We left early, at 6, with no breakfast in order to see the animals before they had their coffee. Then we returned to the camp at 10 to have brunch before heading south. We expected to run into those streams of wildebeest again, but mysteriously they were gone. Shefiq explained that there are lots of paths across the Serengeti they can take and be out of sight of us.
As the sun went down, we reached our next campsite, close to Ngorongoro. This was also quite crowded with tents and was the place of our ultimate safari adventure. We ate and got in our tent and went to sleep. At some point during the night, I heard a rustling near the tent. Damn it! I said to myself - some squirrels or similar creatures are eating my pack, which I had left outside under the fly. I opened up the tent, grabbed the pack and brought it inside. But when I lay down again, I could still hear creatures rustling around the tent, apparently eating grass. I thought some more - maybe a pack of goats are grazing here and they are probably going to eat not only my pack but the entire tent. Time to get tough! I seized Louise's flashlight, put on my boots and exited the tent with a serious expression on my face. The moon was quite bright, so I could see well. These were not goats. They were buffalo - maybe a dozen or so - and they were grazing all around the tents. They seemed domesticated to me - when I advanced in a threatening manner and told them to bugger off, they moved off, although they still continued to graze nearby. I finally went back to bed, having achieved my goal. In the morning, I was told that, no, they are not domesticated, but there is no danger so long as you are not foolish enough to get out of your tent. Who'd a thought?
Copyright © 2019 by Peter Lloyd-Davies. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement.