Same game different plain

When I think about the highlights of my time here in Africa I would need a pretty big piece of paper to write them all down, but there is one constant that hasn't changed from the first time I was here in 1997 to now, and that is the game. Not the game as in football or politics but of the animal variety. And simply, my love of it.

Only ten minutes ago I was laying in a hammock overlooking a river when a deep guttural sound came from down below me. I glanced up to see a hippo and a zebra on the bank and dropped back to my restful state. We are camped among the animals at the moment and while you need to remain vigilant, so far the only injury I have sustained was self induced (refer nasal rearrangement in the photos). The humans and the animals are living in harmony with one another.

There are lions, elephants, zebra, antelope, monkeys etc in each of the game parks but somehow the setting makes it feel different. For example the lions of the Serengeti were mostly females protecting their cubs and had them hidden away in the bushes, they were incredible to spot because they were so well camouflaged, but today I saw a mother lion proudly displaying her baby while she cleaned it after the evening meal and the cub then feeling comfortable enough to explore the area on its own before giving Dad a playful nudge. The family were no more than 3 metres from me in the safari truck.

Giraffes look totally different when grazing from the tall trees to how they look wandering across the grassy plain. When they are eating they look like big tall symmetrical animals but walking along they are out of shape and almost vulnerable looking. But on the backdrop of grass you can see their beautiful markings so much clearer.

Zebra in the Ngorongoro Crater appear to be brown and white strips but the same Zebra a few countries further south seem to be black and white. On this plain they seem to run more than their northern brothers who stood in packs hugging each other.

Tonight we are doing a night game drive. It will be my first one and I am told we will get to see the animals in another light again. They will be hungry and perhaps on the hunt. The hyenas will be circling for scraps and the bird life should be abundant on sunset.

And the monkeys.. naughty here, naughty there and just plain naughty everywhere. I love them too.Read more