Scope editor travels into Africa
by Michelle Minnoch

When I was 16 years old, I went to Ontario Place and watched an IMAX film entitled, "Africa, The Serengeti". Since then, I have been determined that one day, I would travel to Africa and go on safari, see the wildebeest migration, and be a witness to natures 'circle of life'.

I finally realized my dream as I spent two weeks in Africa on safari, one week in Kenya, the other in Tanzania.

Spending seven nights in Kenya, I would travel to various game parks, take in two to three game rides per day, and move on to the next park.

The trip had me staying in various five star lodges, sometimes for a one night stint, others for two nights at a time.

I received my first taste of Africa as my first two nights were spent at the Samburu National Reserve. Game drive provided viewing of a mother and young elephant drinking from a river, a heard of zebras crossing the road. The park was a sea of monkey's, giraffes, gazelles, cape buffalo, and to top off the day, a lone cheetah.

Mount Kenya's National Park was an overnight stay, including 24 hour game viewing from your own room's balcony, or from the balcony off of the bar. Endless cape buffalo surrounded the water hole in the afternoon was a breathtaking sight, only to be outdone by the 24 elephant who visited the watering hole that evening. I witnessed the elders stand around their young if feeling threatened, the others chasing off any animals who were going to the hole for a drink, and listened to the giant beasts trumpeting in the quiet night.

An overnight stay at Lake Nakuru brought sightings of the white rhino, lioness, velvet monkey's, and cape buffalo. The lake itself was a sea of pink, as thousands of flamingos made the lake their home.

Visiting the Masi Mara was truly an exceptional experience. Before even getting to the lodge, we stopped at a Masi village, and met and spoke with tribal villagers. The tribesmen preformed songs and danced, then demonstrated how fire can be indeed made by rubbing two sticks together.

Driving to the lodge from the Masai village, I could never in my wildest dreams could have imaged the landscape and the life that layed before me. Hundreds of thousands of wildebeests were covering the plains. Driving through the park, these gangly looking creatures gazed on either side of the road; the site was unimaginable and I was quite overwhelmed. Although I had seen game parks and various herds of animals on television, driving through this park was something I played in my mind, but something my mind never fully could comprehend. The magnitude of the sight, the endless animals on endless plains, was truly unbelievable.

The park also houses a huge population of zebra, giraffe, cape buffalo, lions, gazelles, cheetahs, hippos and an abundance of beautiful birds.

The next morning, the lodge offered an optional sunrise balloon ride excursion over the park. Over the plains, a stream of wildebeests were below, running at the sound of the fire in the balloon. We went as high as 1000 feet above the ground, and as low as 100, sometimes scraping the tops of the trees. Landing in the middle of the savannah, with wildebeests and zebras grazing, we were treated to a champaign catered breakfast.

Although at this time, I thought the day could not get any better, I was mistaken.

In the afternoon, as my guide drove alongside a river, we parked the safari van a hundred metres back from the ridge and he only said one word: "wait". On the other side of the river, there were thousands of wildebeests mulling around. As a thunderous sound came across the plains, my driver headed towards the ridge of the ravine. For about an hour, I watched the wildebeast migration in amazement; thousands thundered down one side of the river, crossed it in single file, then fought across the other side as they got over the other side of the ridge filing out in single file. The migration of the wildebeests is both phenomenal and beautiful. Words cannot even illustrate the sound of the thundering hooves, the grunts of the beasts, the splash in the water as they jumped into it before crossing, and the wail of a baby wildebeest, who fell victim to a crocodile.

On day 8, I crossed the border and started the second leg of my journey, in Tanzania. For the most part, Tanzania has the same wild life I had become a witness to in Kenya, but the landscape and the vegetation was noticeably different.

Spending two nights at a lodge in the Serengeti was fantastic. I saw my first leopard, perched in a tree, ripping apart a fresh kill. We crossed paths with hyena's, baboons, ostriches and everything I ever imagined the Serengeti had to offer.

The Serengeti is a land of life and death; of miracle and wonder. Between Kenya and Tanzania, I have seen lands of unimaginable beauty and of only an imagined existence.

Another highlight was the two night visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater, a deep volcanic crater, houses 25,000 wild life, including 20 black rhino, an endangered species.

The Crater provided excellent viewing of the cheetah, hyena, lion, hippo, cape buffalo, rhino, zebra, gazelle, monkey, bushbuck, eland, gazelle, warthogs and jackals.

I have spent two weeks following in love with lands I have only read about in magazines and seen in television and film. Although I had images in my head about what to expect and what I would get to see on this trip, I had no idea the magnitude of what was presented to me.

Although this was a trip I had always wanted to take, the fact I actually had the experience is still surreal to me. It was something I always said I would do, and to actually do it, is mindblowing to me.

I definitely have things to scratch off of my "Things to Do" list. In the past year, I have gone skydiving, participated on two ride alongs with the police, gone crusin' on a motorcycle and travelled to Africa.

Next on my "Things to Do List? Write a new Things to Do List.