Murphy's Law of Leopards

Hello from Nairobi, the busiest and probably biggest city in East Africa. We're taking a couple of days here to get our bearings and decide where to go next. But for now, I'd like to write about our time spent in the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti National Park.

This experience is probably what most people picture when they think of Africa. Five days and four nights of watching Africa's finest wildlife in its most famous parks. If you've ever watched any shows about African wildlife on The Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, they were probably filmed here. Ngorogoro Crater is the remnants of an ancient volcano that collapsed and left a caldera (about the bottom 1/8 of the volcano) intact. It's the only unbroken and unflooded caldera in the world, and the concentration of wildlife in it's 300 square kilometers is unmatched. The plains of the Serengeti are world famous and are the home of postcard sunsets and dramatic wildlife experiences.

Kim and I booked a budget camping safari. It was hardly "budget" and barely camping. The company provided us with a Toyota Landcruiser with a pop-up roof for wildlife viewing and a driver and cook. Each day our staff would set up/take down our tent, prepare our meals, serve them at a table, and drive us around. We really had it rough! The first day in Ngorogoro we were totally awestruck by the animals there. Our excitement built as we descended the 615 meters into the crater, and when our 4 hours were finished we were left completely satisfied with the experience. We saw our first cheetahs, as well as many lions, flamingos, hippos, and more.

We left early the next morning for Serengeti National Park with a short stop at Olduvai Gorge. There is a small museum there dedicated to one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It is where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered bones, tools, and other fossil evidence that opened science to hundreds of thousands of years of early human history. We were able to see many stone age tools and some fossils of animals that have long been extinct.

As we drove on to Serengeti Kim and I discussed our hopes to complete "The Big Five." Most people, and all safari companies, recognize five animals as rounding out the complete wildlife experience--Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, and Elephant. They are named "The Big Five" because they were considered the most difficult animals to hunt on foot (when hunting these animals was popular), and now the name remains primarily as a marketing tool. We had spent plenty of time in parks so far, but had still not seen a leopard. We decided that we would not leave Africa until we had!

Our first night in Serengeti we camped at Lobo Camp in the northern part of the park . We had a wonderful day, saw many lions and others, but no leopards. The next day we relocated to Seronera Camp in Central Serengeti. We had another excellent morning, but no leopards. As we were preparing to embark on our afternoon game drive, I noticed that the battery on our video camera was getting low. Since we were planning to take our hot-air balloon ride the next morning, we wanted to make sure there would be plenty of juice. Our campsite had no electricity, so we brought the camera to a lodge to charge the battery. At this point, Kim made the outstanding observation that now without our video camera for the first time, we would probably see a leopard, and worse (or better) we'd probably see it make a kill. We had started to think that leopards were mythical creatures and people who claimed to see them were part of a secret society dedicated to perpetuating the myth!

As you may have imagined, about 30 minutes after we dropped off the battery, we saw a leopard. But of course it gets better. She came down out of a rock outcropping, followed soon after by two adorable leopard cubs. We watched them for about 30 minutes as the cubs nursed, were groomed, and practiced climbing small trees. They were just like kittens as they stalked each other (and mom) and practiced their pouncing! But soon after the mother's demeanor changed. She seemed to be looking off in the distance with a new intent. Then we spotted it, a lone Thompson's Gazelle browsing under a leafy Acacia about 600 meters away, blissfully unaware of its impending doom! We watched her stealthily approach, keeping very low to the ground, moving silently. The hunt was not without its challenges however. There was a dirt road, and several patches of bare ground between her and her prey, but she was an expert stalker. She moved quickly through the places with no cover, and slowly through the taller grass, until she was less than 15 feet from the gazelle. Then it was over. One sudden pounce and the life of the gazelle had ended. About 2 minutes later we watched as she dragged her kill into the safety of tree's highest branches. We were completely exhilarated!

We had another day in the park, and early in the morning we left for our balloon safari. The flight was only an hour long, but we had champagne at our landing site, and a full English breakfast in the bush. I would absolutely recommend a balloon ride to anyone! It was a fantastic experience. We didn't see many animals from the balloon, but we still had a wonderful time.

I think that's about all for now. If you ever make a trip to Africa for the purpose of wildlife viewing, do not miss out on these two parks!