replied, echoing Bilal’s comment.

Karen, meanwhile, commented that Des actually bought the spear “to protect his beer from me.”

After we parted from our friendly interlude with the other safari team, Bilal began seriously searching for the rhinos that supposedly make their home in the Ngorongoro crater. I say supposedly because we never saw any.

Sacred ibis -- Photo by Steve Garvie

The crater is one of the very few places left in Africa where one can see black rhino, and the fact that we couldn’t find any brought home the fact that this species has been dwindling significantly in recent years.

Bilal, who kept muttering “no rhino” all morning seemed more disappointed than we were. He was on the radio frequently quizzing fellow guides in the area, but everyone it seemed no one was seeing any rhino .

One of the black rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater that we didn't see. -- Wikipedia photo

But what we did see this morning included wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, elephants, hyenas, lions, buffalo and jackals. The latter always came in pairs with one leading and one following. Bilal said the female is always in front.

“She leads the male.”

The morning’s drive also turned up another nine life birds for me, as well as a lot of those I had already seen. Some of my new birds were now becoming old friends that I recognized on sight without the help of my bird field guide. That make me feel good.

Ruppell's griffin vulture -- Photo by Rob Schoenmaker

Bilal, however, was still bemoaning the lack of any rhino sighting when he dropped us off for lunch back at the lodge. I don’t remember what we had, except that it was good and Kim and I ate enough to make up for our skipped breakfast.

Bird Log of New Lifers: Rufous-tailed weaver, grey-crowned crane, black-bellied bustard, chestnut-bellied sandgrouse, Ruppel’s griffin vulture, sacred ibis, black-headed heron, wattled starling, and common stonechat. Aug. 26, 2007, Ngorongoro Crater.

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A Lodge Overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater

Posted in African Safari, Nature, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

Coke from the bottle is how we were always served it in Africa, and it tasted so much better than it ever did in America. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge's main building. Our suite was at the end of a long row of rooms barely visible on the right. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

African Safari:

Besides having a marvelous morning visiting the site where human life may have begun, and dancing with the Maasai women in the afternoon, I still had time to watch for birds – and to add another dozen birds to my life list.

Bilal was happy because I had seen more than the 100 new life birds that he had promised he would find for me. Of course I was pleased, but I kept telling him I wanted 200.

“No, no,” he said. “I only promised 100.”

Kim hamming it up in front of a mile-marker on the lawn of the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge that overlooks the Ngorongoro Crater and its vast herds of wildlife. -- Photo by Pat Bean

. We ended our day at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, which sat on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, with each of its suites having a glass-enclosed porch for wildlife watching.

We were told when we arrived at the lodge that buffalo were in the area and that we shouldn’t wander. As an extra precaution, a guard walked us to and from our rooms. His weapon, however, was just a thick night stick. Kim and I saw only two guns our entire stay in Africa.

As we did each night, we dressed for dinner, and had a nice rum and Coke to go with it. The Cokes, which came in bottles, were much better tasting than the ones we get in America. While we never had more than a couple of selections of meal choices, I was never served anything I didn’t like.

Cardinal woodpecker

 Of course we were not eating standard African fare. The five-star luxury lodges that were part of our arranged safari had gourmet cooks I’m sure. Dinners always began with a delicious soup, then a main entree that was often beef, and usually something chocolate for dessert.

It was a far cry from the bologna sandwiches, faded canvas tent and quilt sleeping bags that were part of my very first traveling adventures.

Bird Log of New Lifers: Northern anteater chat, yellow-rumped seedeater, black-lored babbler, Kendrick’s starling, common drongo, cardinal woodpecker, grey-headed sparrow, Speke’s weaver, green-capped eremomela, white-throated robin shining sunbird, cape robin chat, Aug. 24, 2007, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

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Dancing With My Maasai Sisters Puts Africa Into My Heart

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , on July 18, 2011| 4 Comments »

 “No journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” Lillian Smith.

A Maasai community -- one set up to show tourists how the Maasai live -- welcomed us with a dance. -- Photo by Pat Bean

African Safari :

There’s a scene in the 1962 John Wayne movie, “Hatari,” in which co-star Elsa Martinelli, dances with Maasai women. In the dance, the women jump up and down making their wide, bead collar necklaces bounce.

Graceful I was not, but one of my best memories of Africa was getting to dance with my Maasai sisters. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

I had long thought that would be a fun thing to do. In what was pretty much a recreation of the movie scene, Kim and I watched a group of Maasai women dance and jiggle their bead collars for us when we visited a model Maasai community as part of our guided tour activities. .

The native leader of the small group, which lived in traditional, dark, dung and twig huts built by the women behind a barricade of thorn bushes to keep out wild animals, asked if someone wanted to dance with them. And then he approached Kim.

I was crest-fallen because he hadn’t approached me. .

But Kim, who has never been quite the ham that I am, shook her head and stepped back. Before he could ask anyone

An impala quietly grazes near the Maasai village. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

else, I eagerly stepped forward and volunteered.

What had looked so easy watching the women get that necklace bouncing wasn’t easy at all to accomplish. My collar ornament barely moved at all.

But then the beautiful bald-headed woman standing next to me gave me a quick lesson, and soon my necklace was bouncing up and down, too – although not with quite the rhythm and grace as those of my African sisters.

After the dance, I bought one of the collar necklaces that was handmade in the village by one of the women. It was the only souvenir I bought for myself on the entire trip.

