TWERKING & OTHER TALENTS IN TANZANIA
A trip to the Serengeti is a whirlwind of tushies, talons and tails for Dorria Watt
If you think Beyoncé is the queen of twerking, think again. Birds do it. Bees do it. In fact, most animals have been doing it for years, perfectly … it’s all about attracting a mate. That’s one of the things I learnt from my “outdoor classroom” adventure in the Serengeti, which was jam-packed with fun and unusual snippets of information that made me smile and marvel at nature. No sooner had we touched down at the Kogatende Airstrip in the northern Serengeti National Park than we encountered a herd of elephants.
As their tails flicked with not a care in the world, our guide extraordinaire entertained us with some interesting facts about animals’ tails.
BEHINDS IN FRONT OF ME
Did you know that, like a dog, if an elephant’s tail is swishing from side to side, it is relaxed and happy? But if the tail goes stiff it’s anxious and you need to take heed. These tell-tale tail signs appear to be true for most animals.
After a mock charge from one of the juveniles, we moved on only to screech to a halt at a rare sighting of a martial eagle jealously clutching its prey, while two tawny eagles did their best to distract it.
Perched on a branch with a rock hyrax firmly in its grip, it was having none of it and soon puffed up its feathers, extended its 2.5m wing span and bunkered down. No sharing here. Soon the tawnies gave up and flew off.
BEST OF THE BEASTS
The game viewing continued as we made our way to our luxury tented camp, passing longlegged ostriches prancing across the grasslands like ballerinas in tutus.
We saw a herd of topi with distinctive purple patches on their upper legs, the alpha male standing tall on a termite mound for better viewing, or simply to preen.
We spotted hippos wallowing in the shallow water of the Mara River, beady eyes and nostrils visible.
They use their tails to fling dung around to mark their territory when on land and, strangely enough, urinate backwards for the same reason.
Not being a “birdaholic”, I found myself trying to identify some of the over 500 species in the Serengeti. From bare-legged augur buzzards to yellow-throated long claws – so named because of their snow-ski like claws, which allow them to perch on thorny branches, swishing their long tails back and forth.
After a morning game drive we were back at the airstrip to fly to a different camp.
As we landed at Seronera Airport, I grinned as I glanced back at our Air Excel plane with its bright turquoise tail markings — each of the fleet has distinctive coloured “tails”.
SO MUCH TO SEE
Our second camp was movie-location perfect, built to take full advantage of the wide-open plains and glorious sunrises.
The game drives here were again packed with sightings.
● Cute warthogs, who held their tails stiff as flagpoles as they followed each other through the grasslands.
● Giraffes, who have the longest tails of any land mammal — up to 2.4m.
● Herds of different buck, including the graceful Thomson’s gazelles, proudly pronking and twerking the white patch on their round rumps; waterbuck with their distinctive white ring; and the impala with the black M on their behinds.
The stand-out moments were many but included our coming across a pride of lions just after a kill — mom, dad and cubs having a post-meal catnap, tummy’s distended.
We were close enough to see the five whiskers on each side of their noses, along with their “fingerprint” freckles dotted haphazardly around their snouts.
We stopped to allow a cheetah to amble across our path and enjoyed sundowners in the middle of nowhere — just a single acacia tree beautifully backlit by the sinking crimson-orange sun.
We sat quietly, enrobed in our Maasai blankets, sipping Pimm’s and nibbling on sushi. Does life get any better than this?
CROSSING THOSE TEES
The Serengeti is one of the 10 natural travel wonders of the world thanks to the million or so stampeding wildebeest who migrate clockwise annually.
But it offers so much more, which we learnt about sitting around a fire, after a gourmet meal, listening to the distant rustle of nocturnal animals and the cackle of a
hyena.
Time stands still in the African bush, yet doesn’t.
Too soon we were back at the airport heading home. Again I smiled as I saw the fuchsia-painted tail of our plane.
The Serengeti may be famous for the migration, but for me the talons, tushies and tails will always be top of mind.
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