Mosi-oa-Tunya  [Victoria Falls]

Set on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe it’s not the only highlight of Zimbabwe. Like any other African country Zimbabwe too has rich wild life comprising of all the big four. Plus it’s the only country in the world to have maximum number of rock paintings dating back to thousands of years. May be for want of time, Victoria Falls was the only one on the agenda. Though English is spoken widely it has more than 14 commonly spoken languages, another India? (Coffee table knowledge: Papua New Guinea has the world record of having maximum number of languages still in use!)

Like any other country in colonial Africa Zimbabwe too has tumultuous history. Previously known as South Rhodesia, it faced so many problems that it was about to collapse any time. At times the inflation was so high that to buy one loaf of bread one had to shell out piles and piles of currency notes. So it was jokingly said, ‘Poor Millionaire’ who has millions but cannot buy a single loaf of bread!

Like every recently liberated African nation it had many upheavals. It was doing, may be great under Mugabe but times changed and like every other African leader of those times he too had to face the heat. As of now Zimbabwe is still struggling on the economic front and has accepted multi-currency economy. All four major currencies, Dollar, Pound, Euro and Yuan are freely accepted. We did not have to bother as ours was conducted tour and one never had to deal with actual cash.

We were woken up by the gentle rays of morning sun peeping in our room through the curtains. Sunrise is always so invigorating! Today was the day to visit one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Mosi-oa-Tunya, THE Victoria Falls.

Breakfast at Elephant Hill resort was fit for the Kings. Spread lavishly with dishes from all over the world. It was really treat for me! I don’t know how to put it without sounding vulgar but I have to. All the African waitresses serving in the restaurant were buxom! Well endowed on all the fronts. Few of them, so well that they formed the shape of ‘S’! They were so opposite to the girls we used to call in our Medical college days, ‘Dorso-ventrally’ flattened! I am extremely sorry if I have offended anybody’s sensibilities but it is what it is! (Kidding!)

Victoria Falls are in Victoria Falls national park and one has to pay hefty entry fees in Dollars. $ 58 for Non Zimbabwean and $ 7 for locals. Even fellow Africans are charged like rest of the world. Here the discrepancy is very evident. The camaraderie amongst the African Black is so thick that no one proclaims to be Kenyan or Ugandan when casually addressed to; it’s always ‘African Blacks!’ Here in Asia when we say Asians White World takes it to be only Japanese, Chinese or Koreans. Indians or Filipinas have to clarify distinctly! May be it is dictum but at the entrance of the national park we were greeted by a troupe of African dancers. They asked me to join and me too complied shaking a leg or two!

It’s 2^nd biggest/largest fall in the world, next only to Iguaçu falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Niagara stands poor third in every aspect, height, length, width and water volume.

There is trail of 14 spots to view the falls from different angles. Zambezi River after traversing languidly on the plains of Zambia like silver serpent spreads in to a mile long bed of water that’s hardly deep before plunging in to chasm in the canyon over  steep cliff. It straddles between borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe before taking the final plunge. It plummets into Boiling Pot, the base of the falls.

Colossal curtain of water that plunges around 350 feet deep in the chasm creates a veil of mist with thunder. Known as Mosi-oa-Tunya in local language, Mist with thunder!

It has different nomenclature for different gorges. The first one is Devil’s cataract, that’s in Zimbabwe. Here the cataract means large body of water. It is followed by Main falls, that too in Zimbabwe. Rest all of them are in Zambia. They are Devil’s pool, Angel’s pool, Horse shoe falls, Rainbow falls, Devil’s pool 2 and last, the East cataract! But in fact the entire fall is better viewed from Zimbabwe side as the cliff of canyon runs parallel to the falls.

When we set out to see the falls, at the out set there was statue of David Livingstone a Scottish doctor, who invented (?!) the falls. He named it after Queen Victoria immediately, the then queen of Britain! In India there was ‘N’ number of traitors who backstabbed their masters at the slightest pretext, while the entire white explorer was always loyal to their Kings, Queens or Monarchs even though they did not deserve the servitude!  

