26 July 2009

26 July, Day 43: Storm chasers

Up at at’em by 05:15 (yaaaaaawn!). Grab coffee, wake up Annelie, pack up everything except the tent and the sleeping gear. Yawn. Amos joins us just before 06:00. He’ll be riding shotgun with Fanie today, Hannelise sitting in the back. Off we go, into the darkness. Arrive at the gate but it’s not technically open yet. Amos has a quick word and we pass into the park with ease, without even having to pay, since there isn’t a cashier yet. We can pay when we leave the camp.

As we drive through the park you can spot silhouettes of various creatures on the horizon, lost of antelope and buffalo. And lost of Maasai cow herds. The deal is that the Maasai are allowed to have their cattle graze in the park from 16:00 till 07:00 in the morning, then they have to leave. That would explain the lots herders edging their cows on to the exit.

As we drive we spot bright flares in the side view mirrors. Way off in the distance the hot air balloons flash bright orange and yellow and they are inflated for the days tour. Spectacular, I’ve never seen a hot air balloon in real life and against this backdrop of the breaking dawn and clouds, level wide open horizon and absolute darkness it is truly an awesome sight. They eventually take flight (three of them) and chase us down. The first one passes overhead shortly after we first spotted them. I take a ton of pictures, of course.

We continue on but don’t see much. Amos is taking us to a known leopard area, but no dice. I do my mating call out the window. Still nothing. Amos reckons that if they’re not here this time of the morning, we won’t get to see them so we continue on to where lions are.

Just a quick note here: there aren’t any real roads in the park. Lots of dirt paths but at times you just over the savannah. There are loads of other little paths here and there and lots of other safari operators in Toyota Landcruisers driving around. But other than that it’s wide open spaces, high savannah grass and trees dotted around the landscape. Point is, you really need a guide to show you where to go!

Just before 08:00, true to Amos’s word, we spot a large pride of lions. I counted about 7 females and 1 male. The females caught what looked like a wildebeest and they’re just lazing around and gnawing on bones. The male just walks around them all and flops down, relaxing. He couldn’t’[t give two ticks and none of them pay us or the other Landcruisers any sort of mind. We switch off the motors and just watch them. Satisfied, we eventually move on to where cheetahs are. Sure enough, 20 minutes later we spot one and then another under a tree. Amos says over the CB that these are 2 male cheetahs, brothers, and they will stick together like this for life. It’s so interesting, the call a cheetah makes, sounds exactly like a short, high pitched meow! :) We trail them for a bit before letting them be.

Next up, we are heading to the river, where we hope to see a crossing today as part of the migration. And there they are. Thousands of them! As we drive through the savannah and hills we spot wildebeest flippen everywhere. Congregated in groups as small as 20 to as large as what must be a 1000! Little specks on the far away hills. Zebras here and there, antelopes called Toppies (which are only found in the Mara) standing on anthills and grazing. But mostly wildebeest. We come across a very long line of gnu, all heading in the direction of the river. Looks like we may get what we asked for!

We happen on a wildebeest carcass being attacked by vultures. The carcass seems in good condition still, just a hole in the side from what we can see. And the vultures tearing meat from it, and every other orifice. There must have been at least 14 of them, varying sizes (and I later found out, various species too) squawking, fighting and burying their heads inside the hunk of decaying meat.

Further along (and again, to stress, there are wildebeest everywhere!) we pass more conga lines kilometres long of the animals heading in a neat little line up the hill. A large congregation of buffalo are being harassed by two hyenas. One of the hyenas seem to have injured it’s right rear paw. No doubt if this hyena doesn’t recover he’ll end up lunch for the other before long. Dog eat Dog.

It’s about 08:35 or so when we drive next to one of these huge lines of animals all running flat out to the river! Very exciting, wildebeest, antelope and Zebras kicking up dust and savannah grass. They run across our path to get over the road and we have to be careful not to hit any of them. Not really, since they dodge us very well, some jumping high into the air to clear the road. Quick breakfast break under a tree (far from the high savannah grass. Can’t believe how well a lioness can hide in these things!!). Then we’re off again.

Amos wants to show us the river with its hosts of crocs and hippos, and also points out the various candidate spots where a crossing may occur. Big, fat, lazy crocodiles, averaging 5 meters in length are lazing on the banks and in the rapids, baking in the sun. Seriously, these are the biggest crocodiles I’ve ever seen in my life! The water is quite shallow today, good for animals wanted to cross over, bad for the predators in the water. We drive a bit further down the river, looking back the way we came to see kilometres of wild animal heading this way in a neat little line, just like ants, dust flaring on the flat horizon. It’s a sad state of affairs that modern technology can’t capture the sheer vastness of what we where witnessing! Amos reckons we have some time still, so we drive further down the river. There are already a handful of Landcruisers and safari busses lining the bank in anticipation.

