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Ride, don’t walk, is Serengeti wisdom

Posted: Friday February 22, 2008 1:02 AM BT

By Neil Dunlop, For Canwest News Service

We chased two baboons in a modified Toyota Land Cruiser. We wanted to see if they would catch the baby impala they were pursuing. We were cheering for the impala. The baboons won. Welcome to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, where you have to drive everywhere or you don't go.

Later, we followed a hippopotamus for a while. He was far from the river and out well past the hippos' usual nocturnal wandering times. Spotting us, he crashed through the bush like a school bus plunging off a cliff and we backed off for fear he'd hurt himself.

That same day a bull elephant charged us and we had to beat a hasty retreat. Thank God the Toyota didn't stall and that I had a change of pants back at camp.

Welcome to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, where you have to drive everywhere or you don't go. Of course, you can fly places, and we did, but first you have to drive to the air strip. Walking is highly discouraged, what with the lions, elephants, hippos, buffalo, cheetahs, hyenas and other flesh-eaters roaming about. Heck, even at the CC Africa Safaris & Tours camp, we had Masai warriors to guide us around after dark. There have been "incidents."

Our vehicle was a 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser (they are still being produced and sold in Africa) specially modified for safaris by removing the rear doors and replacing the roof with a canvas top. Painted moss green with a khaki interior, it had three rows of seats behind the driver.

You might think an open-sided vehicle isn't the best idea when you're mere feet from lions and elephants, but we were told that, as long as we didn't move too much, stand or stick our limbs out the side, the animals would regard the vehicle as a whole and give it a wide berth. When we drew within a spear length of a pride of lions lounging in long grass, we were as still as statues.

Our vehicle had a seat affixed to the front bumper for a second, game-spotting guide. I thought this was a little too much like dangling bait, but the guide didn't seem to mind.

Other than the short time we spent in Tanzania's teeming major city, Dar es Salaam, we didn't drive on many paved roads in Tanzania. Most of the time, we were out in the bush on rutted, dirt two-tracks that shook our molars and pounded our kidneys like 10 rounds with a prizefighter.

It was always a surprise to see another vehicle. At one point, after watching nine giraffes gallop soundless into the bush, we encountered a supply truck on its delivery route to the camps spread across Serengeti National Park. It must be odd when your working day includes dodging herds of zebras and wildebeests, avoiding elephants and giving way to the occasional cheetah, jackal or hyena.
Welcome to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, where you have to drive everywhere or you don't go.

It wasn't possible to get bored cruising the bush, savannah and riverbeds of the Serengeti, but lounging easily on the Land Cruiser's wide seats after a nice, wine-soaked lunch, we got complacent. At these times, we'd often let the drum of the knobby tires on the African dirt lull us into a pleasant stupor and we slumbered like leopards.

Our guides were sharp and could see for miles without binoculars. They had an encyclopedic knowledge of every plant, insect and animal in the park.

Cyst, our favorite guide, observed the post-prandial silence by driving in silence, trying to spot something special. I was dozily digesting and savouring the memory of an excellent South African Sauvignon Blanc when Cyst shouted. We bolted upright and he pointed to what looked like a massive boulder under a tree. "Rhino," he said reverently. (Later, we learned there hadn't been a rhino sighting in the area for 40 years.)

As we approached to within 70 metres, the boulder stood and regarded us carefully. It's something to be regarded by a 3,000-kilogram, armour-plated, twin-horned animal. Then, likely thinking the Land Cruiser a worthy adversary, it rumbled away. No, I wouldn't suggest walking in Tanzania.

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