The first sighting of the falls itself made me wonder with excitement laced with fear of the monstrous power of the nature.

It was that ferocious. Waters, waters and waters gushing in thousands of liters in one go was enthralling and fierce at the same time.

For second point one has to descend down on the slippery steps to a viewing gallery. I had to take help of Shubha my wife; maybe we were holding the hands, eons after ‘Saat Feras’ in the wedding!  It again unfolded a view straight out of National Geographic. Two cliffs of canyon on the both side and Zambezi River in its fearsome avatar of Devil’s cataract at the center! As we followed the trail the splash of water became denser and denser. As the water hits the base with force it sends out water droplets in upward direction.

Spindrift, the splash of spray was so heavy that it almost amounted to incessant rains!  We were given raincoats no doubt but the downpour was so heavy that it did not help much. We were drenched to the core. Plus the water in the shoes!!

As we started the trail, the viewpoints really offered view of fall from different angles. Initially the mist was thin so one could see the cascades after cascades of roaring water gushing down with great thrust. By the time we reached the main fall this spindrift made such a thick veil of water that the fall was not visible at all. The last point is appropriately called as danger point. It’s on a narrow pinnacle from where one can have good view of the fall in its entirety. It was so slippery due to continuous splashes that I could not reach it without the help. Uday tried to help me but even then I lost the balance and was going to have another fracture. Timely catch by Uday prevented me from falling flat!

The façade of falls changes according to the volume of water. In dry season the topography of falls is appreciated better with each gorge presenting its form distinctly. And one can reach the base rather easily. It looks like the picture above known as boiling pot!  May be we were unfortunate, even though the season was appropriate according to the brochures water was in so much tremendous volume that the entire view of the falls could not be visualized!

We walked down to Zambezi Bridge that connects both Zambia and Zimbabwe by road and rail. The gorge below is site for water sports, river rafting while the bridge itself is the platform for bungee jumping. We could not be game for both, obviously!

Wild life around the falls is vibrant too. Though we did not see any of big four we saw few Mongooses! Back in the hotel after lunch at Gujrati inn, I was so tired that I immersed myself in tub full of waters (again!) this time soothingly warm!

I feel one has to have his own philosophy of life, if one does not have he has to make it. So I skipped the lecture by fellow member. ‘Manki Baat’ and stretched on the bed to have nice slumber!

After nice dinner it was time to hit the bed as again the next morning we were to catch a flight to Cape Town!

 

 

 

Victoria Falls via Nairobi

The Kenyan government was contemplating increase in the cess on petrol from kShilings 245 to kSh 300. That’s from around $1.89 to $ 2.32. In India we still have petrol at around $1!( Actually we are much better on the world scenario, many third world countries are reeling under economic pressure due to this uncalled for war! One single egomaniac lunatic holding the entire world at ransom for his whims and fancies, not accepted!) Economy of Kenya was at stake so the protests were called for. Entire Kenya was to be road blocked, on the day we were to travel to Nairobi. To avoid the menace Swapnil decided to start very early to avoid the heat. We started in the wee hours and reached Nairobi without any hitch at around 10 A.M. It was a fast feat as roads were deserted.

On the way to Nairobi we took a coffee break at Rift valley view point, which is in the Ghats to Nairobi.

The panoramic view was enthralling. Plains and plains reaching up to horizon colored in various shades of green and brown. In fact it stretches from north to south of Kenya encompassing all her lakes, rivers and national parks. It features dramatic escarpments with breathtaking view points.

Nairobi is like any other big city. It starts with many shack like tenements, gradually merging into cityscape of small to big buildings. Nairobi proper, the capital city is worth its salt. Wide clean roads, esthetically erected office buildings with good number of skyscrapers thrown in between. Architecture of few establishments could pass the muster on the universal scale, easily! Interspersed were Manicured gardens and well mowed lawns. It etched a picture of well planned beautiful capital city.