More hippos and crocodiles, one really, really big one on the river back right below us. On the way back to the car we are basically cordoned off by a sea of mammals. They have arrived at the river’s edge. As far as the eye can see back over the hill is an unending stream of more and more of them. Amos instructs us not to drive the vehicles back round just yet; allow the animals to edge closer to the river first. In other words, don’t break their momentum. We wait around for a few more minutes just marvelling at the sight. The animals seem to be testing a spot quite close by us for a potential crossing point. But it proves a bit too steep so they move back a bit before moving further away from us. We get the ok to get back into the cars and drive back to where we came from. We need to basically drive through the line to get to that sweet spot, with the crocodiles. Pole-Pole (almost like saying “polly-polly”, but with a more pronounced “e”. Means slowly slowly). LOTS of other Landcruiser and busses line both sides of the bank. I marvel at the mirror image of all the animals rushing to the river: wildebeest AND humans.

They line has arrived at another potential crossing point, one Amos pointed out earlier. Of course, as all the animals move, the busses and other 4x4’s all do the same, so it’s a bit of a manic atmosphere of tension, apprehension, antici....pation, all under his blazing hot Kenyan sun. The line spends about 20 minutes eying this spot before shuffling back a bit and moving further back up the river. Engines flare up, cars vying for position. Amos instructs us to be patient, and just hang back a bit. They’re going to settle on the first spot he pointed out (with the MASSIVE) crocs.

Sure enough, 10 minutes later there is barely a subtle hint of movement. Amos orders us to drive right, right up to the river bank (a spot right before a big rocky path). We do so and we’re rewarded with 1st class seats, the “other” cars having to park behind us. Spot on!

We now have a complete view of the line to the right, high on the river bank, with an unobstructed view of the rapids below. The 6 crocodiles that were lazing in the sun are nowhere to be seen. Or rather, they can be seen, once you realise 6 of those rapids below aren’t from rocks. Nobody is allowed to leave the vehicles, Amos orders us to stay put (so don’t even get onto the roof, just yet). Wait till there is a forward momentum, because once the front runners break water, they have one thing on the brain: RUN!

And so the stage is set, an unbelievable amphitheatre. Metric tons of sinew, muscles and horn stretching back beyond all human vision, more arriving by the second charging down the hill, a critical mass building on the precipice of the water. Humans and crocodiles waiting with baited breath. Two steps forward. Three steps back. One big Gnu running back up the line before running OVER the front group, almost looks like he’s trying to inspire movement. More shuffles forward. And more forward, cameras ready, binoculars focused, everybody hushed. Then... nothing.

They retreat 6 more steps, and we are in a holding pattern. More beasts arrive, but much slower than before. I wish I could see an aerial shot of this, a big black ink blot on the landscape with trailing ink running off the canvas. This shuffling motion continues for at least another hour and a half. At least the zebras have arrived and they too now form part of the front line.

Then, almost like there was a collective intake of breath, one lone wildebeest edges forward, shuffles a bit, edges forward again.

It was enough.

A dam bursts, the storm breaks and they plunge into the river! Cameras clicking, excitement all round. My eyes can’t really believe what I’m seeing, just because, well, I never even considered that we’d be this lucky! To see the migration is exceptionally rare. To see it on our very first day in the Mara, statically, is a miracle. Yet here we are, almost like we bought tickets for a show. And not the cheap seats, THE FRONT ROW!

I dash over to Fanie’s bakkie and clamper on the roof. I now have a better vantage point on the kill zone, where the “rapids” lurk. The first line makes it across without incident, but right before they reach the other side there is a dip in the water which they all plunge into before paddling out, regaining their grip and exit. This is where I reckon the crocodiles will strike. I didn’t have to wait long. One stray wildebeest was already tagged, struggling what seemed like the force of the water. Through my lens I spot a triangle shaped mouth latched onto its left flank, it’s owner dragging it under water. More beasts cross, impossible to imagine, but even more arrive and fall in line. My heart is racing in my ears, I still can’t believe what I’m looking at. Everyone is hushed, an occasional “woaw!” escapes from the crowd, followed by a “shhhhh”.

