As a child, I dreamed of going to Africa. I eagerly awaited each new Wild Kingdom episode and fueled my imagination with glossy stacks of National Geographic.
Social media exposés left me feeling jaded, like those sparks of natural wonder have passed us by or were a byproduct of a bygone time where exploitation was expected and accepted from unfettered commercialism.
Seeing the Serengeti first hand reminded me that not only are dreams real, but they can come true.
Maasai Watchmen
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We were on our third day of a northern Tanzania driving safari circuit. Already our guide, Cathbert, had driven us from Tarangire National Park and through Ngorongoro Crater to Seronera in the middle of the Serengeti.
It was our first night staying in a luxury tented camp in a national park. Maasai warriors patrolled the camp at night, but that didn’t abate my primal fears when I heard lions roaring and hunting in the dark.
Wildebeest Parade
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Dawn brought on a daily migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras moving down from the safety of the highlands to the lush pastures below. I woke to their rhythmic bellows of gnu, gnu, gnu and saw a line of wildebeest passing in front of our patio like ants going to a picnic. The massive herd stretched across the horizon with no discernible start or end.
Elephant Crossing
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We wolfed down breakfast, took our coffees to go, and opted for a boxed lunch in eager anticipation of our first full day on the Serengeti.
Driving in the previous day, we saw a herd of 50 elephants crossing the road right in front of the Seronera Airstrip and watched a thunder of hippos preparing to leave the safety of their pond for a night of foraging.
Sleeping to the symphony of the Serengeti brought back those childhood memories where anything was possible and waiting just outside the door.
Standing Safari
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We put the top up on the safari jeep and bounded out of camp on a dirt road. I was standing between the seats scanning the horizon. My mind wandered back to a childhood of riding in the back of our Chevy pickup truck when seatbelts were optional and you could still smoke on airplanes.
Sometimes, I’m amazed that I survived to reach this point where I was looking for big game instead of the occasional deer grazing in a corn field.
Sounds of the Serengeti
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Cathbert killed the engine as we reached the herds coming down from the hills. Instead of the subtle sounds we heard from the balcony we were engulfed in a cacophony of guttural grunts and brash bellows that filled the valleys and trees.
Africa is where life began and we were in the belly of the beast. Everywhere we looked something was running, breathing, snorting and taking the living mana in and out of their lungs.
The Herd Is On The Move
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We pushed on through the herd and saw how the wildebeest were following the zebras’ lead. Sometimes, the zebras would zip in front of us and only a few wildebeest could follow. The bewildered beasts left behind would wait until an intrepid zebra found a new crossing after we’d passed by.
Treetop Lion
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
I shouted down to Cathbert – “stop, stop, lions!” Three lions were crouched in the tall grass observing the scene and a large lioness had climbed into a tree for a better view. I had barely finished my coffee and already we were seeing lions. I couldn’t help but wonder if these were the ones we heard hunting during the night.
Chance Cheetah
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We cruised around the back roads with no real objective when we happened upon a cheetah remarkably close by. She was more concerned with finding breakfast than with us. She rolled around in the dirt, as cats do, and then sauntered off for a meal.
We felt lucky to have seen one cheetah, but less than a half hour later, we spotted her with a freshly killed gazelle. They’re timid cats, who run fast and eat even faster. She cleaned the carcass to the bones within minutes.
Close Enough to Count?
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We joked with Cathbert that we had now seen four of the Big Five and almost all the cats. All we needed to make our trip complete was a leopard. About 30 minutes later, we spotted one far away in the high grass. It was too far for a decent photo, but I was counting it.
We watched as it crawled to a small herd of gazelle. We could see them scatter, but lost track of the cat when it pounced.
A Long Day’s Work
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We kept hoping to find it again, but it was so far away and so well camouflaged in the high grass we weren’t having any luck. We noticed some jeeps congregating down the road and made our way to them. We saw that the leopard had killed a gazelle and was dragging it along the ridgeline.
She was working hard and taking frequent breaks. There were enough jeeps that we couldn’t get a good view, but at least now, we could honestly claim we had seen a leopard.
To Tree or Not to Tree
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We anticipated she was heading for a tall tree, so we moved down the line; waiting for her to come to us. She did, and for the first time, we saw her clearly about 100′ away. She stopped, contemplated climbing the tree, but then deciding it would be too challenging, continued her progression through the grass.
