“Still, we often talked on the farm of the Safaris that we had been on. Camping places fix themselves in your mind as if you had spent long periods of your life in them. You will remember a curve of your wagon track in the grass of the plain, like the features of a friend.”
-Karen Blixen, “Out of Africa”
Trying to describe a safari in words is like describing a Bruce Springsteen concert by smell; it is bound to miss the point. So instead, this will be a “photo blog” with links to our 700 odd photos, organized into four categorical Google Photo albums.
But before I get there, a quick word of praise to Glory Safaris and Expeditions. Our tour guides were outstanding, knowledgeable, resourceful and oriented us to a foreign, enticing and inviting world.
The Big Five
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Lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and water buffalo have the honor of being included in the “Big Five” since they are difficult to hunt (at least before rifles) and were of great monetary worth (buffalo for meat, lions and leopards for paws and fur, elephants for tusks, and rhinos for their horn). Of the Big Five, the leopard is the most beautiful and the rhino is the hardest to spot. However, I assure you that to observe a lion that walks close enough to take you with one pounce is unmatchable.
Strange Beauties
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While these guys are not to be found in the Big Five, they are beautiful beasts that catch your eye and refuse to let go. In particular, the peculiar grace of a giraffe galloping at full speed is hypnotizing; while it can stride at over 30 miles per hour, it still looks like slow motion. Also included in this album are zebras, gazelle and impalas, agama lizards, jackals, and a saber cat.)
Homely Homies
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Despite all the beauty in nature, there’s also a lot of ugliness, specifically these animals that make up the “Ugly 6,” the vultures, hippos, wildebeests, hyenas, crocodiles and warthogs. Jamie and I disagree on the truly ugliest one of the bunch: I think it’s the wildebeest, which looks like the worst possible aesthetic combination of mules, buffalo, and a Haredi rabbi. Jamie thinks it’s the crocodile, which may be an ugly animal, but I think the croc is just a handsome dinosaur.
Feathers, Petals, People and Rocks
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While the animals are the main draw, there is much to be said for the non-mammals and reptiles of Africa. The birds, whether flamingos or eagles, are colored wildly and are endowed with eyes as focused as a razor’s edge. The geology of the Great Rift Valley and Ngorogoro Crater are as breathtaking as the vastness of the Serengeti (which is Swahili for “never ending plain). Within these rock formations, the flora brush hues of all colors to and over the horizon. A friend told me that while on safari, he was compelled to tears by the sheer beauty before his eyes, a first in his life. While Jamie and I didn’t shed tears, we share in the awe of such grandiosity.
And of course, the people who inhabit this particular piece of the world impacted us too; they are ancient, pastoral, and close to the land they have been cultivating for thousands of years. We spent significant time with members of the Maasai community, learning about the traditions of the famed lion hunting warriors, and how they today balance traditions like polygamy with modern expectations and norms throughout Kenya and Tanzania.
Lastly, my and Jamie’s Safari spirit animals, as decided for each of us by one another.
Jamie is a hyena: ruthlessly efficient, tenacious team-worker and never wanting for food. I on the other hand am an elephant: a mix of assertiveness and a penchant for introversion, comfort in moving with a herd, but also wanting time to be separate from the group.
#africamp 
great pictures
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