The trapped and struggling wildebeest keeps getting back up, before falling back down, back up and then down and just sits in the water. More and more animals splash into that deadly dip right before the other side, and safety. And then the trapped wildebeest is up! And struggling to the back. It scrambles up a rocky slope, trips and falls a few times, but eventually makes it! Cheers (and “shhhhs”). It looked injured though and I suppose it’ll be lion food later. No matter, on with the show!

Zebras have joined the party now, colouring the featureless black line with dashes of white. The crocodiles in the meantime have repositioned themselves, closer to that deep patch. And while we were focused on the action up front, 3 more have crawled upstream, clearly the smell of blood in the water enticing them. Quicker than you can blink a mighty jaw snaps and locks a zebra in its maw! Screams of agony and shock reverberate off the water from the very surprised zebra. The croc has a good grip on the prey’s left flank again. We think that maybe the little guy still has a chance to escape. That chance is quickly dashed as another great big bag of razor sharp death leisurely opens and clamps down over the zebras nose. They start dragging their victim into the deeper water and submerges its head. The zebra struggles back up but the weight of the two killers drags it back down. Down under the water goes the head. Just in time for a third jaw to lock onto its head. Then a forth, onto its neck. A fifth arrives shortly thereafter and by this time the sixth and seventh are well on their way. No black or white strips are discernable under the weight of dark grey scales, tails and rapids.

No more movement from the kill.

The seven (eight, nine?? Impossible to tell!) begin to tear their meal apart.

First to go are the intestines, one crocodile getting lower guts wraps right around its colossal head, wearing it like a pink ribbon. Chunks for flesh flash out of the water as they grip and roll to tear it loose. Big mouths crest the water and chew gleefully with their mouths open. Hind legs separate from hips. Throat torn out. All of this happens over the course of the next few minutes. No rush here. A hippo (I notice later) is just off to the side, and one more crocodile travelling from upstream runs into it, and attempts to add hippo to the menu. I’ve never seen a croc get smacked down so fast before! And if a croc could whimper and run with its tail between its legs, this was it.

The rest of the line have moved a bit more upstream, away from the kill zone but still going strong. Could you believe that 2 more crocodiles arrived from downstream and they were now moving up into the line’s new crossing point to catch more prey. But they are way too late for this party, most of the animals have crossed. The small group of zebra still left on the right back cease and desist, smelling danger. They will live to cross another day.

Behind us, the plains are barren. Across the river on the hill are thousands upon thousands of little black dots, moving away from us. So too, the other safari operators have started up the engines and in a reverse course start vacating the area. We stick around to watch the crocodiles. I spot a few other things: a few of the smaller crocs (seriously, “small” is very relative in this world. They’re still stupid-huge reptiles!!) who weren’t invited to the buffet have caught a cocky stork right off the bank. Another caught a catfish! A every large catfish (the fish was lured by the smell of blood too. They’re carrion eaters). The zebra has been slowly dismembered by the grip-and-roll manoeuvre of 6 (7,8,9??) crocs working in unison. Fights break out over meat, the current almost carries the catch away, big crocs flow with it. The zebras head briefly bobs above water, so too a pair of legs and a rib cage. The intestine wearing croc retreats with a large hunk of meat. It will probably hide it away for a few days to rot before finishing it off. Charming.

Mattie is smiling like the Cheshire cat and could easily be a poster boy for a Colgate commercial. We still can’t believe our luck and we all commend Amos for a stunning day! Lunch is on the cards, so we head down to the river bank (AWAY from the buffet) and settle in for some tuna sandwiches and coffee. A large pod of hippos are off to the left, but they look fast asleep. They eventually wake to our presence and start calling out (very weird sound!). We finish up our meal and head back to the gate. We go leopard spotting again but nada. See another pride of lions, as well as a loner male lion parking under a tree, breathing heavily in this heat. Spot more Maasai Giraffe, lots of Grant’s Gazelles, Dik Dik’s, all sorts of bird, a few Toppies and elephants. Somewhere Dirk’s GPS warns of a “Wildebeest crossing”. No kidding.

We arrive back at Riverside camp, overpay Amos and reminisce over the incredible event we witnessed today. He collects the money for entry into the park and brings us a receipt. Even better than all of this: we saved two days! So now, we can race to Zanzibar. Awesomeness.

The group will travel to Karen again before heading separate ways. Dirk and Fanie will head to some lake to see the flamingos while Mattie and us will gun for Mombasa. We have a border post to cross back into Tanzania before we can head further to Dark Es Salaam, where we will park the cars, get re-configured and catch a ferry to a tropical paradise.

Highlights: The whole day!

[G & A], out

Cool like a green banana

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