Our driver zig-zagged us through various areas those housed parliament,

council, senate, judiciary and all the government paraphernalia. British impression on the style of architecture was unmistakable. Many blacks, men women both, may be office workers and/or Government officials suited and booted from top to toes remotely resembled their tribal brethren, really? 

The maze of flyovers and underpasses at Museum hill denoted new, imminent Kenya. It held hope for the coming Kenyan generations in particular and African Blacks in general!

Kenyan national museum was our next stop. Not very big. What stands out is Kenya’s struggle for independence. Not very different from that of India! Every white ruled colony has its own Jallianwala bagh! There was a massacre killing myriad of natives, it’s known as Mau Mau rebellion, in 1956. The story is same as everywhere, wherever the whites ruled. Be it Australia where they exterminated native Maoris, in America red Indians, in Africa all over, no country barred, whether it was British or German or French colony blacks were killed , raped, castrated, beheaded, ostracized and annihilated! Most ruthless and despicable race was and is white; the picture even today is not very different!

In 2013 Britain accepted the blame and responsibility for the atrocities committed by the British officers on Kenyan subjects and compensated the surviving victims to the tune of 20 million pounds. Here I agree with Dr Shashi Thuroor (Dr Shashi Benur agreeing with Dr Shashi Thuroor!). We too must ask Britain to return our stolen treasure including Koh-e-noor!

We had our lunch at an Indian restaurant run by a Punjabi family from West Punjab, now in Pakistan. And since then the sequence of food at Indian Restaurants started. In fact Swapnil was helpless because except Shubha and me every other one preferred it!

Our hotel at Nairobi was from the same chain, Sarova from Nakuru, it was Sarova Stanley Nairobi! Situated at the city centre. It was just fantastic. Exclusively 5 star!! The room allotted to us was a suit, nothing less. It has master bedroom with attached officer/conference room. Two W/Cs one with spacious tub, shining coffee bar and chandelier hung from ceiling at the centre! But it was only for one night, why only for few hours! Due to unstable law and order situation we had decided to check out very early in the morning 4 AM to catch a flight to Victoria Falls Zimbabwe.

We still had few spare hours, on hands in the evening, so decided to have stroll around the block. All the staff as well as the security warned us against the idea. Everybody said it’s extremely dangerous! Due to extreme poverty in certain sections of society mugging is rampant. And the mugger if does not find any cash on your person, does not hesitate to attack with weapon! Wound up the idea and went to the uppermost floor where it has swimming pool, to have a dip! It was heated pool so in that cold climate, temperature around 10* C, it was boon!

Did not have sleep of even 40 winks. Woke up at 2 AM, did away with morning ablutions and we were in the lobby with luggage at 3.30 AM sharp. At those unearthly hours it was unthinkable to have full breakfast so had only coffee and few biscuits. Hotel supplied us with packages of breakfast to eat on the way.

We were at the Nairobi airport at 4.30 AM sharp to catch 7.25 AM flight to Victoria Falls airport Zimbabwe! Once bitten twice shy. I lied on the parapet wall to have short nap, it helped. Flight to Victoria Falls was nothing exceptional except we had surplus of food. They served the breakfast on board as usual and we had food packages from hotel. We landed on

Victoria Falls airport according to schedule. It was international airport as Victoria Falls fetch tourists from all over the world but nothing grandiose, just like any other country airport without any flashy décor. Cozy! It had nice small water fall inside may be representation of the main fall! In Zimbabwe it was visa on arrival. So it was time consuming. Swapnil was struggling (haggling with the officer!) to get the visas for 22 people as early as possible. It done, we were in Luxurious 2 by 2 Volvo like bus to our hotel Elephant Hill resort.

Victoria Falls Township that has developed around the Falls is very small town with very few native households. Of the rest most are small hotels, resorts or tourist activity centers. You hardly see any establishment having more than two storeys. Lush green canopy of trees covering every road it was extremely suitable place to spend retired life!