It was such moments as dancing with the Maasai women, along with watching a leopard stalk a gazelle, adding new birds to my life list, and gazing at Africa’s amazing sunsets at the end of a long day, that drilled a piece of Africa into my heart.

That piece, now four years old, is still there and shining bright with memories.

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Africa’s Great Rift Called – and I Answered

Posted in African Safari, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

Museum sign

 “We are the only beings on the planet who lead such rich internal lives that it’s not the events that matter most to us, but rather, it’s how we interpret those events that will determine how we think about ourselves and how we will act in the future.” Anthony Robbins

The monolith in Oldupai Gorge, the view behind the young man who told us the story of the landscape here. -- Photo by Pat Bean

African Safari: A Place of Beginnings

Places call to me. Africa called twice. The second call was for the wildlife safari adventure Kim and I enjoyed for two weeks in 2007, which also answered the first call.

I had long had a desire to see Africa’s Great Rift, where human life is thought to have begun. I had read much about the anthropology discoveries of Mary and Louis Leaky in Oldupai (also called Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania, and wanted to see this place for myself.

The rift, a continuous geographic trench, stretches across Africa for over 3,000 miles, but the section in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater is where the most important discoveries about our human beginnings have been made.

It was why, of the many safari choices offered of Africa, I had chosen the one that brought us to Tanzania.

And now I was here, looking out over the spot where in 1975 Mary Leakey had discovered a series of footprints showing our pre-human ancestors walking upright over 2 million years ago. .

Kim standing in front of some non-human remains found in Oldupai Gorge. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I even got to see a replica of these footprints in the small Leaky Oldupai Museum – after listening to a young man, whom I assumed was an anthropology student, explain the wonders found in this landscape.

I could hardly understand his heavily accented English, but it was accompanied by a theatrical performance that filled in the details of the words I missed. It was one of the most unusual, and delightful, lectures I ever sat through.

It was given on a high overlook of the gorge, beneath a thatched shelter for shade, looking out at

landscape that once was a lake. The lake was covered by a succession of volcanic ash; then, about a half million years ago, seismic activity diverted a stream that cut down into the sediments, revealing seven layers of the past. In doing so, it created an awesome research lab for the Leakeys and other anthropologists.

The site was used as the first monolith in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” And the small Oldupai Museum here reminded me of those one used to find, and occasionally still does, while traveling across America on Route 66.

It’s both strange and wonderful how all of life seems to connect.

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Wildlife Ignored Our Undigestable Metal Beast – Thankfully

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2011| 1 Comment »

 “Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

Bilal always had our Land Rover swept and washed when he picked up us each day for our wildlife adventures. Above are Kim and I in our regular wildlife-watching positions. -- Photo by Bilal

African Safari: Afternoon in the Serengeti

Mating lions -- Photo by Kim Perrin

Bilal picked us up after lunch for an afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park, one of the largest wildlife refuges in the world.

Meaning endless plain, the Serengeti is spread out over 5,700 square miles and ranges in elevation from 3,120 to 6,070 feet. The park provides habitat for over 500 birds and hundreds of mammal species. USA Today lists it as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

A Coqui francolin posed for us beside the road. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

A Coqui francolin posed for us beside the road. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

It was with great anticipation that Kim and I looked forward to seeing it. And Bilal, with his knowledge of where to find animals didn’t disappoint us.

Our list of mammal sightings included Thompson’s and Grant gazelles, hartebeests, topi, waterbuck, elephants, giraffe, cheetahs, baboons, zebras, lion, and of course lots of birds, including many of those already one my life list and new ones to add to it.

Because I often saw birds before other wildlife, the running joke soon became "Oh, there's an animal beneath that bird." In this case it's a water buffalo with an yellow-billed oxpecker on its back. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

One of our stops was even at a small lake where we saw quite a few water birds, including a family of cute red-billed teal.

On the grasslands, we watched a secretary bird stomp across the plains, then stop to wrestle with a snake of some kind, its favorite meal.

One voyeur viewing was of a pair of lions mating, which Bilal said they would do every 15 minutes or so for about three days. There was a lot of quiet ignoring in between the love sessions, and a lot of snarling during it.

Lion dads, while sometimes aloof around young cubs, do stick around to help protect them after they are born. Cheetah dads, meanwhile, go AWOL and leave all the raising of his offspring, to mom. Most of the cheetahs we saw this day, and for the remainder of our safari, had three or four young ones in tow.

Red-billed teal -- Wikipedia photo

Meanwhile, it continued to amaze me at how the animals acted as if our Land Rover was no threat. Of course we weren’t. Bilal said they just considered us a metal beast that wasn’t good to eat – thankfully.

Way too soon it was time to head back to our lodge for the night, where after dinner in the main lodge, we were walked back to our rooms by a guard. He told us to sure and keep our balcony doors closed against a baboon invasion.

Sleep that night, beneath mosquito netting in our luxurious two-bed suite, was accompanied by a hyena chorus, while our morning wake-up call was served up by howling baboons. It was all awesomely different from our regular routines – and we loved it.

Bird Log of New Lifers: Ruppell’s long-tailed starling, red-necked spurfowl, African white-backed vulture, Coqui francolin, red-billed teal, three-banded plover, Kttlitz’s plover, four-banded sandgrouse, little stint and little grebe, Aug. 23, afternoon drive in the Serengeti.

Next: A feminist conversation with Bilal.

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