As we drove from Mto Wa Mbo we stopped by the Oldupai Gorge. This eroded canyon has unique rock formations called monoliths, and some of them look like a castle. This gorge is a well known archaeological site.
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| A monolith at the Oldupai Gorge. |
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| Gorgeous! |
We toured the Oldupai Museum and read about Louis and Mary Leakey, scientists who studied fossils from the gorge and uncovered skulls, bones and footprints of prehistoric man. Geologists and archeologists would love to visit this gorge which is made up of centuries of history visible through five layers: lava, ash, red rock, grey rock and top soil.
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| Rhino skull at the Oldupai Museum. |
I love the story behind the name. In all the tour books, and our Intrepid Itinerary, the gorge is referred to as Olduvai Gorge. The Africans informed me that the original Germans who "founded" this site, mis-spelled the name which is locally known as Oldupai. Oldupai is the name of a plant that grows locally in the gorge. Olduvai means nothing. I can't believe after all these years, Europeans and North Americans still mess it up.
A few hours drive away from the gorge, we finally entered the Serengeti. For me, this is the African destination I wanted to see the most. This is the home of the Lion King, Pride Rock, and the lyrics to the song "Africa" by Toto.
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| Dreams DO come true! |
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| A photo of the Serengeti from a hill at the National Park gates. |
I found the Serengeti to be a lot flatter and more barren than the Maasai Mara. It's vast openness took my breath away. We immediately saw thousands of wildebeest running. Wildebeest have a keen sense of smell, and a secretion in their hooves. This allows the wildebeest to run extremely fast in a single line, the nose of the follower tuned in to the hooves of the wildebeest directly in front of him. They simply put their head down, smell, and run!
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| Thousands of wildebeest dot the horizon. |
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If I had a wildebeest I would name him Forrest.
That way I could cheer him on: "Run, Forrest, Run!" |
When I thought being in the Serengeti was exciting enough, we finally saw the elusive leopard. Our first sighting was of four leopards lounging in trees. Some were napping and some were snacking on the gazelle that they had killed and carried up to their tree top lounge.
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| Cat nap. |
If that wasn't exciting enough, about an hour later another leopard walked right in front of our Land Cruiser. Not so elusive after all! It was a thrill to see the leopard up close and compare it to the cheetah I saw earlier in the week.
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| At last, Mr. Elusive. |
The Serengeti is proving to the be highlight of my safari. I must say though, anyone who enjoyed the '80's may have some misconceptions about the Serengeti due to misleading pop song lyrics.
Toto's lyrics state: "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus over the Serengeti" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCca5mPMp9A). I was deeply disappointed to find out that you cannot see Mount Kilimanjaro from the Serengeti. What's next, the Mini Pops aren't real?
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