The Big Five

When on safari, everyone talks about The Big 5.  I did not know what The Big 5 were when I started my safari, but was quickly brought up to speed. 

Cape Buffalo, Leopard, Lion, Rhino, Elephant.

The nice thing about a safari is the bush telegraph.  This amazing piece of technology allows your group to know how the locate The Big 5 in the area.  The highly technical bush telegraph works when one Land Cruiser passes another oncoming Land Cruiser.  The drivers stop, chat, and compare notes:  "I saw a lion at the third rock past the river" or "Mambo veepee! There is a cape buffalo by Sampa Road".  Amazing technology for which we were very grateful.

By this point in the safari I was doing quite well, I had witnessed four out of five animals.  We had seen lions on several game drives, but the ever elusive leopard had yet to be checked off our list.

When I saw my first lion I was pretty excited.  The feeling was not mutual.  The only way the lion could not have been any less interested in our safari vehicle is if he were dead.  The lion was not directly facing us, and we made noise to entice him to turn and face us, yet failed miserably.  

Wake up Mr. Lion, watching you sleep is boring!

Sleeping lions.  Exciting...NOT!

At one point, our tour leader explained that if a lion has a full tummy - nothing else matters. Our guide bravely illustrated this point by stepping outside of our vehicle that was approximately 5 meters away from the lion.  He yelled "Hello Mr. Lion - Look a me!  I am tasty - come and eat me!".  Nothing.  The lion didn't even flinch or turn his head to glance in our direction.  Seriously, Mr. Lion?  Not even a side glance?  That kind of put me in my place.

We did have the good fortune of seeing a mother lion with her cubs.  

Mama lion and two cubs.

 We drove to Lake Manyara with the goal of tracking down more lions and the elusive leopard.  The lake is very alkaline and was 95% empty due to the lack of rain.  This created a huge alkaline ring with no growth or plant life around the lake.  However, outside of this ring the land was very lush and fertile, unlike the barren lands of the Maasai Mara.  There were trees, creeks, hills and valleys. 

Lake Manyara at sunset.

We found a family of elephants that were one meter away from the road.  When I first saw elephants at The Ark, I was so excited I lost the moment by trying to capture it all on video.  This time, I recognized the importance of setting aside some time for uninterrupted observing.  It was precious. The family had a little baby and it was amazing to watch the family dynamics.  Elephants are very human-like.  They have mammary glands by their front legs.  They also have glands near their ears from which they secrete pheromones. 

Baby elephant.

Mama elephant flaring her ears and raising her trunk. 
This stance shows she was ready to protect her baby if we got any closer.

Special secretion.

A family of baboons also put a show.  I find them quite ugly - especially the females that are in heat which is evident by their bulging, bulbous red butts.  One little baby stole my heart as he suckled his mom, then squealed when she just got up and walked away with him still attached to her.

Red rump of a female baboon in heat.

Our Lake Manyara Lodge was at the top of the escarpment with breathtaking views overlooking the lake.  After our morning game drive, the temperature was in the 30's, so we all retreated to the pool for a refreshing swim. 

Reflecting bridge over the pool at Lake Manyara Lodge.

Later that afternoon, we piled back into our Land Cruisers for a second game drive.  As we got to the bottom of the escarpment a gigantic dust storm brewed up.  I was face to face with a huge wall of red dust coming towards me like the Tanzanian Devil (Tasmanian Devil's cousin).  The dust covered everything and we could only see two meters ahead of the vehicle.  We decided to keep going until...

We got closer to the lake and were bombarded by the most disgusting smell I've ever experienced.  The wind swirls from the dust storm are known locally as the "Willies".  The "Willies" had picked up all the flamingo and hippo poo that had collected over the past years along the dry alkaline ring surrounding the lake. 

Smelly Willy.

I almost threw up the smell was so bad.  I had to put on a hat, my sunglasses and a scarf  around my mouth to keep out the dust.  I sat in the truck, huddled in fetal position with my eyes closed, repeating to myself "Keep you eyes closed and wait for it to be over, wait for it to be over".   I've never been sick because of a smell before.  Maybe a little gag here and there while changing a baby's dirty diaper.  This was different - it was acrid, rotten, pungent and very organic.

Thankfully because our lodge was up high on the escarpment, it was relatively stink free.  We will try again tomorrow for a game drive around Lake Manyara before we make our way to the Serengeti.  Hopefully the elusive one decides to make an appearance and the "Willies" are done stinking up the place.