10k Hiking Safari

For the adventurous- and those married to Cathy- you can take a hiking safari, which we did. As much as I hate the thought of hiking for 5 hours, it turned out to be an incredible adventure. We were protected by our Ranger Ali (left) and led by our Guide Jacumba (right):

The background 'mound' are a termite mounds and they are plentiful in the park. Termites are important for the eco system as they are food for many of the birds and animals. Believe it or not, termites eat 80% of all grass but there is plenty left for all big animals; quite an interesting system.

Jacumaba showed us how he trails the wildlife (by days/ hours of the animal poop) and as we walked, he explained the hierarchy of the animals, who eats what for survival and then tracking down some wildlife. Did you know that elephants are basically vegetarians eating only berries, leaves, twigs and shrubs? They also only sleep about 2 hours a day and eat basically the rest of the time.

We were able to see a Cheeta shortly after it killed a small Impala. Cheetas are the fastest creatures on the planet and shy so it was difficult to get pictures (you can see her head in the first shot). But she was also hungry and wasn't going to go far away from her kill, so after a waiting game, she came out to tell us to leave.

We saw a small herd of Heart Beasts:

And more elephants. Half of all elephants live in Tanzania. This bigger male is about 35 years old and he wrapped its trunk around this Acacia tree, positioned his tusks on either side and shook it till the berries dropped:

The other elephant is a 25 year old male who will grow to about the same size as his friend in the next 10 years. Elephants live till their 65- 70 years old.

As you can probably guess, we're having the time of our lives!!