Safari!

Cape Buffalo showing their intimidating strength

This pregnant mama cheetah casually strolled between our vehicles, offering us a spectacular viewing

Baby baboons always entertained us with their antics

Wildebeest on the move in search of water

Jim on point

After a week’s vacation in various Tanzanian delights, the group reunited in the northern town of Arusha, the launch pad for safaris and Kilimanjaro hikers.  Driving west towards the Serengeti, we saw parched, over-grazed land with barely any grass left-- the result of normal dry season, multi-year droughts, and too many hungry Maasai cattle and goats, Dusty villages scattered along the way sold bottled water, phone minutes and candy bars.

Maribu stork in our camp on rim of Ngorogoro Crater

As we crossed into Serengeti Park, we entered an area made green by the first rains of the wet season. Thousands of Thompson’s gazelles and zebras grazing on grass that had sprung up almost overnight created inspiring entry to the next two weeks of our journey through several national parks in northern Tanzania and then a month in a  camp where students did their individual research projects.  At the beginning of the wet season, over a million animals migrate south to the Serengeti to access the rich grazing there. Lines of wildebeest several kilometers long trudging single file with occasional surges of stampedes for no apparent reason were jaw-dropping sights. The wildebeest were often accompanied by hundreds of zebras and different species of gazelles, all relying on one another to spot predators in the area. We had great luck with seeing large cats—hearing a leopard in a tree crunching the bones of an impala, a very pregnant cheetah walking within a few meters of our vehicle, and many lions including cubs that tried to plop down in the shade of our car.  Babies of all species drew the most ooohs and aaahs, keeping us entertained with their antics. Carol kept a list of birds she identified each day – to date she’s seen over a hundred new species and has had fun sharing her love of birds with many students.  From our campsite at night we heard hyenas yipping and reveled in limitless stars overhead.  Iconic orange sunrises and sunsets with the bizarre baobab trees in the foreground kept looking like glossy covers of coffee table photo books except we were living in the photos.

Beading lesson with Maasai womens' cooperative

An integral part of the Serengeti are the indigenous peoples here, most prominently the Maasai tribe. We were thrilled to be able to live within a small village for a few days, participating in daily life and coming to a better understanding of their culture and the challenges facing them with shrinking land and water resources for their cattle grazing and efforts by the government to elicit their participation in conservation efforts.  It was fascinating to discuss, via interpreters, the dilemma of children attending school and learning the ways of the world which is so very different and challenging to their traditional pastoral lifestyle. We also visited another tribe, the Datoga,who are similar to the Maasai in some ways with cow ownership and living in small mud homes but they use an intriguing mix of tools that are from the stone age and iron age.  Jim and I laughed hard with one family (one husband, eight wives and multiple cows and kids) when the wives asked how we survive with no cows and how poor Jim seemed with only one wife and one child.  When I was asked what my job was back home, the best explanation for a social worker seemed to come out somewhere between a midwife and a witch doctor.  I got big smiles and nods from the women who seemed pleased with my career.  Curiosity and mutual respect was there for all of us from both sides of the cultural divide.  

Visiting various archaeological sites was another highlight as we traveled through northern Tanzania:  Laetoli and Oldupai Gorge have many sites with uncovered evidence of our ancestors, and  the famous Leakey’s spent their lives dedicated to uncovering footprints, skulls and extinct animal species that wandered the landscape that was so much lusher than now. 

After leaving the Serengeti we visited several places (Lake Eyasi, Ngorogoro Crater, Lake Manyara) and then established a more permanent camp just outside the boundary of Tarangire Park where students conducted research. Ecology students were on safari for most of 3 weeks, cultural anthropology students went into Maasai bomas (compounds) to conduct interviews and archaeology/geology students excavated an extinct elephant with evidence of tools that they discovered literally the first day in the field.   It has been an amazing time for everyone with fascinating stories swapped every meal time.

Painting in the heat was a fun challenge that usually failed 

  It’s mostly hot and dry in northern Tanzania, making it hard to imagine leaves gone from trees and winter winds blowing back home in Colorado.  Cool mountain air sounds pretty good right now as I sit in my red plastic chair (my 60^th birthday present from Jim)  outside our tent under the shade of an acacia tree.  The neighbors’ cows and goats have broken through the living fence once again so are munching happily on the bushes all around me. Birds of every exotic color are singing and flitting about.  The hot winds suck all moisture out of my acrylic paints before they even get on the paper so I haven’t been painting during this time.  Jim’s found the pace a little more relaxing since leaving Dar.  He has thoroughly enjoyed going on safari and learning from local biologists and archaeologists while letting the contracted safari company manage most of the logistics.  And still no malaria for any of us.........

Much love to all,

Jim and Carol

Acacia trees offer shade for many but food for only the tallest of wildlife.