The Serengeti, one of the harshest environments on Earth, is all about survival. The fact that you are reading this is proof that I survived two nights camping in the Serengeti without being eaten by a lion. On the first day my guides had warned me not to leave the tent at night, as lions and hyenas regularly came into the camp after dark. But nature called and leaving the tent was unavoidable. Rather than brave the long walk to the squat toilets I crept around the side of the tent at midnight, trembling the entire time I was emptying my bladder.

On the second night the campground filled up and there were tents all around mine, so when the inevitable happened around 2 AM, I braved the walk to the toilets. Earlier in the day my cook, Hamisi, had softened his position about leaving the tent at night, telling me, “Just look for the eyes of the animals in the dark – they are always red.” As I hurried to the toilets the fact that I saw no red eyes was not much of a comfort; I couldn’t see the animals but I could certainly hear them. Hyenas howled in the distance. Closer to camp – quite close – I heard low growls that I assumed to be lions but later found out they were baboons. Even that didn’t make me feel much better, since baboons are vicious – in a pack they can bring down a lion or leopard with their long, sharp teeth.

The Serengeti is a wonder. Upon entering the park my first impression was of a land so severe that it could not possibly support life. I later learned that this was an area known as the southern grasslands – flat, featureless plains for as far as the eye can see – and indeed, there is little animal life in this part of the Serengeti. As we traveled northwest the landscape began to change. Acacia and Sausage trees appeared – the latter so named because it bears a fruit that looks like an overstuffed sausage hanging down on a string, just as in a butcher’s shop. In addition to trees, here and there the plains were relieved by granite outcroppings called kopjes (copies), which are the favorite abode of lions.

Pride rests in the tall Serengeti grasses

Mama giving the cubs a bath

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