She was close enough that, even without binoculars, we could see her face considering the pros and cons of climbing that particular tree.
Baby Food
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We saw another tree down the way that looked a little easier to climb. By now, many jeeps had gathered there, so we had to pick and choose a spot with a partially obscured view between two jeeps. We saw her come in the open again, and rest in the tall grass.
Just then we saw a lone baby gazelle bounding towards her in the thicket. You could hear the murmurs from the other jeeps all with a common sentiment…”oh no baby!”, “where are you going baby?!”, “turn around baby”. Not surprisingly, the next time we all saw baby, its neck was firmly in the leopard’s jaws. One cat, two kills – not a bad morning.
Strong and Smooth
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Finally, she summoned the energy and took the baby gazelle up with her into the crook of the tree. After a brief rest, she descended and brought up the second one. Watching her muscular legs flex as she carried the huge gazelle into the tree was unbelievable. She was so strong compared to the cheetah and that power afforded her the luxury of choosing where, and when she ate.
A Farewell Drink
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We thought she was going to start feeding right away. But, after a short respite, she came down, took a drink, and then wandered off into the grass.
She wasn’t more than a car length away from us as she drank, and we could see the textures of her tongue lapping up the water. We’ve seen our house cats do this a thousand times, but they aren’t 80+ pound killers that can take down two gazelles with a single swipe of their claws.
A Perfect Lunch Spot
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
All the jeeps dispersed, trying to anticipate her movements, but Cathbert had a different plan. He anticipated that she was going to get her cub and they would return to the kill.
He took us to a nearby rock for a potty break, and then we returned to the prime viewing spot in front of the tree. We were the only vehicle there as we ate our lunch and waited for her return. We had just finished when we saw several jeeps maneuvering in the distance. They grew closer, and we could see momma leading her baby through the high grass to the spoils of her morning.
Moooom!
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Momma continued to the base of the tree and deftly climbed up to the kills. She was much more graceful this time without having to drag a carcass up with her. She turned to find her cub still waiting by the trunk. Her eyes said – come to me. His little voice cried out a meow that sounded a bit like “moooom” from where we were parked.
We all know the futility of arguing against your mother’s eyes when she’s calling you to her. Eventually, baby started climbing and eventually, he reached mom, but not before a few well timed stops along the way.
Stop Playing With Your Food
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Every parent knows the frustration of getting a toddler to eat. They push their peas around on their plate before saying they’re not hungry. It’s infuriating even when you didn’t have to kill a fifty pound bag of peas, drag them a mile across the open plains, and then haul them up into a tree so your toddler could eat them in safety.
He gnawed half heartily at the bigger gazelle, but it was obvious that his baby teeth couldn’t puncture the thick skin. After an “I told you so” look at mom, he wandered off to play.
Ain’t No Holler Back Cub
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Momma leopard picked a kid friendly tree. It had two main branches connecting together about 10’ off the ground. The gazelles were stashed in a fork on the shallow branch that was easier for baby to climb up and down.
Baby had little difficulty climbing back down to the ground. When he reached the bottom, he looked at mom and cried out a meow that parents everywhere could understand as “why don’t you bring my meal down here.” Momma just scowled back – “ain’t happening kid.” Kiddo understood, and climbed back up to spend equal time chewing on random parts of the gazelles and his mom.
Knobby Nappy
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Mom had picked the perfect tree with the perfect branch. You know, the one that’s thick enough to walk on and flat enough to build a tree fort. Leopards, even baby leopards, don’t need that sophistication to be comfortable in a canopy.
Baby roamed freely on the perch until he got tired, and then he took a rest at a nook where a limb broke months earlier.
Steep Learning Curve
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
When I was young, I had a mulberry tree in the back yard that was a spaceship, a fort, and anything else a boy could imagine. The action always centered around “that one perfect branch.” However, sooner or later, we would look over and see that other branch that shot straight up into the sky.
Baby, fresh off a cat nap, did just that and climbed over to the steep side of the tree for a little adventure.