Elephant hill resort was magnificent in its own way. Not having many floors it was spread over vast area. African Male Dancers were performing at the gate to welcome us. God knows, how they have such a beautiful rhythm in everyone of them. Maharashtrian Marathi especially Man has two left legs, may be because dance is looked down upon in higher echelons of the limited society! Finding the room was task as the hotel building had many offshoots which were no less than a maze. Room was really cozy facing eastwards and it had the view of mist from the falls!

On all the days in Victoria town we had our lunches and dinners at an inn run by a Gujrati lady from Valsad.  Homemade food was very good and the hostess in her 40s may be, very hospitable, smiling all the time and personally looking after the needs of diners.

First evening in Victoria Town is/was the most memorable.

it was cruise on Zambezi River which becomes placid after turbulent encounter at Victoria Falls. It actually forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. So again we crossed the border of Zambia without valid visa!  It is the 4^th largest river in Africa and only one draining in Indian Ocean. Cruise was on two storeyed watercraft equipped with bar and small kitchen. Naturally all of us selected the upper deck.

The view from upper deck was enchanting. The basin of the river is very wide with dense forestation on the banks. There were waters and waters up to horizon absolutely hypnotizing. Drinks and starters were on the house. News was exhilarating! But only at the outset. When one does not want to make show of oneself in public, drinking automatically is restricted. I opted for Mojito with white rum! Then there were endless servings of starters, right from sushi to small pizzas to Indian snacks.

Chicken in various avatars was delicious be it patties, fried or shredded. After getting tipsy a little, I hate to over drink it was absolutely heaven. Ambiance, company, food everything exhilarating. To add to the fun there was this hippo that opened his mouth fully for us to put cherry on the top of our enjoyment! We also shook a leg or two! The time flew with the wings of butterfly slowly, languidly but beautifully.

Sun started setting on the western horizons letting demure dusk to descend on the tranquil waters lifting the spirits with spirits! It was time for adieu. But the evening
etched permanent memories for many times to come.

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Masaai Mara the day second!

On the given date Indian guests outnumbered any other group in Simba lodge so they served ‘Dosa’ and other Indian cousin in the breakfast. I always try to prefer local stuff when abroad so opted for African breakfast of chicken and ham. Who wants to have Indian breakfast across seven seas, not me!

Second day’s safari was going to be hectic lasting entire day so we had our breakfast in the wee hours and left the lodge when sun had still not arisen. Eastern sky still orange pink we chanced to see our first ‘Prey’ of the day a lioness singularly parked on a mound of earth least bothered about what’s going around her.
Majestic was the only word to describe her pose.

Much more alert than the cheetah of other day she personified grace with typical agility in clearly balanced gait on the mound. Eyes much fierce, mouth with sharp canines and boldness in the demeanor she was definitely the queen of jungle.
Yes, it’s a fact that she does all the household work like raring the cubs and hunting for the family and the man of the house lion, “the Lion” does comparatively nothing, except priding in being the King of jungle! (I object to him being King, but more about it later!) Before clamor set in we left the place in search of other animals fervidly praying for the sight of a pride of lions. May be that was in our destiny but much after in late afternoon!

Then there were many zeals of zebras

with Giraffes in herds, also known as a Kaleidoscope of Giraffes as it forms a beautiful mélange when many of them mingle together. Another peculiar term for their herd is Tower of Giraffes due to their heights,(Post tour homework!)   Somewhere along the way we sighted a lone elephant parading in his own tune.

Surprisingly he was alone; otherwise African elephants are always in herd. Males, elephant cows and baby elephants actually called calves, calf in singular all masquerade always in herds .May be for safety.

And there was déjà vu! All the jeeps and USVs started going in one direction. I had premonition that another major animal must have been sighted and yes it was the pride of lions this time!

