Today is the first all day
safari drive in the Serengeti. What that means is that we will leave our camp
site after breakfast and drive the dirt roads all day looking for wild animals
to photograph. We will stop when and where we find them, for as long as it
takes for the camera's appetite to be sated and then move on. Our drivers are
also our guides and they are trained to track and spot game. Both Phillip and
Edwin have an uncanny ability to locate interesting big-game animals.
The photography part of the tour is
now very interesting. In one car Fern is coaching, modelling an calling out the
shots that Gabi, Dad and I should be taking and in the other Ali is doing the
same for Susan, Pat and Rick. Technical words and settings get thrown around in
the heat of battle as a scene changes before us with the scattering of monkeys
or the running of a herd of zebras or the angry stomping of an adversarial
buffalo. Every now and then Fern yells "I-Phone shot" to let us know
that even though we may think we have a great picture, something about it is
wrong... either the light is too harsh or the distance to great or the
background too busy...rending it an i-phone pic for the family and not the
target of a pro-photographer.
By nightfall we arrive at our
northern Serengeti campsite called Bologonya...and yes we are "under
canvas" for three nights here! The food is incredible...I wonder aloud why
the Marriots of the world don't steal these cooks in the bush. Chicken stew,
soup, salad and dessert all are served and consumed. The long dining table
seats our entire group and our guides and this coming together at the end of
our long day of driving and photography is a welcome conclusion.
This morning
we awoke to a family of African elephants lazily making their way past
our encampment. There were elephants of all sizes and provided for a
great early photo-opp. After this night at a Katikati camp in the
central Tanzanian Serengeti we set out on a game drive north that would
lead us to our camp for the next 3 days. This is to be our basecamp for
full scale attempts to see 'river crossings’. River crossings are those
elusive events for the filming and publicizing of which National
Geographic is famous. They refer to the crossing of the Mara river in
Kenya and Tanzania by the massive migrating herds of the Serengeti
plains including antelope, wildebeest, zebras, buffalo, gazelles,
elephants and many more. The reason why this is riveting drama is
because all known predators of these herds lie in wait on the shores of
the river to exact their price. These include carnivores such as
crocodiles, lions, leopards and cheetas. The migrating herds contain
young yearlings born in the last few months and vulnerable to the river
current and the poaching predators. These travelers find strength in
numbers and therefore assemble until their collective confidence allows
them to make a run for it. On the other hand the ploy of the stalkers it
to find the vulnerable and weaker animals in the herd and separate them
before attacking. It the cycle of life and survival played out in all
its raw reality right there on a river bank. We have come to Africa in
the hope that we will witness a crossing.
Dinner
was wonderful and perhaps the best of this trip. The more permanent
game lodges should take a page out of the culinary handbook of these
temporary camps. The menu was rice, chicken stew, fried potatoes,
avocado salad, pumpkin soup, lentil and okra with cake for dessert.
After
dinner we were walked to each of our tents because one is not allowed
to walk in the camp unaccompanied by staff. The camp is located near a
picturesque water hole that is visited by buffalo, hippos and lions. 
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