Safari cont...

I had not expected to see quite as many animals as we did because it is out of season (hence the vastly upgraded accommodation). As it was, there were moments when you had four different species in your camera lense. It was not just the animals, however, that impressed me most - the landscape was simply stunning.

Many thousands of years ago there was a mountain the size of Kilimanjaro. When the tectonic plates groaned apart creating the Great Rift Valley, the mountain vanished off the face of the Earth, becoming part of the magma under our feet. There are in fact three craters in the Ngorogoro Conservation Area, but this calmera is the most stunning. It is named, incidentally, onomatopoeically from the sounds of the Maasai's cowbells. They are the only tribe permitted to live in this area as their cow-orientated culture poses no risk to the other species.

'Serengeti' is a Maasai word for 'endless plain'. You drive through miles and miles of open plain, with the eyeline broken up sporadically by kopjes - rocky outcrops - and acacia trees. The rainy season should have began in earnest in March, but we are only beginnin to get the odd heavy downfall. It is startling proof of the existence of global warming. Many crops have failed this year bringing a host of associated problems, and the migration pattern is in turmoil. The huge Wilderbeest migration should take place in May, but a slow and steady stream are already crossing the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara. There seem sot be a very exact rout they follow - incredible considering the size of the landscape.