Gurgle, Gurgle... Uh Oh.... (The Third Test)

The next day we were due to go out on an all-day game drive, but about two in the morning I awoke with a sudden urge to visit the toilet. The affliction so politely and colloquially referred to as Travellers Malaise had caught up with me. I wasn't really surprised - I have a bit of a sensitive stomach and the local microbes found easy pickings with me despite my best efforts at hand washing, drinking bottled water, etc. (It certainly wasn't last night's excellent meal - I was the only one in camp that fell ill.)

By the time of our 5 am wakeup visit from Wariobi, the shy gentleman in charge of our comfort and needs at Sayari, it became clear that I wouldn't want to venture far from the tent for awhile. Africa was testing me again, and not in a good way. We asked Wariobi to pass a message to David and our driver: we wouldn't be making our 6 am meetup for the game drive. After delivering the note he brought our breakfasts down to us so that we would not have to go to the dining tent. Several times during the day he checked in on us to see how I was feeling and if we needed anything. Wariobi is a great guy - hard working, knowledgable, and considerate. We were lucky to have him helping us!

As the day progressed I started feeling a little better, and sitting on the tent deck watching the local baboon troop wander by provided good entertainment. Each morning a large group of perhaps 60 individuals would head down towards the river, and each evening they would head back. They were fun to observe - they all watched me closely as they passed by at a distance of about 100 meters, but the little ones riding on the backs of adults were especially suspicious. It took a little while to get over the fear of being out in the open with these powerful wild animals nearby. As long as I didn't make any sudden moves they didn't seem concerned, though. The only tense moment came when one outriding adult came around the corner of the tent only about 10 meters away - he didn't realize I was there for a few seconds. When he finally noticed me became quite agitated and bolted away.

The camp manager, Sally, also sent down a dose of bitter lemon and salt - a local remedy that helps settle the stomach. The bitter lemon is a soda of a sort I've not seen in the US. Sort of like an unsweetened, weak lemonade. In combination with salt it also helps with hydration (it actually tasted much like lemon Gatorade), which was important considering my close personal relationship with the bathroom at this point. In any case, the bitter lemon and salt seemed to help, and by lunchtime I felt almost human so we headed up to the dining tent to meet David for the midday meal.

After lunch we hung out around the main lounge tent for a little while. Catherine wandered off to take a couple of pictures of, for example, the pool area (yes, the camp had a pool!) and lounge tent.

By about 2 pm I felt well enough to travel, so we decided to head out for an abbreviated game drive. It was a beautiful, warm day with few indications of last nights deluge. One of the interesting things (to me) about the Serengeti is that there are skulls and skeletons everywhere. Wildebeest and elephants seem to be the most common, although we also saw others. When a predator makes a kill, feeding generally takes place on the spot. When the predator(s) are done with the kill, the skeleton is stripped in short order by jackals, hyenas, vultures, storks, and insects. What is left is remarkably clean - usually just bones, horns, and teeth. If food is plentiful enough that the hyena are not inclined to eat the bones, the skeleton just sits and bleaches in the sun. They do seem to break down eventually, however. Otherwise the Serengeti would be a sea of bones.

Today was giraffe day, with several close encounters like this guy. Giraffes provide some interesting backhanded evidence for evolution and the relationships between all mammals. There is a nerve in mammals (the recurrent laryngeal nerve) that controls the muscles of the neck and larynx. Through a quirk of development, this nerve takes a circuitous route from the brain, down the neck, around the aortic arch, and back up to the neck. That is odd enough, but in a primate (or human for that matter), the distance is only a few extra inches. However, the giraffe has this same arrangement, adding several unnecessary feet to the length of the nerve. Apparently, as the giraffe's neck lengthened over the millenia to allow it to eat from tree branches, there was no evolutionary advantage to rerouting and shortening the nerve, so it just lengthened bit by bit as the neck lengthened. The routing of the nerve can be traced back to fish, where it seems to make more sense given the different body arrangement of those creatures.

Another trip down by the river brought us several crocodiles basking in the sun. Crocs seem to have become quite habituated to humans. In the past, approaching to this distance (perhaps 30 meters) would have been enough to send them to the depths of the river. Now, however, they don't seem to notice us at all. Its good for the wildlife viewer, but a stark reminder of what could be lying in wait if you get too close to the water.

We even saw a baby crocodile - this guy is "only" about five feet long. Crocs this size usually keep a low profile as they are prey for the adult crocs until they are large and powerful enough to defend themselves or flee effectively. We were lucky to see this one.

Hippos seemed to be all over the river today. This group was hanging out in the deep water, unconcerned about the crocodiles nearby. Hippos are one of the crocs few enemies - their sheer size and formidible jaws and teeth make hunting any but the smallest young hippo a practical impossibility.

We spotted a new (to us) species of waterfowl, the Egyptian Goose, today. This bird is widespread throughout Africa and has very distinctive plumage.

We also got a really good look at a Maribu Stork. These scavengers give me the willies for some reason. They just look evil.

The afternoon was marching on and it was soon time to think about heading in. We had decided the previous evening to try combining the hibiscus tea of the welcome drink with vodka. David announced that he had done some "research" since yesterday and had determined that the best combination for the drink was hibiscus tea, vodka, bitters, and soda. Here we see David and Malaki preparing the table for a "practical demonstration" of the result. The experiment did, indeed, prove reproducable and general consensus was obtained that the stoichiometry of the resulting solution was not only optimal, but tasty as well. After due deliberation, the drink was dubbed the "Horny Ostrich" in honor of the red color that male ostriches show on their necks and legs when they are... well... horny. A fitting name, but not easy to explain to an african bartender, as David can attest!

As we approached camp, we cut through a gully and rousted this guy from his slumber just a few feet from our truck. We sat for quite some time and watched him. It was pretty funny - he seemed like he was slightly annoyed with us for disturbing him, and repaid us with the next image. I will pretty much guarantee you that no other blog exists on the Internet with a picture like this. I could be wrong... but I hope not!

Soon, though, it was back to sleep. Apparently his shift didn't start for a couple of hours.

We arrived safely back at our tent with a few minutes to spare before a beautiful sunset. Dinner was, of course, great, and we had some time to chat with other guests both around the fire and in the dining tent. Then it was back to the tent for a good night's sleep. Today, despite a rocky start and another test from Africa, had turned out to be a treat. Hopefully tomorrow would be even better; we were going to try again for a full day of game driving on our last full day in the Serengeti.