Starry Night with Zebras, Buffaloes, Bush Pigs and Hyenas!

Perhaps it was the laughter of the hyenas or possible the family of wild pigs scouring around our campsite, maybe it was the 2 buffaloes grazing nearby or the herd of zebras we had to avoid when we tried getting back to our tents, something told me I wasn't in Canada anymore.

Huddling with the 2 Swedish girls and my new Brazilian friend under the starry night in (the very difficult to pronounce location of) Ngorongoro Conservation area campsite, I felt a sense of regret at not being able to appreciate sights and moments like these more. Earlier in the day, we had a early game drive in the Serengeti where we saw numerous lions including a lioness watching a herd of buffaloes ready to pounce. We also saw a cheetah and numerous jackals, hyenas, ostriches as well as typical grazers and browsers such as buffaloes, antelopes, impalas and gazelles. As we left the Serengeti, we each stood with our heads through the open roof and sang our national anthems (Canadian English/French version of course).

Since the campsite in Ngorongoro was approx. high above sea level, it was incredibly cold and everyone had to put on as much clothes as possible. Many animals were also known to wander into the campsite including dangerous ones such as elephants, buffaloes and hyenas! Instead of calling an early night, we decided to finish our box of wine by the campfire with a tour group traveling from South Africa to Kenya. Their guide, Anthony from S.Africa, had an incredible amount of knowledge about games and history of Africa. He also told us that his favourite place was N. Mozambique to see game and in S.Africa, Zululand. It was at this campfire that we heard a bush pig attack a can pf peaches, used a flashlight to spot buffaloes grazing no more than 5-8m away from us and heard the celebratory laughter of hyenas. We also had to avoid the zebras grazing in the middle of our camp when we tried to get back to our tents from the campfire.

The whole night was a surreal experience. The night sky clearly showed the Milky