Warning: this blog contains graphic images
Quite the hook isn’t it? It’s not a lie though, genuinely don’t scroll to the bottom if you have any issues with blood and gore. It’s grody.
But with that out of the way, let’s start from the top. Today we woke up bright and early for a two hour drive to Serengeti National Park. We knew we’d arrived in the park because there was a big sign that said we were arriving at the park. The landscape was exactly as you’d expect, with amber waves of grain billowing in the wind. Except it wasn’t grain. But I digress.
At some point along the way, those of us in the caboose car decided to adopt military lingo. I think the addition of radios in the cars is what inspired it, but in short, Dr. Solomon was repeatedly referred to as Alpha Leader and myself, Kamden, McKenna and Milton ordered several air strikes were on groups of gazelles. Anyways, that paused once we started seeing more animals, especially when we witnessed and entire ostrich mating ritual. Hopefully I can upload a video. Words can’t describe.
Anyways, we also saw about 20 hippos in the water and a handful out (which prompted a firm reminder to stay in the cars, as though there was doubt that we would’t try to approach a hippo on foot). There we also saw some banded mongooses, and a bit later we (the other car) got a flat tire.
Controlled burn
Hippos in water
Hippos not in water
But really what you’ve been waiting for, what inspired the hook of this blog post, was the blood and gore. We pulled up to a group of huddled cars — a sure fire way to find something interesting in the Serengeti — and struggled to get our way in to see what they were looking at. But when we did, we were all shocked, especially because Kamden had spent the past ten minutes saying he wanted to see a carcass. There, on the ground, was a dead Cape buffalo. Keep in mind, these guys are BIG. And here’s the kicker. It wasn’t just dead, but also actively being eaten by a massive pride of lions. When we got a full glimpse, the cubs were going to town on the soft meat in the jaw area. Around the back, the entire tail and surrounding flesh was ripped off. We were able to get so close, that I was genuinely concerned about angering them and ending up with a lion in our car. But we survived, and only after driving off did we register the scent, and only then did my illness return.
The coolest photo I’ve ever taken
Basically the rest of the afternoon, my health deteriorated a bit, which ultimately meant that I had to start taking 1000mg of Ciprofloxacin every day. Essentially, I’m going to have no more bacteria in my body at all. Starting with a clean slate. That’s all <3 x
Some more pictures from today
