Africa Trip 2024 - Day 6 (con't), Kopje Critters

[This is post #11 of what will be multiple posts about our 2024 trip to Africa. To go to the first post in the series CLICK HERE.] 

It was now nearly 12:30 p.m. on September 15, Day 6 of our African safari.  We had had an extraordinary morning seeing lots of lions and elephants.  However we needed to head back to camp, Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp, to grab some lunch, then begin our trek southward to our next camp.

Mbuzi Mawi was one of the more interesting camps we stayed at during the entire trip for a variety of reasons:  the nature of the rooms, the location of the camp, and the up close interaction with some of the animals

Actually in a canvas tent.  One of the first interesting things about this camp was that the rooms were actually tents.  The two pictures below are of the inside of our room.  The windows on the sides unzipped to expose screened windows.  To enter and exit, we had to unzip both the canvas and the screen coverings at the door.  Having only canvas between us and the outdoors was a bit disconcerting overnight since there were lots of animal noises that sounded very close. 

Inside our room with the entrance to the bathroom visible in the background.

  

Not much between us and the outside.

Despite being in a tent this was definitely not Boy Scout camping. The entire tent was on a raised concrete platform covered with tile.  There was 24 hour electricity, a ceiling fan, our own private bath with flush toilet and shower, plus gobs of space.  There was also an additional tent covering over the entire unit.  Like everywhere we stayed, the water was not potable, but they provided us with bottled water.

 

This picture from the Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp website is not our room, but ours was identical in design with the concrete platform and extra canvas covering.

Built on a kopje.  Not only were we in a tent, but the entire camp backed up onto a kopje.  Some of the public areas were actually part of the way up the side of the kopje and hence were elevated.

Kopjes are the iconic rock formations of the Serengeti.  The formations are large weathered granite boulders.  The formations rise like islands out of the otherwise flat plain.  They range in size from small, isolated formations to large clusters that cover several acres.

Below is a picture from the camp website of the camp showing the kopje with various buildings clustered around and on the rocks.

This aerial picture from the Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp website.

The central lounge or lobby is the brown structure with multiple columns to the right of the kopje.  The restaurant is to the left of the lobby in the trees.  Both of these are roughly a story above the level of the tents surrounding the kopje.  Our tent was to the right and behind the lobby in the trees.  To get from our room to the lobby required walking up a sloped walkway. 

Satellite photo of Mbuzi Mawe Serena Camp taken 1/23.  The new main entrance road that ended near our room did not yet exist at the time of this photo.

Hyraxes.  Kopjes are particularly important because they provide a unique habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals. 

We caught a picture from our vehicle of this Rock Hyrax lounging among the rocks as we returned to camp for lunch

One of the animals that resides exclusively in the kopjees is the Rock Hyrax.  The hyrax is an interesting animal.  After reading about it ahead of time I had hoped to see one, however I did not realize we would get to see any up close.

Hyraxes are small mammals that look like overgrown guinea pigs.  The underside of their feet are such that they can get good traction on smooth rock, enabling them to climb in the kopjees.  Perhaps most strangely, they are the closest relative to the elephant!

They live in colonies of up to 50 individuals.  We learned later that the high pitched animal noises we heard most of the night were the hyraxes.  According to this site, the sounds have syntax  In other words, they communicate in orderly and arranged sounds.  I have no idea what they were saying, but there seemed to be a lot of them and they were very noisy much of the night. 

Lunch with the hyraxes.  After a brief stop at the room, we went directly to the dining room to grab lunch.  Unbeknown to us, there were several hyraxes under one of the tables.  They surprised us as they begrudgingly left when we started moving the chairs.

The hyraxes that had been under the tables were climbing up the rocks beyond the railing.

Below is a close-up of the area beyond the railing.  I think I can see four hyraxes in this shot. 

Hyraxes climbing up the rocks after we disturbed them from their sleeping spot under one of the tables.

Although we kept our distance, they did not seem either combative or scared, just annoyed that they had to move.

Hyrax glaring back at us

Unlike most mammals, hyraxes have poor control of their body temperature.  They lie on rocks in the sun in the early morning to get warm.  Given this was the middle of the day, we presumed they were using this as a spot to cool off.

On our way back to the room after an enjoyable lunch we encountered yet another one at the edge of the walkway.  I guess I now understood why the staff were so careful to zip the opening to the tents all the way to the bottom.  I got the impression these guys would be glad to wander into our room given the chance.

Hyrax next to the walkway on our way back from lunch

Just chillin' out.  We had a bit of time to relax in the room before leaving for our next camp.  Below is a picture from our room's porch looking north.  This is the new entrance road to the camp.  It had been dark when we arrived the night before and when we left this morning.  I was checking out the kopje in the distance to post as a find on an Earthcache.  However, now that it was light, it was possible to see a couple of other interesting things.

View from our room's porch looking north along the entrance road. 

There was a pile of elephant dung just beyond the walkway to the room.  I don't know how long it might have been there, but there had definitely been an elephant there some time in the not too distant past.

There was also a navy blue and black cloth hanging next to the road.  That is a tsetse fly trap.  We had been warned prior to the trip not to wear navy blue or black clothing since it attracts tsetse flies.  This piece of cloth is sprayed with insecticide.  Presumably when the flies are attracted to the cloth they encounter the insecticide and die.

Elephant dung and tsetse fly trap near our room

Off to more adventures.  It was now about 3 p.m.  Fazal returned with the safari vehicle.  We loaded up and set off for our next camp, Serengeti Sametu Camp.  It was a trip of only 40 miles, but with all of the interesting things we ended up seeing (including cheetahs and leopards!), it was after 7 p.m. and quite dark by the time we arrived. 

Magenta is the gps track for Day 6 (9/15).  The magenta track north of Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp was the morning adventures described in the earlier post.  The afternoon trip from Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp to Serengeti Sametu Camp is the subject of the next post.

However, just as we were leaving Mbuzi Mawe Camp we saw another of the iconic kopje animals, a pair of klipspringers.  Klipspringers are small antelope measuring only 18-24 inches high at the shoulder.  They walk on the front of their hooves, making them look like they are walking on their toes.  This adaptation gives them traction to climb on smooth, slippery rocks.  

It was wonderful to catch sight of these guys.  Unfortunately they took off so quickly, scampering up some nearby boulders, that we only got a few pictures of the male and no pictures of them on the rocks.  However, we felt very lucky to see them at all since they are primarily nocturnal.  Fazal also told us that Mbuzi Mawe (i.e. the name of the camp) means klipspringer in Swahili.  That seemed like an appropriate way to end our visit at this very interesting camp.

Male klipspringer (only males have horns)