Lion is the only big cat that moves in group known as pride. It comprises of one or more lions with few lionesses and many cubs. In fact the cubs have mixed paternity, as single lioness mates with many lions at the same time! Here it was only males, probably having bromance!! No lionesses, no cubs, the pride was incomplete! They were 5 in number and when we first saw them all of them were in deep slumber, sleeping in each other’s flanks! They were so unkempt, absolutely soiled and dirty that they required immediate cleaning in a car wash! Their matted manes looked absolutely ugly!

Looking not at all sturdy and stout, all of them looked marasmic as if they were famished for eons. All that muscular physique, slim waist, ferocious mane and sharp canines (noticed when they yawned), everything was below par and it did not fit, to be a lion, The King of Jungle! Our driver probably knew their behavior so asked us to be patient. And the patience paid. One of them got up from the deep slumber, stretched his body like any other animal when breaks the sleep, yawned opening the mouth to full, had a cursory look around, (looked at all the vehicles around him those waited eagerly to watch his performance) then slowly started walking towards our jeep.

Driver said, ‘wait, now all of them will follow the suit and do the likewise.’ The first one went around our jeep just leaving a distance of hardly few feet, so if one would have stretched his hand he could have easily touched him! There was absolute silence not only in our jeep but all around, everyone keenly watching the utmost performance. Then the second one rose, followed by the third one. One by one all of them got up lazily went towards the tree where the first one was scratching the trunk of huge tree probably polishing his nails. In their entire demeanor there was nothing majestic, nothing regal nothing royal forget about any quality that is required to be the King of jungle. One of them answered the call of nature emptying himself on the tyre of one of the vehicles just like any other stray dog!

I was totally disappointed by the first ‘Darshan’ of the LION Pride!

Contrary to it when we sighted tigers in all the reserves of India, their first look gave the goose pimples! All of them were so handsome, so majestic so regal and above all so clean, they actually are the true Kings of Jungle than these caricatures! Absolutely my personal views! There are cat people and there are dog people, similarly it can be said that I am a Tiger person!

Little disappointed by the dud show put up by the main heroes of African jungle, dejected we ventured out to conquer the other frontiers of savannah! Again acres and acres of pastures without fences and boundaries with no road to qualify the term and few stray animals grazing in the distance, there were wild beasts, elephants, hyenas and all pervasive zebras! Few warthogs, wild boars too were there but they vanished immediately.

Next destination was Tanzania - Kenya border. After traveling south for about an hour or so, we reached a place which looked like maidan.

No fences, no outposts, no sentries or even soldiers to guard the boundary, because there was ‘No’ boundary; except a triangular pillar just few meters away from a plaque made of tin plate that said, ‘Don’t enter Tanzania’! And we were already on the Tanzanian soil without a valid Visa! How arbitrary can border be and that too drawn by the staunch white enemies which these simple countries were still following!

Just nearby flows the river Mara which is battle ground for annual migration. Here we were to take a long walk along the bank of river. It was very uneven and slippery at places so Kenyan Army designated one soldier – guard to help me to wade through the difficult path.

He totally fitted the bill written for Africans by Hollywood! Six footer may be taller, with pitch dark complexion and face adequately stern. But he was really helpful. Almost kind. He caught me from falling at least twice, and made me stand when my quadriceps gave up holding me by my flanks! My friend Uday too was very helpful. With the help of both I could complete the walk!

River was full with hippos and crocodiles. Though vegetarian hippos

are very ferocious and aggressive and are responsible for max number of deaths of crocs as well as humans!

Though they were plenty in number and spread all over the basin of river none came afloat and remained most of the time submerged below the water. They have widest opening mouth amongst all the territorial mammals but that we could not see or capture on the camera as none obliged! This one is from elsewhere. Crocs or were they alligators, not sure, on the other hand were clearly visible as they were lying in the mud taking sunbath!

Too lethargic to be living organism, they hardly made any movement, were as if dead. No they were not. One of them suddenly moved and dashed in the river may be it got its prey!

