East Africa:
A Walk on the Wild Side
-By Gretchen Zauner

It's daybreak in Kenya's Masai Mara. In the sky, a hot air balloon drifts loftily with the breeze. Below, tens of thousands of wild animals-rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion, zebra, wildebeest-raise clouds of dust in a dramatic stampede across the plain. Here, in the wilds of Africa, this natural rhythm of life has changed little since the beginning of time. And indeed the beauty of this timeless, ancient land captures the heart and sets the spirit free.

     The curious and adventurous are drawn to this untamed wilderness, which writers the likes of Isak Dinesen and Ernest Hemingway have illuminated through descriptive writings of their own adventures.

     Dinesen gloried in the rough pleasures of camping life, but today the experience of living among Africa's wildlife can be shared on safaris that feature comfortable tent camps or lodge accommodations, gourmet meals and deluxe touring in all-terrain vehicles.

     Some of the best game viewing in East Africa is found in Kenya and Tanzania.

     Reserves cover more than 95,000 square miles in Tanzania. There are 11 national parks and 17 game reserves. The vast variety of wildlife can in part be attributed to the diversity of landscapes found in Tanzania. Altitudes range from sea level to nearly 20,000 feet.

     One of the most famous sights in this part of Africa is Ngorongoro Crater, the Eighth Wonder of the World. This 102-square-mile crater was created by the explosion of a mountain believed to have been twice the size of Mt. Everest. Game viewers descend the 2,000-feet-high rim to the crater's grassland floor, where they might catch sight of lion, elephant, giraffe, buffalo, flamingo and antelope.

     The largest and most famous park for viewing wildlife in Tanzania is Serengeti National Park, one of the best places in all of Africa for viewing lion. It is also on the primary migration route of the wildebeest. Each year, a million and a half wildebeest pass through this land, with half a million gazelle, zebra and giraffe for company.

     Kenya, too, is blessed with stunning scenery: glacial ice, arid deserts, mountains, savannahs, lakes, dense forests and a tropical coastline.

     An African adventure begins in Kenya for many visitors. After leaving Nairobi, the capital city, the first stop is usually the 700-square-mile Masai Mara National Park, where great concentrations of game can be seen. The Masai Mara is a land of breathtaking vistas, rolling grassland hills, and groves of acacia woodland. Amid the savannahs, one might spot a stealthy cheetah stalking prey, a ravenous giraffe snacking on the bud of an acacia branch, or a vast herd of wildebeest feeding in a field of yellow flowers.

     In Amboseli National Park, southeast of Masai Mara, there is more opportunity to see Africa's "big five" game animals: leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant and lion. And on a clear day you can see the majestic, snowcapped Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain.

     To the north of Amboseli lies the hauntingly beautiful Samburu National Reserve, famous for its large concentration of animals seldom seen in great numbers elsewhere: long-necked gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, tiny dik-dik, Beisa oryx and reticulated giraffe.

     Traveling west, across the great Aberdare Mountains, adventurers descend into the Great Rift Valley, a massive fault in the earth's crust that stretches from Jordan's Dead Sea to Mozambique. The valley floor lies in the heart of Kenya's lake district, habitat for hundreds of thousands of flamingo and other birds.

     Other spectacular sights in East Africa: the 17,000-foot-high Mt. Kenya; Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe; and Olduvai Gorge, where in 1959 anthropologist Dr. Leakey discovered finds of early man living in Africa three to five million years ago.

     With all its beauty and mystique, East Africa truly ignites a sense of adventure in the traveler. This is a journey not soon to be forgotten.