TBT: No Church In The Wild

The most surprising lesson that we learned during our visit to the Serengeti was that 99% of the time the animals are at peace and in perfect harmony with each other. Hyenas sharing the shade with warthogs (who are usually their prey), lions napping in close proximity to zebra, impala, topi, giraffes and jackals. Warthogs prancing dangerously close to a female cheetah. Everyone is simply co existing and enjoying the beautiful Serengeti day...until someone gets hungry. Usually it takes a lion or a cheetah getting hungry enough to hunt, a kill that feeds an entire ecosystem. Right behind our tent a lion pride took down a zebra during the night and by the morning all the substantial meat was gone and the hyenas were licking the bones and fighting over the scraps with a jackal. Then we noticed the vultures beginning to circle over head, just waiting for the hyena and jackal to finish their meal so that they may have their turn. Seeing this in person was shocking and thought provoking, survival of the fittest in the most extreme and natural form. So what can we learn from this? How is this relevant in the modernized culture we live in? I turn to this article from Forbes, Management Advice From Charles Darwin.                 (Photos taken in Tanzania by S+P)

Photo by Joe Kibwe (Our amazing guide and friend, who was born and raised in the Serengeti)

Zebra seem to be the likely prey, as comically depicted in this animalistic short film.

 

"It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change." - Charles Darwin

Wild Animals of Africa Part I

Animals Of Pattern

Giraffe
 

According to our guide Joe Kibwe, the giraffe is the national animal of Tanzania.

We enjoyed watching them stretch their necks to get to the most delicious leaves at the top of the acacia tree.

The giraffes really enjoy the art of the stare down, who will blink first?!

Well hello, I adore those gorgeous long lashes ;-)

Zebra

This is one of my favorite photos that I took during the trip, thanks to the zebras posing in this perfect line. 

I wondered why the zebra has never been domesticated like the horse and donkey, Joe told me that unlike the horse, the zebras back is very weak and can't hold much weight. 

Too often these gorgeous animals tend to be dinner for the more powerful animals in the wild  :-(

Obviously zebras like to stick together in large herds, they're very social animals.

Cheetah

The female cheetah is likened to the independent feminist woman, she prefers to fly solo, when she's not raising her cubs she is always alone, for her entire life. This female cheetah was absolutely stunning.

The difference between the male and the female cheetah is in the size of their heads, female cheetahs have smaller heads.

I sensed the slightest bit of sadness in her golden eyes, I can't understand how difficult and stressful it must be to live her life, constantly having her guard up, never sleeping, and bearing all of these feelings alone.

0 to 60mph in 3 seconds, making the cheetah the fastest land mammal.

Bachelor pad - two male cheetahs relaxing under a tree.

S + P

Wedding Night - Photos by: Fiona Conrad

      

 "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hot Air Balloon Safari

We woke up at 4am, packed our bags, and bid farewell to Faru Faru and our very favorite server/friend Paul, he greeted us in the main lodge at 5:30am just to see us off and make sure that we had breakfast before we left. 

We both gave him a huge hug and thanked him for his unrelenting kindness and karibu sana. I'll never forget his smile, so blindingly white and genuinely full of joy. There is no smile in the world quite like a Tanzanian smile.

 We drove for 10 minutes in complete darkness, until the sky started to turn light blue and we could dimly make out the half moon shape of the striped hot air balloon on its side, slowly filling with air.

 We were greeted by our pilot who taught us how to sit/lay on our backs until the basket is pulled upright by the force of the balloon. So we laid there with the flames right above our heads until all of a sudden we were pulled upright, and then ever so gently lifted from the earth.

Just as we took off the sun started to peak over the horizon and it was so peaceful, so quiet. When the pilot wasn't blowing air into the balloon it was completely silent, and we glided over the tree tops and herds of gorgeous animals. 

The Animals from Above

Water buffalo grazing on some delicious Serengeti grass.

A family of seven lions roaming through the plains, we met up with them after the ride was over.

Come on this adventure with us! Your Hot Air Balloon Safari Awaits!

 I made my first imovie from the (iphone only) footage that I took during the ride. This video is entirely my creation including syncing it with the piece of music that kept playing in my head during the balloon ride, Mahler 1!

What to look for:

Notice the herds of animals running in the opening of the video w/the trumpet fanfare. The birds that you hear in the background are the original audio from the video, I felt like the real chirping birds fit in perfectly with the music!

Notice the giraffes and zebras having an early morning snack on the hill side.

Later in the video notice the 7 lions that are frolicking through the plains, the cubs were adorable!

During the part of the video with the balloon shadow, notice the lines in the earth, those are elephant tracks, elephants actually cause quite a bit of damage to their environment and they often knock over trees as well.

Last but not least did you see/hear that the hot air balloon flames at the end line up perfectly with the music?? That was not planned at all. Love it!

Thank you to our guide Joe Kibwe for taking these gorgeous photos from the ground as he followed the balloon in his Land Rover.

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

- Gustav Mahler

Wild Family Portraits

By S. Angelo

   "Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!" 

- Albert Einstein

I absolutely loved this handsome family of water buffalo..say cheese!!

Giraffes are notoriously careless parents, yet these three seemed quite attached.

As uncute as the warthog is portrayed in The Lion King, I couldn't help but be completely smitten by these adorable oinkers. Each time we saw them they were in a perfectly straight line, organized from largest to smallest, and prancing/trotting through the plains. It got me every time!

"The impressive phalanx lengthened out into single file, and the pads of the giant beasts struck the path with a harsh grating sound, throwing up clouds of dust that was pink from the presence of quartz fragments in the soil. Along the path, just over a yard wide, passed a procession of swinging, lifting trunks, huge wobbling bellies, immense flapping ears and rhythmically beating tails. At its head marched the leader, a young mother of personable appearance and well balanced proportions, followed by her son, a contemporary of Fil." - Anthony Hinton, Wild Animals of Africa

The zebras were easily frightened as we drove up to them, which caused them to launch into a full gallop, then come to a screeching halt, freeze, and stare right at us.

From the pool at Faru Faru we watched a family of baboons playing with their new born. The tiny baby baboon kept jumping on his father's back and hanging from his neck. From time to time the father would toss him up in the air. I studied this loving behavior for no less than an hour. It was so cute, I almost cried.

These five wildebeests decided against migrating this year, they were the only ones left behind.

The perfect patch of shaded grass for this beautiful lion pride.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."                             - Mother Teresa