On the way back we saw a big herd of elephants grazing in their own mood. African elephants have bigger fan like external ears, almost like flaps, which they constantly move to keep the body temperature down. Plus they are the only species in which both male and female have the tusks! Elephants elsewhere especially in Asia don’t have these features.

It was almost lunch time and we were practically 150 to 200 kms away from the lodge. By the time we reached the lodge it was afternoon!

In the evening we were slated to visit nearby Masaai village, at the fee of $20. I felt it must be like cultural event orchestrated for foreigners back home where they are applied ‘Tika’ on forehead , garlanded with marigold flowers ‘Aarati’ is done by nubile girls in Nine yard saris followed by cultural program which includes ‘Lavani’ or ‘Lezim’ in Maharashtra! Everything for the show, extremely superfluous and pretentious! So I did not opt! Rather I preferred nice massage by African lass at the same cost!!

It turned out that it was in a similar fashion but the undercurrent pathetic scenario was not to be missed that’s what I gathered from my wife Shubha. Maasais live in clusters, which are impermanent settlements. In a cluster of few huts’ single unit not measuring more than 40 to 60 sq ft, families stay with animals, and their folks.

At the center of cluster there are sheds for animals around which in first circle there is a row of huts made of locally available material mostly mud. Hut hardly had any space even for sleeping. One corner was kitchen and another corner was sleeping area where married couple with their umpteen number of children sleep! The third circle is fence made of thorny bushes for protection. Their main occupation is Pastoralism, looking after live stock, comprising of sheep, goat and cattle. It is their main source of food too. Meat, milk and blood!! They hardly consume vegetables or cereals. Polygamy is extremely prevalent. The youth they talked to, was already married with four wives but was thinking about marrying the fifth one! His father had not less, Seven wives! They uniformly wear vibrant red colored robes known as ‘
Shuka’. As already said, they dance with jumping high and higher in the air. Highest jumper gets the most beautiful wife! Africa in whole has many such tribes in the interiors and looks like it still is eons away from real modernization!

River next to Lodge has many crocodiles and sometimes hippos too to give a Darshan. I feel it is their ‘Pet’ crocodile which in the evening came out for the meat, hotel employs had thrown at it!

Dinner now was started becoming usual but I tried shredded chicken which was really yummy! And it’s not available in India!

Early in the morning next day we were to leave for Nairobi to catch our next flight to Zimbabwe, to visit Victoria Falls!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masaai Mara, here we come!

3 important and well visited National parks in Africa are Masaai Mara in Kenya, Serengeti in Tanzania and Kalahari in South Africa. Serengeti and Masaai Mara are practically each other’s extensions, sharing the borders. Hollywood docudramas, ‘African Safari’ and ‘Beautiful People’ are filmed in Serengeti and Kalahari respectively. You would not find any boy from my generation who has not seen African Safari. We had a cassette of ‘Beautiful People’ at home and God knows how many times my 4 years son and I saw it. He always cried when two little birds last in the exodus in search of water die due to dehydration and malnutrition. Phenomenon still occurs every year between Masaai Mara and Serengeti when water in Serengeti goes in short supply. This yearly event happens around August - September when hundreds of wild Beasts, Zebras and smaller animals cross Croc and Hippo infested Mara River, it’s known as Migration. Our tour was in May so we could not see it.   

No sooner we exited our hotel premises and entered the game reserve just few meters away from our vehicle this tall magnificent Giraffe with zig- zag patterned shining golden skin was grazing on the upper leaves of acacia tree which had ample thorns.

It was really intriguing to see how he managed to avoid those sharp appendages of tree.  He moved in slow languid gait from one tree to another, naturally because of his height. When he crossed the road stealthily, his long neck made undulating funny movements. It was surprising to know that even though it has such a long neck number of vertebrae in it, is just the same as other vertebrates; Seven! He was soon joined by another four and it was sight to watch.

On the other side just a few meters away a group of Zebras, called as dazzle or zeal of Zebras, was frolicking on the grass, throwing in friendly duels using their hind legs with dexterity and accuracy. May be they were sharpening their skills for protection in case of attacks of beasts!

