As I am writing this, I am in the Kilimanjaro Airport waiting to fly home after two weeks in Tanzania, Africa. Going on a safari had been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. A lot of times we have high expectations of something and imagine it to be better than it really is. This was not one of them! This has been a trip of a lifetime—a learning experience regarding animal behavior as well as human behavior. The people of Tanzania are the warmest, friendliest people I have ever met. “Jambo” is Swahili for “hello,” and everyone you pass gives you a loud friendly greeting.
My tour group all came here as strangers, but we are leaving as friends. Our three tour guides are from the Masai tribe and very proud of their heritage. By the end of the trip, while giving hugs all around we had the Masai warriors crying—not a common sight to be seen.
Without going into too much detail, at one point in our game drive we were in the middle of a pride that had just made a kill. Now anyone who knows me won’t believe I was able to watch this, but it was the most amazing scene I’ve ever witnessed and one I will probably never experience again. Nature at its wildest!
The female lions are the ones that do the hunting and bring the kill back to the others in the pride. The male lions eat first. When they are finished, the next to eat are the females; after that the cubs can eat. I would think they would feed the young first or at least second, but it’s not so. The reason for this is for the survival of the pride. The females need the food for strength to return to hunt some more. If a lioness were to bring back a small kill, the male lion would be the only one that would get enough to eat from that. We learned a male lion must consume at least 15 pounds of meat a day. The females need to consume 11 pounds daily. So off the females would have to go to hunt some more.
They are on a constant lookout for food because the prides can consist of quite a few members. The pride we were watching had approximately 12 members—two male lions, two young males that were approximately 2 years old and the lionesses that did all the work.
As I was watching I couldn’t help but compare our house cats to the wild cats, and vice versa. I have a male cat and a female cat. My female sleeps a lot less than my male cat, and she is always wondering and looking around. My male is lazier, and when he wants to know where she is he lets out a loud howl sound—not like a lion’s roar but just as effective … she comes running. The young lions were wrapping their paws around tree trunks stretching and scratching just as our cats do at home and in the shelter on scratching posts and marking their territory. The young are mischievous and playful. Watching them interact with each other was an amazing sight, but everyone knew who the boss was—“Big Daddy”!
We also watched as two jackals were barking at a cheetah that was getting a little too close to their den. They were trying to lure him away from their home that most likely had pups. They were working very hard and appeared a little distressed. Finally the cheetah wondered off.
Probably what was most amazing was the fact that all different species of animals were co-existing very peacefully together. The zebras were grazing with the buffalo, wildebeest, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, impalas and warthogs (my favorite), to name a few. The elephants were fun to watch, especially with their young. The baby elephants were so adorable and very inquisitive. They were very interested in us and would try to get closer than their mothers wanted them to. The moms would hold the babies back with their trunks but the babies would peek out and keep trying to get a closer look. Elephants have the sweetest faces. They always look like they are smiling.
The lions are the ones that the animals fear the most. The leopards and cheetahs seem to go after the small animals. These hunters only hunt for food because instinctively their main goal is survival of their pride and family. We humans can learn a lot and take lessons from these wild animals. They do not hunt just for sport; that is a human game. They protect their young and other herd members.
Most of the wildness has been bred out of the domesticated animals we have as pets. So our animal friends rely on us for food, water and survival. In turn, they give us the same dedication we see in the wild in prides and herds. Our pets do not know how to provide the essentials on their own. Yes, we all know most house cats know how to hunt small rodents like mice and birds, but it is mostly instinct and play and they would not fare well if they had to survive in the wild. That is why it is best for our pet cats not to be let outside. There are much larger predators that could be hunting our pets.
As I leave to go back home, I am taking with me a new respect for the wildlife and people of Tanzania. It is truly a unique and beautiful country.
“Hakuna matata”—no worries, as a song from “The Lion King” goes.
