Beesties everywhere

The "envelope ceremony" was especially awkward today because I was the duly appointed delegate for all of the ballooners' tips. I just gave Japhet a huge stack of envelopes and thanked him and the staff on everyone's behalf.

Kumbi took us by another hippo pool this morning hoping to see the hippos in the morning ritual, but they had already all gotten down into the water by the time we got there so we were treated to more grunting and pooping.

We finally saw some cheetahs this morning: a mother and juvenile cub lounging under a tree. They were really hard to spot because the grass was kind of high, but Kumbi has an eagle eye and the jeep stopped on the side of the road was a dead giveaway. I thought I might get to see a chase when a female "warty" and her 4 little piglets wandered into the cheetah's field of view about 200 yards up the road. Heads perked up and things looked promising until the mama warty got wise to the situation and promptly escorted her brood directly away from the threat.

We met up with the rest of the gang at the Serengeti Tourist Center. By all accounts the balloon ride was a hit, although one of the balloons had a better viewing experience than the other. Ballooning is a very random experience; if the wind isn't blowing then you just don't go very far and what you can see is limited.

The visitor center was almost overrun with oversized hamsters called Rock Hyrax. Apparently they're at least a little related to Elephants, but there was a nice little nature walk that talked about the Serengeti ecosystem and the challenges that the animals face.

The rest of the morning was spent looking for more cats down among the watering holes in the Seronera valley. We watched a family of elephants (with very tiny baby) wallow in a mudhole. One of them got sort of stuck and was rocking back and forth trying to get enough momentum to roll upright. That elicited a laugh from Kumbi, which told me that it was something somewhat unique. The family moved on out when a big male came in for some mud time. He had such a good time rolling around, throwing mud all over, digging around with his tusks.

We saw another big croc at a watering hole waiting for some unsuspecting victim, but these animals eat so seldom the odds of actually seeing an attack are pretty rare, especially where there's nothing at the watering hole to eat.

We did come across a lone lioness lounging (as an aside, when are they not lounging?) under a tree. Is it bad that by now a lone lioness is not that impressive any more? They're magnificent animals, no doubt, but just watching them lie around gets boring pretty quick.

The schedule today was a little different than usual. We had a nice sit-down lunch at our new camp which is further south than the camp we just left, and were given a couple hours to relax before an optional afternoon game drive. This last camp is not nearly as picturesque as our previous ones. Kumbi says that a herd of elephants came through last April and snapped tons of trees. There are a whole bunch of beesties close to the camp, though. The herds appear to be gathering around here.

A few people decided to stay at camp for our afternoon drive. At first, the plan was to go even further south to the Moru Kopjes, but John decided that we were going to get in amongst the gathering hordes of Wildebeest. For all intents and purposes, we were right in the middle of the "migration," even though it's not supposed to start for another month or so. We found ourselves surrounded by tens of thousands of Wildebeest all going in different directions searching for any sign that it's time to start the long trek north. It's too early, though, since the babies aren't strong enough to make the trip and their mothers will leave them behind.

Kumbi hates the Beesties, I think, and for good reason. They're very much like zombies just wandering the earth, aimless. On one side of a hill they're all going one way; on the other side they're all going the other way. We saw a whole column 5 deep going one direction and a lone mother and calf going the opposite direction. The dust and noise was incredible. We almost saw another leopard. Amongst the zombie horde was a tree with a wildebeest calf wedged into the branches; legs and head dangling. We couldn't find the leopard responsible, though. My guess is that it was out hunting and stashing more goodies away in another tree for later.

We actually met the folks who have been behind us the last couple days; the ones who climbed Kili. Martha and Marty, and Mary. They're very nice and their stories from Kili are incredible. I'm not sure if they're making Angela more or less excited about maybe hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu.

We might have some Wildebeest in the camp tonight. They are everywhere just below the camp. You can hear their grunts and moans mixed in with some Zebra calls.