Suddenly driver put the vehicle in speed. I was little annoyed as I had not taken the snaps from good angles. But ours was not the only jeep; more vehicles joined us from all the sides. The news was some forest ranger had spotted cheetah, “Cheetah!!’ I immediately remembered the phenomenon in all the ‘Tiger’ reserves of India. Be it Pench, Kanha or most popular Andhari reserve at Tadoba. Exact replication of the marvel!

There he was, lying on the grass languidly, looking around sleepily and taking the cognizance of visitors! (Today there are fewer vehicles than yesterday morning!!!) Well rounded head with two distinct black lines running from inner canthi of eyes down to corners of mouth known as tear tracks. Distinctive features of cheetahs, not seen in Leopards or other such cats, Puma or Panther. His slender, aerodynamic body was instantly recognizable. It’s must as he is the fastest running mammal on the earth. Golden tan skin covered with solid black spots. Again it’s a specialty. In leopards these spots are in groups of 3 to 4 in rosettes like pattern.

Here our driver gave us enough time to have snaps even videos. In the entire melee around, he was the only, the most composed and least bothered adult animal! Magnificent with lordly Attitude! Surprisingly amongst the big cats he is the only one who does not attack human beings as prey and is shy by nature, not ferocious like Tigers! Aha, that was the reason why he was so unperturbed by the presence of humanity in large numbers!

Eyes fully loaded with his poise and brain with ‘I saw a real Cheetah today’, feeling we left the scene with heavy heart for the prince of savannah to enjoy his solitude, amidst eyes from 25 or so voyeuristic jeeps!

One the way we saw lots of African Bisons. But who was interested in watching cousins of Indian buffaloes after traversing half the universe that too at cost!

Apart from animals savannah has its own beautiful landscapes to mesmerize you. Acres and acres of lush green grass with ripening golden grass thrown in it was a treat to the eyes. The scenes were so exquisite that they did download on the camera as they were, like something lost in translation. Lone Acacia trees on the horizon were giving savannah its ‘Logo’!

There was another play being enacted on the horizon. Dark clouds were playing ‘Thunder, thunder’ with occasional downpour and mischievous sun sending its naughty strands of golden rays through the occasional gap between the  thick clouds! Every angle of the savannah was a peace taken out of beautiful landscape paintings from every good artist worth his penny. I too felt like painting one on reaching the home, but realized I simply do not have that magic in my fingers which Mother Nature unfolds!

Masaai Mara savannah is home for spotted Hyenas.

They do research on them at the institute. No surprise that we spotted many, some of whom accompanied us for long. Some monkeys parched on the high trees refused to come down as the scavenger was rallying around. As soon as he left the battle ground, whole troupe of monkeys landed on the ground, making cries of victory!

I am novice in bird watching, except common sparrows and parrots I cannot distinguish between crested bulbul and dark necked woodcutter. They do look different no doubt but it tests my intellect to remember their names. My son is really expert and can differentiate ‘N’ number of species. There was this bird perched on the top of tall a tree with curved beak. People tried to enlighten me but I am still confused whether it was brahminical eagle or simple kite!

On the way back we saw a huge herd of wild beasts in beyond the countable number. Their ilks from neighboring Serengeti from Tanzania participate in yearly migration in August and go back to their homeland in November.

Dinner was good. Why fish served anywhere in the world smells fishy? Though it was really good to taste, the fishy odor was still prevalent. Probably only Japanese know how to serve odorless fish in sushi, that too raw! While we were having dinner Masaai youths presented their traditional dance, it was nothing but raw energy oozing from every pore. While dancing they were jumping in the air so high trying to outsmart every other one. It’s said that their this skill fetches them a good wife, so the stakes were really ‘HIGH’ at least in jumping!

Cottage was cozy and it was the only one throughout Africa to have water-jet in toilet. But it was too hard to press so one had to use both the hands. More about this toilet tissue fiasco, later in the course!