A Mother’s Eyes
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Mom kept looking at baby impatiently. She worked hard to bring his food up this perfect tree and obviously wanted to give a lesson on how to eat in a tree. Tree branch lunches are fundamentals that every young leopard needs to learn. However, dining skills are predicated on climbing skills, so she couldn’t be too disappointed with her cub choosing an exciting adventure over a kitten nap.
Hang in There Cubby
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Another indelible memory from my childhood was the series of “hang in there” posters with kittens dangling precariously from branches. I was always a bit of a contrarian, and in the back of my mind I imagined there was a profiteering photographer who staged the photo to match the caption.
This morning on the savannah, I saw a young leopard get himself into that predicament all by himself. Hunger must have gotten the best of his adventurous spirit, so he made an arduous return to the dinner branch that took all four paws and a fully extended tail to pull off.
Meal Time Take Two
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Baby was as hungry to eat that gazelle as momma was to teach him a lesson. A mother leopard has about two years with her cub to show them everything they need to know about how to be a leopard, in particular that trees are their friends.
There isn’t an animal in Africa that would dare attack a leopard in a tree. It’s a valuable life lesson, but today, all baby cared to do was play with his food.
I Want to Grow Up Just Like You
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Moms and cats play a similar game of “I’m not looking at you.” This cat mom was an expert. Baby struggled and misbehaved, but she wasn’t going to acknowledge any of it. Instead, she settled down for a I’m not looking at you nap.
Perhaps baby was searching for redemption and wanted to show he could be a grown up too. It’s like when you come out of the closet wearing your dad’s shoes and a poorly tied tie. Over the next couple of minutes, he seemed to copy mom’s postures as he settled down to a nap of his own. He was too cute and too restless for this to last long. So, like momma, we held our position and tried to wait him out.
Momma’s Mealtime
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
After a little while, baby woke up hungry and pawed at momma. This time, she gave in. She used her mature teeth to open up a gazelle for her little one. A waterfall of blood and guts spilled from the tree, which would have been disturbing in any other context. However, in Africa, this was the cycle of life and a young leopard learning what it takes to survive.
Ground Gazelle
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Mom tried to show her baby the next lesson of how to eat in a tree, but like children around the world, he found another way. He climbed down to the ground again and dined on the fallen entrails. I always remember my mom saying those were the most nutritious parts. Hunger finally satisfied, he climbed back up to his mother.
But I’m Not Tired
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Little one really wanted to play, but mom had enough. She worked hard that morning and it was finally time for a good sleep. After a little bit of the “I’m not tired game,” baby realized the truth. He couldn’t fight his full belly any longer and settled down for a long and well deserved sleep.
Circle the Wagons
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
The little slice of life on the savannah we just witnessed could have been pulled from the pages of National Geographic or an episode of Wild Kingdom. We saw a mother care for her cub and teach him what it took to be a leopard.
We were so engaged in the real life drama that we didn’t realize the scene around us. We were in the prime spot with nothing between us and the leopards, but 30-40 other jeeps had gathered close by. One by one, we all pulled out to continue our African adventures. It brought me back to my teenage years when everybody was leaving a concert after the stage went dark.
This was everything that social media warned us about, but we realized it didn’t matter. There’s enough magic in the moment that the work it took to get there couldn’t tarnish it. I’m sure everybody there felt it, but this experience stood out to us because of Cathbert’s wisdom to have us eat lunch and wait instead of following the pack.
Roller Derby
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We did move on and saw a brilliant lilac breasted roller and an enormous impala herd before another childhood trope came upon us – rains in Africa. A thunderstorm built suddenly and crashed on the savannah. We put down the top, rolled up our windows and started driving back to camp. Along the way, we saw a huge bull elephant splashing in the rain at the peak of the downpour but by the time we reached the turnoff to the camp road, it had subsided as quickly as it started. A double rainbow splashed across the sky as we passed the same pride of lions lurking by the tall grass.
Back in camp, questions raced through our minds as we settled down to sleep under the watchful eyes of the Maasai. Were the lions going to serenade us again tonight? What would we see tomorrow and could anything compare to what we saw today? We dreamt about what was and what could be, fully engulfed in the magic of Africa, where the past and future meet in endless possibilities.
Hi! We are Jenn and Ed Coleman aka Coleman Concierge. In a nutshell, we are a Huntsville-based Gen X couple sharing our stories of amazing adventures through activity-driven transformational and experiential travel.
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